<div align="center"><strong>Olivia Wilde</strong></div><br/>When Olivia finally departed her chambers she was in a foul mood. Although she was never as obvious as the King and his warriors, or even mentioned it, being cooped up here at Castle Oasis was beginning to get on her nerves. Normally she preferred to be here but then again normally it was a choice between here or out under the desert heat, brushing sand from her hair. For months now she was being teased and tantalised with the prospect that soon she could leave this wasteland behind and go to Theiri, the land of intellectuals and artists. She was rarely ever in such a bad mood that it showed but on the rare occassion that it showed the servants could always tell. The second she walked into the main hall a massive swarm of courtiers made an instant bee-line towards her before suddenly a sudden and dark flash of her eyes sent them all scurrying off back into the crowd, as though repelled by some invisible force.<br/><br/>Her footsteps echoing over the black marble floor, Olivia passed through the great hall and beyond a throng of guards into the treasury chamber. Inside a handful of scribes were busy recording expenditures and income, as well as making projections for future spending and revenue. The second she entered the room the Secretary of the Treasury rushed over to her side, a small retinue of scribes following him about in anticipation of her orders. Although the King was the de jure master of the Treasury, she was its de facto controller and had even been given the title of Treasurer by the King, along with several others. Haidar hated the constant balancing and rebalancing of the budget, the continual stream of numbers and data, and the almost incessent whinings of the Treasury officials. He chose to leave that role to Olivia, content so long as the Treasury remained plentiful and the military budget remained high. It had taken her a long time to gain such a powerful position, even with her charms, although it had paid off quite well. With the King constantly on the roam she often oversaw the development of projects that were truly vital to the prosperity of Nydewia including the development of roads, trading outposts and other important works. She had also learned how to effectively embezzle funds for use in bribing both foreign and domestic officials in order to maintain an effective spy network and ensure her the success of her plans. It was all simple work really. She only chipped a few pieces of gold away here and there, never taking too much from one place. It was then a simple matter of recording slightly more money going into various departments or, in some cases, departments that didn't exist such as the Department of Defensive Upgrades or the Department of Military Research and Development. Just as long as the name sounded like it was for the Nydewian military and the King's army was well supplied she never had to fear an audit and the Treasurers were all loyal to her since she had much more patience and understanding than Haidar to listen to their concerns.<br/><br/>"What will her Ladyship be requiring today?" asked the Secretary, his tone brisk and professional. Perhaps he could tell she was in a mood and knew to get straight to the point. It was hard to tell really since he was always a professional with little time for small talk. "I have need of gold for the upcoming peace negotiations," she said. "And I need this gold to be untraceable back to Nydewia. "Get me several thousand coins from our raids on both Theiri and Aserit convoys, freshly minted if possible." The Secretary seemed shocked at such a large request but he said nothing as he nodded at an equally shocked attendent to go carry out her orders. Clearly he did see she was in a mood. "And how will we mark down such a large withdrawal?" he asked, a slight hint of nervousness in his tone. Olivia pondered for a moment. "Mark 25% of it down as a loan to the Blacksmith's Guild that will be repaid. I won't be using all of it and I'll return anything I don't use. Since it's all foreign gold put down an additional 10% under foreign expenditures and 15% on foreign trade. Funnel the rest through our subsidiary departments." She paused for a moment before adding "Isliea is currently on a mission to defeat some bandits. I imagine she'll return with foreign gold. Understate the value she brings in and funnel it into the Treasury to partially repay the withdrawal. That and the leftovers I bring back should hide or work here." The Secretary nodded and headed off to coordinate the efforts.<br/><br/>Turning and leaving, Olivia decided to make a detour through the kitchen. She wanted to visit the young servant girls that brute had had his way with. With all the marks on them, they weren't hard to spot. Smiling sweetly she approached the girls and pulled them aside, looking them up and down. When she finally spoke her eyes were filled with sorry and pity. "I'm truly sorry about what you girls have gone through tonight. It is the duty of a King to protect his people. Not use them as he sees fit." She wanted to yell and scream and rage as she said it. She wanted to vent all her frustrations at this pitiful kingdom and its barbarism and what true nobility is meant to be but she still managed to restrain herself. Not, because the King's loyal dogs might hear her but because these poor, simple girls would never understand. No one here ever understood. She admitted that she found the girls pretty and part of her wanted to break her usually detached veneer to softly kiss each and every mark on them better but in the end they were all just decorations; pretty little ornaments for the castle and its king. This place made her sick. "Take the rest of the day off," she managed to say with a sweet smile. "You'll still be paid for the day. You deserve it."<br/><br/>The girls seemed to brighten slightly as she departed, a tiny smile touching at her lips. She was always kind to the servants. Partly because it paid to be. After all servants hear a lot and many made sure to always keep her in the loop. But she mostly did it because that was the duty of those with power. "Noblisse oblige" she whispered to herself softly, remembering some of the works of Theiri's King. A true king. One whom she would get the chance to meet very soon.