143: Tension

Entering the dining hall, I noticed several sets of eyes on me immediately, all sitting around a very long wooden table in the centre of the room. Several of them looked shocked as Lily and Crisplet came in behind me.

The room itself wasn’t as opulent as the grand hall. The walls were lined with banners that I had to assume were all the house symbols, and along the far wall sat a table with varied jugs and bottles.

I took in the group at the table itself—none of them were people I had seen before. Starting from the head of the table, there was a boy who looked only slightly older than me, He wore a crimson suit and had the same fiery red hair and red eyes I’d seen on Kathrine and the King.

Beside him sat a very elegant-looking lady in a red dress that flowed like water. Her brunette hair was pinned up, and she wore a tiara that featured the symbol of Alira on it.

Further down were three older men and one lady, all dressed in fine clothing, all looking rather shocked at me.

“Come in, Trevor. Come, let us do some introductions. Please take a seat up here,” the King said, taking his seat at the head of the table and gesturing to the chair on his left.

There were five other empty seats on my right. I had to assume one was originally Gerald’s, but it was now taken by Crisplet. Lily chose to lie down right behind my chair.

I couldn’t help but notice that all eyes—besides the King’s—were locked onto her and Crisplet.

That was only broken when the King coughed, drawing everyone’s attention.

“Gerald is going to be unavailable for dinner this evening, I believe, so I will do the introductions. First, my lovely wife, Amber. My daughter, Kathrine—you’ve already met—then my youngest son, Luis. Finally, myself, Marcus Ashivar.” He then gestured further down the table.

“Joining us tonight, I have a few of the key advisers and heads of houses here in the capital. First, we have Marie Belwyn, next, we have Reginald Fellwood, Henry Boltron, and Oliver Havenel. Their roles, and the reason they are here tonight, we can dive into shortly.” He gave Henry a hard look.

“For everyone else, you’ll have to excuse me if I mistake any names, but we have Trevor, orphan of Dunhearth, Liane, orphan of Morren, Hari Lindberg…” the King was saying when a small cough from Hari of all people interrupted him.

“Sorry, Your Majesty. It’s just Lind now,” Hari said softly.

There was a little murmuring from the others while Marcus seemed to take in the information. It clearly meant something, but I didn’t understand it at all. Maybe I needed to ask Hari about his past sooner rather than later.

“I see. Hari Lind. Milo Bestington. Jennifer Lyrea. And as I think is only right, we have Crisplet, the fire elemental companion, and Lily, the shadow cat.” Again, there were more murmurs as Marcus finished his introductions.

Another cough silenced everyone. “I would like to make sure—so we don’t have a repeat of Gerald outside—these are not beast companions. Both understand perfectly well. Now, I want to get this out of the way immediately. Henry, your nephew Felix is causing some issues in Boltron, and I need that resolved. I understand the attack on the city has caused significant stress to business; however, we cannot be making further enemies while recovering,” he said, addressing the older man.

“Yes, Your Majesty. I will send some representatives to the city tomorrow and ensure it’s set straight and resolved. Trevor, I do apologise if my nephew has offended you,” Henry said, dipping his head.

This all felt strange—figures like this bowing to me, apologising to me.

A moment later, several servants entered and began pouring drinks for everyone. By now, everyone’s attention had turned either to me or the King—everyone except Luis, who was still staring at Lily.

“The next matter we need to discuss is why I have invited you here tonight, Oliver. If I’m not mistaken, you’ve been overseeing and providing reports on the military?” Marcus turned to look at him.

Oliver appeared very nervous. “Yes, Your Majesty.”

“It’s a pity Gerald is not here, but could you tell me about your most recent report?” Marcus asked.

“Yes, sir. All is well on the front line. There are no significant events of note. We had an increase in recruits this year, which bodes well for the army,” Oliver said, clearly nervous.

“I see. So you consider the death of all those recruits, or the embezzlement of funds, to be not significant enough to note?” Marcus said coldly.

I couldn’t help but notice Liane’s eyes widen, clearly not expecting this topic.

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty. It was the failing of a single individual who will be dealt wi—” Oliver started.

“Silence. You do not even know what has happened, and yet you want me to believe you will resolve this situation?” Marcus snapped, his voice rising.

Even Lily raised her head to look at what was going on.

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“Captain Liam, please come forth a moment and inform us of your initial findings of Portland,” Marcus said, looking over to Liam, who had been standing silently at the door since we entered.

Walking forward, still in his full armour, Liam stopped a short distance from the table and spoke. “Yes, Your Majesty. Initial reports by Victor discovered twenty-six dead and even more injured, with nearly the entire march malnourished or suffering abuse. After interrogations, it was discovered this was not an outlying incident, and it was commonplace for the generals to save funds during the march, then to spend them on liquor once they made it home.”

Oliver looked like he wanted to say something, his mouth opening and closing, but in the end he stayed silent.

“Smartest decision you’ve made yet—staying quiet. One of the perpetrators is dead, executed by someone in this very room no less, and that you seem not to know that when I do means you have not only failed at the task, but you’ve brought shame to your house. House Havenel, from this moment, will be stripped of all responsibility with regard to running and maintaining our military,” Marcus said in a tone that brooked no argument.

Oliver just looked pale, with beads of sweat on his brow.

“Liam, please have your men take him away and escort him to his residence, which will be under lockdown until we have finalised my decision,” Marcus said.

“Your Maj—” Oliver tried, but Liam had already lifted him out of the chair, and he never got to finish the sentence.

“Normally we’d not do this at dinner, but I wish for you to understand we are taking these events seriously,” Marcus said to me.