OOC thread. Only those who have applied and been accepted there may post here.
When the standing order shook, an opportunity arose. Those who knew to read the signs might make their move given such a chance, because it might not come again. And this was the opportunity like no other. It was a chance for a foreign power to invade, or a ruler within to rise and establish a new order, a glorious government and a golden age or a rotten rule and the coming of dark times.
Perhaps a revolution would rise, and the workers would unite, and the proletariat might rule for once. But there was another possible outcome, often overlooked by those who hope for better times. It might be the other side that moves to seize that day among many and win out for ages to come. That standing order that threatened to fall might bring down the hammer and deal a crushing blow to those who would challenge it. With power and the rule of law, the old order might stand taller than ever before. Queen Flenser of the East would not have it any other way.
Nonetheless, there was no call to be reckless.
"Your majesty, I find myself doubting your word. I do not understand why you have chosen to hold back on the Griffon provinces."
The Queen did not reply at once. Rather, she paused to contemplate her answer, to mull it over before she spoke it aloud.
"My dear Steel, do you know what happens when a heavy stallion treads of thin ice on a lake?" she asked. Lord Steel had a look of confusion.
"Well, yes…the stallion falls through, but I fail to see-"
"Why does the stallion fall through?" persisted the Queen. Steel paused to consider Flenser's question.
"I suppose…I imagine the stallion breaks the ice and so falls into the lake below…because the stallion is heavy? "
"Indeed, it is because the stallion is heavy. The thin ice cannot hold his weight and so gives way. Do you see now?"
A look of realization formed on Lord Steel's face. He understood now, having put together the Queen's bizarre analogy.
"You mean to say our army is like a heavy stallion, and the Griffon provinces like a lake covered with a thin ice…and so we cannot march south for fear of breaking the ice. I understand now, my Queen. But I still have a query to pose."
"Ask, Lord Steel. I am listening," said Queen Flenser, perking up her ears.
"If we cannot march an army in to secure the lands, what can we do?"
Flenser smiled, happy it had come to this.
"Let's return to the ice of the lake. We know a stallion cannot stand on the ice, because the thin ice will give way. But what should happen to this same ice if a little filly were to walk out on the lake?"
"Why, I believe the filly would stand just fine on the ice. I think I see. However, what is the filly? What can control the Griffons without prodding them to break loose?"
Before the Queen could reply, there sounded a deep ring. It was the heavy sound of the bell tower that stood at the center of Flenser's capital. It sounded again, low and long. Flenser sighed. That was the sound of the noon bell, and it was time to confer with her agents abroad. But Steel didn't know as much.
"A worthy question, but I'm afraid it must wait. The duties of the crown are as numerous as its powers."
Steel bowed, as Flenser moved to leave. "Until our next meeting, your majesty."
He did not ask why she left.
"Until our next meeting, Lord Steel," answered the Queen before she trotted away into the labyrinth that was her castle.
The sound of her hooves on the flagstones receded into the distance, the echo fading with distance.
