Luna of the Beastly Lycan King

Chapter 16. Bow or break

☉FENRIR

“My king, perhaps that is what you may see, but we, as members of the council are tasked with—“

“I asked if you challenge my decision.” I hissed.

I saw the tall man, Ickabog, flinch and pure revulsion shivered through my entire being. The man was not even confident in himself, enough to challenge my actions. He was not man enough to take me on. Worthless. And these were the people that led Cynthros. Perhaps I was wrong to even let the council remain. Maybe I should dismiss everybody from the council and rule simply by my intuition.

At the very least, he should have the grit to challenge me, if not as king, then as a man. I was beginning to think that perhaps I would just dismiss Ickabog too from the council when the first man who had introduced himself, Angstrom, cleared his throat and stood.

“Alpha King, I admit that Ickabog might have been a tad harsh with his methods, but we are here to guide you and ensure that you lead Cynthros into a bright and prosperous future.”

I slit my eyes to truly observe them.

“You would have them remain seated in council, even though they serve no true purpose?” I demanded.

“Be that as it may, my King,” Angstrom continued, voice lacquered with oil. “Dismissing them both was certainly not the right call to make—especially because you made it without our consultation—”

“I think you presume, Angstrom, that I am acting under the delusion that any of your counsel was needed. I told you that should I ever need your input, I would ask for it. I do not remember having asked for it.”

Angstrom took one look into my eyes and knew that I was beginning to be deadly serious. He sputtered and sat down back in his seat, like a punctured bellows. Ickabog was the only one left standing now, but he seemed more prideful than before. It was a most amusing sight.

His tiny, thick goatee, black and at odds with the rest of himself, was upturned at me, and his face held chagrin. He turned to the others.

“This is madness. He was only just crowned king and he already wants to assume power.”

The others all shook their head at him and hung them solemnly, afraid to enter the fray. On closer inspection, save for the two that I had already expelled from the council, Ickabog looked to be the youngest.

His blood was still young and boiling—reasonable traits to be found in an adventuring man. Not at all what is needed in a council where decisions of cold, hard logic and emotionless tasks were carried out. Yet, Andras’s view of him did not change.

I studied the man before me a while more, pretending to listen to the stirring speech he was giving his other council members.

For all the good that his speech to the others did, they did not one rise to his defense, and I felt no longer disgust, but pity at this sniveling form of a man who could not even trust in his own strength to save him when he went against a foe much higher than he was.

They probably knew, like I did, that a kingdom was not ruled by emotions alone. Cry and wail all you might, the strong would still dominate over the weak. I considered Andras’s words to me after the incident with Danika in the hall the other time and how he seemed to relay that I exercise caution.

This was my first act as King. In the lifetime at least. As much as I wanted to change everything, I had to move at a gradual pace. It would serve me no good to have the entire council, and the kingdom against me already.

I sighed wearily.

“You have recently been crowned king, Alpha, but you are still young. Only just a lad, and we on the council have tended to matters far bigger and more critical than you ever had to worry about from ages ago.” He fumed. His eyes were as large as meager coins now. He must have sensed that I was staring intently at him and realized the position he was suddenly in, so he tried for a different tact.

“Alpha King,” he said soothingly, “You are king and Alpha, and there is no denying that. However, you have always been predisposed to rash—and forgive me to say—rather foolish decisions. Your dismissal of the two council members not only upsets the balance of Cynthros, but actively undermines our power, efficacy, and usefulness. And to this effect, you debase yourself, your strength, and your power as a king too. No king has ever ruled Cynthros without our guidance. The other nations will jest from their gilded walls when they hear of this: a pack ruled by an alpha without a complete council.”

He dumped himself dramatically onto his chair and folded his arms, dark eyes hard.

Now, Angstrom rose again, his protuberance even more annoying than before.

“Ickabog is correct, my king. And though it is dishonorable to reference our leaders of the past as such, I must still, for your father was a good Alpha. A generous and wise king. He did what was expected of him as king, much like the other kings before him, and he listened to our council, and he ruled Cynthros for a very long time, until his unfortunate demise.”

“We all remember him fondly. There was not one decision that he made concerning Cynthros that was not run through by us, and he was indeed a great king. I do believe that I speak for the entire council when I say that we are only still being introduced to you in this sense of leadership now, having watched you grow as a boy over the past few years, and it is only a little difficult to accept you and your meager strength as king.”

I turned my hands in front of me, suddenly interested in this speech. Old Angstrom seemed to relish the fact that I paid him so much attention. His words were barely veiled now. He was so certain that they had me under the thumb.

If I didn’t find the thought so worthy of jest, I might have felt some slight shame. I am Fenrir; I can never be strongarmed.

“I am certain that you are under a lot of duress, my king and your weak heart is no secret either. An impressive feat you pulled during the Battle of Rites. Personally, I had spared no thought for you, but you are here now, and with our guidance, I am sure you will eventually grow into the wise and strong king that your father meant for you to be. Despite…” he gesticulated at the table and lowered himself gently into his seat.

The rest of the council murmured his approval and Ickabog even extended a hand in his direction. I chuckled and leaned forward.

“Wise words, indeed,” I said to the council. Some nodded. Ickabog scoffed and turned his gaze elsewhere. “I am sorry that you all think me the same person who stepped into that arena so long ago. I must apologize for leading you astray. I am no man with a weak heart. And I am no man who will ‘grow’ into strength—I already am as powerful as can be.”

It was hard to keep the secret to myself, now that I was so close to laughing. I declared.

“I am neither the Finarfen you knew, nor am I indeed Finarfen. I am someone entirely different. Now, do you see why I oppose you and your weak constitutions so much?”

Their murmuring grew. I had certainly given them something to talk about. I knew that they must think me a madman, so I stood up from my throne at the head of the table, intending to clarify.

I caught Andras’s gaze from the corner. They revealed nothing. Only trailed me with the doggedness expected of a royal guard sworn to me. Fergal’s gaze was similar, but his emotions were spread out, wide on display. The questioning in his brows, the tick in the side of his lips, the way he trailed me with his eyes, hands clenched around the hilt of his sword.

“You must think that I am trying to play on your intelligence. You must think that I offer lies to you because I can offer no other. But what I did in that arena at the Battle of Rites, what I did in the woods when I went against the Crimson-horned Stag, and what I have done now are no lies. And just in case you think that I still try to play your minds. Let me demonstrate to you, just exactly what power a ‘weak man’ possesses.”

I barely needed to raise my hand when the royal guards burst into the council meeting hall.

Both Fergal and Andras automatically gravitated to my side, hands finally released from their swords as the royal guards stood behind each and every member of the council.

“I hereby declare this meeting closed. And should in case you ever think that you cannot bear to stay on council because I am king and your guts cannot swallow that down correctly, I adjure you to find the will in you to leave.”

“My council will not be made up of weak, senile men who only seek their self-satisfaction. I am not the Finarfen you knew. And Cynthros will know power. This is a new time and age. I suggest that you acclimatize. Quickly.”

As I swept out of the hall, I knew that all of the eyes of the council were on me now. I had just dominated them in their game of strength. They would either bow or break.