Sirus stood up and summoned a podium in front of him that already had some papers on it. He took them and fanned the papers together, then began to read aloud, "We shall start with the new laws to be passed down. First, the amendment of Kingdom laws that parallel with the World Magistral Army's laws…"
A total snooze fest.
I placed my elbow on my armrest and propped my head up with my fist. My leg still hung off the other armrest, completely improper. But I didn't care.
There were stone benches behind each throne that extended all around the room. It looked as if it were part of the wall itself. They were for our Vice Captains and Executives to sit.
Behind me, Havoc sat up straight, back against the wall, and with his fingers crossed over each other. Bored shitless. Code sat with his arms and legs crossed, his long sword leaning against the stone bench next to him. Eyes closed, listening.
Back in the day with Asura, he would attend these meetings at least on a frequent basis. Even though I was a Vice Captain like Code at the time, I always chose not to go. Instead, it was Code and our 1st Executive who went. Asura never cared that I didn't want to come. So, it was ironic now that I was finally at one of these things—and I was sitting here. On a throne. With the other captains.
In a way. This was technically my first Guild Meeting as well. To be frank, I cared not of the status one gets from sitting on one of these thrones. The first fifteen minutes of the meeting were just reviewing newer laws and making sure we were enforcing them. This meeting was utterly boring. But then from my right.
"Thank you, Sirus, for all that you do while the Arcane King is away. You help hold this Kingdom together. Please, my fellow Knights, an applause for Sirus, and applause to our great Royal King Ezkar. I thank you for welcoming a new Guild like the Blue Phoenix Knights into the Valley with open arms." Captain Syemore preached, standing up. His voice, though elegant and sophisticated, seemed like a calm before the storm… Or a stalking, giant serpent…
Sirus, caught off guard, made a slightly nervous face before bowing and sitting back down on his throne as we all clapped for him and then again for the Royal King.
Keeper… How much longer were we going to clap unnecessarily?
Captain Syemore held his last clap and then looked around the room, assessing.
"Now… I would like to bring to the meeting's attention the issue with the walls and their barrier," he said plainly, shifting the topic out of nowhere.
Issue? I hadn't even known there was anything wrong. What was this guy going on about, and who was he? The Blue Phoenix Knights are another new Guild? Just like the Golden Roses? All this had been news to me.
Then an instant thought rushed in my head, replacing my own, simultaneous with the quiet snap of fingers. The thought was Code's, and he had used his ability to trade thoughts with mine.
Code's magic ability was Space Manipulation magic. His magic had many properties and could do various things within a certain space that he created. It was a very versatile ability depending on the circumstance, but for this, he only used his ability to trade his own thoughts with me so we could communicate in silence as the meeting continued.
Snap…
That Syemore guy and his crew are the newest Guild here. They've only been around for about four months, and they've already taken rank number 4 of the Guilds in the Kingdom, he said in my head.
Code can only exchange forefront thoughts with his ability, and he can only use one part of his ability at a time. Using it to communicate incognito like this was just one of his ability's useful properties.
Once the thought was exchanged, I thought of a response for him to trade back. I was meant to keep this information. If I let him trade it back without thinking a new thought, I wouldn't be able to remember it. Only original thoughts could be remembered. I knew the drill.
He gave me a few seconds, then.
Snap…
Quiet. Efficient.
I traded my good to know thought with his: There's something off about him and his Guild… I can't put my finger on it, but I'll keep you posted. I'll be keeping a close watch on them this whole meeting.
No more silent exchange was made between us. So I paid attention to the meeting.
The other Captains were discussing that the barrier was fading and that it might be time for a new Zion Orb to be retrieved.
The Zion Orbs kept the barrier active at all times, and each kingdom had three of them to last for thirty years. However…
"I may have a solution for this, rather than retrieving a new Zion Orb…" Syemore said wistfully.
Murmurs rippled throughout the room.
My quiet golden princess was still slack on her throne. Legs crossed and elbow on her armrest, propping her head up. Her bare foot dangling, toenails glinting, sparkling pink in the light. Face, stern as ice. I couldn't see any other expression on it. She didn't say a single word since we started the meeting.
"You see, I have half a Zion Orb in my possession right now…"
The murmurs turned into chatters.
"How do you have half a Zion Orb in possession?" the Silver Sharks' Captain Jecht demanded.
Syemore reached into his cloak and held a fist out to the side of him. His dreary-eyed Vice Captain, Henza, held his hand out, where he received a small orb. Tiny enough that you could barely even see it, probably the size of an ant or smaller.
Henza then jumped quickly to the center of the meeting room and gently placed the tiny orb on the ground. He looked back to Syemore, nodded, then jumped back in place behind him.
Syemore then raised a hand toward the tiny orb on the ground. He made a gesture with his fingers, as if pinching something, then flicked. The air rippled, and the tiny orb expanded to its normal size in an instant.
What lay now in front of us all, in the center of the room, was half of a large orb. A Zion Orb. It was only half of one but was the size of three people.
Gasps and chatter filled the room. Sirus was even in awe, as he wondered how Syemore had gotten his hands on this.
"You are all probably wondering how I came across this Zion Orb and why it is only half of one," he said, silencing the chatter.
"Before I and my followers came to this Kingdom, I hailed from the Mountain Kingdom. Unlike other Kingdoms, this one needed not just three but five Zion Orbs because of its size alone. I'm sure you all know the Mountain Kingdom is twice as large as the Valley. But I digress… I made a deal with them and took half an orb in exchange for the Valley's alliance with the Mountain. Once the alliance has been officialized, the Valley will receive the other half of the Zion Orb." Syemore ended in a low tone, causing more chatter and bickering in the meeting room.
"Order!" the King echoed from his exaggerated throne.
Captain Laylee from the Green Owl Knights spoke up at this time, "This cannot be up for discussion. We all know the Mountain Kingdom has started frays and wars, and even cut ties with many of their own jurisdictions. That is why my Guild has come into those towns and villages to give them protection ourselves. We are the Valley's extended hand. Why would they, all of a sudden, want an alliance and offer an orb? The offer is not lining up. Not even for good negotiation. What other reason for them to want to join forces if not to amalgamate and make their Kingdom bigger?"
She was mostly quiet unless a topic came up that she was extremely passionate about. In this case, those involving people in need. She also had a strong passion for orphans and those who were discarded by their original owners. Thinking of the Mountain made her think of all the small towns and villages she and her Guild, the Green Owls, looked after.
Earlier, she had seemed small in frame and younger than most of the Captains in the room, but when she spoke up, it appeared she got taller and a little older—partly, of course, because of her magic…
"I have to agree with Captain Laylee on this one. Though it is a promising alliance with a powerful Kingdom, we have tried many times in past years to ally with them, only for it to end up in times of war. Why now are they willing to bargain? And why is it so easy when they have made it very difficult in the past? What is their angle?" A strong male voice added. He was mainly silent, too, among the other captains, and was also a man I respected simply because Ryo respected him. The Captain of the Crimson Dragon Knights, Ark.
This caused a ruckus of chatter in the room, to which the Royal King had to order the court yet again.
Then, a smug male voice spoke up from across the room, "Well, I, for one, agree with this alliance."
All eyes turned to the man. The chiming of his dangling orb earring sounded, following his serpentine smile as he sat straight in his throne, elbows on his armrest and arms meeting where his hands met, crossing his fingers over his face slightly. The man was Captain Tubolt of the Purple Panther Knights.
Disagreeing stares and slight shock were his reply, but he continued, "Think about it… We get half a Zion Orb now and possibly the other half later. Plus, an alliance with one of the strongest kingdoms on the continent. I mean, Ark, you said it yourself—we've been trying to ally with them for years past. So why, now that they are willing to bargain, are we so unsure? It's basically falling right onto our laps, and you won't take it?"
Syemore had sat back in his throne with his elbow on his armrests and hands crossed over his mouth in a similar fashion. He said nothing the whole time, as if predicting that a debate between the captains would happen. He simply smirked as Captain Tubolt said his piece.
Code was silently watching Syemore the whole time. And my golden princess still sat slack in her throne. Unmoving. Emotionless…
Captain Jecht spoke and stuck out his chest—stern, but not yelling, "It's precisely the reason it fell on our lap so easily that we are all so cautious, Tubolt. You'd think you'd be more cautious as well and not so easy to trust after all this time. You were involved in the war as well, were you not? A year ago, they used forbidden magic to open a rift, which they could not close, that led into the Demon World. I'm sure you know this story well…" He ended in a dark tone.
"Yes, and we patched that up nicely, didn't we? With little to no casualty to us…" he snarked, trailing off in my direction now.
I simply observed as they spoke, seeming disinterested in this debate. But I twitched when Tubolt said that, then when his eyes met mine. Because… I also knew why…
"Speaking of… Now that you and your mutts are here, 'Captain,' do you have anything to add? Or are you just going to ride by and let the adults converse? After all, the topic now relates to you and your wonderful former captain…" he jabbed.
I stared at him, and Havoc sat up. Code was motionless, trying to stay unbothered by the slight.
Though he seemed young, Captain Tubolt was older and more experienced as a Captain. He was captain at the same time as Asura back in the day and held a lot of sway in his words, even if he was a prick.
But when they brought up that topic, I couldn't help but feel a bit pissed.
I collected myself before responding. "What good does the opinion of a few dogs do you in this matter? Seems you and this guy already made up your minds," I said, countering his jab and gesturing with my thumb to the Blue Phoenix Knights next to us to my right—mainly to Captain Syemore, who was still silently observing after he so casually summoned half a Zion Orb in front of us and proceeded to say nothing afterward.
My pretty princess finally turned her head just to look at me. I felt her gaze and gave her a cool, sly look. Sending a message with my eyes that I had noticed her. To which she simply responded with a lifted eyebrow in amusement toward me.
Tubolt snickered, then said, "Oho… So, you do speak up for yourselves and not just mooch Guild privileges."
Prick. I said to myself, trying to keep a level head.
But he continued, "I mean, how else would you be funding your illegal activities outside the Kingdom?" he jabbed again, this time talking about the fake Black Wolves.
I hesitated, keeping silent. Defending my case would just make us look worse than we already did. But I couldn't help myself. "That's not us, and I don't care what you or anyone thinks. We are handling it."
"Oh, you seem to be handling the Guild in Asura's absence just fine. He raised you right, after all. Why did he choose you as his Acting Captain, I wonder? He would have been better off choosing that one over there with the hood over his head." He pointed to Code behind me. "But then again, you're all dogs regardless, so I guess it didn't matter the choice anyway." He paused, letting his words sting. "What exactly are you mutts doing for this Kingdom? What is your purpose here in the Valley if not to just fill the eighth rank? Go on! What is it? We're all listening," he asked sarcastically.
I twitched yet again at his annoying voice but didn't react because it was all still just insults to us—which we could take. Just don't involve him, bastard.
The room was silent as everyone spectated, long anticipating the answers to all these questions I hadn't bothered answering for so long. Watching how I would react. Ryo and Snow became tense at this moment, eyeing each other from their positions in the room just in case something was about to break out.
I tensed a bit before answering. I tried to be calm but…
"What does my answering these questions have to do with anything?"
He raised a brow and looked around. No one was stopping him. "Well, let's see… As far as I can tell, the only thing Asura has done right for this Kingdom is sacrifice himself to keep the Demon rift closed," he said, sucker punching with his words. "I'm just curious if you're going to bring anything to the table? Or perhaps your contribution could be like his oh-so-noble act. Lackluster as the deed was…"
The shadows around my eyes formed, and I clenched a fist. Havoc and Code were wearing similar expressions.
Tubolt continued, snickering, "It must have been tough raising a bunch of hooligans. If I were him, I'd want to escape my life too."
He kept on, and my rage built as I kept to myself.
"You're all so useless. Especially him. I bet he's barely holding on as it is right now. The fool should give up and let the rift open so we can solidify our deal with the Mountain Kingdom. Scratch our backs, we scratch theirs. We can find another way to close it. That would be a better utilization for himself."
Kept on. Short snapshots of memories flooded me.
"… A way more logical than running away because you hate your life…"
Kept on. And Asura's smiling face kept popping up in my head. My head lowered, and I said under my breath, "He didn't hate his life, you asshole."
"Asura is a goddamn fool, and just for that, he should die."
My eyes raged as I looked up. In an instant, I was gone from my throne seat, leaving nothing but dust from where I once was. The sound was as if a cannon had fired.
I jetted at speeds they could not see, speeds I could only reach when I was enraged. And, in that same moment, I appeared right in front of Captain Tubolt, who was still sitting on his throne, barely catching up to the fact that I was right there, feet away from him now.
Hands in my pockets, I casually walked toward him a few short steps. My eyes shadowed and hid behind my black bangs as I crept closer to him.
As I got an arm's reach from him, I raised my right leg to his left armrest, trapping him in, hovering over him from where he sat. I looked sideways, my raging eyes finally in view, and responded in a polite manner that carried a heavy, aggressive weight behind it that immensely tensed the entire room,
"Sorry… I couldn't quite hear you from over there. Could you say that again?"