[b]The Citadel, Capital City, [i]Erubesco[/i][/b]

The upper levels of the Erubescan Citadel were lovely this time of day:  Eastern sunlight streamed through the stained glass panels casting blurry-edged shadows across the cobbled floors. On cool, dry mornings like these, the windows were opened to let the autumn breeze filter through the gauzy gold and purple curtains. The draft, rising up from the palace garden, smelled of anise-sage and vervain. A picturesque view of the grounds sprawled out below, and right up to where the green of topiaries and manicured lawns gave way to the city proper: Buildings in graceful, shimmering hues rose along the storybook skyline, and the pillars of the Gladiator’s Arena peaked just to the left, boasting the banners of various Lords and Ladies. 

The view from the Eastern Officer’s wing was not a bad one, and it only got better the higher you went. 

Knight Commander Lulu Botrelle opened the door from an apartment on the highest floor- Not from the apartment she lived in, as the Commander’s hallway was on the seventh floor- but the one she had slept in. In a prim suit, and with her hair tied up in its signature bun, she stepped out from Viceroy Nicola Varen’s bedroom with a leather portfolio tucked under one arm and a mug of black coffee in the other. 

She took the elevator down, exitted, and proceeded down a considerably less airy hallway toward the research sector. 

Her free hand, the one propping up her portfolio case, lifted to switch on her wireless earpiece. To any intended recipients, a short series of three beeps would sound. 

[color=#D2B8C5]“Good morning, team leads and representatives. This is Commander Botrelle, checking in to remind you of your expected attendance at this morning’s quarterly research forum. We have a visiting guest, and several matters to discuss, so I expect to see every one of your lovely faces in the Oak Room on Level One Below in fifteen.”[/color]

And then, after a quick switch of channels, [color=#D2B8C5]“And that’s minutes, Norrevinter. I don’t want your stardom slowing down my operation.”[/color]

Catching the edge of a heavy wooden door with the tip of her stiletto, she pulled it inward and bumped it the rest of the way open with her hip. The room was far less grand than the upper halls: Off-white walls, wooden floors, and a distinct sense of sterility. In the center was a round, white-clothed table with several settings and an array of pitchers, breakfast breads, and several other morning snacks. Name cards were arranged at every seat- Lulu circled around to her place, took a seat, and began taking her things out and arranging them in from of her. 

A clear glass tablet, a pad, and a pen. 

She clicked something on the tablet, and her screen was cast onto the blank wall behind her.