Open Tides Under Siege

Looking for the OOC thread? Here it is.

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In the murky depths, amongst a large group of buildings tossed together from stone and petrified wood, there stood one structure that rose above the rest, although not by much, since the inhabitants didn't want to be immediately obvious to humans. The royal palace not only represented the largest living space in the kingdom, it was also a hub of activity, the center of government.

These days, Claudio stood as the caretaker of the property and the land. Following the death of the previous king with no heir, he was summoned to the capital and given duties. Those duties were... to make sure everything held steady while the issue of inheritance was settled, and then settle the issue of inheritances. The former was manageable, but the latter... not so much. His cousins weren't exactly ready to compromise.

Angel, the Kingdra, was an angry wreck. Violence was not below him, and he seemed far too vengeful at the fact that he is the scarred one.

Rafael, a Milotic, was on the other hand, a relatively pleasant person. However, he was quite vain, and Claudio doubted his ability to connect with the kingdom's subjects. Plus, he seemed a bit strange...

He didn't have long to think about that. It was morning, and Claudio had to prepare for a meeting he'd planned for today. The invite list was brief, mainly important courtiers. Notable on the list were Phish III, the realm's marshal, and Reiki, which confused some of his aides. The Starmie served as a nurse for the previous king, and so might've been privy to information about the last king. Not to mention, she seemed inquisitive, maybe too much so at times, but it didn't concern Claudio. He liked to think he had a good eye for people, and Reiki didn't seem like a bad person to keep around.

Emerging from the room he'd reclaimed upon arrival at the castle, Claudio shouted for aides as he swam through the hall to the meeting space. Two Remoraids arrived on the scene.

"I need you two to gather the people I requested for the meeting today. The list should be on the table over there.", Claudio said, waving a fin in the direction of a large table at the center of the meeting room.

"Yes, milord!", they replied simultaneously and then they were gone in an instant.

One thing Claudio didn't quite get used to in coming up here was the etiquette. His management of the village he came from was pretty informal in manner.

Another day in the underwater kingdom. Tur would say that nothing too chaotic was going on here, but if he did that would be lying. The conflict between the two heirs to the throne, to which he hadn't taken a side, in addition to the weird happenings that occurred when someone strayed too far from the kingdom borders made for a rather un-average place. It was too chaotic to go that far outside, or he might "explode for no apparent reason," as the rumors went. Though his scales were thick and rocky, whatever those humans or another strange force were up to might be too much for his old defenses. But for a young one like Jesseama, his young apprentice the Dewott. She did have quite an eye for history, and although she had never been around to experience it like him, he could definitely relay his knowledge to her. Despite the fact that he was aged compared to the other aquatic Pokemon, he still had a good amount of years ahead of him. That was how the Relicanth species was, anyway. Remarkably resilient.

Tur made his way out of the place that was the closest he could have to a home. Technically it wasn't his, but it was good to stay in anyway. It was sort of like a cave, except rather than going backwards it went straight for about two lengths of his body and then plunged straight down at about a right angle. When he was younger he had explored down there, but there was nothing particularly interesting. It just ended suddenly. Almost as if it was artificial. But he was pretty sure it wasn't.

The narrow-eyed coelocanth glanced upward. It was impossible to see the full amount of light from down here on the sands of the blue-green ocean, but it hid the kingdom from the humans well. Bright pinpricks representing shafts of light were still visible on the surface far above, and it made Tur feel relaxed just seeing light. His species wasn't all that accustomed to light, but it was nice nonetheless.

~Phish

Phish was at home, or at least what his family has called home for the last ten generations, with his wife and two children. Phiazz his daughter, and likely to be a future military advisor, or perhaps something she may discover in time, there were oppurtunities, and Phish IV, the future marshal when Phish were to retire. Today was fairly uneventful, or as uneventful as it could be for a marshal who has a number of messengers and soldiers coming and going from his coral home.

Phish enjoyed life, even if the only strife he, as a marshal, has found was this inheritence crisis. He sighed as he watched his children playing together in front of his home, his wife out gathering necessary plants for dinner, he enjoyed these low days when few people would bother him with political, or military issues, and he could just rest and watch his children. The nanny, an older female Poliwrath, was inside preparing a lunch for the children, Phish knew he wouldn't be hungry, rarely is at this time. Daydreaming was also a past-time of Phish while watching his children, but not really fantasising like children might, but plotting elaborate, and simple, forms of attack for squads of soldiers, raids for small platoons, and defenses against potential enemy attacks. All was in his head, and thats where it'd likely stay, unless he felt that a new drill was necessary for the troops who fought under his command.

"Kids! Lunch!" Keelish, the nanny called. This caught Phish off-guard for a second before he smiled. Keelish was a being a few, but powerful words, and that was one of the reasons Phish had hired her to take care of his children, so that there'd be a firm hand, and mind, always watching them. Phish IV and Phiazz swam hurriedly past their father, rushing to the table as quickly as they could.

"Milord"
"Do I look like a lord to you?"
The words weren't especially cruel, but Angel knew the aid was feeling the sting of being caught in what he thought was a catch twenty-two. It wasn't, of course, but these aids always seemed to get the wrong answer. After much stumbling, fumbling, stuttering and staring at the hard ground, the you Corsola finally gave him an answer.

"Y-y-yes, milord"

Angel sighed sadly. "No, I don't". In a sudden flurry, he sped over to her, making her jump. He lifted his head high in the air, so that she could see the full extent of his scars. Angel didn't actually know how bad they were; his eyes couldn't see them from the angle and he didn't believe in mirrors, but he new by the Corsola's cringe that they were pretty bad. He didn't know why he was doing this, but he was.

"Be honest. Do I?"
"N-no, mi-"
"Call me by my name" his name! Ha! How ironic, to be called an Angel...
"No, Angel"
"Good. Then don't talk to me like one"

In a sudden burst of confidence, the Corsola spewed words like a waterfall.
"Lord Claudi would wish to see you, Angel. In the-"
"I can guess. Thanks. What's your name?"
"M-m-Maria"
"You shouldn't stutter so, Maria. It takes away from your voice".

And with a sudden flurry of his tail, he was off.

Reiki peered into the abyss. Something about this spot calmed her, and gave her a private place to think. Reiki wasn't usually a seclusive person, but since the former king's death, she had been engrossed in anxiety. She had a hunch... maybe more... there was something suspicious about the king's death. Was there something that she wasn't seeing? A dark torrent of thoughts pulled her mind into the abyss. Somewhere, in the back of her mind, a voice told her that she needed to move on, to find herself a new life. But the Starmie was content to live in the past, a past where she could live together with the one she loved.

Reiki had to pull herself together; she couldn't be seen at the meeting like this. She swam back in the direction of the palace, and tried to regain composure.

"Oh, yes! Perfect!"

Taking one last satisfied look at the mirror, Beauty turned around and smiled. Her makeup applied and her shininess hidden, it seemed like the gorebyss' name fit like a glove now. No longer like Angel, no longer a freak... yes, she truly deserved to serve under Rafael now. Together, they would win and her idol would take his deserved place on the throne.

"Beauty, ma'am?" the uncertain, scared voice of a messenger called out. Sometimes, they didn't always call the aquatic by the right name and they were punished severely...

"Yes, dear? What is it?" This time they did, and they were lucky.

"Your presence is needed. Sir Claudio calls for it in the meeting." The trembling remoraid said, probably hoping she wouldn't get angry. Inwardly chuckling, Beauty guessed that things like that probably happened a lot. The servants tended to sustain large amounts of abuse.

"Oh, thank you for informing me! I know where to go. You are very kind." Sighing in relief, the little fish saluted her and began to swim off. He was safe for now. There were still more royals to please, and just because Beauty had chose to be as kind as she was in public didn't mean the others would. "Oh! And one more thing..." she added.

Turning around anxiously, the remoraid hoped nothing bad would happen to him for being the one to inform Beauty...

"Do tell my brother that they're invited, will you? I am certain they are, however I do want to be absolutely positive." Smiling, the gorebyss waved him away with her tail. "Now, shoo! I have things to do, please."

Once the deliverer of information left, the deformed gorebyss swam down the hall quickly and while passing her milotic brother's room trilled out, "Brother dear, Claudio has invited us to a meeting! If you do not mean to arrive late then I hope you will be ready soon!"

Without waiting to see whether her message was recieved, she left the bulding and headed off in the direction of gathering. She wondered what would happen there?

"Hello? Sir Claudio has requested that you attend a meeting, milord."

Rafael glanced behind him at the Remoraid delivering the message. "Where would this meeting be?"
"... In the meeting hall, milord?"
"I will be there shortly. I'm sure you have other tasks you need to do?"
"Yes, milord."
Rafael turned away, and went back to what he was doing before hand, looking at himself in a mirror.
"Hello, milord? Your sister has requested that I inform you that sir Claudio has requested your presence at the meeting hall."
Rafael tried to conceal a sigh of exasperation. He repeated "I will be there shortly. Tell Claudio not to worry."
"Yes, milord."
"Be on your way."
Rafael continued looking at himself in the mirror briefly, until he was interrupted by a voice form the doorway. Recognizing the voice as his sister's, he turned around, intending to reply, to find that Beauty had already left. Sighing, he turned around to look at himself in the mirror one last time, then left.

Angel's head was hideous, not empty. He knew his brother was liable to make a claim to the throne, despite the fact that he was the eldest and rightful inheritor. And he knew the people had no love for him. He was intelligent and decisive, but he knew that in his youth anger and frustration had clouded his judgement. At court, he was talked of and he was not there to defend himself, so a thousand false allegations were made out to be cold fact. People wanted Rafael to be king. And that was because of Beauty. He was want of his sister's support, or, at the very least, to remove her from play. She was powerful, though she knew not, for she could make or break a king's name, and make or break a King. But she would have to wait, for there were bigger Phish to fry.

He swam silently into the Commander's home, where the Crawdaunt sat and stared at his children, apparently day dreaming. He looked so happy and blissful that Angel didn't want to wake him. But he was want of the Commander's support, so he spoke, albeit softly, to Phish III:
"You have handsome children, Commander. They seem happy. They will not be happy when their father is left unemployed, so as my vain brother may flout an extravagant coat. He will ruin this kingdom, Commander, and you know it. I am the lesser of two evils. In fact, I'd go all the way and say I was good. These are ugly times, fit for an ugly king. Do I have your support, if Rafael's claimmaking becomes serious?"

The young Dewott swam as fast as she could to find the Relicanth, her paddle-like tail churning up bubbles behind her. She was just heading back from the Kingdra Angel's home, though she doubted he noticed she was even there to begin with. She looked around her, the other villagers passing by in the opposite direction she was going in. Swimming against the current, her father used to say.

She passed countless 'homes'. Mostly caves or coral-constructed fortresses. She herself lived in a quaint home near Angel's, one that she had touched up. It was a coral house, though she had constructed a 'door' out of old driftwood that had become waterlogged. Yes, she did visit the surface sometimes. It was just natural for her to, it made her think of her father. Her mother forbid her from it when she was younger, though now that she was no longer a dependent, Nelle didn't have any control over her anymore.

Jesseama finally found Tur swimming out of his cave, and she started to slow down. Didn't wanna rush up to her mentor like how she did the first few times she was with him, anxious to learn. She was matured now. When she reached the Relicanth, her eyes passed over his scars before glancing back up at him.

"Hello, Sir," Jessie said with a smile.

One searching through the many rocks that were on the "rooftops" of the kingdom structures would actually be surprised to see one there that moved frequently. Closer examination would show that the rock was not a rock, but rather an actual creature - a Carracosta. This Carracosta, with the name of Takida, was watching the movement in the kingdom. Today was a rare day that she didn't have any direct assignment - despite this, she was still watching and waiting for... for something to happen. Anything, really. Despite the huge amount of material gain she had from her job as a mercenary, Takida found inactivity of any kind to be boring. That was why she had taken this position on a rooftop that had a good view of the capital: if anything happened that might cause even the slightest shift in power... she'd know.

Though judging just from what she was seeing, there wasn't any of that yet. Disappointing, to say the least. If the kingdom ever did have balance restored, her personal mission would've failed. The kingdom's imbalance of power had to cause the hierarchy to destroy itself, and Takida simply was there to help it along the way.

And none of that could happen if there were no signs of imbalance to begin with.

~Phish

Phish jumped, not in the literal sense, more of the figurative sense, as Angel had addressed him.

"Oh, Prince Angel, it's nice to see you on this fine, uh what time is it? Never mind." Phish rose from his resting form to a full stand, but not gaining much more on Angel due to the princes ability to swim and regulate his relative 'height' compared to others.

"Um, yes they are quite handsome, thank you for the compliment. Unemployed...well I'm not too terribly convinced that Rafael would be able to bring peace to our lands' borders, that is, if he succeeded in obtaining the throne. Not to say that that may happen..." Phish rubbed the back of his head carefully with his right claw, he had to be careful about what he said and how he said it, especially given his father's rhetorics about how royalty was hard to please.

"However I see your point. There seems to be something, off, about him, and I feel that despite his relations with the people, he wouldn't neccessarily have the same relations with neighbouring kingdoms. He also seems as though his agenda revolves around, uh, allowing Beauty to manipulate part of the power he has. I can assume well enough that that will end up causing turmoil between the two at some point, and eventually ruining their...role together." Phish's face was locked on Angel's, showing no signs of flinching away from the mangled arrangement of scars. Suddenly there was another voice, a small one, frightened, or intimidated, from behind Phish.

"Co-commander? I have a message from Lord Claudio, sir. He sent me to give you an invite to an important meeting to be taking place later today in the meeting hall." Phish had turned to see the mall remoraid, who making his best attempt to keep his eyes away from the prince.

"Aid. I thank you, please let the kind lord that I will be attending, and I will arrive with Prince Angel, if it is to his liking." Phish gaze had returned to Angel with the end of his scentence.

"Y-yes sir!" And with that, the remoraid aid was off without a second thought.

"I must say my liege, you do have quite an effect on people. Let's hope that when you take the throne, the other kingdoms will come to learn, and respect that effect." Phish's expression had changed slightly, more to a Commander who had been dealing with a political issue for longer than he'd like. "Now, let's hope your cousin has something well in mind planned with this..."

"So, nothing on the borders?", Claudio asked of the administrative aide.

"Nothing unusual, nothing suspicious.", the aide, a Krabby, responded, clicking his claws.

"Thanks for the report, you are dismissed.", Claudio answered, stacking the report on top of the others he'd received through the morning.

The Krabby skittered out. Claudio was once again alone in the office, behind a desk of petrified wood, an uncommon material around here, looking through the happenings of the kingdom. Nothing unusual across all fronts was happening, just the usual punishment of criminals, watching out for oceanic raiders, collecting taxes... Two Remoraids swam into the space.

"How did the invitations go?", Claudio asked of the pair.

"Good all around, milord.", one of them replied, "Everyone is able and willing to attend today."

"Well that's great then, hopefully there's a good chance of clearing everything up.", Claudio said.

The other Remoraid then spoke up, "But, ah, Commander Phish III added something in his reply."

"What did the good commander say?", Claudio inquired.

"That he will arrive with Prince Angel.", the Remoraid said flatly.

"Oh.", Claudio replied with slight concern, "Well, then..."

Claudio figured the marshal to be one of the few sane people left in court, one of the few not completely enveloped in the succession question, as most of the nobles were. The commander would probably be instrumental in maintaining order in the kingdom, having him fall into one camp or the other could jeopardize Claudio's ability to resolve this issue and keep the kingdom nice and healthy...

"Were they together when you saw them?", Claudio asked.

"Yes...", the Remoraid answered, now quite concerned.

Well, there's nothing I can really do about it, Claudio thought, Just hope he's not completely consumed by the crisis.

And so, he waited for the others to arrive. At least some of them shouldn't have been far from the castle.

Phish was flustered. Part of it, Angel knew, was because of his royalty, but another part was his deformities. Neither which he could help. His tail flexed in frustration. He wanted to use his position to command the Crawdaunt into ignoring his position and treating him like anyone else. A small part of the frustration came from the fact that Phish had given no answer to his question. He had talked, yes, but had spoken no direct affirmation that he would give Angel his support. Perhaps he was unsure.

Then I must make him sure, Angel thought. He had hoped to see others before this meeting, that famed Carracosta for one, but Phish was more important. Phish was a commander, and he could command for either King. The army would follow him. And so he must follow the right brother. I must assure him that is me, Angel thought.

He floated lower to the ground, more on-level with the Crawdaunt.
"I would be glad to walk with you. And I do think my sweet cousin has something in mind. I fear he means to force a set of allegiance. He means for one brother to bend to the other, or barring that, for the pieces to fall in such a way that are to his liking. You must prepare yourself, Commander. Your army will follow you, not Rafael or I. Your actions at this meet could change history".

Angel began to swim slowly ahead, and looked back to Phish, and cocked his head towards the general direction of the meeting chamber. "But I could be wrong. Gods be good, all my sweet cousin wants to decide is what happens to father's nurse."

At the sight of his apprentice, Tur started slowly in her direction. He wasn't one to rush things, really. As long as everything was safe, why move exceedingly fast?

She approached almost cautiously, but the Relicanth didn't say anything about that. Instead, he stopped himself in the water with his several fins, and faced her with his tapering head. "Good morning, Jesseama," he replied with a slow nod. At first he paused, looking around and appearing to think about something else, perhaps a subject to talk about with his apprentice rather than just greet her and swim away. "Out of curiosity, have you found anything interesting lately?" he asked, gazing in her direction again. "Or anything out of the ordinary?" He gave a couple of his fins a swish to keep himself from drifting away. Who knows? She might have possibly found an interesting object she wanted him to look at. Plus, being social was good. He had learned that in the past hundred years, plus a dozen. Although when he wasn't fully mature he wasn't exactly learning much.

~Phish

"I understand, my liege. But I also understand my role in the kingdom's stability. As I assume you understand, whomever has my support, more or less will have the support of the army I command. This is a larg force, and thus I must be extremely careful as to how I choose my actions. I mean no offense in any way, but I must, as some may say, remain on the fence, until the time is just right." Phish had an adamant tone to his response, and looked Angel in the eyes, uncaring for the so-called, ugliness, that he was so labled with.

"I have no doubt Claudio is trying to plan a mutually beneficial solution to the setting, but he should realise that there is no true way of doing so, not without breaking up the kingdom itself, and that is something even I cannot allow." Phish sighed inwardly, he truly hated all the politics surrounding this problem, and hated that he had inadvertantly obtained his great-grandfather's role in the court, on top of the one everyone knew him as. But that seemed to be the fate of things, as was the progrssion he and Angel were making towards the castle.

"I will pledge my aliegence when I feel the time is right. As is, I feel that Claudio may be worried given my presence with you. Though I don't see how he wouldn't equate my effective power with Beauty's..."

Angel seethed. He understood that Phish would not be rushed into the decision, and that stung. He was actually thinking of which side would be best to follow. If he was an ambitious Pokémon, then he may choose Rafael; he could run a dictatorship behind the vein Milotic, if he could play the game well. For once, Angel cursed himself for not attending court more, yes, hours of training had turned him strong, but one could not outmatch an army through strength. Right now he needed to know what kind of Pokémon Phish was, and the courts would have been a great opportunity. But no matter.

"I understand it is a grave decision" Angel said aloud. Then, wanting to put a little pressure on the Commander. "One misstep, one mistake, one error-Commander, I must say I don't envy you"

The meeting room doors, heavy and ornate, loomed ahead of him. It wouldn't be long now.

While en route to the meeting, Beauty noticed something... unnerving. It was her eldest brother, Angel. Even from the distance she could see (no, sense) his scars, which made her shudder slightly in revulsion. This was why she put on makeup every day... she was not like him and never would be. The kingdra was just a pretender; he pretended to have a claim to the throne and pretended that he was normal. He was not the one her king wished to rule, the monarch had proven that by killing his mother. Rafael was, and it made her disgusted that the kingdra did not understand that. She did.

She... she hadn't lived up to her father's standards. He was disappointed in her. He hadn't wanted a shiny, just a normal, intelligent and polite gorebyss. Yet she couldn't fulfill that one request. She still hadn't fulfilled it! She was still shiny, and she still had to hide her discoloration. Even worse, she almost evolved into a huntail. Now she was a mutant...

She couldn't do this. She was not like him. She was not brash and rude, and she was not going to claim a throne that was not hers.

To put the throne where it belonged and keep her honor, she would have to talk to him. I must be polite, kind and formal, even to those who do not deserve it... Steeling her resolve, she quickly swam up to her brother and put on a small smile. Be polite, be formal, be intelligent, be normal... but be the political adversary you know you are. He is going down.

"Greetings, dear brother," she uttered politely. "I see you're going to the gathering as well? I was not informed of its purpose, however I do think it is a bit obvious now! It is a shame that everything has been corrupted in the race to the throne... we haven't talked in a while, have we? It's such a pity, us siblings barely knowing each other like this. We really should understand each other better..." Understand each other enough to know that our father would have wanted Rafael to take the throne. "So much could have been avoided." Ending her speech with a dainty sigh, she looked straight in his eyes for the first time in the conversation- she had swam up at a position that made it much easier to only see his chest. She looked at him sadly, not allowing one ounce of the fear that was pounding out from her chest to show in her eyes. Do not show fear in the face of the enemy, he will eat you up if you do so... you will be consumed inside him and will become just as horrible...

His scar-ridden face displayed what she used to be. Ugly, terrifying, and different. Nevertheless, she put on her best political smile and broke eye contact. "Well!" she trilled. "I wish the best of luck to you in all your ventures, and I hope that once this is all over we can still catch up. Shall we go to the meeting?"

Moving to open the door, it was only then when she noticed her rival's companion. Commander Phish. It seemed Angel was on the move, and not only on the small targets...

"Oh, hello Mr. Phish. It's nice to see you! Here, let me open the door for you..." Opening the door as gracefully as she could (as a fish she had to ram into it), she held it open and waited for the others to pass. "I assume you are coming to the meeting too? This will be interesting. Remember to vote for who you think is right."

~Phish

"I fully understand my liege, I know my place in this situation, and I know how delicate it is." Phish sighed inwardly, he hated showing his adamant stance of a neutral party, and he knew he'd likely end up supporting Angel in the end, but until then he had to keep his outwards neutrality. Only a couple minutes later Beauty appeared, addressing Angel, in a way that struck Phish as suspicious. But he made no comment, he had no need, and in all intensive purposes, she held a higher rank than he. Then she addressed him, wearing her mask of politeness, hand-in-hand with the mask she used to keep herself in a form she considered, presentable.

"Thank you, milady. I have an odd feeling that this meeting isn't necessarily about what you may think it is. But nevertheless, your cousin will address the subject once we're all here." Phish replied politely, holding his suspicion to his mind. "And don't you worry, I will make the choice I feel is best, when I feel it is best to make it, as I've already explained to your older brother."

Phish followed the two into the meeting hall, feeling that it was his place to allow royalty in first, whether they had a claim to the throne or not.

Angel smiled wickedly. Though his pretentious sister was very polite (well, for her, at least) her venom and her intentions were clear. And Phish had just slighted her, though whether she had heard through her embarrassing attempts at opening the door was another thing. The Commander was a solid crustacean, and Angel didn't think Rafael's vanity and stupidity were lost on him. When he leads, he thought, He'll follow the right person. And however right I am...compared to my brother, I'll shine. Usually, it's the other way around.

"Sweet sister, thank you for looking upon my face. I find it quite unsettling when you stare upon my chest so. Incest is rather frowned upon, you know. And," he continued, with a glint of frustration. "What makes you think our Commander would wish to vote for anyone? Surely his allegiance is to the crown. A crown so soon to be placed on the head of the rightful heir. And-"

At this, he swam in front of her, looked at her, and how much of herself she hid. "No matter how much you have chosen Rafael's path over mine, you'll find that rightful heir in me"

And with that, he nodded to her and swam ahead, into the meeting room.

That...! Her brother was truly despicable. A real adversary, she had to admit. Still, that did not consitute him being an heir to the throne. In fact, the very idea of that made him even less of a candidate! Had he ever heard of formality? The gall of him, to insult her like that! If only those words were recorded... it would make quite the smear campaign.

She would not let that insult lie. Scowling, she swam up to him jerkily and quickly, like a snake. She hovered in front of him a bit menacingly, but she was not going to stoop so low as to threaten him.

Looking him straight in the eye and floating a bit to the point that she was taller than him, she hid the hate she was feeling (mostly) and spat out her exceedingly polite reply. "That was truly hilarious, Angel. However, I don't think it is befitting of royalty to fling crude insults at each other, so I think I'll abstain from 'countering' your 'verbal blow.' Also, I don't believe you were actually thinking that when you were trying to recruit Mr. Phish. I'll bid you adieu now, but do not forget where the majority of the populace places their allegiance. I did not choose my side for no reason~" Goodbye, you disgusting freak. If only we did not have to share a meeting room...

Satisfied, she jetted over to her spot in the meeting room and took her place. If she was lucky she might not have to speak to her other brother during the gathering at all.