& they said you were the crooked kind
that you'd never have no worth
She can hear Wessex as she begins the speech, and she tries to give off as much support as she can, head angled toward the queen with attention and focus despite still having no eyes. And she listens while Wessex lists out what she’s done, what she hopes the grounds can accomplish, what kind of rule she had hoped to carry. And she understands it deeply in her bones, the idea of doing anything and everything to protect and benefit their people.She had done it once, ending in flames and fires for reasons beyond her control. But that doesn’t mean she can’t give her own two cents.
She can hear Loren as he speaks, as he offers himself for the reasoning, for the choices, and she can hear the blowback come from Phoebe and a few of the others over the ideas of that alone. But she does agree with one thing, she agrees with Phoebe’s mention of a council. Because councils got an understanding of outside the home, out in the country, the hardships without going and physically being there. You needed them for the farmers, for the artists, for the races and people to be represented.
After a moment, before she votes, she stands, hand squeezing Clem as she turns her attention to those gathered — still eyeless, still uncertain of where to aim her face, but she hopes it’s to those gathered. “The issue is that we need to be represented, while also having a strong front.” She begins, hands clasping behind her back as she ducks her head slightly. “There’s many of us here that came from other lands who arrived and pushed our ideas and thoughts of how things should be done onto those that have lived here the entire time. But the truth of the matter is that there’s no perfect way. Everything has a flaw, whether it’s seen immediately, whether it’s seen years from now.”
A brief pause and she continues. “The fact is that we need a head, not necessarily a monarch, not necessarily a king or queen. Someone to be the face of it for appearances of being strong when there’s already rulers in other lands that will see that weakness and take it. The Hollowed Grounds have suffered enough, and with new places appearing, we need to ensure our strength on our end too.” it helps bring Ascended and not needing to breathe, she thinks.
“A council should be the deciding factor. Pick a face for it to prove the strength to those that might look to tear us down. But give us representation. For the races, for the naturals, for the outlanders alike. Give us room to debate and compromise and represent the people that we have here. Because we’ve seen it doesn’t work, look at Zariah’s rule with her hold on the Abandoned. Look at Wessex’s rule of a Natural Ascended. It shifts the balance.” Her head tilts toward Clem to let him guide her to the voting place when she’s through, squeezing his hand gently.
“So I say we should vote for a council. Choose your leaders as you will, but by having our voices heard, ensure that they will remain so. We all want to have a part, have our voices heard and concerns addressed. Now is our chance.” She let’s Clem begin to guide her. “So take it.” As soon as they reach the space for the voting, she writes hers down in legible handwriting and slips it into the box.
but you were always gold to me
the
PeNuMBRA
