A Royal Audience
authors: Teri/Stana/emily/dave/ian
Date: Wed, 30 Jun 1999 17:47:36 EDT

***
 Lyr brushed a blonde lock from his eyes and nodded to the Dreamer.
Oraiyas
had been describing the events in the Chamber of Dreams- the movement
and
screams of the Chosen, the faint visions of battle the dreamer himself
had
glimpsed, and Tadrin's breach of the Chamber.

 "Tell me everything about the attack on the Elementals in the
Nachtmer." he
said, the polished armor creaking softly as he leaned forward against
the
table.

 The Chosen might each have their Guardian, but it was his duty, sacred
and
traditional, as General of the Army of Steel to protect and honor the
Elementals. Anyone attacking them was first and foremost his concern.

 "A dark mixture, General. Unlike those found in any neighboring
country,
that I've seen at least. A Minotaur, two monsters, and a number of
others so
visually strange.."

 The dreamer was interrupted by the entrance of Princess Pirande and
the
Royal Bard. Oraiyas sighed at the bard's entrance, and heard an echoing
sound
from the young general. The man was extremely talented, and possessed
an
unrivaled voice, but had a habit of asking silly, superfluous questions
which
often interrupted vital conferences such as these. That the Queen
permitted
it was nothing short of perplexing to the dreamer.

 "Please continue, Noble Lords." the Bard said airily.

 Lyr winced at the title, apparently his bastard heritage was going to
haunt
him even here. It helped to note that the Princess was not
overwhelmingly
thrilled
 with the title either.

 "Visually strange as to border on unnatural." Oraiyas finished.

 "Natives to the Nachtmer?" The General pressed.

 "I've heard of such." The Dreamer admitted "But never have seen.
Descriptions tell of them, and those descriptions fit. Of more, I
cannot say."

 "I declare." The Bard interrupted. "hadn't you better start from the
beginning? I must admit I am quite confused already. Nachtmer? Visual
strangeness? pray tell me what you mean."

 The three shared a look over the singers head, three pair of eyes
closed
briefly.

 Saving the poor fool from being strangled, was the arrival of Clip and

Stana. The two nodded briefly to each, and Stana headed for the
farthest seat
away from the group. Clip preened in front of the audience briefly.

 Right after entered in Shinji. He didn't nod, or even acknowledge
anyone. He
took the window seat and stared out at the sky. Teri floated in right
after,
Emily and Tadrin with her. She took one look at Shinji, sighed and
moved over
to join him.

 "Where's the seat for my Guardian?" Emily asked pointedly.

 "L-lady?" asked a terrified servent. "Your Guardian lies sickly in-"

 There was a knock, and the Steward entered. He looked around the room,

nervously.  It seemed that everyone was there. The healers had tried to

revive the Water Guardian, to no avail.  To his shock, the steward had
entered the room to hear Lady Estela arguing with the servant.

 "WHO is the Water Chosen here?!" she demanded, ignoring the entrance
of the
Queen's man.

 "Y-you are, ma'am," the poor servant responded, wringing his hands.
"B-but
the Water Guardian.."

 "I make the decisions on who is my Guardian! And after the events of
the
last day, I've changed my MIND! Go get the Water Guardian Tadrin a
chair!"

 Teri lifted her head off the table and said dryly, "Give it a break,
Emily.
They'll get the guy a chair. Jesus."

 Estela's head snapped towards Teri, and the servant took the
opportunity to
scurry off. "I don't understand why I'm getting such a hassle about
this. I
made the mistake when I chose Wataru. I should be allowed to correct a
mistake. It's clear that Tadrin is the Water Guardian-" She grabbed her
chair
and plopped down, Tadrin standing ruefully against the wall, trying
unsuccessfully to blend in.

 *She got tired of the other one* Clip said to Stana, whose eyes
creased with
a spark of mirth, before it was buried by other thoughts.

 "You certainly don't act much like a Water elemental," Teri said, the
presence of the opposite element having rubbed her nerves raw.

 "Unless you count all that weeping earlier," Stana said monotonously,
not
looking in anyone's direction. It was the first comment the older woman
had
made since entering the Audience chamber, and Teri had to stifle a
giggle
before she remembered that Stana currently hadn't a humorous bone in
her
body. She thought she heard the beginnings of a chuckle from Shinji,
who sat
next to her, but when she glanced at him, she saw no confirmation.

 "Water is the tsunami, not just the calm pool." Estela levelled a cool
look
at the Earth elemental, the signs of her previously stormy mood
smoothed over
by a mask of calm. Tadrin mumbled something in her ear which made her
blush.

 Teri cast her eyes upwards in exasperation. Get a damn room already,
she
thought. The Steward waited until Tadrin had been brought a seat before

clearing his throat and announcing the Queen and King. Teri wondered
whether
the Queen was as annoyed as she was, at the whole charade.

Looking around, Teri noticed that almost every member was seething. The

soundless crackling of tension was a heavy yellowish glow in the air.
Teri
tried to shut off reception, with little success.

She realized, a bit belatedly, that the others were rising to their
feet for
their Majesties' entrances. As soon as she stood, the Queen motioned
for them
to sit down again. "Chosen and Guardians, We welcome you back from your

dangerous journey with relief and sincerest gratitude."

 The King smiled benevolently at the Queen and took up the speech. "In
honor
of your return, we have planned an extravagant Celebration this eve, to
which
Nobles and Ambassadors and Royalty alike will pay you courtesy."

 Clip snorted, and Stana's casting of eyes said she wished she could,
as
well. Another banquet, when the last one had been such a raving
success, she
thought sarcastically. Her eyes passed the earthenware cup, studded
with
brown topaz and emeralds and glazed to a delicate sheen. Suddenly
another
clay cup flashed through her mind, and she shivered.

 "We thank you also," the Queen was saying, "For the retrieval of the
Book of
Prophecy. It is, of course, regretful that a part is missing- We would
like
this chance to hear the tale first, from you. An official report,  if
you
will. Our bard," she gestured fondly to the foppish looking man in the
corner
with a quill, "will create a ballad for this evening's festivities."

 Teri burst out laughing. Her laughter cut off short with a horrified
look of
embarrassment when she saw everyone's face turn to her. With a breath,
she
schooled her face into a look of justified anger. "Rather than us
telling you
all that happened- I'm sure you know most of it anyway- why don't you
tell us
what the hell is going on here?"

 "Teri!" Estela hissed. Teri froze, and nodded apologetically at the
queen.
Letting her own annoyance dissipate, she concentrated on letting
threads of
calm cover the room.

 She continued, in a lighter, but no less demanding tone. "I would like
to
know why things got this bad in the first place. Why did no one tell us
of
the Nachtmer? Why weren't we prepared? What IS this prophecy, and why
were
those people trying to kill us, or take the book from us? What's going
ON
here?"

Tadrin spoke up from Estela's side, leaning forward intently. As  much
or as
little as Teri's concentration had helped, Tadrin looked calm except
for his
eyes, which were hard and angry. "I agree.  I may have been out of the
loop
for this, but even I can tell this whole situation reeks of
thrown-together
plans and uninformed decisions."  He raised his hand and began counting
off
items on his fingers.  "What are your healers doing about Wataru?  Why
did
you allow him to go in the first place, when he wasn't the real
Guardian -
wasn't there some kind of test you could have given?   Do you have any
basis
apart from legends and bedtime stories for all the danger they've been
through?"  His hand lowered to the table and he sat back a bit, looking

around at the nobles.  "What precicely are we all doing here?"

 The Queen smiled, "That is what the book of Prophecy is to tell us. We
will
now know the true nature of the Elementals, and what part you are all
to play
in the future of Narada."  Tadrin didn't look convinced at all.

 "We did not know about the Nachtmer," the King said, "Because no mere
Dreamer can transverse the Gate of the Chosen."

 "That's not true," Stana said, meeting Teri's, and then Estela's eyes.
"We
were attacked within the Nachtmer, within the fortress which housed the

Prophecy."

 The King cleared his throat, "Clearly creatures of the Nachtmer
itself, evil
things out to attack any that-"

 "These were human." Shinji said. Teri glanced at his face. He had
pronounced
the word 'human' as if it were a foreign and despised thing.Yet there
was no
hue of conviction around him, to match his tone.

 "They bled like humans too." Stana agreed flatly. "Want to see the
shirt I
had on?"

 She got a few looks that insinuated she had said something gauche. She

ignored them completely.

 Estela spoke with that odd, still tone of hers. "All of those who
entered
the Nachtmer to fight us but three were human. One of the others was a
minotaur, and the other two.....those were monsters, capable of
changing
shape, and hard to kill. One of them did this." She rose smoothly from
her
seat, in the same movement turning and lifting her hair away from her
back
with one hand. Gasps went around the chamber as those who hadn't heard
this
part of things saw the twin scars that marked her lost wings. She
turned
again and sat. "But the rest were human." She nodded to Stana, seeing
she
wanted to continue.

 Stana locked her eyes on the Queen. "They died like humans too. We had
a
front row seat to that as well." Suddenly the sullen anger burst
forward "How
_dare_ you send us into a situation where we risk our lives for a
_book_ to
tell us what some
 lunatic's raves about the future of this place! Who are you to demand
us to
offer our lives up to your Prophecies?"

 "You're the Chosen." Oraiyas replied calmly.

 "Says you!" she shot back violently.

 "No." replied Lyr, the sound of his voice descending on the room like
a
thuderclap. "Says here-" he held out the Book. Stana's poise was tight,
ready
to break into violence. She took the manuscript and scanned quickly.
Without
a sound she sat, suddenly.

 "Shit." she said.

***
tbc...