psychic thread

[agentlenpc]

[The gentle brush against the Strangers' minds comes in early evening. It is, as all mental touches are from Fayura, soft and unassuming, much like a polite knock at a door. Once as many minds are connected as she thinks will open the door to her, she speaks.]

I am curious, Strangers, what you would do with the young man who shot and killed Councilwoman Vera.

Many of you come from worlds where there are laws against murder. While we have no such laws here, when a Blood male in a Queen's Territory kills another without cause, she may demand a price from him. Sometimes, that is his own life if he was negligent enough with his temper and sometimes, it's something less.

My trouble is this: if I execute him according to the laws of the Blood, of which he is not one, the Guilds will rouse their people into a furor and attack not only me, but the people of Draega. If I turn him over to the Ebon Council, the Guilds will do much the same, and that will incite the Council to strike back. And if I return him to the Guilds for accolades instead of punishment for taking a life, the Ebon Council will have cause to rip apart the Guilds and anyone in their way to extract from him the price for murdering one of their own.

Were you me, what course would you take? And please try not to shout over each other; this is as many of you as I could reach.

Comments

[agentlenpc]

Yes, that's precisely it. Between the loss of so much knowledge and the city's refusal to climb out of the rut it's put itself in, I knew we needed something else. Something more. New ideas, vibrant and different. Ones that are shocking enough to compel action.

But it's a delicate act. If I force them to change too much too quickly, they'll resist me. If I change too little too slowly, nothing will stick and we'll crumble into dust. [Her laugh tumbles between them like dry weeds across a baking hot desert.] Loren is fond of telling me I don't like fixing small problems.

[thedarkbond]

[It certainly sounds like a balancing act. Ren doesn't usually pay much mind to leadership, but the fact that Fayura certainly sounds like she truly does want to do right by the city and the people in it is something he considers worth respecting independently of that.]

Well, it'd be pretty boring just fixing small problems, wouldn't it? The harder ones are usually more worthwhile anyway, and to get there takes fixing at least some of the smaller problems. Still, it's good to know how hard it will be going in. I know that even leading people who want to be led and will do just about anything you say can still be hard in its own ways, so a situation as divisive as this...I can only imagine the complexity of it, really.

[agentlenpc]

[Dryly:] Staggering. The complexity is staggering.

[She sighs heavily.]

My hope is that as people who are neither Blood nor landen, you'll have better luck bridging that distance than I've had. If trust can be fostered in a smaller way... well, perhaps it won't be as far a stretch for people to trust each other in larger ways.

[thedarkbond]

Mmm, that's about what I expected... [Something of an equally dry amusement comes in return to that.]

Hopefully it goes as planned. It's always hard to tell with people...but I'm happy to do a little extra where it's needed to get things moving the right way.

[He came to help, so despite his being lazy, it doesn't really benefit him or her to not work firmly towards that outcome.]

[agentlenpc]

Well! [Her tone turns cheerful.] Perhaps in a few weeks, you'll have that opportunity. Strong arms make strong bellies.

[Her laughter is like an ocean wave in the darkness, soft but powerful, soothing but edged with power.]

If you've no other questions, Ren, I think I should go and allow my Prince to fuss over me.

[thedarkbond]

[That's a familiar sort of feeling, and Ren takes note of it. It's about the feeling he would've expected, based on how Fayura has seemed so far.]

I think I'm out of them for now. Good luck with handling all of this, Lady.

[He's not entirely sure whether the proper address is just that or if he's supposed to use her name too, but since improper name use is rude where he comes from, he's taking the safe route.]

[agentlenpc]

[He has the right of it, and she's pleasantly surprised that he got it right on the first try. A faint touch of thanks brushes against his mind, and then she's gone.]