For Lythdom

The men who control the rules

Luckily, Olga's chambers weren't too far from the council chamber; though the cracks on the stone floor became her greatest ally in the short walk, always providing something new to look at that wasn't the eyes that sent shivers down her spine at their slight feeling.

Though the woman that possessed such eyes couldn't bare not to have the last word before they would be presented to the council, "you have a brilliant talent Ivy, use it."

The council chamber wasn't the architectural masterpiece she'd always pictured in the detailed dreams of her future. No painstakingly carved details in the stone pillars, just a smooth surface littered with cracks where secrets whistled into the corridors in the dead of night. Just the same beams she'd walked by every day of the past five years of her life, not even accompanied by stained glass or metal detailing.

Those in the room made up for it, their stares enough to crumble the walls, leaving her standing on her own surrounded by them and those piercing eyes. It didn't come as a surprise to her that they were all men. Some she had seen parading through the corridors of the school like kings that merely toppled over insecure teenagers with insults cheaper than used underwear; hardly living up to the pedestal they were placed upon for so long. Others she had heard rumours about. Duke of Brielle, Alf Magnusson, shared intimate moments with a pig to get into a club and unfortunately conducted an infection because of it. Earl of South Henshire, Montgomery Lindenberg, was the father of five illegitimate children by the time he graduated and spent more money on his visits to the local hotels than them. Duke of Steiner, Ralph Henrik, only married his wife to stop the questions about his many visits to the bakery outside his estate that coincidently paralleled the hours of the young man who was the new baker.

In the middle of the table was the King: Adrienne Kach; a towering man who made steel his personality and appearance with an abundant ego fed by his supposed purpose in life: to have power. So much of it that most would topple over at its weight, but steel could carry ten times more and it would. She'd met him twice before. Once when he was a prince and the King at the time had selected her as Olga's advisor. The second was a year before at his coronation, he'd stuck by Cressida and her for most of the evening much to Cressida's annoyance, she'd planned to sneak off when her parents weren't watching her. She couldn't say he had many notable attributes other than the obvious; he was the King and Olga's older brother. On the other hand, the man that sat to his right, Stefan Theodore Duke of Lyford, was a ball of energy and conversation, too much of it. As he was the Chancellor, they had maintained many conversations through letters which advised her on how to prepare for her role though, most of them were just feeding her the dirt on all within the council; confirming the rumours and entertaining Cressida and Norah with her desperation to escape the men she would be working alongside. He had the appearance of the tone he wrote in, a chaotic explosion of many things which he would call artistic and he would be a fluffy sheep that jumped around fields if he were an animal.

He was the first to notice their arrival, his face rising into a bright grin that displayed all his teeth and pulled all his muscles into action. Practically bouncing in his seat, he nudged King Adrienne who cast a rare smile at the only person who could flatten his ego ten times over and he'd kill anyone who tried to stop her. It was unnatural and strained him more than a fight could, the metal contraptions that were his lips battled with effort to give her the sight of the wiry upturn of his lips.

He waited until they were settled in the two empty seats on his left to start his rumbling voice, "Welcome to you both. It is a pleasure to have you seated with us," Olga beamed at him as he spoke, taking in every word like they were gold dripping from a chalice, "now... we may begin this sitting properly, Stefan."

"The Wisterian border is getting restless, there have been reports of multiple fights breaking out within the last few weeks, armed fights with ten men killed from Skrill with fifty injured. The Duke of Stermere has advised an attack."