Nansen stepped up from behind and dropped his large palms over the balls of Iggy's shoulders, folding him over with the light pressure. "That's enough," he said. "We've got the entire house gathering in the conference room waiting for us, so let's go." He tugged back on Iggy's shoulders so that he came upright again. As he stumbled back, Iggy held the edge of Nansen's shirt and walked next to him.
All together, the three ventured down the stairs to the conference room where the atmosphere was thunderous. Iggy hadn't ever been inside before, because it was used so often by the others and he was meant to stay away from them. It was the largest in the whole house, set up with a long table and space for more than a hundred people to stand.
The strength in Iggy's voice vanished. "But, Nansen…" he worried, "if everyone is down there, then I shouldn't be, right?"
Nansen pulled him along. "Nope, you're involved. I won't let anything bad happen to you."
They entered the room. Emi only knew one person, and it was the woman from the garden. She was bound to a chair positioned dead center and opposite of the main seat, which was Baine's assigned place. Her clothing and hair were in even worse condition than before. Her skin was dirty, however beneath the dried blood and dirt, all of her wounds were already healed as if they had never happened at all.
As the three walked past her, the flesh under Iggy's bandage stung. Consumed with the discomfort, he let go of Nansen's shirt and pushed his palm against the side of his face. Beneath the rustling, he heard a low, feminine chuckle, and a whisper that said, "simply beautiful." He rounded his eyes and looked around, seeing a barrage of blurry figures swaying before him. His hand lay empty. Where Nansen was, he didn't know. The panic was rushing through him. The dizziness was making the situation worse.
Emi snuck up to his side. "What are you waiting for?" She snagged his arm in her's and tugged him along. She brought him back to Nansen's side, but did not desert him. She stood firm against his other side.
When Baine walked through the doorway everyone settled and the room became calm. Silence. All that could be heard was his hard shoe soles clicking against the stone floor. As he came nearer, Nansen shifted away from the table and went to his own assigned seat a few chairs down the table. Iggy felt him go, but didn't fret because he knew Baine had taken his place.
Now, Baine stood at the head of the table next to Iggy and Emi, appearing larger than the two of them combined. A man nearby looked up and asked him, "is this the pair?"
Baine turned to him briefly and shook his head. "There is another issue that we must address first." He opened his hand and gestured across the table toward the woman from the garden, the intruder, as if he was axing her. "State your name."
"Marina." She rolled r's, similar to how Emi spoke.
"State your reason for coming here."
She pursed her lips and scanned the audience around her. "I was sent with the message that the Silgria house had been invaded and needed rescue. I did just as ordered!"
"And. What. Else?"
She exhaled through her nose and shook out her face. "I simply hopped over the wall and brought the message."
Baine smacked the table hard, but not as hard as he could have. "Dammit! You hopped over the outer wall, killed a citizen, hopped over our wall, and attempted to kill our New Generation!"
"Two citizens," Amare corrected from nearby.
As the group gasped in disbelief, Marina lifted up and targeted all of her attention back onto the audience. Her wavy eyebrows shivered and she shrugged her shoulders. "The red got to me, I didn't have any control! Surely, you won't prosecute me for that!"
Emi hollered, "that's a lie!" Her voice was small, yet loud enough to echo off the walls. She jabbed her index finger through the air. "And you know it! You already killed a citizen before even meeting him."
"Two citizens," Amare corrected, again.
Emi continued fiercely, "you were already satisfied. You attacked him with the intention of torturing him!"
Marina spat across the table. "Shut up, you little brat! If it weren't for me, you'd be dead!"
Emi held up one clenched fist and stabbed it into the tabletop much like Baine had. "Don't pretend that we don't have history together! Don't try to win over these people with your dishonesty! I know you! I know what you are capable of!"
Marina tilted her head. "And what are you going to propose, Emi? That they kill me? I saved you. I came here, brought the message, received a beating, and here you are! Throwing me away! Your loyalty is flimsy like paper; it always has been! You simply talk, you don't do any of the walking." A vicious grin appeared. "It was you who ran away while your entire family got butchered… You!"
Iggy felt Emi's arm squeeze his. She stopped looking at Marina, and sought out the others surrounding the table. "If she were at the mercy of the thirst reflex, then she would have bit him in an artery, not in the face. Please listen to me, this woman is not a good person! The fact that she brought an S.O.S. message is only an attempt of self-redemption for not helping me herself."
Baine's fingers pressed hard into the tabletop and he leant into his straightened arms. "Emi is right," he confirmed. "You were in control of yourself, proven by the fact that you bit Iggy on his face. I also want to add that the antibiotics used to prevent your poison from killing him have taken the rest of his eyesight and will most likely increase his seizures, which is a nuisance in itself that I'd kill you for anyway."