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And he was only a lowly Human with not even a piece of land to his name.
A creak resonated through the hallway as the doors opened up ahead. “Princess Mierna, Sir Arthur,” called an Elder, “We’re waiting for you.”
***
The Elders’ and the advisors’ voices overlapped with each other upon the Queen’s suggestion: to betroth Princess Mierna to the King of Eldoria.
“Who is to say he will accept?”
“We will incentivize it, of course.”
“He could very well not cooperate despite accepting the agreement.”
“Must I remind you, it’s why Fairies deal with matters of law and contracts in these situations.”
Arthur began to realize that Aria could be put at risk should someone else other than him be sent to negotiate the matter. He looked up at the head table where Mierna sat with her mother, waiting for an opportunity to get a word in.
Unfortunately, the Queen looked worse for wear even with all the medication he sought for her, far and wide across the realms. The Fairies had tried their magic, the Orcs their herbs, the Dwarves their stone therapy, and the Giants their elixir of life. Nothing worked, and the Queen herself had accepted that it was simply her time.
“My people!” Mierna’s gentle voice cut right through the chatter, her voice bouncing off the dome-shaped interior. “Instead of uniting with Eldoria, is it not best, to unite withthe other nations instead, to preserve the balance of the realm?”
“It will be difficult,” replied an advisor. “For us to spread out our resources across the remaining three independent nations? Without knowing where King Travus will attack next?”
“And what if we already had someone on the inside?”
Everyone started muttering in confusion and disbelief, and Princess Mierna looked at Arthur pointedly. As much as he hated being put on the spot, he was glad that she’d created an opening for him.
He stepped forward toward the Council’s round table, pulling the scroll from his satchel that Aria had given him. “The Fairy Sentinels are best known for being agents of information and infiltration. They were the first andonlyones who attempted to intercept Travus’s conquest over Vihnmen. It’s only natural that they would initiate their own investigations into the situation.”
Placing the scroll on the table, he unfurled it for the rest to see. “Aria Violetgrass is at the castle right now in disguise, and she’s been siphoning valuable information at great risk to her safety.”
He pointed to the marked map of Midges, explaining the looting plan of Silver-rock that Aria had uncovered. The Elders and advisors listened to him with full focus, and thestrategist pulled out his own map to start jotting things down immediately.
“We’ve definitely got bigger problems on our hands,” one of the Elder’s said. “If it’s true that Travus is attempting to intervene with the very landscape of the nations, he might have something more planned.”
“Like what?” said another advisor.
The strategist shook his head slowly as he looked around. “What’s Travus done with Vihnmen since conquering it?”
“His troops have been inspecting the roots of their soul tree.”
“Its leaves did nothing for me,” the Queen muttered. “He’s wasting his time digging around for anything.”
Something about what she’d said struck the strategist as he looked at the map on Arthur’s scroll.
“Right between all the mines…” he said slowly while tracing the area with his finger, “there’s a place with some mineral or ore over there. It’s where the Dwarves go to bless their Council Stones for their therapies, do they not?”
Mierna stood up immediately and made her way down to stand beside Arthur and look over the map, her eyes flitting everywhere.
“Mother,” she said solemnly, “our Mother Pearl; where is it?”
“It will reveal itself to you during the coronation ceremony, My Dear,” she said.
The Princess and the strategists exchanged looks, and even their resident scholars started leaving the hall, some coming back with a book or so.
Arthur felt that he was the only one who didn’t understand what was happening.
“The Council’s Stones,” Mierna said softly. “I faintly remember it from the stories. Is our Mother Pearl a Council Stone?”
