There were some shocked murmurs.
Trill swallowed visibly. “My carnalion father came and rescued me, and although he wasn’t ready to support me himself, he found a carnalion that I could stay with. She taught me all about being a child of two worlds, how much caution was necessary, and how to stay safe. She is entirely reasonable—more reasonable than me, truth be told,” he admitted with the trace of a smile. “So if you’re judging by reasonable behavior, then at least in my life, it’s the humans who’ve been more unreasonable and cruel than the carnalions ever have been.”
“Now wait just a minute,” the fourth councilor argued. “You can’t claim that humans are bad because you had a bad experience with two of them!”
“Exactly!” Brannal interjected triumphantly. “That is precisely what we’re arguing against.Somecarnalions have attacked humans, and while we’re no longer sure if it was because they wanted to or because we were attacking them, we’re advocating for giving each carnalion a chance rather than assuming they are like the ones who may have gone bad.”
There was a furrow in the fourth councilor’s brow, but they looked more considering now.
The ninth and sixth councilors were scowling.
The second councilor was the one who asked, “But is there a majority type of behavior? If ninety percent either kill indiscriminately or keep to themselves and harm no one, those are very different scenarios.”
Trill squared his shoulders and said, “Neither Perian nor I have encountered very many carnalions. The carnalion who raised me has more experience with other carnalions if you’d like to hear what she has to say.”
The ninth councilor was on his feet again, and he sounded utterly outraged. “A carnalion is here? How could you permit such a thing!”
It was the Queen this time who said in an arctic voice, “Sit. Down.”
The councilor sat.
The Queen said, “The carnalion in question was kind enough to offer invaluable assistance in the healing of the Crown Prince. I have vouchsafed her safety.”
Oh, wow. The Queen hadn’t even mentioned that it was in effect only so long as Yannoma didn’t harm anyone. Cormal hoped that was because they’d convinced her and not because she thought the situation was so volatile that she’d better not give the councilors a possible loophole.
The second councilor said calmly, “I believe speaking to her would help clarify the matter for me.”
Two Mage Warriors duly escorted in Yannoma. There was the sound of rustling as the councilors shifted nervously about. Cormal imagined that they’d built her up to be quite a monster in their heads, and now they were confronted with exactly what she was—a very beautiful woman who could seduce them all if she chose to do so.
“Thank you for agreeing to speak with us,” the Queen said, causing a murmur of sound to go through the room.
Yannoma said, “I’m aware that change is unlikely to happen unless we actively work to achieve it.”
“And you desire change?” the second councilor asked.
“Desire it, yes,” Yannoma said smoothly. “Believe that it will occur? I’m uncertain.”
The ninth councilor pounced. “Uncertain? Why?”
Yannoma regarded him unblinkingly. “Because I have seen humans slaughter my kind for longer than you have been alive. Attitudes like yours make me doubt that will ever change.”
The man spluttered. “Demons kill humans!”
With a quirked brow, Yannoma pointed out calmly, “And humans kill demons.”
“Because you kill us!” he yelled, red-faced again.
“Or perhaps,” she challenged smoothly, “because you kill us.”
The man opened his mouth again, and Cormal just knew that he was going to start repeating himself. Unlike Yannoma, he didn’t seem to be aware of the irony of their circular argument.
Thankfully, the second councilor spoke first. “Do you believe your fellow… carnalions”—she stumbled slightly over the word, clearly not used to speaking to one directly—“want the same thing? Peace with the humans?”
Yannoma gestured at the assembled people. “We do not have… groups like this. There is no central figure who could speak for all carnalions. We have been scattered for a long time. I cannot speak with absolute authority as to the hearts and minds of all my people.”
The ninth councilor had only just got his mouth open, when the first councilor said, “A reasonable caveat. Even with our system of rule, we would not claim to know the hearts and minds of each of our people individually.”
She shot the ninth councilor a scathing look, and he subsided, looking disgruntled.
