The Promise of the Trees - Sword, Ring, and Crown Book 3 (Complete - Editing)

Chapter Thirteen- Madeline

We had reconvened in the throne room. All were gathered there, including ever servant of the palace, the comfort men, and the vampires. I brought in the Counsul, and the religious leaders. It was good that the room was immense, as there were gathered at least five hundred people.

The decision to strengthen the border in the Autumn lands was hasty and lacked planning, and Luke was injured because of it. Because Joseph had planted spies, he knew more about us and our forces than we knew about his. Not only was I struggling with my poor planning abilities, but I was also dealing with the turmoil in my court. The religious leaders were not on board with my aim to change the culture of this world, and even the concubines and servants were reticent about doing more to change. The men of Aleria had a "do as much as will keep you from being punished' mentality. Even the armies were not as effective because the men had no agency under the current culture, and the women were unwilling to part with their power.

I lacked the knowledge to make a good plan, and I needed to make one pronto. I'd never done planning, as everything I did was planned by someone else. I'd been lucky so far, that I'd made it to this point by blindly barreling forward. But now, I was like a toddler given a blowtorch and tasked with creating a magnificent metal work of art. All the power I had was not enough to fix the mess we had, and in fact, I'd gotten us hurt.

It was only the steady hand of Xavian soothing me that was allowing me to meet with everyone. 

"Xavian, I feel like I'm going crazy."

He kissed the top of my head and whispered against it. "Yes, we all are. We can all feel the strain. Stand strong, my flower."

Ciaran murmured, "Once we have our plan in place, we'll be able to get a victory against Ios. Let's be brave, Princess."

I put on my brave face. I needed to get these forces to align with me and see that Joseph winning would only hurt their cause. After taking a breath, I addressed the assembly. "Not everyone in this room likes me." There were scoffs among the priestesses. Yes, I knew they didn't like me. After glaring at them until they grew silent, I continued on. "In fact, there are some that might want to kill me. However, I'm asking you all to put aside your personal feelings and look at Aleria and the Earth as a whole, and to realize the threat that Iosef poses to you all."

There was a murmuring within the crowd, and I saw my grandfather's jaw clench as he folded his arms. How he was still on the Counsul was beyond me, but there it was. As he was a Counsul member, he was above the law in some sense, rather like a diplomat. He would be trouble. As of yet, I hadn't had a heart-to-heart with him, and that would have to change. Where he'd been during the last trial, was still unknown. He'd ditched us during the battle with Luis's forces. 

The other two Counsul members reacted more passively. I knew that they wanted what was best for Aleria, since they went out of their way to protect it. But were they truly for me? Was grandfather willing to give up his desire to kill me for the sake of Aleria? Priana seemed different from the other women in Aleria, and Clavis appeared to have a backbone. I could only hope they would be enough. 

"All of us have made some pretty grave mistakes, and Iosef knows more about our weaknesses than we know about him. Right now, he has the upper hand, and he knows it. He's mocking all of you. We have the might of the Trees, and the power of the Counsul, but we're too busy fighting amongst ourselves to create a cohesive whole.

And you know what else is wrong? Who is the muscle of your armies? It is the men, is it not? The women are the finesse, they are the magic, but the men should be just as strategic with free agency if we want to win. They don't have that agency, but you command them to use their muscle to fight. What is their incentive?"