The Eye of Chaos (Council of Champions Book One) ✔️

Chapter Eight: The Gathering

Ghunyan clenched his jaw firmly, his teeth grinding in frusturation. Every single suitor he found for this girl was either scared off or turned up half dead. The last suitor, Lord Skylar of Zemmick, had returned home with six cracked ribs and both arms broken. Of course nothing could be pinned on her, she was too smart for that. She was, after all, his little sister.

“I will not marry him, or him. Nor him!” Kaya crossed her arms and frowned. She had just recently gained an aptitude for pouting lately, and there was not telling when she would stop. It just goes to show that eighteen year olds could be such a pain.

“You will marry this year!” Ghunyan slammed his fists on the desk. “Your eighteen! Your flowering was along time ago! Soon your best years will be up and you’ll become a lonely wench!”

“I will marry who I pick!” Kaya snarled, as if daring him to tell her that she couldn’t.

All right then, I’ll play that way as well. Ghunyan walked over to where Kaya sat, putting his face right in front of hers. “You will marry Lord Zellock of Yemmeck.” He put his fingers on her lips to stop her protest. “Don’t argue, dear sister.” He lowered his voice, putting all of his anger and stress, into a low, cold voice. “It has already been arranged.”  She shoved him and went to slap him, but he caught her wrist, and punched her in the gut.

He felt his fist sink into her stomach, the feeling of overwhelming victory and strength. Hurting others was such fun. He loved to watch the expression of pain and helplessness. Knowing that no matter what they did, they were completely at his mercy.  Kaya coughed, and glared at him.

“It is such a shame that you are my sister.” Ghunyan smiled. “You would be perfect for my harem.” Ghunyan gazed at her full lips, and her perfectly proportioned breasts. “Yes, you would be perfect…”

“But you can’t since we’re blood related!” Kaya looked at him, victory in her eyes.

“Don’t tempt me sister.” He licked his lips, sending her a warning that is she pushed him it could become a possibility. No, it would happen. “The only reason I haven’t slept with you yet is our bastard brother, Bassel, and the fact that I need you too marry. But push me further, and I will have you loose your virginity with a random scumbag.” He smirked. “Or perhaps myself.” Kaya’s lips quivered as her body shook in rage. He laughed, not able to keep the cruelty out of it. “Maybe I’ll find Kei, and have you to go at it. Then kill you both.” Now he saw the fear in her eyes. Good, she should fear him, just like everyone else. “You don’t want me to kill him do you? Be a good girl, and nothing will happen to him.”

Kaya collapsed back on her chair, defeated and broken. “What do I need to do?” She said in a small voice. He smiled to himself, curling the sides of his lips.

“For now it’s quite simple. All you have to do is marry the Lord Zellock.” Ghunyan patted her head, drinking the sorrow in her eyes. “I’ll leave you to yourself now.” Kaya gripped his tunic, looking at him with tears in her eyes.

“At least tell me how he is.”

“Who? Kei?”

“Yes…”

“Well, much better then if he was here.” She looked at him, not understanding. Ghunyan chuckled again. “You really are naïve aren’t you? Or are you just blind? Kei never liked it here, he never wanted the throne. He hated being royalty, that’s why I didn’t kill him. There was absolutely no need to.”

Ghunyan left her to her tears and emotions, not caring in the least. It was almost time for him to attend the war meeting. It had been many years, but Fileatte was still at war with Dael. The war should have ended quickly, especially using the advantage of surprise and their overwhelming numbers. But Bassel had been simply too much of an idiot, his advisors and councilors not much brighter. The only reason that they hadn’t been utterly defeated was because Ghunyan had begun to take charge, and no one dared tell him wrong. Well, no one except the King, Bassel. He was the main reason that he had not been able to simply defeat them in the month he had taken control. Every time Ghunyan went to put Dael in checkmate, Bassel would insist in doing the opposite. If Ghunyan didn’t know better he would say that Dael had paid Bassel under the table to do that.

But that wasn’t possible, since for as long as Ghunyan had known his elder brother, he had been all brawn and no brain. A basic idiot. Even as an idiot though, Bassel was one of the most loyal people in the country. Ghunyan chuckled at the irony of that. The one man faithful to his country was the idiot king.

Reaching the war chambers, he snapped out of his thoughts, observing the room and the people within. The room was cold and dark, with single large candle lighting up the center of the room. It stood on an oval table, made from the best tree the royal hunters could find. The king sat in his heavily decorated chair at the far end, his back to a solid wall protecting him from attacks.

The other twelve men were Dukes, a General, and Advisors to the king: nine of them were Dukes. Ghunyan grunted in aversion, as he looked at them. He let his eyes glance at them, but quickly moved on from the Dukes, since they were simply there to kiss up to the king; it wasn’t as if they had anything good to contribute.

He switched his gaze to the two Advisors. One of them leaned down to whisper into the ear of the king, as he sat confidently. She was an older woman, perhaps reaching the age of fifty, but not much older. Her raven black hair reached her shoulder blades, and she stood proudly before any who spoke to her. Ghunyan was impressed with her bravery, not many women received the chance to speak to the king, much less be in his presence every day.

The second one was middle aged man, built rather skinny, with a scraggly beard that hung limply from his chin. His head carried no hair, nor did his eyebrows, they had been shaved off, as is customary for the male advisors to the king. A custom in which Ghunyan found ridiculous and pointless to no end.

But it was the General that caught his eyes, with his cold eyes, and battle scars that littered his face and arms. Those marks told his stories of battle and war, showing that he was a veteran fighter. The man wore a light brown beard, which appeared to Ghunyan unshaved for many weeks. His hawk like facial structure was the most prominent feature of that man, and the one that stood out above any of the other features that the men had in this room. I must have this man in my army. When the coup d’etat happens, I will need this man as my ally.

He strolled over to the man, introducing himself as the First prince, Heir to the throne of Fileatte. The man raised an eyebrow and gave him a small smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

“I am Fletcher the II, son of Hermes. General to his royal highnesses army.” The man gave a small bow, and then snorted. “For now anyways.” Ghunyan raised an eyebrow at that statement, staring into the eyes of the general.

“What do you mean ‘for now’?” Ghunyan knew that somewhere in his mind he already understood. He realized that he simply did not want to admit that his brother could have been anymore of a fool.

“The king is retiring soldiers from the army by the hundreds. Instead he gathers priests to pray for his victory in the temple.” The man was about to say more, but held himself.

“My brother is a fool that knows nothing of war.” Murmured Ghunyan, immediately he snapped his eyes to see the reaction of Fletcher. At first he saw only surprise and suspicion in the man’s eyes before he held out his hand with a crooked grin which Ghunyan returned.

 “General, I would like to speak with you later. Somewhere more private, in which we could speak of important matters.” 

Fletcher nodded, and Ghunyan suspected that he already knew what Ghunyan was going to ask him. He shook Fletchers hand, the clasped hands, and in that instant Ghunyan saw deep within himself the fall of Bassel and his own rise to king.

Bassel pounded the table with his fist announcing the start of the meeting, ordering them to silence and beckoned them to take a seat. Ghunyan sat down at his place, facing one of the Dukes who gave him a fake smile, which he ignored.

“Gentleman,” Begun Bassel, “I would like to have you opinions on attacking the city, Craevis, capital of Dael.” There was a murmur around the room, as each showed their astonishment and surprise at the statement. At the moment when Bassel started to speak once again, Ghunyan tuned out, reverting back to his own thoughts. Enjoy it while you can brother, your reign isn’t much longer…