A lot had been happening at the castle lately. Not only had Prana had to deal with the aftermath of a bloody war, but it also had to deal with a swift and unexpected change of leadership. Felix was constantly in meetings, so much so that he probably hadn't left the king's study in days. Advisors and military personnel were filtering in and out the office trying to get the whole situation under control. As much as the situation could be since Prana had been thrust into what was basically a state of crisis. What made everything exceptionally worse was the nobles clambering to get into Felix's favor as quickly as possible. If only they realized that in doing so, they were killing their chances for upward mobility.
Flora of course hadn't had the opportunity to talk to Felix. The last time that she had seen him was the late king's funeral. Since then, Flora had spent her days in her chambers away from all of the chaos. She had learned her lesson once, and was not keen on reliving that experience. She had at least discussed some of what was to come with Felix over letter. Now as king, it was his responsibility to make sure the royal family was working efficiently. Well, that Flora was being of use to the family.
His coronation was scheduled for the winter solstice. With less than a month until the event, there wasn't a lot of time to prepare. Since Felix didn't have the time to attend to any of the guests, Flora was left to it. As the second member of the Premoni family, Flora was deemed an appropriate substitute. Once the Pranian nobility and the more prominent citizens arrived, Flora was to greet them and show them the Premoni hospitality. For the foreign dignitaries, she was to greet them in the common tongue, and for those who did not speak the language, an interpreter would assist her. Flora was to receive further instructions for the more "special" guests at a later time, whatever that meant.
Flora was not thrilled with the idea of so much human interaction, but she understood that it was her duty as a princess to assist the king in any way he needed, even if this meant painfully awkward meetings with strangers. Besides, Flora was not in any mood to get another lecture from Felix. Whenever she thought of the argument she had with him before their father's funeral, she was flooded with embarrassment. Hmpf, to act like she was a foolish little girl who knew nothing of her role in society.
Examining some paperwork on which guests were supposed to arrive when, her eye caught on one name in particular, Usoro. She flipped through the pages to see which Leostan royal was going to be a thorn in her side. Flora groaned as she read the name out, "Andrei Usoro." As if she hadn't suffered enough already. The thought of seeing, let alone speaking to the prince made her skin crawl. Flora did not trust the Leostans one bit. There was a reason they had a reputation. According to the page on the Leostans, Andrei would be the only royal in attendance, but he would be bringing a few diplomats and nobles. At least that was a small relief, because Flora didn't think she could handle multiple Usoros.
Shuffling through the papers, Flora tried to figure out what to do first. There really wasn't any instructions on what exactly she was to do, but she was hoping that her training on etiquette would suffice. If not, maybe she would steal an advisor or someone to help her out. According to the documents, the first group of people should be arriving today. It was still a bit until the coronation, but most of the important guests in attendance would be staying at the castle well until after the coronation. Especially those that were more politically savvy that would stay as long as they could if it meant gaining some kind of sway within the castle. Everyone had their own agendas, something Flora was to keep in mind. As she was told by Felix, "make sure you are polite, but don't give the impression you can do anything for them."
There was a knock on the door, before Rose strode in, an advisor in tow. He was much younger than the other advisors, maybe in his mid thirties. He was short, but stocky in build with mousy brown hair. Anyone would probably ignore him in a crowd. The advisor bowed towards Flora and introduced himself, "Good afternoon your highness, as I recall we have met before." Flora had never seen this man in her life. Realizing that she didn't recognize him, he continued, "Yes... I am Paul Roy. I have been tasked with escorting you through introductions and the like." Something about the man seemed, off, maybe even sleazy. He spoke again in an insultingly simple tone, "you can follow me princess."
Flora did not appreciate being addressed as such. This man had some nerve coming into her chambers unannounced and disrespecting her by ordering her around. "Actually Paul," she laid emphasis on his first name, "I have something that I need to sort out before we go." She looked at Rose, the feeling apparently mutual. "If you will please wait out in the hallway, and I will meet you there." Paul didn't move at first, clearly his feathers were ruffled. He didn't seem to like a girl ordering him about, but that made it all the much sweeter for Flora. "Now." He turned and left with a snide expression. Good.
As the door clicked shut, Rose turned to Flora and asked, "what is it you must attend to now?"
Flora smirked, "Nothing, I was just showing him his place." Rose gave her a look, not quite disproving, but not pleased. Flora just shrugged her shoulders. "I feel like being petty today." Rose looked like she was about to go on some spiel about acting her position, before Flora said, "I will be perfectly mannered with everyone else, don't worry Rose." She walked over and picked up her notes that she was most definitely going to make Paul carry. She smoothed down the folds of her dress and headed to meet Paul out in the hallway. This could go many of ways.
Paul was standing with his arms crossed, very obviously irritated, but Flora just gave him a smirk and started walking towards the receiving room. This past year had been a lot for Flora, but one thing that she was sure of is that she wasn't as useless as she had thought. She still had a lot of room to grow, but she was becoming more confident in herself. It didn't hurt that she was finally working on her abilities, as elusive as they might be.
As they neared the room, Paul cleared his throat in probably the most annoying way ever. He must have been catching on that Flora would not take any kind of disrespect from a weasel of a man. Even still, as they entered the room, he started ordering around servants like he owned the place. Paul turned to Flora and sounded off a list of things to do like he was addressing just anyone, "princess, you are to sit on the smaller throne to receive our guests. I will tell you who is coming in before they enter, and I will give you a small list of things to say to each person."
He made to turn, but Flora cut him off, "let me make one thing clear, PAUL." She was not going to address him as Mr. or advisor, or any other glimmer of respect. "I am not some servant for you to order about." She lifted her chin while looking down the bridge of her nose at him. "You job here is to ADVISE, not to order. If you can't even do your job properly, I'll make sure that you will no longer have one." Flora stared down the man who was both shrinking and puffing out as if he wanted to make a retort but knew better than to do so. His face reddened at the embarrassment of being told off by a girl, and the fact that she had told him he was very easily replaceable.
Flora nodded her head and turned towards the throne. "And by the way PAUL, I am to be addressed properly. To people like you it is 'your highness' not 'princess'. I trust that won't be so hard to remember." She sat on the throne and snapped her fingers at Paul to hand her her papers, which he begrudgingly handed over. "Now who is first?"
Scrunching his nose, Paul answered, "Count and Countess Baubin, your highness, they have quite a bit of land in the outlaying territories in the North."
"I am well aware..." Why repeat everything that had not only been taught to her since she was young, but was also compiled in her notes. Ugh, she couldn't wait to be done with this man. Maybe she could convince Felix to lend her someone else. "Send them in."