KINGDOM OF THE STONE -- a Wattpad featured novel

Chapter Twenty Nine

Amantis found it ironic that even though Corago was gone and no one was trying to force him to give up the soreav, the business he'd inherited kept him so busy that he rarely had time to check up on Ctonos and the training of the new spears.  So he was a little concerned when Mosond and Taelik showed up on his doorstep wanting to talk about them.

"Welcome.  Come in," he said, directing the elders to a side room.  "Would you like some refreshments?"

"Uh, sure.  Thank you," Mosond said.

"Troekis!" Amantis called out over his shoulder.

"Some of the city elders have expressed concerns over how your spear force is being used," Mosond called out from across the large room, raising his voice slightly to be heard.

"Are they concerned that they are too violent?" Amantis laughed as he stood in the room's entrance and leaned out into the hallway.  "Troekis!" he shouted.

"No.  Nothing like that," Taelik said.

"Ctonos is still drilling them in Straton's field isn't he?"

"Yes, well, most of them," Mosond answered.  "It's the others that we've come to speak to you about."

"I wonder what they're up to now," Amantis muttered to himself.  "Troe—!" he stopped as Ponta came around the corner.  "Ponta!  I have a couple of elders here and I'd like to give them some refreshments.  Could you have Troekis bring us some drinks?"

"I haven't seen him, but I'll do it myself," she said and hurried off.

Amantis flopped down on one of the couches.  "Now, how may I help you?"

"We have heard you are using the city's spear force for personal gain," Mosond said.

"Personal gain?  How?"

"Are you not using them to build warehouses and granaries?" Taelik asked.

"Oh, that.  I assure you that's just a temporary exercise.  We find hard work helps build hard muscles," he said thinking fast.

"You're having them build your buildings for exercise?"

"Yes, well, we are also helping them build their leadership skills as well," Amantis said, remember the problems they were having with the Calbreav, which had started this whole thing.

"Leadership?  I thought you were training them to fight."

"Er, we feel that if they learn to work together on a difficult complex project, they will also learn to fight together."  Stupid!  He thought that excuse wouldn't convince anyone.

"Perhaps they can come down to the docks and learn to unload my ships together.  I'm having a hard time finding dockers because of your spear force."

"This is just temporary," he assured them.  "We have had a batch of new spears to train.  As soon as they are up to speed on the basics, we'll be staging some large-scale fights to practice mass combat."

"You're refreshments gentlemen."  Ponta walked in carrying a pitcher of beer and some drinking bowls.

"Have you seen Troekis?" Amantis asked Ponta.

"No."

"Tell him I want to see him immediately."

"Very well.  Let me know if you need anything else." Ponta smiled to the group and left.

The elders stayed and drank while Amantis worked to convince them he was not abusing his power.  He had mostly succeeded when the subject circled back around to his warehouses.