Ualar spoke up, gesturing with sympathy.
“To speak for myself and my lands, Barosain, we are in a similar predicament. Our stores are low, and our people are having to prematurely seed the fallow land.”
The room started to rustle and grumble as excuses began to bubble up.
“Yes, our fields had a terrible showing. We’re having to repeat crops on much of our land,” Latham added.
“Wait, wait,” the queen ordered. She tapped a candlestick on the table like a gavel and turned to her agricultural advisor.
“What is the status of Morganon’s food stores?” she asked.
The advisor began running his finger down the most recent entries.
“Yes, Your Majesty. For grains, we have two tons of wheat, and one ton each of barley and oats. Vegetables—we have a half-ton each of potatoes and carrots, five hundred pounds of cabbage, and a few hundred pounds of various herbs and other assorted vegetables. There is also one month’s worth of smoked pork and two months' smoked fish.”
The advisor fell silent and stared at Jularra for a reaction. Those in the room were temporarily encumbered with arithmetic and logistics.
Maccail spoke first, voicing the conclusion everyone else had reached.
“Even if we distributed our collective stockpiles, Acorilan would be out of food by next winter.” He only barely obscured his satisfaction at the observation, and stopped short of outright blaming the queen.
An ominous silence swept across the room before the inevitable eruption.
“We must act!” Drumean shouted. “Why have you not done anything? How dare you jeopardize…”
Each of the other lords started shouting, quickly overpowering Drumean in volume. Some jumped to their feet. The Bedrock snapped to defensive postures and stepped to Jularra’s side as she was berated by each of the lords with varying degrees of severity.
Jularra looked up again to Detsepera’s portrait in a vain appeal for inspiration. Calmly, Jularra reached into a pocket and produced a small pinch of something that she then placed just inside her mouth. After a second of letting it dissolve, she spat at Drumean. Instead of expelling a wad of saliva, however, the magically intensified burst of air launched Drumean away from the table and threw him against the wall, pinning him in place. The power behind the exhalation was such that even the edges of it caused the rest of those around the table to stumble. It even blew open the nearby window shutters.
The lords scrambled to get back to their feet and drew their swords. The queen remained in place with her hand extended, holding Drumean in place against the wall.
Korden quickly took stock of the men and their postures.
“Guard!” he shouted.
More Bedrock ran in from the corridor. Korden motioned for them to wait for his next direction.
“Before you accuse me, try me, and hang me for neglecting our people,” Jularra said, growing in anger and volume, “you will let me respond!”
Jularra held up her open hand and drew in her fingers, releasing Drumean from his invisible restraint. He slid down slowly to the floor. She then turned and motioned for the closest Bedrock to sheathe their weapons.
“It’s quite bothersome,” she said calmly, “to have to remind you of my devotion to our people. I, and my ancestors before me, have literally lived to die—for you!”
She slung her hands at the group in disgust.
“To keep our country safe! To keep our people from harm. And that’s just to allow our country to exist! Is there anyone here who needs that explaining? Beyond that, I, and the queens before me, have sacrificed much of the wealth of this city to benefit our people. To feed them. To bolster their villages and roads. To put them to work, and provide them with a living. Haven’t you noticed the great halls and walls of Morganon becoming less and less adorned with extravagance? I have always put this country’s people first, and I will continue to put them first. Every resource and option will be exhausted to ensure their future. Can you all say the same? If I were to visit all your keeps, would I see signs of similar sacrifice?”
As evidenced by the silence, no additional clarification was needed. Surprisingly, Maccail was the first to return his sword to its scabbard, though everyone else soon followed suit.
Korden nodded at the additional complement of Bedrock, signaling that they may return to the hall. The queen rubbed her face and sat back down.
Wooden chairs skidded across the stone floor as the others followed suit, and Drumean stretched his sore back before returning to the table.
“My deepest apologies,” he offered. “I panicked, and made assumptions.” His body and ego were clearly bruised, and his words were momentarily interrupted by a grimace. But his apology—and his embarrassment—seemed sincere.
Jularra nodded dismissively and raised a finger at a nearby servant.
“Let’s refill drinks,” she began. “Then we can discuss our options.”
Korden leaned down and whispered, “I’d say it’s going well so far.” She gave him a sidelong glare in return.
“All right, then,” she started, once everyone was settled. “What suggestions do we have for bolstering our food supplies? What about pooling our resources and trading them in bulk to a neighboring country?”
Latham replied first.
“Well, if we don’t have enough supplies to trade internally…”
Maccail anticipated the ending to Latham’s thought.
“We won’t have enough to trade externally,” he concluded.
Drumean, having been reminded of his place, politely refused his wine refill. “Food, no,” he affirmed, “but what about gold? Gems? Linen? Wool? Anything?”
The conversation sprung to life. Each of the nobles sparred on the possibility of trading textiles, materials, metals, or anything else that wasn’t food.
Jularra let the conversation unfold, listening for anything meaningful. Each side conversation spiked and trumpeted with various concerns and worries.
Jularra leaned forward and stood up slowly. The noise quickly dissipated.
“If what I’m hearing is the consensus, trade is not an option,” she surmised. “There are simply not enough resources of any type that we can afford to trade.”
Another uncomfortable silence took the room.
“Then we must take what we need by force!” Maccail finally blurted.
Jularra rolled
