Ramala looked around the room at all of the Butchers. Her eyes then looked right past the Butchers at the wall behind them, then she said, There are consequences for not following protocol. Isnt that right, Yin and Backir. They both said Yes Mistress Queen Ramala! Ramala continued with, Its very important to remember whos in control here. Its me!! I make the plans. And yes, I do need all of you to help me with my plans. But make no mistake, my plans are good enough that they will work, with, or without any of you. This is an opportunity for all of you. I am in position to give each of you whatever it is you want. Help me, and you will be able to have, and do whatever it is you want, after my orders. Impress me with what you will do for me, and I will impress you with what I can do for you.

Tara, who was sitting next to Ramala, could see that the Butcher girls felt that they were being bullied by Ramala. Tara stood up and said, What my cousin means is she has a special place in her heart for all of you, that you are even here to be a part of this meeting. Her plan is bold, and is going to take all of our best effort to make it work. The Butcher girls looked at Ramala. They knew Ramala meant exactly what she said. Ramala smiled at the Butcher girls, then said, Now that I am Queen. I think it is important for the people in my territory to know where I stand on things. So Im going to travel throughout the whole of my territory and meet all of the families in it. She looked around the room and said, Oh, I know what you all are thinking. Dont do it, Queen Ramala, its too dangerous. Well, who told you to think! Thats what Im here for! I heard tales of my own cousin being attacked in my own territory. These heathens are rebelling against me. I cant have that! This is going to be taken care of right away! Let there be one attack on my caravan, and I will lay down a massacre that will never be forgotten! Make no mistake about that. If I have to kill everyone in my territory to make sure there are no rebels, I will. Thats the plan. Wana will work out a security plan, and you Butchers will be expected to execute it. We leave in ninety days.

Ramala paused for a second, looked at the Japha twins and said, We have to figure out how to get you two safely into control of the House of Japha. Do you have a plan yet? Jan said, As you already know, when we get back, the House of Japha will only be willing to give me and San control in name. They are going to run the House of Japha as they see fit. Of all of the bodyguards we had, there are only two left. Thats not a show of force. Maybe not even enough to keep us alive, if someone brought foul play. Ramala said, We can supply you with all of the guards you need. Jan quickly said, Not one of your guards can step foot in the House of Japha, without starting a war. They wont care if theyre there to protect me. The guards would never make it past the first checkpoint. We have to think of another way to take real control. Ramala smiled at Jan and said, Whatever plan you come up with, we will back you. If it leads to war, then so be it. One things for sure. One way or another, you two will rule the north.

Jan smiled. Now everything was on the table.