Minul tapped her thumb against the arm of her chair. This meeting room wasn’t outfitted with an outright throne. Making herself out to be above the men and women she within this room wouldn’t end well. Instead, it was only slightly bigger and slightly more ornate than the chairs of the Masters and Lords that filled this room.

Servants from both Councils and her own palace mingled in the background against the wall. Some kept quiet, others talked in low murmurs, though never so loud as to disturb the people around the table.

White and rectangular the rime oak that had been used to make it had been old and powerful enough that it still radiated a chill into the room, despite it being cut down decades ago. This was aided further by the careful maintenance of the palace’s carpenters.

Behind her and to the right stood Saif. The ankirian was, despite it being rather warm in the meeting chamber, bundled up like he was going into a snowstorm. It made him look rather ridiculous. The table cooled the room a little but not that much. His ankirian style outfits had also clearly been designed for the looser fit common in the warmer climate of Ankiria and its deserts. Bulked up to protect from cold, it looked silly. Instead of elegant and floaty, he looked bloated and stranded.

Minul’s lips thinned as she looked at the other people sitting at the table. With her seated at the head, they were supposed to be turned towards her, to discuss with her. And yet. Inga and her zealots were glaring so hard across the table, the Queen was happy that the lord wasn’t a tethered. Otherwise, she might’ve actually tried to kill someone already.

Vifil Blackstone, vacant as he was, followed her every lead, though, Minul doubted the older man even recognized who they were glaring at. The elderly Lord of the House of Blackstone had once been a prominent and powerful obsidian tethered. A Master to equal any of those sitting opposite him.

The years, however, had not been kind to him. His hands shook as he cradled his goblet, nearly spilling wine onto the table. The shaking all the more worrying for it being made of glass. Age spots riddled his scalp under his thin gray hair. Minul hoped the drool running from his lips was a trick of the light, but feared it wasn’t.

On the other side of Inga, sat Lord Tonna of House Tage. She held the precious marshes from where they gathered the majority of Elusria’s rysten, meaning her family was one of the most important nobles in the entire country. Making the fact that she’d thrown her lot behind Inga all the more infuriating.

Lord Tonna was a striking woman, in so far as she might strike your eyes out with her beak nose, and strike fear for your purse with her greedy dark eyes. She’d rarely held an opinion of her own, mostly functioning as Inga’s echoing attack dog. Barking loudly and angrily at any that dared oppose the ‘wonderful’ Lord Inga.

Inga was the real problem. Vifil was an old man who was too lost in the greatness of his youth to realize he should’ve let go of his seat two decades ago. Tonna couldn’t string two sentences together without assistance, but held a powerful position. Lord Inga, had driven the House of Eikil from the borders of low nobility all the way, until she could usurp her current spot on the Council.

Minul was certain Inga would go against her every notion, for the sheer fact that she couldn’t get access to the throne. Ever. Inga had hit the ceiling of what was possible for her. Late into her forties, the woman wore her age well. In her youth she’d been a warrior of repute, drawing in the support of her lineage and their fighter’s ancestry. With this she’d ascended the ranks of the nobility. First meeting Vifir and twining him around her pinky, before she met Tonna who would prop her even further.

Currently, she was ignoring her Queen in favor of glaring at her opposition. Mainly, Ulf and Hildrid. Ulf was an ancient obsidian tethered. By Minul’s count he was at least eighty years old, though, unlike Vifir he wore his age with equal parts dignity, wisdom, and stubborn arrogance.

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Ulf had been on the Master’s Council since before Minul’s mother’d been born. He’d seen the reign of three Queen of Elusria and the experience seemed to have given him a disdain for the position. Ulf wore his self-belief evidently. Wearing not the black and white of the academy, but red and white of Elusria with flecks of gold to accent his sleeves and other points of intricate tailoring. He was as finely dressed as any Queen that had ever sat the throne of Elusria.

Hildrid, sitting a few seats removed from Ulf, didn’t not enjoy the same luxury. Despite also being the principal of the Royal School, she somehow found time to sit on the Council as well. Hildrid was arguably the most powerful elusrian tethered currently alive. With her mastery as a Lancer, she was only a single stage away from becoming a Twin Master, in either of her Discipines.

Of course, she’d been that single stage away since before Minul was born, so it wasn’t likely to change. With the current crop of students, both in the academy and the school it was likely she would get usurped as the strongest tethered before she died of old age.

She stared pensively over the rest of the councilors, her contemporaries as it were, her thumb tapping against the chair arm. Sworden and Starstone were both muted councilors, they both had children currently in the academy so that was expected. Their children weren’t exactly safe. Assaults or even assassination attempts wasn’t unheard of.

There was Leif of House Serpentvein, she’d heard rumblings of moves from him. Especially after his nephew was kicked from his position as a teacher at the academy. However, she hadn’t seen any overt moves from him. Yet.

Though, Minul would not tolerate such behavior, previous Queens had let them squabble.

She considered how to approach the situation. She couldn’t make a show with her power, that would only emphasize that the half the table was stronger than her. She would somehow have to appeal to their good senses.

“These riots are your fault.” Tonna nearly snarled at Hildrid. Her veins stood out clearly on her neck.

Minul dropped her cup on the floor shattering it with an loud crash. The room quietened. Heads turned both servant and councilor alike. Glass was already expensive before it had been worked. Something as delicate as her cup, even more so. A servant approach from the side, she waved them off with a gesture. Pushing her chair out, it the sound loud and stinging to the ears, she stood up.

“It doesn’t matter who’s fault it was. We are going to solve this issue.” Minul’s voice was strong as it rang out in the quiet chamber.

“Your Majest-“ Vifir began. Minul waved a hand for him to quiet. “-y, we were just coming-“

“Lord Vifir of House Blackstone, if you do not shut up and let your Queen speak I will have you thrown out.”

“What! You can’t be-“

She waved her hand at the guards, who stepped over to the old man. He closed his eyes clearly trying to seize his power. Then one of her guardsman physically hauled the old man out of his chair. The ancient Lord let out a squawk of surprise, his concentration faltering.

“Notify his next of kin.” Minul told the secretary, stifling her smile. “Have them appoint a new Lord of Blackstone before the next meeting.”

“Yes, your Majesty.”

Minul turned back to the old people stifling the hall. “I hope I’ve made my stance clear. We’re going to solve this issue with our people. The reason the riots are growing and getting more violent is because we’re not taking care of their needs.”

She turned to the left side of the table. “Lords, you will open up your food stores over the winter and deliver to the people in need, the ones who lack the most. Show the people, from whom you were raised, that you can still recognize your roots. Water them and they shall flourish.”

She turned to the right. She was met by halfway vacant stares of Masters who cared more about being tethered than helping their country. Except for two. Ulf’s outright hostile glare, and Hildrid’s frail superiority. She wished Ulf was one of Ragnar’s friends, if she could’ve reached him. Get him to genuinely work for her.

She shook her head slightly. “Masters. You will prove to the people you serve that you are more than simple soldiers. Prove that you can serve the people, help the people, and support the people. Prove that you’re a benefit to more than just the United Alliance.”

She stared down at the silent councilors. Some of them fuming in their seats, others indifferent. She caught the slight twitch on the lips of Serpent-Vein. Turning on her heel, she left. Gesturing with her hand for Saif to follow her, the doors were barely pulled open before she strode through them.

“Dramatic departure.” Saif noted as the doors shut behind them.

“I just hope they’re going to understand that I mean to change this country for the better. Hopefully, this is the start of change.”

Saif didn’t say anything as they walked, a single look from him was enough to tell her all she needed to know of his thoughts. It was never that easy. It never would be.