The Elphame Chronicles - Part 1 The Poisoned Sceptre

treated in such a manner, and they felt totally powerless to do anything about it.

  A circle of burning torches ringed the fire, giving off more light, as the remainder of the Bear people kept a respectful distance. They were in no mood to venture away from their houses, or from the taverns which lay scattered around the village. To them, the King’s decision amounted to nothing less than a defeat, and their pride had been badly hurt.

  A very elderly Bear struggled to his feet, with the aid of a staff, as he readied himself to open the meeting. When he was ready, the first thing that he did, was to politely ask an attendant to bring forth the Sacred Scroll of the Bear people, which they would all have to swear an oath upon, to uphold the wisdom and guidance written upon it. The scroll was housed in an ornately carved wooden box, and on the top was carved the image of the Great King, who had helped them to draw up what could be regarded as their constitution.

  The attendant held it in front of him as the elderly bear placed his free hand upon its wooden surface and cleared his throat.

  “I hereby swear to uphold the wisdom and guidance of the Great king, written upon the Sacred Scroll of the Bear People, and to offer them my absolute loyalty. I agree to abide by the majority decision of all matters raised in Council.”

  He then removed his hand, as the attendant moved along to the next member of the Council, who also placed his hand upon it and recited the same oath. When he had finished, the attendant moved along to the next member of the Council, and the little wooden box was passed around each member in turn. There were twelve members in total, and the Chairman made the number up to thirteen.

  After the oaths had been said, the Chairman sat down with the aid of another attendant, as he prepared to bring the meeting to order. He sat on a wooden log, which had a large padded cushion placed upon it, giving some comfort to his elderly bones. His cushion bore the insignia of his office, and similar cushions with the insignia of ordinary Council members, were placed on other longs around the fire. These were the only marks of authority, as the Bear people were not ones to flaunt their positions. Even the Bear King himself only wore a simple chain around his neck, and that was just on formal occasions.

  There was only the one matter on tonight’s agenda, despite what the Bear King had done, and that was whether or not a female Bear had the right to challenge the King. They all knew the contents of the scroll by heart, and the fact that there were no words about what gender a challenger had to be.

  Challenges were only permissible during a tournament, where the King had the right to refuse, and if he did, then, unless the Council ruled against him, that would be the end of the matter. All decisions had to be passed by a majority vote, and being as Bears were very loyal and honourable creatures, they always abided by the outcome, whether they agreed with it or not.

  Most of the previous Kings had been very honourable and led their people well, upholding the words of wisdom contained within the Sacred Scroll. This King however, had never quite lived up to his predecessors!

  His succession to the throne had been a bit dubious to say the least, as after the death of the last King, the favourite contender had mysteriously disappeared!

  This King was regarded by his people as a bully who only thought about himself, and ate and drank to excess. He had done little for his people and was not very popular with them, or the Council for that matter!

  Now, after what he had done, he had lost what little respect he may have had, and he had been lucky to avoid an open revolt. He was very large and very bad tempered, and even the slightest criticism could result in the perpetrator being exiled from the kingdom. It was therefore fair to say, that in some ways, he had become a tyrant.

  The Chairman cleared his throat again, addressing the meeting.

  “I, like all of us gathered here today have to decide whether a challenge can be made to the King by a female Bear. I am sure that there has been no precedent set, and that there is nothing in the scroll that prohibits such a challenge.”

  There were a lot of grunts and nodding of heads.

  “If there is nothing to prevent such a challenge, then the only course of action is to ascertain whether or not the challenger is worthy.”

  The nods and grunts continued.

  “Therefore, in order to pass judgement we need to find out who is making the challenge and why?”

  He signalled one of the attendants to summon the challenger.

  The Sisters sat quietly around a smaller fire, mulling things over, as they waited to be summoned. This was the first time that they had ever faced the Council, as it was highly unusual for any member of the Bear People. Most disputes were settled by a wrestling match, and although they had the opportunity to settle matters at Council level, they very rarely chose to do so.

  Roggie also sat with them, with a tankard of ale in his hand, and his hood still covering his face. It had already been a long wait as the Council gathered and started their meeting. Just like any council, it always took them time to get going, and the procedures had dragged on for what seemed like an eternity.

  He could not help but worry about the proposed wrestling match, as the King was rumoured to be very large and powerful. Although Concordia towered over him, she was nowhere near as large as the King was supposed to be. Concordia was also a female Bear, and as far as he knew, they were not as strong or as powerful as the male Bears. It also worried him that she had been given the nickname Cuddles, which if that was an indication of the strength of her Bear hugs, then what chance did she have of defeating the King?

  Nooks had insisted that she was a true champion in her own right, but having observed her kind and gentle nature, he doubted whether she would even be capable of losing her temper, let alone defeating anyone in a wrestling match!

  The idea had come to him in a flash of inspiration, although not having had any contact with Bears before, he did not really understand much about them. Nooks had explained what it would entail to stop the Men from taking all the gold out of the royal coffers, and indeed to stop the King. She had also told him how skilful Concordia was at wrestling, although now he was having more than second thoughts. Concordia would have to be very skilful indeed, if she was to stand any chance of defeating such a large and powerful opponent.

  Roggie was still deep in contemplation, when there was a rustle in the bushes, and a cough from the attendant signalling his arrival.

  “The challengers are required to present themselves to the Council, and if you still wish to make the challenge then would you kindly follow me.”

  Roggie finished off the last of the ale in his tankard, before placing it down on the ground. He hoped that it would give him courage, although he was nervous, more nervous it appeared, than either of the Sisters. They just calmly placed their tankards down, bowing to the attendant. He bowed back, as was their custom, and they all began to move off in the direction of the council meeting.

  At least this was a good sign, as being asked to present themselves meant that there was a chance that the Council would agree to the challenge. Whether it was a good sign for Concordia, was quite another matter!

  Roggie followed on behind, with his hood still covering his face, regretting that he had got so involved in all of this. He had just hoped to slip away unnoticed when they reached the edge of the Bear lands, and never thought for one moment, that he would now be embroiled in Bear Politics. There was now no way of backing out, and it looked as though his fate, along with that of the entire Bear People, now rested in the hands of a female Bear known as Cuddles!

  It did not take them long to reach the centre of the village, where the Council had gathered around the large fire, and when they arrived, the Council members all stood to greet them. It looked very official, and even more foreboding, as Roggie peered out from underneath his hood.

  He could see the elderly Bears standing by the logs which they had been seated upon, and the Sisters bowed to them, and they reciprocated. It all looked very formal, and the official nat
ure of the approaching proceedings did little to settle Roggie’s nerves.

  The Sisters knew like all of the other Bears, that protocol had to be observed, which meant that they would have to swear an oath on the Sacred Scroll before they were allowed to participate in the meeting.

  They both placed their right hands on the small wooden box, and together they began to recite the oath which was written on a piece of parchment held in front of them by another attendant.

  “I hereby swear to uphold the wisdom and guidance of the Great King, placed upon the Sacred Scroll of the Bear People, and to offer them my absolute loyalty. I agree to abide by the majority decision of all matters raised in Council.”

  When they had finished, the attendant removed the box, whilst Roggie stood to one side. He did not wish to get involved, and being as he was not a Bear, stayed on the sidelines, with his hood still obscuring his face.

  This seemed to confuse the Council, who were not sure who or what he was, and what he was doing there. If he had chosen not to swear an oath on the sacred scrolls, then it meant that he had no legal right to be here.

  The attendant was about to ask him to leave, when Nooks intervened.

  “I ask the Council to be patient, and allow this person to sit and observe the proceedings until we announce who we are.”

  This was against