The Emira's Palace - Courtyard

The clicking of Grandma’s cane would alert those nearby of Grandma’s approach before she turned the corner and entered the courtyard itself, now fully visible to those inside it. Her gaze fell upon the Emira’s rather sizable belly, causing the corners of her mouth to twitch slightly, hinting at her repressing a smile.

It seemed the Chancellor was also in Sakand, a rather interesting development. Grandma would have heard if Naoki had sent him here, meaning his reasons for being here were yet unknown to Grandma. Although slightly curious as to his presence, she had more pressing matters to look into. For the moment, she simply offered Ryden of a nod of greeting, deciding she would speak to him during the feast.

“Thank you for the invitation to your palace here, Emira. It’s quite a lovely place. I must say, you have quite an exquisite taste in decorations.”

Although her eyes rested on Fairuz’ belly for just a moment, Grandma didn’t yet address the fact the woman had went from appearing in peak health to fully pregnant in the course of several hours. For the moment, Grandma simply took a seat to the right of Fairuz, using her cane to help lower herself down onto one of the pillows. Setting down the cane to her right, Grandma sat in a cross-legged position, now simply waiting for what was to come.

They would not have to wait long for the High Priest to arrive, as he soon entered the courtyard himself. He would pause at the top of the steps leading down into the courtyard taking in the view of the lovely courtyard, a light smile on his face as he looked over those seated below him. He too would look over the seating arrangement for a moment, noting where everyone had decided to take their seats before beginning his descent. 

He would choose to sit opposite of Grandma, as he did like to keep things nice and symmetrical. The High Priest also did not seem to be surprised by Fairuz's change in appearance, though whether this was just because he knew of her condition prior or was very adept at keeping himself composed was another matter.

"I am honored to be here, among your honored guests for this feast today, Emira."

Ramesses, from where he was sitting would bow his head slightly in respect to each of them gathered there. He would otherwise remain silent for now but otherwise friendly and open to conversation as he took stock of those seated with him, especially Ryden, whom he had not gotten the chance to meet before. 

Taking her glass of wine, Grandma took a sip from it, a small smile appearing on her face when Fairuz asked about Naoki. She supposed this did technically look like a ‘vacation’ from an outside perspective. That was fine, best to reinforce such opinions.

“I haven’t spoken to Naoki specifically about this trip, but we speak fairly regularly, so I suspect she’ll find out that I’m here in Sakand soon enough. So far my stay here has been most pleasant, largely due to your hospitality, Emira. I also must thank you, High Priest Ramesses for taking me to the library. I found it quite an enlightening experience.”

Turning her gaze to the Chancellor, Grandma regarded him for a moment with an ambiguous expression. Fairuz’ warmer greeting of the man hadn’t been missed by Grandma. Still, Grandma didn’t directly address Ryden yet, waiting to hear his response to Fairuz.

An elegant dark brow perked on the Sakandi woman's face as she reached for her goblet. "How very interesting," she said, and meant it. That neither one of these high ranked individuals had told Naoki of their visit was, indeed, fascinating to Fairuz. She'd been under the impression that Naoki was much more controlling than that.

She drank, and ate a little of the dried fruits and salted meats in front of them. There was a whole assortment, almost akin to tapas. The meats ranged from fish to snake to something entirely new. There were spices sprinkled over everything, ranging in color so that even the food displayed was something of a masterpiece.

"Chancellor, I didn't know that you were on the way to Medan. When Goraia annexed Sakand under their rule, they took a very valuable and very important gem from Sakand into their Medanese territory." Her kohl-lined, sharp jade eyes were on him. "It needs to be returned to Sakand. We are progressing, ever so slowly, but to have our gem back in the Tallak ak Ara is only right."

She looked to Ramesses. "Is that not true, High Priest?"

The large flying carpet came to land at the very top of the palace, where more white-dressed servants awaited, along with one man wrapped in a deep red color. They all bowed as the carpet landed, and the Gauldin Royal Family stepped off.

Djohi introduced them to the steward, Malti Al'awar, who bowed his head with deep respect to the King, Queen, and their children. Then, Djohi said his good-byes and left with his servants.




"Welcome to the palace, Your Highnesses," Malti said, his Sakandi accent barely present. He had an air about him that he was very highly educated, and very, very composed. "Let us get out from under the sun. The Emira will be joining us shortly, but until then, I will show you to your quarters." His hands rested with one in a light fist and the other covering it, held against his lower chest.

He turned and began the descent, the servants staying at the top most level of the palace -- which afforded an incredible view of the fantastic, legendary Sakand and its buildings and gardens -- for the shipment of belongings that would no doubt come after the royal family.

They were brought down below into the wide falls, where the shade was cool and the air smelled of fresh water and the perfume of the flowers that blossomed everywhere. Distantly, the sound of a small waterfall could be heard. The floors beneath them were just as much mosaic as the walls around them. Even the columns were decorated at their top and bottom with nature. There was color everywhere.

But then, Sakand was a very ancient city, and the city had had years to beautify itself... before the Cataclysm, anyway.

Malti was quiet as he lead them, but of course, if any questions were to be asked, he would most certainly answer them.

Gabrielle fidgets and shifts in his arms as the flying carpet lands and eventually, she decides to start crying, which somewhat spoiled Malti's introduction to the king as his majesty was busy trying to calm down his little girl. He bounces her in his arms makes soothing noises and rubs her little back until she finally decides that her daddy had made sufficient reprimands for not letting her risk her life.

While this was happening he had somehow managed to pay enough attention to walk along with the part and now that his baby girl was calm he was letting her direct him towards whatever beautiful bit or architecture or decoration she saw fit to want to touch next. While the king had a handful of question he'd like to ask Malti, he doesn't as he would want to hand Gabrielle over to a nanny while he talked to the man and he wasn't quite ready to risk upsetting her again.

Malti lead them to their wide and lavish quarters, with five rooms and a salon, balconies for each of the rooms, and a grand view of Sakand and its sparkling bay. He bowed his head and left the family to it, informing them that the Emira will be requesting their presence after they had finished resting up a bit.

Grandma listened with what appeared to be a rather idle expression on her face, reaching out to try some of the food that Fairuz had provided. Taking a large bite out of a piece of some salted fish, Grandma chewed thoughtfully, washing it down with a sip of her wine.

Then Fairuz mentioned the gem. For a brief second, the edges of Grandma’s lips curled up slightly, a look of amusement in her eyes. This look only lasted for a moment, however, her disposition quickly returning back to one of neutrality and mild interest.

“I must offer my compliments to you on the food, Emira. I’ve always been a bit partial to dried foods and this assortment of them you have here is quite scrumptious.”

Grandma was still content to simply make small talk for the moment, she would let Fairuz and Ryden bring the more important topics to the table for now. The conversation was certain to head in that direction now that Fairuz had brought up the gem stolen from Sakand, however...

Renaux looks up at his wife when she comes onto the balustrade and he smiles at her softly. "Should I be worried about you wanting to stay?" He asks and chuckles softly. Wrapping an arm about her waist he pulls her into his side and he lets out a content sigh. "I am sure he would and yes, Sakand is quite old compared to our fair city." He agrees, leaning his head against hers. "We will have time to see all the city I am sure, or you will, I will be in and out of meetings with the Emira." He says with a small sigh.