Her Royal Majesty, Queen Grace XIII the Golden Furred ruled her kingdom from the age of 10 to the bloody coup that ended her rule when she was 36. In that time, she tripled the size of her kingdom, making it a true empire unlike any her predecessors could have even imagined, and she established schools, hospitals and a really kickass bronze statue of herself in the harbor, rivaling the legendary Colossus of Rhodes. Most importantly, from her point of view, she had a great deal of fun doing it, too.
However, the one thing she hated the most about being queen were the balls. The galas. The endless pomp and ceremony that obliged her to mingle with the ladies of the court, drink bad wine and eat mysterious hors d'oeuvres on little poles. Exactly the sort of thing, in other words, that her mother lapped up every day of her regrettably truncated life.
It wasn't all bad, though. As queen, Grace was in the enviable position of being able to invite whatever guests she pleased to these events, and she enjoyed scandalizing the court by bringing companions with her she knew the ladies were sure to disapprove of. Perhaps the most shocking was when she invited a young tigress along to one of these events. Imagine, the queen bringing a feline to court!
To her credit, Synn was the perfect lady, far more polite, elegant and erudite than any of Grace's scandalized courtiers. At the end of the ball, at the stroke of midnight, Grace and Synn gave the court a surprise they would talk about for months when they kissed right in front of everyone. The night they spent together afterward was one of the happiest of Grace's entire life, and is one of her favorite memories of her years as queen. But as for what actually happened, well, that's between Grace and Synn, isn't it?
