The Royal Council

[The Celtic Viking]

Hilarion rose with a jerk.

"How dare you accuse me of such a thing! The lord Basileus Sarpedon Syriakos is has been my close friend ever since we were both wee teenagers, and he has appointed me to speak for him here in his absence. Look!"

Hilarion brought forth a parchment with the Basileus' sign on it, which did indeed support Hilarion's claim. He showed it to the Council, and then put it back.

"There you have it. The Basileus is on his way and he will be here soon; he's just a little delayed. I will have none of you question my authority here, lest you wish to have lord Sarpedon's wrath upon you when he arrives. That goes for you too, Duros, who should cease your threats and remember that pissing off lord Sarpedon is not a wise idea either, and these are his halls, not yours.

As for your claims that he is 'hell bent on the destruction of the Satrapy of Egypt and Cunobelinus', it is plainly false. He wish to dismantle it now because the current satrap is unable to fulfil his duties, and the most advanced barracks should not be in the hands of someone who can't make use of it. As for Cunobelinus, you are either dishonest, ill informed or you have a poor memory. Lord Sarpedon chose not to support Cunobelinus' campaign because that was part of the penalty he got for taking lord Sarpedon's men from him illegally, and Cunobelinus was informed of this prior to setting off. We've been through this plenty of times, and I will not waste more time discussing this."

Hilarion turns to Alexandros.

"Not the 1st Lydian's responsibility?! Who's responsibility is it otherwise? The army exist to defend the lands of this kingdom, and as the only presence in the area, that is what it has to do! Outrageous. Would you have the civilians fend for themselves, or what?

As I have said, I do not think lord Sarpedon wish to rush into anything at this moment. Setting up a new satrap in this moment just to counter the Makedonians is hasty, and I doubt it would do much good anyway. But I will let the Basileus have the word on this, as he may be of a different mind, or not."