"We need to inform them first,"
Morvain spoke with a solemn look on her face and Kael...
He understood that this wasn’t just a simple statent; it carried... dread.
They weren’t going to just ’inform’, they were going to... face them.
Ten thousand Velmourns.
They needed to stand in front of all these Velmourns and tell them that the enemy tribe—the sa people who had killed their family mbers, people who attacked and tried to loot them every single winter—were now going to walk through their gates and live with them.
Morvain could already predict their reactions, and of course, Kael was no different. He could predict it as well.
And...
Morvain’s gaze told him that He... would be the one taking the brunt of this announcent.
He would be the one seeing their faces change.
He would be the one seeing their fear turning into anger.
He would be the one seeing their anger turn into grief.
He would be the one seeing their grief turn into... bla.
And once again—
The room turned silent as none of them spoke for a while.
And no—this wasn’t the awkward silence from before.
This silence... was heavier.
This silence was two leaders standing at the edge of a decision that... could not be undone.
Outside, the wind pressed against the walls. Snow continued to fall, burying the already white city even more, almost as if the very world was trying to hide what tomorrow would bring.
"I understand."
Finally, Kael nodded.
This was what they had agreed to; he had promised that dealing with the people would be his responsibility, and he wasn’t planning to go back against those words.
"Give the rules."
He demanded. Morvain nodded and moved the stack of papers towards him, all the while her eyes never left his. Kael took the papers and then looked into the Matriarch’s eyes.
"You have worked hard, you should rest now."
"What are you going to do?"
Morvain asked with a curious look on her face.
"I... still have a few arrangents to make."
Kael answered, and once again, Morvain turned silent as she stared at Kael, this ti her gaze was more... sympathetic.
After all, if one thinks about it, the man—no, the child in front of her—was soone who wasn’t even part of their world.
Just a few months ago, he had nothing to do with this world; he was... from what she knew, a child who hadn’t even held a sword in his hand, let alone used one.
But then—
Then he was summoned here, forced to fight battles that weren’t his. When he escaped the people who forced him and ca here, he faced discrimination and resistance even though every single thing he had done benefitted the people.
And it didn’t end there—
The people he left didn’t leave him; they ca after him, and when he refused to return they...
They began plotting against him.
And now, in just a few months—
A boy who had never once held a sword was now forced into a complex political ga, bear the burden that might turn more than ten thousand people against him and... participate in a battle that... might spell his end.
And that is after the fact that from the beginning to the end—this man had made no major mistakes or taken a selfish decision. Even now, when their end seed near and all the pressure was about to explode, he took the brunt of that pressure and made a difficult decision—a decision that, once again, was the only way to save the people.
They had all been thinking from their own perspective—about how bringing the Stonefangs would decrease their power and influence, how it would cause chaos they wouldn’t be able to control but...
Seeing things from this boy’s perspective and thinking about everything that had happened to him in such a short span of ti...
Morvain couldn’t help but feel...
"Then take care, Matriarch.
I will take my leave."
Just as Morvain was thinking about all this, Kael spoke up. The Matriarch looked up at him. For a mont, her expression softened into sothing almost human, almost... motherly.
Then she nodded.
"Go,"
She said in a low voice.
Kael nodded as he turned toward the door.
He paused once, hand near the latch, as if there was sothing else he wanted to say—sothing neither of them had the ti or courage to speak.
But he didn’t say it.
He opened the door and stepped out.
Cold air rushed in, Morvain watched him leave until the door closed again and even after he left.
She remained seated.
Her smile was gone now.
Morvain stared at the gate for a long ti, different, complicated thoughts taking all her mind power, but in the end, she too closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
She would do as Kael said and... rest.
After all, tomorrow would be... a big day.
And in the next few hours, the ’big day’ began.
Early morning ca like a reluctant guest.
The sun’s light had barely begun to arrive; it was weak and pale behind a thick layer of clouds. The snow had stopped falling soti in the night, and the streets—though still buried in white—looked calr than before.
The Elders noticed it the mont they stepped out.
For a second, it almost felt like the world had given them a small kindness.
"At least the snow stopped,"
Aelindra muttered, pulling her fur-lined cloak tighter around her shoulders, thin white mist forming in front of her mouth as she spoke.
"It’s a rcy."
Korvath spoke as he stood in a straight, military posture, his eyes scanning the sky.
"If it had kept falling, people would have struggled to gather."
"I don’t like it."
Nyris, the High Chronicler, also stared at the sky; her opinion, however, was different from the others.
"It’s too dark—
Ominously dark.
It’s like... they are pressing down on us and burying us underneath."
Nyris muttered.
"You don’t like anything."
Tarevian scoffed at those words; the last thing he wanted right now was a pessimistic comnt.
Nyris didn’t even glance at him, her eyes still remained on the clouds and—
"This isn’t preference.
It’s... a feeling."
At those words, Aelindra followed Nyris’s gaze, and the slight smile on her face faded.
"It feels like the sky is holding its breath."
She comnted.
Morvain wasn’t with them yet. The Elders were arranged in front of the raised stone platform near the central square, waiting for the people to gather. Korvath stared at the open space in front of them, the space where the people would gather, then, as if wanting to participate in the conversation, he once again stared above and—
"Maybe it is."
He comnted.
"Clouds are clouds. They do not carry intent."
Tarevian clicked his tongue, not knowing why every single one of them was acting like this, but then suddenly—
Nyris turned towards him, then with tired but sharp eyes,
"And yet—"
She began,
"—when a blade hangs above your head, you don’t argue whether it ans to fall."
"..."
Those words shut Tarevian up for a mont.
And Korvath, who noticed the mood worsening, took a deep breath and—
"Today will be hard,"
He spoke in a low but heavy voice.
"We should not waste our strength on the sky."
Aelindra nodded at those words, but her eyes still flickered upward once more.
She didn’t notice it at first, but after Nyris ntioned it—
It all felt... odd.
As if... soone was watching them—soone they did not want to.
As the elders talked, the people began showing up. The first group arrived quietly. A few figures wrapped in thick cloth, boots crunching through the snow.
Then more and more followed, and the square began to fill—slowly at first, like water dripping into a basin.
Then the drip beca a stream.
Then it beca a flood.
Tens... hundreds... thousands.
Slowly, every Velmourn was here.
The old walked with shaking legs and stubborn eyes. Mothers carried children bundled in furs, the little ones blinking sleepily and clinging to warmth. n with bandaged arms and bruised faces stood shoulder to shoulder. Crippled veterans arrived leaning on canes, supported by younger relatives, their expressions grim.
After all, a ’mandatory’ summon ant... sothing was about to happen.
Sothing big.
Sothing... they might not like.
This was the reason that despite so many having gathered, there were no laughs, no casual talks, even the usual murmurs of the square sounded muted.
People understood; they could all feel that sothing dangerous was about to be said.
The Elders watched them co.
Aelindra gulped once, she didn’t speak, but her fingers tapped against her sleeve, showing how restless she was.
Tarevian’s gaze moved across the crowd, counting faces he recognized, counting families, counting the ones who would be loud, the ones who would be silent, and the ones who... might break.
Nyris watched with the eyes of a woman who knew history did not care about feelings. It only recorded what happened after.
And Korvath...
He watched like a soldier, already thinking about what would happen if this gathering turned violent.
Because it could.
It easily could.
Just as more and more people began to gather, suddenly, the crowd shifted—not because of an announcent—
But because of one man.
A path opened through the mass of people as soone walked forward without apologizing for the space he took.
Draksis Velmourn.
Yes, he was here as well.
User Comments
0 comments from readers