Chapter 9: The Council

The storm still roared throughout the night and into the morning hours.

Niamh watched the rain run down the etched glass of her balcony doors as she prepared for the day. Her thoughts dwelled on the poor elves with the King out in this weather.

Moidrin came in with an expression of one forced to take the bitterest of medicine. Niamh looked at her questioningly.

"You are requested to be at the council meeting this morning," Moidrin said in a level voice. "We need to get you dressed before Boru arrives."

Niamh loved the flowers, "Boru?"

Maeval smiled and nodded, "Roedrian Boru. He is on the council, and if I may say, one of the more open-minded members."

"Oh, yes," Niamh nodded, remembering the elf in the red robe from her wedding day.

With a heavy sigh, the future Elven queen pulled herself away from the windows.

Boru arrived at the Queen's door a few minutes later and escorted Niamh to the council chambers where six, tall, slender elflords in long, dark robes, sat stone-faced around a large, oval, oak table. None seemed terribly happy to be there, and it wouldn't be til halfway through the meeting that Niamh realized the council just didn't like her.

"The Lady Niamh Aidhne," Boru announced smoothly, stepping aside and dipping his head. His shoulder length, ice-colored hair parted around his pointed ears like rocks in a river.

"Welcome, Lady Aidhne," a silver-haired elflord flipped through the papers on the table before him. "Please sit down. There are many issues to discuss."

Boru motioned to an empty chair, and Niamh took her place. Much to her relief, Captain Aengus burst through the doors, removing his dripping cloak and tossing it over a nearby chair.

"Just in time, Captain Aengus. We were going to start without you," the silky voice of the elegant elflord with honey-colored hair and dark blue robe did very little to try to conceal the reprimand.

Captain Aengus didn't even bat an eye, "My apologies, with the general and king gone, I have added duties to my day."

All elves turned as one to look at Lady Niamh. Boru raised an encouraging eyebrow.

"Shall we begin?" She asked.

The words had barely fallen from her lips when the elflord in the dark blue robe spoke loudly, "Supplies are taking a long time to come in, sometimes not arriving at all. Our citizens are beginning to rumble because of a lack of food and work. They are very unhappy and becoming disruptive."

"Why is this happening?" Nhiamh asked.

The elflords stared.

"Why are the supplies taking so long?" Niamh asked again.

"Answer her," Captain Aegnus forced the words through his tense jaw.

"Supplies have to often go through boundary lines," Boru started gently.

As he inhaled to continue, the silver-haired elf interrupted.

"Perhaps for your first council meeting, you should just sit and listen."

Niamh looked at the elflord in surprise, then at Boru, then at the Captain.

The Captain stood up, "Lady Aidhne has every right to ask questions so she can make the right decisions while King Lorcan is away."

Boru and another elflord nodded. Niamh felt hope stir in her heart.

"She is not queen yet, so she will sit and learn," the silver-haired elflord continued.

The Captain glared, but it was Boru who brought the council to order.

"She is ruling while the King is away, so crown or not, she is in charge here."

The council table grew quiet.

"We should deal with them harshly, right away," a council member nodded from the end of the table. "That's what our King would do."

"Punish those who are slowing the transport down," said another.

"What?" Niamh stood up, shaking her head at the nonsense. "You want to cause yet another war? Or punish my husband's citizens because they are hungry? We need to look for a solution, not make things worse."

The council member glared, "The King wouldn't put up with this."

Niamh looked at Captain Aengus, and he realized she was looking to him for guidance. He leaned slightly closer and whispered, "You must stand up for yourself and your decisions, now, or they will not respect you."

"The King isn't here," She said loudly and simply. "Find the reason this is happening, and find solutions. Such strong force will not help the situation."

"If you give in now, they won't leave you alone," said another council member from the other side of the table..

"Enough. We are going to do this a different way than you obviously have done before," Niamh said.

The tone of her voice said there was no negotiating.

"We could try bringing supplies this way, my Queen," Boru placed a large map on the table before her. "We could also meet with neighboring kingdoms to see if there are better ways."

The Queen nodded.

"Better ways?" An elflord asked incredulously. "That means more negotiating and more money."

Boru immediately began explaining different scenarios that could be solutions.

Niamh was impressed with the Boru's strategies and asked Boru to lead the council in finding long-term solutions. The rest of the council seemed harder to impress.

An argument broke out among those present as to what the proper course of action should be, and continued until a messenger from the battlefield appeared, exhausted, muddy and cold, in the doorway.

The young elflord stood apologizing for his sudden entrance and condition, because he had to struggle through the mud at the battle site.

"Are they winning? The King always wins," smiled a elflord at the end of the table, he leaned back to look at the messenger.

The messenger looked at the queen in frustration, "They are still fighting and will not give up the land."

All heads turned to Niamh as she slowly stood at her spot among the council.

"Shall I send reinforcements?" She gazed around the table.

"We don't have any to spare," Captain Aengus said regrettably. "Our forces were already spent dealing with Breathnatch."

More discussion broke out among the men at the table and Niamh struggled to keep up. When she left the room, her head was throbbing.

"Thank you. Please go and rest," Niamh dismissed the messenger who looked like he was going to collapse.

The meeting ended.

When she finally left the hall, Niamh whispered to Captain Aengus, "How did I do?"

"Amazingly well," the captain stifled a yawn. "It wasn't an easy day, I can admit that."

Three more days passed in the same way. Niamh went to council meetings, held court, and slowly learned about her people.

After council and court on the fourth exhausting day, Lady Niamh retired to her chambers to rest. She ran a tired hand over her eyes and laid down on her soft bedcovers. She fell into a sound sleep and dreamed about King Lorcan in a deep hole, calling out in darkness.

Thunder began rumbling once again, interrupting the queen's rest. She buried her head deeper into the pillows. At least, Niamh thought it was thunder, but when the rolling thunder continued she opened her eyes.

The thunder was the incessant pounding of a fist on her bedchamber door.

"Lady Niamh! Lady Niamh Aidhne! You must wake!"

It was the voice of General Konnyr, and the realization caused Niamh to jump out of her bed and rush to the door.

The general's face was full of battlefield grime.

"You have returned!" Niamh exclaimed. "Where is the king?"

General Konnyr grimaced and looked at the Queen desperately, "We…don't know."