After a brief debate within the council, it was decided that Surelin should be the first person to enter Forelia City. She stood before the enormous fire-blackened main gate with the entire migration waiting behind her, and an excited cheer went up when she took the first step beneath the gate’s tall arch. Gideon and the rest of the council entered after her, followed by the wagons and the rest of the migration. The ruined remains of the city’s expansive stables were set by the main gate, and Kara took it upon herself to park the wagons there, expressing concern about the effort it would take to house the oxen in a city with practically no remaining roofed buildings.
The Lilac Palace sat atop a hill in Forelia City’s north-west corner, on the far side of a river which divided the city into two even parts, north and south. The palace’s blocky visage was visible in the far distance soon after passing through the gate, and the sight of it sparked excited exclamations from Surelin and the other Forelians in her council. A wide cobblestone street led from the main gate towards the palace, curving gently here and there as it gradually wound north through the city.
Most of the buildings lining the street had crumbled into ruins, scorched by flame and overgrown with greenery. After only a few minutes of walking, Gideon realized that almost every structure in the city had been destroyed by fire or otherwise been deliberately torn down, a clear effort by the Kenanites to ruin it for future habitation. It was hard to get an accurate sense of what the city had been like before being turned to ruins, but judging by the street layout he strongly suspected that it had once been a beautiful city, cozy even. Even so, something in the character of the ruined city left him feeling out of place, though he couldn’t point to anything in particular that would explain it.
Forelia City was far less tightly packed than Loso, and lacked the feeling of strict organization that pervaded Kenan. Every branching side street Surelin and her council passed looked to be generously wide, and the ruins straddling them were reasonably spaced out. It felt as though the city had been carefully planned to maximize the comfort of its residents, putting it directly at odds with Kenan’s strictness and Loso’s haphazardness.
The people of the migration gradually separated from the procession as Surelin led it deeper into the ruined city. Many were headed for their old homes, eager to see evidence of their lives before the fall, and to start rebuilding. Others set out simply to explore, seeking out suitable buildings to start new lives in. By the time Surelin’s procession reached the palace’s gates at the top of the hill, the only people still following her were the royal family’s retainers and soldiers.
The palace’s front gate was a miniature copy of the city’s main gate, but in this instance the Kenanites had gone to the trouble of pulling it down. Large stone bricks from the gate’s arch lay scattered about the street, along with shattered pieces of the wooden portcullis. Surelin faltered for a moment upon seeing the ruined gate, and a worried frown appeared on her face as she led what remained of the procession through the mess into the palace grounds.
Inside the palace’s walls, cobblestone walkways weaved through a very large but utterly destroyed garden, with the palace itself laying just beyond. Clay pots and other containers meant to hold plants lay about in various states of disrepair. Even the garden’s grass had fallen victim to the Kenanites, leaving only a few scanty, damaged patches of green.
Shards of pottery cluttered the main walkway leading up to the palace’s grand front door, crunching underfoot as Surelin and the procession approached. The palace itself seemed to have been mostly spared from destruction, judging by the exterior, though the many stained glass windows lining its walls had all been shattered to varying degrees. Surprisingly, the palace was only two stories tall and uniformly rectangular, with little external decoration beyond a coat of aging pearl white paint, with soft purple accents adorning the edges of the windows and front door.
From where he stood, Gideon guessed that the Forelians had chosen to emphasize comfort over ostentation for their palace. But something about the palace’s simple rectangular design instantly reminded him of Kenan. It then occurred to him that the Kenanites probably copied the design of the Lilac Palace for many of their buildings, a realization that seemed like an answer to a question about Kenan’s strangeness that he’d never bothered to actually ask.
Surelin came to a stop at the front door and took a long look around at the palace grounds. Celaena followed her gaze, then asked aloud the question that seemed to be on everyone’s mind.
“Why didn’t they tear the palace down as well?”
“Perhaps it was too difficult for them,” Edwin suggested. “It’s a sturdy old building.”
“Or perhaps they feared retribution,” added Len.
Edea frowned deeply and looked to Surelin. “Let us reserve judgment until we have seen what they did to the interior.”
Surelin gave her a nod, then turned to the front door, opening it. When she did, an acrid smell of rot and decay washed over them. Disgusted groans sounded from everyone nearby, but Surelin entered the palace as if the smell didn’t exist, followed closely by Edea.
The source of the smell became obvious once they’d stepped inside. Several rotting corpses lay in the hallway near the door. The Forelians said nothing after viewing the corpses, but looks of deep sadness crossed many faces, including Surelin’s. It was not difficult to deduce that the corpses had been Forelians, killed and left in place by the Kenanites one year ago.
Edea looked very displeased as she turned to Celaena.
“And now we see why they failed to tear it down. I am sure the rest of the palace will be in a similarly horrific state. Please organize a work detail to get everything cleaned out immediately. And choose a quiet corner of the garden to turn into a cemetery. Any more of our dead that are found should be buried there.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Celaena replied dutifully. She stepped back outside to begin issuing commands to the procession.
“Burying them on the grounds is a wise decision. It will be good for morale,” Len said, then looked to Surelin. “I suggest we move to the council chambers, ma’am, to convene our first official council meeting.”
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Surelin agreed, though she still seemed saddened. “Of course, marshal.”
She then turned and walked deeper into the palace, the council following after her. Gideon was instantly confused by the building’s layout as they passed through various rooms and hallways, though Surelin and the rest seemed to know exactly where they were going. Most of the rooms were empty, with random damage to the floor, walls and ceiling present—obviously caused by the Kenanites as they looted the building. Most of the rooms held destroyed furniture—chairs, desks, couches, even bed frames. It seemed very much like everyone would be spending the night in the same bedrolls they’d been using for the last four months.
At length they entered a long, rectangular room with a very high ceiling. A varnished oak wood table stretched through the center of the room, long enough to have once seated dozens of people. The table had received a significant amount of damage in random areas from what looked to be axes or swords, though it still stood under its own power, somehow. On all sides of the table lay dozens of destroyed ornate dining chairs. Most were little more than messy piles of wood, splinters, and fabric, though some were still intact enough to potentially serve as seats after a fashion.
On the far wall sat a massive window that stretched from the floor up to the roof. The glass had been completely shattered, allowing a cool summer breeze into the room. Fortunately, the breeze had kept air flowing through the room, meaning the smell of death that’d been present in many other rooms of the palace was absent, for which Gideon was very grateful.
Surelin moved to the head of the table, then reached down with her remaining hand for one of the nearby broken chairs. She sat down after setting it in position, and at her insistence Gideon took the first seat on her left. Len quickly moved to find a working chair for Edea so that she could sit on Surelin’s immediate right before finding one for himself. Edwin sat down across from Len, next to Gideon. As everyone settled into place, Celaena entered the room and quickly took a seat next to Edwin.
“Well,” Surelin began, sighing. “What is there to even say about all this?”
“I believe it would be appropriate to begin the meeting with a situation report on our enemies,” Edea offered.
Surelin nodded to her, and she continued.
“News of the Kenanite defeat will not reach Kenan for another month or so, but it will surely come as a massive shock. We can expect a power struggle to begin immediately between Bismarck’s former supporters. We must hope that this struggle will inflict great damage upon them and take years to settle, giving us the necessary time to prepare.”
“Prepare for what?” Surelin asked.
“A counter attack,” said Len. “With the goal of destroying Kenan and rescuing our remaining people. It is difficult to say how many of us remain in bondage with the Kenanites, but the number is sure to be in the thousands.”
A deep frown spread across her face. “...I see. I would be glad to see our people freed. But I wonder how…achievable that goal is, currently. We’ve been in Forelia City for less than two hours at this point, and many things remain for us to do here before we can consider waging war.”
“They’ve made their vendetta against us crystal clear,” Edwin said angrily. “Losing the battle and their king will only be a temporary setback for them if we don’t press our new advantage. We must set about destroying them while they’re still vulnerable.”
Surelin shook her head. “...For now, though, they pose no threat to us. What about the great houses of Loso?”
“There’s been no news at all about them,” said Celaena. “And at this point I think it’s safe to say that no news from Loso is good news.”
“I suspect our actions may have ignited the conflict between the mercenaries and the great houses we originally hoped for,” Edea added. “I’ve made arrangements for one of our agents to return to Loso and gather detailed information for us, though this process will obviously take many months.”
“I see….”
Surelin trailed off, lost in thought.
Edea’s expression became more serious. “Granddaughter. There is a matter that requires your immediate attention. Now that we have returned to the palace, trustworthy men and women must be assigned to guard you at all times. And someone whose loyalty is beyond all doubt must lead those guards.”
Surelin shot a quick glance at Gideon before replying. “You already want me to name a captain of the guard?”
“Yes.”
A slight frown crossed Gideon’s face as he looked between them. He had yet to speak to Surelin about his change in attitude towards violence, but his feelings had not changed over the last month.
I can’t be the captain of your guard, Surelin.
“Your preferred choice is obvious,” Edea continued dryly. “But I would like you to seriously consider Celaena as captain. I freely admit that Gideon is loyal to you, but you may prefer to have someone with actual leadership qualities in that position. And it also must be said that Celaena is more…even keeled. Less prone to foolish confrontations.”
Gideon glared at her, but said nothing.
“I would be honored to lead your guards, ma’am,” Celaena added warmly.
Surelin looked curiously between Gideon and Celaena for a moment before turning back to Edea.
“I think you’ve grossly underestimated Gideon, grandmother. Your barbs might’ve drawn him into a conflict before. But he’s grown.” She smiled. “I think we’ve all grown a bit.”
A frown briefly crossed Edea’s face, one that brought Gideon a fair amount of satisfaction.
Surelin turned to him, still smiling. “Well, Gideon? Will you be the captain of my guard?”
I can’t, he thought. But he didn’t want to embarrass her in front of the others.
“I’ll…think about it.”
Surprise spread across every face around the table. For her part, Surelin looked positively stunned, and her voice betrayed injury.
“...I see. You need to think about it first. Of course.” She turned back to Edea. “What—um. Is there anything else we should discuss…?”
From there, the meeting continued, gradually resuming a normal businesslike air. Discussion turned to arrangements for restoring the palace, and for building the new furniture they would need to outfit it. They also spoke briefly about organizing the rebuilding effort for the rest of the city, but Surelin quickly decided to shelve the discussion until they had more information on the extent of the damage.
Gideon paid close attention, but said nothing, realizing that he’d drastically changed the dynamic between himself, Surelin, and the others within the space of a few words.