9 Territory (C)

"Can you please calm down Char?" The Matriarch said calmly.

"NO! I don't want be here! Pebs let me go! Please I can't stand her." Yelled Char as she banged her legs and head against Pebbles's armor.

"Don't be rude Char. SHE'S our mother." Blight chimed in. "She's the matriarch of our country. Please show some respect."

"Cool down a little" said Gem as she sprayed Chars body with a shower of water.

Each Char's sisters tried to calm her down in their own ways. Well, except for Noir who had covered her mouth in an attempt to hide her laughter.

"It's not funny Noir!" Char yelled.

'For once the chaos wasn't started by Noir.' the Matriarch thought as she began to rub her temples as she felt a headache coming on.

After a few minutes, the Matriarch couldn't wait any longer. She needed to get to the real reason she had gathered her family from across the Kingdom.

"Enough!" Shouted the Matriarch as she slammed into the table. Surprised, her daughters looked straight at their mother and the table. Pieces of the table had broken off and had fallen on the floor. Even Char looked surprised. Normally, their mother would let them fight it out amongst themselves before she stepped in, but this time it was different.

Even little Jade who was sitting on her lap had been scared by her mother. She was about to cry, but she held it in. 'Jade is a big girl now.' She thought to herself as she rubbed her eyes and looked up at her mother.

With a commanding tone and a face full of seriousness her mother continued. It was like she had a switch for her motherly temperament and she had turned it off.

"I have gathered you all today for official business. It's not just so we could chat and have lunch." She said as she looked at her daughters.

"As you know I'm getting older. And soon I'll need a successor to replace me."

"No mother, you will always be young. You're not old." chimed Blight. And others in the room nodded in agreement.

"I won't be here forever." the Matriarch replied. "Out of all of you, even little Jade, here... One of you will need to replace me. As you all know, our society is one that runs on power. You all need to grow stronger and beat down your challengers. At the moment, more and more young'uns like you are showing their strength. Soon my throne will be challenged." The Matriarch continued.

Pebbles grunted.

"Yes, while I'm still strong, I can maintain my position. But what about in 500 more years? What about in 1000 more years? I don't think I hold on to the throne for that long."

Pebbles growled.

"Yes, I'm proud of your work Pebbles. I know you are working harder than any dragon to get stronger at the front lines. In fact, I know you are all strong. But you all are far from strong enough."

Pausing for a second, the Matriarch cleared her throat and continued.

"But, that isn't the topic of today's meeting... you may all be strong, but you can't run a kingdom with just strength. And you all need to experience this. So.."

But before The matriarch could continue, Char had interrupted her.

"You mean everyone in the room is strong except me. How can I get stronger and gain experience if you keep me shut inside the capital all the time!?" shouted Char who had calmed down some. "Ever since that incident, I'm trapped in the castle. It's like a prison. And you're like the prison warden! How can you expect me to develop when I'm a bird trapped inside a cage? Even Jade has more freedom than I do!"

Sighing The Matriarch continued. "And that's why I have made a choice. You will all be given a piece of territory. Yes, even you Char. Your territories will include the citizens of the kingdom that are already living there. Each territory will border each other. Your task would be to govern your territory for a year. I will not help you all and after a year, your progress will be judged by me."

"What about the incentive? Mother, I have a territory from dad in the nether realms, why would I care about the plebs on the surface?" asked Noir as she picked at her nails.

"You wanted a reward right? Sure. Here's the incentive: if you win you may ask one thing of me and I'll do my best to comply. That is the reward."

Hearing this, Noir's eyes twitched excitement as all her other daughters took in a sharp breathe as they thought about what they could ask if they won.

Noir started smiling. 'With my previous experience, I will definitely destroy my sisters in this competition!" She thought. 'The prize is mine!'

"Noir, you probably thought that you would win right? With all that experience you should be able to win against your sisters right? Well I have a surprise for you." The Matriarch smirked as she snapped her fingers.

From the entrance of the room, a servant came in. She carried a large scroll. Shifting her body, she rolled out a a scroll across the broken table. On it was a map of six territories. Like a five petaled flower, five territories were surrounding a sixth that was in the center of them.

"Each of these territories are unique and special."

With her pointed claw, the Matriarch pointed at one of the marked out territories. "Blight, you will govern this territory, from this day onward this will be called the Township of lights. The township has an average population and it suits you."

"Yes mother." replied Blight.

Moving to the other that border it. "Jade, honey, you will get to play in this one. Pixie Forest Town. How does that sound? It's located within a giant forest! The population is low, but you will get to play with all the creatures there, oh and eat them too! Wouldn't that be fun?"

Jade stood up on her mothers lap and crawled onto the cracked table to get a better look. "Yes, Jade is happy with this place." Jade said as she wagged her tail in the air and thought about all the interesting creatures she will be able to eat.

"Good. Moving on, this territory right next to Jade's will be Pebble's territory. It will be called Pebble Town. It's situated on top of a mountain and has a great view of Jade's forest."

The Matriarch looked at Pebble and Blight "I hope you two can help out Jade if she's in trouble. I trust you two to save her if something happens to her!"

"Yes Mother." replied Blight.

Grumble.

"Great, next we will have Char and Gem." The Matriarch said as she pointed to the next two territories. The Matriarch had clearly thought about the arrangement thoroughly as she knew that she had to place Gem and Pebble close to Char's territory to suppress her.

"Char, your territory is quite barren, but it is full of resources such as ore. I hope you don't mind. After that incident, I can't have you burning another town and forest to the ground."

"Nope, as long as I can be free of your shackles and go outside the capital once more I'm happy to comply" replied Char.

"And this one that has a lake and many rivers will be yours Gem. How about we call it Water County?"

"Yes." replied Gem.

"Finally, that leaves just one territory. Guess what Noir, it's yours!" The Matriarch chimed. "You get to be loved by all your sisters congrats."

Realizing her position Noir tried to complain. "But Motheeeerrr. That's the worst one. I'll be suppressed on all sides."

"Knowing you, I know you can think of a solution." The Matriarch replied as she smiled.

"Now, I need to go back to my office and sort out some stuff. If of you are hungry, there's a mountain of food that I had the servants prepare and its sitting in the dining room." The matriarch said as she got up and placed Jade into Blight's lap.

Before she left the room, she added "Oh, and war is allowed. But you can't attack little Jade. Good luck, remember I love you all and I'll be watching."

"Oh, and try not to kill each other. I'll see you all again in a year." she shouted as she walked down the hallway towards her office.

Silence filled the meeting room as all of her daughters looked at each other.