"So, how did you survive the fire?" Grace questioned when her magical aid had finished describing her morning. It sounded like the goblins had been absolute monsters to her, but that had to be taken with a grain of salt. She knew Karita was very close-minded when it came to other races. She sighed in exasperation at how the nobles had been using propaganda to warp perceptions over the past few generations. She only had an advantage in this due to her mother teaching her otherwise.
As to why this was, the Empress wanted to make sure that her heir knew what the world was truly like beyond the borders of the continent itself. The fact was that for whatever reason, Aelunia has always been ahead of everyone else in magic and technology. The main reason for this was simple as it was vicious. The gulf had always held a certain level of importance. While it is true that this importance was never noted until the House of Winfield established itself in what is now the capital, Qalm Gulf had always had an impact on the Empire.
Before the advent of ships, it had served as a barrier that bottle-necked the ancient kingdoms from the rest of the continent. The main trade had been through Wholumph city by land.. It was once the center of a once rich kingdom that had jealously established and guarded its borders to cut off the peninsula. In the lands directly east of them was a land of rivers and tributaries. It was in this land that the earliest water vessels were built. The rivers became the life blood of the House of Aelu. It would be only when vessels could navigate the gulf that everything changed. Her house broke off from the main family to establish their own seat of power. In time this led to the rise of a new Aelunia. The naval trade brought Wholumph crashing down. Its ruins lie west to the Imperial capital. This had all been a long time ago.
After all of this, the Winfield house started to systematically unite the peninsula and assert it's rule over the waters. They built a strong navy and sent ships far and wide. Anytime the came upon someone who could rival their naval might, they went to war and crushed said threats before establishing a colony to keep things in check. Wholumph had served as an abject lesson to never allow others to undercut one's power. Aelunia guarded its magics and technologies for this reason while stealing from others. Grace was never to fond of it all, but she understood why it was deemed necessary.
The real issue had been the horrific discovery that humanity seemed to only exist on this continent. A continent that could not be fully explored for one reason or another. A continent that was only hospitable on the peninsula, around the gulf, and along the Lost Range. Beyond the human nations to the East were horrible swamps and marshes that end at Sanginus, the land of death. For some unknown reason, everything past a certain point has died out and a nation ruled over by vampires lies beyond it. Ever since the earliest records, humanity has been in constant strife with these true monsters. No living being truly knows what goes on there and what lies beyond.
The point of the fact is that Humans only exist in one part of the world and other races seem to occupy the rest of it. This led to the school of thought that Humanity was superior due to how they had advanced and the horrors of the lands compared to the rest of the known world. This isn't helped by the fact that the Southern continent actually is very nice and fully explored by one race or another and their military might was nothing compared to our own on sea.
All in all it was disheartening. Not to mention the manner in which the Empire handled diplomacy. However that was not a matter for now. The princess brushed these thoughts aside as she focused on Karita.
"Well, I am a mage, after all. If I didn't have a cantrip or two on hand for accidents like those, I'd be done for long ago," Karita boasted with a haughty laugh. It honestly was grating how vexing this woman could be in Grace's opinion.
"Former mage, Karita, FORMER," Grace emphasized pointedly enough to deflate the exasperating woman's ego," In any case, lead me to my maids. I believe there is much to be sorted out.
The woman whose posture had slackened in sorrow immediately pepped up at this. She nodded while concurring," Why yes, that would be good. I last left them in the kitchen downstairs."
With that said, the were off and en-route to the kitchen where Grace's maids are hopefully cooking something for lunch. It was getting a little close to noon after all.~I wonder what kind of fare we'll be having today.~ She thought with a nod to Jade. Her friend was still riding on her shoulder as they made their way.
As they approached, she could smell the scent of cooked meat. Judging by the heavier undertone, it was either grilled or roasted. Interestingly, she could smell a strong scent that reminded her of certain plants. When they opened the door, they were greeted by the sight of a large tray with various meats and vegetables in rows and skewered by various long objects. One of these skewers even used a now warped and straightened ladle! As odd as it was, Grace actually found it quite an interesting looking meal.
"My, that looks good!" She commented aloud, catching the attention of one of the goblins who was coming in from outside with a few more of the odd skewers.
"Oh, hey there princess! Been a busy morning for us!" Grizt greeted her with a smile. Ever since that fateful day, she has always been nice to the princess. She never quite understood why though. After all, she was holding them as slaves.
"YOU!" Karita screamed," You're the little devil that tried to kill me!"
"Hey, not my fault you can't take the heat!" Grizt retorted with a vicious glare. Something wasn't right here. A slave shouldn't be able to kill unless they are protecting their owner.
"Is this true?" She asked the leader of her maids. She snorted at this before grinning.
"What? Nah, firecracker here decided to stand too close to the fire pit I was making," Grizt answered with a chuckle before leveling another glare at Karita.
"You are the ones who set up that vicious trap! I should have you killed for the harm you brought on me!" the former mage screamed back as her eyes narrowed.
"You want to talk about hurt! Then tell me why you kicked my friend!" Grizt hollered back. Both of them were looking murder at one another.
"STOP!" Grace yelled at the two of them before turning on Karlita," I believe you have left some matters out. Why did you assault one of my maids!"
"Look, I am not going to be putting up with smart ass remarks from these pathetic creatures. Also your HIGHNESS, I don't honestly give a damn about you and your sensibilities. You want your crown? Well guess what! You NEED me! Without my help, you won't even know how to go about magical development in the area. Which, I might add, is necessary in any modern town!" Karita ranted to her so-called employer.
"Well, good news!" Grace replied with an angelic smile that quickly morphed into a sneer," I don't care about the crown! No one is likely to follow me and I'm more likely to end up dead if I take it. Quite frankly, YOU are the only one here who will lose anything of importance. I'm your only hope to get back into the guild and get your precious R&D job! So guess what! I'm going to laying down a few rules for you if you don't want to know how much of a hell I can make your life here," She answered in kind. Karita stumbled back from the amount of vitriol the princess had sent her way," The first rule is drop the racism and second is don't abuse my maids! Now get back to work or what ever. I'll give you a list to follow later. I have to talk to my maids!"
The former mage had grown pale at this. It was clear that she was livid at the situation. However, she wasn't a complete fool and didn't want to challenge her on the matter for now. Once dismissed, Karita rigidly left the kitchen to get back to her studies and planning.
With that taken care of, Grace turned back to her maid," Well then call the others in and we can all eat. I am quite famished. Also please bring jade a few fresh carrots," She ordered her servant in a friendly manner before going to the table where the goblins had placed the tray of food. She noticed the stool they were using to get up and smiled before dragging four more out before finally getting her own chair. She was looking forward to having a friendly chat with them. Especially, since she had some things to go over with them.