A few hours later, the host of people in front of the throne slowly began to wake up.
As if being roused from a scary dream, sweat ran down their faces as they looked all around them to make sure that the demons that had incessantly hara.s.sed them in their mind were not present in reality.
Some took it better than others. Particularly, Faxul was not that fazed, as this was not the first time he had fainted due to an aura - clearly, the last experience had been enough to help him prepare. When he woke up now, he simply grimaced in Daneel"s direction and then took his place below the throne.
In response, Daneel shrugged before continuing to sip the wine that had been refilled over 10 times already.
He had taken the time to think long on all the issues that plagued the continent, and now, seeing that those whom he had hoped to keep counsel with were waking up, he saw that it was time, and began to prepare himself for the important discussion that would soon begin.
During all this time, the system had also been a.n.a.lyzing the techniques he had brought from the Treasury. As expected from treasurers taken away from such a magical place, they were highly complex, so much so that even the system needed a few hours to carefully study them, and suggest ways to get over the limitations.
He had been quite shocked to find out that each of the G.o.dbeasts who had made the two techniques had worked on them for close to a thousand years, but when one remembered the fact that G.o.dbeasts of old had had lifespans spanning tens of thousands of years, this wasn"t so surprising.
At least, it hadn"t been as surprising as that moment when he had found out that there were, peculiarly enough, scholarly G.o.dbeasts among them.
Just like in the race of men, they were always those who defied the rule, and in the case of the G.o.dbeasts, it looked like these few scholars were the one striking out and making a name for themselves as wise beings to be respected and questioned, along with being feared.
Alas, these G.o.dbeasts had lived and died in an age long before the establishment of the Empire. They had also researched by themselves, without needing fellow researchers, so even their existence was only known to a few of their kin.
Hence, even the Order did not know of them, so Daneel had to thank the Seven who had taken the wise decision of obtaining these valuable texts, and storing them so that they could be used in the future.
"Dammit, Daneel…"
Hearing this, he looked up and saw that it was uttered by Eloise, who was holding her head as if it was pounding.
To her, he tipped his head apologetically, following which she burst into laughter.
Her laughter woke up the rest of the sovereigns, and as they got up and looked around before understanding what had happened, they too, joined her.
Daneel also chuckled as he saw them rise and then shake their heads while looking at him, and he couldn"t stop a faint blush from entering his cheeks.
The sounds being made by them also served to hasten the awakening of the rest of the guests he had called over, but as they got up, they shot fearful glances in his direction before calming down on a.s.suring themselves that they were on the right side.
"I apologize for the loss in control that caused that fiasco. The prisoners have all been secured elsewhere - now, it is time to discuss what we will do in the following weeks. Please take your seats. Beside them, you will find chilled wine which has been infused with a concoction that will help in clearing your head. Don"t worry- it"s just the one that helps with hangovers. Forget the experience as though it was just a bad dream. Please - sit."
Doubtful eyes met his when he said this, and he knew, as well as they did, that they would never forget the fear that had sprung up in all of them when they felt that ancient being looming on the horizon, ready to break their bones, drink their blood and suck up their consciousnesses, and the overwhelming feeling that the very purpose of their lives was to serve as its sustenance.
It took another 15 minutes before they were seated. When the time came for him to finally speak, he raised his hands and made an image of the continent appear in the air in front of them.
"Commanders, come forth. Give us a report about the training progress."
As his words echoed in the sky, he asked the system to stop the spell that magnified his image, so that he could sit with the rest of his people as equals.
In the coming battle, they would all have to fight side by side, so it made no sense to keep up useless pretenses.
Seeing him appear once again in the same form that they had first met him in so many years ago, the two elf queens smiled graciously while holding their hands together.
He knew that they had decided to marry after finding out the news that there was only a month for the war to come. Apparently, if the merchant he had taken on as the head of information gathering was right, they had been hesitating to do so for close to a year, fearing any backlash that might come from their people.
Now, knowing that there might not be a chance to fulfill this wish of theirs if they allowed fear to stay in their hearts even in such a crucial time, they had gone forward.
"First, congratulations are in order. How have the people taken the news of your marriage, my dear elven queens?"
All eyes turned to the two stunning elves, who stood up and looked into each other"s eyes with joy, making it clear that they were still enjoying the feeling of being married.