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“No Dancer is a good ht with the tools he has,” I say “It’s our turn to do the same”

“What are your orders, bossman?” Min-Min asks “You hiccup and the whole Seventh will storm the Senate and crucify any Pixie who looks at you funny”

“Darees “The Senate is o in there and dissolve it Have new, clean elections”

“And what?” Pebble asks her husband “Darrow rules as an autocrat in the meantime? Don’t be ridiculous The Republic’s done if that happens” She looks to ? Surely she won’t let them place a warrant for your arrest”

“Of course she can’t do anything,” Victra replies “Majority rules unless she uses Eency Powers But she does that, and the Vox Populi will cry tyranny and vote for impeachment You seen the streets lately? The mob will back them, especially if they think they can end the war No one cares about Venus”

“She’s the Sovereign,” Rhonna says

“Which has one-tenth the power it once did The silly lion helped write the laws that stripped the Sovereigncy of so hs “Idealists never learn”

Holiday stirs uneasily at her place on the wall “You can’t really be thinking of violence, Darrow If you ainst them”

“By whoainst us?”

“Wulfgar,” Holiday says “And he’ll be the one co to arrest you, Darrow”

“Patriotic idiot,” Min-Minlady? Aren’t you their queen or somesuch?” Sefi doesn’t even look her way Her eyes are locked on me

“Please,” Victra says “Half the people in this room have their faces on coins The rest have statues Whatever arainst us will become our army One look at Sefi and Darrow and they’ll piss their pants” Does she not see how Sefi is watching me?

Victra looks up at , I say we all attend the peace talks Make it a bit of a party And once that sanctiive the Ash Lord our diplomatic reply and send hiorydarapes Or her eyes stripped out and replaced with snake heads Or Dancer’s testicles, whichever you find more thematically appropriate We can vote! ’Tis a demokracy, after all”

She s with her, but more than half in the room look nervously at their hands and each other They’re hesitant to go against the Senate No one wants civil war Holiday gives voice to their dissent “I’ve followed you through hell, Darrow Don’t ask h this I believe in the Republic We have to put our faith in so If you march on the Forum tomorrow, you march without me”

“Loyalty gone just like that?” Victra asks “A mercenary after all”