Kingdom of Power, of Courage, and of Wisdom

Dragmire's War - War Meeting

-Zelda's throne room-

The throne room was in the throes of activity. On one side was Zelda's meager faction, and those that followed her that were available on short notice. On the other side was Chancellor Ryo's much larger faction. The two were on opposite sides of the room, and never was it more evident than now just how much more powerful Ryo was than her.

In the midst of them all was a map of Qin. On the map was depicted the region in which was involved. Zhao had invaded the region, and reports were beginning to come in an ever increasing rate of them sending out invading parties to the surrounding villages and cities to slaughter the inhabitants. Qin had sent out parties to get the villagers to flee, but often times they were either too late or the villagers were too stubborn. Zelda breathed a sigh of relief when she heard a village had fled, but thus far it had been because of the locals telling their neighbors to flee, and not because of anything she could or couldn't do from so far away.

The lesser fortress of Baou had fallen. The greater fortress city of Bayou was holding them, but it was only a matter of time.

All of the available commanders and generals of Qin were gathering today. Kei Ki the Beheader, Moubu, and Matsubi. Ganondorf was also present, as an ally of Qin. In addition to the one-hundred thousand being assembled at Genyuu Pass, Kei Ki provided five thousand. With Moubu was twenty-thousand from Ryo's personal reserves. With Matsubi was the one-thousand of Zelda's formerly Royal Guard. The Elder Fae donated five Fae, as a token force. With Ganondorf was nobody...

Ganondorf's lack of reinforcements was one of the major points of much talk. Ganondorf insisted he could provide men to the army, even a token amount, yet Zelda insisted he remain and his campaign of the western mountains be continued with his full focus. There was also a matter of speed. It would take time for him to bring anything from the mountains.

The reason Zelda gave was that she wanted the Majora to be a secret army, and a hidden blade. The Majora would be crucial in the future, but she wanted them to have as much impact as possible when they are finally released, as the shock and awe of a new nation allied with Qin would shake their enemy. She wanted the Majora to stay a secret and be hidden until Ganondorf could provide, at minimum, a full scale army of one-hundred thousand.

To Ganondorf it was a reasonable ploy, one he would normally be in favor of, but he knew the real reason she wanted him held back. She lacked faith in him. He understood she was a person who did not trust easily, and his desire to meet with Harken Dragmire could be easily seen as a betrayal if looked at from a certain point of view; so he understood her. He also understood she was wrong. He would not betray the alliance. Without the alliance, how could he ever leave the mountains?

This reasoning confused both Ryo and Impa, as even a token force of a thousand could be of assistance without revealing the scale of what the Majora are capable of. Not to mention the fact that Zelda accepted the token squad given by the Fae, despite their extremely low population.

This point was disputed greatly among the ministers so that some on all sides spoke well of Zelda's thoughts, while others tried to reason with her and argued with each other.

"Ho-ho, it has been a long time since I've seen a council meeting so heated!" A man said from the door.

The massive bulk of Ouki Mitagi stood in the door frame. Behind him was the Englishman. Zelda smiled to see he had come. Ouki's eye drifted around the entire room. The man never looked happier.

"Never have I seen so many ministers gathered together. How is everyone?" Ouki greeted them all in his normal informal way.

Moubu stood and blocked Ouki's path. Zelda blinked in surprise. Moubu was even taller than Ouki, so much so that the Great Pillar of Qin had to look up at him. Ouki merely smiled as he always did.