The Dragonfly and The Sword

Part 9: Prelude to a Journey Part 1

Valander stared down at the pages before him. He could feel his wife walk towards him with steady steps. The calmness of her demeanor would have been more foreboding if Valander's mind had not been so preoccupied. There was civil distress on the Judian border and within the blasted region of Hentia.  How is he to manage this?

The Hentian lords had become imbeciles. Their bureaucracy had become a shield for the rich, resulting in few decisions benefiting the majority. Valander understood their need for self-preservation, but he had not known their actions extended to open negligence. Their lack of empathy brought the people to the crown for assistance. What use were these High Generals if they could not guide him or their regions? Their only service at the moment was to drink His Majesty's good wine! Chistaline's insights would be far more lucid than any opinion his High Generals could provide.

"Let me go to the border," she whispered into his ear.

"Christa, there has to be another option. The precariousness of the border requires far more caution than for their Queen to travel there on her own."

She tilted her head with a small smirk forming on the edges of her lips as she softly touched the edges of his vest.  "The small division of guards that accompanied me would not leave me alone."

"Division?" He leaned back in his chair, placing the letter down on his desk.

"If my husband sent me with anything less than ten soldiers, I might fear he does not love me anymore," Christaline scoffed as Valander gently brought the hand from his shoulder to intertwine their fingers together.

Valander lightly let his finger trail back and forth on her wrist while holding her teasing gaze.  Henry's small cough kept Valander from letting his hands wander further than her wrist.

"It seems the Queen's mind still fills itself with delusions," Valander whispered, kissing the inside of her wrist. "If you go, it will be with twenty. Ten to protect the other ten before anything could reach you."

Christaline took her hand back to lay it upon her chest with a soft swoon.  "His words are almost as romantic as flowers surrounded by fairies, are they not Henry?" Christaline quipped, turning her head to meet Henry's smirk.

"Twenty fairies, my Queen," Henry laughed.

"There is one matter you forget, my dear," Valander smiled, shifting in his seat so that his ankle now casually rested upon his knee.

She turned her laughing eyes back to her husband with a triumphant smile.  "What is that?"

He tapped a finger on his lips for a few moments, enjoying her eyes narrow in slight irritation before speaking.  "You are to chaperone our daughter to Preena on her first venture into society," Valander smirked, watching Christaline brood.

After a moment, her mouth opened to speak before closing again with a sound to reflect her pondering. In the next moment, her finger rose as her face reflected the ingenious thought that would soon reach the air.

Christaline rose from the arm of the chair.  "We could send Amnicity with a different chaperone. An army of maids who would tither her nerves endlessly, or simply Lady Elry!"

Henry's cough halted her next words.

"Yes, Henry?" Christaline questioned, expressing her annoyance in more ways than her glare.

"Firstly, I do not believe Lady Elry would take too kindly to being grouped in such a fashion. Also, Lady Toria would do well to provide the guidance Princess Amnicity needs and serve to show Lord Ewren favor."

"Wise advice," Christaline conceded, pacing a little bit beside the desk. "He seemed a bit more pleased with the prospect of having a daughter when she provided him access to the palace. Lord Ewren seems to keep a dark demeanor at times. He would do well to have something to make him smile."