Chapter Four
Summer 497
Combrogi—that’s what he called them. It was an ancient word meaning “fellow countrymen,” but to Arthur, it meant much more. Those men were his most trusted advisors, his brothers. They were also the strongest warriors in the land. Led by twelve prime members, each represented his own tribe and took Arthur’s decrees back to their lords. It was a relationship based in mutual trust. He hid nothing from them and listened to their thoughts, in return expecting them to respect his decisions and be open with their opinions. If that bond were broken, so too would be the tenuous peace that united us as one land.
They were more than a war council and something other than a team of advisors. Together the decisions the Combrogi made had to take into account the temperament o
