Jerboa stands at the door the auditorium, knowing she is extremely late. She breathes in and out, trying to calm herself.
She tires to comfort herself, but she couldn't help but worry.
She had spent an additional 30 minutes finding the auditorium. She underestimated the size of the royal palace and overestimated her directional skills. She was very tempted to cast a spell after the first 10 minutes, but she knew it wasn't worth it. After all, being late for 10 min was better than losing your sanity.
She sighed and tried to prep herself.
She creaked the door open slowly, praying that it wouldn't be too loud and she could sneak in unnoticed.
Of course, after thinking that, the door had to squeak as loud at possible.
The sunlight in the room was the polar opposite of the palace itself and bombarded Jerboa. She squinted and slowly closed the door. All the dragons in the auditorium turned their head towards her and she froze up. Their stares felt like they were burning a hole through her. Even the queen was looking straight at her.
Oh for the sake of all baked lizards! She cursed in her mind.
"H-hello," Jerboa managed to force out a soft hello. She felt like her cheeks were burning up. If there were a hole in the ground, she wouldn't hesitate to jump in.
Queen Scorpion smiled her royal smile and straightened her back a bit more. She extended her wings boomed out in her royal meeting voice, as if asserting dominance.
"Ah, Jerboa! You have finally arrived!"
Jerboa knew that smile. It was the smile when you don't like something but you smile anyway to be polite. Her eyes eluded a sliver of coldness before she let out a smile of the same nature. Her hatred for Queen Scorpion had already passed the normal standard of hatred.
She bowed and responded with a neutral voice, "Forgive me for coming late, your majesty, I encountered some trouble on my way here."
The royal council returned their attention to the queen, no longer sparing Jerboa a glance. However, when they retraced their looks, they started to whisper among themselves. She thought nothing of it, as she was used to weird looks. She was an animus after all. She didn't know why, but she had a bad feeling.
Jerboa then looked around the auditorium, finally grasping the size of it. It was big enough to fit hundreds of dragons. But before then a sharp ray of sunlight stabbed into her eyes. The windows in the auditorium were ginormous and the gold lined walls only intensified the light. It took a while before Jerboa moved again. After all, her eyes hadn't adjusted to the light just yet. After a coupled of seconds of blinking and curses she started to look for a seat.
She browsed over the sea of dragons before spotting a specific SandWing. This SandWing as lightly runty, but her above average looks made her look nice. She wasn't the prettiest SandWing of the world but she was diffidently a dragon, male SandWings would fight for. She was sitting in the third row, which was quite close considering the auditorium's size. She looked towards her and, just as she had expected, an empty seat was waiting for here.
She slowly made her way towards the seat, trying not to rush, but not appear too slow. After arriving she had to squish past numerous dragons. She inwardly sighed and wished that her friend had chosen a seat closer to the sides.
A few awkward grunts and apologizes later, she collapsed onto the empty seat. She angrily glared at the small SandWing but she only smirked and continues to ignore her. Only after a few minutes of Queen Scorpion's speech, she sighed under her breath and said,
"You are so oblivious that I can't even be bothered to tell you how oblivious you are."
Jerboa was engrossed in the conversation of two male dragons in front of her when her words shook her back into reality. They were complaining how the royal palace didn't have enough violence and how the Queen was so nice.
"Excuse me, but its not my fault this palace has so many hallways. And this is my first royal gathering so I can't be blamed for being late ok? And plus, look who's talking! Sandry, I don't think you've ever been on time in your life."
Jerboa retorted with anger. Her day was ready bad and Sandry insulting her was the last straw. She poured out all her anger and directed it to Sandry.
"No, idiot. Being late isn't why you're the most idiotic SandWings of the history of Pyrriha! Do you even know why we were all gathered here today?"
Sandry hissed before falling into deep thought. The worry on her face was apparent, like something Jerboa had ever seen.
"W-what? Isn't it just normal, boring royal gathering?"
Jerboa said in confusion. This wasn't entirely her fault. And since she didn't live the royal palace, she only assumed what royal meeting/gatherings were like. She had never actually attended one until now. Therefore, she was clueless.
"Y-you MORON! This gathering is about what type of punishment you get!"