Sacred Elders

"The six Sacred Elders will consist of the Heads of the Knight Orders and as such only you five would be privy to the kingdom's secrets, including the secret Orders of Ravens. Anyone who wishes to betray the council will suffer its wrath." Ethan calmly stated. 

"Forgive me Your Majesty but why would you think of establishing this Council? I get that we are to take charge in your absence, but Your Majesty would it not be wiser to let one rake charge instead?" Alistair asked attentively. 

"Indeed, I have thought about putting one person in charge, yet when I thought of it, even with my order internal strife would occur and I want to avoid it from happening. So even if there is internal strife in the council. It would be based on the majority vote in any decision to be made." He replied. 

"Very well Your Majesty. But what would happen if the vote were a draw? I understand that voting could minimize internal strife if it ever occurs, but then what would happen? If it is an important decision that could not be made due to a draw, how do, we settle it?" Alistair asked after a while. 

"Indeed, I had not thought about it. It seems we should discuss it swiftly. Does any of you have any suggestions or ideas to share?" he said after some contemplation. 

"Perhaps we could propose a system of arbitration. If a vote is tied, we could select a neutral knight, someone respected by all, to act as a tiebreaker. This knight would study the matter at hand, listen to both sides, and ultimately make a decisive vote." Gabriel suggested. 

"That is a fair suggestion, Gabriel. Your Majesty, I want to ask, will the council be made public or in secret because if it were done in secret, then it would defeat the purpose of the council, to bring in a neutral party, would it not?" Magnus turned to Ethan and asked uncertainly. 

"Mhmm... indeed, for this matter I think we should announce the creation of the council to the people, as in the future people would speak of the six Sacred Elders and their reputation would spread so I think it is not a problem to make it public." Ethan said after some thought. 

"Then it would not be a problem to bring in another Knight near our status but how should we decide to which knight should be appointed?" Magnus said to the group. 

All of their eyes turned toward Ethan. Seeing them turn their attention to him he knew he should be the one to appoint the neutral Knight. After some thought Ethan finally decided to reveal a secret to them and why. 

"Very well I shall appoint the Knight and as I have said before. You shall have the authority to know the Kingdom's secrets. As such the Knight I appoint is my Head Guardian, Ragnar." Ethan stated calmly as he examined the group's reactions. 

Most of them were confused as they did not know about the Guardian Order and only Ethan knew of them, well he did. Ethan then summoned Ragnar, "Ragnar, come out." As he spoke a young man could be seen walking out from the shadows in a dark blue robe with golden lightning engraved upon the robe. Every elder almost jumped out their seats when the man walked out the shadows. Utter disbelief etched on their faces, one must remember the weakest here is a 9th stage apprentice knight and they could not sense how the man appeared. 

"This is Ragnar. My Head Guardian whenever I am not around, and you need an extra vote he will give it as he sees fit." 

"Head Guardian? My Lord would you please explain since when have there been a Head Guardian?" Magnus asked with uncertainty. Out of all the people present only 2 were not surprised, Asher and Rowan 

"Ragnar is the Head Guardian of the Guardian Order which is solely responsible for my protection. There are others in the order, but I only established the order a few months back and as such at the moment the strongest is an 8th stage apprentice Knight." Seeing their reactions gave Ethan a small laughter. He then turned toward Asher and Rowan and asked." I assume you two knew, according to your facial expressions?" He asked. 

"No, my Lord, I only knew of him hiding in the shadows, I did not make a move as I assumed Lord Commander Asher knew of the man and as he had not made a move the man should be an ally." Rowan said sheepishly. 

"And you Uncle?" Ethan asked as he turned towards Asher. "Haha... Nothing in the kingdom can escape my senses your Highness. This little man has quite the potential, growing to this stage only after a few months." Asher said with a light laugh. 

"Ha, it seems you knew everything from the start." Ethan said with a smile." And what do you think?" 

"I think that the neutral knight suggestion would be good. And if anything, this man here is just right for the job." Asher said slowly as he turned to face Ethan. 

"Good, good. Since Uncle said so everything is settled. Ragnar would give his vote if there were ever a draw. And since the council will be established, I have a few things to say. In the coming months your respective armors as the sacred elders would be made and from now on, I will address you as elders. Starting from your uncle. From now on you shall be known as the Sacred Elder Dragon. James will be known as the Sacred Elder Obsidian. Magnus will be known as the Sacred Elder Dawn. Gabriel the Sacred Elder, Azure. Alistair the Sacred Elder, Falcon and finally Rowan shall be known as the Sacred Dragon of Ravens. 

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A/N: 

Asher- Sacred Elder Dragon 

Magnus- Sacred Elder Dawn 

Rowan- Sacred Elder Raven 

James- Sacred Elder Obsidian 

Gabriel- Sacred Elder Azure 

Alistair- Sacred Elder Falcon 

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