"I've been walking on eggshells around her all week. And after the selected arrived at the palace yesterday morning, she wanted hourly updates about their positions, if they had settled down, if there was any problem between them..it was all so vague.."

Lord Bolton nodded as he walked side by side with the other two advisors. They had all taken turns complaining about the hard taskmaster of a Queen Mother, in hushed tones, obviously.

They didn't know why she was so anxious, and she wouldn't openly share her concerns with them, though she called them her most trusted advisors. They all knew something was bothering her, only if she would confide in them.

The stopped infront of the Royal study and knocked. After a few seconds, they heard a reply and they pushed the door open, walking inside and locking the door behind them.

There was a long table in the middle of the gigantic room, with exquisite, teakwood chairs on all sides. The Queen mother was sitting at the head of the table and surprisingly, her lips were curved into a genuine smile.

It was a pleasant sight for sure eyes; She had been stressing herself for months about the impending selection and now something had lifted her spirits. Her advisors bowed and sat down on one side of the table.

"Thank you once again for agreeing to meet me at such a short notice, my lords.."

Like they had a choice.

"I was glad to hear that the selected have arrived safely and have settled down quite comfortably. As you all know, the welcoming masquerade ball is tomorrow. We've all been planning it for weeks and you all know how important this is" she said, adjusting her golden, embroidered shawl around her neck as she spoke.

"I have a few new additions to our plans, small ones really"

Lord Maricus gulped. Oh not again.. he thought, maintaining a neutral expression on is face. The Queen Mother knew what kind of person he was and yet always found a way to disrupt his perfectly laid our plans by inserting her ideas at their 11th hour.

"As you all know, the selected can visit the shop the royal Seamstress owns in the capital and pick the one they like. Their hair and other accessories will be dealt with by their own personal maids provided to them. But what I want to add is, based on their attire and their overall ensemble, the selected ladies will be ranked"

There was a long pause after she finished her sentence, her eyes moving from one man's face to the other.

Ser Mormont cleared his throat. Maybe  sometimes, the Queen mother has to be reminded of a few things.

"My lady, this is new, this ranking system you have come up with, but like you said in the beginning, I thought we weren't going to be judging the women based on their beauty, or attire, or any of their physical or financial attributes.."

The Queen mother nodded in agreement. Of course she had thought it through. She wouldn't call for a meeting without having an exact plan in mind.

"Ser Jorah, I know that. Yes, we are not going to crown the most beautiful or the wealthiest lady as the Queen of each kingdom. Ruling a kingdom needs  separate skillsets and that is what we will be looking into. But that doesn't mean you can show up to court in your night gown or rags. I expect the ladies to have atleast a fair taste in that field. They would have to travel to various kingdoms, it'll be one of their responsibilities. The first impression about a person is mainly based on how they present themselves, next comes how they Express themselves"

All the three of them listened to her, awed. They had served her faithfully for years and had come to experience her brilliance and excellence time and again but yet, she never ceased to amaze them even after all these years.

"Not only for this attire, but from now onwards, the selected will be ranked after each important event or task. This way, the ladies will know the seriousness with which things are handled here. Royal affairs are not a child's play" she said firmly, straightening her posture.

"Done, my lady. The selected will be informed about this. This will motivate them to think a little differently and put some more effort into their attire for the ball." Lord Bolton said finally.

As the three of them started to leave, assuming the meeting was over, the Queen mother laughed. "Oh wait, my lords. You haven't seen the next part of my plans" she said. He eyes were glowing in a mischievous way and as the lords sat back down with puzzled expressions, the Queen mother clapped her hands.

10 men walked out from the interior part of the study. They were all dressed in fine silk robes, works of the talented royal Seamstress ,no doubt. They all wore antique, old fashioned masks which covered a major portion of their faces.But that wasn't what shocked the lords sitting opposite to them.

When they stood there in front of the Queen, they were standing in three distinguished groups. And the men belonging to each group looked exactly alike! From their attire, to the body structure, from the colour of their hair to the shade of their eyes, they were all alike! It was like they were all exact replicas of the 3 kings themselves! With the masks on, it was pretty difficult, almost impossible for the advisors to point out which was the true king in each group.

They stared at the men for a long time before staring back at the Queen, who was smirking gleefully.

"And this, my lords, is the next idea I had for the ball. Apart from my sons, there will be 7 other men, almost similar to my sons in the physical sense, amongst the crowd, introducing themselves as the kings to the selected and mingling with them."

Of course, just by the look of it, The Queen mother recognized her sons. It wasn't a hard task for her. She was their mother after all. And she was also satisfied that her plan had worked. If these lords, who have watched my sons grow up all these years cannot recognize them, I'm sure the selected cannot know the real kings too she thought and her smile faltered for a second.

And he surely will not recognize my sons too a voice echoed in her head. That was the whole purpose of this idea of hers but she wouldn't reveal it to anyone else.

"But..my lady...why play such tricks?"

Because I have to protect my sons...

"Because it's fun, isn't it? The other seven men are some trust worthy friends of my sons and I trust them too. They will provide us with information about the selected that we ourselves do not know. And it's better for my sons to get to know the ladies for the first time in their true self. And they can be truthful and can be themselves only when their guard is down, when they feel like they aren't under the pressure to impress everyone. With 10 people going around introducing themselves as the kings, I'm sure it will be pretty fun to watch too"

The queen mother signalled for the men to leave and the obliged.

"You may leave, my lords. And don't breath a word about this to the selected . The will get to know about this only when the Ball begins." She said, her tone indicating that there wasn't anything left to discuss. The three men got up and bowed before her before walking out.

They did not know why the queen mother wanted to play such games, she was never the one to take things lightly. Little did they know it was yet another clever plan of the Queen Mother's to protect her sons, the kings of a vast empire, protect them from the man who threatens to destroy their lives.