Frostbound

Chris

Normally, when discussing or deciding on a course of action back home, I involved the Council. They held different viewpoints and had insights I wouldn't come up with on my own and also opened up ideas that I wouldn't have thought of.

I couldn't do that now.

Being the only Noble of our group, I had to walk in alone into... whatever this turned out to be. Marcus would be there, as he was also a Noble, but that was different.

Being alone at the meeting wasn't what scared me. I'd faced down things much scarier than the meeting people. It was what came after that did. When making decisions by committee or in groups like we usually did, it made the burden lesser somehow. Like it didn't all fall on my shoulders. The number of people we lost against the Demons still wasn't something I was comfortable with and this would only be a repeat of what happened then.

It was my orders that resulted in people dying and that was a tough pill to swallow. I knew it was necessary, and that if pushed into a corner, I'd do it again, but that revelation didn't make doing it feel any less difficult.

That being said, this meeting was more than just my own Faction. I wasn't sure how many Nobles were among the crowd, but based on how hard it was to become one, I doubted there was a lot.

I put it at a maximum of two dozen and that was pushing it. If that was true, that would mean twenty-four people would dictate the lives of over a hundred thousand.

That was the optimist speaking, as everyone falling in line and going along with what was decided was unlikely, but theoretically, my decisions would either save or kill a great number of people.

It wasn't something I was comfortable with.

At least the people who followed me from Frostheim put their trust in me and had a choice in doing so. The people from elsewhere didn't. They didn't know me. They didn't choose to follow me. Nor did they believe in me.

But I would dictate what they would do anyway.