[center][url=https://fontmeme.com/signature-fonts/][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/190120/b458a81531631a6916fa9413063c5f80.png[/img][/url][/center][right][sub]Interacting with: [Achronum] [Trainerblue192][/sub][/right]
[color=f0d705][i]Are you. [b]Actually[/b] stupid.[/i][/color]

That was just about all that was going through Aaron’s head as Salem said his piece, having barely taken a breath before telling the Queen that everything about her political system needed to change. Aaron might have gasped if not for the company, torn between recoiling in horror and outright laughing at the suggestion. Okay, now he [i]knew[/i] that Salem didn’t know what he was talking about. Or who he was talking [i]to,[/i] apparently. Did he not have a [i]shred[/i] of respect? Or even a modicum of an instinct for self-preservation? 

Silence fell on the room again, and when Aaron looked around the table, he saw Dora falter; she played it off well enough, but she had a harder time keeping her composure than the rest of his family, and Aaron could tell that something was troubling her. She was probably just as disturbed by Salem’s affront to the Queen as he was. And apparently Salem realized his mistake, having gone eerily silent, simply staring at the table. Glancing to Varis as the silence stretched on, Aaron noticed he was smiling at Salem. No doubt sneering at his foolishness. Aaron would have felt bad for the mage had he not been so appalled. 

Finally, someone spoke; Varis again, indulging Salem’s idea. Salem was a little more alert now, having jolted for some reason and apparently come to his senses, and Aaron watched him curiously as Varis asked his question before turning his attention to the Count when he was spoken to. 

[color=f0d705]“No, Master, it doesn't,”[/color] Aaron stated flatly, not quite as bothered by the title in his sudden irritation. [color=f0d705]“At the [i]very[/i] least, it presents a logistical nightmare. Remember, we mages are short-lived; we get hurt, we get sick, we die within a century. How can we expect consistency from a council whose members change every few decades? Whose members can easily be incapacitated or killed?”[/color] While it was addressed to the Count, Aaron’s response was mostly for Salem. [color=f0d705]“Forgetting for the moment that such an arrangement would fly in the face of the order prescribed by the Treaty, a council of mages would lack accountability. After all, it’s easy to make controversial decisions when you know you probably won’t have to live with the consequences.”[/color]