23
The room exploded into yelling, mostly from the council members. That is absurd! It could never work. I would never live side by side with gnawers. Well I don't want to live with humans. I cannot stand by this plan. This will mean war! Gregor hated how they immediately jumped to war.
"Enough!" Luxa yelled. "I trusted everyone present to handle the matter calmly. I will not allow this discussion to turn into some squabble."
"True Regalians would never live side by side with crawlers," Janor spat with disgust. Gregor was getting angrier. He hated how they spoke about the crawlers.
"We should at least consider the idea," Vikus said, trying to remain calm.
"Consider it?" Roth scoffed. "There should be outrage at the mere suggestion."
"If you have an alternative, please speak now," Howard said with an edge to his voice.
"I have an alternative," Rodrith cut in. "The land is Regalia's, and we will protect it even if it means war." The gnawers leapt forward, arguing they deserved part of the land.
"You would have war with the gnawers again just to deny us what we rightfully deserve?" Ripred growled.
The crawlers seemed agitated, and crawled back and forth. Now declarations of war were being thrown around the room, and Luxa was caught in the fighting. Gregor had enough.
"Stop!" he yelled. "All of you!" He looked around the room, and waited for quiet. "No one has bothered to discuss any idea thoroughly. You all immediately jump to war. Is that what you really want? Four races were involved in finding the cave. If you turn to war to take all the land for Regalia, you take it unjustly." Gregor was impressed that he did not sound half bad.
"Then we divide it," Mareth says.
"Divide?" Wynnora cut in. "There is no way to divide it so that each race would have what it needs to survive there. Trading would have to occur regularly just to support anyone living in the cave. Four races in one area would require a lot of cooperation."
"Trying to remain separate would only set a foundation of hostility, making living near each other difficult if not impossible," Gregor added.
"Not to mention it would be easy to accidently cross into another territory. That would immediately lead to animosity between the races, and more than likely, violence as well. Turf wars. You may as well try to combat some of the animosity now by building a community," Wynnora finished. Luxa, Howard, and Vikus all look incredibly impressed. Ripred appeared to have something like approval on his face, but Gregor was not sure.
"And why should two Overlanders have any say in the matter?" York asked a bit harshly. Gregor did not want to mess with a man like him.
"Neutral third party," Wynnora said without skipping a beat.
"Yes," Vikus said. "To say the four races have a history is an understatement. It would be good to have an outside view.
"Of course you would want that, Vikus," Janor said. "They clearly side with you."
"Silence," Luxa said firmly. "We will discuss all the options thoroughly and rationally." She then tried to get everyone to discuss their ideas about the cave. They also brought in their interpretation of the prophecy. It got them nowhere. No one changed their mind, there was more fighting, and several people had their hands on their weapons. Luxa finally gave up. She dismissed the meeting, and said they would begin again in a week when more representatives arrive.
The gnawers (except Ripred), crawlers, fliers, and council members all left. Everyone else remained seated and silent for several minutes.
"That went better than anticipated," Susannah broke the silence with a serious face. Everyone looked at her as if she had three heads. "I expected someone to draw their weapon." Gregor recognized a twinkle in her eye that she must have gotten from her father, Vikus.
Wynnora was the only one to chuckle. "Your son is still holding his sword." Howard quickly folded his hands on the table, and Gregor saw Mareth and Luxa do the same.
"I believe your interpretation is correct, Luxa," Nerissa said softly. She was shaking more noticeably now. "Of course when I write the prophecies, fever prevents me from understanding, so I am not certain."
"And what say the rest of you?" Luxa asked.
"I am not confident with the plan for a multi-species city. There are many complications with this. However, I do see that simply dividing the land may only be a delayed and violent path to such a city," Mareth said honestly. Then he added, "You are my queen, and I will do what you see fit."
"I do not see how one city can be possible" York said. "We will not know what laws to use, or how to build the city to accommodate four very different species there. Who will lead there? Who would be willing to live there?"
"I think it will either end with a war and one race in that cave, or four races living together," Ripred said. "Perhaps we should avoid the former option, so my bond and I won't have to kill each other."
Vikus and Susannah supported the idea for a multi-species city, and thought that should be the main plan pushed in future meetings. Of course, Luxa already knew where the rest of them stood.
"Thank you," she said. "For handling this with grace, for offering your skepticism, and for considering all options." She smiled at the group.
"Yes, well put, You Highness," Ripred said. "But, I for one would like to hear more about this loveless marriage." Wynnora sunk in her seat.
"Quiet, Ripred," Howard said firmly. "There are more important matters to discuss. We have reason to believe there may have been a traitor on the journey." Everyone looked at each other, and Luxa quickly explained how they lost one boat.
"Perhaps it was the same person who hired the buzzers," Mareth said.
"I do not think the buzzers were a part of it." Howard shook his head.
"Who would have reason to destroy a boat?" Vikus asked.
"We do not know," Luxa admitted. "Both Howard and myself were thrown from the boat. It could have been an attempt on our lives."
"No one would have need to kill me," Howard insisted. They threw out a few more ideas before stopping. Luxa told them to keep the matter private, and they would continue the discussion later. She also told everyone to not discuss the cave outside of official meetings. The expedition party would take the week to recuperate, and would do nothing strenuous (she added that her cousin was not allowed in the hospital). With that, she dismissed the meeting.