Chapter 22

Stifling a yawn, Felix the iguana shifted the weight of his body from one leg to the other. He and the other members of the royal council were standing around the large, oval-shaped table which dominated the council's meeting chamber. Felix had enjoyed a moment of relaxation, playing chess with his wife, when a servant had appeared and told him that the Queen had called a meeting. Felix had left the chess-table, not entirely without a sense of relief (his wife had always been his superior at the game, perhaps thanks to having more spare-time to practice) and had headed to the meeting chamber. 

That had been almost an hour ago, and still, there was no sign of the Queen herself.

"How long does she mean to make us stand here and wait", a voice muttered, cutting through the silence.

Felix turned his head towards the speaker; a lanky young wolf with a sullen expression on his face. Felix recognized the youth; what was his name again? Br...something. Ah, yes, Brutus. That was it. Next to Brutus stood his father, Julius, who immediately answered his son's question:

"She'll let us wait for as long as it suits her. Making people have to wait for you is a sign of power."

"Still don't understand why I have to be here", his son muttered, while crossing his arms.

"Because", Julius said in a tone that made it clear that his patient with his off-spring was at its limit.
"The oldest child of our family has served on the council for generations. When the time comes, I expect you to take my place and serve our country and monarch, just like I have. Now, I want you to stand there and be quiet, if you embarrass me in front of the queen, I'll disinherit you. Do you understand?"

Brutus said nothing, but nodded slowly to show that he had grasped the meaning behind his father's words. Felix could not help but feel a twinge of sympathy for the lad; from what he knew about Julius, being his son could not always be easy.

It was a warm day and the room had become quite hot and stuffy. One of the other councilmen, a ram, wiped his brow with a silk handkerchief.

"Someone ought to open up a window", he complained, but his plea went unheard. His colleagues were all staring intently at the door, waiting for it to open.

At last, their prayers were answered! The door swung open, its hinges creaking. The first person to enter was an elephant dressed in livery and carrying a staff with a jewel at its top. The elephant stopped, tapped the staff three times, trumpeted loudly with his trunk and called out in a strong voice:
"Announcing her Royal Majesty, the Supreme Ruler of Vinoli: Queen Argath I!"

With that, the elephant stepped aside and Argath entered the room. As she did, the councilmen all bowed their heads in her direction, while saying with one mouth:

"Greetings, Your Majesty."

Behind the Queen, carrying a large roll under his arm, came Lorenzo, his entrance was greeted with surprised whispers and looks of disapproval from the council. None of them cared much for the fox, whom they regarded as an opportunist and an upstart. It did not seem right to them that a person without any known background, should continue to be so close to the Queen.

Paying no heed to the angry looks the councilmen gave him, Lorenzo strode up to the table, put down his burden and unrolled it. The others leaned forward to get a closer look: It was a map, showing Vinoli as well as its closest neighbors.

"Sit down, gentlemen", Argath said, seating herself in the large chair that the servant had pulled out for her.

Thanking the Queen, the others sat down, glad to finally be able to rest their feet. However, Lorenzo remained standing, having positioned himself behind the queen's chair.

"Now then", the Queen said, her eyes sweeping across the table. "We hereby declare the first council-meeting under Our reign, open. No doubt you are all wondering as to why you've been summoned. The reason is quite simple, it has to do with this:"

The councilmen looked at the spot on the map the queen was pointing at. Felix was the first one to speak:

"The kingdom of Frigonia, your majesty?"

"Exactly", said the Queen. "We recently received word from one of our agents over there, a person in whom we have the utmost trust. This person has informed us that Frigonia's current king,  is planning an invasion of our kingdom, much like his ancestor, once did."

This revelation was met with general astonishment, everyone started talking over each other, in loud angry voices:

"Has he lost his mind?"

"What about the peace-treaty?"

"Damn northerners, you just can't trust them!"

Seeing the effect the Queen's words had had on the councilmen, Lorenzo allowed a mocking smirk to spread across his face. It only lasted for a few seconds and the only person in the room who noticed it, was young Brutus, who glared angrily at the fox. Eventually, the Queen picked up the gavel next to her and banged it forcefully in the table, three times. The third time, the councilmen noticed the sound and quieted down.When all was still, Argath cleared her throat and began to speak:

"We understand your concerns and share them, but have no fear; thanks to our spy, we have the opportunity to nip Frigon's plan in the bud."

"Well", the ram asked. "What do Your Majesty have in mind?"
"Simple, that we do the same thing that they intended to do to us: We invade Frigon. "

This idea was met with general approval. After all, if the Frigonians were so treacherous they could hardly expect others to deal fairly with them. Only one of the councilors was of a different opinion:

The person in question, an aged dog with grey whiskers, frowned slightly, removed his pince-nez and began to clean it with a piece of cloth.

"With all respect, Your Majesty, I believe that we should attempt to negotiate with Frigonia before we send in our troops. Dissuade its King from going down a path which will only bring calamity to his nation in the longer run. Its the action that your father would have taken.

Argath listened to the councilor's brief speech with a detached, weary look on her face, her claws drumming rhythmically against the tables' surface. Finally, she held up a hand, signalling for the speaker to be quiet.

"You are absolutely right, Cornelius" she said, her head bobbing slowly, up and down. "It is what our late predecessor would have done. However, let me ask you this: Why should we follow his example in everything?" She slammed her fist into the table and glared at the assembly.

"Its about time that all of you learn that the reign of Sharan is gone, gone forever and that it will never return. We rule Vinoli now and we intend to rule it our way. Furthermore, from this day forth, any mention of the late king in our presence will be punished, most severely."

A heavy and uneasy silence spread across the room. The councilmen glanced nervously at one another. Cornelius looked down at the table, his mustache twitched. He could feel the queen's eyes boring into him, the fur on the back of his neck stood up.

Judging that the dissenter had been sufficiently cowed, the queen smacked her hands together, with a satisfied expression on her face.

"Well, gentlemen, let us continue. Any questions? Yes, Julius?"

"Your majesty", the wolf said. "Who is going to lead the attack?"

"Isn't it obvious?" The Queen asked, looking surprised. "I can think of only person suitable for this task." She turned to Lorenzo. "Has the message to General Jeraddin been dispatched?"

"Yes, my Queen."

"Good". Once again, the queen made use of her gavel. "We hereby declare this meeting adjourned. Gentlemen, let us all head to the throne room. We shall greet the General there, when he arrives."
She stood up and at once, everyone else did the same. Just as the queen was about to leave the room,
she stopped and looked disdainfully at Cornelius.

"Except for that person. We do not wish him among us."

Immediately, those members of the council who were standing close to Cornelius moved a bit further away. Then they turned their backs on him and hurried after their monarch.
Only Felix remained, he  looked at Cornelius who had slumped back into his seat with a hangdog look on his face.
The Iguana couldn't help but feel sorry for his fellow councilor, he decided to offer a few words of comfort, certain that they would be well received.

"I'm sorry about what happened at the meeting", he said, patting Cornelius on the shoulder. "Don't worry, I'm sure that you will be back in the queen's good graces in no time."

Cornelius looked up.

"Thank you", he said, surprised at this expression of sympathy, because the two of them had often crossed swords in the past.

"I know we've had our differences", Felix said, "but this time I agree with you: We should have sent someone to negotiate."

"Well, I'm glad that we're on the same side for once", Cornelius said. "Although it would've been nice if you had let me know that during the meeting."

"I'm sorry. I was about to join my voice to yours, but the Queen's reaction to your proposal convinced me that it was best to hold my tongue."

"Yes, I have a feeling that there is going to be a lot of that in the near future."

With a sigh, Cornelius stood up, supporting himself on a cane. He looked with melancholy eyes at the table and the empty chairs around it.

"When Sharan became King, long before any of us were born, he did not know anything about ruling a country. So, he gathered the wisest men and women in his kingdom, so that they would assist him into becoming the sort of ruler he believed worthy to lead this nation. As the years came and went and the king became more and more experienced, the members of the council were on occasion replaced. Some died of old age, or chose to retire to make room for younger minds. Others fell out of favor,  I've seen it happen myself, as have you. However, those who fell into disgrace did so due to them being exposed as corrupt and dishonest, not because they voiced their opinion."

As he kept speaking, a bitter tone crept into Cornelius' voice. He continued:

"The King had the final word in every discussion, but he always took the advice we gave him into consideration. Considering how close they were, I was certain that Argath would continue to rule in the same way as her father. Evidently, I was mistaken."

Felix nodded in agreement. At that moment, a thought came into his head. He looked around to make absolutely certain that no-one else was around, then motioned to Cornelius to come closer.

"What is it?" The elder councilor asked.

"I just had this notion", Felix said, lowering his voice to a confidential whisper. "You don't suppose that the Queen could be lying about the Frigonians planning to attack us?"

Cornelius frowned and began to stroke his mustache.

"The thought had occurred to me, though I can't help but hope that we shall both be proved wrong in the end. No matter what I personally think of the Queen's decision in this matter, I do not want to believe that she is willfully deceiving her own advisers."

"I know what you mean. Still, we must take the possibility into account."
Just then, a servant appeared in the doorway.

"Excuse me, Sir" he said, addressing Felix. "The Queen told me to send for you. She wonders why you are not present in the throne room yet?"

A noise could be heard as Felix smacked his forehead. During the conversation with Cornelius he had completely forgotten that he was supposed to be somewhere.

"Has the General arrived yet?" He asked the servant.

"He was seen entering the outer gate, he should be in the throne-room soon."

"I better go and present my most humble excuses for my tardiness, before I too incur the Queen's wrath", Felix said to Cornelius. "Don't worry, your 'banishment' won't be long, I'll see to that: I shall plead your case for the Queen."

"I appreciate the gesture, but you need not trouble yourself on my account."

"If you find it embarrassing to be indebted to me..." Felix began.

"That is not the case. No, I have a feeling that the Queen won't be persuaded to take me back. For all we know, she had already begun to consider who should take my place on the council when she left the council hall."

"I shall try anyway. Farewell, Cornelius and don't loose hope."

Escorted by the servant, Felix left the room. Shortly thereafter, Cornelius did the same. As he stood in the doorway, the aged councilor cast one last look at the room from which he, for many years, had helped shape Vinoli as a nation. He doubted that he would ever set foot in it again. A tear appeared in the corner of his eye. He wiped it away and then began to walk down the palace hallways.