Chapter Seven
Spectacle
Daiya pushed through people standing next to half erected tents, their eyes still trained on the massive floating castle sitting in the sky, and began to make her way towards the simple arena with Karo, Lisbeth, Lythia, Sera, and several guards following slightly behind her. The concerned and curious voices of all her warriors and mages filled the camp and she knew that having a massive castle floating on a chunk of land just appear like it had rattled people. They didn't know if they were about to get attacked or what was going on.
There was no danger though, and Daiya knew that for certain. In fact, as her own eyes moved towards the large grey castle hanging above them, it's three towers reaching even further towards the sun and clouds, the smile that she was wearing on her face grew larger. The reason for this was because the man she had quickly come to love, the man who was constantly surprising and making her smile, was up on that floating island. He was so close, and very soon they would be in each others arms once again.
Before that could happen though, Daiya was reminded that she had to deal with the other nations first, which meant acting like the Princess she was and the ruler she would one day become. It was honestly a little annoying, as some long and hard months had passed since she had last seen her husband. But given the situation and her position, Daiya knew there was no getting around it. Her life had always been about doing what was good for everyone, with her own wants and desires secondary; so this was no different. At least once it was all over and done with she would actually get to be herself around the one person who managed to bring it out of her.
Having already told her three refugees not to step foot inside the arena under any circumstance, Daiya now stepped past two of the large obelisk like pillars and quickly walked through the soft sand to the center. Aura, Queen Reiea, and several of her guards joined her a moment later as a delegation from Frand now moved through the field on their way to the arena. A few moments later they too entered the area, and for the first time the leaders of three nations that were at war were all gathered in the same place.
Daiya, her attention split between glancing up at Islan for any sign of Richard, and keeping an eye on the soldiers from Frand, quickly took everyone in as no words were spoken yet. Ten guards escorted the two representatives of Frand, and Daiya paid them both close attention. Lyla, the King's sister-in-law and the one who Reiea and Daiya had negotiated with to get to this point, stood next to a man of average height, average weight, and of average looks. In fact almost everything was average about this man, expect for the fact that he was Frand's King and, even though he was not a mage, was a fierce and extremely skilled marital fighter who even powerful mages respected.
However if you didn't know who he was, and he wasn't wearing the finest clothes and armour, you would have assumed he was just a random commoner by appearance alone. He was in his late thirties with thick and shoulder length brown hair, a lightly trimmed brown beard that hid his chin, and dark brown eyes that were neither dull nor bright. He was simply normal looking, an appearance the belied his strength and prowess with swords, polearms, and battleaxes.
"It's good to see you all safe," King Reid said, his voice a little rougher than Daiya would have expected. This was the first time she had met him in person before. "I ask that you excuse my rudeness right now. Introductions are warranted in a few cases, but I think we should wait until all of us have arrived first."
"Thank you. And that's fine," Reiea replied before Daiya could open her mouth to speak. Looking over at the juvenile ruler, Daiya found a small smile on her lips and her eyes were filled with excitement; something that instantly got on her nerves. It didn't take a genius to figure out what had made Reiea so happy, and for a moment the only thing that was on Daiya's mind was what Aura had told her about what Reiea had done to Richard the night of their engagement.
