The next meeting was about a week after Miya came back. Elias left before Andreas got up—of course, one was typically gone without warning the other. Like always, Andreas took his time and left when he was ready; the meetings didn’t really start until everyone, future chiefs included, were there. Besides, the men hated him enough that they would spout whatever nonsense they came up with as soon as he walked through the door, instead of hiding it all behind his back.

He bid Miya a temporary farewell, then went out to where they held the meetings. All things considered, he was still early—only about half the men were there, and those that were didn’t talk about anything productive. Elias seemed to be asking after the progress of battle plans, but nothing could be done for another hour.

When everyone came, Elias started the meeting by explaining the previous one. When he finished, he looked around.

“Has any opinions changed on the matter we discussed last month?” Elias asked. “Stand if you wish to fight.”

More men stood than they did previously, although a few chiefs who agreed to it earlier didn’t stand now. This idea had shifting opinions, it seemed—but a majority of them still wanted to fight.

“Let’s discuss possible courses of action, then,” Elias decided. “For the strategists—what will the best plan be? It could be as simple as driving away the soldiers here; it could be as difficult as a full war. I want to hear your thoughts on the matter.”

A few of them took turns discussing possibilities. Andreas was surprised to hear that most of them considered reasonable options, instead of insisting on bloody retaliation. Perhaps it helped that Sólstaður’s occupation wasn’t necessarily harsh; Kuro had more trouble with it than Sólstaður, and mostly kept to themselves. There wasn’t any need to be cruel in return, unless they wanted to receive harsher punishment if they failed.

That didn’t mean there weren’t still…uninformed suggestions—some were close to, if not outright, suicidal for Sólstaður to carry through with. Fortunately, Elias was smart enough to turn down the ones that were especially ill-planned—Andreas used his authority to dismiss some that would be too harsh for Kuro.

After two hours, Elias spoke. “I think I’ve heard enough,” he said. “The plans said by Somonsen, Iesasen, and Yarasen will be put under further consideration.”

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Somon, Iesa, and Yara—Andreas couldn’t pick out the men who bore those surnames, but he knew they were some of the more reasonable chiefs. They began further discussing what they came up with—basic ideas of what they could do—and started turning them into actual strategies, weighing the good and bad aspects of it. Given another hour, Elias decided they would continue to pursue Yara’s idea and do a third and final re-evaluation of it in the next meeting.

They were all dismissed with the familiar call, and Andreas was among the first to make his way out—many of them still entertained conversation, while a few invited their wives inside now that the meeting was over. Elias was among those who stayed, although Andreas guessed he was just going to continue talking about strategies.

Andreas was greeted by Miya’s slightly worried frown when he returned home; she was speaking with Amanda before he came in.

“That meeting took a bit longer than usual,” Miya noted.

“There was a lot to discuss,” Andreas replied, nodding. He took off his outdoor coats and sat next to her. Amanda lingered near one of the doorways for a moment before sitting on the other side of the fire.

“Any bad news?” Amanda asked curiously.

“Not necessarily,” Andreas reasoned. Miya didn’t look particularly pleased with the way he worded it, but he carried on regardless. “They still want to fight, but they’re actually being reasonable with it; we’re better off than our ancestors on that front. It seems like Sólstaður won’t call for anything especially bloody until Kuro does.”

Miya let out something close to a relieved sigh. “That’s good. Considering how long we’ve been toying with Gin, the soldiers shouldn’t have much strength or will to do anything drastic—it takes long enough for one to get from here to there that they might not even send anyone else.” She paused for a moment, frowning again. “One can hope, at least. I don’t know exactly how Shunji would react, if he does anything.”

“Would it be Shunji responding, though?” Amanda said, glancing at the princess. “He’s new enough to the throne that they might not let him make tactical decisions.”

“Lady Yanami will tell him how to respond,” Miya replied. “Our kitsune-advisor was the one who assessed the pros and cons of occupying Sólstaður to begin with; she’ll know if it’s worth fighting for.”

There was silence for a little bit as the line of conversation ended, then Andreas sighed and spoke. “Regardless, unless—or until—Father makes me, I decided I wouldn’t fight. I’ll be a coward if we win, but it might go in our favor if we lose.”

“You are their princess’s husband,” Amanda agreed.

Miya’s only response was to move a bit closer to him, and the conversation ended again. The next pause was longer before Amanda spoke to make the mood a bit lighter—which inevitably became teasing in a matter of minutes.