The Royal Council

[The Celtic Viking]

Sarpedon, who has so far only sat and listened, with an occasional whisper with Cadeyrn and Hilarion, now stands up to speak.

"Since my father, Basileus Antiochos, does not bless us with his presence, I, as his son and heir, will take his seat."

Sarpedon makes his way past Arrhenides to where Antiochos' used to sit before he continues.

"Much has been said already, and I feel that I must now interject, and I will address each point in the order they were made. But first I would like to clear out an issue which so far has gone untouched."

Sarpedon turns towards Arrhenides.

"Arrhenides, you are my friend, and I respect you and your accomplishments so far for the Arche. However, there are some rumors spreading about what happened the day you fought against the Pontic king. Perhaps its just lies spread by a defeated foe desperate to fight back in any way possible, but it is said that you, prior to the battle, expressed your servitude to their king. Is there any truth in these accusations?

Prior to this council session, I ignored it because I trusted that everything you did was done with what's best for the Arche in mind, but now I'm not as sure anymore. Why is it that you would wish to put leashes on what is currently our strongest presense in Mikra Asia in your proposed war that would take place there? Why do you wish to help the proposed enemy by not committing a strong army that would make our victory so must easier, quicker and safer?

Whatever your reason may be, I will remind you once and for all that you do not command my army, nor does this council. Not even my father, the great Basileus, has any say over it. Those men are all loyal to me, and will do my bidding. If a war were to break out against the Epeirotes, they would join the effort with or without your support."

Now turning the the rest of the council, Sarpedon continues.

"Now, as for the war itself, let it be known that Pyrrhos is no walkover, and I would rather have him fighting with me than against me. However, he is an ally of the Ptolemaioi, as well as an enemy to our allies, Makedonia, who have done nothing to deserve your suspicion. They have not entered our lands, they have not stopped trading with us, they have not done anything wrong. On the other hand, I have had emissaries coming to me, begging me for help, and as they are our only allies to the west, I have always helped them as well as I have been able. But that is not enough, I'm afraid. If we do not help them, they will soon have lost as they're surrounded by enemies and weakened since earlier, because of Arrhenides ancestors. If they are kicked out from Hellas, Epeiros will be so much stronger, and it would be naive that he wouldn't then help his allies and attack us. We would have a hard time winning such a war.

This is why I support a campaign against the Epeirotes. If we kick them out of Mikra Asia and secure Byzantion, we will not only divert some of their resources from their Makedonian front, and thus help out our allies in need, but also gain a much more easily secured front if Makedonia falls despite our help. We should go no further than Byzantion, though, as that would indeed strain our logistics more than we can afford at the time.

So I too second Edict 4.1."

With that said, he sits down with a pleased look.