Eyes lingered in the direction of Imperius. They felt uneasy as he just kept smiling. It didn’t seem like he was mad about Xerxus’ proposal.
"Do not let him intimidate you. With me, and Pankratios here, he cannot hurt any of you, and if we decide to kick him out, his memories will be erased."
Pankratios brought out an hourglass from the back room, flipped it over, and placed it on the table in front of him.
The sand started trickling down from the top bulb into the bottom bulb.
"You all have ten minutes to decide on your answer. Nay means that you don’t want Imperius to remain in the Martial Order, and yay means that you do."
Pankratios said, and then he turned to Imperius.
"Imperius, do you like to speak with others before they head out to make their decision?"
Imperius said with a smile.
With that said, the people moved to different corners of the room to discuss the decision with other people.
However, while they were doing that, Imperius just kept sitting on his chair, just smiling, and watching the sand trickle down.
Sabbath asked from his student while they were checking out Pankratios’ collections of different herbs in the back of the room.
Kiernan smelled one of the herb pots, felt a sharp smell attack his nose, and immediately backed off.
"I have already made my decision. I’d like Imperius to stay in the Martial Order."
"Really? And what is your reasoning exactly?"
Sabbath asked curiously.
"Because he is dangerous. When let loose, he is a force to be reckoned with, and I’d rather not fight him.
"Whether he is someone you can trust? Well, that’s a different matter altogether, and I don’t know him like Xerxus does.
"I just trust Old King’s judgment when it comes to him."
Kiernan said and looked back at Pankratios, who was looking at everyone chatting about it, and he’d kept his mouth shut about his decision.
However, he was the one that chose the original members of the Martial Order, and Imperius happened to be one of them.
He chose him for a reason.
With the sand trickling down, the top of the hourglass emptied rapidly, and the ten-minute timer was up.
Everyone sat back down.
"Who wants to start?"
From the back of the table, a voice came that surprised everyone, and they turned to look at Kiernan, who just spoke.
Imperius smirked, hung his head low, and just crossed his arms in front of his chest, still leaning back in his chair, before looking down.
"May I ask what your reason is to vote yay?"
Xerxus asked with a frown.
"Well, I owe him a favor; I’m just repaying it."
With a frown, Xerxus leaned back on his stone throne and said.
"The vote is currently 1-1."
"I vote yay! I am allowed to also vote, yeah?"
Imperius said with a smirk.
Xerxus just looked at him coldly, but kept his mouth shut, and just nodded as confirmation that he was also allowed to vote.
Without Imperius, there would be twelve people voting, and that could end in an even vote, which no one wanted.
"The vote is currently 2-1 in favor of yay."
Antigone raised her slender arm and cast her vote.
’With two students, Xerxus had automatically three votes confirmed as nay. It’s unfair, yes, but nothing can be done about that. Imperius doesn’t have any students, so there is no one automatically on his side.’
Kiernan thought to himself.
"The vote is 3-2 in favor of nay."
Valerian said coldly.
With the pen and notepad, Sven wrote ’nay’ on the empty page of the notepad and showed it to Pankratios.
"The vote is 5-2 in favor of nay."
Pankratios said calmly.
"The vote is 5-4 in favor of nay."
’It’s not looking good. Only Sabbath, Genevieve, Yara, and Pankratios have votes left. The decision is very much up to Genevieve and Yara.
’They’re master and student, so if Genevieve chooses nay, so will her student most likely. I don’t know what Sabbath is, and Pankratios has decided.’
Yara raised her arm and shouted.
With a smile on his face, Xerxus crossed his legs and looked at Imperius with a smug-looking face.
Sabbath said with a serious look.
"The vote is 6-5 in favor of nay."
Pankratios said and looked at the elegant-looking Genevieve, who had the decision in her hands.
Genevieve tapped her long finger against the armrest of the throne, then caressed its edge, and said.
With shocked expressions, the members of the Martial Order looked over and looked at her in surprise.
She was told by her master to vote nay, so that’s what she did, but then she surprisingly chose another vote than her?
"I just think it is fitting for the Old King to have the final decision in his hands."
Everyone turned to look at Pankratios.
"Before the decision, there is something I have to talk to you about. I know he isn’t willing to talk about it, but maybe he will give me permission.
"You all know Imperius as the Pirate Lord of the seas, who has wreaked havoc across the World Seas, but do any of you really know him?
"I chose him to be part of the Martial Order for a reason. If you don’t mind, Imperius, may I tell the story of yours to others?"
"Do whatever you want."
With puzzled looks, everyone looked at him.
From his pocket, Imperius took out some salty candy and put it inside his mouth. When he bit on them, the candy cracked with a satisfying crunch.
"It all started thousands of years ago..."
Pankratios started with.