Chapter 157: Slapping in the Face

The councilors and lawmakers of the assembly were far from kind-hearted. The moment the Dath'Remar family showed any sign of weakness, major houses like the Dawnstar and the Morningwalker would undoubtedly pull every trick in the book to meddle, seizing the entirety of the Dath'Remar holdings for themselves. Powerless to stop them, Dath'Remar could only try to preserve his strength while his enemies had yet to make a move, biding his time for future development.

Internal political strife within the assembly was entirely devoid of mercy. Refraining from kicking someone while they were down could already be considered rare benevolence; more often than not, the factions would unite to suppress a failing councilor. Even the Sunwing family—vassals to the Dath'Remar—had started harboring their own ambitions, meaning the methods employed by other houses would be far more ruthless, leaving Dath'Remar no room for error.

One only needed to look at the Cabalorn family to understand. Following Patrick Cabalorn's ascent to high office, the original assembly councilors had grown deeply paranoid, desperately trying to pull Patrick into their camp so they could slowly assimilate him into an appendage of their own lineages. Who could have anticipated that Patrick would completely ignore those councilors, instead taking the initiative to decentralize his family's assets.

At the time, the councilors had congratulated one another, believing that Patrick had capitulated, realizing his influence was vastly insufficient to contend with the assembly and choosing to retreat from Silvermoon City. Little did the councilors imagine that Patrick would achieve phenomenal success at the Sun Sanctuary and even construct a floating city. Of course, the councilors could hardly bring themselves to ask Patrick for the blueprints of the floating city—nor would he ever hand them over after they had secretly pulled so many strings behind his back.

With Patrick serving as a precedent, Dath'Remar followed suit, directly relocating the Dath'Remar family's core to An'owyn. Dath'Remar envisioned replicating Patrick's path: accumulating his own sphere of influence until his wings were fully feathered, at which point those councilors would no longer be able to touch him.

***

The plenary session of the Silvermoon Council was convened, and Patrick returned to the Sunfury Spire via portal as promised. Familiar as the meeting chamber was, Patrick followed the Spellbreaker attendants into the inner ring, where six designated seats now awaited. The King continued to play the role of the Speaker.

The magic within the room began to churn, and the heavy doors slowly closed, isolating the entire chamber into an independent space completely cut off from the outside world. All the councilors sat just as they had at the last gathering, with a single exception: a thick stack of documents rested directly in front of His Majesty Anasterian.

"Honored councilors, this plenary session has been called on short notice to deliberate upon the recent events that have transpired throughout the Kingdom of Quel'Thalas." The King delivered his customary opening remarks, clarifying the assembly's purpose.

"Recently, the Kingdom of Quel'Thalas suffered an invasion by external foes. According to intelligence sent back from Dalaran by Kael'thas, they are an otherworldly species known as orcs. They allied with the red dragons and trolls to form the Horde, pushing all the way to the gates of Ban'Dinoriel before ultimately failing to breach our defenses and withdrawing."

Anasterian's expression was laden with sorrow; after all, the death of a vast multitude of elven civilians weighed heavily upon the King's conscience. "The orcish invasion resulted in the destruction of Goldenmist Village, Windrunner Village, and Goldenbough Vale. The elves left behind perished without exception. This catastrophe has sent tremors throughout the entirety of Quel'Thalas."

Elven population growth was notoriously sluggish, and the loss of a massive populace threatened to shake the very foundations of the nation. Under normal circumstances, the King would never permit such a tragedy to occur.

Once Anasterian concluded, Seneor seized the conversational initiative. As the Grand Councilor, he was qualified to speak second. "The orcish host pillaged and burned its way deep into the kingdom. Countless elven civilians perished beneath the iron hooves of the Horde coalition, and the direct losses are immeasurable. The living order in Goldenmist Village, Windrunner Village, and Goldenbough Vale has been entirely obliterated. Furthermore, with red dragons aiding the Horde, the scorched earth remains incapable of healing, leaving behind a scarred wasteland."

"You are all well aware of our kingdom's population growth rate. Compared to humans, it is akin to a race between a wildcat and a snail. The kingdom simply cannot bear such staggering losses of elven lives from this war. Goldenmist Village, in particular, was ravaged to the point where not even a single intact corpse could be recovered. The crimes perpetrated by the orcs are beyond abhorrent." Seneor paused, cast a gaze toward Patrick, and launched a direct assault.

"Councilor Patrick, the orcish host pressed deep into the heart of the Quel'Thalas Kingdom. As a councilor of the assembly, with a fiefdom situated at the very vanguard of the Ghostlands, and as the possessor of the world's sole floating city, why did you fail to take the initiative and lead an army to block the path of the orcs? You ought to have intercepted this slaughter, yet you did nothing of the sort. Instead, you stood by and watched as the Horde and the red dragons marched directly into the interior of Quel'Thalas to slaughter civilians. Does the populace hold any place within your heart? Does the Kingdom of Quel'Thalas hold any place there at all?"

"As an assembly councilor, you hold not an ounce of loyalty to the nation. As a councilor, your eyes are blind to any responsibility toward the people. Is this how you repay the populace that supports and champions you?" With those scathing words, Seneor glared bitterly at Patrick before returning to his seat, projecting the image of a man utterly devoted to the citizenry, casting a furious glare at a councilor who treated the lives of the people with callous indifference.

A concluding speech to open the meeting: Seneor launched his offensive without a moment's hesitation, directly pinning the blame for the disaster squarely upon Patrick. He further accused Patrick of occupying a high station while refusing to look out for the common folk—a brilliant, forceful, and resounding presentation.

The surrounding councilors refrained from chiming in, choosing instead to silently observe Patrick. The Morningwalker wore the expression of one watching a fine drama; the Dawnstar carried a subtle smile in her eyes; the Dawnblade kept his gaze lowered and his expression completely blank, as though the preceding words had nothing to do with him; and the King wore an inscrutable expression, merely gazing calmly at Patrick.

The lawmakers in the outer ring were so terrified they held their breath, not daring to make a sound. They had never anticipated that this assembly would devolve into such a spectacle, and their acute political instincts whispered that a momentous event was about to unfold.

Patrick laughed. His laughter boomed loudly through the chamber. Clapping his hands, he stood up from his seat. "Extremely well said. Eloquent indeed. First, you whitewash your own dereliction of duty, dodging the heavy to dwell on the light as you shift every single loss suffered by the kingdom onto my shoulders, while crowning me with the titles of a traitor to the people and the realm. Councilor Seneor Sunwing, I must hand it to you—you are truly formidable. You manage to excuse your own incompetence while deflecting responsibility all at once. Splendid performance, truly."

Before Seneor could issue a retort, Patrick pressed on. "As early as the conflict with the orcs at Sunstrider Isle, I dispatched reports back to Silvermoon City. There were two copies in total: one delivered to the Royal Arcadian Academy for forwarding to His Majesty Anasterian, and another sent to the Mage Guild to be handed over to the assembly. I wonder—did the council receive that report or not?"