Kiera found it quite odd. She had never before seen all eleven of the Generals gathered around the war table in such a calm manner. Each and every one of them wore serious looks on their faces.
"Sit Kiera. There is much to talk about with so very little time." She did as her King commanded, taking her rightful place among the Generals that sat around the grand majestic oak table. Her usual seat welcomed her as she spot Philippa spare her a glance with her golden eyes.
"Now that we are all gathered, let us get down to business." The Lion Lord William exhaled as if he did not enjoy what he was about to say.
"As you all know, the fifty years of peace with all four Kingdoms is nearing its end." He took the time to look around the table directly at everyone. His amber eyes landed on Kiera last, lingering on his youngest Beast General for a moment more before he sat back in his chair.
"We have been called to Solomon for talks on furthering the Golden Rose Treaty. I will need at least three of you to escort me." He closed his weary eyes as if he expected the commotion as soon as it erupted from around the table. He sighed as he brought his head to rest on top of his open palm after putting his arm up on his armrest.
"Count me out, I have no reason to set foot outside of the comfort of our home." Kiera was not fazed in the slightest as she heard the scornful voice of the third Beast General, Rutherford. He scrunched his already wrinkly nose up in distaste. "Humans are nothing short of trouble and I want nothing of it."
"I would like to ask if I can be taken out of consideration," Philippa said with a raise of her delicate hand. The King nodded at her.
"Yes, of course. I understand you need to be close to your children, especially now that you have just given birth."
"I thank your Majesty for your understanding. My baby is still too young to be left alone with his father."
"What a useless Mate you have." Crooned Tabitha, her beady black orbs for eyes stared disapprovingly at Philippa from across the table. Rutherford clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth in agreement with the jaded Tabitha.
"That is what happens when you Mate with a human." He sneered.
"Enough you two. This is neither the time nor place to have such a conversation." The atmosphere around the table returned to what it was before. Kiera was no longer perplexed by how fast the King had managed to keep the others in check, she had seen her Lord wrangle many of the Beast Generals into submission when needed.
Her King shook his golden mane.
"Tabitha and Rutherford, both of you are excluded from accompanying me." The two of them seemed happy at the decision, finally clamping their mouths shut as they had no other complaints.
"Anyone else?" The King looked around at the remaining nine Generals. "Kiera." His gaze landed on the youngest again, and Kiera waited for her King to speak.
"You have never once gone outside the Forest, have you?" She shook her head.
"No Your Majesty. I have come close once or twice while out on missions, but never have I crossed beyond the tree line."
"Good. This will be a good opportunity for you to venture out. You'll be able to experience many other humans firsthand."
She decided to refrain from sharing she had already met a couple of humans. Even if there are only a few of them scattered throughout the Forest. It was rare to find humans out in the wild, as they were without protection from the lawless Beasts and monsters. Any humans that had the unfortunate fate of meeting any of the Deranged Beasts get Hunted down like prey. If the Deranged does not kill them, then the monsters in the Forest most certainly would.
"It'll be good for you to take a break from your endless patrols." The King continued, spurring a handful of the other Beast Generals to heartedly agree with him. Kiera knew they wanted her to take up one of the undesirable spots as the King's escorts. "You've just joined the Generals, and yet you have accomplished much in such a short time."
"You're in need of a much-deserved rest." A few of the Generals joined in, repeating the same lines as the King.
"Yes milord." She nodded her head, accepting her King's request without putting too much of a fight.
The other Generals all breathe out a sigh of relief. Now there are only two more positions to be filled. There is a bigger chance that they would not be called upon by the King to serve as his escorts.
"Helios and Gaspar." The two men couldn't hide their disappointed faces in time as the King uttered their names. "You two will take the other two positions as my escorts. Gather enough men you deem necessary for the trip because as soon as the full moon wanes we set off."
With that, the King pushed back his seat and rose, prompting every General to hastily get up from their own seats. They sat back down as soon as the King fully left the room.
"For fucks sake, we just had to draw the short end of the stick didn't we Helios?" Gaspar sat back in his seat with his arms crossed, his brown hair was swept to one side as he brought his head back. Helios looked at his old friend next to him in a sympathetic way, the blues in his eyes made it seem as if he was feeling the same as Gaspar.
"That's enough from you two whiners." Grand Duke Quinton scowled down at them, the fierceness of his scowl is accentuated further by the long scar that spanned across his face and over his eye. It was the scar that he had received from his many years of fighting, a scar that no longer allowed him open one of his eyes.
The men clamped their mouths shut, as they did not want to get another scolding from Quinton, the man known as the Beast Flayer. They had all learned to stay as far away from him as possible lest they wanted to anger and experience firsthand the wrath of the mighty Bear Beast.
Although Kiera also gave wide berth whenever she saw Grand Duke Quinton, she couldn't help but point out the similarities between him and his son. Her first Captain couldn't be any more different from his father in terms of personality, but the Duke's brown hair and crystal-clear colored eye are unmistakable and marked him and her first Captain as father and son.
"Where are you going?" Gaspar sharply looked up at her as she scraped her chair back. All around the table, the Generals began their heated discussion on the Golden Rose Treaty. Their discussion did not interest her one bit, for she had her own ideas and opinions on the matter. She did not want to disclose any of them for she would most certainly be shot down because of her lack of experience dealing with humans.
"I'm going to prepare for when we leave." She responded naturally even though she didn't originally get out of her seat to do just that. She only wanted to leave before the debate turned violent. Like many of their discussions in the past.
"You are trying to make us look bad Wolf." Tabitha sneered at her, crossing her arms over her chest. Kiera only shook her head at the woman.
"As I've said before, my only goal is to get rid of as many criminals as I can. I have very little interest in anything else." Tabitha snorted, a sound that's not uncommon coming from her.
Ever since she first joined the elite inner circle and became the youngest among the Beast Generals, she had made her goal clear to them all. She had no interest in climbing up in ranks. Her only ambition had gone unchanged for most of her life. She was a commoner since birth and did not intend to become a noble.
She left the room while the other Generals picked up where they left off in their discussion. Kiera nodded her farewells to the two guards posted just outside the War Room and walked down the grandiose decorated halls of the palace.
Her feet walk on the plush velvet rugs as they run throughout the stone hallways. At every turn, her eyes were met with beautifully carved stone statues and the bountiful vases of flowers that lined the passageways of the home of the Beast King.
Philippa had told her of the palace before King William rose to be their King. He had beheaded the old tyrant who had been a monster, preferring to do nothing as his people starved and were eaten by the Deranged Beasts and monsters alike. Kiera did not need a reminder of the bastard, taking down the deranged Beast from earlier was enough of a reminder of the times before King William had ascended. She never wanted to go back to those times.
She forced her mind off of the subject, and instead willed herself to think about the things she needed to prepare. First, she needed to find her Captains and inform them of their next mission.