Sadly, Emberlee had been considering all the political changes based on a rational person making them in good taste. But Emperor Andrion had married his Stussican Princess in defiance of the Royal Mourning he'd initiated, so it should have occurred to Emberlee that he'd continue to act tasteless as long as he gained from it. Shortly before her sixteenth birthday, Emberlee received the damned gold-sealed missive outlining her March's expansion, and immediately after her sixteenth birthday, she received another. But the second imperial missive held terrible contents. 
Emperor Andrion had decided to 'gift' her Father with a new wife. 
Specifically, Emperor Andrion had selected and had Father married in absentia to a Stussican Countess. It was already legalized, the contents of the package an in-depth guarantee from his Imperial Majesty that her new stepmother had no legal claims to the Ortega March despite being her Father's new wife. 
It was only as Emberlee poured herself a sifter of Uncle's favourite brandy that her Fairy Godmother decided to speak up. "You seem agitated Child, a storm of emotions without direction. Use this event as you would any other, claim it to your own needs." 
"Emperor Andrion married my Father off to a Stussican Countess. I know nothing of this woman, other than what my liege," she put a sarcastic tone to the title, "has deigned to tell me," she looked at the provided information. "My new stepmother is Jimena Piklaani, mother to adult daughters Deirdre and Ainsley, twins. Her previous husband was significantly older and seemed to have died of heart failure, and she'd lived quietly wit her daughters in the County until now."
"So why the long exile for them to your lands?" Her Fairy asked the same question she was wondering. 
The Ortega March was the farthest point from Stussica, either Countess Jimena had earned a severe punishment or there were unknown factors at play. Likely it would be a mix of both, but it'd be up to Emberlee to discover the truth of it regardless. 
She couldn't resist taunting her Fairy Godmother with it either, "I guess I'll have to shine a light on the matter," thus far they'd made minimal progress expanding their powers beyond the most basic functions.
Fairy tales told of wonders, light-bringers, shadow singers, marvel makers, and all the plethora of Fairy magics. Emberlee and her Fairy Godmother could pass messages to Oberon via the mirror, but her Fairy seemed bound to her in a far more literal sense than it should have been. She could not summon the light of the sun to reveal all. Somehow her powers of light were even more of a lie than the illusions were. 
"I may not be able to learn all you seek to know, but you'd be wise to utilize what is available," Emberlee no longer felt a flurry of grief wherever her Fairy Godmother perfectly emulated her Mother. 
The Emperor's letter listed everything the new wife was bringing with her, from the lowliest basket up to the servants sent to tend to her needs. Despite the war stripping Xutia of its surplus and resources, the Ortega March still had enough to avoid rationing. It had been the loss of personnel that had been so devastating, after the epidemic ended there never seemed to be enough hands to get all the work done on time. Her new stepmother and stepsisters would be arriving with their maids, a butter, a Paige, and a retainer for the carriage. Nine strangers coming to make their home in her March, not including the escort guards who would be absorbed into her knights and would be tested by her Father upon his return. But that still meant nine people to incorporate into her home in less than four months, several of which were all too likely spies. It would be up to Emberlee to determine whether those spies were watching her or her stepmother.
"I need to know why she was selected, and why all the way here?" It helped to list out the things she needed, "Emperor Andrion must be expecting me to beg for more information after providing me with so little," Emberlee smiled at her Fairy Godmother. "I can't compel a creature to find information for me, nor can I use Fairy magic to step through a Mirror and search for myself. How would you say I should solve this issue?"