As King Akakios talked about how he met his most recent wife, Emperor Abbas noticed how the King gently gripped the hand of his new wife. It wasn't the first gesture like this, he noticed something similar when they met at the airport. For Tamorans such public displays of affection were inappropriate, spouses rarely even touched each other while in public. Not that it bothered Abbas, he just found it strange. He didn't have time to ponder on the issue because King Akakios started talking about the Iwi and their aggressive actions against the Royal Seleucid. Emperor Abbas listened closely as the subject was of much interest to him. He noticed that Queen Oksana seemed a bit uncomfortable when her husband was talking frank about the savage Iwi. He remembered how his friend, Akakios mentioned earlier that she was from Lodja. Abbas thought that Queen Oksana wasn't trustworthy since she was not seeing the enemies of her husband as her enemies, and that fueled his dislike of her.
Abbas turned his attention to the King who was still describing the trouble the Iwi were causing him. Abbas was well aware about the long history between the two peoples. Unlike the Royal Seleucid, which always was a maritime power, Tamora didn't have access to the sea until 1958 when they annexed their latest kingdom. So Tamora didn't take part in the sea trade of slaves that the Seleucid Kingdom used to be so invested in. However, Tamora was a major buyer of those slaves and unlike the Seleucids, the Empire never liberated its slaves. So Abbas knew that the Iwi will sooner or later come for Tamora, too. When King Akakios took a short break from his speech about the Iwi, Abbas intervened:
"I couldn't agree more with what you said. However, I don't blame the Iwi so much. Sure, they are responsible for the reprehensible attacks against Royal Seleucid but I blame their allies, the CNN, more. They are the ones who encourage this behavior. Without their backing the Iwi would know their place. It's the EM, Lodja, UC and ES that prop them up. It is because of them that the Iwi had the audacity to bomb the fertilizer plant and send a sub in your territorial waters".Abbas, took the newly gifted watch and passed the box to his wife. He examined it, tried it on and thanked the King for his gift. His wife did something similar but was careful to thank both of them for the gifts.
"Sorry I missed the festival. The internal politics of Tamora have eaten almost all my time. The corporate families and the nobility keep pressing me to expand the market of Tamora. The former want somewhere to sell their goods since they are more and more uncompetitive on the world market and the later want to move up, the barons want to become counts, the count dukes etc. They are pleased with how the annexation of Attica, out latest addition to the empire, went and want to see the Empire grow again. What they don't realize is that this isn't 1958 anymore. Mundus is a much smaller place now, alliances like CNN and LISA make expansion hard if not impossible. If you also add in the reformists who what to level Tamora and turn it into a dysfunctional democracy, you get a sense of what I had to deal with. On the bright side, I have managed to contain the reformists for now so you'll get to see more of me in the future" Abbas smiles in a friendly manner before resuming:
"I almost forgot, I have a small favor to ask. I have arranged for a Circassian ballet show just for you. They had some shows in the Kingdom of Vojvodina but they cancelled everything to make it to Djerb for you. I believe you'll like it, it's a special mix of theater and ballet. And the piece you'll see is written especially for an occasion such as the one you are having. "For the first time the entire evening, Alya talked without being spoken to and addressed the Queen:
"The Kingdom of Vojvodina is one of the five kingdoms of the Empire. And the Circassians are originally from another country but were forced to move in the late XIXth century. The great grandfather of the Emperor allowed them to stay here. I know how all this can be confusing, Tamora is complicated at first glance." she explained to the young Queen in a calm and polite manner, trying her best to make her feel more comfortable.
"Oh, yes. My great grandfather had a choice: to enslave them or to let them settle on Tamoran land. He made the right choice in allowing them to stay as free people. They turned out to be among the most loyal people in the Empire. So if that's okay with you, we'll leave in about an hour and half."The Imperial family and their guests arrived quickly and the Djeb Theater and used the special access from the underground parking in order to avoid unnecessary attention. There they used the elevator which took them just a few feet from the central balcony. The huge concert hall was without any light expect from some dim lights on the floor that offered them the minimum of lighting required to get to their chairs. Once they were seated, an announcement was made trough out the hall:
"It is our great pleasure to have as guests HM the King of Seleucid and his Fourth wife, Queen Oksana." as the announcement was finished the lights were gradually turned on revealing packed hall. Anybody that was something in the Imperial Enclave was there and they were all standing, looking at the central balcony were the two royal couples were sitting and clapping their hands as a sign of respect for the Royal couple of Seleucid. The clapping continued for about a minute until the Emperor whispered to the Seleucid King:
"They will keep on clapping until you wave them to stop." Once the King waved at the spectators to stop, they took their seats, the lights were dimmed again but this time the spots were turned on for the stage.
A new announcement was heard again:
"With the permission of the King, the final part of the show will now begin" And just like that play started:
Looking at the play it was not hard to imagine why it was success in Tamora. It gad everything Tamorans liked: elegance, beauty, opulence but also formality, rigidity and most important the couples on stage never touched. Even the main couple, when they briefly touched, their skin never made contact.
Once the play ended, the light shifted to the central balcony where the two couples watched. The Emperor rose and stated clapping. His wife followed him in an instant and with them all the spectators present. Every ten seconds or so that the Emperor kept clapping made the actors more relieved until they finally started smiling. After almost one and a half minute of constant clapping the actors where overwhelmed with the show of respect they got. To get to perform before the Emperor was a privilege, to get to perform for the Emperor and his foreign guests and to be publicly appreciated was a dream come true. Not just for them, but also for the small Circassians nation in Tamora. After almost two minutes, the Emperor stopped and addressed the King" I hope you enjoyed the show, my friend. I got a little carried away but I really liked it".
Once back at the Imperial Palace, Emperor Abbas excused himself to his guests:
"Please forgive me my friend, but it's late and the family is waiting for me to lead the evening... in our case, late night prayer. Will you agree to see us again in the morning for breakfast maybe?"The next morning, while the two couples were heading for the dining room to have breakfast, Alya guided the Queen in the dining with some pretext giving the two men a chance to be alone. Abbas quickly took advantage of the opportunity and said to the Seleucid King:
"I didn't get the chance to talk more yesterday. I know during the latest Iwi incidents I wasn't very vocal or active but that will change. I also want to thank you having the honeymoon here. It means a lot to us." 
