Chapter 188 - The New Order

It was the day of the council meeting, and everything was in place. We decided to hold it in the same KingsHaven hall that Peter had used to welcome Clay and I when we first visited. The idea had symmetry, which I thought was appropriate, and the room was already set up for large meetings.

This one had a lot more people attending than the first time I’d been in the space. I was there, of course, as were Clay, Kara, and Alfred. Tenebris was listening in via my thoughts, but remained outside. We didn’t think scaring people would be a good way to start things off, and Peter had taught these leaders to fear his dragon. I wouldn’t follow that same path.

Carver was the first to arrive. He brought a small contingent with him, and I welcomed him with open arms. He seemed lighter than he had been, before. I think the relief of not having to worry about Peter’s control was good for him. General Jefferson arrived soon after, with a larger entourage, but KingsHaven was big enough to accommodate everyone. That’s why I’d picked it.

Flicker, the ratkin leader of the ratkin Domain Peter had taken as a vassal, arrived as well. He and I had a brief talk as I escorted him from the ground up to the big meeting hall. He seemed a nice sort, and was eager to meet Patches and my other ratkin allies. I assured him we’d make time for it later.

Garowar got there soon after. He entered the city alone, with just his wolf. Stabling the wolf-creature turned out to be one of the hardest parts of the day, because it thought horses looked tasty, and we didn’t want to generate an accidental diplomatic incident. We found a secure place for his beast, though. He seemed impressed by the stone walls. I had a feeling the orcs might shift to building stonework in the near future.

The last to arrive was our representative from the Air Guard base. Clay escorted him into the meeting. Their community had suffered so much, losing Delores as their leader, and then again with Turner’s death—although it sounded like not too many people grieved for Turner. They’d elected a replacement for Delores to their council, and then elected a new President of the council, a man named David Collins. He seemed personable and willing to work together, which were good things.

It was late morning before everyone was there and we were able to dig into the meeting itself. We had much to discuss. First, everyone shared their stories. We got the full tales, at last, of how Peter had worked one of us over after another, preying on our hopes, dreams, and weaknesses until he’d conquered virtually every nearby Domain. It was good information to have, and to share, because if we wanted to stop this from happening again, it was best to understand how it had come to be the first time.

Carver even had a quote for it. He said ‘those who don’t study history are doomed to repeat it,’ which felt smart to me.

Finally, we’d gone over everyone’s tale, including mine. I told them how I fought, along with my undead, against Peter’s dragon and his army, and then how my team had figured out what Peter’s weakness had to be, then exploited it to finish him. At long last, we were done with the stories.

Jefferson was the first to suggest we move on to new topics. “This has all been very revelatory, but I believe it’s time to discuss where we shall go from here, yes?”

I nodded. “I think so. Unless there’s any other old business?”

Heads shook. It was time to move on.

“Good,” I said. “Now we need to decide how we’re going to proceed from here.”

“I think going back to the original arrangement would make the most sense,” Jefferson said. “We were doing well as an alliance, until Peter divided us. Is there a reason we can’t just go back to that?”

“Other than the fact that you swore yourself as a vassal?” I asked, quirking an eyebrow.

He looked flustered for only a moment before pulling himself back together. “I did, but it was under duress. I couldn’t very well let my people die!”

“I agree entirely,” I said, waving my hands, palms facing him. “Nobody should be penalized for having sworn to Peter. Hell, I almost did, and I had enough warning to get my people away safely.”

“You can just release us from the bond, yes?” Carver asked.

I nodded slowly. “I can.” I gave a couple of heartbeats as a pause, then added, “I’m just not sure I should.”

Pandemonium erupted, as expected. None of them were happy to hear that.

“This is outrageous!” Jefferson said.

“I’m the elected official from Riverton,” Collins added. They’d renamed the place? Good to know. “I should have some say over this vassal thing.”

I let them talk for a few moments, then stood and hammered my fist down on the table, letting off a low-power Dark Pulse as I did. The Pulse slashed through the room with the force of a heavy gust of wind.

“Enough!” I called out.

Silence reigned. My little display of power was an excellent reminder that I was by far the strongest person in the room.

“I said no one would be penalized for swearing to Peter, and I meant it. And yes, I can release vassals, but I don’t think it’s the best plan.” I settled back into my chair and took a breath. “That said, the way Eddings ran things wasn’t going to work, either. A monarch is a terrific asset in a crisis, but a disaster most of the rest of the time. I have a proposal for how we can proceed that may allow us to retain the advantages without the down sides.”

“What advantages?” Garowar asked.

I turned toward him with a smile. Figures he’d be the one to ask; always looking for an edge over foes. “As the head of the kingdom, I don’t get as much feedback about each Domain as the Domain ruler does, but I do get some. I can feel it if your fort comes under attack, Garowar. Which means I can come to help, if it does. We have no other long distance means of communication in a crisis. The signals our Domains send us—and the ones they send to me—are the only method we have right now. I want to work on magical means to fill that gap, but for the time being, this bit of magic is all we have going for us.

“There’s more than that,” I went on. “Alone, we’re going to be vulnerable to someone else trying to do the same as Eddings did. If one of us decides to start taking vassals, we can easily end up right back here again.”

“But if you already have us as vassals, what difference does that make?” Jefferson asked. “If you’re already in command, you can just order us around. Is that what you want? To replace Eddings in truth? Have we exchanged one tyrant for another? You’re strong enough any of us would have trouble resisting you.”

“Yes, but not all of you,” I replied. “If you all came at me together, you’d win easily. And that’s a sort of balance. I do not want to be a tyrant, General. Hell, I don’t actually even want this job. I just don’t see another easy way around this. So we set safeguards to prevent anything like what Eddings did from ever happening again.”

“What sort of safeguards did you have in mind?” Carver asked.

I pulled out an old hardcover book, a volume I’d snagged from a library about English history. “I was thinking about something along the lines of the Magna Carta. Like you said, Gideon—learning from history is a good way forward. I would be queen, but I would never be above the law. Laws would be made collectively, by all the leaders. I see the council here as being Carver, Jefferson, Garowar, Collins, Flicker, Kara, and myself.”

“Why Kara?” Collins asked.

I looked toward my friend, who seemed as surprised as anyone else. “Because I can’t run two Domains well, so I’m making her the Seneschal of KingsHaven. That’s why she and her fiancee are here for this meeting. I’ll retain control of the Farm, and rebuild there. Kara will control KingsHaven and lead here. That makes seven of us, and my thought is that the overall monarch—me—should only vote as a tiebreaker. That is, if the rest of you are deadlocked, I’ll make the decision. But in most votes, I won’t be involved except to make suggestions.”

Jefferson drummed his fingers on the table, looking perplexed. “You’d willingly give up that kind of power? Why?”

“Because I never wanted power, General. Before all this started, I was a college student studying medicine,” I said. “I kept finding myself tossed into one thing after another and kept surviving until here we are.”

“If you don’t want to rule, then why retain the title?” Jefferson asked me.

“Because I want to see this work,” I replied, my voice crisp and surprisingly firm. Inside, I was shaking like a leaf. “Because I’m one of the only people at this table who doesn’t want more power, so yeah, I’m perfectly willing to let everyone else run the day to day business of ruling the area.

“But when things get bad, which I am sure they will, then I will be here to guide us through that. I’ll protect our Domains from attackers. Tenebris and I are collectively the best weapon any of us have, and I swear to you that I will only use my spells and dragon to help every leader here and all their people.”

“And if you change your mind later, break your word to us?” Collins asked.

I shook my head. “I won’t. But if I do, then all of you would oppose me, right?”

Every head at the long table nodded on concert.

“Do you think I alone can stand against the lot of you?” I asked, staring down Collins directly.

“I suppose not,” he replied, looking away from my stare.

There was a long silence as people digested this, tried to consider the implications, and pondered how they felt. I let it go on, hoping one of them would ask the next question, and the next. I felt sure more would be coming.

It was Carver who spoke. “I think this is something I can agree to, given all I’ve heard.”

Garowar was next. “Orcs follow new queen as long as queen defend orcs.”

I nodded them both my thanks, and soon the same sentiment was coming from each leader.

Even Jefferson agreed. “I can’t believe we’re giving over even a small bit of the United States to a monarch, willingly at that. But…times have changed, and we need to change with them, I suppose. Perhaps I’m getting too old for all of this.”

I shook my head. “On the contrary, sir, your age and experience are incredible assets for this council, and I hope you’ll stay with us for many years to come.”

That seemed to please him, so I was glad I’d made the effort. It wasn’t a lie, either. You don’t get to become a general without a ton of experience leading people and managing things, so I planned to lean on him heavily. Carver, too.

The discussion continued through lunch and across the entire afternoon. It wasn’t a simple process, hammering out our own version of the Magna Carta, but we closed the day with something that felt strong, or strong enough to get us going, anyway.

As time passed, we’d likely make changes, but now we had a framework which enforced equal rights for everyone in every member Domain and set things up so that no one was likely to ever take full power like Peter had again.

It was precisely the fresh start we all needed.