#illuminatingprowess

The half-fae sat in the hall outside the King's Meeting Chamber; the map survey of Kings Hill northern borders commissioned by King Sebastian was finished at last. She began it before the coronation; however her subsequent kidnapping and recovery. She rung her hands in her lap waiting.

Mariah dressed up just a bit to meet the new king; by a bit, she put on the only dress she had in her travel closet. Most of her nicer dresses were at Mayhem Manor because she only wore it to Royal functions. Her boots were splattered with mud--but she knew no one would be looking at her feet.

The door opened finally and Mariah shot up from her seat, the metal case with her rolled up map clattered to the floor. The half-fae blushed a violent red from ear-to-ear. She quickly bent down to pick it but felt her head hit something. She turned around quickly her messy red hair pony whipped the person in the face. "Oh fuck I am so sorr--Your Grace--I mean--" Mariah just stayed the same shade of red as before. She smacked King Sebastian Isley I in the face with her head! "Your Majesty--I didn't see--I mean I apologize!" Her face was down and she dropped to a low bow of her sheer panic.

She tried her best to portray the appearance that the Duke of Southland’s anecdote was not dull and was just told to the five people before her. Albeit, she nodded along taking rather large swigs of her wine. She had gifted the best vintage of her family cellar; it was enough to supply the whole coronation celebrations. The only way she could get through this event was with a good glass of wine in her hand. 

“Oh—Sir—” Louisa cut the Duke off when she found her change. “I have not seen King Sebastian tonight. I must make my presence known to him. Esgusodwch fi—excuse me, please.” She backed away with grace and found a moment to interrupt Sebastian from an equally dull encounter. “Do you want a drink? I wanted one when the plopped the tiara on my brow,” Louisa smiled and let out a soft laugh.

The reveal and announcement of Sebastian Isley Wright as King of Kings Hill had caused quite the flurry within the court of Haven, so it turned out that is where the heir to the throne had been hidden for years until he’d been whisked away to be coronated. Many of Aries’ advisors had whispered in his ear about how this would look - Haven was a realm of neutrality, and yet how could they appear neutral to their neighbours and beyond when a King of a realm had been raised within their boarders? It could look like ally-ship to the others, threatening Haven’s status as a true neutral. 

In truth, Aries did not care. 

Since the Sturgeon Moon and the revival of his lost memories, his perspective had completely shifted from that of the man he was before. Or perhaps he had merely evolved. Besides, it was common knowledge (or it should’ve been) within the political circles that the world was shifting around them. Aries knew that there were those who chose not to see it out of fear of what it would mean, but the facts were that the original creators of the treaty of peace were dead. And that could change things... even in Haven. He’d lived a long time, far longer than his people suspected, and he’d seen many turns of the repeating wheel of history. 

Of course, Aries assured them that Haven had been ignorant of Prince Sebastian living in their realm, and even if they had been aware of it, Haven was a place that everyone could freely come and go, so long as propaganda was not spread. Even so, he would invite this new King of Kings Hill back to Haven from their neutral position, because even though growing up here it was clear what the laws of Haven were, now Sebastian was King... and he might need to a little reminding. 

“King Sebastian.” Aries waited for him at the entrance to the botanical water gardens of Haven’s Royal Palace, offering a polite smile. He brought his hands out from behind his back, and offered it for Sebastian to shake. “Welcome back to Haven.”