Absolute Sovereignty-Chapter 25: The Council’s Fury

Kaelen barely had time to dismount before a messenger, breathless and harried, intercepted him in the courtyard of Vernal Keep. "Your Highness," the messenger gasped, bowing deeply, "the council urgently requests your presence. They await you in the war room."

Kaelen suppressed a sigh. He had hoped for a moment of respite, a chance to gather his thoughts and prepare for the inevitable confrontation, but it seemed the council's patience was as thin as their dwindling coffers.

"Very well," he replied, his voice weary. "Lead the way."

He followed the messenger through the familiar halls of Vernal Keep, his footsteps echoing on the stone floors. The castle, once a symbol of his family's power and legacy, now felt like a cage, its walls closing in around him.

He entered the war room, a large, circular chamber dominated by a massive table carved from a single piece of ancient oak. The council members were already assembled, their faces grim and expectant. His father, King Alden, sat at the head of the table, his expression a mixture of worry and barely contained anger.

The moment Kaelen entered, the room erupted in a cacophony of accusations and recriminations.

"Reckless!" Lord Elmsworth thundered, his face flushed with indignation. "You've condemned us all, boy! Do you have any idea what you've done? Do you think we are strong enough to fight a kingdom with far greater numbers?"

"A drunken outburst!" Lady Ashworth shrieked, her voice shrill. "You've shamed Caldris before the entire Dominion! Have you lost your damn mind? Are you so drunk that you believe we have any chance whatsoever?"

"Madness!" Lord Harrowgate declared, his voice trembling with rage. "You've single-handedly started a war we cannot win! Have you lost your mind? Is this all for some play at the conclave?"

Kaelen stood silent, letting their words wash over him.

He had anticipated their fury, their fear, their desperate attempts to shift the blame. He had expected them to believe this was simply a moment of folly, something to be brushed off by them, their minds so wrapped in preserving the status quo.

Once their tirade had subsided, Kaelen spoke, his voice calm and steady, cutting through the lingering tension.

"Enough," he said, his gaze sweeping across the faces of the council members.

The room fell silent, their eyes fixed on him, a mixture of apprehension and resentment in their gazes.

"My actions at the Conclave were not reckless," Kaelen stated, his voice echoing in the chamber. "They were calculated. Necessary."

He proceeded to explain the events that had transpired, detailing King Erric's blatant power grab and the Emperor's willingness to grant Xarnis control of Caldris. "Erric explicitly requested the Emperor to grant him rulership over our kingdom," Kaelen explained, his voice hard.

"And the Emperor... he was about to agree."

The council members stared at him in stunned silence, their faces pale with shock. "No..." Lord Elmsworth breathed, his voice barely a whisper. "He wouldn't..."

"He did," Kaelen said, his gaze unwavering. "This war... it was our only option. It was the only path left to claim what could have been taken, for if we had allowed him to gain power, it would have been the end of Caldris. We would have become a vassal state at best, forever bowing before the Xarnis King. The Emperor was playing us all like puppets."

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"But... but a war against Xarnis..." Lady Ashworth stammered, her voice trembling. "We... we can't win."

"We will win," Kaelen said, his voice ringing with a conviction that surprised even himself.

He drew strength from the Voidwell, a cold, hard resolve settling in his chest. He could feel the darkness whispering to him, urging him to embrace its power, reminding him that he was not finished.

He turned to his father, King Alden, his gaze intense.

"I need you to trust me, Father," he said, his voice softening slightly. "Give me thirty days. In thirty days, I will turn Xarnis into a nightmare for those bastards. They will regret the day they ever set their eyes on Caldris."

The council members exchanged uneasy glances, their faces etched with doubt and apprehension. They had always dismissed Kaelen as a reckless, incompetent drunkard. But the events at the Conclave, and the chilling conviction in his voice, had forced them to reconsider their assumptions.

King Alden, his eyes filled with a mixture of pride and worry, nodded slowly.

"Very well, Kaelen," he said, his voice heavy. "We will trust you. But know this... if you fail, Caldris falls. And we fall with it."

Kaelen met his father's gaze, his own hardening with resolve.

"I will not fail," he vowed, the words echoing in the war room, a promise made not just to his father, or to the council, but to himself, to the memory of his fallen kingdom, and to the whispers of the Voidwell that now echoed in his heart.