"Oh, thank you," Corbin said, blushing more at Mir offering to come than the second part of what he said.
"Yes, I am completely fine with it." Corbin hummed some in turn, smiling as he let his arms fall to their laps and rest.
Mir waited until he heard footsteps coming before he wrapped his arms around Corbin’s neck, blushing before kissing along his neck, making soft noises as he was accidentally turned on by the actions he was doing, letting the council member who came in see him loving on the king shamelessly. He paused to see the council members reaction, trying to gauge whether or not it was necessary to continue. He let his magic unfurl to feel what emotions were coming from him and the few more members who started coming in and taking a seat.
Corbin wrapped his arms loosely around Mir's waist when the halfling started kissing over his neck. He was going all out with this, wasn't the halfling? Corbin made a soft sound, head tilting up some.
The council members all seemed to have quite similar reactions. Shock was a main one, but there was confusion too. Corbin was the Chaste King, what was he doing with a halfling concubine in the council room? There was disgust from a few as well, mostly because of what Dragomir was, but there was amusement from one man. He was the one who had walked in first, almost as tall as Corbin with hair just as long.
"Cousin," the man said, chuckling some as he man his way over to speak in Corbin's ear. Of course, Mir could hear too.
"Now, what would your mother say if he saw you like this?"
Dragomir paused and looked at the man with disinterest and a cool expression before returning to what he was doing for a bit longer until he was satisfied that everyone had no doubt that he was the king’s bitch, and carefully wiped away traces of his saliva and cuddled up to Corbin, playing with a loose strand of hair. He made himself look utterly smitten with the king, and left his position in no doubt.
(I love how possessive Mir sounds right now..)
Corbin looked up at the man, chuckling faintly.
"She would say I'm just like you." The man laughed some, going to his seat. The king ran his fingers through Dragomir's hair as he continued with the act, his fingers going from the man's head to trail down his spine as he waited for everyone to be seated.
"Are all present?" Corbin asked, his voice as bold and confident as how he walked. There was a chorus of agreements from all, the court settling down mostly. There were still those confused by what the king was doing.
"Then let us begin."
Mir shivered at the touch of Corbin’s fingers down his spine, relaxing into the king’s chest, eyes fluttering half closed and looking totally unaware of the actual meeting, but in reality he was on high alert and monitoring for any warning emotions. He played with fabric of Corbin’s shirt, the council members putting him on edge, and wishing he had a knife between his fingers instead right now.
Corbin sat up straight in his chair, posture perfect.
"What is being discussed today?" he asked of the man sitting to his right, his cousin from the discussion before.
"The general state of the kingdom, my lord, then the war efforts, the treasury, and the palace affairs."
"There are also two complaints that we have judged appropriate for the council to discuss from the common people," the man to his left spoke up. It had been truthful up to a point, this statement, but the ending wasn't at all. No common complaints were ever really heard anymore.
Mir gently poked Corbin under the pretense of playing with his shirt to alert him that the last statement wasn’t truthful. At least not entirely, and Mir wanted the king to be alert and wary of it. He himself also watched the table, still seeming lazy and disinterested. He didn’t like this. In the first two minutes, there was already dishonesty.
Corbin had expected something like that, unfortunately. As if the council would ever bother with letting commoners voice their displeasure.
"Then let us begin with the state of the kingdom." One of the men nodded, standing.
"Things are… not good, your highness," he said, the sadness in it even evident to Corbin.
Mir watched the man with the sadness. He truly felt sad, which made Mir wonder if he was one of the better court members? He supposed not all of the court was going to be lying snakes. Perhaps he’d be a trustworthy one. After this, Dragomir would warm Corbin which were to be trusted and which were manipulative rats.
Corbin adjusted his arms around Mir, nodding to let the man continue.
"The economy is suffering the longer the war continues," the man said. "The only people able to hold a living wage at this point are noble people, for various reasons…" It was mostly the looks of other council members, all nobles, that kept the man from going into further detail.
"Buildings continue to be torn down to sell, and the slums are taking up the majority of housing."
Mir bowed his head at this, turning to press his face into Corbin’s chest as he let himself have sorrow for all the people still stuck where he had been, dying in the streets from hunger or exposure to the elements. He clutched at Corbin, knowing that the court was hiding something of why it was like that. Something wasn’t right. Something beyond the war.
Several council members looked at Mir a moment, disgust held back from their calm masks of faces. Corbin held Mir close, gently patting his back. He didn't like the situation, not at all, but there wasn't much he could say at the moment.
"What of the food and recourses coming from the palace? Are they reaching the people as planned in the relief plan?"
"Yes, your highness." This was a lie, but… it wasn't like the one from the other man. This one carried weight, a sadness. He didn't want to lie of this.
Mir stiffened at the feelings of disgust, tasting bile in the back of his throat from the hatred. He dutifully poked Corbin at the lie. He felt the sadness of the lie though, and knew this was a man they could trust. He probably was being blackmailed or something by the rest of the court. Mir would have to inform Corbin of this.
Corbin held back a sigh at the poke. Really, none of this was surprising, but he was disappointed to know this man, in particular, was lying.
"I see. This is good." This time the lie came from Corbin's own lips, but it was needed.
"This also ties into the war. There aren't enough people left in the kingdom to replace the soldiers we are losing anymore," yet another man spoke up- this one easily recognizable as the general.
Mir trained his ear for this one, stiffening with slight anger at the reminder that people of the kingdom were being forcefully drafted as he was until there was a threat to having any future generations IN the kingdom… If they kept bringing in people to be killed off, soon there would be nobody to rule.
"We're losing them to starvation and illness almost as quickly as in the battles. Which is why I have a solution." There was malice in the man's words, directed at Dragomir.
"We need to open the slave trades again." Corbin's hold on Mir stiffened.
Bile rose in Mir’s throat, and he gripped Corbin’s shirt tightly, trying not to cry and appear weak in front of these people even as he was bombarded with hatred at him and approval with the man’s suggestion. And he knew exactly who would be enslaved… His own kind and many other halflings and mutts of both non-human and human origin. He wanted to leave. He didn’t want to hear this. This was revolting…
Corbin raised his hand to rest on Dragomir's head, holding the man close.
"They would be used in the war, and could help reinvigorate the economy," the general continued.
"The mutts in the city take a majority of the relief rations- selling them would save resources, and help with the overcrowding."
"I…" Corbin trailed off, acting as if he was thinking. He was repulsed by the idea and distressed. He couldn't do this, but… it seemed like he would have to.
Dragomir started to hyperventilate at that. His kind had fought so much just so they could be freed from slaves and now they were being put in chains again?!? All because some nobles were proud, gluttonous, and too eager to keep this war going so they could lead cushy lives or something?? He tried to take deep breaths, but he was failing to calm down, and the emotions bombarding him were making it worse. He quickly drew his magic back to himself as he curled up in Corbin’s lap, black beginning to invade his vision.
Corbin listened to the murmurs of the council members, only seeing one or two who might be on his side. Usually he wouldn't take the chance, but… He couldn't not, not with Dragomir in his lap.
"No," he said. There was… visible shock in the room, silencing the men who had been talking eagerly.
"You all know my stance on how halflings should be treated. Their struggle has been long and hard since the age of my grandfather, and I will not put them back so far because our war is dragging on too long."
Dragomir took drags of air at that, his body going limp with relief as murmured near-silent thanks to Corbin that only the king could hear, or see since his face was still turned into the king’s chest. He slowly calmed, but his heart was still pounding and he felt sick to his stomach, cursing himself for eating so much at breakfast. A couple tears slid down his face from his magenta eyes, wondering if there was only so long that the king could hold off something so much of the court agreed with.
Corbin ran his fingers through Dragomir's hair, one hand secretly wiping the tears away as best he could without anyone seeing. There were grumbles of disappointment, but no one spoke up. The general had the most anger showing, but even he knew how to bite his tongue around others.
"Now, on to the next," Corbin said, his tone final.
Mir stayed cowering for the rest of the meeting, slowly and cautiously unfurling his magic again and dutifully informing Corbin of lies and things to be cautious over. He had a thought that they should make a code so he could be a bit more useful, as he waited for this horrible discussion to be over, feeling all the anger at him increase tenfold after that incident and just tried to choke down tears and sickness.