It was finally the day for Ariana and Lady Zula to set forth on their journey to the capital. They needed to stand in front of the grand council to finalize the adoption. Ariana was too excited to sleep, she wanted Lady Zula to legally be her mother and erase her past.
Brian had prepared a coach for them within two day and pleasantly surprised Ariana with his connections and organizational skills. To see that the coach looked more like an automobile but was still horse-drawn was different. It definitely looked a lot more comfier than the coach she had initially gone in when lady Zula had gone and fetched her.
The design was sleek, it was made of dark coloured steel and outlined with gold trim, making it sparkle in the sunlight. While the black stallions at the helm where magnificent and ready to draw the carriage at any given moment.
Lady Zula looked please and turned her attention to Brian as Ariana stood next to her. "And the men?" She asked as she raised an eyebrow. Brian nodded his head towards the carriage. "I got our residential Shadow Weaver to conjure up an army. They're hiding within the shadows of your carriage and horses ready to attack at any given moment, and for extra security measures I will be going with you."
Ariana tore her gaze from the shadows of the carriage and looked at Brian with disbelief. "Brian are you sure you're strong enough to protect a small child and lady." She said in a teasing voice. Brian instantly scowled, the relationship between them hadn't gotten any better within the last 6 weeks. He still regarded her as a monster, unlike everyone else, they all opened themselves up to her completely.
"I am coming along to protect your mother not you! For all I know you'll turn on her somewhere along the way and come back with some sort excuse that she sacrificed herself for your well-being!" Brad spat venom with every word. Lady Zula quickly drew out her fan and covered her mouth but Ariana was able to catch the smile she was trying to hide.
"Well I must say Brian I never thought I would hear the day that you would openly call me Ariana's mother." she said as their spectators started to giggle and snicker behind him. Brian was shocked he wasn't expecting lady Zula to catch his slip-up. He turned to look at the ladies that were gathered outside watching their interaction.
He turned bright red when he made eye contact with them, to hide his embarrassment he started moving Ariana and Lady Zula towards the carriage. As they stumbled in, Ariana jumped towards the window and stuck her head out the window, waving at everyone with both hands. While Lady Zula was pushed back into the plush, black, velvet seats.
"Don't forget to train and listen to Rin!" added as the carriage started moving everyone started waving goodbye some of them even had tears in their eyes. They were going to miss her but she was only going to be gone for 3 days but she felt herself crying too.
Ariana started to wiggle backwards as she got off of Lady Zula and gave her a quick hug before she sat down in her seat. She looked out her window, she was absolutely delighted that this was actually happening and in just a few days she would officially be Lady Zula's daughter. It also meant that she would be severing her connection with her disgusting biological family, everything was turning up rainbows and sunshine for her.
After a few moments of watching the scenery, Ariana felt her eyelid start to become heavy. She yawned as she raised her left arm into the air as she stretched out her back. "Are you tired my dear?" Lady Zula asked as she watched Ariana snuggle into her seat. Ariana nodded, Lady Zula let out a small giggle as she brushed Ariana's bands to the side of her face. . They had gotten so long that they looked more like a fringe.
The small gesture caused Ariana's body warm up, she caught Lady Zula's hand and cuddled her face into it as she whispered "Thank you." A second later a soft snoring sound could be heard and Lady Zula allowed her hand to stay with Ariana just a moment longer.
When Ariana awoke she had no clue on how long she slept for. She knew staying up last night she was a stupid thing to do but she was too excited to actually fall asleep. She guess that maybe she got a total of 3 to 4 hours last night and maybe another 3 hours in the carriage. She figured that they were about halfway to their first pit stop.
She turned to look at Lady Zula and rub the sleep out of your eyes. "Mother can you tell me about the capital?" Lady Zulla turned her gaze to Ariana and gave her a soft smile. "Well my child, the capital is meant for the ruthless. Small-time owners like myself could never survive in the capital but as a woman, I would be handed over to a brothel and be expected to service countless men endlessly every night."
Lady Zula's words instantly woke Ariana awake, she felt a cold shiver running down her body and subconsciously hugged herself for warmth. Lady Zula watched her closely and with a sigh she resolved her inner debate. "I might as well tell you everything so that you keep your guard up. I do not want to lose you out there because of your innocence. You must remember, you are the pillar of everything that's going on back home and honestly my affection for you has grown every day."
"Honestly I do see you as a child born from my womb so please listen carefully to my words. Our continent is split up into five countries, each country has its own monarch and its own system in place. Our country has a monarch that sits on the throne, the family is just decorative. There is no real rule with him or his family, they are just mere puppets for the council. So if something were to happen to the citizens or country the royals would be at fault and would be persecuted rather than the council members."
Lady Zula hesitated for a bit and stared of into the distance. "Our kingdom is one of the most prosperous ones in the continent and often has envy from others, war is but a breath away and our safety is never truly guaranteed. The council sees themselves as the one and only true rulers of our kingdom and they'll spend vast amounts of money and effort in protecting themselves and their assets while we the people are considered as nothing."
"Mother that's not right! Without the people how can there be a kingdom? Every ruler or even council member should realize that without their people they have no income or have anyone to rule. If all the people were gone they would just be the rulers of mud!" Ariana shouted at Lady Zula. Her response caused Lady Zula to come back from wherever she drifted off too. She smiled at Ariana brightly. "I'm glad that you understanding so much but you will need to watch yourself around the council members. You see our council is made up of the seven members and each one would just sit there proudly turning a deaf ear to all the citizens they should be protecting."
"Tell me mother how does each council member rule then?" Ladies Zula starred at Ariana face, she noticed that blood was starting to rush to her head and decided to stop talking. Instead she sat back into her seat quietly but to her surprise Lady Zula continue to speak. "Each council member has their own section that they must rule, there is one that governs over the taxation of the citizens and funds any major projects. One that governs over imports and quality of goods while another governs over the overall accounting of the kingdom and exports. There is another that governs the well being the populace by taking care of the regulations of each province. They are to ensure that every province is to have the basic needs for everyone to survive, like how many doctors, schools, guard stations and guilds are allowed to each province while the last takes care of the Lords of each province."
"Then finally the last two, there is one that will hear the complaints of everyone and tries to write and understands the established laws while the last one enforces the law. He is more like the leader of all the enforcers, whether it be lowly guards stationed at the gates or high officials who prosecute the wicked they all report to him. He may the one and only person who actually cares about the people while everyone else governs over their own sections with prejudice."
Lady Zula said as she started to laugh maniacally. "That my child is where the problem lies! Each has their own motive when it comes over the duties they have! You think that they would leave this kind of thing to the monarch but instead all seven of them decide that they should democratically decide on what happens to the people, if it's anything to do with the people they must you unilaterally come to a decision! God forbid that they leave their ulterior motives at the door, causing every single one of them to place their own interest first instead of the people!"
Ariana raised and eyebrow, she knew her mother was intelligent but this was too much she pretty much knew the inner workings of the council but the again it could have been public knowledge and decided to keep her mouth shut about her information. "So human rights, the enhancement of our technology, the betterment of medical procedures or farmland is all slowed down because it doesn't line the right person's pocket?" Ariana asked Lady Zula cautiously. with a giant "Ha!" Lady Zula pulled out her fan and started to fan herself aggressively. "We have advancements but it is only given to the wealthy! Other then that the real money maker is the sex industry! It is so big in this Kingdom that it funds the capital's research facilities! Betterment of mankind means nothing to them as long as they can line their pockets with coins! Who cares about the advancements of the people if it means loosing money and I can tell you what I know is the truth! As I .... never mind I'm letting my own feelings make judgment for you. I will let you come up with your own conclusions soon enough."
Ariana dropped her gaze. She made a mental note to never doubt her instincts again. It seemed Lady Zula was dropping some major truth bombs but was leaving something vital in the dark. "Then what about the church? I would think that have more power over the people as they try to bring hope to the people and paint a fright filled picture. You know don't go against the rules or you will be punished by God! So could they not bring order within the council as they could easily start a riot?" Lady Zula immediately dropped her fan and scooped up Ariana's little body into her arms. She embraced her as tightly as she could. "My sweet little girl your mind is just full of curiosity and dangerous thoughts! How do you keep yourself sane?"
Ariana felt her blood run cold. Even though Lady Zula was giving her so much affection at the moment she did hear her hidden warning. "What is your tutor teaching you? I'm paying good coin for what exactly? You're just like a kitten curious about every little thing!" Lady Zula laughed as she let go of Ariana. "She is teaching what I need to know in school! She does go outside of the curriculum if I ask a question but will never get into politics or religion." Ariana said with a pout.
"You're right, to talking about the church is acknowledging the hold they have over the people. They move as a cult and only a good handful of us are religious when the eye falls on us. The Royal Priest is actually the one that assigns the grand council. The church is more crooked than the counsel themselves, they are the pinnacle of this nation but in the shadows they steal our young children in proclamation of their holy duty! People disappear overnight as if they were spirited away if they speak ill of the them while other who support them are are considered an idol. So anyone with the ability to arouse the hearts of the citizens is considered a threat to the nation."
After Lady Zula's explanation, Ariana sat back into her seat and wondered. She stared out her window quietly until she felt comfortable asking. "You didn't want to go to the capital because of my abilities..." Lady Zula hesitated for a bit before she answered her. "Well that's part of it." she sighed as she bent over slightly to pick up the fan she dropped earlier. "The other part is mostly my paranoia. Why would the council need to see us to finalize an adoption? They are there for the people but honestly they could care less about us. It makes me wonder if they have an ulterior motive, well I can think of one that definitely has one but would he go this far just to meet you?"
Ariana finally broke her gaze with the scenery and looked at Lady Zula. "Fine! Whatever they have in mind I say bring it on! But I'm not going to go see them without a plan, preventative measures need to be in place and I will make them lose whatever interest they have in you or me." She said seriously as she clutched her hands into fists. "Just leave it to me."
For the rest of the journey they sat in silence, until they finally made it to their first check point. Lady Zula wasn't sure what Ariana was thinking of but she knew the girl needed to concentrate. As the carriage slowed to a stop she grabbed Ariana's shoulders and made her face her. "Once we step out of this carriage we are never to speak of anything that was already spoke in this carriage. Do I make myself clear?" Ariana narrowed her gaze and allowed the temperature around her body to drop a few degrees. "Well of course or else I will find all my planning to go to waste."