Chapter: 673 – A House Council

Tala stood in a surprisingly austere council room within the House of Blood’s complex.

The festivities had only ended a few hours earlier, this meeting only delayed enough for the attendees to have gotten cleaned up and changed if they so wished.

There were nineteen Pillars and Eskau in attendance, once again without there being overlap except in the case of Head Corinis. Some had not been at the feast, but their expressions showed disappointment rather than irritation at the conversations around them, recounting the festivities.

So, they likely couldn’t attend rather than having chosen not to. That’s a good sign.

Each sat in a mini-throne-like chair, slightly elevated above the center and arranged in a circle.

There were a total of twenty-one chairs, but three stood empty. Head Corinis’s Eskau was standing behind and to his left, so he didn’t take up a seat.

As before, Tala noted just how varied each Pillar and Eskau was. There were a couple of repeats—including an elven Pillar to be a repeat of Eskau Meallain’s race and if she lumped all hue-folk together, there were even more—but even so, there weren’t many, once again highlighting just how accepting the House of Blood was of differences. They only cared about competency and loyalty, all else mattered little.

-Gated Humanity is actually rather homogenous, now that I consider it.-

Well… yeah? There are only some fifteen million of us. After millennia of such small numbers, it’s a miracle there is any genetic variation left.

-Well, we do have the older Archons occasionally having children, reintroducing more recessive traits.-

I… huh, you’re right. That would help a bit. That explains why we don’t all look basically the same at least.

The room was round, with Head Corinis’s chair situated directly opposite the only visible door into the space. That door was solidly closed, with two squads of House Guards outside.

Rane, Lea, Terry, and the interested folks in Irondale—her friends and helpers, not the random populace—were all watching from within Tala’s expanded space. Captain Ron had even tripled the number of Talons ‘on deck’ to be ready in the worst case scenario, and they were watching as well.

-Fifteen Revered level warriors at your beck and call. You could obliterate near-to half the House of Blood’s leadership right here and now.-

Even if that were true—and I’m not sure it is—that would doom us. Gated humanity would never be trusted again.

-True enough… assuming they could tie it back to you.-

Alat… Tala was unamused.

-Fine, fine.-

Head Corinis was idly enjoying a glass of wine while watching over his Pillars and Eskau as they discussed random topics of no real consequence.

Pillar Cruas had bowed politely to Tala when he entered, but he hadn’t engaged with her directly.

That made sense. This was meant to be a vote about her, and anyone interacting with her too much here and now could be seen as attempting to sway the vote beforehand. There would be time for that later.

The only other that Tala recognized—excluding those who had been at the feast and welcome, of course—was Eskau Reidh.

She’d sparred with him last time she was here, and the burnt-orange dragonling had been watching her like the predator he was, only passingly engaging with those on either side of him in the pre-meeting socialization.

As he watched her, his inscribed scales rippled with blue light, clearly having a fractional amount of power flowing through them, ready to be ramped up at need.

He used friction alteration right?

-Exactly. He’d be a great opponent for Lea… if he held back like he did with you when you were here last.-

Lea? I suppose. I want to fight the man again.

-Well, if this vote goes your way, you can absolutely request just that as part of training for the war.-

…Or I could just ask. There’s no need to lean on my authority unnecessarily.

-Really? Come on, Tala. You’ve seen it. Authority is like a muscle. You have to flex it to help it grow, and the more people who bend to it, the more it grows too.-

Tala grimaced internally. After all, the alternate interface had a point even if she didn’t like it. Still, she kept her face stoic, staring straight ahead, eyes directed just to Head Corinis’s right so she wasn’t staring anyone down.

There was still no sign of Eskau De-arg, and she didn’t actually know who his Pillar was. There was a turtle-kin Pillar who was likely his, but she’d not met the man before so it was still just a guess. She almost swept her perception through the complex to find the little Eskau, but she felt like that would almost certainly breach at least some people’s privacy, and it just wasn’t worth it.

Once again, she could inquire after the smaller bear-kin variant after this meeting. She didn’t need to know where he was at this exact moment.

Finally, Head Corinis’s Eskau leaned forward and put a hand on his Pillar’s arm, causing Head Corinis to shift and glance back. Finally, the man sighed and nodded. “It is time.”

The simple sentence drew all eyes, and conversations ground to a halt.

The man nodded once and smiled. “I have with me three of the votes ahead of time. I would tell you that I must keep them in confidence, but…” He shrugged, smiling helplessly as those in attendance chuckled. “So, we know three votes. As this appointment can only be conferred with unanimity, after an initial check, I think it prudent to find out if any is unwilling to even consider the idea, and who is against it, but open to further discussion.”

He looked around and nodded again. “So, all in favor of elevating Eskau Tala to the rank of Eskau of War, in order to guide and spear-head our coming conflict with the Black Legion, make yourself known.”

Sixteen voices snapped out as one. “Aye!”

Tala was momentarily confused, not at the support, she understood that this had to have a good chance for the council to have been called at all. She was confused by the overlapping votes until she realized that she could easily tell who had spoken, her perception and senses capable of identifying them instantly and easily.

Why have a long procedure when everyone here has the capacity to tally overlapping votes?

-Huh… I never considered that means of saving times. Different cultures, I suppose.-

Regardless, with sixteen present votes in favor, three in absentia, and the Head who had yet to make his feelings known—but yet again, if he’d been against it, this meeting would have never happened—that meant that only one had not voted in favor instantly.

“Who is entirely against the idea?”

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All eyes turned to look at Eskau Reidh, who remained silent, staring at Tala.

“Who is open to discussion?”

“Aye” The dragonling spoke in isolation.

“So then, Eskau Reidh. You have the floor. What concerns do you have which can be addressed?”

The dragonling stood, his scales and inscriptions shifting and rippling with the movement, his blood-form protian weapon making his left arm look like he’d dipped it into a vat of the stuff just moments earlier, ensuring it was still wet and glistening. His voice was as crisp, clean, and precise as Tala remembered it. “I have three objections, one personal, one general, and one upon principle.” He grinned with wickedly sharp teeth. “I will go in reverse order.”

Tala shifted her stance so she faced the Eskau and waited.

“The objection on principle is simply that I don’t think any vote such as this should go through without discussion.”

There were some groans, a few chuckles, and a dwarf actually put his head in his hands and sighed… loudly.