“As if I’d take it,” Bethesda sneered. “Share my power with my own ungrateful children? Be forced tovoteon decisions that should be mine by right?” She turned up her nose. “I’d rather die.”
“That can still be arranged.”
Julius jumped. Bob had been so quiet through all of this, Julius had actually forgotten the seer was there. Now, though, Bob pushed his way forward, taking Julius’s place in front of their mother with a smile every bit as ruthless as anything the Heartstriker had worn.
“Showing your true colors at last, I see,” Bethesda said, glaring up at her oldest surviving son. “I always suspected Julius, but I never thoughtyouwould betray me, Brohomir.”
“And that’s the only reason it worked,” Bob replied. “You were a useful tool, Mother, but the world is changing, and the old ways are no longer enough. You took us as far as you could, but if Heartstriker is to become the power I need it to be, we all have to adapt. Even you.”
“You can’t be serious,” she growled. “You can’t actually thinkIwould give up my clan, the title I killed for, to become a passenger in this idiot’s plot?”
Her eyes darted to Julius, who shifted uncomfortably, but Bob laid a hand on his shoulder. “I do,” Bob said. “Because our clan is no longer yours to lose.”
She looked appalled by that, but Bob just kept going. “Tonight, my littlest brother saved your life twice over. Once from Estella, and once, just now, from your own children. But even though you live, you’ve lost. You are on your knees, defeated and sealed, watching helpless as your children divvy up your clan.” His eyes narrowed. “You know how this ends, Bethesda. You know, because you were once in our position yourself. This clan will march on with or without you, so unless you want me to carry on the family tradition and show you the same courtesy you showed your father, I suggest you accept what Julius has so generously offered. A seat on his council might not be the future you wanted, but at this point, it’s the only one you’re going to get. So what will it be, Mother? Will you die for your pride? Or will you act like a real dragon and take your power where you find it?”
Bethesda took a shuddering breath, her frozen body straining against the magic of Julius’s Fang that held her in place. And then, slowly, the fight drained out of her. With his hand wrapped tight around the hilt of his sword, Julius could actually feel the moment his mother gave up. The Fang’s magic released her a few seconds later, and she slumped forward, landing on her hands. She rested there for a moment, and then she rose to her feet, reaching up to straighten her skewed golden headdress.
“I never was one to take nothing over something,” she said with as much dignity as she could manage. “I accept your compromise.”
“Excellent!” Bob said, his voice bright and cheery again as he pulled an elaborately folded square of expensive looking paper out of his pocket. “Council it is, then! I’ve got the paperwork all drawn up.”
“Wait,” Julius said, almost too shocked to speak. “How is that even possible? I only came up with the idea a few minutes ago. We haven’t even discussed what a Heartstriker Council would look like yet. How can youpossiblyhave paperwork already?”
“Because I am the handsome, powerful, charismatic, and all-knowing seer of the Heartstrikers,” Bob reminded him with curt look. “Honestly, Julius, you act like Estella was the only one with an end game on the board. As you just pointed out, this entire thing was your idea, and have I notcontinuallysaid that your future was the only one I could always see?”
“Oh,” Julius said, his face heating. “Right.”
“Now this is just the initial agreement,” Bob said, unfolding the paper to reveal a beautifully handwritten contract the size of a movie poster. “Parameters for the transference of Bethesda’s power, how the council will be formed, and so forth. There’s a lot more details to hammer out, but I only had one piece of paper with me, so I figured we’d figure the rest out later when we had a council to argue about it.”
Chelsie arched an eyebrow at the giant, densely written contract that fell from Bob’s fingers all the way to the floor. “That’syour start?”
“I wastryingto be thorough,” Bob said, pouting. “Though I do admit the calligraphy is a bit much, but it was averylong flight from the DFZ to China, and I wanted to make sure everything was perfect. It’s not every day we get to completely redefine the idea of what a dragon clan is.”
He spread the unfurled contract out over the cracked seat of Bethesda’s throne, and all the Heartstrikers crowded in to read. But while Bob hadn’t been kidding about going overboard on the calligraphic flourishes, the contract itself, while extremely overwritten, boiled down to three key points. First, it destroyed the position of clan head, preventing Bethesda or any other Heartstriker from seizing absolute control of the clan ever again. This, by extension, also removed Amelia’s position as heir, which made her very happy. Second, Bob’s contract outlined the formation of a council with an unspecified odd number of voting seats (to prevent deadlocks) that would take over all the responsibilities and powers that had previously belonged to Bethesda, including declaring war, forming alliances with other clans, creating and enforcing rules for acceptable behavior within the family, and so forth. Thirdly, it ordered that, with the exception of Bethesda herself, the council seats should be equally divided between Heartstrikers with Fangs and Heartstrikers without, both to be decided by a clan vote.
“I like the voting part,” Julius said. “But why divide things by Fangs?”
“Because we need them,” Bob replied, patting his own sword. “The Fangs have always been symbols of Heartstriker’s power. A council that didn’t include them wouldn’t be respected within the family, let alone by outsiders, but a council that was nothingbutFangs would be seen as Bethesda’s puppets. A fifty-fifty split felt like a good compromise. That way, we always guarantee there will be at least one heavy hitter and one seat open to the ambitions of the clan at large. By dividing the power in half, we ensure that we have two sides who can both work together to gang up on Bethesda.”
This observation raised a growl from their mother, which everyone ignored.
“I also set a term limit of five years on elected seats,” Bob went on, pointing at a particularly florid paragraph toward the bottom. “That way, there’s never more than a half decade’s wait between chances to seize power, which is vital if you want to avoid assassinations.”
“And we definitely want to do that,” Julius said, reading the paragraph Bob had indicated. “But, not counting Mother’s, there are only five Fangs total. If there’s a five year term limit, then only two dragons who have Fangs can sit on the council at any given time without being in violation. Add that to what you just said about the fifty-fifty split, and we’ve only got five Heartstrikers on the council—two with Fangs, two without, and Mother.”
Bob shrugged. “How is that a problem? Small councils make faster decisions.”
“You can go ahead and count me out,” Chelsie said, crossing her arms.
“Why?” Julius asked, alarmed. “Don’t you like the idea of a council?”
“I like it fine,” Chelsie said. “But I’m bound to Bethesda, remember? If I sit on that thing, all I’m going to do there is give her another vote, and I refuse.”
“Thank you for that,dear,” Bethesda snarled. “I’ll be sure to keep your opinion in mind later.”
There was a world of implied consequences in those words, but they seemed to roll off Chelsie’s back. Julius, on the other hand, was starting to get nervous.
“Okay,” he said, turning to Amelia. “What about you? I know the contract says Fangs, but I don’t think anyone would object to—”
