Anna shifted in her seat. As Queen of Merceria, she was expected to act with grace and dignity, but the infant within her had other ideas, moving around at the most inconvenient of times. A wet nose pressed against her arm, and she looked down to see Tempus, her faithful Kurathian Mastiff, staring back with concern. She reached down, stroking the dog"s head before returning her attention to the rest of the room, where a heated debate raged on.
"He deserves death!" screamed out Lord Creighton, the Norland Earl of Riverhurst.
"That may well be," replied Baron Fitzwilliam, his voice calm and collected, "but this meeting"s purpose is to decide on how the country will move forward, not deal out summary justice. I might remind you, there"s still no agreement as to who"ll be king, let alone dea
