Tour of The Kingdom

As Sugary heard where the group had toured before, he wondered further still as to what sort of band it was, smiling and patting the fellow guard on the back as well while following Nuria up the flight of stairs. It was then he realized they were using her seats. "Oh my... Wasn't expecting First Class seats..." He felt humbled as he sat next to Nuria, placed the items next to them, and started to watch the next performance.

At first, he wasn't sure he followed what the band was up to as they started slow, but it didn't take long fur Sugary himself to start swaying, tail and ears flicking to the unusual rhythm along with his body, the music shining through eventually all around. He cheered and clapped and applauded to the spectacle, feeling much more peppy as he danced a bit by Nuria's side. He even urged her into a dance at some point, even if he wasn't very good at it should she accept.

Any normal sort of political leader wouldn't stoop so low as to be caught dancing at a concert such as this. But of course, Nuria was no normal political leader. So of course she danced! Dancing was too much fun! So much so that they completely forgot about errands for the next couple of hours!

The concert couldn't go on forever. Well, it could, but not today. It was over now, and the crowd dispersed, whether by land or air. Nuria laughed to herself as she and Market walked down the steps. "That was so much fun! I always love watching them perform."

For all the energetic dancing between them, Sugary had a lot of fun at the balcony with Nuria. Morale was high as could be as well given that things were peaceful enough for such a show in the first place, so the energy in the Colosseum was at an all time high.

And high was his heartbeat rate by the time they were done dancing, going down the stairs again. "Eh heh...! That was a good workout! Er..." He smiled a bit bashfully. "I really liked the music too, of course! But goodness, we were really at it for a while there... Aside from getting the fruit from the filly, was there something else we were doing...? I lost track in all the dancing!"

Nuria chuckles and takes a breath followed by a tired breath. She looks at Sugary and thinks. "No, there really wasn't anything else." She says. The sun was still out, though it was starting to set now. Luckily there wasn't much to do until the evening meeting at the castle. "Let's go and gwt your fruit then. I'm sure it's waiting for you."

"Okay then, fruit it is!" A little surprised as to how much time they spent dancing, he thought there'd be more chances to learn more over time, which he looked forward to as he got the materials and calmly walked out with her back to the streets, admiring the scenery around them as the sun set a bit, looking for the filly left and right.

Nuria follows Sugary back down to the market, soon finding the little kirin peddling her fruits. "Oh! Mister unicorn!" She calls out, pulling a basket of the exotic fruits from her cute little stall. "I saved them for you special!"

Nuria chuckles and wanders over to a young jeweler, looking at some pieces of topaz art.

Sugary would make good on his offer to pay, making sure to give a light bonus for the filly after the sale for giving him a quality selection of fruit. "And here is my thanks! Fine service deserves fine compensation. Take care, little one."

Having waved farewell to the filly and carrying a new basket of fruit happily, he went to see Nuria and the wares of the jeweler. "Got it...! Oh, that's... Topaz, right? Looking for something to compliment your fiery soul...?" The way he spoke, he didn't seem to be referring to Nuria's fire breathing outright but a certain meaning he found in the gem itself.

The littlw kirin excitedly accepted the payment, then immediately went to show her papa nearby how good a salesman she was. Nuria looked to Sugary and smiles. "I suppose a mare can never have enough jewelry, can she?" She says with an awkward chuckle. "Hmm, the topaz is nice, but I think the Turquoise has a little more personality. What do you think?"

He hummed in thought, though smiled at her idea regarding precious stones to use as he looked between her face and the jewels. He then gently took some turquoise stones and held them next to her body, seemingly more satisfied with the ones that had the most natural swirls over those purely of one color. "Yes... Turquoise makes a fine contrast for your lighter colors. The ones with dark swirls in particular I'd say." He placed the jewels back, and just smiled patiently.

Nuria smiled and decided on a Turquoise earing and necklace set at Sugary's suggestion. She payed for these up front with coin, earning a smile from the young jeweler. "I think you're right." She says, taking the jewelry in a small bag and rejoining Sugary. She let's out a breath and looks at the unicorn. "Maybe we should head back now. I can only miss so many meetings before my council gets upset."

Sugary chuckled, but looked rather intently at Nuria as he got ready to move. "Lady Nuria, I hope you weren't hiding that fact from me on purpose! We should hurry back then...!" Then, he got a little closer with a grin as he whispered. "But I'm having fun, so I'm hardly complaining. Thank you for the tour so far."

Nuria chuckles at her tardiness and struts back down the road to the castle. With their few items in tow, they pass through the gate and enter the castle grounds. The castle was a marvel as well, as rather than stand as tall as possible, floors were mostly dug out into the earth. Nuria explained that this had to do with closeness to the world, and how it was also relevant to how kirin mostly walked everywhere rather than fly.

The Council chambers were on the second highest floor, in a large oval-shaped room. It had a long table, at the head of which was a more grand seat than the others. That spot was obviously Nuria's. About ten kirin sat in wait, not looking impressed at their leader's tardiness.

Sugary made a short comment about how castles are often held in high places, and thought the Kirin's had a more humble approach regarding the importance of the land itself. He wondered to himself if the soil was the true treasure of the Monarchy.

Just as they moved closer to where they needed to go, mostly since he had yet to be formally dismissed, he went ahead and placed all their belonging in his Inventory for safekeeping just before entering the chambers, meaning they had nothing to really show once they made their way in. He saw their faces though, and so he tried to be the one to save face for Nuria. "Pardon the delay, but with the Supreme Commander still recovering, I asked for the Queen's time in learning more of local matters." Technically, he was still meant to report to the likely retiring Commander, but Nuria was ultimately the one still paying him for Mercenary work either way. Whether or not they believed him was another matter.

"Lady Nuria, we understand that this past week has been one of relaxation, but it is our opinion that you be more punctual with these precedings." One of the kirin says, elderly and graying.

"Your opinions are noted, counselor." Nuria says with a sly grin as she takes her seat and motions for Sugary to take her side. "Though I suppose if we had more important things to talk about than what I already knew, then it would be a bit more of a necessity, now wouldn't it? Let me guess, the wounded are still healing, the wall is still not repaired, we have not heard anyrhing more than apologies and well wishing from the neighboring countries, the plans for the religious celebration are being funded as needed and everyone is living happily ever after..."

There was a silence in the room after that. Nuria's point had clearly been made. "Your Highness..." One counselor speaks. "We have been concerned with your wellbeing. We heard the stories of what happened beyond our walls. If there was anything that-"

He was cut short by Nuria slapping her claws against the table, her expression angry as steam escaped her mouth when she spoke next. "If you are suggesting that the war has made me unfit to rule, then perhaps you should have been there at my side to ensure my wellbeing, councelor Draft." There was another silence. An especially quiet one. Clearly a very sensitive subject had just been touched.

"Apologies, your Highness..." The councelor says, keeping quiet from this point on.

"Apology accepted. Now, I think it's time for a change." The Queen Chief says with authority. "Enough of these silly meeting over silly things. We must learn to delegate properly. I can't be in charge of everything. Is that understood?" There was a voice of agreement and the meeting was soon adjourned. Nuria sat and waited for everyone else to exit, leaving only Sugary and herself in another round of silence... Until she started laughing.

Sugary kept silent and patient throughout the meeting, especially having nothing to add himself that wasn't already mentioned. But then came a reaction as Nuria started to laugh. Since he didn't know why, he thought first that maybe she had a lot in her mind still, and so he moved closer to gently rub his arm on her back and spoke softly. "Hey... You feeling okay?"

"Did you see his face?!" Nuria says, barely able to contain herself with laughter. She turned and leaned against Sugary, using him for support until her sides stopped hurting from how hard she was laughing. "Oh, goddess that was too good. That pompous fool has had that coming for a while."

He sighed and scoffed, holding her close and lightly nuzzling her mane while holding back a chuckle. "Don't tease the elders too much, will ya? They might get more grumpy... But I saw, and you're right. I don't recall any of them coming with us on the fight itself; I support you all the way. That means you're gonna do another... um... Re-arranging of positions soon, right?"

Nuria shook her head and wiped a tear from her eye. "No, no. I only did that because of incompetence during battle. Unfortunately, these councelors actually know what they're doing and how to do it. As much as I don't like some of them, I can't just go replacing them willy nilly."

He blinked in thought a few times. "Eh...? No, no! I don't mean them! I meant... Who are you gonna get to delegate for you and the counsel? You did just tell them things were gonna change, so I assume you've got some in mind already... Right? I would think they would want some names as soon as possible."

"Oh, that's what you mean." Nuria says. Though she lets out a huff. "I don't know. I'll let them figure it out. Like I said before, I can't be in charge of everything." She slumps onto the table and sighs, looking down the length of it. "I had almost forgotten what it was like to be in charge of an entire country. Why did I challenge for this position again?"

Sugary blinked at the fact she wasn't quite Queen by lineage, and so he leaned on the table along with her, still looking at her face. "... You fought for dominance? If that's how it works around here, then... Who or what was the previous leader like? Surely something they did must've made you want to fight that badly. Maybe you just need to think back on how to set things right these days...?"

"That's sort of how it works." Nuria says. "The last King Chief wasn't a bad kirin or anything. It was just a step I needed to take for myself..." She looked more solemn than usual, reminiscing about her former life. "I used to be blind, you see. And as such, was weak and feeble. But then I was visited! Visited by our goddess, The Mother of Flame! Oh if you could have seen her..." This was clearly a fond memory of hers from the way she spoke of her deity.

"Scales of gold that shone like the sun she surrounds herself in... She came to me and took my old eyes, replacing them with these." She points to her new eyes, metalic gold irises reflecting the light. "Ever since then, I've only been getting stronger. Until I hit a wall when I became Queen Chief."

Regardless of how Nuria might've thought a foreigner like Sugary would perceive things, he was actually very intrigued by her story as he looked to her eyes with a broad smile. "And what beautiful eyes they are. The divine spirit that visited you must've really held you in high esteem... But what have those eyes seen that makes you think there's a wall in front of you?" He nosed her cheek a bit to pep her up. "It's not as if you have to change everything right away, the restoration is gonna take time. I'm sure you'll find answers as things develop."

Nuria smiled, but it was bittersweet. She looked away out the window at her kingdom, letting go a sigh. "I meant that I've reached a point personally where there doesn't seem to be any further way up." She says.

"The young, weak girl, surpassing all and becoming their leader. Where is there to go from there? I want to better myself. Achieve a higher status.. ."

Still by her side, he looked out as well as he tried to understand what she was getting at. "Hm...? You mean figuratively, right? Cause if you can't climb further up... Go forward then. I'm sure many Kirin already have your best interests at heart, but what about beyond the walls? Now, I may be an outsider that gets a thrill out of adventure, but I've been a firm believer of establishing firm friendly relations at any distance."