Luminous

115 - The End Begins (3/3)

Whenever a decision of such consequence arose that the Council of Nine was called to convene, the members would gather in a circular chamber at the heart of the Blue Palace.

Six dukes and two barons took their places on each of the eight faces of the hollowed table. All familiar faces to Kellis but one. Duke Merilith had been substituted by his heir—Lord Cavalon, Christopher's elder brother.

Kellis eyed the young man clad in seafoam green as he settled on the chair to his right. Cavalon's gaze, however, was fixed upon the king. When they last met at Coris's wedding, he was his father's eager, amicable aide, the opposite of his taciturn little brother. It was as if an impostor had replaced him. Or rather, the contrary.

So this explained Christopher vanishing after he left to find his father. It was Meriton that turned. The worst he could've anticipated. Meriton didn't gain from the Mining Ban nor its abolishment, having grown rich on thick woodlands and roaring fields. The king must have appealed to their fear. Fear of the creeping drought, the demands of Amplevale's army putting a strain on Meriton's crops. It was harder to reassure fear than satisfy greed.

The mystery that remained was—How had Cavalon waylaid his father? The same method Kyrel used on her husband? And had Christopher divulged anything about The Axel?

At the center of the ring, the king's chair stood empty on its rotating platform. In Devind's time, Kellis saw little but the chair's back. Since Alden took it, the chair seemed fixed to confront him.

"We have but one agenda for tonight's convening. Whether we should put to vote the removal of Hadrian from the Council, and the nomination of Amplevale to take their place."

King Alden prowled the ring, his eyes on the rich Corbyn purple painted over Wynn Blue on the seamless wall. Unlike most of his predecessors, the incumbent monarch would pace as he laid out his arguments. Most blamed it on his previous post as knight commander. Kellis attributed it to paranoia. A man shows his back to those he knows wouldn't knife it. Having severed a crooked spine to come upon his chair, Alden's back was erect and ever turning, save for whenever his eyes fell upon Hadrian.

Alden's boots halted before him. Kellis raised his eyes to the young king's bright blue. The fall of his eyebrows met the rise of his narrowed eyes, underlining his deep-rooted distrust.

"For two hundred years, the defense of Zarel Pass has been trusted to Hadrian. Despite Amplevale being the frontier. For reasons known only between you and the Wynns."

Alden spun on his heel and swept back to his seat. He hung from the edge like an impatient crow, hands like claws gripping the golden knobs atop his armrests.

"Now Amplevale is crippled by the drought and the lost ships. Our troops must be fed. They must be armed. And still you insist the Mining Ban must be upheld. Tell me, Kellis, is the Ban key to Latakia's survival? Or your own?"

Kellis sighed inwards as he stood. In his prior life—the one before he learned The Axel's secret—he would've been shaking his fists at Alden's side, while his father sat stone-faced in this very chair. Knowledge is power. An uncontrollable weapon. If he could just foresee how many lives would be lost in one sentence—Greeneyes are dragons, the decision would've been easier. And when time pressed him, he wouldn't have to resort to repeating lies that burned his tongue—

"Your Majesty, I stand by concerns I have raised which the Council shares. And the conditions we agreed on when we pledged our allegiance—"

"We?" Alden raised a mocking eyebrow. He jabbed a finger at the surrounding men. "You didn't put forth those conditions, they did. You didn't pledge allegiance to this crown, they did—"