@Whisper, This is It

The treasury was running low on things that could be used, as expected. Still, when they mentioned how it was spent, it was a lie- the money wasn't going into the kingdom. More likely, it was to the council's salaries. The general tried to bring up his suggestion of the slave trade as a solution again, but Corbin quickly shut that down, pointing out that once something was rejected it could not be brought up again until the next meeting. The largest amount of anger for Corbin, and Mir, was coming from him. Perhaps, in this room with six advisors, Corbin only had two who seemed to be on his side- his cousin, and the sad man from before. Either of them liked what had been suggested either, Corbin's cousin even feeling sick the proposal had been given when Mir was in the room. Did they have no remorse at all?
The palace was low staffed as well, but no one offered a solution. Corbin knew he had forbade them from it before, with the two other times it was brought up.
Finally, there where the two complaints. Both of them were obviously lies, the first says that the complaint was of all the halfling mutts moving further into the sitting, and the second being about how the city stenched of them. It was clear they had set this up to convince Corbin of opening the trade again, but he had finally taken a hard stance.
The king was holding Mir close, running his fingers through the man's hair and rubbing his back some to help him stay calm enough. Corbin hated how upset the council had made Mir with the suggestion, and would have done the same thing he will with the tailor if he could. These men didn't care about the kingdom, they cared about their pockets.

Soon enough, the meeting was over. There wasn't much to discuss, seeing as the major suggestion that could 'fix' everything had been shot down. With the formalities over, Corbin stood, holding Mir close to his chest. He wasn't going to set the man down, not around these people. Mir had been great help in seeing the lies, but Corbin wasn't going to ask him to come again. Not with seeing the state the half fae was in. Corbin left first, able to hear the mumbles of his Mir was just a glorified sex slave anyway, why would Corbin care?

(Exactlyyyyyy… of course, I do have a way for the war to end without their approval, but it'll definitely ask a lot of Corbin and Mir >:3)

Corbin quickly left, walking with hurried steps back to the bedroom. He closed the door behind them, holding Dragomir tight to his chest.
"I'm so sorry," the king murmured, voice cracking some. "I… I don't think you should come to any more of the general meetings…"

Corbin ran his fingers through Mir's hair, taking slow steps until they were seated on the bed. He had no idea what he could do to help the halfling anymore, just keeping him close and closing his own eyes. This was all terrible…

"It's… it's the least I can offer," Corbin said, eyes still closed. He tucked Mir away in his arms, resting his head on the halfling's. The people of the kingdom were already suffering so much, Corbin couldn't add that much more to them.

"Mir, your people were facing enslavement, you were facing it. you have every right to have been so upset by it, to be upset." Corbin wrapped his arms around Mir, one hand resting on his head and the other pulling the man closer.

Corbin let out a soft sigh.
"At least… these things are good, then…"Corbin looked down at Mir, running his fingers through the half fae's hair as he did his best not to break down.
"At least we aren't completely alone in the fight in the council, then…"

"I-I…" this was news to Corbin. "Several months ago, at the new year. They… they were supposed to announce it during the celebrations…" Corbin closed his eyes again, opening them once more.

"It's a rule they're born into, like me… There, there is a way to replace them, but it's looking, brutal, and requires a major agreement from the rest of the court…" Corbin held back his own tears when he saw Mir's, knowing just got much could be different now. He wiped the tears from mid Mir's cheeks, wanting to comfort him.

Corbin nodded silently, leaving his hand on Mir's cheek.
"What do you think of the palace?" Corbin asked, leaning back some into the bed pillows behind him with Mir at just the slightest angle as he rested on Corbin's chest.

"Aah. Yes, I must agree. Still, the narrow windows were more for archers than anything. Perhaps we could get someone to enchant your room like mine is?" Corbin was comfortable too, his fingers finding their way to Mir's hair to gently play with it.

Corbin nodded.
"Yes, for sure. I'm sure it'll be much nicer than the light you have now." The king smiled when he saw how Mir was doing, his other hand resting on the small of the halfling's back. His thumb started rubbing small circles there, and Corbin closed his eyes for a moment as the two relaxed together.

"You're welcome…" Corbin hummed softly when he saw how content Dragomir was, smiling. He blushed at the question, thinking.
"Well, you have been here for a day without anything… I-It might be suspicious if we don't do anything tonight. If we do, we could easily write off last night a as you getting adjusted."

"A-Ah… well, t-there's one, but i-it's more of a last- last resort," Corbin admitted. He felt his face growing warmer, ears on fire as he did his best not to squeak.
"D-do you..?"