While Sienna was enduring so royal pains, the council of elders was gathered in their hall, at the invitation of Lady Cadelaria. They were sitting around the table, faces grim, eyes sharp with suspicion. Lady Cadelaria was sitting at the center, her voice already pitched high, eager to dominate the room.
"She must be stopped, that human at ball is ruining this tribe. It is bad enough that she ignores us, but she thinks she can just rewrite our laws as she pleases!" She slamd her palm against the table. "She throws our wisdom which has been accumulated over a so many years and dares to call herself matriarch when she is not even a fox by blood. How long must I put up with this?"
Murmurs rippled though the room. So elders nodded, others frowned, but none spoke louder than Lady Cadelaria. She seed to thrive under the echo of her own words.
"She has already ssed with the laws on legacy and divorce, what’s to stop her from abolishing them altogether?" She rose, eyes flashing. "A human woman that cos from an impoverished background. Her ancestors have never so much slled a legacy, and she dares to ruin the legacies of others! She forced Cuthbert to give thirty percent of his business empire to that ss Winona. What does Winona know about running a business? Sienna, that chubby evil thing wants to do away with our purification rites. From the council to the temple and priest, she is going to extend her double sized fingers everywhere. She thinks she is special because she sits with the queen, pretending she belongs among royals. It’s shaful!"
Elder Marius raised his brows, watching in silence as his niece fanned flas that were going to burn her. He could sll the lies in so of her words, like the claim about Sienna extending her hands to the temples and priest. Like the wise man he was, he decided to watch and see how things would end. But he had no doubt that within three months, the council would be reshuffled, and so of his colleagues would be gone.
"Today, I heard Timothy making a call, requesting for the books on the marriage laws of the tribe, including the one on marriage tax." Lady Cadelaria scread. "How long until she calls it unjust?"
Elder Tomlin cleared his throat. "Perhaps her changes have so rit. I don’t like the girl much but Cuthbert was an embarrassnt to all of us. It is no secret that he killed Vikram’s daughter. The enforcent agents just failed to prove__"
"That is not what matters right now." Lady Cadelaria snapped. "This is not about Cuthbert’s guilt or lack there of, it is about Sienna and her ways that will lead to the crumbling of our laws. She practically mocks every ancestor that built this tribe!"
Her voice rose higher, weaving lies into her accusations. "She is going to let an even bigger population of humans move into out city. Her falcon relatives are going to build a temple for the falcon god in our city! She takes bribes from the lions to report vital information from our tribe. That fat roll is in the pocket of the royals. If she gets any position of authority, the lions will be the ones ruling over us.
Our freedom will be stripped from us. Everyone knows my Elias has always been a threat, as the second most powerful beast man in the empire. His ntal strength is equal to the physical strength of the king. Two tigers can’t rule the sa mountain. For all we know, the king is using Sienna to ruin Elias. Are you all going to stand by as this happens? As our tribe is forced into weaker position?"
The room buzzed with unease. So of the elders shifted uncomfortably, others leaned forward, as if they were hungry for scandal.
Then the doors slamd open.
Lord Marius strode in, his eyes blazing, tail lashing behind him like a whip. The room fell silent. Even Lady Cadelaria froze, her mouth half-open.
He looked at her first, then at the elders. His voice was thunder. "Enough."
The word cracked through the room, silencing every whisper.
"Not one word of my wife’s nonsense will leave this room. Not one word, or you won’t have to wait for Sienna to end the legacies of your families because I will get there before her." He warned.
The elders shivered. Marius was not like Elias when it ca to the chilling cold aura. He smiled a lot. But in that easygoing smile was a deadly cruelty reserved for those that dared to cross him.
"You old n and won sit here," Marius growled, "spinning lies about my daughter-in-law while she works to save the fox tribe. You call her disrespectful, yet it is you who disrespect yourselves with petty gossip. She has done more for our people in this week than any of you in decades. She is looking out for our sick, feeding them, strengthening them with her words and smiles, saving our won and children, earning the queen’s trust to get more benefits for our tribe. And you---" his eyes locked on his wife. "You tear her down because you don’t like her lack of fox blood, the shape of her body, and her refusal to be obedient to your will."
Lady Cadelaria sputtered, "I...I..it’s not like that. It’s not personal at all. I am speaking for the elders--"
"You speak for yourself," he cut her off, voice sharp as claws. "You speak out of spite or jealousy and for the life of , I cannot understand why. You sha , Laria. You sha Elias. You sha our family and this tribe with your actions.
Everyone that is wise knows that the royals are still silently hunting for the leaders of the underground rebel movent. But you stand here and equate Elias to the king, claiming the king is threatened by our son.
What do you think will happen when these words reach the ears of the king?" He groaned, clenching his hands. "Two tigers cannot rule the sa mountain! Do you know how that sounds in the wrong ears?"
Marius shook his head. "Like one tiger will swallow the other. Like Elias will turn against the king, or the the king will turn against Elias. Like Elias will rebel against the king at any mont."
Other elders paled.
Lady Cadelaria gasped. "That is not what I ant, I was just..."
Lord Marius bellowed. "Quiet, Laria. Quiet."
The strength in his his voice made more than one elder jump in fear. He stepped forward, seizing Cadelaria’s wrist. "This eting never happened, not one word leaks out, or everyone here is dead. No more etings on Sienna. No more lies. No more poison. My wife will not be involved in any official tribe business anymore. When Elias returns, you will all have to explain yourselves to him and he will not be as nice as I have been."
He pulled Cadelaria out into the corridor, the heavy doors slamming shut.
The elders sat frozen, their authority shattered by his fury. They stared at each other, shaken. All of them were worried about their necks suddenly.
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