Splintered Fate (6 page)

The entire space seemed to be made
of marble infused with gold veins. Gold fabric hung from the
ceiling, flowing down against the wall, providing a softer touch.
Between each drape there was a cut out in the stonewalls where
white candles provided additional light. In the center of the room
stood a massive round table, made from a single tree slice. It had
smooth but uneven edges around its boarder, which was created from
the trees natural growth.

Lana finally brought her attention
to the Madonian’s at the table. The Laderic brothers, Lathe and
Maksim, sat straight ahead of the wooden double doors. Despite
being around the same age, Lana never really knew the brothers.
Their parents had been friends with hers, but were killed when the
boys were just babies. The boys were then raised by their aunt,
away from others until they became of age to take their rightful
place on the council.

The brothers were happily engaged
in conversation with each other, not paying any mind to Lana or her
father’s arrival. The brothers were brunette, average height and
average build. Their Aorras, Faolins, were too large to sit at the
table so they stood behind them, looking massive compared to the
sitting brothers.

Faolins were horse like creatures,
except much smarter and faster. They had huge ears, wide noses and
armored heads and backs. Small tusks framed their armored nose, and
long whip like tails brought up the animal’s rear. Faolins could
come in varieties of colors but theirs were both grey. These were
one of the only Aorras known that can be ridden.

To the left of the Laderics sat
Iria and Lionel Maddox. The Maddoxs controlled a majority of the
coastlines in Madonia along with the islands to the West. Iria was
leaning in towards her husband, deep in conversation. Glancing up
only to acknowledge Valdor and Lana enter the room before quickly
cutting whatever was being said short and flashing a big smile at
them. The Maddoxs were both short, with dark hair and slender
bodies. They looked similar enough to be confused for brother and
sister instead of husband and wife.

Beside Iria sat a Vesper, perched
on a stool. This was the first time Lana had ever seen a Vesper.
Before this day they seemed mythical to her. The Vesper was about a
third of the size of Ardin and had scaly blue skin with a short
nose. A-top its head it had a fin crown and a long tail with more
fins at the end. They were creatures known to be great swimmers and
preferred water to land. It was a great fit for a costal Council
member.

Next to Lionel sat a Great Cat. It
was white with a few black spots on top of its head and back with
large paws and a lion-like tail. Great Cats were known to be highly
adaptable creatures, able to live in all climates. Lana always
found it strange that Great Cats had never been found in the wild.
Some said that was because they do not exist outside of Aorra’s,
others said that they were too wise to ever allow for themselves to
be seen in the wild.

Next to the Maddox’s were two
empty spaces for Lana and her father. Next to their open seats sat
Kirill with the awful bloody cape she knew he would have draped
proudly over his chair. Next to him was his father, Arkhip Dukran.
Arkhip sat tall in all black with long gray hair.

Around Arkhip’s dark slim figure
sat three large black wolves. One was Jett, who supposedly belonged
to Kirill. The other two were clearly Arkhip's. There was no reason
to have the extra in a meeting of the council, other than to show
off. The third wolf was there purely as a show of Arkhip’s power.
It was so typical of him, never missing an opportunity to flaunt
his strength.

Arkhip Dukran was an especially
talented Madonian, he had the ability to create wolves. Most
Madonians who could create things, could so in a silver color, not
lifelike. However, Arkhip didn’t just create figurines or silver
wolves, he was capable of creating extremely lifelike black wolves,
that moved and behaved like natural creatures.

He had been seen using as many as
five wolves under his command before. Lana had no idea how many he
ever had at one time or which one was even his Aorra. This made the
Dukran family feared, for the things Arkhip was capable of doing
without the drain of his strength was, before him, unheard
of.

After acknowledging all who were
in the round room Lana began making her way to the two open seats
left for them. Valdor greeted Lionel Maddox with a strong
handshake. The two were somewhat long time friends. They were not
close, for council members tended to keep each other at an arms
length. However, Valdor had gone fishing with Lionel once, which
was more than what Lana had ever seen from the others and her
father. Lana’s father took the seat next to Lionel, putting her in
the seat next to Kirill.

It will be fine.
Keep moving, people are beginning to stare.
Ardin gave Lana a gentle mental nudge. She stopped brooding a
moment and observed everyone’s eyes on her. She hadn’t even noticed
that she had stopped walking. Heat rose to her face as she blushed,
hurrying to her seat.

Ardin sat between Lana and Kirill,
his head well above the table. He gazed around at all who were in
the room before turning back to her. Lana too observed the room,
taking note that the Sterling’s were the only ones
missing.

The Sterling’s were a mother and daughter
team, to whom this castle was home. Always trying to make an
entrance and make everyone wait for them Lana thought to
herself.

Yes, well you
know…women.
Ardin commented about the
Sterling’s.

Hey!
Rude.
Lana shot back at Ardin, trying to
stifle a small smile. Suddenly she became uncomfortably aware of
who sat near her, just on the other side of her
Aorra.

Kirill was sitting next to them
and she could feel him, his eyes on her. She turned away from
Ardin, trying to avoid eye contact with the monstrous Madonian
sitting next to her Aorra. But she could still feel his gaze
searing into her skin.

Remain composed.

Before Lana could turn to Ardin to
see what he meant she felt a hand touch her arm. It was a brief
touch, meant to only get her attention, yet her body recoiled from
it anyway. She turned to Kirill. His blond hair was pulled back and
his steel eyes were focused directly on her. Lana sat there looking
at him, her pulse quickened, she didn’t know what to do.

Kirill leaned over and gestured
that Lana do the same. They leaned towards one another, behind
Ardin.

Play nice,
everyone can see.
Ardin’s words entered
her mind as she leaned in behind him.

“
Listen, what I said about your
mother was out of line. I apologize, it was wrong of me. I am not
sure what came over me.” Kirill spoke softly.

Lana’s eyes slightly widened in
surprise, what was she to do with this? He better not have been
expecting any apology from her in return. Giving Kirill a small
forced smile and a nod of her head, she leaned back into her seat.
She glanced over at her father who was watching her intently out of
the corner of his eye while making small talk with Lionel
Maddox.

Well that was
unexpected… he probably did it just for show, in front of
everyone.
Lana was thinking to herself
more than Ardin, he answered anyway.

Perhaps, but no one could hear
what was said. For all everyone knows he could have just insulted
you.

Then why?

Lana only had a moment to ponder
this before her attention was drawn to the open entrance of the
great room. The sound of approaching heels echoed off of the walls,
as if they were small messages sent out to announce the Sterlings
arrival. Cyra Sterling and her daughter Elysia entered gracefully,
their gowns flowing like silky water in their wake.

Cyra’s gold gown with black
embroidering flowed behind her, her daughter’s dress was similar to
her own but contrasting in color design, black dress with gold
embroidering. Their gowns were as extravagant as was their castle
and slightly over the top considering the occasion. Cyra’s dark
hair, streaked with grey, was pulled back loosely while Elysia’s
blond hair was left to naturally flow, cascading over her shoulders
in golden waves.

They walked to their seats but remained
standing as two hawks suddenly flew in through the door, each
finding a perch to the side of the Sterlings.

After a pause Cyra addressed
everyone, “Elysia and I are happy to welcome all of you to our home
in our great city of Abder for this council meeting. As you all
know, normally when we all gather it is custom to have a ceremony
and grand introductions, I truly apologize for the lack of this
grand gesture. The one who called the meeting asked to be quick and
discrete about it. So without prolonging the introduction” Cyra
turned her gaze to the tall slender dark man sitting to the side of
her “Arkhip Dukran, the floor is yours.” With a smooth liquid
movement, the Sterling’s took their seats.

Arkhip waited for everyone’s gaze
to turn to him before he stood. “My friends.” He began and paused.
“It saddens me that such unfortunate circumstances bring us
together. It is no secret that the Rami continue to attack our
people and our lands. They paint our streets red, leaving echoes of
dying screams and the stench of burning Madonian flesh in their
wake. So why do we only fight them when they have already begun
cutting our own down? All of us have made a promise to protect our
people, our lands and we have failed. Men, women and even children
who are under our protection are left to be murdered. Why? Because
of some treaty that only our side seems to be trying to uphold?
Zakran, king of the Rami, lets his men have their way with our
women and kill our children and we do what? Nothing.”

Valdor spoke up, wanting Arkhip to
get to his point. “And what is it that you expect us to do Dukran?
Why have you called the meeting?”

“
For us to bring the Rami scum the
war they so desperately want before they bring it to us while we
are ill prepared.”

“
For us to give you our men and
armies for you to do with as you see fit?” Valdor clarified,
exactly what it was that Arkhip was asking for.

A Laderic brother now chimed in.
“Our code for war calls for us to choose one amongst ourselves to
lead the unified Madonian army during a war. However, we do not
wish to forfeit our armies to your rule, no disrespect.”

“
You are a strong man Dukran, but
you are also a ruthless man. I too do not wish to hand over my men
to you. And I find it extremely unlikely for you to hand yours over
to me” Iria Maddox voiced.

Arkhip smiled slightly. “Yes we
will have a vote as to who will be the lead during this time of
war”.

Rumbles came from everyone in the
room.

“
You are mad!” Valdor erupted. “We
have not even agreed to a war and you are speaking of a vote for us
to give you our men. I will not allow for you to lead my men into a
slaughter you call war. More good and innocent men will die under
your lead than with the way things are.”

“
Some loss now
will make up for safety later, Casteel.” Lana noted that he had
held back on the name, trying to make it sound less like a sneer.
“Sacrifices, must always be made for the greater good. And who is
it that always helps all of you against the Rami threat? Whenever
any of you are in need of assistance it is
my
worriers who come to
your
rescue, perhaps if
I stopped sending you all help then you would understand how dire
the situation is.”

“
So why not stop sending your
gracious help Dukran?” Valdor asked.

Arkhip smiled, yet his eyes remained
incredibly cold as if there was no life in them. “Because then
there would be nothing left, no one to help me against the Rami.
And as talented that I am I can not take down the entire Rami army
on my own.”

If it were not
for the thick tension in the room Lana would have laughed at that.
Arkhip admitting to needing help,
as
talented as he was?
It was as if she were
sitting in a theater and Arkhip was the grand
performer.

“
You think us completely incapable
of protecting our own?” Lathe Laderic spoke to Arkhip, a hint of
annoyance in his voice. He did not seem to like Arkhip’s threat of
pulling back aid against the Rami. Didn’t like the insinuation that
he single handedly was the reason that the Madonian lands had not
yet been overtaken by the Rami.

“
No. I think you are all quite
capable, which is why I am asking for your help in this.” After a
pause he added, “I also do not wish to lead your men, but for us to
lead together. If we go to war, we must all go.”

Everyone sat in dumbfounded
silence. Lana looked over at her father who seemed to be taken a
back by the comment. Arkhip was dangerous and power hungry. For him
to not use the opportunity to gain more power, to gain Madonian
control, he must have some angle.

“
To change the code written by our
ancestors--” Iria Maddox began before getting cut off by
Arkhip.