Finally Found

Chapter 33 - Lilas

Perhaps for the first time in my life I'm excited as I walk into the meeting hall ahead of the Council meeting. Usually I attend every meeting reluctantly but today I can't wait for this meeting to start so that I can tell them the news. It's the best news we've had in a while after all the reports of very little happening on the war front as Rhistel has yet to make a move and our army hasn't reached the border yet.

"Excited and ready for your big announcement nephew?" Uncle asks coming to walk next to me. He already knows the answer so I just turn and look at him unimpressed.

"You know the answer to that uncle."

"As your uncle I have the right to ask and to tease you about it if I so please." I shake my head knowing that there is no stopping him. I've tried. For centuries. "So when are going to tell them?"

"I'll wait until the end. We should get the serious business out of the way first before I send them into fits about the baby. If we're lucky we might be able escape in time for dinner." We both chuckle knowing that we'll be spending at least a few hours repeating the same information. Emmy is only a few months along so we don't know much at the moment. Hopefully it'll be over sooner than I've imagined because of Emmy taking over the celebration that they'll insist on so we won't have to talk too much about it.

"What are you two laughing about?" Kavarthon asks giving us a strange look as he walks past us.

"You'll find out later." Uncle replies making his over to his seat at the Council table. Kavarthon does the same with an annoyed look on his face, he's never liked being kept in the dark. We're still waiting for Raziel to arrive so we talk quietly to each other while we wait, apart from Kavarthon who sits sulking about not knowing what uncle and I were talking about.

We don't have to wait for too long before Raziel arrives. Despite living so close to the meeting hall he often manages to be late for meetings which is incredibly annoying. Especially when Lord Hess who lives the furthest from the hall manages to always be on time for every meeting. We've mentioned several times that he's free to move into the manor for the human councillor whenever he wants but so far he's maintained that both he and Lady Hess prefer to stay in their own manor.

"Now that we're all here let's start the meeting." I announce sending a stern look at Raziel, if this continues then we'll need to find a new vampire councillor. As King I have the power to dismiss any councillor who isn't performing their duties correctly and Raziel is coming very close to crossing the line. He's constantly holding up meetings which wouldn't normally be a big problem but with the war likely picking up soon we need everyone here on time.

"Well the army should now be less than a month away from the border. Provided that the weather doesn't turn against them then they should remain on track." Lord Hess states rolling a map of the area out on the table for us to look over. We've been working off this same map since they left marking off their route as to our estimates as well as their confirmed movements from reports.

"That's good news. Other regiments have already arrived and are preparing defences but they're just waiting on the arrival of the main army to man the defences properly. Have we heard anything from Nerkise?" I ask as so far we've heard very little about what's happening there. The not knowing is making me uneasy.

"Still quiet on that front. The last we heard Rhistel is still having to deal with uprisings all across the kingdom, while he's managed to overthrow the Council there he hasn't yet succeeded in establishing his order everywhere. The destruction of the Stones is causing great unrest so new rebellions keep springing up all over the kingdom. It's good for us though as it's keeping Rhistel focused on Nerkise rather than us." Kavarthon replies as he's being receiving the reports first. The dragons he'd managed to contact have been incredibly useful in relaying information back to us but Rhistel only trusts those close to him so we're relying on troop movements. In better news though the dragons have been able to help many cross the border with Stones before they were destroyed.