Grayell looked at the contents of his cup for a moment, swirled it. Then he looked past it, eyes falling on her. His voice was somewhere she'd heard before, the location and occasion suggested in his words of course.
Mhm. Hotsprings. I've seen you melt easily enough.
He only smiled slightly then, he wasn't making a joke, it was more a suggestive matter of fact and he placed the cup down. He looked up again with a refreshed look, entirely non-concerned and looking as happy as when she'd arrived.
So. How about we talk about something boring then.
Grayell returned that smile for that moment alone and then did, actually; start to talk about something relatively boring.
So. I suggested you come up with some manner of improving our current system of government in Wistvale. I don't think it's a bad system, I simply think it's entirely pointless as it is.. I have not seen Serenity at all and Orp is rarely about it seems.
As I see it we have three options. Continue with the council, simply find more people to be on it. Or we could have one head of government. She cocked her head a little, looking at him strangely.
I know you don't like that idea, so the third option is a combination of the two. We have a mayor, but also a few subordinates that check and balance his power. Charismatic types.
Charismatic types? Sounds like the best way to be lied to.
Grayell leaned in, eyes stayed on hers. It was easier to remain eye to eye with her these days, the awkward tension was gone. She was still gorgeous of course, but that didn't stir him as much now.
Here's my issue. Government is the best way to bring corruption into a town. The council is no exception, I only feel confident in it because I am on it. I don't want to be if I'm being truthful... but then I would worry about corruption. A simple dilemma, but it weighs on me.
Having a mayor means one person making the decisions. Having a board under him means arguments and him either overruling them or the ongoing game of political intrigue. I think what we have now is simple as it's meant to simply hear out the people and then choose as a whole what to do. But again... without representatives, what good does that do us.
Quite frankly I'm quite bored with the whole damn concept. I have other concerns that weigh on me more heavily... and I don't think you'll find many of them pleasant.
She looked back at him, impassively, lacing her fingers in front of her face.
That doesn't leave us with very many options. You don't trust a mayor or singular government. I don't think a council structure is good enough. I don't know...sometimes in a state of lawlessness you have to have one person making the decisions. She raised an eyebrow.
Now he sighed and pressed back in his chair, slouching a little.
The guard is yours. Whether I hand it to you or I simply pretend to be the Commander, it's not my guard. I'm not entirely thrilled about it, because I see many flaws in it. But I am going to be honest.
Two of your guards are egotistical asses who think of themselves above all else. They are glory hounds and seem to think that battle is the answer to most everything. They don't act as a team unless it immediately benefits them and I think they are little more than a pair of mercenaries in it for the pay check. They are temperamental, have little self control and I consider them a liability. If they thought that Kiga's test was to see them in combat once more, they are very mistaken. I am appalled it took so little to see them quit. You know as well as I do, that as a guard or a soldier you will have to shut up and put up whether you like it or not. They chose to walk away, which shows me the don't care about the guard or the town a great deal. For me, that's not good enough. Their pride is self centred, they are not thinking of pride in the guard.
Tallia on the other hand will be a fine guard one day, she just needs to grow a little more. I have no concerns there. She is not hasty or rash and takes orders without question.
And then.... there is you.
That last sentence was not stern. It almost came across... as hurt.
Grayell poured himself some more tea, then topped off her cup.
Look. Maybe it's my fault because I am fond of you. For all our this and that doesn't mean anything, I really, truly care about you Margrett because I feel that you are my closest friend. I can't hope to express that enough, you matter a great deal to me. That's important and I treasure it, I makes me smile to know that you and I are there for each other. We've come to understand one another - mostly - and in no way do I want to see that ruined.
Now I'm not being perverse here, that's another matter entirely and far less complicated. What I am talking about is your complete disregard for my instructions as Commander. You pick and choose when you will listen to me, your attitude undermines my authority whenever you don't like what you hear and unfortunately, that influences the recruits. Every time you begrudge my training, every time you question my decision, that makes a complete farce of what little structure the guard has.
And I'm of the opinion it's rubbed off on the recruits. I really am. And I have no desire to be the plodding ass, the council member who has an empty position at the head of the guard. That's not something I want to be a part of.
She looked down at the table, set her jaw. She wanted to defend Kerag and Venom, tell him what the thought process was. But that would be useless, mostly. She took a deep breath and began.
Grayell. She put her hands palm downward on the table.
Wistvale has a few hundred people in it. A tiny, tiny town on the lawless edge of the civilized world. There are four guards. Four. They're basically volunteers. Most of what other cities would consider crime is legalized. No offense meant at all, but the structure of command in this case is little more than a formality. She shook her head.
Grayell, they respect you. I respect you, truly. If you had shown up to give the test, they would have gone along with it. But some random hired thug with a letter from you isn't going to get them to do anything. I've fought with them. I've seen them in action. They have the same dedication to law and order as I do, even if they don't show it as much. If not law and order, than a dedication to me, and to you. They are my friends, and if they disobey a few silly, meaningless orders than so be it. She regarded him, a little hurt in her eyes.
I've followed every order I knew was right and worth it. You know that. I brushed off the training as a joke, because it was...silly. Right now, in this situation? Fighting and combat is as good training as we're going to get, and as good as we need. I hate it just as much as you do, but it's the truth. She took in a deep breath.
Leave if you want. Just don't leave on bad terms. We're not glory hounds. If they were glory hounds they wouldn't have stayed here.
Last Edit: Oct 9, 2011 17:48:18 GMT -5 by Margrett
Grayell looked at the table and shook his head. He finished his tea and then turned sideways in his chair.
Sorry Marg, but that's how I see it. It's your guard, you know it better than I do. I just can't agree with how it's going is all.
I need to think a while longer, but until I make a decision, you will remain acting Commander. The council... well crap, I am the only person to give a shit about the damn council so it's pointless at this time. I won't be a single man trying to see to the needs of a whole town. I'd rather give it back to the people.
But I have other concerns.
Grayell looked back into his past and chuckled, a simple 'heh' that was as amused as it was pained.
My father had it right. I didn't understand but I do now. And I think I'd rather follow his lead.
She sighed, gave a little shake of her head. She was fine with Gray leaving, just...not his reasons.
I understand. If you want to give it back to the people, I won't fight you. If you're gone then so is the council. We'll just be guards without a purpose.
Concerns? More werewolf stuff you'll never elaborate upon?
That's incorrect. You would have your laws and they would be upheld. What you do with anyone you lock up... well that's another matter. But tell me, is it fair that I condemn anyone held to trial? I don't have anyone else to confer with, do you think I even want that on my head?
No, the council is failing due to the laziness and disregard of it's members. It pisses me off to be quite frank about it.
And no. Werewolf stuff.
He laughed a little.
For one, if I felt you ever truly wanted to know about that part of my life; I imagine you'd ask. It's a long story and has a lot of hurt, I figure you don't want to know. And that's fine.
But no, that's not my concern. My concern is greater than that and again, comes back to the guard. Your recall when I suggested Aaron join a regional guard? Expand our horizons? It didn't go that way and whilst it was a simple suggestion at the time, I've come to realize the folly of the guard.
You and I have done a lot of good. We've been well beyond Wistvale and seen to law and order beyond our borders. And that is a very big problem. We're making enemies Marg outside our town, far beyond our control - and we've bitten off more than we can chew. Look at it this way. We've pissed off the entire slave trade at this point. Thousands of underhanded pricks with the means to attack us, deal with us should they want. All of them with a common enemy.
Where are they going to find us should that happen?
Grayell looked at her then with a long, drawn out breath.
I moved out of town and yet I still represent it. I have my own enemies, dangerous ones that will look to get at me any way they can manage. The guard, other people are also gathering their own animosity, own resentment.
All of that falls on Wistvale. In our endeavour to protect the town itself, we've overstepped our boundaries and are only placing it in immense danger.
But yes. I am the single, largest contributor to that and I don't want to see it become a problem. I cannot protect Wistvale. Ultimately, none of us can. We don't have the manpower, we don't have the resources, and we don't have the trust of the entire community to do so.
It's likely best that I leave.
There was an obvious hurt in his eyes, but he was determined to be stern. There was more plaguing him here than she could hope to realize. He... could not say it.