>>5965048Deep in the bowels of Castle Rusalka, Blair watched as her sworn sister and trusted advisor, Corrine, nervously paced in front of a desk stacked with papers. She had spent the last week cooped up inside this room, and Blair had begun to grow concerned. Worried at this sudden uncharacteristic behavior, the Countess of Rusalka had decided to barge in and find out just what was ailing her Minister of Affairs. Finding Corrine in such a frazzled state sent a chill down Blair’s spine. She’d only recently come into power, and while Blair was under no illusions that this job would be an easy one, she hadn’t expected things to grow so dire so soon.
>“What’s wrong?” Blair asked, concern evident in her voice. “It’s bad.” Corrine replied curtly.
>Blair’s hand flew to her face, and she grew increasingly more anxious as she tried to determine the situation. “Have the people rejected my rule? Are our food stores running low? Goddess, please don’t tell me there are more Agarthans to deal with…”“Worse than all that.” Corrine shook her head.
>“Well, what is it?!”“We need to get you more votes.” Corrine whispered. Her eyes were wild with frenzy.
>“Votes?” Blair raised an eyebrow. “Why? I’m already the countess. It’s not like we vote on that anyway…”
“No, not that!” Corrine waved the idea away with a brush of her hand. “Votes for the beauty contest that I entered you in. The competition is far fiercer than I’d originally anticipated. I’d hoped you’d appeal to the sort of men that like women in armor…” She trails off, reading one of the loose notes on her desk. “But this woman here is a celebrated knight. Worse yet, she’s taller than you too…”
>“I’m sorry, what?” Blair asked incredulously. “Why is my Minister of Affairs so preoccupied with a beauty contest when there is no shortage of more pressing issues to attend to?!”“This IS a pressing issue, Blair!” Corrine pounded the desk. “The people need to love their ruler. Let’s face it, you haven’t exactly garnered the best reputation out there. Plenty of your subjects seem to still be under the impression that you’re a witch or a cutthroat sellsword. But this!” She waves a piece of paper in Blair’s face. “This is a way to fix all that! To get the people to fall in love with you and serve as faithful citizens!”
>Blair snatched the paper from Corrine’s hand, reading it closely. “You told them my greatest fear?! Why?!”“I thought it would make you a more tragic character.” Corrine said, snatching the note back. “Though I regret telling them about your interest in fishing.” She wrinkles her nose. “Ugh…what was I thinking. Fishing? That’s not a feminine hobby...they’ll never go for that…”
As Blair turned to walk out of the room, she heard Corrine calling out behind her.
“Come back! We need to talk about getting you a new portrait!
