[center][b][u]Miserth Keep - The Council Chambers[/u][/b][/center] The early morning sunlight filtered in through the gaps in the heavy, brocade curtains. Aurelia had risen hours ago, before dawn broke over the horizon, and had continued with her studies from last night. To her understanding, Duncan was willing to keep at least one, or even two of her most prized, or in her mind, most useful projects going. Dinner had been brought up to her in the course of the night, and now an empty plate, sat on the edge of her bedside table. Personally, Aurelia did not wish to give up any of her ongoing projects, yet could only obey Duncan with but a sorrowful sigh. Now, as she sat in her high-backed chair, Aurelia shut her eyes, contemplating what to do now that morning had come. Sleep was evasive in most cases, as she suffered from insomnia. A cup of lavender and chamomile tea helped to calm her nerves, but not enough to lull her to sleep. That's where, the occasional bottle of wine made its way into her hands. Not that she was an alcoholic, but Aurelia understood full well how useful the liquid was; whether lifting, or dampening ones own spirits. Staring blankly at the pages sprawled across her lacquered desk, Aurelia lazily shuffled through the papers, and began to organize what she had thought would be useful for Duncan to consider. She had selected three projects, enough options for one to be chosen. One, continued her study of the stars, and tracking of the celestial bodies, useful for when predicting events, and especially useful for knowing the personality of a person, just by knowing what time of year they were born into. The second, focused on scrying, on how to converse with larger groups of people far away. Particularly meaningful in regulating other kingdoms, allowing anyone to perform a long distance scry, to be able to maintain control from so far away. Lastly, one of a more magical nature, focused upon creating a lengthy fire-wall that would not spread outward, causing more damage, but rather, acted as a living barrier. If put to use, an entire army could be surrounded by a moving wall of flames that would follow them anywhere they travelled. More importantly, Aurelia was trying to construct the spell to be spring-loaded, or so to speak; so that if anyone with ill intentions dared entered the camp at night, the wall of flames would ignite, catching the culprit, and burning them to death, preferably. Sighing in frustration, Aurelia bundled the papers up nicely, and proceeded to dress herself, changing from her nightly linens, to a fresh pair of undergarments, a clean corset, petticoat, and chemise, followed by an extravagant gown made of navy blue, silk, with silver trimmings. She splashed cold water upon her face from her wash basin that stood in the corner of her room, a silver framed mirror hanging above it. Aurelia gazed at her reflection staring back at her, her eyes tracing every laugh line, few they were, to the heavy bags beneath her vibrant, piercing eyes. "[color=82ca9d]You're not old, Aurelia. You're more wise, than you have been in all your life. This is what life has given you.[/color]" So saying, Aurelia drew away from the mirror and finished dressing. Duncan was currently sitting in the council chambers along with Alice Rallar and Alex. Despite the importance the council's decisions had on Formaroth, the room in which they were made was somewhat unimpressive. It was a stone walled room with only two small glass windows to allow in some sunlight. Other than a rectangular wooden table with six finely crafted wooden chair around it, the room was bare of furniture. Duncan sat at the far end of the table; in the seat that the King would have sat in had he still been alive. Now that he was regent his place at the head of the table was deserving. A fact that did not please Alice. Alice did not trust nor particularly like Duncan. Though she had never said it to him directly it was as clear as day to everyone and Duncan could feel her eyes of furry and envy burrowing into him. The council was currently waiting for both Aurelia and Edward to arrive. Though Duncan had faith that Aurelia would arrive soon her got the feeling that Edward would be late again as he usually was. "My Lord" Alex said finally, breaking the silence "Should we get started with discussing the matters of state"? "Not quite yet" Duncan said as he turned his head to face Alex "I'm sure Aurelia will be with us soon, I would much prefer to start the discussion with all the members of the council present". It wasn't long after she had finished dressing before there was a knock upon her door. Curious as to who could be calling, Aurelia stepped into her heeled, black leather, boots, and called out to answer them. "[color=82ca9d]Yes, who is it?[/color]" So crying, Aurelia swept her tresses up into one hand and looked up in surprise to see a page boy. "High Magister Aurelia, your presence is requested in the council chamber room, per Regent King Duncan's request." The boy, fairly young in age, perhaps no older than 11, opened her bedroom door. "[color=82ca9d]Why, for heaven's sake, boy, have you not told me sooner? Are the other council members already assembled?[/color]" Cried Aurelia, astounded that she was late, even if by mere seconds. "Yes milady, the Regent King, Lady Alice Rallar and Alex have already arrived, they are awaiting you and Edward Du Parquette's arrival." The boy seemed terrified, unsure if he had vexed the high magister by not arriving sooner to fetch her. "[color=82ca9d]Dash it all! Well quickly now, let's go and hurry before Parquette gets there before we do.[/color]" Laughed loud Aurelia, as she grabbed the child's hand in her own and raced down her tower steps to the council chambers. Aurelia had left her black hair unpinned, so it hung loose, like silken sheets. She and the pageboy, ran headlong down the long, stone, corridors before nearing the council chamber room. Letting go of the pageboy's hand, Aurelia pressed a single, silver coin into the palm of his hand before entering the chamber room. Once inside, Aurelia did indeed see Duncan, Alice and Alex seated at the table. Smiling, Aurelia gave a polite curtsy to Duncan before taking her place at the table, sitting opposite and in the center of the table of the other members. "[color=82ca9d]I apologize for not arriving sooner. I presume we are still awaiting Edward's arrival?[/color]" "You would assume right" Duncan said glumly. "Now that you are here I suppose we can start. I am unwilling to wait any longer for Edward, if we do, we may still be waiting an hour before he shows". Before Duncan lay various different scrolls and letters, from which Duncan pulled out a large piece of paper listing the names of the various lords and ladies of importance who had arrived in Nyhem. "Though, firstly we should attend to the most pressing matter; preparing the meeting so the noble families of Nyhem can discuss who should be next in line to the throne. Now that most of the noble families are here in Nyhem to attend King John's funeral, it would be a good to organise it sooner rather than latter I think". Duncan said as he looked over the list. He took note that nobody from house Manshrew was currently here. This boded well for Duncan. House Manshrew commanded a lot of respect and authority across Formaroth and Duncan knew they greatly distrusted the De Reimer family and would never throw their support behind them. Even if they didn't put a claim towards the throne their choices and opinions would sway the minds of many. If he could call the meeting before they sent a representative then Duncan would have less of a challenge in the debate. "The meeting will be in a fortnights time, and will take place in the keeps main hall. Edward will organise the funding for the various things needed for the meeting and Alice will be in charge of security". Duncan said as he gestured toward Alice. "Indeed." Alice said, in comparison to the other council members, Alice spoke very little. However whenever she did speak her words always carried a strong sense of authority and wisdom. "With all the rulers of Formaroth in one room, it would be best to take extreme precautions when it come to security". "Agreed" Duncan said as he avoided making eye contact with Alice "Does anyone have anything else to add"? The more Duncan spoke, the more her brow became furrowed. Aurelia's head tipped to the side as she listened. She studied the documents, and other scrolls before her. When Duncan slid the list of names onto the table, Aurelia took the paper into her hands, carefully looking over each name on the list. "[color=82ca9d]You intend to gather all of the lords, and their ladies into the keep's main hall? You are right of course, we will need to have cautionary measures in place. Regent, you said that you intend for the meeting to take place in a fortnight, are we to host our guests in our own castle? Or will they be responsible for each their own? That would be an unnecessary amount of coin going to waste for the crown.[/color]" Falling silently, Aurelia looked down at the table before continuing. "[color=82ca9d]It sounds like you have all of the general areas covered, is there anything you would have me do?[/color]" She raised her eyes, and noticed Duncan avoiding Alice's piercing gaze, and desperately struggled to restrain a grin from embracing her lips. "The Miserth Keep's hall will be more than sufficient room to hold the meeting. In fact it's probably one of the few places in Nyhem capable of holding such a large number of people. In answer to your question, though we may have some of the more important guests staying here, most will be responsible for there own accommodation. Nyhem has plenty of high end inn's capable of keeping the nobles comfortable till the meeting". Duncan paused as he glaced towards the door, believing he heard someone outside the room. He slowly turned back to Aurelia as he continued. "As a member of the high council I will need you to attend the meeting and help Alex to..." Duncan was interrupted as the door swung open and Edward Du Parquette entered the room. It was now clear who Duncan heard lurking outside the room. "Forgive my lateness" He said in the formal manner he always spoke "I went at great haste to get here on time, but alas it was for naught" Duncan raised an eyebrow as he listened to Edward; the very idea that this glutton would hurry anywhere was laughable to say the least. Duncan gentured for Edward to sit down as he made his way to his seat. Edward Du Parquette entered the council chamber room in a flurry of haughtiness. Aurelia's eyes landed on him immediately, forcing her to restrain a deep frown of distaste. The rotund man, balding ever so slightly, with a thin wispy moustache, and the appearance of perpetually sweating, along with an obtrusive personality, made Aurelia grimace. Edward, the economics advisor, and she, never got along; he seemed to always look down upon her, and Alex, the Advisor of Law. Alex was younger than Aurelia, tall, thin and gangly, with a mess of brown hair. She preferred his company, and Duncan's, over Edward's. As for Alice, the Advisor of War, she didn't mind the woman, though she was severe in her attitude at times. As Edward excused his tardiness, Duncan simply gestured for him to take his place, which he willing did so. Once Edward had seated himself, on the left of Aurelia, she turned her gaze to Duncan. Cocking an eyebrow, Aurelia cleared her throat, as she folded her hands in her lap, before looking back at Edward. "[color=82ca9d]Now that you're finally here, Edward, shall we inform you of what you missed?[/color]" Her voice was not kind, nor was it malicious, simply cold, and unfeeling. "[color=82ca9d]Duncan was about to inform Alex and I of what help was needed. Isn't that right, Regent?[/color]" Queried Aurelia, as she turned her attention once more to Duncan. "There is no need for that," Edward said "I'm sure I will be able to catch up with the details later." He continued, as he made himself comfortable in his seat. Though Duncan didn't say anything, it was clear from the look of exasperation that he was fed up with Edwards antics. "As I was saying before," Duncan continued as he turned to face Aurelia "You and Alex will be responsible for checking the validity of the different house's claims. You will make sure that none of the nobles lie or uses falsehoods to try and secure their claim". Duncan then produced another piece of paper from the pile in front of him. "The next matter is not something of dire importance but it needs to be addressed soon all the same. The mercenary captain Claus Rotstein was arrested this week and his trial is due sometime tomorrow morning. If we delay for much longer it is unclear what his mercenaries may do without their captain and they may cause even more disruption then they did initially. Normally I would take care of this trial myself, however I have a very important mater I must attend to". Duncan said as he glanced to an unopened letter with House Blackwell's seal upon it. "As a result I will have to ask one of you to step in and take over the trial for me. Any volunteers?" Listening still, to Duncan, and a roll of the eyes for Edward, Aurelia felt satisfied with the tasks assigned to her. Validating the candidates claim to the throne was not an awfully hard task; however, with a fight for the seat of all of Formaroth, there was a chance that if anyone disliked Aurelia, or Alex for that matter, they could easily have one of their various, henchmen take out the two, and have their dead body thrown in the river. Aurelia knew she would have to take care of herself, if she were not to fall into a trap. In truth, Aurelia was typically apprehensive in nature, and felt that any situation could be the trigger to her death. However, when Duncan spoke of the mercenary captain by the name of Claus Rotstein, she couldn't help but feel worried. A large, mercenary group had come to Nyhem, perhaps to sway the political power of those that wished to obtain the seat of power for themselves. When he asked for volunteers to preside over the trial, Aurelia looked immediately to Alex, though he did not offer his hand up right away. "[color=82ca9d]Well, naturally I would suggest Alex to preside over it, as he is the Advisor of Law, however, if he is too busy to handle this case, I would be delighted to handle the case justly. If you'll have me of course.[/color]" So saying, Aurelia smiled kindly at Duncan as she offered herself to look over the case. She understood justice fairly, and knew that in order to be fair, she could not have any bias when judging. However, there was the possibility, that she could pacify or even sway the mercenary captain to their side, if only she could decipher how to placate his men and him. Alex spoke up. His voice, though clear, still held a certain level of nervousness and uncertainty. He was still relatively new to the council and still had a lot to learn. "I would volunteer, but I unfortunately have several different trials I must preside over tomorrow morning as well" Alex said. Duncan nodded his head in agreement. "Indeed. In which case I accept your offer Aurelia, I trust someone with your level of expertise and wisdom will be able to deal with this effectively". Once again Duncan reached towards the pile of paper before him, this time pulling out a large scroll. "Now comes tedious part; The bank of Nyehm has called for the crown to pay back one tenth of the debt owned to them. With our current funds we can only pay back around half of what they ask..." Finally, the council meeting had ended, after much deliberation, and talk, on how to repay the debt; Aurelia rose from her chair, lifting the hem of her gown ever so slightly, so as not to step on it. "[color=82ca9d]Duncan, before I depart, is there anything else you would need of me?[/color]" Her gold-green eyes twinkled splendidly as she spoke. Aurelia was truly a gentle-natured person, but she was more clever than most ordinary people, something that always made her look as if she were up to something mischievous. "Not that I can think of right now" Duncan said as he rose from the table, many of the other council members were already making their way out the council chamber. "Though if I think of anything I'll be sure to let you know. Now if you will excuse me I have something important I must attend to." Duncan said as he quickly picked up the letter from House Blackwell, before he too left the room. With that final assurance of her needed services, Aurelia departed back to her chamber room; she pondered on how to handle this given case to her properly. Somewhere in the back of her mind told her that she had some type of tome or scroll, stowed away in her bedroom, tucked in the many bookcases that lined her walls. As she made her way down the stone corridor, Aurelia wondered just how dangerous the next fortnight would become. Of all the Houses to join them in the keep, to be ever so cautious, and to prevent tempers from flaring; Aurelia knew that in the next two weeks, it would be a very stressful place in Miserth Keep. {Collab Credits - [@TheDuncanMorgan] [@MacabreFox] }