Results
POV: Lucien
I was not looking forward to this meeting among the Council and the rest of the panel because they usually went on for a long time and I didn’t want to take time away from mingling with the nobility. I had no doubt that Blake was doing just fine mingling with, at the very least, Alexandra. My thoughts came to the trap that he set to catch the first of the two noble families that were a part of The Order. I had wondered how he would fair in identifying them. I was the last one in the room so I walked over to the head of the table and sat down, “Okay, let’s go through the ladies.” Elder Enzo rose to his feet, “Those who were listening in on the reception room have already convened and gave me their rankings. I have them here on this paper. I will pass it to you and you can tell us if you believe this to be okay based on their judgement and understanding.” I brought the paper to me and the rankings were: Alexandra, Jess, Lady Delnaro, Lady Baltilliard, Lady Anton, Lady Ligidew, Melody, Lady Renita, Lady Uradine, Lady Kastilidan. I looked up at Elder Enzo, “Can I ask what caused Lady Kastilidan to fall so low?” He nodded, “They felt that she was speaking about how the peasants would bow down to her to include The Batiste. How it would be delicious.” I knew that Lady Kastilidan was one of the two ladies that were friends with Melody. I was surprised that she would declare herself the winner in front of Melody. I handed the paper to the scribe that was filling in for Malinus, “I accept these rankings. Now we need to discuss their entrance and choice of appearance. I will defer to my mother on this.” My mother rose to her feet, “My rankings are as follows: Lady Maigny, The Batiste, Lady Kellen, Lady Kastilidan, Lady Ligidew, Lady Baltilliard, Lady Anton, Lady Renita, Lady Uradine and Lady Delnaro.” I smiled at her, “Would the panel agree with this assessment?” I received a bunch of agreements so I thanked my mother for her contribution.
I turned to Elder Enzo who then rose to his feet again, “Based on the rankings from the tea party and the two here today, I propose we give them points so that we can rank them overall.” I nodded, “That seems fair.” I turned to the scribe and asked him to tally the results, “As you will it, Your Majesty.” He took the three papers from the rankings between the three areas of judgement and went to a table off to the side. A short while later, he returned, “I have the results, Your Majesty.” I nodded, “Proceed.” He cleared his throat, “With twenty-nine points, we have The Batiste who is first. With twenty-six points, we have Lady Kellen who is second. With twenty-one points, we have Lady Baltilliard who is third. With twenty points, we have Lady Maigny who is fourth. With sixteen points, we have Lady Delnaro and Lady Ligidew who are tied for fifth. With thirteen points, we have Lady Anton who is seventh. With twelve points, we have Lady Kastilidan who is eighth. With eight points, we have Lady Renita who ninth. And finally with five points we have Lady Uradine who is tenth.” Elder Enzo nodded to the scribe, “Thank you for your hard work. I believe this should do with the rankings for now.” I rose to my feet and was going to leave the table until Grand Pretre rose to her feet, “Just a minute, Your Majesty. I still need to give my readings for this event.” I sat back down, “I almost forgot, Your Excellency. Would you like to include your readings with the rankings for today?” She shook her head, “No I would like their reactions to the rankings to feed into the energy they have coming into my room. This will let me see their aura and show me how well they will deal with the gravity of the rankings.”
Elder Enzo nodded, “I agree, Your Majesty. After all, if the ladies cannot handle big news and go on about dealing with the clergy or anyone else for that matter, how can we expect them to be a good and just Queen should she have to make a decision on your stead. This path is for the good of the kingdom.” I rubbed my chin and thought for a bit but in the end, I would ask, “Does the rest of the panel agree? Specifically, how do you feel, Mother?” She rose to her feet, “I agree wholeheartedly with Elder Enzo. These are the characteristics of a good Queen.” The rest of the panel nodded in assent and I rose to my feet, “Very well, Your Excellency. You shall have your time and observations today. If you would be so kind as to send us all a ranking afterwards?” She nodded, “Of course, Your Majesty. I wouldn’t dream of not letting you know my opinion.” She smiled and rose to her feet, “If you will excuse me, I will need to set up the room for the proper environment to give the ladies a reading.” I waved my hand to dismiss her and she left the room with Pretre Jean following her. I dismissed the rest of the room and walked out of the room escorting my mother to the ballroom. She looked up at me, “How are you feeling about the rankings?” I smiled, “I feel pretty good about them so far. I know that any of the top three would make excellent Queens in their own rights.” She grunted, “That is not what I meant. Are you feeling okay about them as wives?” I nodded, “You didn’t let me finish, Mother. I would be fine with the top three as wives as well. Each has a beauty to them and each has a wonderful personality.” She winked at me, “Well, you know who I favor.” I nodded, “You only talk about her every time we talk.”
We got to the ballroom and she stopped me before we went in, “Are you ready to announce the results then?” I nodded, “I technically won’t be doing the announcement but I do get that you asking if I am ready to tick off a few noble families. I am, it has to be done and going in we all knew that someone would not be happy.” She clicked her tongue, “Specifically Marquis Maigny, he’s not going to like that his daughter is in fourth place and not even in the top two.” I shrugged, “He’ll have to get over it then.” The herald announced our arrival and the whole room turned and bowed with the exception, of course, being my brother who was in his wheelchair behind Count Delnaro. I motioned for the herald to announce the results of the “first” event of the competition. The herald gave the results promptly and then announced that each lady would be called in to a session with Grand Pretre shortly. There was a gasp all across the room as not many were able to be in her presence. She had not shown herself at the presentation ceremony but she was among those who observed the ladies through the Mesha stones. She had only come in front of the Council and members of Royalty with exception being Alexandra who had caught Grand Pretre’s attention. The ladies were all whispering among themselves to talk about how it was going to be to meet her for the first time. Lady Baltilliard was asking Alexandra if she was at all scary. She shook her head but I couldn’t quite tell what she told her after that.
My mother and I made our way over to Blake but we were stopped short of our goal by Marquis Maigny. He smiled at us but the friendliness was absent in his eyes, “Your Majesties, may I have a word with you?” I nodded, “Your Lordship, what may I do for you?” He sighed, “I wanted to understand why it is that my daughter was ranked so low.” My mother spoke up, “My lord, you need to, perhaps, address with your daughter about her decorum among the nobles. She specifically needs to respect those of higher rank than her. She seems to think being rude to a higher up such as myself as acceptable.” He clenched his jaw at the criticism of his daughter, “Thank you, Your Majesty. I shall endeavor to address this with her and you will see quite the different lady at the next event. If you’ll excuse me.” She waved him on and he stomped off towards Melody. We finally reached Blake who was having a conversation with Lady Delnaro. She was giggling which meant that he was laying on his flirtatious persona with her. I smiled at them, “I hope my brother is keeping you pleasant company, Lady Delnaro.” She smiled and curtsied, “Yes, Your Majesty. I always enjoy time spent with His Highness.” Just then the herald announced that Lady Delnaro was up first to do her reading with Grand Pretre. After she left, Blake turned to us and simply said, “We need to have the General arrest Count Delnaro. He is one of the two noble leaders of The Order.”
