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A/N: Thanks to Chewie-Fan and scorpionangel88 for their reviews.
Hope you enjoy.
September 20th 1688, Morning
Holding onto Josh's arm she walked with him to where the meeting of the three Kings was going to take place. She and Josh had had breakfast in his apartment, deciding that they deserved some time away from the eyes of court before they would be forced to move about in front of them.
Aria knew that he had agreed to the idea because of her. He had wanted to see the friends he had left when they were sent to the country. But they had just arrived so he had no need to rush out to see them.
She gripped his arm tighter as the two of them drew closer to the intended place for the gathering. While other monarchs had visited Nohwelena the only one she had ever actually met was Phil. Before then she had never been deemed important enough to be introduced to whoever it was that was visiting.
"You are going to be fine." Glancing at Josh she noticed that he was looking straight ahead.
"Are you alright?" He nodded quickly in response. "You aren't nervous, are you?" His eyes flickered in her direction.
"No, I'm not." They arrived before two large doors before she could call Josh a liar.
"Your Highnesses." The guards spoke as one as the bowed and opened the door for them. The Kings from Timbat and Wizor hadn't arrived yet so they were able to enter without much fuss.
"At least one of my sons is able to wake up on time." Phil muttered as Josh and Aria took their seats to his right.
"I'm sure Jacob will get here soon." Phil raised an eyebrow at Josh before snorting.
"Maybe. You know how much your brother likes to sleep." The sound of approaching footsteps caused the three of them to look at the main door. "May God protect us all if we fail in gaining peace." Without thinking Aria reached out and grabbed Josh's hand.
September 20th 1688, Afternoon
The sight before him was one that few had ever seen. On the right branch of the U-shaped dais the King of Wizor sat with his son and ambassador. While on the left was the Timbat King, his wife and ambassador. Freddy stood in his normal place behind Phil waiting to be called upon.
The three Sovereigns were in the midst of discussing a peace treaty; their children listened intensely to the discussion but offered nothing to it. He smiled as he watched Aria mutter something to herself.
"Why should I back out when this war will end in monumental gains for my people?"
"Because it was started by a slight done years ago."
"I apologize for wanting to take action against the villains who shamed my daughter." King Keith banged his fist upon the table and glared at his Timbatian counterpart.
"Gentlemen please. We have gathered to secure peace not yell at each other." With a motion of his hand Phil called Freddy forward. "Set up the maps we had done." Freddy bowed and went about his task.
"What is this Phil?"
"Words do not seem to be painting an accurate picture of what the political situations are, so my advisor and I decided to commission maps that do just that." Freddy gave each of the Kings a piece of parchment. "This one shows all the alliances. As you can clearly see this war is not going to go anywhere. With Nohwelena free from her own fighting she is now able to send aid to Timbat."
"Why them? The Princess is engaged to my son." Phil turned to look at Keith.
"But you knew very well that can change. Timbat was her ally first they have served each other well." Freddy observed Aria lean towards Josh and whisper something to him, he nodded in understanding before opening his mouth to speak.
September 20th 1688, Night
Mary nestled deeper into the blankets. It felt nice finally being off of her feet. The past couple of weeks had been hectic ones. The war with Kolinad was finally over and her father once again ruled over court. She didn't admit to anyone how relieved she was that she no longer had any real responsibility.
She spared Jake a quick glance before turning on her side. Without much thought her hand came to rest on her stomach. Her courses were late, only by a few days, but still. Was it a lot to think that she was pregnant? Every night since they were married, and she was clean, Jake had shared her bed.
As a young woman she was certainly fertile so to become pregnant so fast wasn't a stretch. Though she may only be late. If she missed her next cycle she would call for a midwife to confirm what she was thinking. Until then she would act as if nothing was happening. Every night and every morning she would look for any sign of blood. Hopefully Jake wouldn't notice that she was late. The last thing she needed was him getting disappointed if this amounted to nothing.
Still, if she was with child, she hoped that it was a girl. Mary knew that her father and almost everyone else would be praying for a boy but she didn't want to have a son first. There would be no pressure placed upon her daughter. The child would be hers to raise while a son would mean a change in the line of succession and the baby being more the son of the country than her own. Did that make her selfish? Biting back a yawn she closed her eyes and allowed herself to drift to sleep.
