MSNPC Queen Enora Glynndor - An Appointment with Alien Guests (Imperial Palace)

[+ Rune Jolara]

((The Queen’s Studio, The Imperial Palace - Irvaytho Proper, Losaria))
((Time Index: Thirty minutes before the crew’s arrival in Royal Court))

::Normally, Enora found the snowfall that floated through the air just beyond her balcony a delightful sight and a welcome distraction from the work of a head of state. Instead the vast cityscape accumulating a light coating of snow went unnoticed. Her eyes were fixed on the Editorial Page of The New Glacell Gazette. Specifically the full-page opinion piece titled “A Child on the Throne”. Nearly six months into her reign, and they still questioned whether or not she could rule. All that the press had wished to discuss was the fact that she still had three years of courses left at the Royal Academy or to speculate which senior official in her court was the real head of state. The successful new infrastructure initiative or the increased trade with the Kavolians didn’t seem to mean anything. An opinion piece published by a famed professor of political studies was just the newest insult to her rule.::

::She angrily pitched the paper over the railing and watched it fall. The newspaper stopped once it reached the invisible security screen projected around the balcony and slowly disintegrated as energy flowed through the fragile paper. Enora took one last look around the historic heart of Irvaytho where her palace sat before turning around and returning to her studio where her assistant Ailre was waiting with a data pad and an ornate metal box.::

Ailre: ::Reading the frustrated expression she was wearing:: The article in the Gazette?

::Ailre had previously been a senior advisor to Enora’s mother before she became ill and died. For as long as she had been present for meetings of the Royal Court at her mother’s side, Ailre had always been there to give advice and make complex issues seem simple with his explanations of mundane topics like education funding reform or the electrical delivery system for Losaria. Sometimes the former admiral was a bit too good at reading her emotions.::

Glynndor: Yes, the article in the Gazette! Does it matter that I spent years observing court functions during my mother’s reign? Do they report about all of the extra courses I have taken in law and economics? No they do not.

Ailre: Most monarchs have had much more time to prepare for their role. Your mother took the crown when she was almost thirty-four. Someone a third of that age and still in school ruling an interstellar commonwealth does not instill much confidence in the public. It is not fair, but it is the way things are.

::Enora sighed and looked at the data pad that Ailre had brought her.::

Glynndor: Did you bring me the intelligence report about the crew of this alien starship, the Columbia?

Ailre: Yes ma’am.

Glynndor: Thank you, Ailre.

::She scrolled through the report and looked over what the crew of the Illrith had said. The United Federation of Planets and their ship the Columbia sounded interesting. Nothing like the governments she was used to, but interesting. And the pictures that were sent along didn’t resemble at all the ships of the Royal Navy that she had toured as a child.::

Glynndor: This meeting will be interesting, to say the least. I want the Diplomatic Corps to put together a list of candidates for ambassador to this United Federation of Planets. Depending on how diplomatic first contact goes, we may wish to establish a permanent connection between this government and our own.

Ailre: I will see to it at once.

Glynndor: I assume that the Royal Court has already assembled in the throne room?

Ailre: Yes. ::Nodding:: I see that you are already wearing most of the traditional apparel.

::If nothing else, the traditional robes of the Queen of the Losarian People were comfortable. They were a royal red and lined with fur to help keep warm in the cold climate of Losaria. Over the years there were various sashes, medals, and other adornments added to commemorate events in Losarian history. She had donned the elaborate ensemble that a meeting with delegates from a previously unknown species demanded. There was only one thing missing, and it was in the box that Ailre carried.::

Glynndor: The crown please.

::Ailre set the box down on the desk in front of her. Enora reached out and lifted the engraved metal lid of the box. Inside was the Imperial Crown, made for her great-grandmother by a team of artisans to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the Imperial Losarian Commonwealth’s establishment. It still looked pristine after all those years. She gently picked them up with her gloved hands and set the crown on her head.::

::She turned to look in the mirror. The crown, while it looked beautiful in its special storage box, looked a bit too large for her, as had the robes before they were tailored for her. While her deep blue skin, golden eyes, and long black hair she bore a great resemblance to her mother. Yet Enora was yet to master the look of a monarch comfortable in the ceremonial attire that seem to come naturally to her mother and the kings and queens immortalized in portraits on both walls of the Grand Stairway that all visitors to the palace walked through on their way to the throne room. Enora couldn’t deny that she looked more like a child wearing a royal costume rather than a true head of state. It would take quite a while for her to become comfortable with the royal traditions.::

Glynndor: We will need to throw banquets and ceremonies more frequently if I am to get used to wearing this. ::Enora reached down and pushed the intercom button on her desk:: Lieutenant Cithro, I will be joining the Royal Court in the throne room shortly. Please ensure our guests are properly searched by security for weapons and escort them to a reception room to wait until we are ready for them.

::Enora sank into her chair behind her desk and let out a sigh. Ailre closed the lid of the box and looked at her closely.::

Ailre: I wouldn’t let the article get you in poor spirits. There were similar critics and detractors during the first year of your mother’s reign.

Glynndor: You may go now, Ailre. Inform everyone that I will be down shortly.

::Ailre walked down the spiral staircase leading to the rest of the palace to organize the members of the Royal Court. Enora looked up at the two portraits that were hanging on the wall to her left. The first was her mother, Queen Falel Glynndor. She looked as confident in her portrait as she always did when dealing with running the Losarian government. If nothing else, most everyone could agree that Enora had one of the best possible teachers in the art of ruling.::

::The other portrait was of her namesake, Ambassador Enora Abochiri. She wondered if the ambassador had felt this nervous every time she met a new species. Enora had already made one diplomatic mistake during a state dinner a few weeks earlier. One of the advisors from the Diplomatic Corps and an expert in xenocultural etiquette had spent two hours giving her advice for this initial first contact with representatives from the United Federation of Planets.::

Gynndor: oO I’ll live up to your examples… some day. Oo

::After looking at the portraits for another minute or two, Enora stood up and made her way down the staircase. It was time to make sure all of the preparations were in place for the meeting.::

 

Queen Enora Glynndor
Her Imperial Majesty The Queen of the Losarian People, Empress of the Commonwealth, and  Honorable Sovereign of Irvaytho
Imperial Losarian Commonwealth

===as simmed by===

Lieutenant Commander Anath G'Renn
Chief Medical Officer/Second Officer, USS Columbia
A239402AG0

[+ Rune Jolara]

Beautifully written by @Anath G'Renn