A Season of Fire

Start A War

Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it whether it exists or not, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedy.

Ernest Benn

Velves, Liato

Her husband sat before her with the council surrounding him at the large deep-toned rectangular table inside the council room. It was a room dedicated towards her husband's taste, the dark grey walls with black curtains over the windows and gold tyes. Pages and pages of documents sat strewn about, being looked at over and over again. Emmie was being shamed, and scolded, by them for sending her sister into Nei, she hadn't thought Ava would destroy the whole place though. August, her oldest son, sat next to her silently listening to the discussion, his dark brown eyes staring down at the table.

Eren had digressed off into the way to “smooth things over” with the other territories, suggesting her son August marry a raccoon shifter named Ansalan. “How could you arrange with Kyan without talking to me first?”

Eren leaned back in his chair, not bothered by his wife's anger at all, he was apathetic to her at this point in their marriage. This made the boiling that was going on inside of her flow over, she also knew most of the men at this table agreed with him.

How could he agree to marry her son to a f*****g Neblican raccoon?

Reaching her hand over to her son to comfort him, she scoffed at her husband's idea, deep down she knew it was a petty slight at her for her sister's transgressions. A disappointed look crossed her son's fair face, his brunette hair casting a shadow over his eyes. It tore at her maternal heartstrings to know how much sadness this was bringing him. Squeezing his hand, she nodded to him, he looked up at his father and the council members.

“I do not want to marry some lowly Neblican. A match here in Liato would be much better suited for me. Who cares about what happened in Nei or the people there.” August shook his head at it and crossed his arms.

Everyone was quiet and Eren became noticeably embarrassed, they could see him trying to contain his anger. His tall and broad-shouldered body started growing red as he grits his teeth, blowing out a puff of air. Pushing back his short, curly, brunette hair, it didn't stay in place, bouncing right back into the same spot. Everybody knew Eren wasn't August and Theo’s father, he couldn't be so. They were from two different shifter species, it would be impossible to find another gorilla shifter. That made her responsible to bring their heirs, and she picked a very well-suited man for the job of bringing her the ‘picture perfect’ family.

Eren drew in a deep breath, she could tell he had hoped for a smooth transition, so it was his damn fault for hoping.

“She will be fine for you, she's smart, pretty, and well-educated. Your children will be well respected by her.” Eren grabbed his pen looking down at the document, he signed it.

“SHE will get to bear the children?” Emmie couldn't stop her face from contracting with anger, her eyes growing with fury at the thought.

“I don't want to raise HER children like some asshole!” August shouted in agreement with her.

“You will be respectful, you petulant little shit.” Eren shot up from his chair throwing his pen at August and scattering his documents across the table. “Stop enabling this behavior, Emmiliee Ann.”

A council member leaned forward organizing the documents back into order “August….Emmilee, we have to take steps to start positive relations with the neighboring lands. We are currently being accused of stealing citizens of theirs and even enslaving them. None of us ever agreed to your sister becoming hostile to Nei.”

“We have several of them threatening to declare war if your sister doesn't immediately remove her people out,” Another piped in behind him.

“The faster we get done with this the faster we can deal with the feral problem in the west. The small towns have been getting raided by the more than once a week now.”

“Does it have to be a raccoon?” August whined again.

“It doesn't matter if it's a raccoon or a cat,” Eren was wagging his finger now at August “You will f*****g marry her, consummate the marriage and stay with her until one of you dies.”

“Ma’am if it is just because she is a raccoon, do remember you are a hare and

Eren is a gorilla. Your marriage has lasted 30 years now,” It was Milo, a raccoon himself that attempted to soothe the room.

Emmie held back her eye roll, Eren and her barely had a marriage, they spent the most they could avoiding each other. Milo had always been decent though, at least listening to the things she had to say at the meetings. He was so old, he had sat on the council from the leader before Eren and even remembered her buck teeth bringing them up on his ‘dimmer’ days.

“No, it is not because of that. I just can't see us marrying our son into a family that sees the predators as trustworthy. They are only a few steps away from feral, you know when they shift it is harder for them to pull back from it and the only ones that go feral ARE predators. We are always at risk with them around unless they have the bracers around their necks, and document each one in the territory.”

The room took an uncomfortable shift after that, taking a deep look at her husband “Remember what happened when you were a child? All the lives that were lost, how this became a haven for our people?”

“Of course, I remember Emmilee, but I also know we need to move forward from it. There was a famine when that happened, cruelty was everywhere. August will marry Ansalan and hopefully, we will move past your sister's wrongdoing.”

Emmie smiled brightly at the room before standing and walking out in a noticeable huff of anger. In the hallway, her attendant Riley stood outside the door her nose looking down at her tablet. A short woman with red hair that stood at the top of her hair, with tendrils that fell like vines around her head. Lifting her eyes under her bright neon glasses, they grew wide when she realized she was standing right there.

“Madam Emmie!” She squeaked out.

It was fitting for a mouse shifter.

Without a word she strode past Riley with an aroma of anger wafting after her that made her step back. It followed her like a cloud as she went down the hallway, up the stairwell, passing her son Theos room, and her husband's before reaching her own. Slamming the door on the short redhead.

It was her bedroom, the bedroom Eren hadn't visited in years now. They chose to live separately which worked for her since Eren and she was complete opposites. Everything in her room was white, the walls, her furniture, even her little pet rabbit she named Thyme that sat on her white pillow on the floor. Sitting down on her chair, in front of her mirror, looking down at the black dress she hated wearing, Emmie start plucking off the little hairs she saw. When she was done with that, leaning into the mirror, she examined the lines that had formed across her face over the years. The hands of time focused the most around her dulling brown eyes, weaving greying hairs throughout her once dark mahogany-colored hair that she pulled out of a tight bun.

Ava, her sister was 19 years younger than her, after their parents had died Emmie took charge of her. Obscurity was constantly around Ava though, it always bothered Emmie so sent her with Erens troops, far away from her. From her children. From the council. They weren't close to each other, plus she needed someone under her thumb in Erens ranks, someone she could control. Her baby sister also thrived learning the finer arts of killing ferals and navigating troops so how could she feel guilty?

A small knock interrupted her thoughts, a meek voice that barely came through the painted white door “Ma’am Brandon is here to see you?”

“Send him in Riley.” Yelling back.

Standing up she quickly unwrinkled her dress, sitting back down she took her black shoes off and placed them underneath her dresser. The door opened and a man walked in, he was dressed in a Liato uniform with a longer-cut jacket that went down to his knees. The trim was gold like the rest of them but on top of his pocket sat a white magnolia, Emmie knew what it meant, it was the one symbol of their commitment that they had. Walking over to her, she disliked the fact that he wore his heavy boots on top of her white carpets but overlooked it when he knelt in front of her. Looking at her with soft brown eyes, his curly brown hair fell over his face down to his ears, matching the beard that covered his jaw.

“I saw that you looked angry when you came out of the chambers,” Grabbing onto one of her feet, he started pushing his fingers into the bottom.

“They want to marry August to some Raccoon from Ini Neblic,” She waved her hand in the air almost attempting to brush away the idea.

“Kyan daughter,” He snorted “D you think she is even pretty, being a raccoon and all?”

His hands trailed up her calves, strumming the skin until he reached the back of her knees. A small laugh came from his lips, she was unsure if it was from her husband's idea, or him parting her legs. He pushed his torso in between them, wiggling and pulling her dress out from underneath her and up to her waist.

Emmie placed his face between her hands, leaning in she placed her lips against his, there was a longing behind it. They could never truly be together. Gliding his hands down, he entwined his fingers with her underwear, pulling them down. Emmies' hands grabbed at his pants working his belt apart, pushing the pants buttons through the hole.

A knock came on the door.

“Ma’am, Eren would like to speak to you,” Riley's voice was muffled coming through the door.

“Damnit,” She muttered.

Brandon brought his lips up t her forehead, gently brushing them against the skin “Don't worry, I'll be back later.”

Lifting himself to his feet, he buckled his pants before walking out the door. Emmie stood up, adjusting her dress back down, brushing it out, she sighed making her way own way out. Walking back down the hallway, descending the stairwell, and going back to the council room and into the study that was attached to it.

They lived in the ‘Council Hall Building’, which accommodated themselves, their children, and the servants with a few extra rooms for quests. It also held a council room, ballroom, dining room, and the regular rooms a house has. No, there wasn't a throne room since all the special addresses were handled through television, emails, or by mail. They made sure everyone had internet as long as they were inside the cities, they couldn't do anything about it, they still had work that needed to be done for their people. Looking towards Riley, Emmie could tell she had tried to redo her hair, the tendrils had been pulled back but were slowly escaping from the captivity to her black clip again. As they stopped in front of Erens door, Riley's nose looked back down at the tablet, as Emmie rolled her as at the sign inscribed with ‘Eren Knott- King’.

Emmie strode in without even bothering to knock, Eren was sitting at his desk, glued to his computer, clicking away on a mouse. Staring intently at his work, Emmie crossed her legs causing her to glance up from the computer screen, clicking a few more times, several documents start to spurt out with a groan from the printer.

“Emmie,” Came out bluntly from him as he rolled his chair backward to grab the papers.

“Eren,” She quipped back in a bored manner as she brushed down her dress.

Eren sighed in frustration as he looked down at his paperwork, starting to sign away. The two of them were rarely in the same room with each other, council meetings and other special occasions were the only exceptions. Arrange marriages weren't for the weak, it was a rubberband that was constantly being stretched waiting to be broken. They didn't occur with the citizens and common people, only within the state heads, August had wanted to break that tradition and marry a girl he had set his eyes on. That wasn't going to happen though, Emmie knew with everyone against her there wasn't anything she could do. Erens dark brown eyes looked up after finishing his last document and snapped his fingers. A tall, lanky man stepped out from the side of the room, Emmie hadn't even realized he had been standing there. Now, she could smell him though, a bear shifter that Eren kept at the council hall, without a bracer. Daniel took the now enveloped documents from Eren, turning around and walking past her. Her nose twitched at his scent as he left the room, a stunned Riley that waited outside the door gawked at him.

“You need to stop fussing over August, he's 27 for f***s sake,” Eren relaxed back into his chair while still maintaining a disdain in his eyes as he looked at her.

“You can't possibly believe bringing that girl into this house is a good idea,” She shot back.

Eren responded by lowering his tone “She will be a good match for him, maybe he can finally grow up and get off your tit.”

She hated when he did this, his finger was raised in the air and pointed at her before he started again “We need to start treating with other states to save face for what you did! You couldn't have thought you were going to get away with Nei? That no one would say anything?”

“Over half of our population agreed with the idea of going into Nei, do you need to be reminded of that? The ferals were coming from their region.”

“That was never proven Emmie,” He grabbed onto his mouse, turning back to his computer to continue his work. “Send your sister back to Liato.”

Emmie squared her shoulders composing herself “Yes husband, these moments are a such pleasure.

Eren remained silent, cruelly ignoring her existence before she stood up and met Riley outside the door.

“He's such a prick,” Emmie muttered to her.

Riley nodded her head but refused to say anything about Eren.

“It's no use trying to talk to him, we need to go see Oliwa,” Emmie went back to her room, this time allowing Riley in with her.

Riley and her changed into ‘street’ clothing, Riley a zip-up dark blue sweatshirt and blue jeans, Emmie had on an outfit similar only hers didn't have a zipper and her blue jeans were darker. Riley let her hair drop down over her shoulders and Emmie pulled hers back into a ponytail, putting her hood over it. She felt foolish doing all this but if there was a chance of Eren not finding out she was going to take it.

Sneaking out, they walked over to Riley's vehicle, getting into the passenger seat, she turned on the engine. The car was nice and a gift when she had accepted work with Emmie. Adjusting the radio, it was later at night and some type of younger generation of music was playing, next to her Riley had started tapping her fingers against the steering wheel. Several minutes went past as they drove out of the city and down various roads, eventually reaching the middle of nowhere. One light hung high in the air creating a silhouette around the parking lot of the tavern. Above the door hung a sign that had been painted to say ‘End of the World Tavern’, poorly in black.

Riley and she got out of the car, roaming over to the people and through the door with a bell placed up top. The End of the World was run by a taller woman named Mimsi Duggar, a pig shifter, who accommodated just about anyone in her establishment. As long as she harbored whoever Emmie wanted, she allowed her to accommodate anyone, sell whatever beverages she wanted, and brew them. Standing next to her Emmie could smell the anxiousness on Riley as they stepped through the doorway.

Lights strew across the ceiling, lighting the place, in a few of the darker corners of the establishment, Emmie could see patrons sitting with women that worked under Mimsi. Different types of smoke intertwined amongst each other creating a putrid aroma, that caused her nose to curl. Behind the bar was a woman with brown hair and a cigarette hanging out of her mouth, cleaning a wine glass before placing it under the counter, grabbing another one she started cleaning it. For background noise, she had on a radio station playing ‘old world’ country music. With Riley and her sitting on the stools, the barmaid looked at her “I'll go get her.”

Taking a step off of the old brown milk crate she had been standing on she walked around the corner and a few minutes passed by she returned with Mimsi. A sandy blonde-haired woman looked too happy to own this place. Dressed in a bright green colored shirt with blue jeans and boots, she towered over her counterpart. The barmaid stood on another crate that was placed behind the bar grabbing out two glasses, filling them, and setting them on the counter.

“And how can I help her majesty today?” Mimsi crossed her arms, the top half of her hair held back with a clip.

Emmie ignored the mocking tone that came with ‘her majesty’ and proceeded with the conversation. She looked around the decaying establishment not seeing Oliwa in the bar area, the short woman across from her dropped a clear liquid into the glasses. The song on the radio changed to a female vocalist, Riley leaned over and grabbed one of the glasses, and examining it she pushed her glasses back up on her nose.

“I take it you are looking for Oliwa?” Mimsi chuckled a bit which turned into a cackle as Riley started coughing and spat some of the clear liquid out of her mouth.

Mimsi ended her laughter with a snort “I just made that concoction!”

“That's wonderful,” Emmie pushed away the drink without trying it “Where is Oliwa?”

Mimsi rolled her eyes in response while pointing behind her to the other side of the bar “She's over there.”

Emmie sat up, walking away from the counter towards a booth, in the corner. Sitting on one side with her legs crossed, swinging one leg back and forth. Her dark hair in curls rolled around every time she moved a page in the book she was reading. Underneath the table sat her dog, a bluetick named Lady.

“Is that a banned book you are reading?” Emmie sat down across from her while Riley stayed by Mimsi and the server.

“Hmm, I never really thought about looking, to be honest.” Oliwa lifted an eyebrow having a cockiness in her response.

Oliwa had a way like that about her though, she didn't care about who you were, and she viewed everyone the same. You were either someone paying her for a job, or you were the job being paid for. Emmie didn't know much about her though, she only once told her that she didn't want to go back to where she came from and that someone was looking for her.

“I have a proposition for you.” Emmie leaned back trying to relax.

Oliwa looked up from the book but didn't seem to be interested “What are you offering and what are you asking?”

Of course, she asked for what Emmie had to offer first.

“Essentials stamps. You must need things living here in this place, clothes, toilet paper, bathing items,” Her nose squinched at the smell of the place.

Oliwa took the sentiment as a dig at her, she was a dog shifter, a coonhound like her dog underneath the table whose tags jungled every time its head moved. Emmie found it annoying and didn't enjoy the creatures being around her. Brushing her hands across her clothing she tried to wipe away the stray hairs that were attaching themselves to her clothing.

Oliwa smiled watching Emmies fussing over her clothes “I want a housing stamp, Emmaline. Daniel got one and there is no reason for me not to be able to get one as he has.”

Emmaline was quiet while she thought about Oliwas counter offer, no one would ever let her live it down if she allowed it. Her supporters certainly wouldn't let her. What other choice did she have though? What she was asking couldn't be done by her own hands.

“I suppose that is something I can arrange. You need to do what I am asking first.”

“What is it you are asking hare?”

“I need you to find this girl,” Emmie snapped her fingers twice getting the attention of Riley who hustled over with her tablet in hand. “She lives in Ini Neblic.”

“Any specific request on how or what you want to be done?” Oliwa grabbed the tablet from Riley studying the photo of Ansalan.

“Not on how, but I cant have it come back on me.”

Oliwa handed the tablet back and nodded in confirmation to Emmie. “Food, water rations, and the house Emmie. I know you can make it happen.”

Smiling in satisfaction, Emmie felt a weight lifted off of her shoulder, she stood up and walked past Mimsi and her employee, Riley in tow behind her. Her plans were in motion and she still might save August from the unknown girl Ansalan, her final hurdle to remove, was Eren.