Jigano was petty enough to take a little pleasure in hearing that Wessex had plied someone else with her 'charms' and come up empty. He nodded in agreement with the Halovian General, but at her next question his jaw tightened at the memory. "After the Voice's Blight ravaged the Greatwood, Wessex and some of the other Ascended intruded on Fae land for the purpose of desecrating one of their ancient holy places," he explained, voice level but disapproval simmering in his eyes. "In the Greatwood is a tree called the Mathair, which once held a minor goddess or powerful spirit, one important to the Fae. Wessex and her kin attacked the tree, killing its Fae guards and assisting the Voice in killing the tree's spirit, replacing it with one of their portals. Given that Wessex was Queen at the time, the Fae held all of the Hollowed Grounds responsible and closed the borders to all Grounders for as long as Wessex ruled."
He tilted his head in acknowledgment of Morgan's point on the voting. "We were not gagged, no, but we were also given a time limit in which to cast our ballots. If those of us who sought an alternative had held back our votes then only those cast in her favor would have been in the bowl, and she would have remained Queen. And there was no single, obvious alternative." He sighed. "The Council, at least, has been the most stable government the Grounds has had in the past year and a half."
He tilted his head in acknowledgment of Morgan's point on the voting. "We were not gagged, no, but we were also given a time limit in which to cast our ballots. If those of us who sought an alternative had held back our votes then only those cast in her favor would have been in the bowl, and she would have remained Queen. And there was no single, obvious alternative." He sighed. "The Council, at least, has been the most stable government the Grounds has had in the past year and a half."
