Don't trip, don't trip, don't trip, the young queen thought, her head held high as her inner monologue ran about her skull like frightened mice in a barrel. She cast a casual glance behind her, ignoring the crowds about her, the knights that flanked her, the sun that threatened to blind her. Her lady-in-waiting, Stella, smiled at her with a thinly veiled grimace, and Marina turned her face forward.
Calm it down, Rina. You just have to make it to the fountain. You ran that distance as a child in less than five minutes. This will be over before you know it, she coached herself, raising her chin ever so slightly and standing a mite bit taller. As if to throw a spanner into the smooth machine that was her stately stride, a humble pebble caught under her sole, and she very nearly stumbled. A small noise escaped her throat, but it was largely engulfed by the cheering crowd.
Ahead, the fountain rose before her, a majestic sweeping edifice of marble. The ambassadors from Czechyar stood before her, their faces as typically stoic as ever. Her advisor had told her numerous times that they were both amazing poker players as well as beastly good statesmen, and that if she wanted to live up to her father's legacy, she would have to commit to their game.
Oh, I'll play their game.
She arrived to the table set up before the two men, the accord set before them. Their own guards - dressed in boiled leathers covered in modest metal pyramidal spikes - were just as stony-faced while her knights in plate shifted uneasily. One of the two ambassadors, the younger son if she remembered right, seemed to stare at her overlong, but when she made eye contact, he immediately lowered his gaze as he realized he'd been caught. Do they feel shame? she wondered to herself.
"The Queen Regent Marina of Andelluse is presented before her people along with Declans Wjoniec and Ladislav," an announcer heralded after a short fanfare, "to sign an accord between the people of Andelluse and her neighboring sovereigns."
The people stared on as the queen kept a careful eye on the two. She walked towards the table, glancing at the accord. Here and there, she recognized snippets, that such and such amount of land was to be ceded to such and such Declans of Czechyar after next winter. She was lucky her father had laid so much of the groundwork for her already. The bad blood was finally beginning to dry, but she knew they'd never be able to give her the confirmation that her country's borders were safe, her state secure in their interests. At the least, not overtly, not out loud.
Her blood pounded at the back of her eyes as she leaned over the table to begin to sign her name before the many witnesses - and a bang went off above their heads in one of the tall buildings along the main thoroughfare. The people immediately shouted in panic as the queen ducked, and her eyes were firmly set on the ambassadors and their guards. Without hesitation, the younger of the two threw himself forward as the other knights closed in, shielding the queen regent, his father hanging back a moment as he looked about and commanded his own men to scatter and look for the cause of the disturbance.
Interesting, Rina thought, abruptly piqued by their reaction. She had expected something a little bit more tepid, perhaps even self-serving. But it solidified what she had hoped. She was an asset.
"Queen Regent, are you fine?" asked the younger one - Ladislav - as his thick brow furrowed in concern, his thin lips pressed tight with what she could only consider as real worry.
"Yes," she answered quickly as her own guard surrounded her to help her off the cobbles. "I'm fine."
