Opeli had read the letter in front of the high council. When she had lowered it, there were three aghast, speechless faces in front of her. Three hours had then passed.
Three heated hours of confused, angry, pompous and entitled arguing. The councilwoman leaned back in her chair.
The crown prince wasn't coming back as soon as possible.
That was his prerogative.
He had chosen a princess.
That was also his prerogative, albeit unusual for him to do so without the council's traditional blessings. She was willing to forgive this, given the terrible news he'd been given and the situation he was in.
But...
That he had chosen an elven princess?
That was very problematic.
All tradition and, well, racism aside, it would still confuse people. It would raise questions about his loyalties, even his sanity, given his father's history with elves.
Still, Opeli understood his choice to propose, it was a good tactic if they were banking on showing her attachment to him.
The elven Assembly was ruthless outside their halls, yes, but they showed a respect for dignitaries and decorum within, they had diplomatic backbone.
Scoffing, Opeli acknowledged the fact that Harrow wouldn't have been killed on the floors of their Senates or Assembly. Here, where they wouldn't have to clean his blood off the floor, he was assassinated without mercy.
Xadia was occasionally civil but exacting like a well-honed blade where the rules of engagement were concerned.
Callum's choice would likely have more problematic repercussions here. People did not like elves, on the whole. There was a deep-seated, almost genetic hatred.
Over a thousand years, the memory of being exiled had been passed down, and those who had forgiven the elves for this old sin had collected fresh gripes against them. Be it the constant attacks against people who lived near the border or the unwillingness to even just talk, or the racism that flowed like rivers in both directions - it was a total mess.
The councilwoman was sure that if her new elven princess was to come to Katolis, she would face the worst that humankind had to offer and it would be an uphill battle the likes of which few royals had to ever fight.
By extension, her being at Callum's side would reflect on him, too. Unlike the Xadian Assembly, the rabble did not have an established respect for foreign royalty.
Begrudgingly, the councilwoman admitted her own problems with the idea of an elven Queen. Prejudice was weighing on her, but she was trying her best to keep an open mind.
Maybe none of this was going to be an issue. There were no guarantees that either the Crown Prince or would-be Crown Princess were going to ever cross the Breach again. It would certainly make things… hm.
"The end of a royal line, Opeli", she scolded herself, "Don't forget; Civil war follows so easily, especially with dangerous people like Viren out there. Order is paramount."
Going over the letter again, she read his list of… were they orders? Requests? He'd formulated them as though they were the latter, like his father had. Harrow had always been open for criticism, but had often ignored it in favour of staying true to his ideals. Opeli couldn't help but wonder if Callum would be the same way.
She pulled up her chair and pulled out her inkwell, dipped her quill and started writing.
"Your Majesty. We are pleased to find you well and are…"
She stopped. How to formulate this to not be a lie but also keep the potential for offense at a minimum?
"... are rather very surprised to hear of your unexpected engagement."
That was uncontroversial enough, right? It sounded more like a reflection on his age - which was absolutely not the problem, here, royals were often promised to each other as literal children - rather than on his choice of partner, right?
"Your late father always valued the high council's advice and instincts and from your letter, I assumed you wish to have the same sort of dialog. Therefore I'll go over your requests and add some notes from the high council's latest meeting. Where we agree, we will simply execute on your wishes."
She bent over his letter to copy down his first instruction.
"1. Please continue the armistice at the border and do your best to keep the situation peaceable.
We are in complete agreement. We do not have the military might to do anything other than to hold the Breach. Once it falls, Katolis will be virtually defe-"
She stopped, the quill hovering over the tail end of the `e`. What if this letter fell into Xadian hands? With a sigh, she pulled out another piece of paper and rewrote her introduction.
"1. Please continue the armistice at the border and do your best to keep the situation peaceable.
We agree on this completely and will follow your guidelines, however we are mustering more forces to deal with any problems that may occur. If you do not think this prudent or necessary, please let us know."
Better.
"2. Please instate a time of mourning for my brother. My father passed without having this tradition applied to him and I will not stand for another insult to my family's memory. Allow him two weeks as compensation for Viren's violation of my father's rites."
Okay. He had some points in her book for that. Viren's actions on the day of the assassination still disgusted her. The fact that meek little Callum put his foot down here showed that he was no longer so meek or so little.
"Here too, you have my full compliance. I applaud you for your strong connection to Katolin tradition. I will point out, however, that before you return, there isn't a need for the cancellation of a state of mourning. Katolis will be grieving until you take your rightful place at its helm."
"3. Please start a campaign of information among the citizenry, telling them about their princess and the possibility of peace among the federations."
Opeli groaned. This was a point that she had to qualify with him.
"I understand why you would like to prepare the people for this change. It behooves us to do this, for both your and the Lady Rayla's sake. However, I will suggest we do so slowly and gradually and not until you are both on your way home. It is a thing to be seen, not merely to be heard or read. The same goes for the possibility of peace. We should not announce facts that have not been made, yet. On your further direction, I will execute on this request, but will hold off on it, for now."
"4. Unless you already have, find Viren and lock him up."
Opeli nodded grimmly. This was the only command among his points.
"We are already turning over every rock in Katolis."
"5. Please enter the title `Lady of the Starlit Skies` in our registers."
Opeli blinked. Now that was a title worth writing in cursive. Rather heavy handed, perhaps, but it was certainly unlike all the other titles that she'd ever heard in use. He'd probably asked her to make one up, herself. It sounded foreign, exotic, but fitting for a moonshadow elf.
"Goodness!", she tittered, catching herself penning it over and over on her discarded letter in her best calligraphic hand, "I'm a hopeless romantic!"
Turning back to her actual letter, she wrote, "I'll say she chose well, if a little melodramatic. But then, one only gets to pick once. Please do ask her to reconsider, maybe using one of the traditional titles below, especially since it's a temporary one. I'm sure it would please our citizens to find she respects our history. She should want to get used to this sort of consideration."
With that she got up to grab the registry of titles. It was rather thick, listing every title ever held by any Katolin Royal. Obviously there were the extremely imaginative ones, one for every single city, town and hamlet in the confines of the domain. Ugh. Then there were the more beautiful ones, the ones that carried real meaning to the kingdom.
Opeli wrote.
"I'd like to propose these titles. Obviously, I have little information about her highness to anticipate her needs, so forgive me if they are a bit stereotypical.
Lady of the Shield and Blade - held by Empress Saskia, first of the house of Katol.
Lady of Care - held by Theresa the Healer.
Lady of the Crescent Reflection - held by…"
Oh wait, ugh. That one was fraught with issues! Queen Xena had killed a lot of Moonshadow elves and enjoyed it, hence the name. Opeli frowned. Time to rewrite the letter, again!
After rewriting her responses, she thought better of it and grabbed a second piece of paper to make her recommendations.
"Lady of the Shield and Blade - held by Empress Saskia, first of the house of Katol.
Lady of Care - held by Lady Rae, the Healer.
Lady of the Windward Sail - held by Admiral Omashu, scourge of the Valmar sea.
Lady in Arcane Power - held by High Mage Katherine.
Lady of Distant Call - held by Philosopher Shie.
Lady in Serenity - held by Lady Tohso, Silencer of Dalmass.
Lady upon Taelin Rock - held by General Amay-"
Wait a minute. This too, would be completely inappropriate!
"Focus, you pidgeon!", Opeli reprimanded herself.
A frustrated groan and the sound of furious scratching of a quill later, Opeli looked over the list.
Shield and Blade. Care. Windward Sail. Arcane Power. Distant Call. Serenity.
Aggression. Ministration. Adventure. Magic. Foreign origin. Considered action.
Did that cover the gamut of a moonshadow elf?
The councilwoman sighed, somewhat content.
In the worst-case scenario, she'd have the dramatic title of `Rayla, Lady of Starlit Skies`.
Either way, she wouldn't hold it for long if they decided to actually complete their union.
Rayla, Lady Upon Twin Towers.
That actually sounded much worse.
Not because of the title, though.