The assembled lords echoes filled the great hall. Already the Queen's proclamation was causing quite a stir among the noble. Many did not know what to make of this turn of event.
Since the King's marriage to the Princess Alasandra during the Necropolis War years ago. She had appeared little in the Twilight Forest, preferring to remain in her homeland in the Cavern of Stars among the Drae people. In fact many commoners were unaware at all of her existence at all, only knowing that the Drae were our allies in the fight against the undead forces.
The nobility recognized the political marriage for what it was. Politics. However since Killian's disappearance, the Queen had been adamant about discovering where the King was. Showing an uncharacteristic display of concern. Some rumors floated around the palace that the marriage was not as political as Killian had lead his advisors to believe.
Indeed, as is often the case, rumors simply seemed to spring up literally overnight sense the Queens unannounced arrival. Was she making a power play for the Throne? Had her an the King fallen madly in love? Was she behind his disappearance? Was her absence due to the king producing an secret heir? These and many others floated around Lilithspar in the past 24 hours.
None of course were confirmed nor denied by the Queen who had kept mostly to herself and her attendants. Even Galen had been hard pressed to gain an audience with her and most of his questions were simply deflected to await the meeting.
As the doors opened, the hall quickly grew silent as the Queen entered, escorted by four Shade Knights. A rare sight, considering most of the Shades had voluntarily undergone a process to remove the shadow taint from themselves at Killian's bequest. She walked quietly and directly to her seat at the head of the table.
"Please be seated" she simply said as she took her seat. The assembled Lord and Ladies waited for the queen to sit then quietly followed suit.
"Several months ago the King disappeared. In that time the kingdom has being governed by Galen in the Kings absence. I appreciate the hard work Galen has placed in attending the duties of the Kingdom as well as looking for the King." As she addressed the court. The queen looked at each noble judging their response to her words.
"However, I can no longer neglect the duties expected of me as Queen. Therefore, after much deliberation, I have decided to assume the responsibilities of the Kingdom." A hushed murmur quickly sounded in the chamber.
"Are you sure that is wise, my queen?" A pale elven woman asked. "Many though out the Land are unaware of your status. It is certainly to cause some confusion."
"I appreciate your concerns Lady Firestar. However I believe any further delays in the matter will only add to the confusion. Neither Killian nor myself anticipated these turn of events. However they must still be addressed."
"Until the King is found I am reinstating the powers suspended in the Order of Twilight after the return of the kingdom. In addition I will be reassigning various positions through out the kingdom to shore up its defenses should Killian's disappearance herald some new threat." she continued. "My primary concern is to insure that the people remain confident in their leaders and to the safety of the Kingdom." As she continues to speak the queen rises from her chair.
"I will meeting latter this week with the Lord High Knights as well as the Dukes and Lord SkyeDancer to discuss matters of the Kingdom. I ask you direct any questions and/or concerns to them so they may present them at that time. Now if you will excuse me, I have other matters to attend." The queen exited the chamber despite the growing voices at the table. While no Lord dared speak it out loud, the tone in the rooms spoke volumes of their mixed feelings in the matters.