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The king of Rezin sighed as another local farmer brought him complaints of slaves escaping their lands or rumors in the slave quarters to tell others how to escape and get to Grey City. Despite crackdowns, beatings, increased guards, and generous incentives; the Muri were leaking out of the kingdom in droves. And people were enraged; demanding the royal family do something to keep the Muri in line or they would take matters into their own hands.
King Bastion called his general and lords for an emergency meeting to hear their thoughts and have some sort of plan put together to placate the people before he had a rebellion on his hands.
"Sire, the first step is to lock down every border between towns with soldiers to perform inspections on every person passing through." General Tavers pointed to several towns in the center of the kingdom. His auburn hair was dotted with white and his deep blue eyes were lined with wrinkles from squinting at all sorts of maps but he was just as sharp than any other man in the room. "We'll start at the edge of our borders and work our way inward to close the net around whatever network has been established. We should encourage villages to shut down any large slave quarters and keep their Muri on their property at all times." General Tavers pondered the map in front of them, tapping his fingers on the ornate wooden table. "That will make it harder for them to conspire or share messages."
"More guards will have to patrol the markets." Lord Mikel adjusted his glasses and looked at the scattering of green dots marking registered markets and purple marking suspected black markets.
"And where will we get all these guards?" Bastion asked.
Lord Velkrye narrowed his eyes. "I'm sure the general can only offer a certain amount of bodies to take care of all this."
"I'm sure we could conscript some enthusiastic volunteers." King Baston smiled at the men at the table, who chuckled in turn. "Enough men have come through the doors whining about losing their slaves. Perhaps they could be encouraged to do something about it."
"As long as they don't riot, that would be a good focus for their anger." General Tavers snapped his fingers and his second in command trotted up to him. "Have the local captains rally up some willing men for the job." The captain barked out a fast agreement before leaving the council room to do as he was told.
"We will need a broader solution." Lord Velkrye looked to the king. "The slaves who have already escaped and are holed up in Grey City are no doubt preparing to strike back at us. Word has reached me of Muri who have no brand and powers beyond what has ever been seen before. If these slaves start to develop an army, we'll stand no chance against them when they decide to retaliate."
"Do you really think they will bother?" Lord Mikel sat back in his chair and folded his hands over his protruding belly. "If they have their own city, why risk attacking us and ending up worse off?"
"We can't take that chance." The king looked at the map and the black stain on it signifying Grey City. Previously an abandoned, haunted wasteland of broken stones where men were forbidden to tread, now a growing settlement of the dregs of society who made the mistake of fighting back against their natural place. "The Muri need to put in check."
"And what would be the best way to do that, my king?" Lord Velkrye looked at his leader with genuine confusion.
"I'm sure the queen will have some interesting ideas."
The ensuing silence sucked the air out of the room. While the king was a typical ruler, descendant from a long line of other monarchs, proving his worth by keeping the kingdom in order and mostly being fair, the queen was another matter. She came from a long line of mystics from a neighboring kingdom who bartered peace with her marriage to King Bastion. Unlike the sealed power of the Muri, her people freely accessed arcane magics of long-dead gods they refused to name to any outsiders. It was a lucky trade to keep the kingdoms allied by marriage to keep the peace despite the Queen's people having little to do with outsiders. Rezin and Fentira agreed it would be beneficial to be allied rather than wage war, as trade proved fruitful to both. They may be at peace, but the reclusive queen was largely feared and spoken of only in hushed whispers and knowing glances.
"My king," General Tavers had the good sense to avoid the king's eyes when he spoke. "Are you certain such measures are necessary?"
King Bastion smiled and stood from his chair. "You have all said how much of a threat these renegade Muri are to us. Amassing in their stronghold, gathering resources, building their numbers for a possible army? Why would we refrain from using our most powerful asset? Wouldn't it be irresponsible of me to ignore such an option in such a dire circumstance?"
Everyone but the king shifted uncomfortably but remained silent.
"Then it is agreed." The king stood and the other men gratefully accepted the dismissal, bowing their heads and leaving the council room.
Once alone, King Bastion wound his way through the hallways teeming with human servants and Muri slaves scurrying about maintaining the castle and all its occupants. Everyone stopped to lower their heads before he walked passed them and he gave the Muri hard stares to make sure they were properly cowed before moving on. Bastion went deep into the castle to a fortified study and knocked gently on the heavy wooden door using the ornately designed metal knocker. It depicted a complicated series of twisting vines and blooms, flowers from the queen's homeland.
When the door opened, the glittering dark eyes of Queen Anasia greeted the king. She looked at him with a soft smile, stepping aside to welcome him to enter. Her golden-trimmed silver dress clung to her thin frame and silently brushed against the floor. Hair as dark as midnight was coiled in brads as intricate as the vines of the door knocker and the light of the hundreds of candles and a handful of lanterns made Anasia's dark hair and pale skin shimmer with the dancing flames. "Greetings, my king. I trust your meeting went well?"
King Bastion bent to kiss her cheek as he reveled in the sound of her voice, as silken as the clothes she wore. "Indeed, sweet one. We agreed on a plan to slow the tide of escaping slaves." He followed her to an ornate altar covered in lit candles, melted wax, and bleached skulls, but stopped at the boundary carved into the floor. "However, the problem of Grey City could use your unique touch."
Anasia went to her overflowing bookshelves and began to stroke the bindings. "In what way do you propose?"
"The Muri are gathering in Grey City and I would be shocked if they weren't forming an army to wage war against us." King Bastion took a step back when she touched the books. He never wanted to give his dear wife any reason to use their arcane knowledge on him. "Since there are some who are able to use some magic branded, I would suggest something to cripple any Muri with a brand and hunt them down. With their magic gone, our armies will crush this rebellion and put the slaves back in their place."
"Interesting." Anasia turned and reached for a heavy book from the middle of the shelves. "If they are managing to use their power despite the brand, that is a marvel." When her long nails scraped the cloth binding on the book, King Bastion felt a cold lump in his stomach. "And all these brands are the same spell?"
"Yes," Bastion stepped closer to her, avoiding the circle and keeping his eyes away from the words on the cover. "It was designed centuries ago to seal Muri magic."
Anasia's smile made the king freeze in his tracks. "If it is most convenient, my love, I would like to see one of these brands myself. This spell sounds promising."
"I will see to it at once." He left immediately, allowing the heavy door to shut and lock behind him. The palace had its own Muri branding iron, handed down through the generations. None of the palace slaves were brandless and there we no plans to acquire any new ones, so borrowing it for a while for Queen Anasia to study wouldn't risk an unbranded slave in the castle.
Given the way the witch queen smiled, King Bastion knew a solution would be found in a short amount of time and with frightening effectiveness. Once the soldiers secured the borders, every Muri would be brought to heel and Grey City would be destroyed.