System Change

Finn and Garrett quickly entered the palace to handle the tasks assigned to them by Diana. It was interesting for Derek to see how the two other leaders of major noble houses quietly took orders from the older lady without any questioning or concerns. It went to show that either her family was that much more powerful than theirs, or she just commanded a lot of respect.

With those two gone, Diana then chose to escort Derek’s group into the gaudy structure. Derek fell in behind everyone else and walked up the steps to the palace entrance. As they entered, he hoped to see something different, but as Diana led them through the halls and toward the Great Hall, Derek realized that once he had seen one palace, he’d seen them all.

Well, the one in Indria was nicer, but that was more about the nature aspect than anything else. The inside design was still pretty similar, he thought to himself as he followed behind the group. Soon, they reached the typical massive double doors leading to the Throne Room or Great Hall. Yup, always the same…

The difference was that there were no guards standing outside the giant doors this time, as they were all most likely still gathered outside the city, recovering from their injuries. Diana reached forward to the right side door, allowing her hand to rest on it, then, she pushed. The door slowly opened with a loud screeching noise. Damn… they really need to do some maintenance.

As Derek was thinking that the Great Hall was going to be similar to the other two he’d seen, he caught sight of the one in front of him and couldn’t help but laugh. On either side of the long hall up to the throne were sculptures of what he could only guess were previous rulers and possibly other members of their royal family. His guess was proven correct when he laid eyes on one of the closest statues and recognized it as Tevarian.

Then, he looked to the opposite side, and sure enough, there was a sculpture that looked like a very young version of Traven. Beside each of those statues was a woman—one was Queen Cassandra. Derek had never seen the woman on Traven’s side, but it didn’t take much for him to guess that it was the man’s wife.

“Oh… wow…” Avery muttered from beside Alanah. “I didn’t think it could get any worse, but I stand corrected.”

“You’re telling me,” Derek replied. “I think we may need to push the minor events of conquering a kingdom down the list of things to do, and set getting rid of these eyesores as the new number one priority. I doubt anyone could get any work done in this place with those things staring at you the whole time. It’s… unsettling.”

“Avery, do you remember when I told you to slap me upside the head if I ever mentioned building my own palace?” Alanah asked from between Derek and Avery.

“Good. Add making statues of myself to that list as well,” Alanah commanded.

“Yes, Mistress Swan,” Avery replied with a smile.

“Stop that,” the woman said. “I thought we were finally over that… Master Swan.”

Avery winced. “Fine, fine…”

“But you just must keep the decorum up in such a place.” Derek did his best mock impression of a proper gentleman, which he was not. “Lord Avery and Lady Swan.”

“Not you too…” Alanah rolled her eyes.

“But in all seriousness,” Derek said, this time speaking loudly so everyone would hear him. “You are all going to have to do something about those statues. They’re seriously creepy.”

“Agreed,” Edgar said from up front, then veered off course and ran to one of the statues before placing his hand on it. “It’s… melded into the ground. I can’t store in my storage ring.”

“Whelp… there goes the easy way,” Derek said.

“Alright, enough with the statues,” Edward finally said when they were close to the throne. “We’ll deal with those later. We have much to discuss and little time to do so.”

Everyone stopped where they were standing, but Derek continued forward. Soon, he reached the small steps, then the dais where the throne set. Finally, he walked around the throne, getting a good look at it, before sitting down. He moved left and right, and wriggled around, trying to find a comfortable way to sit, but he was unable to. With a sigh, he stood and walked back down with everyone else.

“What?” he asked, as everyone was staring at him. “I’ve been in three different palaces and never sat on the throne. Seeing how I don’t plan on becoming king of anything or anywhere, I thought I’d check to see what all the fuss is about while we were in a kingdom that doesn’t have a king anymore.”

“And?” Edgar asked.

“And… I now understand why Tevarian and Traven were so cranky. If that’s where I had to sit to conduct all my business, I’d probably go fight in a war, too,” he explained as he stepped past everyone to move to a more open area. With a wave of his hand, a table big enough for everyone appeared in front of him. It was just one of the tables he’d prepared for his Time Prison long ago. “It’s not really palace or royalty worthy, but it’ll do.”

With that, he walked to the end of the table and pulled his chair out of his storage bracelet before taking a seat. “Oh, that’s so much better.” With a wave of his hand, two more chairs appeared on either side of him. Alanah was quick to snatch one of them up, and, to his surprise, old man Marrick beat Avery to the other one.

“Oh, that is nice,” the old man said as he settled into the chair.

“If you think that’s nice, try this.” Derek stood from his personal chair and Marrick moved over to it.

“Oh?” Marrick muttered as he sat. “I think I could live for another decade if I had something like this. Why did I never think to invest in such seating?”

“Right?” Derek nodded in agreement. “Everywhere I go, even the Crown Restaurant, they never have really comfortable chairs. You should see some of the ones where I’m from. In fact, I was recently reminded of one not long ago, so when I get back to Savannah, I’m going to put my chair guy to work.”

Derek didn’t have a ‘chair guy’ but he was talking about Geoffrey, the slimy-looking contractor who built his shop and had helped him obtain the chairs he currently had. And the new chair he was talking about, that was a recliner. When he met with Dave, the mysterious elf had summoned a reclining chair out of nowhere, reminding him how lazy and comfortable sitting could be.

“Now, get up,” Derek said. “That’s mine. You can use the other one.”

Marrick hesitated for a moment, but soon sighed and resigned himself to sitting on the less comfortable seat. “Fine,” the old man said. “But you’re going to have to introduce me to your chair guy.”

“Will do,” Derek laughed and took his seat once again.

It seemed like everyone had their own seats stored within their storage rings, as it didn’t take long for every to pull something out and sit around Derek’s table. Edward sat at the head of the table opposite Derek, with Osian on his left and his father on his right. The seating arrangements definitely showed the pecking order—at least at that end of the table.

Diana was still standing—uncertainty written on her face. “Do you mind?” she hesitantly asked.

“You may,” Edward answered. “It will be good to have your take on the matters at hand.”

The matriarch of House Reeves had been helpful so far, and there weren’t any reasons to keep her from the discussions—at least not in Derek’s opinion—and it seemed like Edward agreed with him on that. Diana produced a chair for herself and sat.

“Do you believe all the noble houses will turn up?” Osian led off the conversation. “Three hours isn’t much of a notice.”

“No,” Diana replied. “I suspect there are already families fleeing the kingdom as we speak. Specifically, the ones from the families who just lost their leadership. Some will risk showing up, though, as there aren’t many places to run to that will not soon be under your control. Those that run will have to either be welcomed into Vallum or constantly be on the lookout.”

“They could chance crossing the sea,” Alanah said. “Go somewhere where few people even know the names Cydaria or Astrus.”

“Not if they value their lives,” Diana replied. “I would sooner risk my life here than try to take my entire family across the sea. How many people die each year with fancy ideas about establishing a trade with those other kingdoms? Or leave and are never seen again. You have to be crazy to do it.”

“I did it,” Alanah said.

“And how many people survived the trip here?” Diana asked.

Derek leaned forward. He’d wondered about the sea and what was on the other side, but he’d never asked about it. Wrapping his head around one new kingdom and continent was already hard enough. But he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t curious about Alanah’s origins.

“Me and two others,” Alanah. “If you’re strong, it’s not a problem. It just takes a lot of time. But the sea monsters are no joke and attack often. And you need a flying skill for when your ship is inevitably destroyed, plus multiple other water crafter to allow you to rest and recover after long days of flying.”

“Like I said… you’d have to be crazy,” Diana repeated. “Well, that or strong. However, going as a strong individual is one thing. Taking your family with you is another. I can see a few people going by themselves, but none would be so cruel to try to bring their entire family with them.”

I bet I could do it, Derek thought. Rather easily, too. Toss some people in my prison space, then borrow a dragon. Wouldn’t even need a boat.

“Okay,” Edward said. “So, we should expect many of the noble houses to come with representatives, but not all. Diana, would you be able to take note of any and all noble families who don’t present themselves at the announcement?”

“Sure,” the woman replied. “That won’t be a problem at all. I have an idea of who will come and who will not. I suppose you should expect a representative from each of the minor houses, as they weren’t part of the group you fought outside. As for the middle and major houses, it should be mixed. I do believe that more will come than will not.”

“Plus,” Osian said. “It’s a long way through Indria if one wishes to get to Vallum, and they won’t have access to any teleporter there, either.”

“Now that you mention it,” Diana replied, and summoned a red communication crystal out of her storage ring. “I can give the instruction to shut down all teleportation in the kingdom to anywhere other than Icecrest.”

“Do it,” Osian replied after getting a nod from Edward. “It should increase the amount of nobles that come. If they have no quick alternatives, they may take their chance.”

“If you don’t mind me asking,” Diana said. “What is your plan with those noble families? Will you destroy them?”

“We will set up a thorough investigation,” Edward replied and pointedly looked at Alanah.

“No,” Alanah said. “You can ask Natalie. I’m sure she’ll offer her services at a reasonable price.”

“Unfortunate,” Edward said. “But we have pulled many noble families up by the roots lately, so to speak. We will be less harsh on those from Astrus, but with some caveats. It will all depend on our investigations.”

At that time, the screeching of the doors sounded again, and Derek turned to look. It seemed that Finn had finished his task and was escorting a young man and woman into the room.

“Speaking of noble families,” Diana said. “It seems that Finn has found Tyler and Tevara Sinclair, of the royal… former royal family.”

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