XVII Accord of Madness P5

  The Council was furious when I entered the slightly stuffy chamber with its heavily laden bookshelves and glass cases filled with soul gems of all power levels, lit only by the flickering candles that stretched their shadows up the wall. Were they deliberately trying to oppress me by not using a spell to light up the room? Trying to close me in with their imposing stature? To this day I am still not certain as to what their intentions were, even less so as to their personal feelings towards me. However, I am very much aware that Raminus was as much to do with the sour mood in the room as I was in saving Cyrodiil from starvation.

  “I hope you have a very good reason for dismissing us earlier,” Raminus hissed, forgetting his customary politeness and deferential tone.

  Elitlaya threw a sympathy glance in my direction, but I didn’t need it. I was the Arch-Mage of this University, this Council; I held the most power, no matter my age or experience. It was only natural then that my retort came out in a harsh tone.

  “As a matter of fact, I have rather valid reasons for doing so, and I would advise that you sit down and hold your tongue, Raminus Polus.”

  Raminus took his seat with a surprised expression, a mixture of anger, amazement and admiration. Everyone else’s face displayed the same expression, actually. Besides Elitlaya, of course. She loved when I became irritated, and she could tell that I was reaching my peak. It was only when I was truly angry that I used someone’s full name.

  “I dismissed us earlier,” I began with no hint of apprehension, “because I dislike the manner in which the Council is being conducted, especially when we are out on public display like we were earlier. Every one of you were behaving in a rude, inconsiderate and downright arrogant manner towards your fellow colleagues. Do you really believe the Mages here are going to have any faith in a Council that cannot even work together efficiently?”

  “Arch-Mage, you don’t-” Raminus broke in.

  “I said hold your tongue!” I half-hissed, half-yelled at the Master-Wizard.

  The disturbed faces of the Council told me that this was unexpected behaviour on my part. Even Elitlaya shifted uncomfortably in her chair at my unprecedented outburst, although I had nothing to say to her. I had for some reason been inspired by a great passion, of which I was unaware of the origins, but was seemingly willing to embrace.

  “I elected this Council as I believed that you would all be able to communicate in a mature manner and resolve problems with solutions that do not compromise another area of the arcane and damage the reputation of your fellow magicka users. Was I wrong?” I paused, which lead to a deafening silence that let me know that my words were being heard loud and clear. “If you can’t sort yourselves out soon, I’m going to have to replace in you in the Council or just remove your position and reduce the size of the Council or even ban you from being involved in Guild affairs. Is that quite clear?”

  Heads nodded all around the table. No one spoke, waiting to see if I was about to speak again. Naturally, in my uncompromising state of mind, I was.

  “Who leads this Council? Who deals with all the Mages’ complaints, regardless of their relevancy? Who has had their ass worked off with all of their other duties resulting in not being able to have a fair night’s sleep in weeks, and comes back to find that she can’t even trust her own Council to deal with things in her absence?!”

  I wondered if I had turned purple yet, because the Council members sat with their jaws hanging around their ankles. Elitlaya raised a hand slightly. The sight of this infantile action almost made me break my stern expression to laugh, but I composed myself in an attempt to prevent her panic.

  “Yes, Elitlaya?”

  Swallowing hard, Elitlaya whispered silently, “You did.”

  Again I almost laughed but I knew I couldn’t show any sign of relaxation, otherwise the other members would ease up. I was in command now, I desired to see it remain that way for the foreseeable future.

  “Those were actually rhetorical questions, Elitlaya, but I appreciate your interaction.”

  I stood bolt upright and gripped my hands into tight fists, asserting my authority over all of them. I was not finished yet. Letting all the acid I could muster leak into my voice, I began my next speech.

  “Every single time I’m called away to do duties for my other guilds and roles, of which includes my service to the people of Cyrodiil which I do believe you consider yourself as being among, you always manage to get notices to me forcing me to return to the University. I apologise if this ruffles some feathers but you will not always be at the forefront of my priorities. If I deem it necessary to return to the University, I will do so but I can’t spend the rest of my life here. I am needed to provide fist power via the Fighters Guild, I am required to protect County Leyawiin from the Black Bow Bandits with my fellow Knights of the White Stallion, I am desired at the Arena to satisfy the people’s insatiable thirst for bloodshed and I am fulfilling my duty as a Blade by spending time in meditation and training in Cloud Ruler Temple whilst we wait for a new Emperor to be crowned. I also have a duty to Cyrodiil and her people as her Champion. It is becoming increasingly difficult and frustrating to juggle all of these urgent roles and as a result, my time is becoming more and more divided leaving me with absolutely no free time to rest my body and mind. So next time a problem arises, deal with it yourself for a change, and if it’s absolutely essential of if it is a more private matter, then you can contact me.”

  “In my defence, Arch-Mage,” Raminus responded in a condescending matter-of-fact tone, trying to uses his age and greater career in the guild as an advantage, “the current crisis is of the utmost importance to all of Tamriel.”

  Fixing a steel gaze on him, I hissed, “First off, sir, if you interrupt me again, I will rip out your intestines and use them as a jump rope. Or a noose, to hang you from.”

  Raminus paled and I could see the other Council members picturing the grotesque image in their mind; the expressions of pure disgust lingering on their faces amused me somewhat. I continued furiously, not letting up for a moment.

  “Secondly, I have no doubt in my mind that the current situation is affecting the future of Tamriel as a whole, but I was not referring to such a drastic situation. I was referring to smaller, insignificant matters such as an Apprentice needing his timetables revised, or more ingredients needing ordered. You know exactly what is required to fulfil these tasks; I deliberately leave the list lying around in obvious places in the insane hope that one day you might actually do something about it!”

  Borissean spoke in his heavy Redguard accent, sounding like he was at ease with the whole situation. “Arch-Mage, please accept my sincerest apologies for any stress or discomfort I or any of the other Council members have caused you. We only deemed it wise that the head of our guild who has obviously done incredible amounts to restructure how the guild is run and provide for all of us here –” His eyes diverted their attention to Raminus for a second before once again focusing on me. “– should be informed of guild activities. I now understand that this places apparent stress on your shoulders and mind and for that, I apologise. From now on, non-urgent matters will be dealt with appropriately and swiftly by the member of the Council most directly involved.”

  Agreements and apologies came in murmurs from all around the Council table. Raminus simply nodded, too shocked to attempt any more. I had proven myself to be a mature, sophisticated leader with more than a fair idea of how to handle guild affairs. And I had shown him that I had a wicked temper to boot.

  But just as quickly as my temper had arrived and developed, it subsided and I slumped into my chair exhausted. I wasn’t as if I had never felt anger before; I had never released it all at once in such an aggressive manner until this day. The odd thing was that while it ruled the situation, I had felt a thrill, an excitement, a buzzing energy that made me slightly giddy and light-headed – slightly manic. However, dwelling on the reasoning behind it was starting to cause a thumping in the front of my head and I decided it was an appropriate time to come back to reality.

  “Thank you, all of you. First off, let me assure you that all of your positions on the Council are secure and that none of you will be demoted in rank.” The release of breath and tension was refreshing. It was somewhat relieving to be reminded that my rank did mean something here, but I did not want any of my fellow mages to have a grudge towards me.

  “Secondly, we need to discuss this new Oblivion Crisis, or however it will be dubbed from now on. Finally, we’ll discuss other matters, after which we will draw this session to a close.”

  Having the Council meeting back to normality ended up being extremely productive, more so than any other before it. After discussing the current crisis for a few hours, it was decided that I should appear at the guild at least once every two months in an effort to reassure the younger mages that their leader was still able to handle the situation. A status report would be mailed to me every month to keep me informed of guild proceedings in my absence and for personal records. Important matters would be the exceptions.

  One could only hope that they were now aware of what important matters really were.