Le coeur de cette terre

[Serenierre]

LA REINE

Since the marriage of her son to Élise, no opportunity had come up for the entire family to get together for a private dinner. So tonight was the first time the family sat together, without the burdens of their titles, since the royal wedding in June. She had met Élise several times, even before Nicolas had decided to marry her, and had always found her to be a charming and an intelligent girl. When her son, and heir, had informed her that she wanted to marry the Aren king's second daughter, she had immediately granted her assent. Over the entire courtship period, she had met her many times more when the Princess would secretly visit Paris to meet with Nicolas.

The Château de Florians, the Queen's private residence, was located in one of Paris' most historical arrondissement, far away from the political scuffles which seemed to occur constantly in the capital itself. Much smaller than the more famous Charbonne, it afforded her greater comfort and intimacy to those who lived there. The ornate state rooms and vast gardens of the Charbonne didn't exist here. Here, Diana wasn't Queen, here she was a mother and a wife. This was a home. This was her home.

As a mother, Diana had never neglected her children, unlike the rest of the European royalty, she spent any extra time she had with her children. When they were growing up, she would keep them as close to her as possible, she had even gone against her nature and stopped traveling abroad during the eighties and nineties to avoid being too far from her children. Her devotion seemed to have done something right, she hadn't had to face the embarrassment other royals had to face due to the misbehavior of their younger generation, an example being the Wieser Archduchess Eleonore. With her husband her relationship had always been warm and loving with neither partner being dishonest to the other in any matter.

"You know," she said to Élise, "as the wife of the heir... you are to be given a collection of jewels... as all your predecessors have been by mine."

"Yes, Mére Diana," that was what she had chosen to call her mother-in-law, Élise had been surprised to see that the Queen herself promoted informality in private between the members of the family, "Nicolas informed me about that."

"The Royal Secretary will provide you the casket." Directing her gaze at her daughters; the princesses Elisabeth, Marie-Joséphine and Marie-Hélène, "But before the Royal Secretary does that... they shall take you to my study. From the catalogue there, you can decide what jewels you want to be part of your collection."

She cut into the steak that the butlers had placed before the family. The chefs of the Florians kitchen were one of the best chefs in the country, only the best were chosen from the many cooking schools across the kingdom to cook for the Royal Family. That night's dinner had been made by Pierre Gruerre, the recently appointed 'Grand Chef de la Terre' - a title which made the man or woman a royal in the realm of culinary delights - and she had wanted to try the man's art for some time. All she could say was, he didn't disappoint.

With none of them having any appointments planned for the next week, she was happy that the family could be together. This time would be useful to bring everyone closer together and make Élise more comfortable with her new family. Any official business they had would be dealt with only in the mornings with rest of the day free.

She remained silent, the others continuing the conversations amongst themselves. There was far too much on her mind.



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[Serenierre]

LE AVION PRIVÉ

The small plane zoomed upwards, the Prince of Montaigne was headed back to his seat in Rheims to continue administrating the realm. He had in his lap a file from the Governor of Nord-Pas over some dispute between local fishing unions and Breotish coast guard vessels. As soon as he would reach his office he'd ring up the Breotish Consulate to sort out the matter. He closed the file and handed it back to his assistant. "Anything else?" he asked, looking out of the window at the lush countryside below. The trip from Paris to Rheims took little over forty five minutes and always allowed Nicolas to review the matters that awaited him back at his office.

"No, Your Highness." He walked away from the Royal Couple. As the Princess read a book and the Prince looked out of the window. He slid the file back into the briefcase and sat in his seat. He had been off the past week as the Prince had retreated to the countryside with his family. The break had given him a much needed break after organizing the Prince's tour of Montaigne over the past month.

Nicolas looked at his wife. She was an avid reader, since their marriage in June, she had already read at-least a hundred books from the library at the Château de Montaigne. Élise was an intellectual through and through, a quality that had attracted him to her in the first place. "Elle," as he started calling her affectionately, "what are you reading today? Have you finished the book you were reading last night?"

She lifted up the cover and showed it to him, 'In the Eye of the Storm', it read, "I found it in the library... its pretty old. Had Marie photocopy it and bind it afresh for me. Quite a good read really."

"Oh... might read it when you're done." He leaned back into the seat, after taking a sip of the coffee he had placed infront of him. He closed his eyes. His mind began to wander.

The meeting with his Sarmatian counterpart had ended rather well, he thought. Both had agreed on a number of principles and had reached agreement on the details of the Free Trade Agreement, both of which had made Premier Martinique's earlier anxieties over the matter evaporate. She, herself, had told him in her phone call earlier that day that she would speak with the Queen and go on a visit to Sarmatia in the coming months to, using her term, "Scellez-le". He had to honest to himself, he had been nervous throughout that meeting. As Prince of Montaigne he had never had to deal with the foreign matters until then but due to the success of the meetings he had been strengthened by a renewed sense of confidence in himself. He'd even made a friend in the Crown Prince.

He looked back at Élise. She had put the book away and was resting her head in her hands and looking at him. She wasn't a romantic but the Belmontien prince had swept her off her feet when she had first met him in 2007 at one of the parties in Emyn Aren. Back then she hadn't known that the man was a Royal, much less a prince. But when she found out that he was a prince, she had been quick to tell her parents. Back then, her ego had taken a huge blow due to her sister Katherine's marriage to the Montelimarian king but, thanks to Nicolas, her ego was on its way back to full recovery.

"Elle, do you have photographic memory or what? You finished that book already?"

"No, silly, I'm just half way through... taking a break... even I can't finish a book that fast," she said, smiling at her husband. She had fast discovered her husband was a sweet and gentle man in private, though in public, he was known for being reserved and cold. The truth was far from it. She took his hand into her own and kissed it gently. He looked at her lovingly.