Tale as old as stone

Anika sat on her throne, fidgeting slightly. Celare took notice and placed a hand on her friends shoulder.

"Sweetie," She said with a smile, "Are you ok? I mean we have done this so many times. I had hoped you would have gotten past this phobia."

Anika looked up at her guard with less than concealed annoyans. "I'm fine, I always am," she said though the slight whine in her voice betrayed her fear. "This is just something I have to do. When my father was alive, he always told me that to lead, one must walk among."

Anika waved her hand. The guards by the doors opened the grand dining room to the public. People slowly made there way in. When one group left another would be replacing them so everyone in Omashu would be able to partake. It was something Anika had set up so that all would eat, not just those who could afford it. She had seen people starving when she was a kid and vowed to her late father that she would change that. She herself modified the city to house the homeless. Everyone had a roof, and thanks to her meals everyone had a full belly. As was custom, only when the dining room was full did Anika stand.

"Thank you all For gracing me with your presence. It fills my heart with joy to see so many people, from so many backgrounds gather as equals and share this meal. Please eat your fill and be merry."

After her little speech came the next tradition, Anika ordered the first appetizer. Only when the menu touched the waiters hand did everyone else order. The dinners were Anika's way of showing her respect for her people, her love. Waiting for her to order first was their way of respecting the regent.

Kuro had goals, many goals, but today's goal was one of investigation, so to speak. The Queen of Omashu, he wanted to know what she was like. How truly trustworthy she was, were her actions true, or going to do any good, or was she just a fraud. That may have sounded like a ridiculous conspiracy that she might be planning something, or be being controlled by someone, but Rein was a cautious cynic sometimes.

He couldn't, of course, just do an all out investigation. That might be going to far, especially since it would probably result in committing a crime. But this dinner that the Queen set up gave him the perfect opportunity to attempt to see what he could learn. That, and there was food, so even if he learned nothing there was food.

He had made sure to arrive early, and the moment that it was his turn to be allowed in, he'd do so. Attempting to seat himself as close to the Queen as possible for conversation or at least listening in, but doing so without trying to draw much attention to it. He could navigate a crowd pretty well, this wouldn't be too much different.

While he wasn't the type to be incredibly impressed by most regents, or humbled by being in their presence. He knew respect was important, and that he could have for them. So he'd have to act with refinement, not that he didn't normally.

It's a rather nice place isn't it. He thought as he looked around for a moment, Kind of amusing, she has only female guards. Of course she is a woman, so it would make sense that she'd be more comfortable with women rather then male guards. If it were a man with only female guards I might feel a bit suspicious of that.

Anika continued to fidget slightly through the meal. She usually acted like it was the best thing in the world, even talking to nobles and non noble, even when she was internally screaming in fear, so fidgeting during the meal was rare for her. She would catch herself doing things she usually did in private, like before dinner or meeting people. Things such as twisting her hair or picking at her nails. Sometimes she didn't even realize it until Celare tapped her spear on the marble floor. This simple action was a code they used to jar Anika out of a habit. So far, within just the hour the dinner had been going on for, Celare had tapped her spear around 38 times.

Anika just couldn't explain it, she was more nervous than usual. She felt like she was being watched. She had been trying to shake it, but couldn't. At the one and a half hour mark, she was passing nervous and becoming scared. She didn't like the feeling of being watched, but at the same time refused to be a slave to it. While she usually shied away from the public when she could, she had long ago learned to trust her instincts. She hated to mistrust her people but still felt she had to. Her eyes scanned the crowd, looking at all the places where one could easily hide. By by half an hour, she had 3 suspects and through subtle tremors she sent through the ground, all guards were made aware of them.

This was another tactic that tended to elevate Anika to almost god like proportions among her people. One moment you would be stalking, the next guards would appear out of no where. Through these tremors, her guards knew where the suspects were and when she wanted them caught. Right now they were in a holding pattern. Anika didn't want to cause panic, so she wanted to be sure. One of them in particular drew her attention. While a lot of people passed through here on a daily basis, she remembered every face from dinner. While he may have been here at other times, Anika had never seen him at dinner before. As the dinner wound down and the last of the citizens got their turn at dinner, only he remained. She had her man. The tremor was sent. The guards were ready.

Kuro had watched her, certainly. He had watched the tapping of the staff, the fidgeting, it took a few times before he realized they were correlated. He saw her she might be ill at ease, perhaps a social anxiety of some sort. That was actually promising, while it may have taken away from possible intellectual or charismatic approaches, it put more likelihood she wasn't the type to do something cruel. That, or she was merely distracted, or easily distracted. There were downsides to all three options. Whether or not they fit depended on the person and the situation.

He had analyzed her, but it seemed she had kept some awareness of her own. He locked eyes with a guard and waved slightly, before turning to glance at the others. He looked at his hands and grinned slightly twiddling his thumbs, "Not totally sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing that I seem to have gained attention." he said.

His mind was on topic, but he wasn't sure how much he could say. He nodded his head towards the Queen in a bow, "Excuse me Your Majesty. Am I..." his eyes dropped down and to the right to think of the word, "Disconcerting you?" he asked furrowing his brow. If her guard tapped her staff to make the queen realize she was fiddling, who knows how many other signals they might have had that he simply couldn't have noticed. He was pretty sure however that they indeed had their sights set on him on orders, it was too...synchronized.

Anika looked up as the man spoke. her guards were suddenly on edge, as the very man who they were watching had just approached there queen. Anika calmed them however when she leaned forward and laced her fingers. Her eyes narrowed as she spoke.

"I don't like being watched," She said in a soft voice, one that showed her age. She waited until the last person left before continuing. "I particularly don't like being watched by people I don't know. So, you are going to tell me what you are doing watching me or my guards will arrest you."

Hm, very youthful too, not sure that's a good thing or a bad thing. Less experience possibly, but a much longer time left for influence. It's always funny when people find me suspicious though, even if I don't actually do anything sometimes that happens. He thought rolling his thumbs together calmly as he watched them.

"Kuro Rein Kingly, if you wanted my full name." he said simply, "I'm basically here because I want to know what type of person you are. Manipulative or sincere, clever or dull, likely to misuse the power or not. Suppose people might think I'm proud for thinking it my place to do that myself but I'm tired of people with authority being treated either with entire disrespect or almost infallible. If I can know what type of person you are then I can guess what path Omashu will take from her on out. I want to make sure order is kept, whether that's among people or the authority."

Anika's eyes narrowed briefly in anger, surprising her in that it completely overwrote her fear. Subtle, but sharp tremors radiated through the dining hall, shaking loose dust from their perches. To think this man would have the audacity to question her heart and mind after everything she had done, to even think she wasn't good for Omashu.

Celare, of course, felt the tremors. Usually they were much softer and very directed. Anika very rarely got angry, and almost never as angry as Celare felt right now. She tapped her spear and saw Anika's head twitch towards her ever so slightly, another thing she only did when angry, usually she she acted like she didn't notice and stops whatever she was doing. As Anika's head twitched back, the tremors died down slowly.

Anika released a breath she didn't even know she was holding and briefly closed her eyes. When she opened them, she slowly unlaced her fingers and stood. She fought her fear as she looked into the mans eyes.

"You are right," she said with as much calm as she could muster, "Most would think you would be out of line questioning me, particularly when my actions speak for them self. I solved the homeless situation as well as the the hunger issues. I don't appreciate my motives being questioned by someone who came here with the intention of spying on me."

Anger had come back to Anika and her brow knitted. "And what, pray tell were you going to do if you found me as lacking as I found you? Kill me?"

Celare couldn't explain why Anika was so angry, but the tremors had returned, though they were different. Anika was usually so composed, so calm, so much so that tremors were unheard of. These ones not only conveyed anger, but something else Celare only felt when Anika cried. Suddenly Celare understood. "Anika," She whispered. "Sweetie, it's ok, he is not them hon."

Kuro watched as things started to shake. He had no intention of making any visible effort against it. With as many people present as their were, who were trained in combat, it would be very dangerous to make any sudden moves. So he remained calm, but vigilante. Now he saw the first negative signs, she could get angry and it would effect her actions. While merely by a signal from her Celere she would calm down, it was not a promising feature if any war or conflict were to arise. Even only a political discussion.

He listened as she spoke, not intent on interrupting, but willing to contradict. He had to furrow his brow as he heard Celere say he wasn't one of them, Some sort of trauma perhaps? Don't dig into that, with her current appearance it is likely that would only result in more emotion, no need for that right now.

Kuro chose to respond as calmly as before, "As far as problems you've fixed, I'm a bit of a cynic, so naturally I see how things can go wrong. Appear like a good person in the subjects eyes and nobody will question your actions. It's an easy enough task. Of course it's a good thing that you've done these, but it doesn't on its own take you out of suspicion."

He looked at the roof onto the question she'd asked, "If I found you lacking hm? Well, not outright kill you I bet. More likely I'd create an uprising or start a war between you and a nation I saw more fit. Or, I'd try to alter your personality or methods somehow. Assassination can be a bit, well dishonorable. It's too easy, it's sometimes cowardly. In war time I wouldn't question it, but a citizen assassination of a ruler is more likely to bring about chaos unless they know who will take the place. Or, a likely scenario in a lot of cases, I'd avoid your nation and prepare for the worst of it. Tell others of possible impending doom, spread word of it. That sort of thing."

He looked back at her and at the guards. Wondering what her actions would be. If she tried to have him killed he knew he'd fight back, if jailed, well it depended. He didn't like manipulation, and while he could probably use it, he didn't want to be deceitful here. It simply felt dishonorable to do so.

Anika's mouth hung open from shock at his bluntness. Once she gathered herself, she turned and the wall dropped away, opening to the passage to her private rooms. She stopped briefly and looked at Celare.

"Show him to the door," she said to her guard before turning around. "Count yourself lucky I am not like most nobility. I could have have you executed for conspiracy to commit treason."

As she stormed off, Celare nodded to the rest of the guards and followed Anika. As she walked through the opening the wall rose behind her. Anika had stopped in the hall and her shoulders had slumped. Celare Walked up behind her friend and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Are you ok sweetie," She asked gently.

Anika turned and buried her face into her friends shoulder. "I try so hhard tto honor my pparents," she sobbed, "Everything I ddo is ffor them."

Celare wrapped her friend in a hug, gently rubbing her back. "It's ok," she said lovingly, "not everyone understands, nor do they know your reasons like I do. Your path is true and just and you did the right thing letting him go like that. Particularly with what he seemed to want."

Kuro put a hand over his mouth semi hiding a grin, he was not surprised by her response. He shook his head to himself and he bowed towards her as she left out of some sort of respect despite having lost some of it to her response to his statements. As he left, he folded his hands behind his back and said somewhat to himself while shaking his head, "Why is it that every leader has issues?" he said allowing his smile to fade.

She will...suffice, I suppose. She seems unlikely to intentionally cause issues at least. I'm uncertain if she could be manipulated into something terrible or not. Nevertheless, long enough under her reign, she'll either have to gain a better control, or things will get sour eventually.

He looked back at the building as he left, walking to find his Owlbear, and petting it, "You and me don't have issues though do we, hm?" he said smiling at the creature, "Nah, people like us, we can be scary or intimidating sometimes. But we just need the right people who understand."

His smile faded again and he swallowed, "Hope it didn't hurt all that much. Still, it's not like she didn't ask me what I would do. I was only being honest. But, what can you do, in a world where people deceive even their friends, the honest people seem the cruelest, and the liars who get away with it, the kindest."