Hot Springs Brigade!

As soon as Aura and Vic entered the meeting room, the other members rose from their seats. Aura waved the formalities and took her place at the head of the table, and Vic sat adjacent to her.

Vic nodded to each person at the table and when she got to Commander Zekan, she said, "Congratulations on becoming an actual Commander, Zekan."

"Haha! If gods are willing, I won't have to order them into battle. How are your little pips doing? Heard you killed yourselves a dragon."

"We did. Came out no worse for wear." Vic said, lifting her bandaged arms.

"I expected nothing less of the wild child. Ha!"

Aura sighed. Those two were always so friendly with each other. Uncle in particular, who had no penchant for decorum, was only made more crass with the presence of a former student in the room.

The other two were Mayor Mortimer Beurich and Kesswyn Blanche, both of whom have remained silent ever since they had entered. The latter was a light elven woman who came as a representative of Cassun's council, in other words, she was to stand counterpart to Aura and King Teo's affairs— which she has done so on many occasions in the capital.

"May we move on? The quicker we get through this meeting the better. The frigid climate does not agree with me here." Kesswyn remarked, clearly in a foul mood.

"Ahem. I do not think anyone here needs an introduction or why we are here." Aura began and shot Kesswyn the stink-eye, "But do allow me to reiterate so that the significance of this meeting is not lost on us: the Draconids are coming."

She glanced at Vic to continue. "My subordinates and I— with the help of Princess Aurora and several of members of the Adventurer's Guild— were successful in slaying the Harbinger of Calamities, Draxis himself." 

Vic waited a moment before going on, "The damage to the Oaken Wealds was minimal. We've scouted an estimate of 8500 acres worth of charred lands, only a fraction of what Draxis dealt during the onset of the Demon Wars."

"And, how does this translate to when the Draconids will arrive?" Beurich leaned forward.

"I can't be too sure, but going off historical records I would say… between eight months to a year." 

"That's a helluva lot more time than our forebears had." Uncle's usual amicable demeanor was replaced with a grim expression.

"We're stronger now." Vic declared.

"Draxis was one dragon, but the draconids are hundreds. This time around, we may not have Felucia and Grennadier at our front." Aura warned in particular to Vic to keep her humbled.

"Which draws us to the main topic of this meeting," Beurich pulled out several documents from under his chair. "Whether or not we should send aid to our old allies struggling in their territories."

Kesswyn snorted, "I hear King Victor is already sending bushels of grain to Felucia. We needn't concern ourselves with other countries' affairs."

"2000 bushels is not enough to feed an entire nation. Meanwhile, Cassun is sitting on a surplus of harvest from the last five years. Surely we can part with some of our foodstuffs." 

"And risk starving ourselves?" She retorted.

"I ran the numbers, Kesswyn. By the spring harvests, Greenwick alone can spare 10,000 bushels of wheat, vegetables, and fruits a week for the following four months. Much of it will spoil by the autumn harvests. Princess, thoughts?" Beurich turned to her expecting support. The truth was, Aura didn't know what the right move was.

She looked at her Uncle, who then addressed the other two in her silence. "If you would take an old soldier's word, I say we should help them."

"An old soldier is all you are," The elven councilwoman said, "These are political matters. Why you are here is beyond me."

"Insult me if you wish, but the dragons won't be content with just Cassun. Any further south of us is Felucia and Grennadier. If we lose, they are next on the Draconids' chopping block."

"You expect us to lose? That doesn't inspire confidence hearing that from the Commander of our forces."

"Kesswyn, you bleached chimera, it took three and a half nations to repel both the dragons and Abyssal demons."

"Dragons are our only concerns this time around, and their numbers have been halved following the end of the previous war."

"For now. You're daft to think the Loyalists of Septus won't take advantage of the chaos."

"Please, settle down! We all want the same thing here, and we get nowhere at each other's throats." Beurich interrupted the two of them before they actually started going for their throats. "If we have no interest in supplying food to Felucia, could we spare aid to Grennadier?"

Kesswyn was unrelenting, "And cripple our own defenses in Cassun? Who would we even side with? The Grennadien crown or the rebelling citizenry?"

"Naturally, the crown," Zekan suggested. "Their foot soldiers are what we need."

Beurich procured another document. "Wait a minute. Cassun is home to tens of thousands of Grennadiens. Greenwick alone has almost a thousand Grennadien expats living here, and Nymphea nearly seven thousand."

"We'd lose favor with the citizenry if we sided with Grennadier's royal family." Kesswyn followed up, and then said, "On the other hand, if we support the people..."

"And overthrow King Otis? Are you mad?" Uncle almost knocked over his seat.

His anger was understandable. He and King Otis of Grennadier used to be close friends in the Demon Wars. So much has changed since then. Aura wondered what Otis had done to incite so much anger amongst his people.

Everyone's concerns were valid. There was no right or wrong answer here. The decisions to be made were sure to have long lasting consequences down the line. Inevitable. Just like the Draconids' coming.

She thought of Elric. Of the countless more children like him who are starving in Felucia. Could she afford to worry about the status of other nations before her own?

"Aura." She felt a hand on top of hers. Vic gestured back to the group. It had devolved into a shouting match between Kesswyn and Uncle. Beurich couldn't even get a word in.

"Princess." Kesswyn seemingly had had enough butting heads and turned to the only person who had the final say. "We disagree many, many times. This time, I beg you, consider the safety of Cassun first. As much as it pains me, we cannot afford to stretch thin our food stores or our forces."

Uncle addressed her, too. "Aurora, if we abandon our allies what does that say about our leadership? What will happen down the line when we need help? When your father and I are staring down the point of a spear?"

There was no right or wrong answer, but a decision needed to be made. Aura put her hands on the table and stood up. "We…"

The others looked at her expectantly, each hoping to draw her eyes to their side.

"We will not be sending famine relief to Felucia. They will have to subsist on what the Empire of Orcus affords them. When the dragons come, the first thing they will target are our farms in an attempt to starve us. The food stores are not something we can hand away so easily."

She took a deep breath, turned her eyes to Uncle Zekan and said, "I am sorry, Uncle. The Alchemist's Guild of Grennadier sides with the people, and we need their alchemists to defeat the dragons. We will side with the rebellion and supply them with excess arms we have stored in the capital."

A fist slammed down on the table, cracking a fissure through the center. She heard the grinding of Uncle Zekan's teeth as he bit back the urge to protest. It hurt her to see him like that, especially since King Otis had saved him during the war. "Otis…"

"Gods willing, Otis will see reason and abdicate the throne. Commander Zekan, you must not interfere. Is that understood?"

He straightened his back and sucked in a quivering breath. "Yes, Princess."

"That concludes our first meeting. We shall reconvene tomorrow and discuss how best to prepare our defenses along the northern border. You are dismissed."

Uncle proceeded to march out of the room without so much as a farewell. Beurich saluted awkwardly and followed after him. Kesswyn approached her, not with a cowl of triumph but one of sorrow.

"Felucia was my home before I came here, Princess. It is not easy for me either." 

The councilwoman exited the room, leaving Aura and Vic to ruminate on the decision that was made today.

"Vic."

"Yes, Aura?"

"I have condemned an entire kingdom to starvation and a royal family friend to certain death. Am I evil?"

The Captain traced a finger along the fissure on the table and said, "What if I told you the alternative is foolishness?"

Aura noticed an Orcus-minted silver coin on the ground and chuckled. "Not good and evil, but foolishness and evil… is it?"