Lucendez walked down that dreary hallway leading to the Council chambers. He had to stay on Crete for a while now, so didn't have to have his flight suit on 24/7. He didn't necessarily like the robes of the Elders either, so he wore civilian cloths, plain, simple and comfortable. Unlike the last time he was walking down these halls, he didn't have the hot attitude of his heritage, nor the black case. Instead he carried a rectangular piece draped in a white cloth slung under his left arm. The guards didn't stop him, only pushed open the (now reinforced) ornate door revealing the comfortable-looking chamber.
Lucendez looked around, incredibly nervous at being in the famed meeting room of the Corsairs. The door closed behind him and he jump a little, realizing it was only the door he leaned the white piece against the table and set about making a fire in the nearby hearth.
All the portraits of the former Elders looked down on him, and Juan felt like the accused in a court of law. He had taken the Eldership up after not only the dead Maniaco but the now retired Farquar had suggested him, Lucendez wouldn't resist the Elder's wisdom, but he did hope he was capable enough now to serve his people and bring the Corsairs to their destiny in this world.
The fire was started and provided warmth to the chambers. Lucendez took the covered frame and revealed the portrait of Elder Alexander. He thought twice and leaned the portrait against the table again, turned and sat in one of the plush chairs next to the fireplace, and stared into Alexander's eyes. Alexander had been before Juan's time, but only by a couple of months. He knew that Alexander was one of the most revered Elders in recent memory and had been personal friends of both Montoya and Maniaco. Juan, however, did not know him. And felt a bit estranged because of it. Far too many Elders had died in the last month, and even though other brothers rose to take their places, Juan felt they were fighting unfinished battles. That "one slip-up and these Elders would die for nothing" cycled through Juan's brain over and over as he stared at Alexander's face, the visage completely alien to the (relatively) young Corsair sitting in the chair.
"The thirteen saloons that had lined the one street of Seney had not left a trace. The foundations of the Mansion House hotel stuck up above the ground. The stone was chipped and split by the fire. It was all that was left of the town of Seney. Even the surface had been burned off the ground.
Nick looked at the burned-over stretch of hillside, where he had expected to find the scattered houses of the town and then walked down the railroad track to the bridge over the river. The river was there."
