C&C chapter 40 entering prereads tonight + teaser · 8:17pm May 8th
Much as I didn’t want to, I made the decision to break it up since the full length of the War Council meeting had exceeded 20,000 words and will probably approach 25k for the now-two chapters before all is said and done. The breakpoint itself will be between learning about the general war situation both Aricia and the Griffon Kingdom face, and then discussing what in all the Crows they’re going to do about it.
Expect another info dump of a chapter ahead, folks, but I’m going to keep my promise to make a series of Firefly-style campaign maps to illustrate what’s being discussed. I’ll start into those this weekend while the chapter is with prereaders, but they will take considerable time to create. So for now, I will aim for publication the third weekend in May.
This chapter and then one to follow will borrow text somewhat heavily in places from Feathered Heart: chapter 11. But that doesn’t mean there won’t be some serious additions and changes, as well as a fair amount of tension in the meeting considering all the various races and representatives present.
As I’ve made you wait this long, I feel it only fair to give you a second teaser. I haven’t given the chapter a full editing pass yet in advance of passing it to prereaders, so apologies for any grammatical or spelling errors you see:
An hour later, Gilda strode with purpose into the War Room of Aricia, waiting until a call for attention was given by Optio Virgo and all present had risen in respect of her new rank. She was not alone, flanked to the right and left by Giraldi and Obsidian Ire while also trailed by Karin Kazal and Archon Skorpius, who Gilda had likewise invited along as representatives of their respective races.
It was her first look inside the large room that looked almost identical to the one in Arnau, which she’d visited once during an off-duty tour when she was assigned to the capital city for her latest rotation.
Just as it had been there, the war room was an enclosed windowless circular space with a dome ceiling, with the center of the room occupied by a large circular table around which a series of cushions were arrayed as seats. The only real difference she could see were the banners representing Southern Colors hanging down at angles to form pseudo-walls at intervals, with the only source of light being a series of crystals in the ceiling through which both daylight and nighttime firegem illumination could be channeled.
Magically shrouded, it was designed to allow for maximum privacy for official military meetings, keeping the confidential discussions that took place there away from roaming eyes and ears.
To her surprise, Gilda found the familiarity of it somewhat comforting, especially given her newly anointed responsibility of overseeing the Tribune’s war council in her new guise of sub-Tribune.
In purely numerical terms, her rank gave her the ability to command a cohort of five centuries, which she planned to form from both the troops she’d already had, other Auxiliary Guard troops and what she hoped would be a borrowed century of Changeling drones from Queen Lepidoptes, who she hadn’t had a chance to speak with yet aside from one brief exchange of messages. To her credit, the Changeling monarch had congratulated her warmly, saying Gilda had more than earned her post and inviting her to ‘discuss her new duties’ over tea later.
Despite her approbation, Gilda had to stifle another grimace as she called for everycreature to take their seats. Crows take it… am I ever going to get the chance to get comfortable with a rank or post before I get elevated to a new one? She wondered slightly wanly as she took her place at the front of the table on a slightly elevated section of floor, finding the weight of her new metal breastplate bearing down uncomfortably on her chest.
And this thing is heavy. How by all the Crows of the Kingdom am I supposed to fly and fight with it? She internally groused even as she did her best to stand tall and proud in her immaculate new armor, not wanting to show any doubt or weakness as she carried out her first assigned responsibility in her new rank, calling the Council of War to order.
She was just glad she didn’t flinch when the eyes of everycreature turned to her when she entered the room, causing all present to instantly snap to attention. She could hear Giraldi whisper a small praise of her acting professionally as he slowly and subtly urged her forward. The officers of multiple militaries cleared the way as they reached them, making a path towards the center of the circular room, where she could see a raised rectangular platform filled with sand.
And crows know I wouldn’t blame them one bit if they did. She tried to recall the times she had been present in any previous meetings, tried to remember how then-Tribune Narada seemed to carry herself. And then Gilda went even deeper, recalling her time as a cub as she peeked through the crack of her father’s door as he, too, led a similar meeting among the local nobility. I wonder what he’d think of me now…? To her surprise, the thought of seeing his jaw dropped open as she showed up at his doorstep in her sub-Tribune armor made her have to stifle a smile.
Standing directly behind the map table from her was a griffon she recognized from her prior rotation in Aricia as now-Centurion Fillius, though Gilda had last known him three years earlier as a First Spear. He had been previously assigned to the garrison headquarters staff as an aide and orderly, but seemed to have ascended the ranks sharply since.
Just like me. Or did he make Centurion thanks to assassinations and battle losses on the first day? She wondered idly if anygriffon was still in their previous post. “Centurion Filius,” she called out. “Congratulations on your promotion to the Tribune’s Chief of Staff.”
“And you as well, sir,” he said with a perfunctory throat bare without smiling. Before she addressed him, he had been staring fixedly at Corporal Imlay, whose face seemed to be carved in stone as she stood off to the side. Giraldi gave her a sharp nod before he placed himself beside Imlay, while she situated herself between the First Spear and the Corporal. “Unexpected though it is, welcome to the council, Sub-Tribune Behertz,” her further said, signaling all attendees to salute her. “We are honored by your presence.”
Though Gilda wasn’t sure he meant it, she returned the respect promptly with a thump of her talons to her new chestplate, wincing slightly at the ringing sound it produced. “Thank you, Centurion. The honor is mine. Is everyone present?” She looked around and saw all griffons nodding, except for Giraldi, who translated her words to Imlay.
“All Talon, Guard, Knight, Naval and Raven representatives are accounted for, sir,” Fillius replied, looking at her for a moment before staring at Imlay. “But they are not alone. As you can see, Optio Giraldi insisted on bringing our… human guests and other allies to the meeting. He said you approved,” he said in a tone that told Gilda that he emphatically didn’t.
“Correct,” she said shortly, giving him a look that said not to press her on the matter. “Corporal Imlay is the commander of a foreign military force aiding the city’s defense, so if he is to fight alongside us effectively, he has to be here. And the same goes for the dragons, changelings, and ibex you see before us.”
“No offense intended, sir, but are you sure that’s wise?” Fillius asked in Aeric as he looked at Imlay first, followed by a far more baleful look at Karin Kazal. “This meeting is about sharing information and planning defensive strategies to present to the Tribune. The humans, I believe, are not yet our formal allies. And the ibex most certainly are not,” he said with an expression of distaste, apparently not realizing that the buck could understand him.
To Gilda’s surprise, Miles Fortuna answered before she or Starshina could; she was present as senior Raven representative. “The Ascendancy is just as endangered as we are,” she replied on their behalf, earning a sharp nod from both. “Like it or not, we and the Ibex are now allies in the struggle against the Cloven. He and his comrades have thus pledged their help to the Kingdom for the duration of the war, and much to my own surprise, they’ve proven repeatedly that they can be trusted.”
“For the duration? And what about afterwards?” Fillius asked with a suspicious air, to which Gilda first silenced the Starshina with a warning glance before giving Fillius a level look.
“As you would know had you been listening to the Tribune’s speech, the Queen has ordered them to be set free,” she replied, earning open beaks and other shocked expressions from all. “Don’t look so surprised. They have aided and even saved us repeatedly, so as the Queen herself said, simple honor requires it.”
Though the looks Gilda got were best described as stunned, she decided to settle the matter by striding to the front of the map table and sitting down before it, signaling all present to do the same.
“To business, then,” she said in Equish for Imlay’s benefit. “As all of you are aware, this is a strategy session to devise an ongoing defense of the city that will later be presented to the Tribune. To that end, we will need to know the overall war situation as well as the local one. I understand that we now have a full picture of the Cloven invasion throughout all Aresia?”
Pausing to gather himself, Fillius nodded once. “Yes, sir. If nothing else, we got enough information from Arnau to make clear just why it is so important that the city be held for as long as possible, even as an isolated island in a Cloven-controlled countryside...”
Hopefully that will whet your appetite a bit. Prereaders, stand by. I’ll be passing it off as soon as I can get home and give this thing an initial editing pass. Graphics will not be present, but their intended locations will be marked in the document.
Looking forward to reading it!
If you ever run out of re-readers, hit me up
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You’ve got it now. So have at it!
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Will do!
Yay that are some good news!!