An old man sat inside a room by himself, his head in his hands, leaning forward from his plush rocking chair. There he lay motionless, as if contemplating a difficult issue further emphasised by the grief filled face that peaked out from behind his hands. Wrapping around his neck was a beautiful lush silvery fur, made from the skin of a high-ranking monster, supposedly imbued with a magic charm. However the scarf brought him neither warmth nor comfort at this moment. Upon his head lay a golden crown, the gloss dulled with the passing of years, leaning sideways and hanging on the edge of his head, The crooked crown’s precarious position seemed to symbolise the sombre mood that currently filled the room. Though frustration, anger and other emotions filled the room, the sadness of one man clouded them all. Yet for that one man, there would be no respite. Beside him on the same table, a slightly younger lady stared dead ahead. Though she was young and beautiful, her face was now painted with incredible sadness that seemed to age her by years. The two, who seemed to be nearly old enough to be thought of as a father and daughter, were actually a couple. And upon their shoulders lay a country.
Neither of the two shed tears, for now was not the moment; there was too much to be done. They secretly also shed no tears, so as to not worry the other even more. And lastly, they shed no tears because they were in front of others. A little boy lay in his mother’s embrace, quietly hugging her tightly. Not knowing what had happened, he was still able to sense the delicate atmosphere, and that scared him. Never had he seen such weakness in his mother, or his normally assertive father. The other man in the room stood quietly by the door with a stern face. He wore a plain overcoat, and carried a plain spear. The few decretory badges attached to his breast pocket were the only signs that he held a high-ranking position, his outfit essentially the same as any man at arms. The man was a friend, advisor and confidant of the king and understood that he should not interrupt this family moment, but his duties moved contrary to his heart.
Footsteps could be heard in the corridor outside before stopping in front of the door. A dull knocking reverberated through the door followed by an even quieter “Sir, the ministers and nobles request the presence of His Majesty.” The guard then hunkered way, his armoured shoes clanking away, echoing noisily in the silence. The stern man inside the room gently tapped the butt of the spear in hand to get the occupants attention.
*Cough* “Your Majesty, you heard the soldier. We need you present to lead the meeting.” Seeing the king’s un-resigned look he followed up with another cough “Sir, a country without its ruler is like an army without it’s general, or a snake without its head. Right now we are carrying a giant target on our back and are just waiting to be preyed upon. I understand Your Majesty’s pain-“
“Enough Liam, I’ll go.” The king grabbed his wife’s hand one last time before lifting himself out of his seat. His gown flowed off the chair onto the ground, as he rubbed his face, morphing his grief filled face back into one of seriousness. Striding confidently towards the door, the two men left the room, as the cold eyes of the lady followed the king out before returning to staring blankly ahead again. Silence returned to the room again. *1
…
“Apolog-“
“Enough. I don’t want to hear anymore from you. Let’s just make this quick.”
Refusing the apologetic bow, the king marched towards the inner meeting room. The room was normally reserved for state emergencies, and only a select few had access to the room. The room had been insulated with sound matting material, along with an extremely hard protective diamond coated shell. It had then been further supported with a multitude of spells and arcane traps that served a variety of functions, including detection of unauthorised entry, anti eavesdropping, lethal self defence mechanisms and even a basic mana limiting and inhibiting functions.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
To summarise, the room was filled with the country’s cutting edge technology and magic, whether for defence or utility, and as if to further emphasise this point, five ornamental, yet functional diamond locks could be found on the main door. This was clearly a room of great importance; it’s material make up and intricate design showing obvious splurging by its owner.
In truth, this function room also doubled up high-level emergency escape bunker. This was one of the reasons for the owner’s apparent splurge. What use was wealth or power, if one didn’t protect their life? Normally this room was kept under tight lock and key, but today the door was left ajar, and the heated voiced leaking out from inside hinted at the perturbed nature of it’s guests. Under standard regulations, the door would normally be locked from the inside if a meeting, especially one as important as the current meeting, were in session. However, its guest seemed to have forgotten that, leaving the door guard in a dilemma. He was a military man, and as any good foot soldier would tell you, regulations were made to be followed. Yet, he struggled to muster up the courage to question his superiors, as the atmosphere inside was stifling. Not to mention, that by the very same legislative document, normal regulations stated he could not enter the room; unless he was delivering vital information during a crisis, or had been asked to enter by someone who normally had access to the room, he was strictly not allowed to enter, and not closing a door could hardly be considered vital information in a crisis. So the young guard was puzzled, hesitating on his next action when he spotted his solution arriving. The King had arrived. He quickly stood up straight, making sure his chest was slightly puffed, his eyes alert and roving the otherwise empty corridor.
“Sir.”
The King glanced at him, nodding once, before walking by. The guard hurriedly suppressed his urge to break out into an ecstatic smile, somewhat failing as his mouth formed a twisted smirk. The king had acknowledged him! Glad about the possibilities that had now opened for his future career, he looked upon it with positivity and couldn’t help but forget that the future would be an unstable one. Though instability meant many chances to rise in rank, it also presented many more chances to die. Liam quietly followed in behind the King, this time making sure to shut the door.
The King’s secretary, who had previously been sitting in the corner of the room quietly observing the three dimensional map of Fae, hearing the clicking of the door, looked up noticing the King.
“Gentleman, ladies, settle down. Last I checked, nobility and ministry had not dilapidated into a bunch of spoilt children. We are before His Majesty so show some courtesy and etiquette.” Heralding the king’s arrival, the secretary had always had a way with words.
“You’re the only lady in here.” Someone muttered near the back. His snappy remark happened to be on point. Out of all the nobility and minister here, she was the only female. This was not due to any legislation, but rather a result of cultural beliefs as well as the need for most ladies to take time off their careers for child birthing, something valued greatly in a high mortality world.
“Oh my apologies Anthony. I’m really sorry, but I thought for a second that we were in a female gossip salon. Sorry” However the secretary would not back down. She was a noble and a genius in many fields and hardworking on top of it. Even with Lara’s prestige overshadowing her, she rose rapidly in the ranks of nobility before entering the ministry and eventually choosing to become the King’s secretary. Apart from being skilled at a multitude of secretarial work, from diplomacy to economics to even military strategy, she also had astute hearing and a toxic tongue. Hence she was nickname Viper by the other ministers, a nickname that coincidentally also fit her agility based combat style.
A quiet sigh suddenly filled the room, an indication of the frequency this ongoing verbal battle took place.
“…Enough Sophia. You too Anthony.” 2*
“I- “
“ANTHONY, unless you want your wife hearing about this….”
“-Nothing… Forgive my impudence your majesty.” The man’s face paled at the implied threat.
“Good. Now lets starts this serious discussion. Where should we begin Sophia?”
“…Yes your majesty. Firstly, how do we respond to their demands? Although we haven’t had many such scenarios as of late, our kingdom’s policy dictates that we should never truly bow to threats lest we set a precedent and bare such weakness…”
Thus the conference that would dictate the country’s future began. The path chosen, the roads taken, the decisions made at this moment would have a lasting impact. Not only would the choices impact this country, but also the many other countries nearby, whether they meant good or harm, whether they were allies or opportunists lying in wait…
…Yet as everybody sat down, a chair around the table was left empty. A missing Mathew, a dark omen of what was to come. *3