“I call this conference to order!” King Borowyn commanded. The bickering and petty backbiting of the people around him ceased instantly. He was surprised sometimes that he commanded this much respect from people that held little regard for anything but their own ambition and struggle for power.

Of course, it was only superficial subservience, designed to lull him into a sense of complacency. If they didn't know he would not be fooled by their pandering then they were bigger idiots than they seemed.

Luckily for him the path of least resistance had been easy to follow by playing them against each other from the shadows, and Isabella was a master craftswoman in that subterfuge. Her gentle nudges and strokes brought these bickering individuals bent of each other's destruction into a cohesive and functional whole.

Why was all political manoeuvring so exhausting? He wondered what the necessity of such manipulations meant. But perhaps all politics was equally messy. It was hard to tell when every other word out of these peoples' mouths was a lie.

Isabella was thankfully by his side, she positively glowed with an inner radiance that said she was in her element. She loved this side of ruling, keeping the noble families in line with a word here or gesture there. Borowyn forcefully suppressed a shudder that threatened to break free of his tight control over his body. It would not do to show any weakness or even unwillingness here. These were dangerous waters and while he was a whale, Isabella was a shark.

He was just glad to have on his side.

Borowyn took a moment to assess the ten nobles arrayed in front of him. Five to each side and they had arranged themselves according to their allegiances.

Strongest of his supporters were House Gomery, House Kolar and House Mitsu. That left six other houses that luckily were divided down the middle with three to a side. Of the Fobar, Ragen and Jestil Houses, Fobar was the strong leader and took the fore in any discussions, ensuring they almost always went against his wishes. The final faction consisted of Damite, Fanamore and Yesril in that group it was usually Damite leading but they were usually more democratic than Fobar was. They also all happened to be women leading their houses.

Compared to most of the other nations in the Fryst, Darf was very different in the sense that a successor to the house could be either male or female. It did not matter. Darf had had as many queens as kings over the centuries and that was one tradition that Borowyn had always admired in the country when he joined as advisor to the Mad King.

“As you well know we have a situation at hand. As we had before, we have found a berserker at large in the city.” Borowyn spoke slowly subtly examining all of the men and women around him to see if there was any indication that one of them was responsible. It was quite possible that despite his best efforts to work in harmony some would be determined to seize power no matter what.

“Oh, this is terrible!” Damien Fobar spoke first. Jumping in immediately after he finished, somehow Borowyn doubted he did not know what was happening already. He was almost as well informed as Isabella was. His wife, Gretchen sat behind him and to his left. “We must do something about this! Do you remember how bad it was last time?”

Many of the nobles nodded before the opposing factions eyed each other and stopped. “We have a plan to investigate this but I wished to bring it to your attention so that we can collectively make the effort and ensure there is no lingering element. If we have a full fledged search and purge… That might be the best solution.”

Borowyn purposefully made the last a question. Let’s see which faction bites now. Isabella would not approve of such blunt tactics but this was the best way Borowyn knew how.

“That makes the most sense, I believe.” Gomery sat forward slightly at that pronouncement, his style of speaking very strange to unaccustomed ears. Gomery’s support for the crown had been unwavering since Borowyn took power, and his business endeavours had flourished since. If Borowyn’s information was accurate it was quite possible that the man had as much wealth if not more than the crown, and that was saying something. A very useful person to have on side, some of his endeavours that Borowyn had partaken in had borne very succulent fruit.

Kolar and Mitsu were tag-a-longs as far as Borowyn understood it, Isabella had said that they were loyal to the crown not Gomery but they seemed to simply agree with anything he or Methis Gomery said. “I think that this could have far reaching and meaningful effects. Leticia, let us reach out to our subsidiaries in the other four nations and see what they can find out. It will be important for us to stay on top of this.”

“Of course Methis. I will reach out as soon as the meeting is completed.” Methis’s wife responded with alacrity, her pen already moving on the paper in front of her as she made notes. Methis’s had married well, she was an extreme capable woman, second only to his Isabella. In fact their wives had gotten along very well from the first meeting. It was the main reason for their close bond and his unwavering loyalty all these years.

Borowyn relaxed a little, if Gomery said he could be on top of this and getting information from other nations in addition to what Isabella could find out…we have this well in hand then, between those two.

Fobar leaned forward again after this exchange. “Hmmm, indeed. Perhaps I could work on finding out about the situation in Darf? While you find out about our neighbours and foreign lands, it wouldn’t do to neglect the home land!” The smile on Fobar’s face that he likely thought beguiling had a sinister edge to it. But then that could have been Bororwyn’s own mistrust of the man.

Despite many attempts to dislodge the Fobar House from Darf’s politics he had been unable to. The last century had been a grudging stalemate with both attempting to just continue with the status quo. Borowyn did not doubt he would try to use this situation to manuevour into a more powerful position or convince on or more of his rivals to side with him. He only needed one more house to join him to rival Borowyn in allegiances.

Let him try, I would rather enjoy challenging him to a duel if it came to it. He was confident of a win against this man but perhaps that was the fire he needed to return to his training. He could not allow laxity to cloud his abilities.

Borowyn took a breath and released it slowly and quietly. He could not afford for his thinking about the future to distract from the moment. Even if I would wish for nothing more than a straight up fight, at least I can see the knife coming for me. “Yes, I believe that would be for the best.” Isabella almost turned toward him before she could stop herself and Fobar’s smiled turned benevolent. Methis’s brow furrowed slightly. “Isabella, we should provide Damian with so additional manpower so that he can get it done before whoever is responsible for this realises.” Isabella nodded and just barely stopped herself from smiling quietly. Fobar’s benevolent smile turned just slightly sour before he reined it back.

Borowyn knew better than to relax with this, Fobar had likely planned this far ahead and would have other plans behind these. He trusted Isabella to ferret some of them out and he would keep an eye on the goings on in the palace. The spies Fobar had in the palace would be the key to making sure he remained oblivious of the real threats.

“Understood sire. I will assign the appropriate people, just a few to show that Noble Fobar has he crown’s full support in this endeavour!” She smiled more widely and everyone could see through the thinly veiled threat. I wonder why we maintain these facades when everyone knows what the underlying meaning of each spoken sentence really means.

“Excellent!” Borowyn said with a smile spreading his arms to encompass everyone at the table. “Then all that remains, is for us to hash out the exact details of what role we will each play in the coming days and weeks. You all know what happened the last time Berserkers were at large in not only Darf but the five kingdoms. We cannot let it happen again, no matter what it takes.”