Rhiannon had put the word out to the various Covens to invite their Witch Mothers to held greet their guest. In total some 120 or so had accepted and now the grounds of the Hiraethog estate where filled with the black robed women, some carrying staffs, some with leather bags hung around their neck but all keen to answer the call of the White Witch. They had called upon their nation to be more open and while King Siôn IV had said all the right things in the media he had yet to act upon anything, meanwhile the spiritual leader of the nation was today forcing him to. Naturally the King had been invited to attend, and with his small gathering of smart green jacketed soldiers formed a rather unsociable gaggle to one side of the large lawn area. Even though the military were under the King's command, Colonel Rice of the The Royal Household Regiment was far happier to stand talking with the Witch Mothers than he was his commander in chief.
The Estate stood a good distance from Deiniolen and so after the East Moreland delegation had landed Lady Rhiannon had a good hour to get her colleagues into order. They formed a large semi circle at the doorway to the house with the King and White Witch at the centre. While most Coven Mothers wore black, and Rhiannon wore white a group of eight women in red flanked their spiritual leader. These were "The Biddies" choosen as the most learned and respected of the Coven Mothers. Colonel Rice meanwhile had his red jacketed men line the driveway. As the royal entourage approached the Colonel saluted and watched as the car drove past its tyres crunching on the gravel drive. It turned into the semi circle and its driver stopped to allow a member of the military to open the door for the East Moreland King allowing Lady Rhiannon to step forward. She removed the white hood to reveal long blonde hair tied at the nape of her neck with a leather band. She held a white wooden staff wrapped with misteltoe. "Your Majesty please allow me to bestow a spell of welcome upon you." She knew the media would be snapping away and so the symbolic Fivefold Blessing would be required, if not a little awkward to a man who likely didn't know the ritual.
"Blessed be thy feet, that have brought thee to this place" she carefully directed the tip of her staff at the Kings feet mindful to not actually touch them. Had she been doing this to a follower of her faith then she would have but she wondered how a foreign King might react. "Blessed be thy knees, that kneel at the sacred altar" she raised the staff just a touch. "Blessed be thy phallus, without which we would not be" she sensed this blessing may have caused some embarassment. "Blessed be thy chest, formed in strength." She held the staff at his heart. "Blessed be thy lips, that shall utter the Sacred Names." At this point traditionally the Witch would kiss the person she was blessing but again a decision had been made to leave that part out and instead the staff was brought close to the Kings lips. The gathered semi circle applauded and some muttered their own prayers as King Siôn was introduced.
"King David, I welcome you to my Kingdom." The monarch extended a hand having ensured he had emphasised the word "my" in his greeting. "Its a pleasure to meet you and I look forward to getting to know you."
