The three powers

“You cannot possibly do that!” Milena shouted. “Have you gone insane!”

She was the only one with strength left to shout at the King. Half of the room was completely stunned, speechless. They even doubted their own ears. For some, one that had been a very stupid suggestion just seconds ago, was now chosen by the King as the next step to take. Many eyes went to Arseus De Winter, who had said such a thing in the first place.

Ellias sat back again, very calmly, even adjusting his shirt with a prideful expression. He looked at Milena as if she was a wilful child throwing a tantrum.

“I won’t risk our Kingdom, like the Grand Princess said. There’s no one left to save in that forest. We might as well burn it all down to the ground.”

“…You’re insane,” she muttered. “You’re talking about the Emerald Forest, Your majesty. That forest isn’t merely composed of just a few trees. We’re talking about an area twice as large as our Capital itself. We’re talking about so much land, there’s no way you can control a fire that big! You’ll ruin half of our ecosystem and resources!”

“That’s the fair price to pay for peace, Princess Milena,” Ellias retorted. “Weren’t you the one begging us for a solution against the Wendigos, just a while ago? We might as well get rid of all those things at once. They are worse than a disease, but luckily, easier to catch. By luck, we already know where they all are.”

Milena closed her fists, so hard her nails pierced her already damaged hands. She slowly stepped up towards him, forgetting all about the crowd around them. Her anger was making her completely blind to the Council, to anything else going on and deaf to all the other voices protesting against that decision of his.

“Our Army will be on the other side of that forest,” she groaned. “If we burn the Emerald Forest, they might be caught in the fire and die before they even take one step to come home. That's if they aren't already there!”

“I’m sure that genius brother of mine will find a solution,” he retorted. “After all, isn’t Prince Rayan the very best of us? The formidable Commander-in-Chief. He will see the fire from afar and figure it all out, as always; My brother is skilled at surviving the most dangerous situation, after all. They can hide in the mountains or whatever.”

“Your Majesty!” Several Senators protested.

However, Ellias wasn’t hearing any of them. Strangely calm, he was seated on his throne, ignoring every voice begging him to forget that insane idea. People were even swearing at Arseus for even suggesting such a thing, but the King’s people weren’t getting to him. Milena could see it. He had completely closed himself off, and he wouldn’t budge. He just couldn’t go back after saying such a terrible thing, he was the one person he wouldn’t betray. It was his pride against the lives of their soldiers… And she knew what would win.

“…No,” she said.

“No?” He repeated, raising an eyebrow.

“You won’t burn that forest,” she muttered.

“Princess Milena, despite your title, I think you’re confused. I am the King, and I am the one taking the decisions.”

“Not when you've become so irresponsible. We won’t burn that forest, and I will lead a hunting unit to free the Emerald Forest from those Wendigos,” she continued. “I will free our soldiers and bring them home. The Commander-in-Chief should follow soon after.”

“Grand Princess, are you deaf? I just ordered otherwise!”

“And I’ve decided I don’t care,” Milena retorted.

Her tone was so blunt and unapologetic, Ellias almost spat blood out of anger. However, Milena was perfectly calm and composed. It was as if something had simply snapped in her mind. She was done listening to his nonsense, and she knew what she just couldn’t tolerate.

Around them, a lot of Senators had gone silent, carefully watching the situation, their eyes on the Grand Princess or the King. After a short, tense moment, Arseus loudly cleared his throat and slowly stood up.

"Grand Princess, although we all know your endearment for the Commander-In-Chief, may I suggest-"

"I suggest you sit the f**k back down," suddenly hissed Anton De Crescent.

The Duke De Winter went livid at the Duke's threat, and sat back twice as fast as he had stood up, looking like he had been slapped. Milena hadn't even heard him anyway. In fact, she wasn't listening to anyone, regardless if they supported her decision or not. The Council had become a cacophony of protest or support to either the King or the Grand Princess. Those who were high ranked enough voiced their opinions loudly, the others were mumbling it. It didn't matter much, though; the face off was between her and her brother-in-law, and only a handful of people in the room could meddle. 

Unfortunately, the Duke De Nova was among those people.

"...It sounds like Your Majesty is truly lacking and indifferent to our people's needs," he suddenly blurted out.

Ellias' furious eyes went from Milena to the Duke, looking ulcerated.

"Duke De Nova," he hissed. "Did you just insult your King?"

"No more than your Majesty has been insulting half of this Council for the past few minutes," calmly stated the old vampire. "I believe we heard it all. Your Majesty has no consideration for our people presently at war. My understanding is that Your Majesty does not believe the survival of my child is his duty."

"My brother is the one commanding the army! He alone should be able to ensure it!"

"...It is a child's demeanor to blame his wrongs on others. Moreover, on someone who is absent."

Ellais was completely stunned. The Duke De Nova was now looking down on him like one would look at a brainless child throwing a baseless tantrum. Not only that, but many were using this opportunity to rally behind the Duke De Nova, against Ellias himself. Ellias' green eyes circled the room, as if realizing just now how many of the senators he had alienated. 

Milena wasn't moving. She knew she should have said something to quell the Council's anger, but she couldn't. In fact, she understood the Duke's feelings of anger all too well. Right now, Ellias was acting merely out of anger and jealousy. There were countless better decisions they could have taken after a bit more reflection, but he was going for the one that had chances to help him get rid of his twin. Rayan's return was probably weighing heavily in the balance.

"Silence!" He shouted.

"Order!" Claimed the Royal Secretary, also struggling to have the senators calm down.

Milena exchanged a glance with her father. The Duke was seated with his arms crossed, as if the whole situation was indifferent to him. He didn't want to follow either the Duke De Nova or the King, the De Crescent Family did not want to start a Civil War. 

Milena turned to the Duke De Nova, and glared at him. The old vampire's grin stopped immediately.

"Duke De Nova," she said loud enough for all to hear. "Is this how you control your followers?"

The vampire grimaced, unhappy to have his authority commented on. He glanced to the side, and the uproar around him slowly quieted down. They were mostly vampires, and middle-aged to old ones too, but none of them were brave enough to uphold the Grand Princess' angry stare. They eventually looked down or glared at the King, but they finally shut up. 

Milena let out a long sigh, and looked around at the Council.

"This is upsetting," she said. "His Majesty was right on one point. This place has turned into a shameless barnyard!"

Given that most senators were twice as old as she was, it was quite impressive how Milena could scold them all without even getting more than a couple of glares back. The one most upset about that though was the King.

"Grand Princess De Crescent," he muttered. "You're overstepping your King."

"I'm all for your Majesty stepping up," she retorted. "Sadly, I don't see this happening anytime soon."

"Watch it!" He hissed. "I could have you arrested by committing treason against your King!"

A new wave of protest arose, more than half the Council shocked by such words. Many shouted something implying a revolt, not afraid to go against the King for Milena's sake. Ignoring them once more, Milena shook her head.

"Your Majesty is the one committing treason against your people," she retorted, the people quieting down to hear her out. "Our army is still out there, fighting for their survival after fighting for our Kingdom's survival, but Your Majesty decides to treat them like collateral damage. Let alone your relationship with my husband, is this really how you choose to treat your soldiers? The Army who sacrificed blood, sweat and tears to protect us all? Against an enemy we knew little of?"

"I'm taking the decision for the sake of this Kingdom!"

"Oh, no. You're choosing the easy solution over the difficult one. It isn't a battle if you won't even put up a fight."

Ellias remained silent, clenching his teeth and glaring at his sister-in-law once again. It wasn't just Milena; he couldn't suppress the Grand Princess when most of the Council was agreeing with her. He glanced to the side, but the Duke De Winter didn't dare open his mouth again. Not only was he berated for being the one to come up with such an idea, but now, the Duke De Crescent was murdering him with his eyes and making sure that coward kept his mouth resolutely shut. The King was running short of supporters. He looked around, but a lot of faces were unhappy with him, obviously. This was not his plan at all. The fire solution had seemed good for ten seconds, but now, he had opened a can of worms himself.

"...Duke De Boreal," he finally called out, looking tired already. "We have yet to hear you speak."

All of a sudden, all eyes went to Henry, the only one of the four Dukes to have remained completely silent since the beginning. The young vampire looked tired, and barely raised his head upon being called out by the King. He sighed, joining his fingers together.

"...I believe the Grand Princess has already offered decent solutions to Your Majesty."

"You are the only Duke who seemed to have not spoken for or against mine," Ellias hissed. "I would be curious to know where the Duchy De Boreal stands in this situation. It is quite rare to have you take a position between the Grand Princess or myself, Duke."

He was obviously offering a hand to Henry. Every noble in the room knew of Ellias' mother's origins. She and Henry were the most recent vampire members of a family that was mostly human. Perhaps the King was considering this ambivalent family as his salute, the one family with vampires that would not dare oppose him openly. After all, the House De Boreal had once been the Royal Family's closest ally, although they had shifted to a more neutral position. This could be a decisive choice for the future of the De Boreal Duchy, and this fact did not escape Henry. 

He smirked, glancing at Milena briefly before looking at Ellias.

"...I did not believe this solution needed any more commenting on, Your Majesty."

Although this comment could have been equivocal, his tone and way of speech, assorted with the smirk, made no room for mistake; he was also mocking the King's foolish idea. 

Ellias turned red in anger, humiliated one too many times that day. He slammed his fist on the arm of his chair, furious.

"Enough! If you're so smart, why don't we hear you speaking, De Boreal! It seems like you've only inherited your father's title to attend silently and do nothing!"

Henry didn't seem to appreciate the insult, but he remained so composed, compared to the King, that he was still not the shameful one in the room.

"Patience and time can also be a solution, Your Majesty," he retorted. "Any haste solution, or a too radical one, may have us lose even more people than we already have."

His eyes went to Milena, and she faintly nodded. She knew he was also talking for her. Going into the Emerald Forest with a hunting expedition might be too premature, she realized that too. She had already barely survived today, and lost two people to only bring back one. The loss of human lives was always too high of a price to pay. If she went in again, even with the very best hunters she could gather, it might end in an absolute disaster.

"Doing nothing and waiting," scoffed Ellias. "Is that House De Boreal's suggestion? Are you going to keep acting like a coward, Duke?"

"Your Majesty may insult me however you like if it can help quell your anger," calmly said Henry. "Sadly, I do not believe there's a perfect answer to our current problem. Your Majesty might have to seriously consider listening to your subjects' opinions, no matter how unpleasant you'd find them."

Ellias clenched his fist again. He was being lectured, once again, by the Duke. Milena sighed, and crossed her arms, turning her back on Ellias to face the crowd. Because of her gruesome appearance and the blood not even dried yet on her outfit, no one could ignore how urgent the situation really was.

"...The Duke De Boreal doesn't speak much, but he speaks well," she sighed. "Your Majesty, I have captured one of those things and will bring it in to be examined."

"Fine," said Ellias. "Give it to the Royal Analysts, and we-"

"Your Majesty seems deeply mistaken," Milena retorted. "It is my hunting trophy, and it belongs to me now. Who I give it to, to examine, is my own concern and mine only."

"It is my order that you give it to-!"

"You can throw Royal Orders at me all you want!" Milena shouted back, pissed. "See if I care!"

She then stormed out of the Council, loudly slamming the doors behind her. All eyes went to the King, some even seemingly pitying him a bit for angering the Duke's daughter. Anton chuckled in his corner, a wry smile on his lips.

"...Her mother's daughter."

Aside from him, no one dared to say a word in the room. In fact, the Grand Princess's dramatical exit had calmed a lot of senators, and made others proud, mostly because of the heavy blow to the King's pride. It seemed like his days of waving around his power as King were now over. The Grand Princess Milena had shown him no mercy, and shaken his power just as much. He couldn't even retain his dignity when he had been so openly humiliated, in front of so many people. 

The King suddenly seemed small and pathetic in his seat. His furious green eyes went to Duke De Winter, who regretted having spoken up at all that day.

Outside the Council Room, Milena was still walking away angrily. She had made her point, and defied Ellias once and for all, but she was still terribly frustrated. Henry was right. It was too premature to do anything. If she blindly went into battle without knowing more about those things, there might be more lives lost because of her, if not her own. She couldn't be so reckless, not now. At the very least, her fit of anger at the Council had been enough to shake the King's power. It might cause her trouble in the near future, but, in the long term, it was important to remind the nobles Ellias only had limited power, unlike what he had tried to make them believe. He only had as much power as they willingly gave him.

"Lady Milena!"

She stopped and turned around, to see Bella rushing to her.

"You left the Council too?" Milena raised an eyebrow.

"What was the point of staying?" Scoffed Bella. "Everything has already been said... Now they are all going to glare at each other like mad dogs, and once again, nothing will be done. I was more surprised to see the Duke De Boreal finally take your side."

"Is that how you interpreted it?"

"As we all did, my Lady. There are only three sides now. The King's, the Duke De Nova's, and yours. Until recently, I would have been doubtful of Duke Henry's position, but now, he drew a clear line with the King, and didn't speak to the Duke De Nova; It's clear the old man is as defiant to the King as you are, but I am afraid it will be his demise."

Milena wasn't so confident. From what she had just seen, the Duke De Nova already had a lot of power behind him... She shook her head slowly.

"Lady Bella, would you keep an eye out here for me? I have to go back to the manor and check on my brother's condition."

"Of course, but.. wouldn't your father the Duke be more suited for that?"

Milena chuckled.

"My father scares those cowards a bit too much. Lady Bella is more talented at having them speak. Plus, it's better to keep several eyes and ears around..."

Bella smiled, and politely bowed.

"Understood, my Lady. I will do my very best."

"Would you also be so kind as to update Lady Prudence and Lady Briseis for me? Sadly, I don't have the time to look for them today..."

"I will, my Lady."

Milena nodded, and turned around as Bella bowed to her once more. She prepared to leave, when she heard a crying voice calling out her name, and turned around. The Queen was running down the stairs, her baby in her hands, her blue eyes filled with tears.

"Milena! Milena, please!" She cried out.

"Philomenie...?"

The Queen almost landed in her arms, grabbing Milena's arm with pleading eyes.

"Please, take me with you!"