wooden, ornate piece takes up the middle of the room with six throne-like chairs spread around it.
There isn’t much else in the room except for a fire which is lit and a small serving area in one corner with yet another bar. Leaning against the wall, I watch as the door opens and the council files in. The last one is Amos, who sits at the head of one end of the table, while Titus takes the other, surprising me.
“Meeting is called to order. Does anyone have any issues to discuss?” Amos calls, sitting back in his chair like a king. I almost snort, but I don’t know if they can hear me, so I stay silent, watching instead, collecting intel.
“Not an issue, just informing everyone I had to dispatch two of your little loyal servants, they tried to escape and then attack me when I caught them. I punished one and then killed them both. Their bodies are currently decorating the east woods,” Titus says in a bored voice.
I see Amos jerk, his face darkening in anger. “You do not have the power to dispatch any of my spies without first consulting me.”
“You are not in charge yet, Amos. We are all entitled to punish our servants if we feel they are disrespectful, unless you feel you are better or deserving of more power than the rest of the council?” Titus challenges, a grin playing on his lips, knowing he has backed the man into a corner.
“Titus is correct. If they were escaping, then they are useless to us. Moving on,” Derrin declares, his eyes looking at the clock on the wall.
“I have been hearing rumours,” Greta starts, and Amos rolls his eyes, “of missing supernaturals. Has anyone else?”
“Of course, we hear it all the time, nothing more than made-up stories. They have probably run off.” Amos waves it away, but she leans forward.
“I do not think so. I trust these sources, and I do not think we should dismiss this so easily. We already have people questioning our leadership, so I think we should make a stand, show them why we lead and figure out what is happening among our own people.”
Fuck, I wasn’t expecting that, and it tells me two things. One, Amos is a part of this but not all of the council is. I analyse their faces, trying to note those who appear to be in agreement, but it’s hard, they have all had hundreds of years at perfecting their poker faces.
“Understood, we will monitor, and if the situation gets worse we will, of course, figure it out,” Amos concedes before looking around. “Any other issues?”
“There has been movement from the dragons. A source of mine informs me one broke through the gate and has since disappeared. I will continue to keep my eyes and ears open to ensure this was not a random occurrence,” Derrin offers.
“Dragons,” Greta scoffs. “They wouldn’t step foot here, they think it is beneath them.”
“There have been rumblings,” Titus interjects, tracing his hand across the wood in thought. “At Rejek.”
Rejek?
The...the old mountain? I frown at that. I thought it was dead, cursed ground where no one walked. Why would it be rumbling with activity and why would they be monitoring a dead mountain?
Amos glowers with contemplation in his eyes. “Indeed? How much...rumbling?”
“Abnormal amounts,” Titus responds, seeming happy about this news.
“I will send a message to confirm everything is okay,” Amos replies, distracted. “I will do that at once, we don’t need them interfering.”
“Why? Hiding something?” Titus retorts, and Amos narrows his eyes.
“It is for the best of us all. You are too young to remember the last time they walked among us, it was chaos. There was so much death, and half the council was killed as an example and replaced,” Amos snaps, standing and pressing his fists onto the table.
“Indeed?” Titus mocks. “Maybe that wouldn’t be a bad thing.”
The others look back and forth between them, but it’s clear these two butting heads isn’t an unusual occurrence.
“I am confident you do not want that to happen, Titus, and that if they did come here, they would agree with every decision I’ve made, which has nothing but the betterment of our people and their interests at heart. Now, if you will excuse me, the meeting is adjourned.”
Amos turns and leaves the room, walking swiftly while the others talk amongst themselves as they exit, but Titus stays behind, turning his head and staring at me through the mirror like he can