Free The Water Road by JD Byrne Page A

Each had its own political system, some of
them wildly different from one another. Every year, the leaders of the seven
states met to select three people to send to the Grand Council. From the
reports Antrey had read, the meetings could last as long as a week and had,
more than once, broken down into hand-to-hand combat. Regardless, every year
three new representatives from the Confederation made their way to Tolenor.
Most of the Confederation members of the Grand Council were men, but Antrey had
seen a few women take the post over the years.
    As chaotic as the Confederation
sounded when it came to its Grand Council members, at least Antrey could
understand why. The selection method used by the Guilders baffled her to no
end. Of the three seats, one was always held by the Master of the Guild of
Soldiers, which represented the alliance’s birth in battle. For the other two seats,
the Council of Masters, which ruled the Guildlands, did not make any attempt to
select people to fill them. Instead, those seats were filled on a rotating
basis by the Masters of two of the Guilds. The particular representatives
changed every year. To Antrey, it seemed at odds with the Guilders’ reputation
for rationality and the rigorous application of logic to leave the decision up
to chance. Two of the current Guild representatives were women.
    One member of the Grand Council
served as president. On paper, the only power the president had was to organize
the Grand Council’s agenda and oversee votes that were taken. In truth, the
presidency was a very powerful position, if wielded by someone cunning enough
to figure that out. It was unclear whether Atilleo, the current president, had
learned that lesson yet.
    ~~~~~
    The morning assembly, as was
usually the case on the opening day of the Grand Council session, consisted
mostly of routine procedural motions and meaningless speeches. Everyone
involved knew that the actual business of the Grand Council would not begin
until later that afternoon. It seemed like a waste of time to Antrey, the
minutes given over to empty formalities. Alban had explained the importance of
ritual to her before, the need for everyone involved to reorient themselves to
the place and time they were in. It must mean more, and have more meaning, for
those Councilors and staff who were new to Tolenor and the business of the
place. At least Antrey knew what to expect.
    Alban very nearly missed the
beginning of the afternoon session. Business could not proceed without him, of
course, so when Antrey noticed his absence, she went to find him. Rather than
being positioned in the Grand Council chamber well before the president gaveled
the session into order, Alban was sitting at the desk in his office, lost deep
in thought over some open book.
    Antrey stepped into the office and
knocked lightly on the door frame. “Is everything all right, sir?”
    “What?” Alban said, looking up towards
her. He looked as if he had been roused from a deep sleep. “Oh, Antrey, it’s
you. No, nothing’s wrong. Why?”
    “The Grand Council is about to
resume for the afternoon, sir,” Antrey said. “You weren’t in the chamber, so I
came to see if there was something amiss.”
    “No, no,” Alban said, closing the
book in front of him. “I was just looking up something I was curious about.”
    “From this morning?” Antrey asked,
breaking his train of thought.
    “What? No, of course not,” he said
with a laugh. “Did anything actually happen this morning? No, it was something
that came up at the Hare a few nights ago. It had slipped my mind until
something this morning jogged my memory. But now, for the life of me, I can’t
find it.”
    “Very well, sir. The Grand Council
resumes in ten minutes,” Antrey said, turning to return to the chamber.
    “Ten minutes, yes. I’ll be there,”
she heard Alban say as she walked away.
    Antrey returned to the chamber and
sat down next to Alban’s desk. As the members of the Grand Council and