Laryn stood outside his shelter, a small hut constructed of hewn logs. The structure stood on the sand near the kingdom core. Long posts had been hammered into the ground, and an elevated floor laid across them, leaving space for water to pass underneath if the river swelled.

  Inside the hut waited five people; he’d be the sixth. Adi would also attend, and that would make their gathering seven.

  Seven made Laryn uncomfortable. Six was the unifying number, symbolizing wholeness and completeness. He didn’t think of himself as superstitious, though.

  He felt nervous, and his mind was grasping onto the strangest reasons to justify his fear. Unlucky seven.

  He reminded himself that, although though he counted Adi as a person, she refused to be part of his council. She wasn’t an advisor, she said. So the council was only six.

  Laryn took a deep breath, then entered the room. Though cramped, the space provided the most private place in Vallor for important discussions. Muttered conversations cut off and everyone looked at him.

  Thallon, Gall, Hela, Kenna, and Korwin faced him. He’d selected each of them for his council, because they each provided expertise over areas Laryn deemed important to the growth and vitality of Vallor.

  He moved to stand at the head of the table, on which lay a rough map of the surrounding area, provided by Gall.

  He looked around the room and met the eyes of each person in turn. A soft rustling behind him told him Adi had materialized.

  “Thank you for coming,” Laryn said. “We have several important projects going on right now, and I wanted to make sure that we could all coordinate our efforts to achieve the best results.”

  He rested his hands on the table. “Our kingdom is growing, and I intend for it to continue to grow. Trade will open up our potential, and we’ll grow more rapidly. That is why Korwin is here.”

  All eyes in the room turned to Korwin. The middle-aged woman shrugged, and stared back at Laryn. She’d come from Orfswell, after the Vallorians had destroyed the void bloom there.

  “She used to run caravans from Townshold down south,” Laryn said. “She’ll be Councilor of Trade

  “Why’d you stop?” Thallon asked, looking at Korwin. He folded his massive arms across his chest. He was the only one seated. His broken leg stuck out under the table, stabilized in the splint Hela had prepared.

  She shrugged again. “Got bored of it,” she said. “I heard the goblin raids in the north were growing rare. When Orf asked me to join him in setting up a new kingdom in the wildlands, I thought it would be an interesting opportunity. Orf thought we might even be able to set up trade with Grekhol.”

  A few people around the table laughed at the idea of trading with goblins.

  “So you’re all here for a reason,” Laryn said. “Thallon, if we’re going to trade, I can’t think of something better to sell than gold. You’ll be Councilor of the Forge. Gall, we’re going to need to protect our land and our caravans. Not to mention potential threats from the void. You’re our Councilor of War”

  “We aren’t safe,” Hela said, interrupting loudly. “The void will return. The overgrown bloom near Orfswell might have been causing most of our troubles, but the void always comes back.” She lowered her voice and glanced conspiratorially around the room. “Not to mention the cult.”

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  “Hela knows more about the void than anyone,” Laryn said.

  “Suspicious, innit?” Gall muttered, his scarred face twisting into a leer.

  Laryn ignored him and continued. “And about healing medicine. She’s our Councilor of the Void. Kenna is managing our food stores, and doing an excellent job of that. She’s our Councilor of Provisions.”

  A few mutters of approval fell as they recalled the delicious meal they’d shared the night before.

  “I have prepared a [Councilor] role for each of you. It grants you access to the core system and will allow us to coordinate our activities better. Adi?”

  The lepidoptera stepped forward with a slight flutter of wings. “I’m so excited to work with you all!” She clapped her hands, and made a gesture. A few of the people around the table looked startled, as their connection to the core system activated.

  “Laryn and I have been working on task lists for each of you, to help you stay focused on your priorities,” Adi said. She explained how to find it, and Laryn watched as his Councilors’ eyes flicked around, examining the invisible system messages.

  “Hey, this doesn’t make sense,” Thallon said. “Why should I be—”

  “What?” Hela cried out. “We’re not prioritizing the void scouting runs?”

  “I’m not sure one person can—” Gall said.

  “I think that locating other settlements nearby is a higher priority,” Korwin said. “A close, local network will increase our bargaining power.”

  “That is a priority,” Thallon agreed. “I know there were a few others out there, but I don’t know how many survived. I can hardly believe Orf survived for so long, so close to that bloom.”

  “With the bloom gone, others may start expanding,” Gall said. “Once they realize that they’re not under heavy attack any longer.”

  “That makes sense,” Laryn said, and everyone went back to talking over one another about how the lists he’d given them needed to be changed.

  Laryn sighed, glancing across the room to Kenna, who hadn’t complained yet. She met his gaze and raised her eyebrows slightly, gave a faint shrug.

  “Look,” Laryn said, cutting off the grumbling. “I made these lists intentionally, and based on my training. They’re all theoretically sound, and interrelated. If you start shuffling things around, then other people are going to have problems.”

  “Training,” Thallon scoffed. “Books can’t teach you the important things. Look, some of this stuff makes sense, and I’ll do it. But I’m missing the tools needed for barrel making and I’m definitely not a wheel-wright.”

  “This is impossible,” Hela added. “You want to grow the population of Vallor too quickly. We can’t allow so many people to join us so fast. We’ll never be able to keep void cultists out.”

  Laryn gripped the edge of the table, his knuckles turning white. They were all so short-sighted.

  “We’ll work out the kinks,” he said, his voice tight. “My current focus is on preparing a set of laws, to make sure that things go smoothly and we can keep order as we grow.”

  Hela kept complaining. “I just don’t think—”

  Anger flared, and he slapped the table. “If you were in my father’s kingdom you’d have been hanged when you went behind my back and attacked the elves!”

  The room fell deadly silent.

  “I always thought his methods to be too brutal, but I’m starting to reconsider. Maybe you aren’t the reasonable, thoughtful humans I hoped for. Maybe he was right, and the only way to rule is with an iron fist.” Laryn’s voice grew colder as he spoke, his eyes flashing.

  “I don’t expect perfect, blind obedience. I want some discussion. I want some back and forth. But I do demand that you do your best to help this kingdom grow. You’re going to have to do some things that might not make sense to you!”

  “Yes, Lord,” Hela said, nodding demurely. “I’m sorry Lord.” She exited the room, her bracelets and necklaces jingling harshly.

  The others awkwardly excused themselves as well, leaving Laryn standing there with Adi.

  “Well, that could have gone better!” Adi said. “But I think they got the point.”

  “Yeah,” Laryn said, looking at his hands. He turned them in front of his face, like he didn’t recognize them. “I’m terrified of turning into my father,” he said. “But that’s something that he would have done. I loved reading the theories of kingdom management. Especially the ones that dealt with ruling through relationships, not power or fear.

  “My father always scoffed at those. Said they would never work.

  “I’m worried I’m about to prove him right.”

  At that moment someone pounded on the door post. Laryn grimaced, but reached across the room and pushed the leather curtain to the side.

  Mat, Hober, and Ollen stood outside, drenched in sweat and breathing heavily.

  “Sir,” Mat exclaimed, “We’ve been riding all day and through the night—” he cut off, gasping for breath.

  “Calm down,” Laryn said. “Breath, what is it? Void?”

  “No,” Mat said, shaking his head. “No, there’s a new kingdom up on the plateau. It’s… big.”