33 Penqe 723 AP
The walls of the Copper Ballroom stretched for nearly 50 meters on all sides, nearly perfectly square. At the far end from the door, most of the wall was massive windows gazing out over the Palace Grounds, down to the Kingsbury Reservoir, the giant artificial lake that had been cut into the heart of Kingsbury for both water supply to the city as well as for the pleasure of its citizens. The name of the ballroom was derived from its copper decorations, mined from the Spine of Aurinel and fashioned by Elven blacksmiths to take the shape of trees and river and animals, forming a flowing scene that stretched from one side of the ballroom around to the other.
The ballroom had been swarming with staff for several days, preparing the room for the arrival of so many guests. At the far end, towards the windows, two simple wooden thrones had been set up, wooden at the request of the Emperor himself, at the head of a long table for the variety of guests from across the continent of Aurinel and the Empire itself. The ceiling had been hung with two colossal banners: one the sky blue and white flag of the Empire, the other the Royal Banner of the Katchmar Dynasty. Around it, the various banners and flags of the nations that would be attending had also been hung.
Deeper into the palace, the kitchens worked overtime to prepare the quantities of food needed. The menu was as diverse as the continent itself: steaks cut from mammoths, eggs from ducks and chickens alike, the rich purple honey of the bullet bee, fine roast goose, bacon aplenty, large cuts of ham, bread made from the purest wheat, cakes and pastries made from the product of Holoskan sugar beets, soups served in the carapace of crabs, and fish trawled from all over the waters of the Empire. Indeed, it was the most luxurious food one could get in all of Aurinel, served only for special occasions in the Imperial Capital.
Overseeing it all was the Emperor himself. Or rather, he normally was, but as it was noon, he was taking a break from his duties to play the piano as he always did. His piano was a simple affair when compared to the grandeur of a lot of everything in his life. His staff had wanted a custom-built, lavishly designed piano, but he had gone out himself to pick it out. His justification? "Even the plainest of songbirds makes a beautiful melody." Mobiuz danced his hands across the keyboard, playing out a waltz before finishing with it and going on to a slightly more up tempo song, then finishing with the same song he always did: the song called "Oracion". When he had finished, he sat for a moment longer until something brushed against his legs. He bent down and smiled at the small fire ferret that was preening itself on his legs.
"Hello, Haku. I suppose I've been playing long enough, yeah?" He smiled and picked up the animal, sat it around his shoulders, and started back to the rest of the palace to see how the preparations were going. It was 2 days before the Blessing party, and it was around today that the first of his foreign guests would start arriving.
