Joana arrived on time at the office of Lady Andalusia Caro for her appointment. This was it, the day she would announce to the government of Dhemlan that she, Joana Palomo, Queen of Ilbeda, would be running in the general election for Territory Leader. She had hardly slept at all last night, her usual nerves of steel failing her, but it didn't show on her face this morning thanks to three cups of coffee.
She wore a simple but elegant suit to the meeting, clean lines and comfortable with sensible, well-made shoes and her hair pulled back into a bun. She wore her Jewels and a pair of earring Ysmael had gifted her last Winsol and carried a briefcase with the documentation she had been asked to bring to this meeting. All of it was signed in triplicate and checked over by her Steward, Consort, advisers, and her mother -the last simply for luck. Usually, she would have brought a bottle of wine or some other small token of respect to a meeting like this but that might be misconstrued as a bribe and Joana wanted nothing to go wrong today.
Her escorts were likewise carefully selected not to overshadow Lady Caro's own power so that she would in no way feel threatened, and when they approached the door to the office Jo asked all but one to stay back. She walked up and took a deep breath before knocking, taking the time between that action and when Lady Caro asked her to enter to straighten her jacket.
Upon opening the door, Joana bowed with the proper show of respect to the elderly Priestess and said, "thank you for your prompt response to my inquiry about a meeting and thank you for having your office forward me the list of all necessary documentation needed to confirm my eligibility."
Jo's eyes rose to meet those of the Priestess and she took the seat the old lady offered her with a gracious smile. "On a more personal note, I'm very glad that the committee sided with me to see you enstated to this position. I could think of no one better than you, Lady Caro, to ensure the fair and thorough oversight of this election. While I plan to run and hope to win, my primary objective in all of this is to see the process work justly and successfully so that Dhemlan may have a truly representative government at last."
