Blair
It took the ‘Royal Dragon’ and rest of the fleet four days by the Fabian Gateway Network to reach the world of Marhold. Blair had passed through the system with her brother when they had arrived in Commonwealth Space and made their way to the great world of Bastion.
The ‘Royal Dragon’ was larger than any ship in the fleet of her brother’s fleet. At least twice the size of his own capitial ship, but Blair expected nothing less than the personal flagship of a king, and it was the ship of a king. She had to remind herself often that it was a warship and not a luxury liner.
The ‘Royal Dragon’ was filled with large rooms to host guests. Gyms and entertainment rooms. It’s own throne room for the king to hold court, and massive luxury quarters for his royal court. It even boosted several gardens and even a lake which could be used to swim in. Blair had never seen anything like it, and the closest thing she had heard that was similar was the starships of the Furse, which her own ancestors had been but largely given up those way in favor of life within the Kingdom of the Salians.
As different as the ‘Royal Dragon’ was to anything Blair had ever seen before, it also reminded her of starships in her brother’s own fleet. Both the Commonwealth and Furmann shared the Furse as common ancestors, although House Gisking had left Furse Space thousands of years before House Tusk.
Blair joined her new husband, the king as he left with most of his court to the planet surface by shuttle. The System-lord had extended an offer to join him for a feast, and Oswald had told her that he did enjoy the sights of the worlds throughout his realm. It was also important for a king to be seen, she knew, and sometimes business and politics was best discussed in person.
System-lord Offa Sage of Marhold proved a generous host to Blair, the King, and rest of the royal court. An older man, he was pleasant, and charged with the protection of the Fabian Gateway network which led north to the Bastion system. As a result Marhold proved a wealthy world, although no where close to the population of Bastion. Fourty five million called the world home compared to the twenty billion of Bastion.
Blair enjoyed the sights of the world. Marhold was filled with lush forests of different types. It was almost a wild untamed world, as many in the Commonwealth were. There was room to breath, and the natural beauty had yet to be destroyed by Mannkind.
The System-lord had a large estate on the outskirts of the major city on Morhold. Blair admired the large hall where the feasting took place. The world might not have had the population of Bastion or Goldenfields, but it was clear that the trade which flowed through the system had made the System-lord was a wealthy man.
Blair, the King, and other members of court such as Bishop Edward Keyes join the System-lord, his wife Vivian and eldest son Felix at the high table with other members of the lord’s household.
The hall was full to the brim with guests, and music and drinks flowed easily. Blair spoke with people she could not remember the name of, and laughed easily with them as she was greeted and welcomed.
Throughout the night Blair enjoyed herself next to the king as he spoke with the System-lord and others at the table like they were long time friends that he had seen only yesterday, and she was amazed at his skill with people.
Oswald, as always, was surrounded by bishops and other members of the Fabian Faith. They came from all over Marhold and even throughout the rest of the system, from places such as the mined out asteroid of Grimlight, and the Star Fortress of Star Breeze. They came to pay their respects to the king.
Blair knew that it would become a common enough feature. Those wishing to see the King. Some might have never seen him before, and many likely never would again.
