by Laura R Cole
CHAPTER 14
Jezebel was all jitters as she sat outside the Council room. Inside, they were discussing the candidates, and voting on the new members. As a candidate herself, she was not allowed to enter the discussion, but she had wanted to be present for when the decision was made.
She had been very busy lately. Between everything else, she had been scheming relentlessly with Devon to do whatever they could to discredit the other Council hopefuls. She also had spent hours poring over the book from Lord Farthen, and was already in the process of applying the knowledge that she had learned. She had confiscated one of the family's country manors for her project, and even now her own little pack of hellhounds roamed their carefully contained paddock there. The book had suggested starting with a small animal, like a squirrel, but she had decided to skip this stepping-stone and proceed straight to dogs. Dogs would be much more useful. Plus, she liked the term 'hellhound' that they were given once transformed into her own creatures. She had rescued the lot of them from a merchant in town who kept them tied out behind his shop all day. Poor things had nowhere to run, and now they have whole acres to stretch their legs. Not to mention a new purpose in life, much more important than guarding that man’s store. The purpose of serving me.
She had been delighted by the volumes of information that the book had contained, and was even more convinced now that she would indeed become all-powerful. Just in this one little book there was more knowledge about magic than all of her teachers combined had been able to teach her. It spelled out what incantations and what tools to use in order to best cause pain as you drew out your runes upon the beasts to bend them to your will. The more pain you caused, the more blood-magic flowed from them into you.
She greatly enjoyed working with the hellhounds. Their runes needed to be retraced regularly to ensure their continued loyalty to her, and it was a pleasure when one showed disobedience and she had to correct it. It was pure enjoyment having that kind of power flowing into her. The book also described other spells that Jezebel was dying to know more about, but frustratingly it only mentioned that they were possible, not how they were done. Many of them involved potential improvements that could be made to your creations, like adding poison in their fangs. Who would dare cross me with a pack of poisoned hounds at my beck and call? None of my suggestions on the Council would be countered then. Perhaps she would have to arrange another meeting with that Farthen fellow to try and persuade him to part with more of the valuable documents.
After what seemed like hours of waiting, a servant came to fetch her. The decision was about to be announced, and therefore she could enter the room to hear the results. She slipped inside and looked for her father; his expression would tell her what she needed to know. He gave her a quick smile and a nod hello, and was looking very smug. Since he had switched his stance and decided to back her claim after finding out about her other supporters, his happiness could only mean that she had gained a seat. She exhaled a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding and gave a bright smile to everyone in the room, taking care to make eye contact with any that looked her way. The current Council members were being handed a piece of paper, and the speaker stood to announce the names of those who would be taking their places. Her smile widened as her impression was confirmed when they read her name as one of the members.
“For those of you who were just voted to replace us as Council members,” said the speaker, “please remain to get your instructions on how to proceed. Everyone else, thank you all for coming and sharing your input. We shall be sending out invitations to the seating ceremony very shortly.” He rapped on the table dismissively and people slowly started filing out. Jezebel sat impatiently, watching as hopefuls left with forlorn looks. Lord Carlon and Lord Farthen both met her eyes to give her waves hello and quick congratulatory smiles.
Her father made his way past her and patted her on the back. “Excellent work Jezebel, we were successful. Now we will have many more opportunities for further advancement.”
Jezebel found it hard not to scowl at him for assuming that he was involved in any way, either in her being elected, or that she would let him benefit from her new stature. Now that she had put her foot in the door to the royal treasuries as it was, there was no reason to go back to his measly fortune. She was moving up in the world and had every intention of leaving him in her dust.
Once the room had cleared out, except for the former Council members and the new, the speaker once again addressed them. “First of all, I would like to congratulate each of you for earning these positions. Remember, you are now the advisors to the King and have the utmost responsibility to uphold what is best for King and kingdom. That said, each of you will be given a suite here at the palace where, as my partners and I concur, you end up spending many of your waking hours and many sleepless nights as well. We recommend that you outfit it with everything you may need in case of extended stays. Staffing will be provided by the palace, so unless you have specific servants that you would prefer to bring, you may leave your manor staff in place. If you do have a special request, please talk to Elise, who is the palace overseer.” Elise gave them each a bow in turn, and then proceeded to pass out packets to each, which the speaker explained. “These contain the information you will need in your transition to full Council members. In short order we shall hold the official seating ceremony where you will be presented with the keys to these suites. As we have been aware of this change, most of us have already emptied out our suites, so although you can't officially move in until the ceremony, you are able to start sending things over immediately. Just please check with the current occupant before doing so.” He gave them all a smile. “Lastly, we recommend you all make an effort to get to know one another if you don't already, as you will be working with each other quite closely and it will be imperative for you to work as a cohesive whole. Again, congratulations, and you will receive your invitations as guests of honor to the seating ceremony presently.”
The rest of the former Council rose as one and exited out the back door of the room. Jezebel looked around the room at the other new members. Surprisingly, none of the former Council members had been reelected. Given the generous stipend that they were given for their service and abrupt changeover, she wouldn’t doubt it if they hadn’t tried overly hard to do so. Therefore, there were six new Councilors including herself, and only one other that she recognized by face. She knew of them all by reputation, of course, having made it her business to know what was going on in an election she was so closely a part of. They were each from separate regions of the country so as to provide a fair representation of the country as a whole. She did not envy the ones who would have to make the long treks back and forth from their home manors to their palace suites, but she supposed that they had known what was to be expected of them. Besides, who wouldn't give up what they had for a chance to be on the Council? She was now one of the six people who were directly below the King, and would soon be privy to the innermost workings of the government. Her elation was threatening to bubble over, and she cheerfully invited the other Council members to her humble home so that they could all get to know one another. Each one in turn accepted the invitation, and soon they found themselves sitting comfortably in Jezebel's library where she entertained them with her ideas for the improvements that needed to be made.
