“This is absurd!” Arthur Ballard fumed, slamming his fist on the table. “The day after a foreign army lays siege to our community, we are going to hold an election?”

“Look, I only did what you all asked me to do,” Bronwyn said, her voice carefully flat but a dangerous spark in her eyes. Olivia thought about interjecting, but she wanted to hear more of what everyone else was thinking. They’d called an emergency council meeting after the Urghat set up their siege lines, and everyone was there, crowded around the table, including Morgan and Issa.

“And there’s no way you can cancel or postpone the election?” Maria asked, an eyebrow arched.

“No, dammit. The fucking System asked me three times if I was sure and warned me that once set in motion, the election and consequent handover of powers couldn’t be stopped.” She sighed and slumped down in her chair, blowing a few wild tangles of red hair out of her face. Olivia wanted to reach out to her, to let her know she understood her frustration, but she feared it would only irritate her in her current mood.

“How many of the Urghat are there?” Brian Stafford asked, his voice quiet with resignation.

“We’re not entirely sure, but some of the Ardeni Hunters ventured into the grasslands to try to get a good count. They think it’s somewhere between 2500 and 3000,” Arthur replied dourly.

“How many of my people have registered at the stone?” Issa asked.

“As of a few hours ago, nearly two hundred. I’d hoped for more.” Arthur looked at Issa, his eyes revealing an almost hidden accusation.

“Easy, Arthur. There are more on the way, and, regardless, any help is better than none, right?” Morgan stared, his eyes expressionless, at Arthur while he spoke.

“Yes, yes. Of course.”

“Well, we outnumber them, then!” Maria said almost cheerfully.

“Except these Urghat are all combat veterans. They don’t bring their young or old or their few non-combat oriented classes to war.” Bronwyn drummed her fingers on the table while she spoke, clearly preoccupied.

“Something you want to say, Bronwyn?” Dr. Kerns spoke up for the first time.

“I’m just wondering how this is going to go down. Urghat aren’t patient. I don’t see them doing a prolonged siege. I hope our black powder weapons are enough to throw off their first attack and put some doubt in their hearts, and then I was thinking I need to challenge their leaders.” She turned her drumming fingers into a fist and clenched it, her knuckles turning white.

“What? I don’t think so, Bron. You’re going to fight all their leaders? You have any idea how strong their Chief or whatever is?” Olivia finally gave in and reached out a hand, grabbing onto Bronwyn’s wrist, almost like she wanted to hold her in place.

“He’s called an Overclaw, and, no, I don’t. I only know he had to be tough enough to survive challenges from any other Urghat.” She shrugged.

“Well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Morgan said smoothly, “We’ll cross that bridge when we get there, but just know: if it comes to fighting leaders, Issa and I will be helping.”

“Maybe. As you said, we’ll have to see how things shake out.” Bronwyn sat back and patted Olivia’s hand. Her hands were big and calloused but warm, and Olivia knew Bronwyn was trying hard to be agreeable here in this meeting, so she gave her wrist another squeeze then pulled her hand back.

“Well, let’s agree on a course of action. One, we can’t do anything about the election except hope that we all win. Two, we need to keep as many muskets on the wall as possible and have the cannons manned at all times. Three, we need to start thinking about what we’ll do if they do try a prolonged siege. We’ve done a good job outfitting guards for rotations. We have almost a thousand militia outfitted with armor and spears, and we have almost half that number with muskets and blunderbusses.” Olivia ticked off her talking points on her fingers as she spoke, but Morgan cleared his throat and spoke.

“Don’t put all your guns on the wall. Have a few up there, patrolling and watching, but have the rest in ready positions at the bottom of the rampart stairs. You don’t want the Urghat to see how many we’ve got before they attack.”

“Yes, that makes sense,” Maria said. Somehow she’d taken charge of the militia in addition to her duties with the crafts folk.

“We don’t know how sophisticated they are. They might all just charge the north wall, or they might try multiple attack angles. We need to be ready on every wall,” Olivia continued.

“The Hunters will be ready to help. Most of them have exceptional skill with bows. You should also get your citizens ready to fight, even if they didn’t sign up for the militia. If they breach the wall, the Urghat won’t care.” Issa looked gravely around the table, measuring their response to her words. “I’m serious. Urghat will kill and eat everyone; they don’t leave people alone if they throw down their arms.” The table grew quiet at her words.

The engineers spoke a bit more about the logistics of supplying ammo and powder to the cannons on the walls and about how they’d mounted large, Energy-powered lamps on posts a hundred yards out from the walls at fifty-yard intervals. Hopefully, it meant that there would be no sneak attacks in the middle of the night. As the meeting broke up, Morgan said he had some armor to pick up, and he and Issa left. The rest of the council went to manage their business, and Olivia turned to Bronwyn. “I’m going to go pack up my tent and bring it to Morgan’s tower.”

“Yeah, I’ll do the same, but I want to talk to my Urghat scouts first. I want to get their take on this invasion force - whether they’ll attack at night, if they seem prepared for a long siege, stuff like that.”

“Alright, I'll see you later, then.” Olivia smiled; she knew everyone was stressed, and she wanted to try to keep a positive outlook. She left the tavern, walked past the milling crowd outside, and meandered over to her lonely campsite. She was glad for her satchel - she didn’t have to pack up everything thoroughly. She could just toss things in, even her unfolded blankets and the little box where she kept her water bottles and snacks. She’d pretty much stopped using her tent for storage once she’d gotten her satchel and left on her trip with Morgan. Still, there were some odds and ends that she didn’t want to lose: extra clothes, empty sketchbooks, extra charcoal pencils, some particularly smooth rocks that she’d collected while walking around the colony, and her tent itself.

After gathering her personal belongings, she walked a short distance into the grass near her tent, where she’d staked Blue to a long rope, giving him plenty of room to roam and forage. He snuffled her pleasantly when she approached, and she gave him some pats and scratches. “Good boy. I’m going to bring you over with your friends, okay? Follow me.”

She took one more look around the empty patch of grass she’d called home since arriving in this world, then she made the walk through the evening darkness to Morgan’s tower. Most of the way was over cobbled roads, but when she turned off to go across the grass to his tower, the night was quite dark, and the grass hushed her steps. She felt very alone all of a sudden, and she had to look around to see the lights and movement in the distance to put herself at ease. “Quiet out here, isn’t it?” She jumped at the sound, looking to where the voice came from off to her left on the dark grassy slope leading to the tower, and she had to squint to realize there was a darker shape lying in the grass.

“Who’s there?”

“Oh, you know me, Ms. Bennet. Reggie Arnold Gandry-Thule - soon to be Councilman Reggie Arnold Gandry-Thule.” His voice was severe, and it struck Olivia as almost funny how he could say his name like that, twice in a row, without realizing how pompous he sounded.

“Jesus, you startled me. Why are you laying out here in the dark?”

“Best way to see the stars, and my home is just over there.” A vague movement in the shadows might have been him pointing at the sprawling villa about a hundred yards west of Morgan’s tower.

“Oh, that’s right. Well, nice to see you. I’m heading in. Big day tomorrow!” Olivia started walking.

“After tomorrow, you won’t be able to dismiss me so easily.” His voice was soft, and Olivia wasn’t even sure he’d meant to speak out loud, almost like he was talking to himself.

“Right, well, good luck.” She picked up her pace, thoroughly weirded out by the guy. When she got to the steps leading up to the tower door, she tied blue’s lead to the iron railing near Morgan and Issa’s mounts. Blue trotted over next to Munch, and they rubbed their shoulders together with low grunting noises. Issa’s roladii stayed alone, off to the side, eating grass.

Olivia turned back to the steps and took them two at a time, putting her hand on the door’s handle, pulling. Nothing happened. She might as well have been trying to open a bank vault. “Fuck,” she said softly. Just then, a loud click sounded from within the door, and it pulled open smoothly. Olivia hurriedly stepped inside and pulled the door closed. Another audible click informed her the lock had driven home.

“Welcome, Lady Olivia,” said a tinkling voice, almost musical in quality. Olivia spun around and saw the soft blinking white lights and misty, amorphous form of Morgan’s spirit friend.

“Hello, Tiladia; thank you for opening the door for me.”

“It was my pleasure. I simply had to confirm your identity, but you’ll be able to access the tower without my help in the future. Morgan left me instructions to allow you entry and to show you to a bedroom.” Olivia followed Tiladia to the elegant metal staircase and began to climb it. She was surprised that after six or so steps, she came out on a hardwood landing that had hallways leading off it in each of the cardinal directions. Just one of those hallways would seemingly be long enough to stretch the width of the tower as seen from the outside.

“The tower really is bigger on the inside than the outside, isn’t it?” She asked the floating, blinking form hovering nearby.

“Oh yes. Quite a lot so. We’re currently on the fifth floor, the highest available to you. If you want to visit the lower floors, just have a destination in mind while you traverse the stairs.”

“Wow, that’s cool.” Olivia looked around, admiring the well-lit vaulted ceilings and the beautiful woodwork. She saw that the area around the stairs was discolored and worn.

“This is where Morgan fought the guardian. Some of its acids damaged the flooring, but it will repair over time. Morgan and Issa have a room down this hallway, but I’ll show you the rooms I’ve chosen for you and Bronwyn if you'll follow me.” Tiladia flashed and swirled, then slowly moved off down the lefthand hallway. Olivia followed, noting that the hallway had four doors, and Tiladia stopped at the far left door. “I’ve chosen this suite for you and the one across the hall for Bronwyn.”

“Well, thank you.” Olivia touched the door handle, and, after a slight hesitation, it clicked unlocked, and she pulled it open. The room was large with a small sitting area in front of a marble hearth, a sizeable white-washed armoire on one wall, a huge window, pale green curtains pulled open to the starry sky, and a big four-poster bed, also white-washed, with lush, inviting green pillows and a comforter. A small doorway led away on the wall opposite the window, presumably to a bathroom. Olivia walked over to the hearth, resting her hand on the back of a comfortable-looking, pale yellow upholstered chair. “The room is beautiful, Tiladia.”

“I hope you’ll be comfortable. The old master of the tower used to put important guests in this wing. Facilities are through that door behind you. You’ll find running water in the toilet and hot water for the bath.”

“Thank you again, Tiladia! I’m quite tired, and I know tomorrow will be crazy, so I’ll turn in. Have a good night.” Tiladia tinkled in response and then floated away down the hallway. Olivia closed the door, and then she went into the bathroom. It was tiled in a warm light brown tile that made her think of a Mediterranean villa. A counter tiled with light blue squares held a washbasin to her right, a toilet to her left, and a large porcelain tub straight ahead. Another window opened out to the night stars near the tub.

The toilet was interesting - It appeared to be made from bronze and porcelain and had a constant stream of water flowing through it. The tub had one faucet, and when Olivia turned the knob, steaming water immediately flowed forth. “Lovely,” she said softly with a smile. After unpacking and laying out a clean outfit, Olivia took a bath; then, she slipped into the soft sheets of her bed. She didn’t know how to turn the lights off, but she found that after she’d lain in bed for a few minutes, they began to dim, and then the room was dark, only the soft light of moons and stars pushing back the shadows. She slept well, not waking throughout the night, and would have slept longer if not for the notification that interrupted her sleep with a soft chime and a message:

***Voting for the Council of First Landing is now open.***