Lacuna - N.R. Walker Page 0,114

back to normal. They pulled out seats at the table but stayed on their feet, and everyone fell quiet waiting. Someone had to take charge of beginning this new era of leadership, and Crow assumed he would.

Apparently Tancho assumed the same, because they spoke at the same time.

“I think we—”

“Perhaps we could—”

Crow and Tancho stopped and looked at each other, and Crow gestured for Tancho to continue. “Please, go on,” Crow said, taking his seat.

Soko laughed because Crow never conceded to anyone, and Crow shot him a warning glare because allowing Tancho to speak first was not conceding. Soko snorted and Crow kicked him under the table.

“Yes, as I was saying,” Tancho said. “Perhaps we could begin by acknowledging what we achieved when our four kingdoms came together for one cause. Moving forward, I want us to never lose sight of that. For all the faults of the elders and Aequi Kentron, they did one thing right. They made our four kingdoms equal in every way. We couldn’t be more different, but what Elmwood said yesterday was true. There is strength in our differences, and we are stronger when we stand together. I believe we can learn a great deal from each other, and I very much look forward to learning more about your cultures and what gives your people heart. And please know you are all welcome in my home any day.”

He sat down to a round of applause and a few shouts of agreement, and Crow slid his hand onto Tancho’s thigh and leaned in. “You’re very good at that,” he whispered.

Then Crow noticed everyone was now looking at him, given he was going to speak earlier but had graciously allowed Tancho to go first. He shot to his feet. “Right, yes. As I was saying . . . I think we need to ask our mentors if they accept their roles as the new Grand Consul.”

Crow took his seat, and it was Sirocco who stood. “We have decided. It was unanimous. We will each accept this new role.” She put her hand up before anyone could get too excited. “We agreed to accept for an initial two years. That should see any new legislation, new rules, into effect. After the two years have passed, we’ll vote again to see if we’ll do another two years.”

Everyone clapped and Crow gave Erelis a proud nod. The man had been a father to him, a mentor and advisor, the voice of reason and a Northlander to the bone. There was no one more suited to speak for their people.

They spoke until sunrise, going around the table and voicing concerns and expressing opinions. Samiel suggested using the Aequi Kentron business model as a base to build from. The exports and imports between kingdoms had worked for many years, and while it could probably be improved upon, it was a good place to start.

Elmwood voiced his concerns over taxes and just what the old Consul had done with the money. Was it accounted for properly? Or were there no records of it at all?

Tancho’s most immediate concern was the doorways. They should implement some kind of schedule for regular passageway rather than just turn up unannounced. Barring an emergency of course, only permitting the doorways to be open at certain times or days made sense. And could anyone access the doorways? What if a villager in Westlands decided he wanted to trade wares with a villager in Southlands, should they have unrestricted access? If so, should they implement some kind of record that documents people coming and going?

So many things that Crow hadn’t yet considered.

“What about you, Crow?” Asagi asked. “Your immediate concerns for us to address?”

Crow took in a deep breath and let it out with a sigh. “My immediate concern is that the sun is about to rise. We need to feed our soldiers, make sure our injured are tended, and our dead have been taken care of. We need to clean this castle, we need to address our people and let them know what happened and that they are safe and there are bright days ahead. We need to find any other possible doorway, on land and underwater, and we need to dismantle them. We need to plan a memorial ceremony for all the fallen, so we can honour those who came to fight yesterday and never made it home. We need to explore those catacombs below us, and read every history book we can find. We need to