Song of the Piper

::20:: Council

Music is The Lost Temple from the Dragon Age: Inquisition OST. Play it!

******

Lady Anya visited me in the next morning, decided that I was well enough to be up and about, and dragged into a legendary Council meeting. After a proper breakfast, of course. I hadn't realised how famished I was until Heidi had plopped a tray full of food in front of me on the bed.

The council room was somehow less intimidating than I'd expected. It was circular, and a table in the shape of a half-moon was pushed close towards the end. The walls were decorated with various trophy heads of snarling monsters, and the floor was pure marble, green veins running on its surface like a thousand slithering snakes. Besides those, there were no furnishings in the area, save for the single chair I was now sitting upon.

Rather, it was the Council itself that frightened me. There were five of them, seated behind the table, expressions grim and judgmental. I was the sole recipient of their disapproving gazes. I fought very hard to stay still, trying not to scream and bolt out of the room under the sheer pressure in the atmosphere.

"Lady Klaudia," began the dark-haired man whom I'd run into yesterday, "according to the esteemed Lady Anya, Lord Himmel is the Pied Piper. Is that correct?"

I took in a deep breath before replying, "Yes, milord." I wasn't expecting any of them to come to the point so easily.

"So, if you would so kindly tell us everything from the beginning," said Lady Anya. She was seated in the centre of the Council, looking far from the bedraggled mess who had been attacked by Lord Himmel. She was poised, graceful, completely in her element. In fact, I'd say that the person I'd met before was a mere substitute, and this woman here was the real Council member. She gave me an encouraging nod; I finally found the courage to speak up.

It was far easier than the first time I'd told my story to Heidi, surprisingly. I kept my eyes on Lady Anya, refusing to meet the faces of the other Council members. At least the steely eyes were somewhat familiar; I would find absolutely no comfort outside them.

And so I finished my narration. They all had their elbows on the table, hands clasped together as though in prayer, their mouths drawn into thin lines. "All this time, and we never knew..." muttered Lady Anya.

"No use mulling over past mistakes," said the Council member to her right. He was thin and awkward, and his mousy brown hair was stuck up at the ends. The only thing that probably kept people from disregarding him was probably his eyes-they were very wide, very blue, and very bright. He gave me the impression of an owl. "Question is, what do we do now?"

"Isn't it obvious?" said the dark man. "We march on Heidelberg and make Lord Himmel pay for his crimes!"

"You really think it'll be that easy, Konrad?" snapped the Owl. "Lord Himmel already knows that we're coming. Besides, we can't just...invade Heidelberg like that!"

"Which is why we need to plan the attack out. And soon, if we hit him when he expects us not to-"

"And then what? Give him a chance to rid the Council once and for all? You know what he did to Anya, and that was just a fraction of his power. If Lady Klaudia hadn't intervened, we might not even have her today!"

"Enough! Arguing will get us nowhere," said Lady Anya. She spoke in monotone, but there was an undeniable frostiness in their words. The two men shut up.

She turned her attention upon me. "You have been inside the castle. Do you know the extent of Lord Himmel's magical ability?"

I startled, taken aback by the levity of the question. "I--I don't know, milady," I stammered. "He never showed his true magical prowess in front of me."