Terminus Part I: The Journey There (Draft)

Chapter 35: Seven Noblemen

 The King slept on his throne, drool coming out of his mouth. While he slept, seven nobles saw his demeanour and were appalled.

"How does the grace of the throne get besmirched so?" asked one nobleman.

"I don't know, but it is time to return to our sanctum to discuss this grievous matter," said another.

They began to walk to the Noble Tower, where they made their decisions. In this tower, they each had a pillow to sit on, and a nameplate hanging from the wooden beams near the ceiling. They each took their seats and began the proceedings.

The noble named Stefan began speaking. "Well, what are we to do about this Martin Magick?"

"I do find these circus freaks to be reprehensible," said a noble named Kasey.

"They need to leave. We need to step up and voice our concerns," said another noble, Yelena.

"We will not succeed on our own. We are nobles, not suited for low-brow violence," said a noble named Omar.

"While I agree that violence is beneath us, the thought of having to rely on someone else disgusts me," said the noble named Victor.

"If we do not act soon, we may be left out of the equation all together. I imagine the Rebel Forces want to use this chance to dethrone the King," said the noble named Fred.

"If they could not take out the King, what hope do they have to take out this circus freak? He is much stronger than anyone," said the noble named Arman.

The seven of them continued to discuss their options, noting several important factors:

The King's impaired state was no doubt Martin's doing.

Halberd, the Captain of the Guard, was a barrier between the King and the Rebels, until recent circumstances necessitated his defection to the Rebel Forces.

There seem to be independent actors on the island: pirates and revolutionaries, both likely to side with the Rebels given a choice and adequate information; without said information they would likely not make a decision at all.

The nobles are not fighters, nor do they have any way to defend themselves against magic.

Any action would be preferable to inaction, as they would likely lose their noble status if the Rebel Forces were to succeed, and would still be living in a circus-kingdom if they were to fail.

There were some other points made during the discussion, but nothing came of them. The ultimate decision that the seven noblemen made was thus:

They would confront Martin Magick and try to reason with him. Despite their reservations and general distrust of Martin, they thought that it may be possible to simply talk with Martin and discover why exactly he was doing this to their kingdom. They decided that the perfect time for this would be tomorrow.

In the master bedroom of the castle, Martin sat at the edge of the bed, resting his feet on King Wilvus, who was acting like a footstool. He held up a hand-mirror and began to speak into it.

"Tiny mirror in my hand, why did my meal taste like sand?"

Smoke swirled inside the mirror, and the reflection changed to that of Ollacosta and Jasmine's bedside mirror.

"In all seriousness though, I've come to check in on you two."

Ollacosta, who had been in the middle of brushing her hair, pushed aside her resentment at the fact that she could no longer see what she was doing, and answered Martin politely.