"If you continue writing like that, you're going to burn a hole through the paper." Roberto laughed. They were almost back at Villa Altaria and Gwen hadn't spoken to him the entire ride from Charles. Instead she'd been scribbling intently in her notebook the whole way. Gwen looked up from her notebook wearing an apologetic smile.
"Now Rob, you and the others have trusted me with an important task. I want to make sure I do things right. I want to start by meeting with each of the princes to see exactly what they want to gain from a union with Cordonia and what they're afraid they'll lose." She explained. "I know Wilfred likes to have his meetings early in the morning and that he prefers to have everything scheduled through Claude but Glenn likes to schedule his appointments himself…."
"Why don't you start with me?" Roberto asked.
"Alright." Gwendolyn repositioned herself so that she could better interview her friend. She changed her notebook to a blank page and asked her first question. "Prince Roberto of Altaria, what do you hope to gain from a relationship with Cordonia, if we are able to build one?"
"Not much honestly." Roberto yawned. "Altaria's in a good place. I just hope these Cordonians know how to have fun. The others can be stuffy a lot of the time, don't you think?"
"Seriously? That's what you're hoping for?" Gwen couldn't believe what she was hearing. "You just want some new friends to hang out with?"
"It sounds better if you say that I'm looking forward to making new allies." Roberto decided. "Plus, it would be nice to explore and see new places."
"I see." Gwen wrote Roberto's answer down. "And are you worried about having to give anything up?"
"No." Roberto answered confidently. "We've been able to make things work with the other kingdoms. How hard could it be to add one more?"
"Well, introducing another kingdom into the union will be more taxing on everyone's resources." Gwen sighed. "And Prince Edward said that Cordonia is a large kingdom. That might spread resources even thinner."
"Miss Gwendolyn is right, Your Highness." Alberto added from the driver's seat. Gwen and Roberto turned and faced the back of his head with surprise. Neither of them realized that he'd been listening in on their conversation. "Adding another kingdom will change things in Altaria for better or worse. You should consider this change seriously."
"Yeah, okay." Roberto rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. "Can I think about my answers a little longer?"
"Sure Rob." Gwen nodded. "I know Al said you have a tight schedule to keep this afternoon but maybe later we can hang out and watch a movie?"
"That'd be great." Roberto's smile returned. "I'll work extra hard so that we can hang out."
"Miss Gwendolyn, Prince Roberto, welcome home." Alberto turned the limo onto the twisting driveway of Villa Altaria and within seconds the Altarian palace came into view.
Over the next five weeks Gwendolyn worked tirelessly. She somehow managed to finish all her schoolwork as well as find time to interview four of the six princes. (Roberto had yet to express any serious concerns to her and she knew she would have time to speak with Edward before the gala the next morning.) While visiting the princes, she stopped in each of their royal libraries for information on Cordonia and also any relevant information about the union kingdoms. She even tried her best to find out about the other nonunion kingdoms that would be invited to Prince Edward's Gala.
It was the evening before the gala. In the morning Gwen, Prince Roberto and Alberto would all be traveling back to Charles to help Edward with the final preparations. Currently Gwendolyn sat cross-legged on the floor of her room at Villa Altaria. Cordonian newspapers and magazines were stacked neatly by one of her knees. Next to the stack was a file folder filled with all the information she'd gathered on the applecentric Kingdom. Spread out in a fan around her were folders for each of the six union kingdoms and three more kingdoms that had been invited to the gala. Gwen was currently skimming through one of the Cordonian newspapers when someone knocked on her door.
"Come in." She called loudly, assuming it was Alberto. He usually came by to see if she needed anything before he retired for the night. She looked up from the magazine to see Prince Roberto holding a tray of tea with a few cookies carefully arranged on it.
"I saw that your lights were still on and thought I'd bring you a treat before bed." He explained placing the tea tray on a nearby table. "You've been working so hard."
"Cordonia wasn't exactly easy to research." Gwen yawned as she got to her feet. She stretched a little and shook out her tired limbs as she walked over to the table where Roberto stood. "But I'm sure it will all be worth it tomorrow when the King and his entourage arrive tomorrow. King Liam shares several similarities with all of you."
"Oh yeah?" Roberto asked, stealing a cookie for himself. "Like what?"
"Well, just like Wilfred Liam wasn't originally the crown prince of Cordonia." Gwen prepared herself a cup of tea as she talked with Roberto. "He had an older brother, Leo, who abdicated. Cordonia is a Kingdom with a lot of traditions and although they don't have as many laws as Dres Van, their justice system is no joke. Just like Edward said the royal family tends to leave day to day governing to the Dukes and Duchesses of their varying provinces. They only intervene on matters that will affect the kingdom as a whole. Prince Keith will like that."
"You were able to discover all of this from newspapers and fashion magazines?" Robert questioned as he bit into a second cookie.
"Not at all!" Gwen laughed. "The reason the six of you know so little about Cordonia is because most of the information available in the royal libraries across the six kingdoms is written a Cordonian specific dialect of Greek. It's an older practically unused language since most of Cordonia speaks English today. Only older or ceremonial legal documents are even written in it. Luckily Charles University has an excellent library and I was able to get English translations of almost anything I needed."
"And the fashion magazines?" Roberto asked again.
"That's because I started looking into Cordonia's more recent history." Gwen sighed. She paused to sip from her tea. "Once I knew what kind of Kingdom Cordonia was, I wanted to know what kind of King Liam was."
"What did you find out?" He wanted to know.
"I think in honor of fairness, I ought to let you make your own first impression along with the others tomorrow." Gwen commented, finishing her tea. She set her teacup down, suddenly looking very serious. "Hey Rob, I've never really been able to thank you…"
"Thank me?" Roberto looked confused, before nodding. "Oh, for the tea. It's no big deal. Al brings you tea all the time."
"What? No not for the tea." She shook her head. "I meant everything else. You were the reason I came to Altaria in the first place…"
"You mean me and my big mouth." He huffed regrettably.
"I wouldn't exactly put it that way, but it was still nice of you to allow me to stay at the Villa when it wasn't safe for me to go back to my apartment in Charles." Gwen told him. "And even after everything that happened, when I said I thought it was best for us to stay friends. You still insisted that I stay in Altaria. And you were the one who suggested that I be in charge of researching Cordonia for the others. Things have been so chaotic that I've just never had a chance to thank you for being such a good friend."
"It was nothing! That's what friend's do isn't?" Roberto waved her off, his usual smile returning. He changed the subject quickly. "Say, I did think of one thing you can add to your list."
"My list?" Gwen didn't quite understand.
"Yeah your list of things we're afraid to lose." Roberto explained.
"Oh right. What is? I'll write it down." Gwen asked, searching around the room for a pen.
"It's not a big deal." He remarked casually. "Just promise me that no matter what happens we'll always be friends. I just have this feeling that after tomorrow everything is going to change."
"Rob, we'll always be friends. I can promise you that." Gwen assured him.
"I'm glad we've settled that. You should probably get some rest." He leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead. "We wouldn't want you too tired for the big Gala! Oh, and I had Al leave something in the closet for you while you were at school earlier, but don't look until the morning, okay?"
With a playful smile on his lips, Roberto winked before sauntering out of the room. Yawning again, Gwen got to work gathering all her folders, magazines and newspapers off the ground. She wanted everything together and ready when it was time to leave for Charles in the morning. As she cleaned and straighten, she did cast a wistful glace at the closet wondering if she should dare a peek inside. The surprise gift from Roberto could only be a new dress for the gala. Shaking her head, Gwen decided to keep her promise not to look until tomorrow. She changed and turned off the lights before tip-toeing across the marble floor and snuggling into bed for the night.