Ann looked across to Adam for his opinion. To her, it sounded like a perfectly good plan, but she still valued his input as he was dealing primarily with the defences at the palace.
"Seconds can be the difference between life, death and winning battles," Adam said seriously and Thalia nodded gently.
"They do," she agreed.
"We'll need some raw materials though, we don't have everything that we need for that kind of spellwork. Nothing too fancy, salt, iron shavings and a bulk lot of chalk that wont crumble at the slightest hint of pressure…clay too with the same specifications. If you have any laborers who can copy a line if we draw it first, that would speed the task up considerably." The Bracken elder added.
"And we need a space where no one will interrupt the rites. And before anyone moans about it, it's not 'privacy for witches,' it's privacy for precision. One stray footstep in the wrong circle and at best you'll get a useless ward." The Tideglass matriarch said,
Ann looked across at Coral as she spoke.
"Can you secure at least two rooms near the west wing and one near the inner yard that can be sealed during their work? Adam, can you post Dark Moon guards on them and rotate in a Lycan officer on the detail."
Coral nodded, already busy making a list. "Done."
Adam hummed his agreement and Ann's attention returned back to Thalia.
"Now we come to the discussion around terms. If your people work under my banner, then I expect them to follow the code of conduct that's posted in every mess tent within the grounds. If a wolf or a Lycan threatens one of yours, then they report it. If one of yours mouths off at a patrol and starts something, they answer for it. You'll get supplies and shelter and you'll have seats in the planning rooms when we discuss the portal and the wards. While you're here, you don't get to run your own courts inside of mine."
The Highwind spokesman inclined his head.
"That's more than fair."
A noble at the far end pushed back his chair with a scrape that made every wolf in the room flinch at the noise.
"Now we're opening doors to the very power that ruined our grandparents?!" he said, not quite managing a calm tone. "How long until you've got altars springing up in our courtyards again and blood sacrifices dripping from your walls?!."
Ann cut him off with nothing but a look.
"Sit or leave, Lord Hargan. Those are your choices."
He sat with a furious sound that echoed loudly.
From the refugee side, an older wolf woman spoke up, her voice rough from travel and smoke.
"My boy died to a coven mark, yet you're telling me to clap for theirs."
Thalia turned to her, respectful but firm.
"I hear you and we all understand your hatred and distrust of us right now because of that twisted bastards behaviour. I won't clap for anyone carving flesh in a basement, I would rather put them down myself first. Ely and his madness does not represent us. If you don't want to look at me, don't. If you want to spit, don't. What you want is your next child to sleep through the night without waking to a wall that whispers dark things and changes their innocence to terror. Our lines and marks will keep that from happening."
Ann stepped in before it escalated further.
"No one is asking you to clap for anything. I'm asking you to follow the standards that have been set. If these families break it, you'll see the consequence. If your pack breaks it, you'll see the same. Tolerance should not be too much to ask in our current situation."
The woman held Ann's eyes, then gave a single hard nod. "All right."
Eva lifted a hand, half apology.
"Sorry, one more question for clarity if I may. You've said Hecate's law binds your magicks use. What stops a young one from pushing past it and trying to call something bigger."
Thalia answered without flinching.
"Us, and discipline. If they breach our standards for magick use, then they're cut off. Not from family before you think that, but from practicing the craft itself. We pull the tools and the teachers and we teach them control if they can learn it. If they won't, then they don't practice. We don't shove talent toward Eromaug on purpose, sometimes what he offers is everything that we cannot give them. Freedom to do as they want, hurt who they want…that is not in our nature. We hold them all accountable with work and rules, that's how you keep bloodlines free from corruption without pretending fear is an acceptable form of leadership."
Adam's heated look toward Ann was quick, there one minute and gone the next. She didn't need to glance back to feel it. Thalia's words hadn't eased his distrust, but it had at least softened the set of his mouth.
Ann tapped the table once to get everyone's attention.
"All right then. Oaths first and then we can discuss logistics."
Thalia stood first. She didn't kneel, but she didn't need to.
"The Ashen Line swears to your banner until the Lycan King falls and the wards hold steady for 4 Lunar cycles after. We don't bind our children with language they don't yet understand but we will bind ourselves to work and to the laws of our world. We will not bargain with daemons and we'll hold to Hecate's law and to yours."
The Bracken elder rose with a stiffness that said he'd worked the fields for years.
"Bracken swears as stated. We raise the earth and give back what we take. We do not raise altars and if one of mine starts talking about secrets, I'll bring you their name myself."
The Tideglass matriarch stood next.
"Tideglass swears to honour and stand by you. We'll keep your water clean and your wells sweet when the Lycan King's and Ely's corruption tries to seep through. We'll keep our rites clean too and if we break your code, we answer to you."
The Highwind spokesman stepped forward, cloth wrapped back around his hand.
"Highwind swears in line with the rest. We'll carry the point wards and we run when you say run. We'll try our best to keep the wind in your favour…but it can be a difficult thing to persuade at times."
Ann accepted each oath with the same small nod, then raised her voice.
"As for the rest of you. You heard them swear their loyalty and if you can't manage basic respect, then at least manage your mouths and your fists. The code applies to all of you, noble born as well as non ranked."
The Stone Lake Alpha, who had come in during the middle of the exchange and taken a quiet seat by the door, lifted a hand. "Stone Lakes will assign two scouts to each ward team. Not to guard you, to learn. No sense burying knowledge again after this war and who knows, maybe some of our own were touched by magick at some point in their line and never had the opportunity to learn."
The Luna of Ethereum called from the back, "Ethereum will lend runners to your point teams. They're quick and stubborn and talk too much honestly, so try not to let them talk your ears off."
More Alpha's spoke up one after another as smiles broke out.
"We'll test the field layer against our worst troublemakers and report whether it holds up to their stupidity."
"We'll get you the iron and the chalk. I don't want to hear any of you complain about supply."
The nobles didn't clap, but they didn't object either.
Lord Hargan stared at his hands like they'd betrayed him and some of the refugee wolves shifted their weight and watched the new arrivals with a wariness that showed promise for a path toward acceptance in the future.
It wasn't perfect, but for now, it would do.