SOPHIA STONECLAW

“You are the expert here. Are you sure you have the situation under control or it's gradually slipping off your hands?” I said to Vayr, in a not-so-calm tone.

The sound of my voice sent the room to a commanding quietude. I was growing dissatisfied with the whole situation, given the way things were turning out, particularly here in Stavren.

The meeting room was the same room Vayr led me into when I first arrived here. It looked more compact as there were more people in it. The wooden rectangular table was surrounded by more chairs, one for each person present in the room. There were ten of us in the room, all familiar faces since I had seen every one of them at least once or twice since I came to the southern republic. The two lamps still stood out even though they weren't giving off any light since it was daytime.

There was nothing out of the ordinary that occurred during the meeting, normal discussions were been held, and plans were being mapped out. Vayr had asked me to chip in a suggestion concerning a question a squad captain, Melissa Vriad asked, and I snapped at him.

I was sure that he, along with everyone present in the room was surprised at my outburst because I had always been calm and easy-going whenever I interacted with them and even made a few suggestions during meetings. I too was surprised that I snapped at him.

The question Melissa asked somewhat triggered me because she raised an issue about the situation here at Stafford.

Maybe I wasn't seeing the bigger picture or acted impulsively but I had my reasons.

Ever since I came to the southern continent, there was a growing sense of duty within me as I immersed myself in the activities the Empire has been carrying out here.

The only thing I was dissatisfied about was the fact that we ceased any further assault. Since we attacked powerful Houses, there hasn't been any course of action to follow up. Rather, we shifted our focus to collecting, or rather, mining sapphatine crystals. Many a time, I wanted to raise the issue during meetings but I stopped myself because I felt Vayr knew what he was doing. So for him to ask me for suggestions on how to tackle the situation made me feel like he didn't have a concrete plan.

I was angry. A known House, Choryth had taken advantage of the situation we created to take total control over Stavren, right under our noses, and we weren't doing anything about it. That was one of the many reasons for my anger. For me, that shouldn't have happened.

Vayr’s expression was calm as usual and as he opened his mouth to speak, I continued.

“I am not here to teach you your job. You’ve been here longer than I have, and obviously, you know so much that I don't. But it is as clear as day that things aren't going as you planned.”

Vayr waited for me to finish talking before he started speaking with a sore calmness.

“I’m sorry your majesty, but what will you rather have us do?” he asked.

I couldn't tell if he was genuinely asking for a suggestion or if he was trying to provoke me further.

In a much more calmer tone, I said to him,

“The plan. Don’t you see what is happening here in Stavren. There are new developments which I am sure wasn’t accounted for. Why is this House Choryth trying to assume a place of power and take control? Don’t you think something like this can happen in other regions of the southern republic? Little things like this, when ignored could create bigger issues. Don’t you think we are taking them too lightly, or am I the only one seeing things differently?”

I paused and looked around, trying to read the expression of everyone present in the room. All of them avoided eye contact with me, facing the table.

“These people we are seemingly neglecting have foiled our attack, not once, but twice. They aren't just strong, they are smart. Don't you think it's a matter of time before our cover here gets blown?”

I turned to Vayr,

“You asked me what I would rather have us do. I say we take care of House Choryth.”

The whole room was silent, no one even moved a finger until Vayr spoke up.

“I understand your concerns, your majesty. But we cannot impose as much influence as we would want with just a handful of men. That is why our priority should be focused on bringing a considerable amount of our army over here which is why we need those crystals to build gates stable enough to do just that. It is true that the actions of House Choryth were unforeseen, but it's natural. Every set plan is prone to variables and shortcomings. What is important is how we take care of them.”

I was silent. As usual, the words Vayr spoke always made a lot of sense, and even an idiot wouldn't find them difficult to understand. For a moment, I questioned myself on why I snapped at him. I was probably just itching to be on the field, almost impatient to get a taste of some action, not just attending meetings and reading details of plans. I was angry that some House was taking advantage of the work we'd done, and even angrier that I couldn't do anything about it

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I opened my mouth to say something, but words failed me. I was ashamed to look at the faces of everyone in the room as Vayr, in the calmest of manners, made me wish I never said a word in the first place. To make matters worse, he wasn't done talking.

“Besides, Stavren is just a part of the southern republic. There are other regions in it and so far, we haven't encountered any problems whatsoever in those regions. So it shouldn't call for panic. We are taking things a step at a time. Our focus is on the southern republic, and once the gate is ready, we will no doubt take total control over it. But if you insist we deal with House Choryth first, we could do that.”

I sighed. It was a bit difficult, but I had to do it. I had to apologize for my temper outburst.

“I apologize for my behavior, it was rash and uncalled for. I felt maybe, you didn't have total control of the situation and that there were better ways to tackle it, but it seems that I was wrong.”

A gripping tension that choked the room assuaged. For some reason, everyone present in the room was scared, and none of them except Vayr dared to say a word. I let out a faint smile to further ease up the tension.

“Come on guys, why is everyone quiet?” I asked.

A few of them smiled, while others heaved in relief. It was apparent that they were scared of me. As much as it felt good, it still made me uncomfortable. Even though I have lived this life for quite some time, I just can't get used to it. It has always been a struggle for me to properly adapt, which I thought would have been easy; that maybe, in a short time, I would get used to it. But the change was overwhelming. Nevertheless, I still did a good job.

Conversations slowly returned to normal, and it didn't take long before the meeting was over. Everyone left one after another until only Vayr, Octavia, and I were left in the room.

“I would love to see how the crystals are collected. It’s suffocating being indoors most of the time,” I said to Vayr.

“Sure,” he replied.

* * *

Octavia and I rode side by side. There were other mages in front and behind us. Accompanying us, were a few falxes. One of the falxes walked closely past me and I hissed at it. It noticed my reaction as it quickly walked further away from me. I never liked those creatures, they were ugly, and personally, I couldn't stand the sight of them so I didn't bother having one. Vayr and his men did a great job keeping creatures that large away from sight here in this region, only exposing them whenever their need arose. As much as I dislike them, they were no doubt useful assets, both in battle and in labor.

We rode through an unending view of tree trunks and branches in our line of sight as the green canopies above us made it feel like we were under an enclosure that shone green.

“What is this place called?” I asked Octavia.

“This is Ausbane forest,” she replied.

“Is there any specific reason for traversing this forest?” I asked.

“Yes, your majesty. Since people do not frequent this area, it's easier to carry on activities without being noticed.”

We finally arrived at our destination as I saw a cave entrance ahead of me. It was a difficult topography made of rocks that didn't seem to fit the vegetation of the area. I came to understand that we had been walking down a gentle slope while approaching the cave entrance. I didn't notice until we got to the cave’s entrance which seemed to be below the normal ground level.

Here in the southern continent, they called places like this the dark caverns and they were similar to the dungeons we had back at Azkhan. I wanted to see what the dark caverns of the southern continent looked like because I’d never had the opportunity to explore one of them.

For all I knew, dungeons in Azkhan were home to many resources and materials that were used for different purposes. Also, they were home to weird creatures, notably the falx. How the Vashkrans managed to tame the creature and a few others that they thought were useful, was something I couldn't comprehend. I was hoping to find something new and interesting in the dark caverns but the chances were close to none since I was going into the chartered territory. I didn't know how places like this came to be. Maybe they were just a unique geographical component of this world.

Venturing into the cavern, nothing looked out of place; just rocky structures and terrain here and there. Some areas were pitch-dark, making sight impossible which made us use fire torches and glowing orbs, enabling vision. Other areas were so bright, which made me wonder where the lights came from. It turned out that the light source was from illuminating rocks lining the roof and sides of those areas of the cavern. Some areas were narrow, just large enough to fit only one person, while some areas were wide enough to fit a crowd.

After walking for quite some time, we approached an intersection and met an unpleasant surprise. There were adventurers approaching from the opposite direction.

“I thought you said that people do not frequent this area. Care to explain why there are adventurers ahead of us?” I said to Octavia in what sounded like whispers.

There was a surprised look on her face, but her response was clear, without giving off any hint of the surprise which she wore on her face.

“These caverns are interconnected in many ways. It is just a coincidence. I believe that they are here looking for something else,” Octavia replied.

“Well, that's a very unfortunate coincidence. There is no way we can let them leave, thanks to these hideous-looking falxes.”

Octavia understood as she responded by nodding slowly. The adventurers ahead stood no chance. We outnumbered them by quite some margin; we were ten in number with four falxes. I didn't care how strong they were as I was confident that I could take on all of them by my lonesome. To be honest, it wasn't a fight. It was a massacre. For a moment, I felt sorry for them as they were just an unlucky bunch. Maybe if we didn't have the falxes with us, we would have just disguised as adventurers and avoided unnecessary bloodshed. Suddenly, it felt as though I snapped back to my senses. I was having a conflict of emotions. Earlier in the day, I was hungry to get myself into a fight, but for a brief moment, I found myself faltering.

“What's wrong with you?” I queried myself.

It wasn't the time to indulge in my thoughts so I abandoned whatever was going on in my head and looked around me. Everyone was looking at me, awaiting some kind of order from me.”

“Don’t worry, Octavia and I would have a little chat with them,” I said as I walked forward with Octavia following closely behind.