The Next Chapter...Sephiroth Kingdom

Chapter 4

POV Elizabeth

I looked towards the glowing inner core of the planet with a worried expression. Never before in my life have I seen the core shake and glow as it has within these past years. When Legretta had first left for the outer world the inner core had acted as it normally had. The core had a white tinted glow that gave off warmth and a promised security. It had been still and non-shaking. Now, it shook so violently that it caused the whole kingdom to shake making buildings fall and damaging the very foundation of the island floating within the cores space. If this kept occurring I would have to return the kingdom to the outer planet, but that couldn't happen until the miasma was neutralized and the outer lands returned to their proper places.

"Maggie, my darling! Wait!" A blond man donning a full suit of armor begged the platinum blond female who was quickly making her way away from him. "Can't we at least talk about this darling? I mean, I know it was your least favorite flower, but there is no reason to assume that I love you any less."

"That's not the point Siegfried! That was never the point! You...Oh, never mind!" Maggie shouted into Siegfried's face.

"But..." Siegfried began only to have the back of Maggie's hand connect with his face.

"ENOUGH!" Maggie's voice resounded as she seethed with anger. With a huff she stomped away from her husband who spoiled her without a thought. Siegfried recovered from the backhand and followed her like a lost puppy.

They seemed to be having problems as of late. Their arguments were fairly frequent and unwarranted on both of their ends. I sighed at the spectacle they had made in front of the castle staff. Even if they were the princess and the prince consort it gave them no right to enact their petty squabbles in the middle of the royal gardens. It was highly inappropriate. I made a mental note to reprimand the two of them later for their public display as I started my way towards the royal gardens entrance. My pace quickened when I saw my husband enter the castle. I had yet to see him today and was very eager to spend some much needed time with him.

"Richard, Hey." I whispered sweetly into his ear.

"Hello love, how are you this lovely afternoon?" Richard said with his award winning smile. "I haven't seen you since this morning and you were still asleep when I left for the Knight's round." He finished with a deep chuckle.

"That's your fault and you know it. You kept me up all night." I grumbled with a slight pout.

"That's not how I remember it. I recall you starting it and all I did was finish it." Richard teased me bringing me into his warm embrace. "Putting all that aside. I missed you today, Elizabeth."

"I missed you as well. What do you say to doing our paper work together for a change? That way we can at least be in the same room." I suggested with a hopeful glance.

"I would love to. Which office would you like to use? My office, or your office?" Richard asked while raising an eyebrow.

"Your office should be fine. I'll meet you there after I gather some paperwork." I said smiling tilting my head to the side while placing my hands on his broad chest. I took the opportunity to lean forward and capture his lips for a fleeting second. "I'll see you then?"

"You shall." Richard finished; pulling away from me and flashing a smile before walking away towards his office in the west wing of the castle. I watched him walk away until he turned the corner moving out of my sight.

I quickly made my way down the vast halls of the castle, walking to my royal office in the east wing of the castle. I came to the tall doors leading to my office and opened the doors, slipping into my office and closing them behind me. It was a very large office with plenty of open space, only a few articles of furniture occupied the space. Some being a decently sized desk, two couches in the middle of the room faced each other with a long coffee table in between the couches and a training mat to the far left of the office from when the children were younger. I shuffled through the stacks of paper on my desk picking the more important documents and placing them in their own separate stack to be taken to Richard's office later. I was just about finished gathering the papers I needed when I heard yelling from the hall.

"Why must you be so difficult Maggie! Every time I come home you always threaten me. Saying you'll tell mom what I've been doing if I don't give you what you want. How in the world is that even fair!" Nina shouted, "You know what? If you don't back off I'll tell mom about your little incident with Siegfried." Nina threatened darkly, "And we all know what she would say about that."

Even if the voice was muffled through the door I had heard every detail, so I made my move. I walked out the door and stood directly behind Nina with my arms crossed and questioned her knowingly. "Please educate me, Nina. What would I say?"

Nina stiffened when she heard my voice. It was as if she was trying to wish me away as she slowly turned around with both eyes closed.

"I don't know actually. What would you say?" Nina squeaked as she started to slowly back away from me.

Maggie didn't waste her new found chance at getting back at her little sister. "Mother, Nina went drinking with that boy again." She sang.

"What?! I remember explicitly forbidding you from doing so!" I shouted at the top of my lungs giving her the most menacing look possible. A look more poisonous than venom.

"Wait! This is a total misunderstanding! I never went drinking with that boy. It was another..more...hot guy...that, I met this morning. It's not that big of a deal! PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!" Nina begged profusely as she sprinted off in a random direction.

"You get back here young lady, or so help me I really will bury you six feet deep!" I warned running after her only to lose her in the crowds of people within the castle. After looking around for Nina and utterly failing, I gave up. I lethargically walked back to my office to retrieve the paperwork I had left there. After picking up the papers, I made my way towards Richards office. It was a fairly short walk even if it was all the way across the castle. I knocked on Richard's office door and made my way in closing the door behind me. When I entered his office I took in the different atmosphere of his space. It had warmer tones on the walls and was homely compared to my large and bright office. The low lighting helped give it a nice, safe feeling along with the large bookshelves that covered the walls.

"Your daughter is a handful Richard." I commented while shaking my head and then bringing a hand to my forehead.

"Well, there's not much we can do considering who her mother is. You two are far similar than you care to think. She just expresses her rebellion more openly than you ever did love." Richard said as he turned his chair to me. I took the offer to sit in his lap and nestled my self into him. With pen and paperwork in hand, I felt ready to work in my loving husband's presence.

I read the papers one by one making edits to the plans stated on each page. I saw no errors in the agreements I signed, dated, and placed within an envelope to be sent to the designated department. I found paperwork fairly monotonous and hardly worth my time. I couldn't be everywhere at once, so it was needed. About half way through my work I sighed and leaned further into Richard's toned chest. He hummed and gently kissed the top of my head in response.

"Is there something on your mind love? It's a rare occasion for you to sigh." Richard asked stopping his work to give me his full attention.

"The researchers' report is showing only negative results. The kingdom has less than a year to move out of the inner core. Every second that ticks by shows the core increasing in intensity. I'm going to have to move the plans forward at this rate, and I am unable to warn Legretta. I can't leave the kingdom within it's current state of danger." I explained with a slight frustration lingering below my usual tone.

"We could send one of the children to pass on the information. The only problem with that idea is deciding who would be the best to send." Richard suggested with a furrowed brow. " We could send Maggie perhaps?"

" No, that would be a disaster honey." I responded shaking my head furiously tossing the report in my hand onto Richard's desk. " She would not enjoy us sending her away from her security blanket, and she would get distracted with all of the new styles she would find on the outer world. Bryan on the other hand would be a better suggestion. He always does what he's told."

Richard shook his head. "He is far too helpful to send. The moment someone asks him for help it's not a question of whether or not he will help, but a question of when. He will end up helping everyone who asks and completely forget about passing the information to Legretta. Ryan is more focused than Bryan, so we should send him."

I took a moment to think. "I don't think that would be a good idea either. There's a certain group of people you find…. I Don't know everywhere that happens to be his one and only weakness. He would be too busy flirting with every female he meets. He would be the last person I would send. He would need a chaperon and the person I would pick is far too busy to even ask."

"Olivia is out of the question because of her young age." Richard said slightly defeated. "The only one left to send would be Nina…. and I know…. how that could…"

"Sounds fair enough." I cut Richard off "Do we send her now?"

When I failed to receive a response from Richard I looked up to see why he had grown silent. He had a bewildered look upon his face.

"What?" I asked with a confused expression.

Richard shook his head with a slight pout. "Nothing I was just surprised with your quick agreement to send Nina. I was almost certain you would have rejected the thought immediately."

"Richard, Just because Nina and I don't get along doesn't mean I don't think she's dependable. She comes through in the end most of the time, and as her mother I have to at least admit that." I said slightly surprised with my own response.

"Very good then, so I'll have a messenger call her in and we'll send her off?" Richard finished with a smile gracing his lips.

"Yes." I consented bringing myself to sit up right in Richard's lap. "I think we deserve a little break don't you?" I whispered into his ear with a knowing smirk.

Richard responded with a chuckle and nod. "I believe we do."