Arcana Series - Hierophant

Obelisk

Queen Alice Flauros stood in front of the knights.

Her hands were shaky and some beads of sweat have formed on her forehead. She felt her heart pumping like crazy, as if it would explode at any second. And maybe she would’ve loved for this to actually happen because, at that moment, she would rather be kidnapped by a group of bandits again.

With the event that transpired in the Cathedral that occurred a week back, Migard has been reduced to a sort of comatose state. Unable to wake up for a whole week which, placed his daughter on the role of ruler. For an indefinite amount of time. That is, until Migard wakes up.

Hence she has taken care of all the dealings of the kingdom and, at that moment, this means dealing with the knights and the planning on the upcoming war.

With the recent deduction of Candida, there are only nine knights left. These same people looked at the direction of the queen in a questioning way. But it wasn’t intended for her alone. It was intended, mostly, for the three individuals who were behind her. Damian, Cleo, and Blaze.

“Your highness.” Sylas broke the silence. Making Alice jump up just a bit from surprise. “I do not mean to be rude but, who are these people exactly?”

“They are my aides.” Alice tried her best not to stutter of have her voice shake. “They will help us with the planning for the war.”

“I believe that is not a wise choice.” Another knight, Leroy, stated. “Two of the knights have already betrayed us before and, one of those is even responsible for the death of Dimitri. She was even his wife.”

“What is your point?” Alice asked, still able to maintain a firm voice.

“My point is, having people of lower status than us join this meeting just seems to be a bit dubious.” This same knight then took a good look around. “Of course there could also be others within this room who are against Obelisk’s ideals.”

“Indeed.” The female knight, Ellaine, mentioned. “But what stops us from believing that this person is you?”

“Now why would you ask that from one of the best knight of the kingdom?” Leroy asked. “Unless you want to stir some doubts in the council as well.”

Total chaos. That is how the room seemed to Alice. The knights have began a dispute with one another. With the recent events that transpired, she knew that it was only normal for the knights to be in the state that they were. Questioning each other’s loyalty in an attempt to preserve their own hides.

But having them in that said disposition wasn’t going to resolve anything. Without any trust between the knights, Alice knew that all the plans would simply fail apart.

Hence, she took one deep breath. Taking in all the stress she has accumulated from the days that passed. She hasn’t even settled down as the new ruler on the domain of the Daemons. Yet there she was, suddenly promoted to a role where she has to govern the entirety of Obelisk. And, with the thought of all these finally coming to the top of her head, the queen of Obelisk finally snapped.

“That’s enough!”

She may just be filling in a role but, she is still royalty in blood. Thus her voice has the same authority as Migard’s. Making the knights do as she commanded. Temporarily stopping them from their little squabble as, the princes finally decided to step up.

“Obelisk is now in grave danger and the first thing you want to do is to argue among your own?” She asked. “Tell me, are you really the knights of this kingdom? Because as far as I can tell, you are no better than regular power hungry nobility with how you conduct yourselves in front of your queen.”

Damian, Cleo, and Blaze made small grins from the queen’s back. They didn’t let this show.

Meanwhile, the knights were entirely silenced. Not having any form of argument they could throw after what Alice just said. In fact, they simply lowered their heads in humiliation from their recent action. All of them guilty of taking her too lightly.

“Forgive us your highness.” Azed said, being one of the more mature knights.

“Granted.” Alice said. “Now, I want us to focus on things that actually matter. So why don’t we begin with the planning for the war?”

“Your highness. I agree with Leroy about what he said earlier.” Helix mentioned. “I think that those three have no place in this meeting.”

“On what grounds are you making that assumption?” Alice asked.

“This is the council room of the knights your highness. Other than you, the ruler, and us knights, there aren’t supposed to be anyone present during our meetings.” Nathan explained. “Even the maids and butlers need to go out when the discussions finally start.”

“That is a reasonable argument.” Alice affirmed. “However, I will not make these people leave this room because, they are the ones who will set up the plans for the war.”

Sylas abruptly stood up from his chair. With a look of surprise and disapproval mixed on his face.

“Your highness, I thought you said that we are supposed to take this meeting seriously.”

“We are.” Alice said, her demeanor finally stabilizing after she snapped.

“Then why are you leaving the fate of our kingdom in the hands of mere boys?”

“I agree with Sylas about this my queen.” Azed commented. “I know who those boys are, they have helped in the operation against the Daemons. But that isn’t enough of a qualification for you to give them such an important role.”

Alice smiled. For the first time in the whole of the meeting, the knights seemed to have united...just like how she planned it.

Everything was going as she predicted. Of course the knights would not let mere teens lead the planning. Of course their honor would not allow this. Of course they would speak up in opposition to this decision of hers. And, because all of this is so, she could finally play the card which she prepared.

“Why don’t we play a little game then.” The queen challenged.

“A game?” Sylas asked. “Your highness, we do not have time for something such as that.”

“We do. A bit of war game won’t delay us that much.” Alice commented in a confident voice. “This is the perfect opportunity for you to see their skills firsthand.”

“What is there for us your highness? This isn’t exactly a very enticing offer on your part.”

“That is true. So how about this then...” Alice’s smile widened. “If they lose, I will step down as queen.”