Chapter 11: Chapter 11 The Council
’All of this is still theory for now, and I’m not going to be the one investigating; I’ll just stay out of his way for now’
[Smart choice, you have better things to do with your time, like finding a way to bang the Queen]
’Yeah, that is the smart choice, are you stupid? The smart choice is getting out of the palace and finding somewhere to think about this entire situation’
[So you’re not going to chase after the Queen?]
’When did I say that... You’re the one who told me the lust system isn’t at its best, isn’t that supposed to be the priority, making my life easier, and then when I’m no longer a suspect, then I can go after the Queen’
"Your Majesty, you really believe someone here is working with the Draken Empire, but to what end?" One of the nobles spoke.
"Lord Lucian is right. What would a council member gain from dealing such a devastating blow to the kingdom? What we need to look forward to is how to defend the kingdom," The new commander spoke.
The king nodded his head, "True, none of the council members would want to see the kingdom destroyed, still, this is too much of a coincidence. Was any knight captured from Draken?" The king asked.
"No, Your Majesty"
"We still have to figure out how the Draken Empire crossed the Red Pass. It should be impossible to cross due to the Leviathans, or did they sacrifice their fleet to launch this attack?" The king asked.
"The moment the scouts report back, I’ll bring the information before the council"
"What is the next step?" The king asked.
"We have to strengthen our defenses. Luckily, winter is coming soon, and the Draken Empire would suffer greatly if they decide to launch another attack. We can use that time to repair the city gates, rebuild the church, and train more knights and mages," The other commander spoke.
"Training soldiers is one thing, but rebuilding the church is another," one of the lords replied.
"The awakening ceremony is in two weeks, and we’ve seen it time and time again before. A new priest might not be selected, but luckily, the goddess of light didn’t forsake us. We still have a male priest, who would naturally assume the position of the Head priest, but what about our other cities"
"We have three major cities, and in each city a priest is placed to oversee the church there, but now it’s simply impossible to do that... Your Holiness, what do you suggest we do?"
The room fell silent for a moment before everyone’s eyes slowly turned toward Aiden.
’Shit... Why are they all looking at me? Don’t tell me they expect me to rebuild the entire church. What do I say?’ Aiden mumbled as he bowed his head down.
The king cleared his throat before speaking. "Your Holiness, until a new Holy Church is built, I ask that you temporarily lead the remaining priestesses. The people need hope now more than ever."
’That’s right’
"We need to give the people hope, and with that in mind, I’d like to visit all three cities, and of course, I’ll instruct the priestesses," Aiden spoke.
The king nodded before looking around the table again.
"Good. Then our priorities are clear. Rebuild the city walls, strengthen our defenses, investigate more into the attack, confine the rest of the refugees and have them check for irregularities, and prepare for winter." The king spoke.
"Yes, Your Majesty," All of them around the table replied, but before the king could stand, the door to the throne room was pushed open, and the knight who had escorted Aiden earlier stepped in, dropping to his knees.
"Your Majesty!" he called out, slightly out of breath. "The scouts have returned from the western coast and brought a message with them."
The room immediately fell silent.
"Speak," the king ordered.
"The scouts confirmed that the Draken Empire crossed the Red Pass."
The moment those words left the knight’s mouth, everyone around the table stood up in shock, all except Aiden, who simply turned around.
"Impossible!" One of the nobles exclaimed.
"The Red Leviathans would never allow a ship to pass, and the army that attacked the kingdom was more than a single ship," another lord added.
The knight lowered his head before continuing, "The scouts found wreckage scattered across the sea. Broken masts, shattered hulls, and countless pieces of Draken warships have washed onto our shores."
"How many ships?" the king asked.
"We estimate they sent around thirty ships, Your Majesty." The knight replied, and the throne room became silent once again.
"Thirty..." one of the commanders muttered in shock.
"The Red Leviathans destroyed most of them before they could reach our waters."
"Then how did they attack us?" Lord Lucian asked.
"Three ships managed to reach the western port before the attack began. They were abandoned after the battle and are still docked there. We don’t know how many soldiers disembarked before the ships were abandoned, but it couldn’t have been many."
The new commander frowned. "So they really sacrificed an entire fleet just to send a small force into Elaris..."
The king slowly sat back down, his expression turning grim. "No... This wasn’t simply an invasion."
Everyone around the table looked toward him; they knew it wasn’t. The Draken Empire had a plan, and it first involved destroying the source of Elaris’ military prowess, which was the Holy Church.
Elaris and Draken were on two different continents, separated by a large stretch of ocean that was occupied by the Red Leviathans. The Leviathans were creatures so large they covered entire stretches of ocean, and acted as the kingdom of Elaris’ natural defense when the Draken Empire started its conquest.
Even if Elaris and Draken were on the same continent, Elaris could rival them in terms of military prowess, as they also commanded a large army and the most powerful priests in the entire world.
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