Today had started off as typical as one might expect. It was busy, busy, busy, from the moment she woke, until now. After a long meeting Isolde was finally able to have some time to herself, reflecting on a lot of the things that have happened within the kingdoms. She had a duty to keep the people safe. The same routine she and her brother had experienced for many years, over and over, making sure that there was structure in this world. Balance.<br/><br/>She drew in a long, heavy breath and let it out slowly. Her eyes were closed and her expression was completely relaxed. Her body was relaxed as well.<br/><br/>But on the inside, Isolde was not relaxed at all. Every day she tried to keep a calm composure knowing that her people favored their leader composed. Ever collected. She had an image to uphold, and wanted to keep people happy to the best of her ability. But every now and then, she felt exhausted. Ruling was a lot of work, even with her brother at her side, supporting her, offering second opinions and opening more options to her. This job was not one Isolde could do alone; she couldn’t even imagine it.<br/><br/>Isolde drew in a steady breath and dismissed the man she had been talking to. A merchant. He had showed up a few weeks ago regarding some of the items he was selling. She had suspected contraband, and he vanished for a while when she spoke up about her concerns. The guy did, and still does, look pretty shady, she would not be surprised if he was lying to her. She had put off speaking to her brother about this matter… One, they had a lot more to deal with, and would rather focus their energy dealing with more important things, and two…<br/><br/>Well…<br/><br/>With her usual business taken care of, it was now time to face the next thing of the day. Perhaps it was what she dreaded most. For a long time, she has tried to build courage and speak up. Each and every time she did manage to build something up nothing ever seemed to come out. Perhaps, deep down, she knew it was his battle. The darkness. Perhaps she thought he wanted to sort everything out on his own, without her help. They were siblings and should stick together, but she knew he had his pride. But if she didn’t have the talk soon…<br/><br/>“Good day, brother,” Isolde gave her brother a warm smile when she entered the throne room. After taking her place next to him, she added, “Remind me to check with Darren later, I haven’t seen him around today, about some of the new recruits to the guard. I feel they may be lacking…”