"Unlike most monarchies, the Al-Shan people place no weight on crowns or sceptres as symbols of royalty. Instead, the symbol associated with their emperor is none other than the imperial throne itself. It was not an uncommon practice for new emperors to alter the throne to their liking, even." - Anonymous Historian studying the Al-Shan culture.

Cal had just explained to Vark what the throne meant for the Al-Shan people as she gave her nephew a tour of the throne room. It was past the hour where the room would be in use, and other than some guards - who perked up and stood extra straight upon noticing her presence - the room was devoid of inhabitants.

One of the first changes Xain had made after the civil war was won, was to remove the old throne. The old throne had been in use for over a century, an opulent object cast from gold and silver, inlaid with precious pearl and jade. Xain had it melted down, its precious metals cast into coins, and its precious gems stuffed into the royal treasury.

In its stead stood a stark, austere throne cast from steel. The throne still evoked an emperor's grandeur, yet its stark facade served as a reminder to not fall into excesses. Not even a pillow was provided for comfort on the throne, as the young emperor had desired it to serve as a constant reminder to the weight of responsibility an emperor held for his people.

It was also a move Cal approved of.

With Xain's wedding scheduled for the weekend, the city bustled in preparation for the celebratory feast that would accompany it - all expenses paid for by the crown. The governors of the various islands also gathered in the imperial capital to celebrate the occasion, which allowed Cal to meet with many old friends again.

The nearby merfolk settlement had also sent a delegation to express their blessings. A delegation Cal met earlier that day since they were welcomed to stay at the royal palace as well. To her surprise, the delegation included her friend Silas, captain of the good ship Kraken's Bounty, together with some high officials of the settlement.

Also with the delegation was a middle-aged elven woman who happily chatted with Cal in elvish. She learned that the middle-aged woman, Scaemille by name, was actually Silas's mother, and one of the richest merchants in the settlement. She also doubled as their main liaison to land dwellers since she was a rare land dweller who chose to live beneath the waves.

Not that it was much inconvenience to her, for Cal noticed that Scaemille was a powerful Water-affinity archmagus.

From Silas, Cal received the news that Xain had caught wind of Ragiula's presence a year ago, and in an unexpected move, had offered the ancient kraken and her brood the hospitality of the empire. In exchange, the brood would make their home in the waters of the empire, which by default fortified it from any seaborn enemies.

A deal that greatly benefited the empire for minimal expenditure - though it did take quite a lot of good quality alcohol and delicacies to satisfy the kraken's appetite. Still a pittance to an empire's finances, especially when it netted them protection by an ancient Kraken and her brood.

The nearby merfolk settlements were naturally notified - there was no way to hide the passage of an entire brood of Krakens from the merfolk - since the Krakens would be their neighbors too. Fortunately, these merfolk were the settlement where Silas originated from, and his family had dealt with Ragiula for generations. As such, the intelligent Kraken's existence was already an open secret among them.

It took some effort to calm down the delegates from other settlements, but between the empire that threw its weight around and good words from their own kind they too accepted their new monstrous neighbors peacefully.

Cal took the opportunity to ask Silas and his mother if she could bring her students on a trip to their settlement after the wedding. She was glad they approved, as she felt that to experience a wholly different world would do those kids well.

She also introduced Silas to her students, as the boisterous blood mage happily took on her offer to "train" her students a bit. Cal sat down by the side and chatted with Scaemille in elvish as she watched her students get thrown around by Silas on the sparring field. Midway through the conversation Aideen also joined in the chat, her elvish tongue as fluent as a native speaker, which had not surprised Cal one bit.

After all, if one lived for twelve centuries and had been around, to have many tongues mastered was nothing unusual.

Scaemille has actually met with Aideen before, as she thanked the Unliving woman for the aid she rendered back when the elf was still a youth in search of her path in the world. The three of them chatted like old friends while Silas guffawed as he threw around the students while they sparred.

Cal had allowed her students to go all out against Silas, so he reciprocated and used his magic as well, though not to the full extent of his strength. He used just enough to let him easily toy with the students, and flung them around like rag dolls with great amusement.

That evening Scaemille and Silas treated Cal and her group to a feast of merfolk delicacies. Due to the difficulties involved with cooking underwater, the merfolk had their cuisine revolve around various raw food preparations, which relied heavily on the flavors of the ingredients themselves.

After their encounter with several unusual foods in Al-Shan, Cal's students went for the feast with little trepidation, as they consumed an appetizer of brined baby eels in a soy-citrus sauce. If served underwater, the food would have been encapsulated in an edible membrane to prevent it from being mixed with seawater.

Live fish were brought out. The fish still twitched while Silas deftly sliced into them with a long, delicate knife, and before long he had translucent slices of the fish's flesh arranged like the petals of a flower on a plate. Seasoned simply with the freshly squeezed juice from a citrus fruit and some pepper, the fresh fish melted in their mouths and left only a pleasant aftertaste.

A salad of sorts was served as closer, made of various sorts of seaweed and algae, which provided a rich flavor and greatly varied texture. This was served drenched in an orangeish sauce Silas said was made from the gonads of the urchins Cal once ate, which amplified the rich flavor of the seaweeds. Willa in particular could not get enough of the crunchy, chewy and rich dessert.

When they split for the night, Cal reminded her students to have their best clothes tomorrow, for they would attend the Emperor's wedding with her.