I inspected the people standing around the small chart table in the governor's mansion at Kingdom Pass. Most of those gathered were staring at the map and talking in low muted tones in groups of two or three. Three generals, all seven council members, Thaddeus and I were in attendance in the small private room.
Romnan brought the council of war to attendance by clapping his hands together briefly, "Let us get this council of war underway as none of us can doubt that that is exactly what we have become embroiled in despite our best efforts to the contrary. The many concessions that we have made to the enemy may have prolonged the peace for awhile, but war has come to us anyway and we are ill prepared for it. Roric as you know, has just returned from a council sanctioned mission to acquire information from one of our most valuable spy contacts ever."
I kept my eyes glued to the table before us as I thought of the man that I had met but briefly, but had liked almost instantly and now missed deeply. Everyone I had ever known of my family was either dead or presumed dead, with the exception of my grandfather. It was a lack of longevity I would like to see broken in my lifetime. I thought briefly of Romnan's words, 'council sanctioned mission', if they only knew everything that the mission had entailed.
"Ladies and gentlemen I feel it only right to inform you that gathering this information came at the cost of several lives including our spy's and considerable risk to Roric's as well. This information has been bought and paid for in Valley Lander blood, so my advice, is to heed it well and scoff at it only to your own shame! Roric would you do us the honor of presenting what we know of the enemy's intentions toward us?"
I nodded and looked up having the attention of all those gathered in the room. "There can be no doubt that we are within a state of war with the Zoarinian Empire. While there have been many wars between our two nations in the past the motives for this one is different than the previous ones. That motive is one rooted in our distant past. I speak of when we came to this world on boats of an advanced technology such as we do not have with us anymore or so most of us were led to believe."
I finished pointedly by staring at Thaddeus who didn't so much as bat an eye at my accusatory tone directed at him.