On the east side of the continent, in Bastion City, Phoenix was finally caught up to all her duties as queen regent. Since Astaroth was not present, all the burden fell on her, which annoyed her a bit, but she also knew it was for the best.
Astaroth was not as much a rational thinker as he liked to believe, and most of his decisions were based on instinct and emotion. Even though he kept saying he had learned to keep his emotions in check, that was a load of BS and everyone around him knew it.
He had learned not to let his emotions spill into his soul melding, at best. So it was better for a more down-to-earth person like her to take long-lasting decisions for a kingdom.
Of course, she was also able to unload a part of the job to Leon, who had already been doing a great job, with the help of a council. She had taken time over the last week to meet every single one of its members, taking the pulse on them and weeding out the ones she couldn't find in herself to trust.
