The Opening of the Festival - OPEN

[Lady Samantha Rose]

She was only doing this at her family's insistence. Samantha had wanted a quiet introduction to Court. Those that truly wished to speak with her would find out she was there and find her thus. However, Esteban and Tomas insisted that the people needed to see the face of Rosewine's leadership. If people saw her, they would be more willing to approach her. That was precisely what Samantha wanted to avoid, but she eventually conceded their point. Perhaps it would not be so bad to meet and greet with certain peoples.

Thus, she rode through the procession but had her carriage behind those of the other duchies. It was tastefully designed with a few banners to indicate her house. Many of the spectators were puzzled as to who she was, but a few of the elder people caught on quick enough. She managed to put on a faint smile for their sake, but mostly kept to her children. All four of them were quite curious and were very pleased that they were in a carriage.

"Did you see the cathedral, mama?" Maria questioned excitedly and craned around to look at it once again.

"I think I saw some of the Church knights in front of it," Mateo chimed in, smiling as he did so. "Do you think you can get me to speak with them, mama? I want to make a good impression."

Samantha smiled warmly at them, "Yes, of course. I was planning on visiting the cathedral tomorrow, anyway. You can come along with me." She had a desire to visit with one of the priests there.

Before they knew it, the carriage came to a stop and her children went scampering off. Her eldest son was gentlemanly enough to hold out a hand to help her alight the carriage. "Thank you, Tomas." She looked around curiously, mentally bracing herself for any possible interaction. The Duchess was in a light dress for the weather, styled primarily in gold with green accents to indicate the colors of her house.

So it begins...

[Lord Rupert de Vere]

"I am glad it's not my specialty, either, because I have a feeling there would be as many bodies as there were gold coins in the vault," he quipped with a faint smirk and then glanced toward the elderly man of Trade. "He did bring up the matter of the embargo with Arton. He feels that we should let bygones be bygones and welcome Artonian goods into the market places again. That way, we can have a stimulus to the economy and have more on which to pass tariffs. I have a feeling His Majesty would rather eat his own shoe than do that, however." The comment was a dry one.

"My operations are coming along fine. I'm in the process of collecting a few more operatives, hopefully ones that do not require anymore pay than the simple thrill of being a spy. Unfortunately, that limits me to two options," he let out a sigh, then. "Those that do require compensation are doing just fine, but I am hesitant to spend more money on shadowy individuals in Arton and Ixo. The former is too expensive and the latter are too...adherent to some code of honor."

[Lord Micah Stratford]

"You never know, there could very well be as many bodies as gold in the vaults," he admitted with some mild amusement in his voice. No one saw the vaults, aside for Micah and few others. The King, of course, could see and visit the vaults whenever he wanted - but the Exchequer could only access the prime vaults. It was part of the responsibilities entrusted upon him by the King. Usually they were opened twice a week when he was present, and enough gold was put into smaller vaults that some lower officials had access to conduct daily transactions. Once in a while some important matters came up that required access to the larger vaults and he had to haul his ass down to be present to witness and oversee the exchanges or whatever was being done.

The Exchequer smiled as the Spymaster recounted the Trademaster's remarks about ending the embargo upon the Arton Empire. The man was persistent on that point, and Micah couldn't disagree with it. They could bring in cheap goods, and put tariffs on it to bring it up to domestic prices and make revenues - but it could hurt some domestic competition and anger some nobility. After all, the markets were very protectionist in nature and it was easy to guess where the King would side. "There is some wisdom to his words, but you are right." The King would very likely eat his shoe than accept opening commerce between Demeria and Arton, not that it stopped the black market economy between the two nations. It was highly lucrative, and such realities were not lost upon the Royal Exchequer.

He could only smirk, because most spies want pay for their work, as well as assurances and guarantees of security or other requests. In some ways, Micah was always high in demand when others needed more money for various goals, projects, or initiatives. Everything else needed money to run, the world ran on this system of currency to keep things in order. The Exchequer liked to view himself as an administrator of order, and a defender against chaos. He had his own spy ring going on, and it wasn't a stretch to say the men of the council often commanded the best informant and operative networks in all of Demeria. Nonetheless, he was not as experienced in active spying himself as Rupert seemed to be. "Strange isn't it? There is still a society where they take codes of honour so seriously. It is quite something that such people cannot be bought. I have always wanted to learn more about them, to see how they can resist temptations and greed. Likely you wish to break them as much as I would," he commented, on the rigid morals of the people of Ixo. Micah liked to believe even such loyal and honourable people could be broken eventually - it was all a matter of applying the correct amount of pressure.

"As for Arton, there is so much money in that empire you have the complete opposite of Ixo. These are people with very loose morals, whom are quick to sell loyalty to the highest bidder. As soon as you think you have a trusted informant, you realise they are a double or triple agent working for the higher prices of people who outbid us." This was a much more informative statement, from realities he knew and Rupert likely knew as well. Despite the secession of Oakdale from the Empire, the Stratfords did maintain contacts in Arton. It was important when one was from a border family. Everyone in Arton was on a quest to elevate his or her stature and position in life. They sought to achieve higher status and so most were very much willing to commit treachery to achieve their aims. Families fell from prominence just as quickly as they rose very often in the Arton Empire, and some held on for long periods of time. Micah liked to think there was some greater stability in Demeria.

[Princess Katya Fyodorov]

Katya could not help but hear the blond lords words to the prince she was speaking with and it made her flush even worse than she already had been, if that was even possible. Giving a quiet laugh at Tristans mutter, she tilted her head to the side in slight curiosity at his wording. "And what is your position?" She couldn't help but tease, wondering if it was at all possible ... Shaking the thought off without letting herself finish it, Katya felt herself going breathless at the look of admiration towards her. Speechless at the Princes words about how he had not thought she could be any more beautiful and that she had proven him wrong, Katya found herself unable to think of anything to say. "You flatter me and leave me without words to say," she confessed quietly after a long pause.

Keeping up with him with ease, Katya caught sight of her sister and waved towards her but found herself unable to keep her gaze off of the Prince riding by her side for too long. Falling into a comfortable silence, or so it seemed to her, Katya kept glancing at Prince Tristan throughout the ride, unable to help doing so. It was so strange how one could meet a person and feel like you had known them your whole life. All too soon, or so it felt despite the fact it was a two hour ride, they arrived at the lake. Dismounting, Katya had to laugh at the sight of the Crown Prince dancing with his chosen lady. "Your brother seems quite an able dancer, are you, as well?" She asked, unwilling to leave his side too soon despite having been in his company for two hours. The time they spent together had not felt long enough and she wondered if the prince felt the same.

[Deleted]

Was Mariko's smile not as warm as it usually was, or did he imagine it? He pushed the thought to the back of his mind as he felt for the box by his side. "Excellent," he said and held the box in his lap. "Kaede…" His daughter turned from the window and he opened the case to reveal a silver hair comb. "One of your mother's favorites. I was keeping it for memory's sake, but it is more suitable that you wear it." Kaede took the comb and admired it lovingly before she placed it in her hair.

Sweet, hardworking Mariko. Koji was unsure of how he could thank her in a subtle way for all her support. Lavishing gifts was not the Ixonian way, but Koji wanted to be selfish and giving. He met Mariko's eyes and smiled at her as he opened a smaller box containing pearl drop earrings. "They were my grandmother's. I would be honored if you wore them today." Heat snuck to his face and remained there.