They come, and never in her life has she seen so many members of the Chamber. Not even under her father. His rule was mostly quiet, though there was a short time where he almost seemed like he might pull the Chamber out of its slump. Almost. But her father never quite had it in him. He was too prone to getting lost in his own personal vendetta’s, too busy destroying individual lives to see the greater possibilities. Straia would not make that mistake. She would not get so tied up in her dislike of one other horse that she would make a foolish decision for the Chamber. She wouldn’t kill for amusement or punish for personal crimes. She was not her father, in the end. She was simply just enough of him to be effective.
The first stallion to speak is new, asking what they would do when they stole other horses. “Piss them off,” she says simply. She had no issues with the captor doing as they pleased with their prize, excluding death. A bit of roughing up, a bit of mental torture. Whatever floated their boat. She simply wanted the other kingdoms to remember who the Chamber really was. She wanted those stories of the days when the Chamber was feared by all to be true again.
The stallion goes on to talk about his ideas, and she listens, though does not comment yet. She knows there will be more opinions on the matter, and so will hold her tongue on that topic until the rest of spoken. Cellar speaks, and Straia listens to the girl, glad to see that she seems to be settling in at least for the time being. Gryffen would certainly hold a tight enough leash the girl might even stay. She comments that children will dream of home, and Straia agrees, though still says nothing. Every horse in Beqanna could have stolen her away and not one would have convinced Straia that there was a better home than the Chamber. She has loved this place since birth. She will love it till she dies.
Engelsfors is the next, and Straia too agrees with that. She would burn down Beqanna for her son, if she had to. It is personal the only personal matter that might cloud her judgment for the Chamber, but she knows other mothers and other kingdoms would do the same. Astri speaks up to pledge herself to both castes, and Straia nods in the mare’s direction but says nothing. Killdare adds his own thoughts as well, and then Erebor.
She is glad to see him. She knows why her son has been absent, and she agrees with his reasons. The Chamber didn’t need to burn to the ground again. But still, she nods to her son in a quiet hello. There’s no overt show of love – she has never been that sort of mother and he has never been that sort of son. A nod is enough. She can’t help the slight grin at his floating act though. The Chamber was definitely something now, with the magic distributed throughout Beqanna. The other kingdoms would be smart to fear them without the Chamber ever lifting a finger. Erebor’s thoughts mirror her own, though she is hardly surprised by this. Like mother like son. But again, she says nothing, because there are still others to speak.
Oh, how far they have come. She is thrilled, really, though outwardly she remains the same.
Another new face introduces himself as Michaelis. He’s not entirely knew to Straia. The ravens tell her of every horse that crosses the Chamber border, after all. But she has yet to see him in person, and she nods in his direction in her silent welcome.
Gryffen speaks next, and she notices that the raven she had given him still perches on his back. She grins slightly. She won’t take it away unless her powers stretch too thin, but she has not yet crept up on any limit. She has no idea what limit, if any, she has with her strange brand of magic. But she’ll use it to help serve the Chamber and it’s members in every way she can, not just as her personal army of spies (though she loves her army of spies).
“I suspect the Gates is watching for you, Gryffen.” She knows why he asks as well. His fascination with the broken still baffles her a bit, but to each his own. “They are fair game, though.” She has no love of the Gates, after all. And they are not strong enough to be worth the Chamber’s time. “A labyrinth? Interesting thought, though we’ll need a magician for that one.” Her magic did not stretch past ravens, though perhaps she could create some sort of labyrinth made of shadow ravens. They would move, shift, or just attack horses. It was a thought.
Kavi is the next to speak, preaching peace. Or at least not “evil”. Who said they were evil? They were simply strong, and capable of showing that strength. But of course, she is not surprised by Kavi’s words, because he has never entirely been as cruel as his brother. His home may be the Chamber, but it had never completely been his heart. However, she is slightly surprised to find that he steps down. At the same time though, she finds herself mildly relived, because it means that she wouldn’t have to demote him. He’d been absent more and more, and her patience was growing thin. Now she simply didn’t have to make that decision.
Straia nods at her Uncle, though says nothing more. Perhaps in the future there would be some use for him that suited the painted stallion better, but for now, she was content to let her Uncle be. In the end, she wasn’t sure he’d have the stomach for what the Chamber might do. Warship is the next, and he agrees to give Killdare a pair of wings. He is sour on the idea of stealing children, but seems to like the idea of the maze as well. “The level of the sacrifice can vary from a few drops to a life. The prophecy given will be in line with the level of blood. The more blood, the more we learn of our possible futures.” She wasn’t sure that lives would be all that necessary. Maybe now and again, but the future was a fickle thing. A few drops of blood here and there could tell plenty, because the future was apt to change. But having a captive for a year provide those drops of blood wasn’t a bad idea.
Kushiel speaks up again, and she listens, Killdare pipping in as well. “And what would we raffle them back for? According to the laws of Beqanna, captives must be returned in a year.” She’s not saying no to the idea, but rather wants to see it fully fleshed out. She turns to face the group as a whole. “Thank you for the ideas. I lean toward a show of power, rather than capturing children or mares and breaking them. And I would pick one of the more powerful kingdoms to target. The Amazons, perhaps, or the Deserts.” Even though the Valley was rather worthless at the moment, they were still allies, and she wasn’t keen on pissing off Eight. She just might need to influence the next monarch over there.
“If you have more ideas, please feel free to voice them, or simply find me later if you prefer to have a one on one discussion.” She won’t make a decision quite yet, though perhaps a maze, and perhaps plans for a raid. She simply needed some reason to pick the right kingdom. Maybe, if they were lucky, one of the kingdoms would prove themselves to be just that target.
straia
the raven queen of the chamber
...sorry for the book guys, there's just so many of you! it's amazing