Heroes Never Die ✓

Chapter 4 Royal Council

Gawyn sat in the council chamber and listened to nobles bickering about trade laws.

"You surely cannot sign this ridiculous treaty, Your Majesty!" Khalid Goldmanter huffed, a spit sprayed from his mouth, making the closest sitting nobles shudder and shift away on their chairs. But the man seemed to be unaware of his surrounding, entirely focused on his, no doubt, justified fury. "This will undermine our local production in favour of foreign craftsmen! You surely can't condone such a thing, Your Highness!"

Gawyn turned his eyes to his little sister. The Queen. It still amazed him when he thought about that. Since they were children, they were all aware of their future roles. Alarat was groomed to be a leader, the King, hopefully. Gawyn, with his knack for logical and strategic thinking, was preparing to be a military commander and advisor. And Aliyah... well, she was supposed to be a supporting wife to whatever noble she would be married to so they could forge political alliances to support Alarat's claim for the throne.

And yet, here they were, Alarat long dead after a short rule, while his eccentric little sister was the Queen for over eight years now. She looked more dignified now, even though she still insisted on dyeing her hair all those ridiculous colours – currently, it was in the darkest shade of purple. The wrinkles formed on her forehead when she was frowning in thought. He could also spot small lines near her eyes and mouth. That didn't make her any less beautiful, though. Or any less formidable as a political opponent.

She turned her grey eyes to Khalid, and a small smile played on her lips. It was an inevitable sign that he said exactly what she was expecting from him, and she was already prepared to crush all his arguments without a second thought. Yes, his little sister indeed changed for the better.

"Do you have so little faith in our craftsmen, Lord Goldmanter?" she asked calmly. "Are you suggesting the quality of their work is so poor that the moment we open our trade to Torringland, they would immediately go out of business?"

"No, I didn't mean to─" Khalid wanted to protest but was interrupted immediately.

"There is no chance those new goods from Torringland would substitute our produce," said a massive man with a long grey beard.

It's been a long time since Jonas Longcutter reached the age of sixty, but he was still in good shape, and it was clear he did a lot of hard, menial work himself. Even though his family oversaw most wood-based industries in the kingdom, he was still personally checking the quality of their goods. Gawyn respected him for that, even though he found the man himself brash and unsophisticated for a noble of that high status.

"Our craftsmen know what they are doing," Jonas continued, "and there was never any issue with the quality of our work. You can open the trade for other kingdoms, but I can assure you, their merchants will get back to their kingdom empty-handed."

Aliyah nodded her head, giving an older man a beautiful smile. "That's what I think too. There is no risk in us making a trade with Torringland easier. I believe in our people, and I know that their work could be admired in Lamyria and other kingdoms. What's more, there are plenty of goods that Torringland can offer us that we won't find within our borders." She smirked, her grey eyes shining with mischief. "Like more colourful dyes, for example. Anyone else has any objections towards the treaty?"

The gathered nobles murmured, but no one raised their voice to speak. Gawyn sighed inwardly. They were still a bunch of self-centred fools caring only for whatever directly affected their lands.

"Great," continued Aliyah. "Then let's get to the next point of our meeting." She looked at the scrolls in front of her. "Joint military training with Torringland." She looked up at Gawyn. "Lord General, brief us on the matter, please."