Chapter 20-The Knight’s Council
Back in the castle, a
heated debate was going on between members of the Knights. It had been determined that today on the eve
of the brother’s birthday, a large council would be held to settle what the
training of the brothers would entail.
All in all, 45 members of the Knights were present. Thomas had told Irgen that normally they kept
a total only 50 people in the order at a time, and in the recent battle five of
their noble comrades had fallen.
Aristotle’s table had been magically lengthened to accommodate so many
people.
It was not very often
that a grand council of this size was held in The White Citadel. Everyone there, if they did not know the
importance of the council in the first place, could sense it from the surroundings. An electrically tense air saturated the first
floor. André and Blackington sat side by
side at the head of the table. Once he
had learned how to heal, Blackington had wasted no time in healing André’s
wounds and everyone else in the beds surrounding Helen. Now André was back to his normal handsome
smiling face; however, at the moment his handsome face was being confronted by
loud shouts ensuing from the large group of knights seated before him.
André had just proposed,
seeing as how he was their father, that he should train them himself. His proposal lighted a fire of debate in the
council. Instantly cries of joy and
anger broke like a juggernaut upon the council.
Some contended it was a great idea, saying that such a plan was just
what was needed, but others said the task was too great for any one man, even a
descendant of Perseus. They said that
the fate of the twins was intertwined with that of the whole sacred order of
mages, and that as such it concerned them all.
André sat back down after
his proclamation, and lifted his hand to cover the smile which was threatening
to break forth through his tightly pursed lips.
He leaned over to Thomas and whispered.
“Perhaps this is why Sparta always trumped Athens, because nothing could
ever be decided in the Athenian’s true Democracy, so while they were still
bickering about how big of an army to raise, the Spartans were able take the
city unawares, because all of Athens was too busy bickering with their
priceless governmental system, over an army to fight off said attack.”
Thomas smiled wisely back
at André. “You do have a point, but
Sparta did not always beat Athens. At
those times of extreme danger, there was always someone who was willing to
seize power for the greater good.” He
smiled goodheartedly at his joke.
“Always it is a loss of freedom, for progress… or maybe should I say-productivity!
Fortunately for us; however, our
Democratic system is small, and it is therefore more productive.” He stood up and his deep bass voice rang out,
“Hold on hold on my friends. We are not
enemies and you all have valid points as to the first proposition, but let us
not all speak at once. We are a magnanimous
council, not a chaotic war tribe.”
He sighed as members of
the council slowly began to take their seats, each shaking his or her head
slightly disgruntled. “Now first off, I
have heard many good arguments, but in the confusion, perhaps I didn’t catch
all of them. Gregory you look pretty red
in the face, step up and tell the group your opinion.”
A large man with blazing
red hair and a long red beard stood up.
He was extraordinarily muscular.
He arms popped ungainly out from the rest of his body thanks to his
enormous biceps. His large robust chest
jutted forward painting the image of a very warlike figure indeed.
“Thank you Thomas.” He spoke in a very gentle yet serious tone; a
tone which one would think could not come from such a large man. “As I was saying, I do not think it would be
very wise to have the twins trained by their father. We all know that André is the best in just
about everything from magic to swordplay among us, but I fear that there may be
an emotional connection between the father and his sons. It may prevent him from pushing them to their
limits. They must be trained as quickly
as possible, and only by pushing their limits will that be possible to
accomplish.”
He peered cautiously
towards André before saying, “It is not André’s ability I question,” and here
he looked warningly at the crowd, “but merely the fact that at some point in
André’s life he will need to be there for his sons, and if he did push them to
their limits, it is not him to whom they would come to. I propose that we allow someone else like Thomas
and others to train them. This would
leave André free to get to know and love his sons…
My friends, the boys are
not bound to this order, or to any other order for that matter. Theirs is a path which has never been traveled
before. It will be imperative for this
council to find a way to link them to our own order, and you all know that
their training will not do that. Perhaps
the only thing which will create a binding link between them and our order is
their family. I do not think it would be
wise to alienate them from their father at this stage in their life.” He paused and glared purposefully at those
around him. “Mark my words; it is not a
good idea to have their father train them.”
He sat down, looking just as red faced as he was before he stood up. There were a few nods of approval for his
bold speech, and some even went so far to pound their fists on the table before
them, but most knew better, and knew that the preliminaries were just
beginning.
As he sat down another man
stood up. “Dear me Gregory, you do not
really believe the boys will choose evil over good do you? I mean their very lives have been threatened
twice in the past week by the Tenebri alone. Surely they would not choose to go over to the
Tenebri. I mean let’s be
reasonable.” He laughed, “Being trained
by their father would only make them much better fighters and prepare them
magnificently for the tasks ahead of them.
I mean Idus has already killed two Tenebri single-handedly, we might as
well Knight him as we speak.” He sat
down with a jovial self-confident grin spread over his face.
After he sat down, a
woman stood up. “Gregory is right;
anyone else here could adequately train the boys. The boys need a father not just another trainer;
any of us could do that--”
“Adequate!” A short man, with a squeaky argumentative
voice sitting at the end of the table, stood up before the woman had even sat
down. “The boys do not need an adequate trainer;
they need a master in the arts. Maybe
they need many masters in the arts, but I think it is our very duty as Knights
to prepare them for the challenges that lie ahead of them. None of us has had to face what they
will. I do not think it is within any of
our spheres of expertise to say that we know what is adequate for them. I think that all we can do is prepare them to
the best of our abilities.” The short man
finished and had a seat as did the woman, and a steady murmuring began to ensue
from those sitting. The pounding on the
tables grew louder as people began to warm towards the logic in the last man’s
speech.
“Thank you Alex. I am beginning to see how this debate got so
heated. You all have very good points as
to why and why not André should be the boys’ trainer. If I may be so permitted… I would like to add my own two cents.” Blackington’s deep voice once again quieted
the crowd.
“I agree with Gregory, in
the fact that we should not alienate the boys from their father, but I also
agree with Alex in that there is no better trainer than André. Therefore I wish to propose a compromise, I
wish to propose that André should be their trainer, but others should accompany
him as well. This is a job which I do
not think we should leave to only one person.
I also believe that none of us here can truly teach the boys their
element…How was it you put it Alex?--Adequately?” He smiled good-naturedly before continuing.
“Therefore I propose that
for starters, both André and I should leave to go in search for a proper
teacher of their elements, and in turn, I propose that we leave Gregory as the
temporary head trainer, until we return.”
He stopped and looked at Gregory, who slowly nodded in return. Thomas suppressed a smile at knowing the
turmoil in his friend’s heart. “Thank
you Gregory. Now that that is settled,
who will you have train the boys along with André and Gregory?” A long silence followed, a rare occasion in
these kinds of councils. Finally
Jennifer arose from the shadows of the back of the room and came forward. She had sat back there, not wishing to
partake in the proceedings, but now she felt she had no choice.
“I believe that Thomas,
Alex, Harold, Brown, and I ought to be the mentors, but I also believe that we
will have to allow Helen into the mix, I think she is quite taken with young
Irgen,” Then she added in an undertone, “and young Irgen with her.” Her radiant smile beamed forth before she
disappeared back into the shadows.
“Right you are
Jennifer. When all else fails, just
remember to consult a mother’s intellect. Eh? Well in that case shall we have a vote, and we’ll
say since there are 45 people here…
Let’s say 35 people for the motion will carry it.” He looked around for approval, and a couple
of heads nodded, but most were too stunned at the new turn the counsel had
taken, and were quite stunned that the decision would be voted on so quickly,
but before any objections could arise, Thomas spoke again.
“Right, those who are
against the motion that André will be the head trainer with Gregory, me, Alex,
Harold, Brown, Jennifer, and Helen as assistants, with two real trainers to be
hopefully added later, please indicate by raising your right hand… Hmmmmm…
That’s one, two, three, four, five, six…
Gregory… You’re one of the trainers.”
“I will be one if, and
only if, the motion passes, but be it known; I am still against having André
train them at all!”
“Alright, alright, have it
your way Greg…” Thomas looked around one
last time with a sigh before saying.
“Well that’s six against
the motion. Now those in favor of the
motion please raise your right hand.” Hands
went up into the air, with a few exuberantly shooting up first.”
“Right that’s…” Thomas counted the hands, while making marks
in a stone tablet before him. “That’s 36
with three abstaining… I take it…” He
looked cautiously around to see if anyone else was wanting to vote, but on
seeing that the three who had not voted, did not appear likely to change. He looked back down at his tablet and said,
“Then the motion passes and the boys training is guaranteed…” Roars of approval and a loud clamor of fists
pounding against the ancient table met Tom’s ears. He smiled before raising his hands for
silence. “Thank you all for coming, we
did this much faster than I had expected.
So Knights, feel free to make yourselves at home, in your home.” He added with a wink.
“As for André and I we
must leave at once. Jennifer watch over
Idus, he’s much stronger than we give him credit, perhaps he will yet make it
through.” And without another word both
of them swept out of the room. As they
left the castle and entered the grounds outside, they saw Irgen and Helen
playing soccer out in the grass. The
sight of this seemed to trigger something in Thomas’s brain. He turned towards André and whispered in a
good-humored voice.
“I still don’t understand
why you would travel all this way, and of all things, abstain from voting. I mean even Gregory, who knew his vote was
useless, voted.” They grinned at each
other as they passed like shadows by Irgen and Helen, until finally wordlessly
passing outside the gates.
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