Bloodlines of Archaea I. Afira
A Meeting with the Council

I entered the room, my arm linked with Akuma’s, my dress flowing royally down to the floor. The council members stood, their glares piercing my underhanded scowl. A stiff feeling of below-the-surface vile thoughts and opinions hung in the air. The lead councilman, Suauu stood, his pot-belly bulging out the refined coat he wore, buttons just barely containing his unhealthy stomach. “Hello,” he said with an oily smile as he walked over to us and stuck out his hand in front of me.

I shook it, trying to hide my thoughts about his revoltingly greasy hand, most-likely from the amount of oil and grease he must have used to slick his hair back to its shiny man-bun. “Greetings,” I said, letting go of his hand and moving to my seat at the head of the table, where I waited for the castle worker to pull out my chair for me to sit down, hoping it appeared regal. Akuma sat down himself, showing off the fact that I, the queen am the only one important enough for my work to be done for me. A strange concept for me, but it often played its part in making me look more important than I felt.

“So, we hear that training is going well,” Suauu said from across the table as he took a drink of his expensive wine. It was so expensive he had it transported from Europe because we were unable to have any and that any form of alcohol was outlawed for anyone except for the councilmen, even the queen was unable to have any of the liquid. Although I was glad for this, as it smelled awful and stained everything and anything it touched.

“Yes,” I said tensely. “It is, although I am unsure of why the council may be concerned with this matter, as long as we keep the island safe.”

“Oh, of course, child-” he began.

Akuma glared at him. “Do you dare speak to your queen as though she is anything less than you?”

“Oh, so sorry,” said another one of the councilmen who was in charge of marriage and divorce matters of the island. He was tall and skinny, and had a large, bushy white beard which draped over his black coat “It was an honest mistake, please do forgive him, my queen.”

“It may be overlooked for the first time, but if it happens again, you will be charged with dishonoring the queen,” I said harshly, my wariness growing with the unsettling feeling that they were up to something malicious.

The council broke out into a low hum of a chuckle before Suauu asked for himself to be allowed to continue to explain why he had asked the question of our training, but before I could say anything, he had begun to explain. “You see, I couldn’t help but notice the amount of damage the powers you have acquired may be able to deal,” he began, taking a fist-full of chicken and shoving it into his mouth, ignoring the bits which dropped out onto the white tablecloth. I managed to keep a straight face as I watched this, fighting my gag-reflex the entire time. Before he had even finished chewing, he continued. “I received a complaint from one of our citizens that they felt unsafe if their queen could burn down this entire village with a flick of her finger,” he said.

I watched Akuma’s hand clench, as he fought the urge to yell. Instead, he replied, “are you implying something, councilman?”

Suauu seemed surprised with Akuma’s bold question but took it to his advantage. “It wasn’t me. I for one think that having a queen with-abilities is quite important to the outside world. Although, as you know, it is my job to make sure the people’s needs are met,” he said.

“That may be true,” I said, bringing my fine glass of chilled apple cider to my face to hide my anger. “But we all know that your goals are much-bigger.”

“Oh my queen, you must think so little of me. All I wanted to point out was that a certain citizen is uncomfortable with their queen’s lack of restraint,” he said casually. His face was calm for a moment, and then, as if he had just realized what he had said, it clenched like an unknowing child, who had just stuffed a lemon into its face.

For a moment, there was nothing but silence before I stood from the head of the table. “And by this, you mean that I have lack of restraint?” I asked. He tried to protest, but I ignored this and continued. “It most certainly taking quite a lot of restraining to stop myself from having you arrested for treason, but I won’t. Do you know why?” I asked. He shook his head no, I could see the fear in his eyes. “I won’t have you arrested right now because unfortunately, a government with a missing councilmember doesn’t look very well-organized. And since we are at war, I would appreciate it if you would allow me to do my job and in turn, I will allow you to keep yours,” I said to the slimy council man who sat across the table.

He nodded and looked down at his meal, seeming finally to realize the dangers of treating the queen as a child, “yes, my queen,” he said, and the rest of the meal continued without another word out of his plump face.

Once the dinner had finished, Akuma and I walked out of the room, each step filled with grace and dignity, until the door closed behind us. “Oh my gods!” he yelled far too loud, scaring the guards and making many of them laugh. “That was awesome.”

I laughed. “You think so? It felt weird.”

“Oh yeah. He’ll never mess with us again.”

“I hope not. That was intense.”

“Did you see his face? It was absolutely terrified.”

I laughed, “I know, he really though he was really scared he was going to be sent to prison.”

There was a joyful silence before Akuma stopped me, worriedly. “Do you think he might be trying to do more than dethrone you?” he asked.

I stopped smiling, abruptly, thinking about this for a moment. “Maybe,” I answered distantly.

“I mean, why is he trying so hard to get the throne? Our laws only allow a queen to rule, he wouldn’t even be able to lead,” Akuma said quietly.

“He knows something we don’t,” I said darkly.