Chapter 4–Debutante
Serena had invited Several nobles to her villa, and the time had almost come to meet with them. She'd rehearsed carefully with Reza and they'd gotten ready to try to garner as much support as possible from those present, save for one man. That man, King Cole, would have to be made to leave. That would set Serena up as a foe of his, which was a highly advantageous position to be in considering how little the other nobles liked him.
However, she had a little bit of time before they arrived: time for her and Reza to get ready. As she put on her makeup, she said "So, your goal will be to evaluate those present," she stopped to put on a bit of lipstick, then continued "and put in a few well-timed words to set them at ease."
"Except for King Cole, of course," finished Reza as Serena applied her blush, "And who are the principle people we'll be dealing with besides Cole?"
"Well first of all," replied Serena, "There's King Torm, his chief rival. Man doesn't have a large city like Cole but he has a great deal more territory. He's recently signed a truce with Cole after a long but rather uneventful war. Then there's Cecil, the battlehungry. He fought on the side of the coalition and is a good soldier but… he's somewhat of a loose cannon. Nonetheless, I'd rather have him on our side. Then there's Queen Rylla, who is a puppet to advisors and merchants, Ser Aquar who is an honourable man who we definitely want on our side and a few others who should be easy. Finally, there's Queen Elanus who everyone thought was dead, no-one knows much about, doesn't have many holdings and is more of an academic type. She probably won't be here, but if she is I would still like to speak to her."
She turned around and saw a slightly pale man with short, ruddy brown hair and olive eyes in an embroidered brown doublet. In other words, a completely unremarkable courtier. "Who are you?" She gasped, wondering if Reza had been there at all, but he just laughed and removed an ivory mask which had apparently melded with him and revealed Reza underneath it. "Never seen a magical mask before?" he teased, a slight smirk on his face, as Serena let out a sigh of relief. "Seriously though, it would be best if I look unremarkable for this."
"I suppose so," Serena admitted, still a little bit taken aback by the transformative powers of the mask.
–––––––––––––
"Don't you think we should be going in?" asked Serena as a pair of her guests greeted each other from behind a closed door. Reza had insisted on them not going into the room yet and Serena had gone along with him after the first guest party had arrived, and the second, but now that the third had shown up she wanted to know why. "No, not yet," Reza said calmly, a slight smile upon his face, "this is good. Remember, they're here for you, not you for them. Keep them waiting a few minutes: it keeps them guessing and gives the impression that you're a very busy woman."
"And how does that benefit us?"
"It's simple. If you're too mysterious, then no-one will want to ally with you, but if you're too normal then people will just lump you in with the others. But if you are a little bit enigmatic, it'll get them interested in you. They'll be more likely to listen to what you have to say."
She supposed it made sense, but she'd always preferred to do things directly. In the war, she'd been fiery and passionate, not subtle and cunning. That was just what she did, really: people flocked to her like a moth to a flame, and she'd never needed any of these tricks. Granted, she'd been trying to get a bunch of peasants to fight for their homes. Now, she was trying to get a bunch of lords to start a revolution, but was there really much difference? It was a well known fact that you could get much further speaking to the soul than to the mind, playing upon emotion rather than logic, and that was where Serena excelled.
"But if they're detachedly and cerebrally curious, won't that mean that it'll be hard to get them emotionally involved?" inquired Serena.
Reza considered for a moment, then nodded pensively and answered "Perhaps. But it'll make it much easier to get them onto your side, and once they are you can just use Charms to get them emotionally invested. And remember, we're going for enough mystery to get them interested, but not enough to make it the primary thing."
Reza raised one finger in a silencing gesture, waited five seconds, then opened the door, allowing Serena to lead the way into the room.
For a moment, all eyes were upon Serena. Her eyes darting across the room, she noticed Queen Rylla, Ser Aquar, King Cecil and King Torm, as well as their respective entourages. Serena gave a slight curtsy as she entered, then said formally "I am so glad you could all come," then with a hint of mischief "It is good to see so many gathered here for my sake."
She would have to time everything very precisely: she'd captured their attention, but needed to not only keep it but use it in the right way. She had to appear courteous until Cole arrived (which she reckoned would not be for quite some time yet), aloof yet personal, as though she was one of hem but at the same time better than them (which she reckoned, was basically the truth). So she glided into the room and drifted close to Torm, allowing him to make the first move as she suspected he would: the man was a quick, inquisitive fellow and stripped for allies at the moment. King Torm regarded her, his long, olive face slightly tilted to the left and his large hazelnut eyes slightly widened
Lo and behold, he approached her and offered the safest possible opening statement, "I am glad you've invited me," thus allowing her to really start the conversation. Clever man, she thought, give me a blank slate opener so you can find out my motives.
"Of course," she responded, "my father always considered you a good friend."
Not a precisely a lie, more of an exaggeration. Her father always had considered Torm a good man, though friend might have been too strong a word. Though it was merely pleasantry, her father would never have used his father's name in such a manner; he was an honest man!
She snapped out of her moment of uncertainty, realizing that pleasantries and exaggeration were simply the way of things and it would be ridiculous to speak completely honestly about everything. You'd simply be seen as rude and uncouth!
"I am sorry for your loss," said Torm, not breaking the chain of little pleasantries. It appears I am outmatched, she thought, when it comes to saying nothing, my abilities are decidedly lacking. However, I think it's time to say something.
"I hear the satrap has been breathing down your neck again," she said, knowing full well what he'd been doing.
"Yes, he really is determined to have a king of Nexus."
"And he doesn't think you're it?"
"No, I'm afraid not."
"So what was his offer?"
"Aid for fealty. He'll send his Dragon-Blooded medic if I swear loyalty to Cole."
"Are you considering it?"
"Absolutely not. That would spell the end for me, for you, for everyone here. Cole would have virtually no competition."
She paused for a moment. She understood the political sense in his choice, but in the end it came down to allowing cholera to rampage through his towns just to remain independent from Cole. Granted, it was probably a bluff: the satrap would not let his own people suffer for a political game, would he?
"So what will you do?"
"Batten down the hatches, send out the plague doctors and hope Cole is as worried about it as I am."
"What was the name of this Dragon-Blood?"
"Cynis Hidetada. Why?"
"I'll see what I can do. The satrap may try, but in the end no-one can control the Exalted."
And with that she left him to greet King Cecil. She had said as much as she dared, and had decided she would speak to this Hidetada; see if he would help if persuaded. Meanwhile, she approached Cecil, allowing Reza to lead them into a side room such that their conversation would not be overheard.
"King Cecil," she said, curtsying, "I am glad you've come."
"She could see a momentary flash in his eyes. He had once sought out her affections, though she hadn't given them.
"Cecil, I see you've held up well. From what I hear your as active as ever."
"And you're as beautiful as ever."
That was what Khaine had said the last time they met, but Serena only heard lust in Cecil's voice; none of the tenderness of Khaine's deep-yet-soft speech.
However, courtesy dictated she smile and thank him or blush and downplay her beauty, and she was neither young girl nor married woman, so she merely smiled and said "Why thank you Cecil."
By then they were in the side room, which was Serena's training room. Over the past couple of weeks, Serena had been using this room with much greater frequency: she had been learning Charms. On the walls were racks of weapons, mostly for her master's use. She mostly used tiger claws, but her pair were not kept here. Nonetheless, these racks served to impress those of a martial bent, and Cecil was among that crowd.
"Quite the setup you have here. Didn't know you, ah..." he trailed off.
"My queen remembers the last war, and wishes to be ready for the next," Reza said quietly, neatly avoiding any awkwardness that could have resulted from this exchange. Granted, that wasn't why she'd gotten a martial education, but it would do.
"Yes, I recall you distinguished yourself quite nicely," Serena said.
"As did you."
"Hah! I stood on a wall and yelled orders at peasants."
"You had to hold a fort down with fifty men against five hundred," he said, exactly as anticipated, "don't you tell me that's not distinguished service!"
"I suppose you're right. Though I do prefer not to lead from the front; I leave that to others."
There, she thought, now he'll respect me as a warrior-queen without feeling emasculated.
They spoke of war for a short time more, as this was the only topic the brute was interested in so far as Serena knew. Well warmongering and womanizing, though he'd never speak of that with Serena!
After a few minutes, Serena led Cecil out and spotted the new queen Elanus.
Elanus was a thin, bony woman of olive complexion, with her black hair done up in a tight bun behind her head, wearing a long, simple white dress not at all like the elaborate golden gown Serena wore. Her eyes were a dark brown, and seemed to have a sort of condescension in the way they were narrowed as Elanus sat down. Overall, Serena thought she was quite beautiful.
Right as Cecil took his leave and Serena got ready to make introductions, Elanus got up and introduced herself with a curt yet courteous tip of the head. "Good evening," Elanus said, "I am queen Elanus Margaren. Queen Serena, I presume?"
"Yes indeed," Serena replied, smiling, "I've heard much about you," she continued (though that wasn't entirely true: she only knew of Elanus in very broad terms), leading Elanus off to a slightly more private quarter of the room.
"And what have you heard?" asked Elanus.
"That you are a scholarly type, and not a little daring, much like myself," responded Serena, hoping this would get Elanus talking. She needed to know about this new player, and presenting shared traits was a very good way to do that.
Elanus took the bait, asking "Scholarly, you say? What did you study?"
"I studied philosophy at the university," Serena replied, "though I suspect that was before you were there."
Hopefully this would establish them as intellectual peers while not directly challenging Elanus' position as scholar.
Elanus stopped to consider something, and Serena decided to go for the thing she most wanted to know: the story of Elanus' disappearance.
"I had heard that you had disappeared, possibly kidnapped by King Cole and I've been wondering for some time now: what happened that day?"
Serena noticed a slight wrinkling of Elanus' nose as she responded "I don't want to talk about it."
Serena mentally chastised herself for her insensitivity and lack of tact, and after a moment changed tactics. Channelling the tiniest bit of Essence into her voice, she casually asked "so how are you adjusting to being a queen?"
"To be perfectly honest, I haven't had much experience with it. But so far it has been largely dull work."
Reza broke in with a chuckle "Nine parts drudgery, one part excitement, eh Serena?"
"Indeed," agreed Serena, glad she'd taken Reza, "though I do so miss the drudgery when the excitement does come."
Reza drew out a letter and handed it to Elanus, murmuring "I must depart, but please do consider this."
So soon? That must be some hunch, if he's willing to bring out the letter...
Elanus took the letter and read it over. The letter had been similar to the one used to determine Serena's nature: a simple greeting and offer of friendship to mortals, but so much more to Solars. Elanus' pretty brown eyes widened in surprise, then returned to normal. She looked up, right eyebrow raised.
"Well that's… interesting," she said slowly, "I never thought there were more of us here."
Serena felt a knot, which she didn't know was there before, untwist within her. She smiled and exclaimed "Why that's wonderful!" before adding soberly "Do you wish to join us in our quest?"
"And what quest is that?"
"We wish to free Nexus from the Realm's yoke."
This was of course only the first step in a long-term plan to bring liberty, civility, independence and justice to Nexus, but they could get to that once the Realm had been ousted.
Elanus considered again, then responded "Very well, I'll help you in that."
"Alright," said Serena, "We'll meet back here in a couple days. In the meantime, I must make an announcement to the others."
She waited in anticipation for a moment, but Elanus didn't say anything.
–––––––––––
She left the sideroom and spent the next half hour having inane conversations with the likes of Ramiro and Rylla, two nobles who did not know the first thing about politics but who it would be best to befriend.
She and Reza split up to cover more ground, such that he could make Introdctions and set the stage for her to talk to each noble in turn. There were many "oh, surely"s and "but of course"s and "absolutely"s exchanged, but Serena knew they all meant nothing.
However, it was necessary. She aimed to seize nexus by force, and to do that she'd need soldiers. To get soldiers, she'd need the loyalty of the men and women around her. To get their loyalty, she'd need their trust. And to get their trust, she had to talk to them individually, no matter how far beneath her they were.
After a while of this, she spotted King Cole and swooped in to make her move. By antagonizing him, she could set herself up as his rival and use that to split everyone up into two factions: pro-Cole and anti-Cole. She would then place herself as head of the anti-Cole faction, defeat the pro-Cole faction and then redirect her followers and the new resources of Cole's city of Betancuria towards the Realm. Only then would she reveal her true nature. In the meantime, she would appear as a mortal. A hyper-competent mortal, but a mortal nonetheless.
She sat next to Cole and opened with "Hello, Cole. I trust you are feeling well?"
"As well as ever," he replied in his gravelly tone. Serena could when she was sixteen; when Cole had been the only king in the region, and Betancuria was dependent upon neither The Realm nor Nexus. He had been a merry soul back then and a charming man besides. Then the invasion had happened, then the declarations of monarchy, and he had soured and grown hard in his old age. Now he was little more than a despot, and Serena planned to use this to her advantage.
"No Cholera spreading through your city?"
She was fairly sure that the rumours of Cole poisoning Torm's wells were false, but it was a good way to start antagonising him.
"No," replied Cole in a tone that brooked no further discussion. However, Serena wasn't about to let this one go.
"Good. I suppose that means that after it's passed by Torm's people you'll attack him again?"
Cole looked up at her. His mouth was set into a scowl, and now more than ever Serena could see the lines creasing every section of this man's face, the rings of exhaustion permanently drawn around his cold eyes. He slowly shook his head and asked "Do you really think I'm that much of a monster?"
"Wouldn't take a monster. Just someone who can turn everything off. Someone who lost touch with themselves a long time ago."
"How dare you judge me?" he hissed, his quiet voice cutting through the din of the feast straight to Serena's ears, "You're a little girl who plays at being queen. I've been king for twenty-seven years. I'd love to see you in charge of a real city, not some backwater town outside of Nexus. I'd love to see what it did to you."
"I have seen what it's done to you," Serena snapped, voice rising, "If ten years ago, you could see yourself now, you wouldn't be able to stand it. The truth is, despite any excuses you make for yourself– "
"We don't have to be enemies," Cole growled, but Serena cut him off, "I want nothing to do with your kind, Cole. You are a warmonger, a bloodthirsty murderer and a fool!"
She stormed off. She was angry, but also quite satisfied with her performance. She felt a small smile creeping onto her face as she sat down as far from Cole as possible.
Everything she'd said had been true, she told herself. No matter his excuses, Cole was a warmonger and a tyrant and deserved to be deposed, she told herself. She saw Elanus heatedly arguing with Cole and chuckled ever so slightly. She then gestured for a servant named Marco to bring her a glass of wine, and slowly downed it as the scene before her unfolded.
At first, she could not hear what Elanus was saying, but towards the end it became clear, "Who sent an invading army of thousands in retaliation? Who refused all offers of peace until his army was decimated? In short, who used a misunderstanding as grounds to drown us all in blood?"
Serena smiled. Yes, Elanus had hit the nail on the head. Good job, Serena thought, I wasn't half so eloquent.
Cole got up, saying "I didn't come here to be insulted by little girls."
Serena didn't catch what he said next, but she did watch him go and was glad to see it.
Seeing that the night was winding down, she decided to finish it.
"May I have your attention please," she began slowly, standing below the dais her meagre throne rested upon. As the room grew quiet, Serena continued "Friends. Monarchs. Lords of Nexus. I am glad you are here."
She channeled Essence into her voice now, and though she did not glow all eyes were fixed forward, glued upon her. All save Elanus', who looked away, disinterested. "It can be easy, from this vantage point, to lose sight of the bigger picture. To see only what is in front of us and not what lies around us, beneath us and above us."
She stepped up onto the dais. Normally, she could never get away with these sorts of implications, but Excellencies were a powerful thing.
"To become obsessed with the trivial and the unimportant. To see only the fleeting, temporary things in front of us, to as they say miss the forest for the trees. Our lands have been plagued with wars, revolts, uprisings, diseases and tyranny and though we may fight each thing in turn, we find ourselves paralyzingly unable to deal with the cause."
She began to raise her voice, "It's like a wasting sickness that is treated but never cured. But the truth is, we can cure this. We know what's causing all this! We know what's needed for Nexus!" Her hands by this point were expressively gesturing as she neared the climax of her speech "We need only have the courage to do it! If we work together, if we seize our moment, then we will surely prevail," she quieted slightly, "I am not calling for a revolution," yet, she thought, "I am calling for unified action to transfer power away from our bumbling, corrupt, politicking Dragon-Blooded overlords and into the hands of the rulers and people of Nexus."
Calming down, Serena paused and then finished with "I hope you have enjoyed yourselves and I look forward to seeing you all again."
She knew that they didn't believe they stood any real chance against the Realm, but she also knew that didn't matter. She would first try negotiating with the Realm, trying to move administrative power away from the satrap and towards the nobility. If it worked, that would mean increased decentralization which would make the revolution step much easier. If it didn't, then she'd use that to get the lords riled up.
One by one they dispersed. Serena returned to her chambers, congradulating Reza on her way up.
"Your performance was magnificent," Serena said.
"As was yours."
"Magnificent and exhausting, I really must get to sleep."
"Well then in that case, goodnight."
––––––––––
Serena stood facing her mirror as her handmaiden Inara helped her out of her gown. There were so many layers of shining, golden fabric it was impossible to get off without help.
As the dress slowly came off, Serena's mind started to wander. What am I doing? she thought, I'm exploiting people's emotions, but am I really doing it for a good reason? I plan on going to war not once but twice. All that death…
All that death will buy freedom for Nexus and justice for millions. I am not Khaine the peacemaker, I am Serena. I will build my vision of paradise by any means necessary. Nothing in this world is ever accomplished without sacrifices.
The dress finally came off. Inara then began working with the laces of Serena's corset, loosening it bit by bit. She remembered when she was younger she'd chafed under it and could barely breathe, now she was used to it. After it came undone and she washed off her makeup she stood before an older woman than the one who had débuted a short while ago. Her waist was wider because of childbirth, her skin less red, her lips thinner and duller.
She didn't wear makeup and corset because she wasn't beautiful; she was still beautiful without them. She wore them as a mask. While she was wearing them, she was Serena the princess (now queen) and no-one could get to her. With them off, she was just Serena: sensitive, vulnerable, and not as able to deceive and exploit.
That was why she always wore makeup except with trusted friends, lovers and handmaidens.
She gestured to Inara, who brought her a glass of wine. Silently, she sat upon her bed and sipped at it as Inara fetched her son.
Tommy was brought in and placed down on her bed. He had his own room, but that was more a play area than a bedroom. Serena tucked him in beside her, then told him a story.
"There once was a boy who wished he could fly. He looked up to the wind and asked "Can you help me fly?" and the wind said…"
After a few minutes, he had fallen asleep. She didn't know why she read to him: he was deaf, after all. But some part of it just felt right.
She finished her glass of wine, dismissed Inara, and fell sleep.