"Kerron?" asked Isabella, acknowledging his raised cane.
"Yes, your majesty." Said Kerron, clearing his throat.
"I've been given the matter some thought since your last brought it up. As we all know, it is impossible for us to directly interfere in the academy, at best we can provide financial support and make deals with the parents of some of the students there."
Beren gave Kerron a slight nod. Beren was not often present at the Queen's meetings, only attending when he had something to report, so he was not actually aware of what made influencing the academy difficult, so appreciated Kerron clarifying for his sake.
"In my research, I have found that there is a system in place at the academy that allows for students to either join student factions or form their own faction." Said Kerron.
Elford cleared his throat at this and spoke up in his condescending tone.
"The academy has allowed factions for the last twenty or so years Lord Stenbrig, the problem is that there are more than a few existing factions that already have strong history in place. Should the Prince join one of those factions, he will become a follower within the faction. Should he try to create his own faction, it will be kept in check by the other factions once it seems to be getting too influential." Said Elford.
"Not to mention that there are outside allegiances to consider. Each nation has members of their nobility attending the academy, as well as scions from their royal families present in the academy, not many would put down their pride to follow the children of another nation's ruler." Wagner chipped in.
Kerron smiled at these two points – they were the biggest obstacles to the various noble scions entering the academy.
Commoners with merit often banded together and formed or joined factions regardless of their nationality, as such, commoner factions benefited from a large talent pool to recruit from.
Noble factions had a great advantage with outside financial support from their families, but they were often limited to recruits based on origin.
As a result, the prowess of the high end noble and commoner factions ended up evening out.
"That is indeed the case, but what if we could work around that issue?" Said Kerron.
"And how would you propose to achieve that?" asked Elford.
"Well, it remains a fact that many of the incoming nobles are highly disgruntled by the lack of influence they feel when they enter the academy. Even though the separate noble factions do not band together, they still have supportive relationships with one another and it helps them maintain their power base." Said Kerron.
"It is rare, but it is not unheard of for a single faction to dominate the academy. In the rare cases in the academy's history where a single faction has dominated, that faction has been a noble faction, with one exception." Continued Kerron.
Queen Isabella narrowed her eyes momentarily at the mention of the one exception.
"This is because when a noble faction dominates, they are careful to share benefits with other noble factions, and so as long as a noble faction emerges as dominant, they do no face suppression."
"If the prince were to create a faction that pulls ahead of others, he would simply need to reach out a collaborative hand to some of the other larger noble factions, and they would not hinder him." Said Kerron.
Wagner rolled his eyes at this.
"That still does not address the main issue, Kerron. You're basically saying that all the prince needs to do is form a faction that can dominate the other noble faction. The question remains, how would he form a faction that could overtake the existing ones in the first place?" Wagner asked.
"Who says he has to form it personally?" said Kerron.
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This caused some raised eyebrows around the table, but no one interrupted, allowing Kerron to continue.
"The prince's attendants are both in their fourth year at the academy, and they are doing quite well. If I remember rightly, they joined a faction belonging to one of the Aristian Ducal houses." Said Kerron.
"Indeed." Said Isabella.
"Why do we not have them leave that faction, and create their own separate factions? One for noble warriors and one for noble mages. For incoming students and young students from our kingdom, your highness could suggest to their families that they join one of these two factions. I believe it would be as easy as prioritizing alumni of those factions with positions in the Kingdom once they graduate." Said Kerron.
Elford shook his head.
"The noble houses have their pride, some would agree, but many more would dissent." Said Elford.
Kerron's smile widened.
"The prince will not be entering the academy for another six years. In that time, the faction head within the academy each year can be voted on by the noble houses in the kingdom who have agreed to let their children join. In this way, they can reap benefits for the first six years." Said Kerron.
Elford tapped the rim of his glasses as he considered the proposal, then nodded in assent – it made sense.
"That would still be two factions consisting of only nobles from Aristia. If we support them and ensure that every noble from our kingdom going to the academy joins one of the two factions, then they will grow into some of the more powerful factions but would still not be truly dominant." Said Wagner.
Kerron nodded at this, but his smile did not fade.
"My good Count, if I recall, there is a third faction in the academy that belongs to our Kingdom, but one that we as nobles tend to not speak of." Said Kerron.
The mention of this caused Queen Isabella's jaw to set slightly, and her expression wavered, but she righted it.
"Indeed. There is the 'Black Sword' faction that my husband created whilst he was there. It is one of the more powerful factions in the academy but are you forgetting that my husband decided it would a faction that accepted commoners, whether they were Aristian or not. The faction is overrun with foreigners and commoners, and most of their current leaders do not have ties with Aristia." Said Isabella, gritting her teeth.
The Black Sword faction had been created by a young Kane who had been, and still was, a sword fanatic. It was the single exception of a dominant faction that was not technically a 'noble' faction.
Kane had dispensed all propriety of a future King, not using his time at the academy for political connections, but instead furthering his martial might.
Many nobles in the Kingdom strongly felt that had Kane been more pragmatic, the issue regarding the Aristia's links with the Magic Towers could have been resolved, or at least partially bridged, had he been more conscious about solving it whilst he was studying among future Tower mages.
The Black Sword faction had not been completely useless, however. Quite of few of the Kingdom's Generals and Lieutenants had once been commoners from varying kingdoms who Kane had recruited through the Black Sword faction.
The biggest issue from the Aristian nobles' point of view was that when Kane left the academy, he left the Black Sword faction to exist on its own, note interfering with succession and ensuring that the rules he left in place favored those that were strong above anything else. The faction soon fell out of the hands of noble's from Aristia.
"Indeed, we do not have direct control, but that does not mean that we cannot influence it." Said Kerron with a glint in his eyes.
"In the six years between now and prince Richard entering the academy, I do not see why we cannot sponsor talented commoners from our Kingdom and have them enter the Black Sword faction. We can also have the noble Warrior faction, that Richards bodyguard will set up, form positive links with the Black sword faction. By the time the prince enters the academy, many of the top students within the Black Sword would be Aristian commoners, or commoners who have received support from our kingdom through the warrior faction." Said Kerron.
He started tapping his cane against the floor as he spoke.
"Also, let's not forget that the prince will enter the academy as a tutee of the Tower of Flames." Said Kerron.
"Should he form a faction aimed at all mages, with his identity as a Tower of Flames disciple, he will be able to gather young commoners who are mages and support them." Continued Kerron.
Eyes widened around the table as they realized where Kerron was heading with his plot.
"The prince can then combine the four factions into one, with him as the head. At that point, he would be in the position to reach out to lesser noble factions and bring them into the fold – especially factions hailing from kingdoms with political ties to ours." Said Kerron.
Queen Isabella clapped her hands, a wide smile on her face.
"Excellent! It is indeed a feasible plan. Wagner, Elford, work with Kerron on the details and bring me a proposal on the first steps we will take. In six years, I want my son to step into the academy and find a path of roses waiting for him." Said Isabella.
"Yes, your highness!" they said.
Discussions between the three started, but the doors to the room opening drew everyone's attention.
A young man with a plain looking face walked into the room. He wore a thick cloak over hardy travel-wear, and he looked quite worn out. His shoulder length black hair was a mess, and there were streaks of dirt on his clothes and face.
Clearly, he had rushed here over a fair distance, but his eyes were bright with excitement. He gave the Queen and awkward bow, before bowing at Mask.
'This must be the agent we were waiting on.' Thought Kerron.
"Report." Said Mask, their voice coming out monotonous through the voice-changing spell.