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Even though Celestia was Queen, and had final say on any and every matter; her mother had taught her well. The Empress had drilled the fact into her head that ‘rulers that ignored the voices of their subjects eventually found themselves without a throne’. Having that as her guide, Celestia had found herself loved by her people.

The ones gathered had various opinions, but more than a few of them shared the same opinion about humans. The group had glared at Jonathan when they’d entered the room, but most had shown him basic courtesy. But mainly due to the fact that he was the Queen’s guest, and it was idiotic not to.

The ones who had turned their noses up at him were the ones whispering in the King Consort’s ear as of late. Therefore, they were already pushing Celestia’s limits. After witnessing their disrespectful attitudes from the start, the Fae Queen silently made up her mind..

Once everyone was seated or standing comfortably, Celestia had Maevis explain a shortened version of the events that had taken place in Alcon. She was obviously not happy to be the one to address the council, but had realized that Nicolas seemed preoccupied with his thoughts. Both had known him long enough to understand that when Nic’s eyes glossed over like they currently were; he was deep in thought.

It was an expression Nicolas donned whenever he was trying to figure something out, and it usually led to a breakthrough they needed.. ‘There’s been countless times that he’d made that exact face, then saved our arses. So I guess I’ll wait until later before I smack him for putting me on the spot like this..’

Once Maevis had finished speaking, the room erupted like a volcano. The centaurs and brownies were arguing to evacuate right then, but the minotaur and a few other Fae wanted to fight anyone entering the forest without permission. When the arguing turned into screaming, Aero tried to call attention, but nothing worked.

The screaming started to devolve into shoving, then grew worse as Aero tried and failed to quiet everyone down. When one of them suggested to string up Jonathan as a warning to other humans, Celestia lost her calm. Knowing what was coming; Maevis, Nicolas, Aero, and Jonathan(just in time), all covered their eyes..

In the blink of an eye, all others in the room had become blinded by a sudden, and intense light flare from the Queen. She had surpassed her tolerance limit for their bigotry and racism, and wouldn’t stand for them insulting a good person. Once their vision had returned enough for their panic to subside, Celestia addressed the gathered Fae.

.....

“I am only going to say this Once, so everyone had Better listen, and listen well. Humans, like Fae, can be both good and bad. By condemning them all you make yourselves no better than the worst of them..”

“I will Not tolerate my guest being insulted, nor his people in front of him. Do so again in my presence, and you will swiftly learn that I am my Mother’s daughter in Every way. Is that understood?”

The room was silent as the gathered Fae nodded their understanding. Even Aero had the good sense to keep quiet, and simply let Maevis and Nicolas handle the speaking part. They’d been shocked at Celestia’s chiding of the Fae Lords, but quickly recovered; including Nic.

When Celestia realized that he was now out of his trance-like state, she inquired as to what had sent him into it in the first place. His expression was grave as he looked about the room, then back at his Queen. She nodded encouragingly for him to speak, so he shared his fear-filled thought..

“When we were in Dragonhorn, we didn’t see anything other than soldiers. Regular, living soldiers and mages.. But that’s not all the Alconian King has. I think....I think that King Marco is sending his undead army here.”

Again, the room filled with conflict, but Celestia was ready for it. She slowly started to glow, and grew more intense as their voices did. She resembled a lightbulb before the others had figured out what she was doing, but as soon as they did, even the banshee made it a point to be as quiet as a field mouse.

Their talks went on like that for hours, until nightfall was upon them. The pinks, purples, and bluish-black of the evening devoured all light, and left a spattering of stars in it’s wake. Outside, the Fae went about their daily lives without a thought of worry as the intense within came to a head.

Jonathan had been mostly quiet the entire time, and spoke only when spoken to first. A creature that looked almost like a rabbit with horns brought him a plate of food around four o’clock or so, but he’d only eaten enough to make sure that he wasn’t insulting his hosts. Not only was he still processing the trauma of what he’d been through, but what he was witnessing was also gnawing at him.

Jonathan had described what he’d seen in excruciating detail. He’d even cried while explaining everything to the Fae royals, and yet here they were: talking instead of running. By the time the sunlight was nearly gone, so was his patience with their pointless arguing..

Completely drained and nearly broken, Jonathan still found the strength to jump to his feet, and chastise the bickering Fae; “Why are ya still Arguing about this?!”

“Did ya not hear me Maevis?! Death is comin’ for ya! They killed Everyone! Everyone that didn’t listen ta these two’s warnings, and now yer doin’ the same thing! Do ya not understand?! They Are Comin’ Here Ta Kill You ALL! Why aren’t you evacuating?! It’s Insane!”

“Calm yourself, Mr. McKurdy!” Aero yelled, but Jonathan continued with his rant.

He screamed at them about how he saw entire families dragged outside of their homes, and murdered. He told them how Cu had rushed in to save everyone, but was taken down by General Zas and Captain Benzo. When he started crying and wailing about how he had lost his entire life in the span of morning, Celestia fluttered down to him, and tried to console him.

Jonathan calmed enough to stop balling, but she still had him escorted to a large room to lie down. A kind centaur offered to take him to his room on his back, but John had politely declined. Before he left, he asked the Fae council one final time; “Please, for the love of everything you hold dear: Evacuate Now...Before it’s too late..”

With that, Jonathan had left the war room with a somber expression. Maevis and Nicolas felt terrible for him, but knew that they had to hold off on comforting him. Before the council members could start squabbling again, she vehemently started to try and persuade them to agree to an evacuation.

As she spoke, Aero casually went over to Nic, and stood to his side with a perplexed look on his face. After a few moments, Aero asked why Jonathan had come to Warrick Forest instead of going on to Moonstone Castle.

Nicolas shrugged; “Mae contemplated sending Jonathan to warn Lucas, but the possibility of him being found and questioned was too high.”

Seeing her brow crease with worry, Nic added; “Also, Lucas probably would’ve freaked out seeing a massive grizzly bear heading for his castle. John can’t travel as fast as Mae and me, so I called him a ride for our journey here. The poor man’s been through hell..”

“I can understand that,” Aero commented; “But it was still a poor choice to bring him here. Our people won’t like it.”

Nicolas looked at him sideways; “Our people? Or our King?”

Aero glared at him, but Nic didn’t flinch. He had always been honest with Aero and Celestia, which was why they valued their opinions above most others. Few ever told a king or queen what they didn’t want to hear, even if it was something they Should, so their integrity was appreciated.

In truth, the only people who could truly affect Celestia and Aero’s choices were the two elders, and her mother. Titania had final say on all Fae-related matters, so it made sense that her opinion would hold above all else. But Maevis and Nicolas had earned their trust over the centuries, and had never been wrong about anything that they agreed upon.

So the fact that they were both adamant about an evacuation worried Aero greatly..

After calming himself, Aero pulled Celestia aside, and spoke in hushed tones for several minutes. They looked to be in an automatic agreement, until Aero had said something that Celestia didn’t seem to like. They whispered in hushed, angry voices towards the end before she obviously brought the conversation to an end.

With a stern expression, Celestia clapped her hands, then called out; “I want everyone on highest alert. Send out scouts in every direction, but send extra towards the direction of Dragonhorn. I want to know of anything breathing that’s heading our way that’s not a squirrel.”

Several guards left the room and returned shortly thereafter, nodding to their Queen when looked upon. It was like a silent understanding was had between her and those around her. While Celestia trusted Maevis and Nicolas’ judgement in most things, it was still common sense to her to take precautions against anyone unauthorized listening in.

The arguments continued as several councilors suggested standing their ground, and fighting for their home. Aero personally supported the idea, but stated that; “Whatever the Queen decides will be the right decision.”

He didn’t argue, but he didn’t deny their points, which led to Celestia having to explain why she was choosing Maevis and Nicolas’ suggestion. Several started to argue favoritism, but the conversation was cut short by a brownie rushing in with an emergency report.

It had been less than an hour since the order for scouting had been issued, and those carrying it out had already reported something back. The room grew tense as the messenger caught his breath, then announced the news ina strained voice..

“The griffins were barely airborne before they spotted what looks like an army, but they aren’t coming from the direction of Dragonhorn. They came from the east instead of the road. And there’s another problem..”

“Speak without worry,” Celestia stated, worried that the brownie was scared that the messenger would be shot for his bad news.

The young brownie swallowed hard; “Yes, Your Majesty.. The scouts confirmed that the approaching army isn’t completely made up of humans. There’s several Fae mixed in, and there’s something else. Something in front of them, leading the charge. And my superiors can’t identify it.”

Nicolas and Maevis’ hearts dropped as the youngster added; “It’s some kind of Massive machine..”