Winterfall

I couldn’t help but feel anxious as I was left for minutes, which felt like hours. Something doesn’t feel right. I whispered to Théoden through our bond.

What do you mean? He questioned me as I felt him quickly peer into my vision and pull back out. You're alone?

Yes, but that isn’t the weirdest part. Fredrick seemed to fidget more than normal.

I’m sure it's nothing. Théoden told me as I felt a wave of calm wash over me.

I hope you are right on this. I told him.

I began to hear the faintest footsteps fall outside the room. The clicking of heels sent a chill up my spine. I knew that sound from anywhere. I rolled my eyes, but straightened up in my seat as the door opened.

Peering over my shoulder I saw Sybil walk in, wearing formal attire in the form of a tight fitted dress that was in the shade of red. Following her was Cedric who wore an all black suit. He honestly didn’t look half bad, he was well groomed, and an overwhelming smell of aftershave filled the chamber the further he approached. Hell, I’ll take that over the smell of charcoal which is Sybil’s scent. Thora came in after Cedric and wore a flowy vibrant pink dress that suited her fair skin. Then Wulfric came in next, as he matched Cedric’s attire and with him in the room, the smell of aftershave was almost too overwhelming. The last to enter was Fredrick once more. His attire matched that of the other two men as they all seemed to follow the same dress code.

I stood up as they approached, resting my hands at my side, “Good morning everyone.” I said with my voice sounding as formal as possible.

Remember to Breath Maria. Théoden spoke through the bond.

I took a deep breath, as I gave a bowing gesture as they all walked past me.

“Please take your seat.” Sybil spoke up as they all stood next to their seats. One by one, they sat. As my turn came, I tried so hard to sit gracefully. As we all took our seats, the only one remaining that was standing was Sybil.

She cleared her throat before she addressed the room, “Now, I know you all know why we are here today. We are welcoming Maria Roza Silvermist into the Council. Now before we proceed, is it a rule to ask if there are any objections to this decision?”

The room fell silent. As no one spoke up I let out a soft sigh. However, I knew deep down, if Sybil had it her way, I wouldn’t be a part of this.

“Great.” I was able to pick up in Sybil’s voice that she was displeased with this decision but since her hands were tied she was forced to go through with it.

“The first thing that needs to be discussed is if Maria is ready to take her father’s spot on the Council.” Sybil spoke.

Fredrick stood up and with a heavy sigh he spoke, “I believe she is. She has followed everything I gave her to do. She even remembered the pledge word by word.”

As he took his seat, I saw out of the corner of my eye, an eye roll from Sybil, “Good. Then we shall proceed with our formal celebration plans tonight at six. In the meantime, let’s get down to business. Maria, please stand and share with us some of your plans.”

I waited for her to take her seat before I stood up. I cleared my throat and spoke as clearly as possible, “Thank you Sybil. Yes, my plans for moving the kingdom forward. For starters, I know there has been worry amongst our people with the sudden decrease in temperature and how it will affect our winter. I have come up with a few ideas to counter that.”

“First, do you mind telling us why the temperature dropped so rapidly?” Cedric questioned.

“Yes, well you see, the temperature dropped so rapidly, because..” I paused briefly.

It’s okay Maria. We will deal with the fall out. Théoden whispered to me through the bond, calming my nerves.

“I gave a dragon permission to create a layer over our kingdom.” I said firmly.

“A…A DRAGON?” Cedric explained, “Who is this dragon?”

“Can we trust them?” Wulfric questioned further.

I nodded, “Yes, you can fully trust him. He has already been in command of the army for years.”

“Wait, so are you telling us that Théoden is a dragon?” Thora asked as she was able to picture who I was talking to.

“Yes, he has been his whole life.” I said.

“How long have you known this?” Cedric questioned.

Before I answered him, I examined each of their faces. Sybil was unchanged as she already knew this information. Cedric was shocked. Thora, well Thora may have had a few other ideas in mind. Wulfric's expression matched that of Cedric. And Fredrick was also unchanged.

“Ever since he came into the kingdom.”

“Did your parents know?” Cedric questioned.

“Considering what my father’s abilities were, I assume he did.”

“What type of dragon is he dear?” Thora questioned.

“Silver, one of the most trusted types of dragons out there.” I glanced over at Sybil as I said that and I could tell by my statement it pissed her off.

“So, you go beyond the Council and allow your pet to make a rash decision in making the kingdom his lair?” Sybil hissed as she was pissed.

“First, he isn't my pet. He is his own person and can do as he wishes. Secondly, I allowed him to as our kingdom has been under attack recently by fiends from Hell. It was our way of ensuring the safety of our citizens.”

“I can understand why Sybil is upset. That decision should have been brought to all of us. However, I understand why you went ahead and made that call yourself.” Cedric said.

“Why is that Cedric?” Sybil glared at him as she questioned his statement.

“Dragon’s prefer their identity to be a secret. If they went to us for this permission then everyone would have known. He very well could have been run out of town by the people if they found out.”

“Are our citizens going to find out, Maria?” Thora asked.

“I will leave that for him to decide.” I told her.

“Fair enough.” Thora responded.

“Look, I am sorry we have kept this secret from all of you, however the decision for that to be kept secret was to protect us both.” I told them, “I know you probably want an explanation as to why, I am not comfortable getting into that just yet.”

“That is fair.” Cedric said, “Just inform us of things like this from now on please.”

“Of course. I apologize again.” I said.

Sybil rolled her eyes, “Why aren’t you comfortable saying more on the issue?”

“I have my own reasons. And I do not have to share them with you.” My voice was still firm, however I couldn’t help but feel like she was attacking my personal relationship with him.

If she pushes my buttons….I whispered to Théoden quickly through the bond.

“Let’s drop the issue for now, Sybil, we have other matters to discuss.” Cedric said. “Carry on with how you plan to counter some of the effects of the lair.”

“Yes, well I was hoping to talk to the clerics and druids to see if they can utilize a few spells to alter the weather. Druids also will help grow food and make the food tolerant of the new climate.” I told them.

“Interesting ideas.” Thora said, “And if Winter is brutal?”

“Again, try to alter the weather as much as possible. If that fails, then have a surplus of food and wood to use through the Winter season.”

“So you have thought about the fallouts of this?” Thora questioned.

“Yes I have.”

“Good.” Thora responded.

“Next topic.” Cedric said, trying to get the meeting moving.

“Right, I did mention that fiends were getting into the kingdom, correct?”

“Yes.” Cedric said.

“We are fighting against that as well. We have an item that is alerting Théoden to the fiends, from there he is taking care of them before they cause more havoc.”

I heard a low snarl from Sybil. Yeah, I knew we foiled her and Marcel’s plans.

“How can you detect such a creature?” Sybil questioned me with a glint of hate in her eye.

I took a deep breath, “with the attack of the incubus and succubus we wondered if there were more of them in the kingdom. Also, Théoden being, well Théoden wanted to be alerted as he did rounds with his guards. Therefore, we had something crafted.”

“And?” Sybil tapped her high heel and against the floor. Sending a wave of fear through my spine.

“And that’s it. The item alerts us to fiends within the area.”

“Interesting.”

“Has Théoden caught anything besides the incubus and succubus that attacked you?” Cedric asked.

“Yes, there was a hag he stopped the other day. Another pair of incubus and succubus, and a few minor devils and demons.” I informed him. I didn’t go into the full details as I could tell each listing was irritating Sybil.

“Thank you for the information Maria.” Sybil said as I saw her hand twitch. “Let’s move on.”

“Of course.” I said, I was more than willing to move on from the subject myself. I hated telling on everything that we might of been doing to protect the kingdom.

“Moving on from that subject, what laws do you inspire to change?” Cedric questioned.

“Well, the first law would be no revivification.” I told them, “I have my personal reasons for that. Let alone how hard it is to see young die.”

“How do you propose we combat those who grow greedy with it?” Cedric questioned further.

“Limit it. We limit the amount of revivifications per day, per week, per month. Not a full cut and dry as we have lost too many good people within the last few years.”

“Good point. How do you choose who gets revived?” Cedric pressed on.

“Set of criteria needs to be met. We can set the groundwork for that later.” I responded.

“Interesting.” Cedric said.

“Agreed.” Wulfric chimed in.

“We will definitely be considering this. After the loss of your parents, we have been thinking deeply about this rule that was set in place.” Thora said. “I would like to take this time to formally apologize for our cause in your parents death. I know we had said our condolences before but I don’t think we formally apologized.”

“Thank you. I understand that was part of the law but it was difficult to wrap around. They were our rulers, my parents, and were loved by everyone.”

Well pretty much everyone. I knew a few despised my parents. Crimson and Marcel being two of them.

“We understand that. Thankfully you had your guard to help you through that.” Thora said. “The harshness of the fall out of our law is why we are willing to listen to new approach to the matter.”

I smiled softly at her, “I appreciate it very much.”

Another tap of Sybil’s heel filled the air. Her body was tense as her hand twitched beside her. “Let’s carry on.”

They all nodded in agreement. This went on for another hour. I’d go over a topic, it would irritate Sybil, Sybil would tap her heel and then the next topic would be under way.

“Alright, I think this is enough deliberations for today.” Sybil said, “We have an exciting evening ahead of us.”

“Agreed. Let’s go rest and come back for the celebration.” Cedric said. “Meet us back here at five. The celebration is at six.”

“Yes Cedric.” I said, “Meeting adjourned?” I questioned, they all nodded as they all got up one by one and left the chambers.

Cedric, Wulfric, Thora, and Fredrick all left first. Leaving me and Sybil alone in the chambers.

Sybil stared at me with her piercing red tinted eyes. “I don’t know what you are doing but it needs to be seized and dismissed.” She growled.

“What I am doing? I believe it is you and Marcel who are endangering the kingdom.” I fired back.

She rolled her eyes, “Whatever you say princess. No one will believe a word out of your mouth.”

“Push yourself and find the Crimson.” My mouth twitched as the words I lashed out were bitter.

Sybil walked straight up to me, pressed her forehead against mine, suffocating me in the smell of molten lava. “I dare you to speak up. See what happens princess.” She snarled once more.

With that, she left the chambers, clicking her heels behind her. I left alone, contemplating the choices that lay ahead.