"You see.. with the diplomats- i must maintain a certain persona," she said and sighed while glacing up in thought for a second.

"Please," she continued while she took a sip of tea, "tell me about yourselves... i was told a bit in the letter- and a subbordinate of mine watched over your movements - but i told him not to report to me unless there was something extreme."

"Why's that?" Elera asked.

"I hoped to know about you all from yourselves," the queen set down her cup with a smile, "firsthand instead of from someone else."

She gave them the opportunity to speak.

"Uh..." For Narice - he wasn't sure where exactly he should start, but he felt that someone should say something, "it's kind of hard to say exactly... it would take a while to explain."

Narice watched as the queen saw the wheel turning in their minds- perhaps the past wasnt easy for any of them to talk about. The queen could sense the difficulty in Narice.

"Sari," the queen spoke, "did you like the decorations on the treats?"

Sari nodded in reply, "oh yes! they're wonderufl."

The queen smiled sweetly at the little girl, "You know - my husband said you were a good chef. I'm sure my husband will make preparations for you in cooking schools if you were to so desire- i sense there's something special about you." the queen winked at the girl.

Sari smiled, "Oh really?! I would love that!"

"Yes, of course i would love for you to," the queen replied.

"And you, Mika right?"" she spoke to Mika, "Aarock said that you want to become a knight right?"

Mika nodded, "Oh yes! I've wanted to join the honorable knights for as long as i can remember..."

"Ah have you heard stories of them?"

"Yeah... i heard about the time they stood against a dark wizard and a dragon and..."

The queen smiled as he continued.

"I for one, would love someone so capable and enthusiastic defending the realm," the queen nodded.

"Oh! Our special guest has arrived," the queen spoke.

Another woman had come up the pathway- The queen glanced towards the side and smiled with a wave.

"I had another reason for inviting you at this time..."

"Before I get too busy, there's someone I wanted to introduce you all to," the woman was bowed for a moment, queen smiled and took the woman by then hand. As the queen had stood up, the others followed suit to introduce themselves.

Narice saw a beautiful looking female with evlish features, well dressed and elegant with a summerlike hat. Slightly shorter than himself but taller for an elf. She had flowing blonde hair.

While Narice had never seen the person before for some reason Mika seemed wide-eyed upon her arrival.

The queen spoke first, "This is someone very dear to me, the daughter of an older friend, a lady, and the maker of the cookies, Taliya."

"Mom?!" Mika spoke awestruck- breaking the silence and rushing up to hug the woman. The woman smiled as she looked downwards as she embraced him.

"It's very good to see you again Mika.." the woman spoke in a whisper.

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