Chapter 13: The First Council Meeting

The morning found Kren in a good mood. Even with certain doom hanging over all of them, he walked through the townhouse with a spring in his step. When he reached the living room — a wide space that had been turned into a sort of community hall — he found Bernice, Aki, and two others standing around a table that hadn’t been there yesterday. Neither had the single high-backed seat that looked stupidly expensive.

Kren raised an eyebrow as he moved toward the seat, knowing without a doubt that it belonged to him. "Can we afford luxuries like this? The table and chair look like they were plucked out of some Draconic noble’s house." His tone carried an edge of reproach. He liked luxury as much as the next person, but now was not the time for such indulgence.

"The table and chair were hand-carved months ago by one of the town’s artisans. It’s a gift from your people, Your Majesty." One of the two strangers spoke up — a swarthy Snow Leopard-kin with a shrewd, kind smile. Kren blinked as the man bowed.

"Apologies, Your Majesty. It has been quite some time since I last saw you. Ten years now, I believe, since the day we lost our beloved king and you were orphaned." He bowed again as Kren exchanged a quick glance with Bernice. She gave him a stiff nod before the man continued.

"My name is Ruhu. I am head of the kingdom’s merchant caravan, and of the Snow Leopard clan. I have come at your summons, my king." Kren nodded at Ruhu. He might not have remembered the man’s face, but he knew of him — there had been correspondence between them in the past, always relayed through Bernice. He shifted his attention to the fourth person in the room.

She was different. Kren had heard of the other feline clans that had lost full access to their human forms over the years, adapting instead into fully humanoid feline bodies. The Margay clan was one such lineage. She stood dressed in combat leathers, two swords strapped across her back, her tail flicking lazily from side to side. Yet her pitch-black eyes carried a focus Kren couldn’t ignore.

"This one is named Fima, of House Mbezi. This one has the privilege of running Your Majesty’s spy division." Kren raised an eyebrow, impressed they even had a spy division at all.

Bernice held no true legitimacy of her own — she’d been married to Kren’s father purely as a means of controlling the late king. That had made ruling as regent difficult, to say the least. Yet she’d still managed to make every necessary move to ensure their survival, and more than that, to ensure they’d be ready when the time came to fight back.

"I’m pleased to have you all here today. I believe we’ll be discussing our people’s immediate needs, and then our response to the imperial princess’s decree. Ruhu, Fima — it’s a pleasure to finally meet you both in person. Thank you for your years of loyal service. I hope I can continue to lean on your knowledge in the years ahead, as we work to reclaim our people and our stolen lands."

Kren didn’t want to seem too deferential — he was still the king. But he also didn’t want to come across as foolish or inexperienced. He needed their help, yes, but the authority in the room was still his. Some part of him mocked his own insecurity about wielding it, but he pushed the thought aside. He was a lion through and through; nothing short of absolute dominance would ever truly satisfy him. He just had to remember not to become a tyrant in the process.

"It seems Your Majesty intends to compete for the imperial princess’s hand. I would advise against that. Simply surviving long enough for there to be a winner should be sufficient — she’s already promised the survivors ministerial positions to help her run the empire." Bernice held Kren’s gaze as she spoke.

She’d clearly noticed something during their travels and had just now read his intent into his own words. If she’d wanted to talk him out of it, why do it here, in front of the council, instead of in private? Kren nearly laughed. He was equal parts amused and annoyed by Bernice’s constant need to test him — especially his ability to rule with a clear head.

But Bernice didn’t know that Kren had no real choice in the matter. The system had given him three years to marry and claim Elyvara, and the princess herself had given the vassal princes six months to finish conquering one another. Some would call her timeline absurd, and argue it would be wiser to play it safe. Except whoever married her would become emperor — and that single fact alone tore a hole through any plan that involved quietly taking a ministerial seat and staying out of the way. Kren was done leaving his fate, and the fate of his people, in the hands of dragons and their lackeys.

"We can win. I believe that. Kora cannot afford another tyrant on that imperial throne — whether it’s Elyvara, or any of the other four kingdoms that have spent the last ten years systematically stripping our ancestral lands bare. Let’s call it what it is. All of them are our ENEMIES!"

The room fell silent. It was hard not to, with their situation laid out so plainly in front of everyone. Bernice pressed two fingers to the bridge of her nose. "So what do you intend to do, Your Majesty? I believe this decree, and the enemies surrounding us, are our two biggest problems." Kren nodded in agreement. He and Bernice had already discussed a plan of action in private, but he needed to lay it out for the rest of the council now.

"We need allies, first and foremost. And we need to stabilize our economy while building an army — and we can’t do these one at a time. All three have to move forward together." Kren’s words drew a frown from Bernice, though she couldn’t fault the logic of it, even if it meant taking on far too much at once. Regardless, she pressed on with her report.

"We can manage all of that, but you need to understand the caliber of allies you’re considering, Your Majesty." Bernice said, prompting a raised eyebrow from Aki.

"He’s already chosen his allies?" the cat-kin asked. Bernice only shrugged and kept talking.

"The Sea Folk are elusive by nature, and the odds they’d sink our boats before we ever got close to their islands are extremely high. Even so, they remain our best hope for an alliance against the remaining vassal kingdoms. I’m just not certain we could convince them to actually take up arms against those kingdoms.

"The Sea Folk have survived this long by staying neutral, by keeping out of most major conflicts. Convincing them to join an alliance is one task. Convincing them to fight for us, or alongside us, is another entirely."

Bernice paused, studying Kren’s face — looking, perhaps, for some flicker of reaction now that she’d laid out the basics. His expression didn’t change. She continued.

"The Sea Folk lie to our west. Reaching them still requires a functional ship, one capable of handling deep ocean waters. The Storm Eagle tribe’s territories to the north, on the other hand, remain somewhat accessible, and frankly, they’re our best bet for immediate allies — assuming that maze of a mountain they call home doesn’t kill us before they even agree to hear us out."

Kren leaned back in the seat. Loath as he was to admit it, the thing was actually rather comfortable. Nothing else about the situation in front of him was. They were isolated, undermanned, and without a single friend to call on. But there was no version of this where they had a choice.

"Ruhu. You run the kingdom’s commerce and the merchant caravan. I know that over the last ten years you’ve also focused some of your efforts north, given their considerable ore deposits. Is there anything you can tell us about the Storm Eagles — what they want, what their leadership is like, and whether there’s anything we could offer them to open a conversation?" He paused, a small frown creasing his brow.

"I believe bringing the Storm Eagles onto our side is the first major step toward eventually bringing the Sea Folk in line as well." Bernice nodded in agreement, pleased he’d arrived at that conclusion on his own. Calling yourself a king and actually being one were two very different things, and he seemed to be finding his footing well enough.

"The Storm Eagles are a fierce and reclusive people, Your Majesty. My dealings with them have always gone through a proxy merchant of their own, who meets me at the foot of the mountains to protect the secrecy of their sanctuary. Over the last couple of years, though, I’ve grown close enough to a few of those merchants to get a fair sense of their society — especially now, when their king needs an alliance."

Ruhu paused to take stock of the room. Once satisfied he had everyone’s attention, he continued. "Reclusive as they are, the Storm Eagles aren’t without their own troubles. For one, they no longer hold a kingdom crest of their own. They used to, apparently, before the falcons supplanted them early in the Draconic Empire’s rise. It’s been the goal of generation after generation of chiefs to reclaim a kingdom crest and restore their people to where they believe they belong."

"That’s an angle the king could work. But their more immediate problem concerns a Lyndwyrm nest." Kren raised an eyebrow at that.

"There are Lyndwyrms in those mountains?" Kren asked, as Ruhu nodded.

"Savage things. Half serpent, half worms, with a Draconic bloodline running through them — though of course those damned dragons would never admit those creatures share their blood. Regardless, an alpha has risen among the Lyndwyrms and has been coordinating the nest with frightening efficiency, launching a series of attacks that have left the Storm Eagles devastated and critically low on supplies.

"In response, their chief has called for a tournament. He believes killing the alpha will scatter the nest for good. Whoever manages it will be granted a place at the chief’s right hand — married to his only daughter, and set to inherit control of the Storm Eagle clan should the chief pass."

Kren blinked as Ruhu finished. He turned to Bernice, who wore a thoughtful expression.

"The idea has merit, my king, though you’d have to take center stage yourself for this one to work. It would be an easy plan to commit to — if not for one problem." Bernice said. Kren tilted his head.

"And what problem is that?"

She met his eyes directly. "As you stand right now, you probably wouldn’t survive a single Lyndwyrm, let alone an alpha of that breed. You need power. You need a bond."