Alia had rarely strayed beyond her royal quarters, lately she had been confined to them between sleep and paperwork and her scheduled visits to the throne room.
Now, she wondered the surrounding halls in a sense of awe, she had checked and double checked the castle blueprints and if her calculations were correct one of these great double doors on her left should lead to Lord Oldin's study. She was hoping she would find the lion hybrid there.
Presently, she came to a guarded room.
"Lord Oldin?!" She both questioned and commanded. The guard bowed, pushing the doors open for her.
The light from inside washed over her, myriads of gold and orange, mesmerized she ventured in. Magnificent trees grew up from the floor to the ceiling spreading their branches, adorned with leaves of yellow, orange and red. Light was filtering in from a window above and reflected up from the shinning, mirror like floor. Alia was enraptured by the wonderful scene before her and it took her ears a good moment to recognize Lord Oldin's listless voice.
"Meow, meow meoooow!"
Her brows furrowed as she swept the indoor forest. Then it occurred to her that she should look up.
"Lord Oldin?" He was laying on a branch in a very sulky, lazy manner that was all too new to Alia and at the sound of her voice, he quickened to address this. Another glance around, revealed the bookshelves cut into the trees and the table and chair swing set.
"Oh your royal highness!" he didn't sound too impressed but rather annoyed with her presence and seemed to ponder wether he should leave his perch.
"Why? You could have nocked and are we so familiar that you did not think to send for me?"
Alia was too awed to focus on the sarcasm dripping from his lips.
"Lord Oldin". she repeated suddenly unsure of how to go about the proposition. He decided to desert his altitude, landing on his feet in one perfect leap.
"Please excuse my bluntness but is there something you wanted? It's about time I go for my daily wanderings about the hall of honor, there's a statue of me there you know, it makes me feel important."
"That's it!" she started. "I mean Lord Oldin, that is the reason on which I have come, I want to appoint you, Ambassador for the people". He raised an eyebrow sceptically. "The people need someone," she continued watching him closely to see if he was following. "Who they know, who has always been with them and they can look to. Someone who is desirable and..." his chest puffed a bit and she could see her flattery was doing its work, she just needed some bigger words. "Eloquent and who better than you?!" She met the eyes of a pleasantly surprised Oldin.
"Hmmm..."
Alia smiled.
"Think about it."
She left him with those words to find the others members of the dinning council that resided in the castle.
That afternoon caught her in the royal kitchens, stirring a bowl of creamy batter under the watchful eyes of Netly, head chef. The royal kitchen had once been a bright and bustling place, the air thick with anxiety and rich with smells of strong spices and the sweet smell of baking goodies. It was still the same, floors and walls scrubbed clean and glowing in the hazy yellow of burning candles in the chandeliers above. The only difference was that they were dangerously short on staff and two of the cooks were actually maids volunteering!
"A little faster, my Queen".
"Ah of course Netly" Alia smiled, adding speed to her stirring.
Her goals were simple, strengthening the loyalty of her subjects through relationship building and lending an ear to the suggestions of others. She could barely hold a sword properly, how could she expect to win a war alone?