It is funny to think it has only been a day since my altercation with Simon and the Shaman. Everything is going quickly with the steps taken to end slavery. Dark circles form around his eyes; he poured a lot of time and effort into making this bill, and he will do everything to sell it.

  No, it feels like it has been a lifetime instead of 24 hours. I suppose the world goes slower than usual when everything is crashing down around you. Change isn’t easy to process when it is rapid.

  I know I have to appear stronger than ever, but it is so tiring. This job, this line of work and the responsibilities, I hate every second of it. But I know I have to continue to be in charge because if I pass my responsibilities to someone else, like Max or Thorgan, then my dream of a better future will not come to light.

  Simon keeps talking on and on about his bill in front of me and Thorgan for almost an hour. All he lays out is how the Cinari should be treated with dignity and it has a section where I will promise to give them freedom once things have settled. There are other Dogs here as well, handpicked by me and who I know are loyal to my ideals. They are all important in their own right since the bill will directly affect them. Though besides anger or frustration that they won’t exert their will over the Cinari, they too look bored and want the Cinari to stop talking.

  The only person I refuse to invite is Max. She doesn’t even know the meeting is taking place about implementing the bill, because I know she will do everything in her power to convince the other Dogs to shut it down and ignore it. Out of everyone here, she is a major threat to my plans and to the success of this bill being passed. It isn’t ideal, having meetings without the leader of the Army of the South present because it makes our rule and occupation of the South look fractured and weak. But if there is anything I have learned, it is that sometimes you have to work behind people’s backs to get things done, even if it means I have insulted their egos.

  Other than that, I didn’t pay attention. My mind constantly drifts to Sydny, how I yearn for her presence and touch. I just want to be with her, yet I have to remain here listening to Simon talk for an ungodly amount of time. I can silence him, make him shut up and get to the point. However, he needs to have an audience, and I need to show him the same amount of respect I will give to any other Dog. Politically, I have to let him dribble about the bill and how good it is so the others can understand that the Cinari has the right to be listened to.

  ‘… so as I have laid out and demonstrated to everyone here. That this bill is important because…’

  Before Simon can finish, Max barges into the throne room clad in black armour after four of her soldiers swing the doors wide open. She shakes her head with a disappointing grin. ‘This, this is a bit frustrating.’ She comments before looking down at Simon while she touches the hilt of her sword. ‘I heard there was a meeting, and that I wasn’t invited. Tell me, what is it about?’

  ‘This doesn’t concern you, Max.’ I say out loud.

  Furious, she marches into my throne room wearing armour and having a weapon at the ready. I don’t know what she is doing, but I need to make sure she does nothing drastic and escalates things.

  Max chuckles, ‘ah, but it does concern me. In fact, I believe it concerns everyone you didn’t bring along.’ She clicks her fingers, ‘come on in, boys! We have some work to do.’

  Dogs wearing armour march into the room; some I recognise are Max’s trusted lieutenants and military advisers. Though others I know are loyal to Max and her ideals about what we should do to the Cinari. They stand alongside my supporters and loyalists, boasting their weapons and armour, an intimidation tactic to scare them into submission. If I don’t know any better, this seems like a coup attempt or a way for Max to show her power over me.

  Thorgan bangs his staff on the ground as he shouts to Max. ‘What is the meaning of this!? How dare you disrespect the Regent! You should know better than to disrespect Marak’s and Alex’s authority.’

  Max raises a brow. ‘Disrespect? I am a trusted adviser and someone to keep an eye on, Alex. He didn’t invite me here for some reason, and I came here to find out why.’ She faces Simon, and I can tell he is terrified of her, knowing that she can just snap and kill him in an instant. ‘Tell me, Cinari, what is the meeting about? And give me the abridged version. I don’t want to listen to the finer details.’

  Simon gulps, ‘I am proposing a bill for improving the treatment of my people.’

  ‘And?’

  Simon sighs, ‘to prevent discrimination in the future and the promise that my people will be free from slavery.’

  Max nods like she is expecting that answer. She turns to the crowd and gestures with one hand to Simon to display the only Cinari in the room. ‘There is only one of them in the room, and yet he is making bills on how we should treat his demonic kind when we were never given the opportunity.’

  She chuckles some more, noticing how I am becoming more tense as she addresses the crowd. ‘I know what the Regent is doing. He is making concessions with the enemy! For a people who cares little about us and will do everything to put us back in our cages. This man, the supposed son of Marak, a runt of the litter, is so eager to bow down to our former masters! He is more willing to compromise with the Cinari than he is to benefit our interest.’

  ‘I am building a future, Max.’ I growl at her. ‘We can do better than them, prove to them that we don’t have to continue this conflict.’

  Max scoffs as she waves her hand dismissively at me. ‘A painfully naive gesture and proof that you are pathetic. How can we have a leader who is willing to not make the hardest decisions when he is doing everything in his power to help an undeserving species? We are low on food, and yet he is willing to share with them. How come we have to starve alongside them?’

  ‘You dare question Marak’s choice of making me become the Regent of the South?’

  ‘No, I dare challenge the authority of a man who only fights for the interest of the enemy.’

  I rise from my throne, Thorgan reaches for my arm to stop me, but I ignore his pleas. I need to confront Max; I can’t sit down and let her continue her verbal tirade without a proper challenge. If she continues on like this, I fear I will lose my supporters. I need to control the situation.

  ‘I didn’t come into the throne room wearing armour or having a weapon on hand. From where I stand, you are trying to intimidate me.’ I say to her.

  ‘I am only wearing…’

  ‘You are wearing armour made for war!’ I cut her off, my voice booming in the throne room. ‘You came here insulting me and making vague claims about my loyalty to our people!’ I loom over her, doing my best to make her feel small. Yet she smirks back at me, unfazed by my attempts to intimidate her. ‘We are talking about the future of the Cinari people. If you have something about the bill, say it!’

  ‘Reject it.’ Max folds her arms.

  ‘Reject the bill?’

  Max gives me a nod of acknowledgement. This is good. I can use this to my advantage.

  I face the crowd with my hand on my chest. ‘This is the best she has to offer? No plan, no idea of what we should do in the future. Instead, she thinks we should reject a bill that guarantees a better tomorrow for everyone. Is this what you want? A world where we continue the mistakes and failings of the Cinari?’

  ‘Continue!?’ Max sarcastically rolls her eyes. ‘You are offering a world for a people who made us their slaves, their property! But it is clear to me that this bill is there to promise a future for them, not us.’

  ‘The bill that is offered helps everyone. It will prevent future uprisings from the Cinari and ensure we have a world where the sin of slavery doesn’t continue.’ I point to the banners of our people, the black flags that represent our rebellion and the leaders who make up our ranks. ‘I fought to end it all. Because I refuse to stoop low and become the very monsters that chained us in the dark!’

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  ‘You assume they deserve mercy? You assume they are our equals!’ Max argues back with venom in her voice. ‘They are just creatures, beasts that deserve nothing but to perish after what they have done to us.’

  ‘That is what they said about us!’ I shout her down. I want her to know. I want everyone in this bloody room to know my passion and how we should be better. To build something better than what we’ve grown up with. We don’t have to be the Cinari; we should never be like them.

  ‘They also said we are just cattle,’ I address the crowd. My voice is booming with hope. ‘They saw us as unthinking animals who couldn’t handle the burden of freedom. And when we fought, we proved them all wrong! But we must also remember that they have dreams like us. They will cry when they lose the people they loved. They are like us…’

  ‘They are nothing like us.’ Max barks, ‘they are vermin, creatures who have done an unspeakable evil and deserve to die.’

  ‘The people who put us in chains deserve to die! The people who made us slaves deserve to face justice! But the people who have nothing to do with our enslavement shouldn’t be punished for it. What does it make us if we make the innocent suffer?’

  ‘It makes us victorious.’ Max coldly replies to me before she turns back to the crowd. ‘As you can see here, he likes to moralise our pain. Make our enslavement some sort of twisted political move to give the Cinari some comfort when they are not deserving of it. How can you trust a leader who will only stand for them when we are still struggling to have food on our plates and fighting for our freedom?’

  ‘They vote.’ I announce. The crowd looks back at me in confusion. ‘I brought people here today because the bill proposed by Simon only affects their industries. It is they who can vote on it if it should pass or not.’

  It is a lie. In truth, I only brought them here to show them that even the Cinari are deserving of equal respect when they are in my throne room. A demonstration of equality. Yet, I can use this to my advantage, to show her that I do represent my people and care for their interests.

  ‘Some of you are just soldiers,’ I continue. ‘None of you are needed here because it is inappropriate to call for you to vote for a legal concern that doesn’t affect you. But since you are all here, I suppose that will change. You will all vote on whether the bill should pass. I will respect any outcome of the vote, and I should expect everyone to respect the outcome as well. We are not tyrants. Nor shall we follow the old chieftain ways imposed on us by the Cinari. Everyone will have equal power. Which means everyone here will be represented and have a say on what will happen from now on.’

  Some Dogs mumble to themselves, some seem intrigued about this sudden revelation that they have a say on whether the bill will pass or not. From some of their expressions, the ones that listened to Simon’s speech about the bill understand why he was given a chance to talk at length without interruption; it is because, to them, they have the chance to see if the bill should be passed or not.

  Some of Max’s loyalists are taken aback by this declaration, even embarrassed for being here. However, I am more concerned for Simon. He seems disappointed that I made his bill, something I promised to pass no matter what, be put down to a vote with a chance of failure.

  Throgan walks up to me with a blank scroll in hand. He gives me a subtle nod as to his show of approval of my decision. Though I struggle to determine if he means that I am allowing everyone to vote or that I am standing for my own beliefs.

  ‘I have counted about a hundred and fifty people in this room.’ He goes around the room, tearing up bits of the scroll to give to each Dog before taking a helmet from one of them. ‘I will call for Alex and Max to leave the room. If you want the bill to pass, put your paper in the helmet. If you don’t want it to pass, keep your piece to yourself. Once I am done, Alex and Max will return to the throne room. Your votes will remain anonymous, and I demand that everyone not reveal what they voted for.’

  Thorgan gestures for Max and me to leave the room. To my surprise, she agrees to follow along. I suppose she knows she couldn’t challenge me on that decision without making herself look like a tyrannical bitch. But I have to wish that my argument is strong enough for the bill to successfully pass.

  As the door to the throne room closes behind us. Max glares at me, tapping the hilt of her sword to remind me of her disapproval. I don’t care about what she thinks of me, but I know she is starting to get far more daring than ever before. I need to find a way to put an end to her, to make her stop her ambition for more power or cause unnecessary suffering. Killing her isn’t an option, even if it will be easy. She has too many supporters, and I don’t have the means or desire to fight my own people. Not when we are already at war against the Cinaris Empire.

  After some time, Thorgan has two Dogs open the door, ‘you can come in.’

  Max and I walk into the room, and it is silent; it seems everyone here is eager to hear the results more than I. I take in a deep breath, preparing myself for the worst outcome of the vote.

  ‘Out of a hundred and fifty people here, exactly half of them voted for the bill to be passed.’ Throgan announces, causing an uproar in arguments from everyone in the room.

  Some demand the bill be passed while others call the other side traitors and Cinari sympathisers. Max smiles in delight, knowing I am forced to make a no-win decision where I have to ignore the consideration of half of the people in the room.

  ‘Enough!’ My voice silences the room, everyone looks at me, some furious as they know where I stand and will just have the bill passed regardless of some of their concerns.

  No. I won’t play that game. I know better than to just wave my hand to fix a solution. This isn’t an easy fix. This requires the cooperation of everyone, even if it means it will take longer than expected.

  I clear my throat before making an announcement. ‘Since we haven’t come to an agreement, neither side is declaring victory over the other. I say we will have a re-vote in two days. In the meantime, I want everyone to consider what the bill offers and if it is the right fit for us as a people.’

  Everyone talks among themselves, not out of anger but in appreciation that they will be given a chance to vote on the issue in the future. With a smirk, I walk over to Max, knowing well that I have won everyone in the room. It doesn’t matter if I have the bill passed, only that my authority is respected.

  ‘Unless. You object to it.’ I say, putting everyone’s attention on Max to see if she will respect the vote or if she will continue to demand that the bill be rejected.

  ‘No, I don’t,’ Max declares, trying her best to hide the hate deep in her voice.

  ‘Then it has concluded, I demand this meeting to be over.’ Every Dog walks out of the throne room the second I sit down, rubbing my eyes with a heavy sigh.

  Simon walks over to me. He seems upset, but I can tell he isn’t furious at me. ‘Thanks, even if it didn’t go anywhere.’

  ‘I…’

  ‘You did your best.’ Simon interrupts me. ‘In truth, you did better than most people I know. You gave the bill a chance, even if it might take time before it can come into existence.’

  I form a tired smile, grateful he approves of my efforts. ‘That will mean you have time to work on your bill, make an even stronger case to sway everyone.’

  ‘I know, and I will make sure to do some research while I’m at it.’ Simon walks off. I’m not sure what he means, but I have a feeling that he will make the bill better.

  I might tell him to have the bill include Dogs and every other species from slavery and make it the ultimate declaration to abolish an abhorrent system. But for now, we need rest. I prefer to be alone at this moment.