Outside the palace, 2hrs to go
"I am reporting live, from a rather chilly, central Vadaria, to report on the Inagural ball, some say the largest ball ever held in Sartedenland, the snow may be thick but so are the names of the leaders from our region and the crowds lining Vadaria's canals, riversides and grand boulevardes all wanting a glimpse of the international leaders on their way to, the recently and beautifully restored, Palazen d' Royal behind me. Some say this may help the Empress who has recently been quite reclusive as the 40th anniversary of the assasination of Emperor Otto V, her husband, approaches in May. Stay tuned for coverage of the arrival of the monarchs here, live, on SBC, back to the studio for Ferdinand and the weather."
Inside the Palace, reception room
Empress Alexandra was inspecting the last minute touches, the flowers being set for the arrival of the leaders, dusting of the priceless paintings and antiquities that fill the room, sudden movement of chairs and cushions.
"Hmmm... The blue, no wait the green!" says the deep, feminine voice of the chief of the royal household, Natya Brukk
"Everything alright Ms Brukk?" asked the Empress
"Oh Shii- ahem, yes, sorry your majesty," she said, in a much calmer tone "I was simply choosing which cushions go best with those chairs."
The Empress stopped, and stared at the antique furniture, the gold design of a large fleur-de-lis, had a faded appeal and grandeur.
"Hmmm," she said, then taking time to examine the entirety of the reception hall "The blue, the green would clash with the red wallpaper"
"Excellent choice madame" said Ms Brukk, while making a little curtsy "Blue cushions, blue cushions on all the furniture, please"
"Even the tables?" piped a voice of a mischevious decorator from the corner of the room, to much laughter and applause from the rest of the working staff
"Hmph. No. Come on! This is no time for fun and games, IF you finished earlier then you could've joked, but no, you just took your time, and now the deadline approaches, and the room is not yet ready! The ballroom staff are finished, the hallways, spotless for hours, the kitchen are putting things in the oven, but here, HERE, you haven't finished. A disgrace! Last time I hire your company to do the decorating!" Puffed Ms Brukk, before storming out of the room, to the rolling of the eyes of most of the staff, and the Empress.
Inside the palace, 2hrs to go
Alexandra then walked down the marbled corridors and down the stairs into the kitchen, to see the menu.
"Ma'am" said the head chef, Anton Skleszig
"Anton," said the empress, dodging a nervous looking chef carrying a very large salmon "what's for supper?"
"Well Ma'am, a traditional Sarteden menu tonight, starters we have either Salmon Sendrat, y'know, the lemon, bread sauce, or a Beetroot and chicken salad, then main course you either have Pork d' Zelter, y'know with the peaches peeled and sliced, the Brunkilzig soup, with only the finest beetroot, potato and carrot or the Tart Zingregger, made with salmon instead of cod for a much more upper class feel, then peach sorbet then the pudding which is either Pear and Blackberry pie, Sochertorte or Caramelised custard."
"Good, good, hope they like it" the empress says while adjusting her reading glasses
"So do I!" replied Skleszig, with a large grin.
"Better get myself ready then," said Alexandra, "No offense to you Anton, but I don't want to smell of fresh fish for the leaders!" and so she went, to prepare for upcoming ball.
Outside the palace, 1hr 30min to go
"We have reports that not only the empress will be there from Sartedenland, but her two children, Princess Jenisia and Prince Hugo, with their spouses, but nothing about the children, we expect they will be staying at home with their nannies as the night is expected to be long, and official."
Inside the Palace...
Hugo was straightening his tie, his wife, his future Empress consort, Princess Konstantina, was admiring herself in the next mirror along, she was wearing a large and expensive amber necklace
"Darling, do this suit me?" asked Konstantina
"Of course m'dear, you look stunning." He replied, before putting his arms around her waist for a cuddle
"I just hope Jenisia dosen't have the same thing, it was so embarresing with the pearls for the midnight mass!"
"Must admit darling, it was quite funny" he said while grinning
"Oof!" she said, before giving him a wallop with her fan
Jenisia was putting on her large and expensive amber necklace, the princess was with her husband, they had cut short their skiing holiday at the Empress's request to be there.
"Hope it's worth it," said Jenisia, while putting on some blush that complemented the necklace "I don't want a repeat of midnight mass, I'm not a huge fan of religion."
"I know," said her husband, the Prince Albert "just be glad you don't have to do that much of it, just imagine if your brother was going to be a sister, then you would've had to do it!"
"Aye, I've seen what being empress does to you, Mama was not the same since Papa's death."
"S'pose so, anyway, let's not dwindle on the past, Instead look forward to the future!"
The orchestra began playing the music in the reception room, making the entire crystal, red and gold room seem like it was stuck in the 18th century, the first guests were due to arrive any minute -
The song played in reception room - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gusmpt5DTlk
OK So it will go like this -
Reception room chit chat
Speech by the empress
Ball
Food
Chit Chat
End
(Please be aware I probably will take a while to reply, multitasking is not my forte, sorry)
Before the speech, the Sarteden national anthem will play - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcC_IWykxYo and after the speech, the commonwealth anthem - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcC_IWykxYo
Music for the ball, in order -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmd58nFB ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0262kjYLPr4 (as requested by Besate)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdNrULY4Jzg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jq8nDimS5_A (as requested by Churchilland)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ur3LeSA1HtI
During the preperation of the food, two dancers in national dress will dance to this song - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1TIKSN03rU

