Roses and Thorns

Chapter 12 ~The council

Two days after the last attack all of the Royals and captains gathered in Nethilor, the capital of Abonwan. Ivelle hadn't seen too much of the city, since she only saw it from her windows and during her way to the palace, but Nethilor was exactly how she imagined a city in the Middle Ages. The town was surrounded by a huge wall. The houses were made of brick and had wooden roofs. The only difference was the magical creatures: the sight of these creatures was totally normal here.

Now, they were in a huge room, sitting around a huge ebony table, listening to the reports of the attacks and summarizing the facts that they'd known so far. Ivelle looked around. Everyone looked tired, confused, and worried, which wasn't surprising since they had been doing this for at 3 days. She felt the same. Cirillo sat next to her with closed eyes, concentrating on every single detail he heard. Slowly King Skender stood up. He looked around the room and started to speak.

"So all in all, people saw black-armoured soldiers and some black-haired elf-woman. They attacked villages and farms. In my opinion, they are not more than simple peace-bakers." he said primly "All we have to do is catch them."

"Yes, yes." said king Sorin and loud agreements could be heard in the room. Cirillo took a deep breath and spoke up.

"Haven't you been listening?" he asked crossly "They weren't simple peace-bakers they were well-trained soldier with swords and bows. They had black armours with a crowned raven on their chest, which- if my memory serves me right- is the sign f Erebos. The woman wasn't a simple elf-woman either. She was Delaney. Pádráig recognised her. " Pádráig on the other side of Ivelle started nodding.

"And so did Merle." said Vortigern "And we all know, that Delaney only obeys to Erebos. Or someone like him."

"And we all know the rumours of Delaney's and Erebos's son." said King Dragomir.

"Those are just gossips." said Skender "All we have to do is double the guards on our borders and we'll catch them before winter."

"And in my opinion, we should go and check the Old Fortress." King Allerick stood up "And of course look up the allies of Erebos."

"That's crap!" King Sorin stood up "You just want to scare us. The elves always come with their prophecies and predictions and most of the time they are all hot air. I support King Skender's proposal."

"How dare you insult my people, dwarf?!" the king's voice was filled with anger "At least my people don't have to live in dark and stink mines."

"Because we do the hard work for you."

"Enough!" yelled a tall, grey-haired man. He was the leader of the council and his name was Calogero. "Enough. Two votes for doubling the guards. What about the other Kingdoms?"

"Lorlea stands behind King Alleric." said Vortigern.

"So does Drauri." said Áedh who until that moment had been sitting silently.

"What about the fairies?" turned Calogero to King Xaun. For a few moments, there was complete silence, then the king spoke up.

"We have never supported war and violence. We stand behind King Skender." he spoke as calmly as he was talking about the weather. The old man now turned towards a black-haired man. He was tall and had a beard, and his clothes were made of leaves. Ivelle had previously learnt that he was a Nymph.

"And what does the delegate of the Other Species say?" Now, the Nymph turned to a short (shorter than the dwarves), long-yeared. She was a goblin and wore a brown and green dress. For a few moments they were discussing, then the Nymph spoke up.

"We stand with King Skender."

Cirillo took a deep breath and clenched his fists. Ivelle had never seen him that angry before.

"The decision has been made." said Calogero "We will double the guards and wait. I prorogate the council." Everyone stood up and started talking, which soon become yelling and arguing. Cirillo left the room. Ivelle wanted to go after him, but Hagan stopped her.

"He needs some time alone. Trust me." he whispered to her years. She nodded and left the room. She went to the gardens to clear her head. It was already dark, the sky was cloudy and not a single star could be seen. It was chilly and the wind blew, but after the overcrowded room, it felt good. She sat n a bench and started thinking.

She was walking back to her room when someone stopped her. Cirillo took her hand without a word and pulled her after him. They reached an empty corridor. At least she thought it was empty: soon dark figures came out from the shadows and took forms. She first recognized Hagan, then Áedh. Soon King Dragomir, Lord Vortigern and King Allerick could be seen too. Ivelle didn't know what was happening, but she trusted Cirillo. She stood there silently. King Dragomir cleared his throat and spoke up silently.

"We all know that King Skender's wrong. Erebos' son or one of his followers is back and wants to finish his work. We have to protect ourselves and our kingdoms."

"The council made its decision. We can not change that." said Allerick.

"No, we can not. But nobody can inhibit us from forming a new alliance. We could protect ourselves and defeat Erebos' heir."

"King Dragomir has a point." said Vortigern "We have to do something, or what happened 25 years ago will happen again. We can't let this happen."

"What you're proposing is risky." said Allerick "Since Sanctuary exists there has always been only one alliance, the Alliance of the Six. If we formed a new one they would take it as a threat."

"In the Other World, there are many alliances. Why can't we have more than one?" asked Vortigern.

"The fairies won't change their minds. They didn't fight in the previous war, and they won't fight now either. The dwarves only care about Gwolla and their mines. They'll try to protect it until the last minute. King Skender is too coward to admit that the Dark King is back."

"Or too looby." said Cirillo.

"Either way, he won't take the first step." said Vortigern.

"You talk as if the war was already here." said Allerick.

"It is here Allerick." said Dragomir.

"And what do you propose?" asked Allerick, still not convinced.

"A new alliance: Lorlea, Drauri and Etalia. Together we'll go to the Dark Kingdom and see if something's there."

"I say let it be." said Vortigern "Lorlea is in."

Everyone turned towards Allerick and waited. He thought about it for a minute then looked up and answered:

"So does the elves."

And with that, a new alliance had been made. The alliance of Lorlea, Drauri and Etalia. The alliance of sorcerers, dragons and elves. The alliance of the three.