JUNIPER
you think i'm happy because i'm smiling,
but it's the easiest thing to do
Well, Juniper had never expected this conversation to be easy. At least Wessex wasn't shouting, throwing things, kicking Juniper out of her home. Though that might be easier to deal with, actually.but it's the easiest thing to do
"You're right. Invoking Delah's intentions is nothing but speculation -- and irrelevant. Delah no longer leads us." Juniper didn't know if Wessex knew that Delah was dead, if that was common knowledge beyond the Greatwood. The circumstances of Delah's death remained rather murky even within the Greatwood -- Juniper herself had no idea how she had died.
As for the other matter: Wessex was correct in inferring a gap between Juniper's opinion and that of her people as a whole. "My people believe that our dead should be avenged, that your attack was a wrong that still waits to be righted." Juniper tried to speak without accusation -- just stating facts. "I, personally and as our liaison with the outside world, hope to right that wrong through legal, negotiated means, rather than resorting to violet retribution."
Juniper had hoped that such an idea -- a legal trial and negotiated punishment, rather than a cycle of bloody vengeance -- would appeal to Wessex as well, but she didn't say so. She had already gotten in trouble once making assumptions about how Wessex might feel and act; she didn't intend to do it again.
if you looked a little closer,
you'd find my eyes aren't smiling too.
you'd find my eyes aren't smiling too.
