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Aero sat upon the throne at the head of the council. They looked up at her expectedly as their quills rested upon their plain parchment. Their shiny inkwells stood open and ready. Aero was growing used to their ways but they always seemed to think something up that would throw her off her guard.

“Do you have any plans you wish to tell us?” the Duke of Pines repeated a little louder. His concerned face looked up at Aero.

She looked down at all their worried faces. “Plans?”

“Yes,” he explained, “Any new ideas to help your people? Changes in the city? Are there certain crops you feel should be grown more?”

She considered his changes but she couldn’t think of anything she wanted changed. Everything in the palace was perfect and her brief visits in the city were insufficient to show her what was needed by her people.

“Do you have a map I could view?” she asked suddenly leaning forward in her seat.
The council members looked up at her taken aback by her sudden enthusiasm. They sent for a map and presented it to Aero. She stepped down from her throne and walked over to the table and spread it out to view it. Aria sat in the center with four lines representing the aqueducts extending to four other cities high in the mountains that surrounded the capital. The ring of mountains seemed to separate it from the rest of the realm. Other cities speckled the map but they were few and far between.

“Are these the only places where people live?” she asked, “They are so far apart.”

“Well, these are the main places,” the Duke of Maples explained, “There are many small villages between them and along the coasts.”

“What do they need?” Aero asked the men, “They aren’t even on this map. What changes do they need? Do they need more food grown?”

The Dukes glanced around their group as they waited for someone to answer.

“I want to go to them,” Aero told them very seriously.

“Milady, it would take months to visit them all even if you only stayed in each one for a day. It would take too much out of you,” The Duke of Oak insisted.

“What if regional meetings were held?” the Duke of Maple offered, “If we met with a group of people picked from each village, town, and city in an area we could see what their needs are in a faster more orderly way.”

“Yes that sounds much more reasonable,” the Duke of Pines answered.

“Will they be able to make the journey on their own?” Aero questioned.

“If they need help we can provide transportation,” the Duke of Oaks told her, “I’m sure we can find a way to help them.”

“Yes, I agree,” Aero nodded looking over the map, “We can work west to east. How long do you think it will take to complete the meetings?”

“Depending on how orderly the meeting go we may be able to complete them by late summer, I believe,” the Duke of Pines told her dividing the Realm into regions on the map, “That is, if we start as soon as possible. It may take longer to decide how to make the changes happen.”

“I see. Then it will likely be too late to make any changes to the crops.”

“If we ask the northern regions first we may be able to anticipate our needs for the winter,” the Duke of Oaks told her enthusiastically.

“The first year may be shaky, milady,” the Duke of Maples warned her, “Things don’t always work out perfectly the first time but I believe your people will appreciate your intentions.”

“Thank you,” she told him truly thankful. “We should start the preparations now. We have to decide where the meetings will be held and send for the representatives.”

“We will handle that, your highness,” the Duke of Pines told her, “Thank you for your hand work.”

“Thank you as well gentlemen,” She smiled as they bowed. She could still hear them discussing the plans and dividing the work as she continued down the hall.
Aero hurried to the nearest window to breath the fresh spring air. “The season of changes,” she spoke to herself as she looked out over the city, “I feel pretty good about it.”

Back in the meeting room the Duke of Pines slammed his fists on his parchment onto the table startling the maids who were attempting to clear their teacups. The other Dukes turned to him alarmed. The good feeling of the room seemed to have been swept out behind the princess.

“We have to protect the order of the Realm,” he announced, “If her highness makes changes that prefer the small villages our order will fall apart. The Noble’s influence will diminish and the structure of the Realm will follow. We must keep that from happening. We need the small village to continue to rely on higher powers. If their needs are met recklessly that will be destroyed.”

Beka was one of the maids that stood among the Dukes. She glanced quickly at Kiche across the room. Kiche caught her worried look and slowed her cleaning.

“I believe that the princess is right,” the Duke of Maple began, “We should help the people-”

“You are too inexperienced, Wintuck,” the Duke of Pines cut in, “You don’t realize the consequences of this decision. Change is not always good. Someone will always be affected negatively.”

“But even so-”

“You have to understand. We can’t let this Realm collapse!”

“I trust the princess!” the Duke of Oak shouted. The others relaxed slightly at the new outburst and listened silently as he spoke. “I’m going to support Princess Aero. Even if this plan backfires I will work with her to fix the problem. I believe she can make this Realm better. She may be inexperienced, stubborn, and naïve but it has been over a decade since we have truly lived happily. I want to see the people happy again.”

The Duke of Pines grabbed his things from the table and left the room. Kiche and Beka bowed to the remaining Dukes and hurried into the hall with their tray of dishes. The Duke could be heard grumbling on his way to the exit.

“It’s good to know that two of the Dukes trust her but I wonder if she knows about that one,” Kiche told Beka.

She nodded, “I was wondering that, too. We should go talk to her about it later.”

“Beka, Kiche!”

They turned to see Ezra running to them frantically.

“What’s wrong? Did something happen?” Kiche asked.

“When I was in town,” she began breathlessly, “There was a fight with a storyteller. He was telling the Princess’s story, the real one.”

“What? What happened to him?” Beka asked worriedly.

“He got away. I saw him heading for Lorristown.”

“He must have heard it from the princess. She’ll want to know.” Kiche pushed open the door to a storage room and placed down her tray. “We can take those back to the kitchen later, let’s go.”

The door to the library slammed against the wall as they entered. Aero shrieked at the sound. Her feathers fell back to their normal place as she recognized her visitors.

“Has something happened?” she asked placing down her book and flew down to their side from the balcony.

“Have you ever spoken to a storyteller?” Ezra asked breathlessly.

“Yes, a man named Livre. Oh, you must have heard him telling it-”

“I think he may have been attacked. There was a fight with a man who was telling your story.”

“What?” she asked horrified, “Is he alright? Where is he now?”

“We’ll take you there.”

The town was small and old. It was made of a few curvy roads and an inn by the base of the mountains. The group had hardly entered the town when they came across Livre. He sat against a tree at the edge of town. His stage lay broken over the top of his booth. He still clutched the dolls in his hand. The Tornado doll’s wings were broken and bent at an odd angle from his back. The strings from both dolls had been snapped off.

Aero walked over to where he sat. His face whipped up and he looked as if he was about to stand.

“Livre?” she asked worriedly at the sight of his fear distorted face.

“Your Majesty,” he sighed relaxing. His eye was surrounded by a dark purple bruise and his lip was swollen and bleeding. “I’m sorry. I thought you might be someone else.”

“One of the people who did this to you?” she asked looking at the dolls in his hand.

“I chose a bad audience,” he laughed.

“I’m sorry. I knew this would happen to you. It’s my fault you got hurt.” She took the dolls from his hand.

“I tried to keep them safe,” he told her, “I’m sorry you had to see them before they could be repaired.”

“I think you should just worry about yourself now,” Aero explained, “you don’t have to worry about my story anymore. I don’t want to cause you any more pain.”

“Wait!” He stood. “I want to keep telling this story. Please, let me keep those dolls.”

“I don’t want you to keep getting hurt because of me. Not only physically, but your reputation will be tainted-”

“Who says I’m tainted?” he told her heatedly, “I’m telling a story that has touched me far more than any other I’ve told before. Do you think that you have been tainted, Princess?”

She was surprised at how his words seemed to hit her. “No,” Aero told him feeling lighter from the relief, “I’m not tainted.”

“I’m not either.” He smiled holding his hand out for the dolls.

Aero placed them back in his and wrapped her hands around his.

“Thank you,” she told him, “Thank you for reminding me of who I am.”

“It is an honor to be of service to you, your highness.”

“Is there any way that I can protect you, Livre? I don’t want to have to worry that you may be injured because of me,” Aero asked earnestly.

“Do not fear for me, Princess,” he told her, “There is someone else that needs your thoughts more than me. He is enough for you to worry about.”