Our fourth day at the Council saw us dealing with all the necessary rituals with which one had to proceed through for a petition to be heard. The petitioner, by tradition, visits the head of the Gem, Metalic, and Chromatic factions before presenting his or her case to the Council as a whole. In this instance, it meant we went to meet with the head of the Gem faction in the council. Lord Voulge of Clan Deathstalk had been the leader of the Metallic faction inside of the Council. His current absence from the Council and from his own Clan, had meant a rather large shift in power inside the Council itself. Where the Chromatics had been at a disadvantage since the death of Councilor Malics, from clan Bloodtide, the playing field had been evened. Both of the two sides were still reorganizing and a leader had yet to step in to the power void left by the departure of both leaders.

     Lord Darkheat, head of clan Magma was desperately trying to consolidate his hold over the Chromatics. The fact that he was no whereas close to as cunning as Malice had been didn't help him at all. Lorinda, the daughter of Voulge, now head of Clan Deathstalk, was not a wyrm, and thus was not old enough to hold her father's spot on the council proper. She did, if the rumors were to be believed, hold considerable sway within the Council, but her power would be limited until she could ascend to the Platform of Wyrms.

     There was no way that Lord Sutton was going to go plead his case before Lord Darkheat, and I did not blame him at all. All of which meant that, by protocol, he had only one choice to meet with outside of the Council, before it resumed tomorrow morning. Grand Councilor Gemmenna, of clan Majyst, was here herself. The amethyst dragon did not often attend the Council, preferring to receive reports from the other leaders, most notably the Topaz head of Clan Seaspray and the Crystal head of Clan Sparkle, whom she guided. The fact that she had arrived the night after our arrival to the island simply added to the fact that there was more going on here then we knew of. Her chambers were not far from our own, but were, of course, larger and she had a full complement of Vassals present, along with her own kindred, an elf by the name of Sarivk.

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     Upon entering the Grand Councilor's chambers, both Jean and Laureine bowed formally to the Amethyst and her kindred. The silver dragon and his clan kinsman studied the ones who stood across from them. The kindred was a male elf who stood as formally as Laureine did, the simple robes and clan standard he bore proclaimed him as a Kindred and a mage of no small accomplishment. Gemmenna herself was only slightly larger then Jean, her body seemed almost to be made of Amethyst, giving her the appearance of not being so much covered by scales, as being covered by huge slabs of gems. Ceremony had everything to do with this visit, and Gemmenna formally invited Jean to enter and be welcome, to sit and eat with them for a while as they talked. No word was yet said of why they had come, and would not until the meal was done.

     Once the two dragons had made themselves comfortable, the two elves both took seats in the elegantly carved bone chairs near the empty fireplace. The chairs were both carved from the bones of fire giants whom had falsely thought that they could take advantage of Gemmenna's clan, it was a subtle reminder of who they met with on this day. The food, when it came, was delicious. Freshly killed venison and sea food for the dragons, plates of fruits and waybread piled high for the elves, along with cups of ceremonial tea.
Gemmenna and Jean both talked of harvests, exports, raiders, anything except for the reason why they were both here. Laureine and Sarivk said nothing, both enjoying the food and finding no need to ruin it with talk of trivial things.

     Finally the food was eaten, the wine was drunk, and the ceremonial niceties had been observed. Jean was the first to bring up his reason for being here, watching the Amethyst which lay across from him.

     "You know why I am here Grand Councilor Gemmenna. I simply ask that you and those who follow your lead, will listen, and vote on the side of Justice in this matter." Jean watched her carefully, trying to read any expression he could for a hint of what she was thinking of. It was like trying to read the mood of a rock, and he soon gave up the attempt.

     "Lord Sutton, I respected your father. He often came to meet with me to discuss the course of the Council and of our lands. With that said, I cannot comment on what our position will be on this coming vote." That caught both Laureine and Jean's attention and they both reached different conclusions about why she would not comment.

     "Will you say why you cannot comment?" Asked the silver dragon, trying to find a way to find out what he wanted to know. Often there were ways to work around a denial from a gem dragon, as long as you went about it logically.

     "You are indeed your father's son, but no, I cannot say why I cannot comment. My thanks for your observance of Ceremony, Lord Sutton, but I believe it is time for us to go our own way. Be well and may Io guide you."

     With which both Jean and Laureine rose, and bowed to the gem dragon and her kindred, before leaving. They had barely begun down the hall when Laureine spoke, quietly.

     "That did not bode well for your petition."