The flames in the fire place still burned, brighter now it seemed but perhaps that was just because night had fallen. The day had slipped away from her fingertips as if it had never been and she had been up since before the dawn, twilight now only a faint memory of lingering pale purple blush on the skyline. She had meant to go outside at twilight, to go visit the garden's that had been always one of her favorite places in the mountain citadel of the Emerald Tower; the gardens had been designed by the previous queen, a woman she only faintly remembered.<br/><br/>But here she was, chained to her duty and studying missives.<br/><br/>Mihriban's words had brought her some small measure of hope to be sure, but that had kept her far more busy then she had expected and as seemed to be the normal since the Empire's demand, stolen away all her free moments. Khalida inhaled deeply, relaxing as much as she could back into the high backed chair of the Champion at the round table where she and the Rider's all convened. Her gaze flickered around the room then, taking in the details of it and realizing it wasn't much changed from her father's day. It was large, larger then the receiving room where the Irealian and the King had been waiting for her earlier, with a high vaulted ceiling and two hearths, one at each end of the chamber. The door was down near the other one, the wall that stretched from the door toward the table filled with bookshelves stacked full of all manner of things. Three large windows took up a good section of the outside wall, letting in the night's softness. There was of course the shield design's of previous Champions decorating the walls, a few sacred weapons of Fereshard, at least to their Rider's kept carefully in stands. Above both mantles of the twin fire places now was her own signal.<br/><br/>For a long moment she stared at it, at the coat of arms her Rider's wore so proudly when they were in combat gear. A silver griffin rampant upon a field of deep royal purple, the color the same as it had always been for the Champion of Fereshard chosen by the Oracle of the Goddess of Fate and then of course the crest of 'Chosen' in the Mori runes with the motto written in the first tongue known to Fereshard, something referred to as Ferian, it was a precursor to their current tongue, dubbed Feresian by the scholars. Her eyes focused on those words, murmuring them to herself, the motto she had chosen for her time as Champion, the words of Ferian heavy and full on her tongue; Loyalty Binds Us. Indeed it did.<br/><br/>Loyalty to the country, the people and the wilderness alike, loyalty to the king and the common man. Loyalty to her Rider's.<br/><br/>Khal's eyes refocused then on the people that filled the room with her, watching Merith lit up her glow baubles, floating them up on the air to give them all better lighting; the two women's eyes met and they understood that it would be a long night. Davina lounged in a chair with a sprawling ease that Khalida nearly envied but then the woman had always been fluidly limber and her golden eyes were fixed on Vael as they argued over some point. Jerian and Adair both sat quietly, looking over a map of the forests to the north, the area most likely to be landed on and no doubt were thinking about the Shifter's there. She would have to send them either along or have all the Rider's go to make a alliance with the Shifters soon. Qudira held herself apart, reading quietly though Khal knew the book she was reading all too well, it was written by one of the brave Dalasian men who had gone to Lerin's heart itself and studied their strange weapons and ways of warfare. It was all they had to ready themselves.<br/><br/>Mical seemed at ease as well, working on carving runes into a bow's curve, no doubt for protection but he was always more at ease with his hands working. Seumas, Finlay and Aulay were all looking over the lists of the people enlisted today, so many coming to pledge their part in the coming war. It should have been a relief but it was more of a burden, more people to protect, more people she would fail.<br/><br/>Her courtesan seemed happy enough to be home, in her own chair with her eyes warm as she looked at the others, the Champion's mind slipped back to their conversation earlier, to the tales the woman had carried home. Of a prince of a now gone country on Solana, a William who planned to reclaim his kingdom somehow; of a ambassador to Lerin returning with a corishan in his tow with tales about the truth of the One Faith that bolstered what Sevastyan had shared with her upon joining the Riders; and faint rumors of a goddess come back to the world who meant to travel to the heart of the Empire and end the false faith and the darkness that had birthed it. Her temples throbbed, oh what times she lived in. Still she thought her father would have been a better Champion then her, but she was all they had, the best they had. She prayed then, to Meria and Solious and the Gatekeeper alike that she would not fail, and to Deril that she would be strengthened by the love she had for them all her most unlikely family.<br/><br/>Khalida pushed herself up and to her feet, her violet eyes warm as she looked around the chamber, at all of them, even the prodigy in their midst who hung back. Cat should be here as well but she knew the girl would come soon enough, perhaps even with Gamun in tow. "Well Mihriban has returned to us safely and I expected the last of our number to join us soon enough, a servant told me he has returned as well. The Princess may well join us tonight with an Irealian that has come to aid us as well...its time to talk about allies and start to play in earnest my loves, Finlay's Aeria have told him that the ships are but four days from our coast."<br/><br/>Four days...it couldn't be enough but it was what they had.