Suikoden VII

Chapter Four: Part One

Chapter Four: Part One

One week later...

Faro del Vento, the Capital of the Bianca Alliance

"Civil war?"

The Council of Five had convened in the Alliance Chamber. The once pristine snow white chamber looked like a hurricane had passed through it. Pages, empty dishes, and cups were all over the place. The table, which was in the shape of a star, didn't have a single area clear. Each of the five members sat at the five points of the star. Four of the five had stiff postures. Only Regulus looked relaxed; his feet propped against the table and he was reclined far back in his chair.

"Yes, a civil war," Lord Massimo scoffed, shaking his head in disgusted. "One of King Franz's children made a claim for the throne. They call it "Royal Combat"—a barbarous practice of choosing a ruler through a dual. The King responded by rallying his entire forces to crush the would-be usurper."

"Doesn't he have like 100 kids or something?" Lord Steiger asked around a sarcastic laugh.

"Forty-six," Lady Catalonia sighed. "According to the reports it was his youngest heir—ah—" she picked up a page and looked at it. "Princess Astraea, who issued the challenge."

"Isn't that the girl whose "death" was the whole reason they sank one of our warships and killed hundreds of our soldiers?!" Lady Rafaela said incredulously.

"And she's making a play for Zelant's throne," Lord Steiger sighed. "King Franz should settle family matters before committing war crimes."

A silence fell over the Council of Five for a few moments. "So, what do we do?" Lady Catalonia asked. "We have our ships stationed around Zelant watching the island. We've allowed foreign ships to get through, but obviously Zelantan ships have been apprehensive of sailing past our ships."

"Unlike the Kingdom we don't sink ships unprovoked," Lord Massimo said.

"But we WERE provoked when they sank our ship!" Lady Rafaela snapped.

"Can we get back on track?!" Lord Steiger interjected. "With King Franz focusing his efforts on his daughter, we need to act! Since Princess Astraea has become a rebellious princess, that surely means Lady Dawa has joined her! That means Potsfurt has no proper lord or lady watching the city again!"

"Then we'll move to seize Potsfurt while the idiot King is distracted," Lady Catalonia said. Her brow furrowed and she stood up partially from her seat to survey the table. "Where is our map?"

"Somewhere over there," Lord Massimo said, pointing in the general direction of the center of the table.

"Excuse me," Regulus said, raising two fingers. "May I make a suggestion?"

"Yes, Lord Regulus," Lord Steiger said sarcastically. "Please give us your input! You have not said a single word since we started this meeting!"

"We should hold off on invading Potsfurt for now," Regulus said, lowering his hand. "This whole war started under the mistaken belief that the Alliance was responsible for Zelant's Massacre of Innocents. As much as we need retribution for our warship, we will not endear ourselves to the people of Zelant if we take advantage of their civil war to invade."

"I frankly do not care about endearing myself to the Kingdom," Lady Catalonia said. "They killed hundreds of our soldiers."

"I don't deny that. Recall that I was the one who went to Potsfurt demanding an audience with King Franz? But we need to be careful. I'm sure you all heard the reports, right? Oh how many people it was that sank our ship?"