"Reunited..." - Chapter Thirty-Five

Reunited...

Chapter Thirty-Five

By Douglas E. Gogerty

Princess Angelina was still packing when the big storm hit. She was nearly all prepared for her trip, so she was delayed. This did not sit well with her because she was quite excited about the entire thing. She considered leaving anyway, but she was convinced of the folly of it. After all, who would come see her in torrential rains?

Hence, she left well after the storm had passed. It did get time for her transition team to arrange stops ahead of time. This allowed them to scout locations and prepare for her arrival. Thus, the tour would be much better planned because of the storm.

The crowds on her first top were small but enthusiastic. For most, this was just another change at the top. It did not usually effect those closer to the bottom. In other words, the change in status for the people did not mean much.

In fact, sometimes a change like this meant war. The new kingdom could be the result of an uneasy treaty. Further, it could be the result of a bribe or to soothe bad feelings. These new situations could lead to uneasiness. This was not something the average person wanted. Hence, if it were not required, the people would not celebrate the oncoming of war. Therefore, the crowds tended to be small.

However, the word spread that the new sovereign was young and beautiful. Therefore, the crowds grew as she continued her tour. Mostly, the crowds simply turned out to see the beautiful young woman. The Princess took advantage of the growing crowds to get them enthusiastic for her reign. After all, they were there to see her. A few words could make them glad she is in charge.

At various times, the Princess would smile, wave, and point at individuals in the crowd. She might even wink at an individual. The people on the other end of the gesture felt special, and would do almost anything for her. In this way, she felt that if she needed to recruit a large group of people, a similar tour would be all that it took.

The tour took her all over her realm. When she had visited most of the large population centers of the treaty land, she still wanted more. Thus, she decided to visit neighboring realms. This drove the security people crazy, but she was in charge.

She did not feel it was necessary to visit Lakeland or Calmondak because they were confirmed allies. Certainly, her father would be a close ally. She could count on him to come to her aid in any circumstance.

As for Lakeland, she at least had a verbal agreement. She believed that Lakeland would attempt some sort of underhanded scheme. Nevertheless, she could go to these other places and claim the allegiance of this large kingdoms for now. This would aid in negotiations with other states.

Instead of just a meet and greet tour, the visits to the other places had an additional goal. She wished to get some sort of written treaty with her close neighbors. If her kingdom was going to survive, the Princess needed to live in peace for a while. Thus, it would be key to get agreements with the people close by. She was not interested in expanding by force.

For the most part, the Princess was in a good situation. Since she was allies with the most powerful kingdoms, she would have a strong negotiation position with the smaller states. This worked to the Princess's advantage when negotiating the treaty. It also aided in acquiring tour locations in other realms.

While security would be tight, the visiting cities would increase security themselves to prevent an excuse for war from Calmondak or Lakeland. In fact, everyone was on their best behavior for the entourage.

The crowds at these cities were huge. Everyone wanted to see the gorgeous sovereign. The Princess easily won over the crowds in these cities. After the throngs came to see her, she was in an excellent position with the governmental authorities. She had the support of the people, so the government was in a poor position to deny her anything. Hence, she had signed treaties with the neighboring state before she moved on to the next one.

It went this way with all of the areas north and east of her kingdom. The governments did not wish to go against the throngs of people that came out to see the Princess. Therefore, the entire royal entourage was quite pleased with the results of the tour. It went beyond their greatest dreams. In fact, they wanted to visit even more states. However, it was simply not practical.

Nonetheless, they did find themselves attempting to arrange a few visits to the Pirate Peninsula. This was quite difficult to arrange. First, the peninsula was not like the other states. The current leader had only been there for a few years. Their system did not allow for a lifetime sovereign. Thus, they were always being torn one way or another for their policies.

In fact, the Princess wondered how they got anything done with the leaders needing to bend to the will of the people. This did not lead to leadership. She believed that someone would need to lead -- point the way. Having to pander to an unintelligent crowd would only lead to chaos. It seemed like a backwards way of doing things.

After all of the negotiations she only managed for one stop. She would hold a rally at the capitol city. Straying far into the peninsula would be just too difficult to arrange.

From their experience, the royal party expected immense crowds at this one stop. The government of the peninsula was not willing to put in place too much security. They warned against the trip because of the throngs of people that would would turn out to see the Princess. The officials felt that this visit would be too expensive to bring in the required security. Further, they would have liked to have more time to get things in place.

However, the unexpectedness aided in the Princess's security. No one would have much time to plan anything nefarious. Thus, she could greet the throngs and win them over. Once that was complete, she may have the masses on her side. Since the mob ruled the land, this would work in her favor.

In the other states, the leaders wanted their people on their side. They were often guarding against an uprising. However, it was not a requirement. There were plenty of oppressive regimes that kept their citizenry in line by force. Her father's rule was not like that.

The Princess believed that public opinion was key for this peninsula. If you were an unpopular leader there, you did not last long. The leadership obtained their right to govern from the masses. The government was run by the will of the people. Hence, if they wanted something, the leadership had better provide it. This could be the reason for the perceived wild nature of the peninsula.

After her wildly successful rally in the capitol city, the princess met with the leaders of the state. They had been as equally enthused about the reaction of the crowd as the Princess had been. Further, they were also excited about meeting the Princess in person. Perhaps the non-aggression treaty would be as simple as the rest. Sadly, this was not going to be the case.