The Fall of the Keepers

Chapter 6 The Crafty Deception

"I hope you're not going to make a habit of ordering everyone about, I didn't think we rid ourselves of one demanding ruler only to replace him with another."
I told Quetta receiving an array of surprised and offended looks from the rebels that surrounded her in the small council chamber.

"You ought to speak with more respect to the woman who just delivered justice for all of Itova less than twelve hours ago."
One balding man piped up, glaring at me darkly.

"I take your point Miss Coften, I am not instating myself as Queen, I assure you. In fact, that is why I have called you all here."
Quetta replied, straightening her back and eyeing the group gathered.

I glanced at Jasper who looked as skeptical over the situation as I felt. Solomon, on the other hand, had his arms crossed but his face was completely unreadable. Jasper had only just emerged from the bathroom when the three of us had received a summons to meet with Quetta in the small council chambers. The others had remained behind in my rooms to rest.

"The Coalition has finally reached its goal, we have freed Itova from the cruelty of the Amir family line. Soon, the missing Prince and Princess will be found and executed, leaving us free of the fear of being overthrown. Eventually, Itova must instate an entirely new government but it will take time to work out the details in a way that is agreeable to the people. In the meantime, we will form a council to make decisions in the best interests of the country. This way, there are no misunderstandings on who is in power."

There were no misunderstandings alright, I knew full well the council was stacked with Quetta supporters. She would still be in charge, pulling the puppet strings like she always had. Unlike in the event of my arrival at the meeting, however, I wisely decided to keep my sarcastic comments to myself. You could only poke a tiger with a stick so many times before it would lash out at you.

"Please, friends, take a seat."
Quetta requested.

There were about fifteen of us present, Glass being the only one I recognized by name. Others felt familiar but I could only drag up a handful of foggy images in my mind. Solomon, Jasper, and I moved in towards the round table, pulling out chairs and making ourselves comfortable. The others did the same and there was a good deal of muttering and scraping of wooden chairs on wooden floors. Quetta was the last to take her seat, I suspected this was done purposely to command all of our attention.

"Now, the first order of business is what to do with the Winter Palace."
She put forth.

All at once everyone began to speak, talking over one another.

"One at a time please, let's keep this orderly."
Quetta reprimanded, looking annoyed.

"Well, I think those who have assisted the rebellion the most should have the option to live here."
One woman said, clearly counting herself on that list.

"That's an arbitrary requirement. Let's make it strictly a government building."
A young man suggested.

"Let's burn it to the ground! Let the frivolity die with the royalty."
An older woman suggested.

"That's a waste of a good building."
Someone else protested.

"The architecture is lovely, it would be a shame to see it go up in flames."
The balding man who had reprimanded me before stated.

This went on for some time, I won't bore you with all the ridiculous ideas that were put on the table. Jasper, Solomon, Glass, Quetta and myself, kept quiet, allowing the others to bicker around us.

"You know, maybe there are are more important things to discuss than what's going to happen to an old building."
Jasper finally interjected, clearly growing tired of the idiocy around us.