Emi looked up at Baine, realizing now that she was not in a democratic situation, but a dictatorship. That she didn't need to convince everyone, only Baine. She sighed in relief and dropped her chin. The battle had already been won.
Marina groaned and rolled her head to glare at the ceiling. "That's crap!" she responded. "Are you trying to make me feel guilty for this? What's the difference? He'll simply put up with it for a few more years, and there's simply no harm in that!"
Baine lowered his chin and dug his knuckles into the tabletop. He glared at her, ready to tear her head off himself, right then and there. Everyone expected him to do something, but then, Nansen kicked back away from the table, smiling. A bright glimmer in his golden eyes enlightened his whole face. Ignoring everyone, he went right up to her and stood with his back turned toward the table. "Hello, Marissa," he said, tilting his cheek toward his shoulder.
Her eyes enlarged and she looked up at him. Her mouth opened, "its Marina-"
"I was really hoping to give you a second chance," he interrupted. "I loved your attitude, up until I saw how easily it betrayed you today. I worked it out with Baine that if you told the truth, clear and simple, we'd just banish you. Not kill you. Banish you."
She lowered her chin and whispered, "you said that I would get out of this. You don't remember?"
His finger hung on the corner of his chin. He pressed his lips together and shook his head side to side. "If you lied in this room of witnesses, which you did, then I agreed to allow Baine to solely decide what to do with you," he explained condescendingly.
"What?" Her eyes narrowed. "We made a deal. You said that I'd be sent off. I wouldn't have acted this way if you hadn't told me that."
He shrugged his shoulders. "I make a lot of deals, obviously."
"But Nansen," she pleaded. "I gave you myself… That's what you wanted, wasn't it?"
"Definitely," he smirked. "And it was very good. I mean, I never had a Silgria before." He put his hands on his hips and leant forward. "Want to know something?" He leaned in closer. His lips aligned with hers and she could feel his breath against her face. "I like to play around, but my brother, Baine, likes to get straight to the point. Since it's in his hands now, I don't have high hopes for you anymore."
"But…-" she shuddered "-I love you."
"Of course you do. They all do after I take a piece." He chuckled and pulled himself away.
Her voice broke into a horrid scream. "But, Nansen! Nansen! You can't do this! It will hurt you, too! Save me! Save yourself!"
He turned away and walked back to his assigned seat. "I hear you Marissa, but I'm not going anywhere. I am of absolutely no help to you, anymore." He sat down and leaned back into his chair with his thumb pressed against his lower lip and completely shut out her screams.
Baine straightened his shoulders and brought his hands away from the tabletop. He looked at Iggy and nodded. "Death by sun in the garden, right where the crime was committed. Effective immediately." He waved her away. The two nearest people grabbed the back of her chair and dragged her screaming out of the conference room. The room shook as everyone gathered to leave, but Baine raised his voice to overpower the rumble. "We're not done yet!"
Everyone glanced at one another, confused, but returned to their places obediently. When the room silenced again, Baine relaxed his shoulders and peered around at all of the awaiting house members. About twenty five in all. His voice softened and his tone became paced and patient. "I'm standing here, confirming that both of the Silgria leaders were murdered during the recent attack. They need to be replaced. If we do it, we will gain credit for the rest of their line. A great asset."
The room erupted in a storm of gossip-like whispers. "Are you saying that the time has come?!" Someone gasped. "And we'll be here to see it?"
Another laughed with surprise. "The New Generation is going to begin here on our continent?! In our time?!"
Baine held up his hands and everyone hushed. "If there isn't a disagreement that we need to sort through?" He looked around the room, seeing mostly smiles and excitement, but then he saw Nansen.
With stress lines engraved deeply across his forehead, Nansen stood to his feet. He held out an open hand, reaching for understanding from anyone who was capable of it. "Look," he started, "I understand the excitement just as well as any of you, but I'm obviously concerned. I was changed at nineteen, in much better health, and even then I barely survived. These two are sick. They are both too young. They won't make it. We can't do this now. If that isn't enough to convince you, then consider what Firmin will do if he finds out that we've killed his New Generation?"
Baine leant forward, challenging him. "The progression of evolution is faster if the virus is introduced to the young, we all know that, and that's what our father wants."
That's exactly how Nansen expected Baine to respond. He held both of his hands higher. "If you are truly willing to risk their lives, and they somehow make it, what will happen if we can't contain what we get? It would be wisest for us to go home and have Firmin do it instead. He's much better equipped to handle the unknown than we are."
Iggy felt faint and he wished that he could have blamed the head injury for it, but of course it wouldn't have been true. He stepped away from the table, yet Emi's arm tightly clung to his, anchoring him in place. "I don't want to be a part of this," he said, but not a single ear heard him, not a single eye saw him, and no one cared about what he thought. He dropped his chin. He thought about how they never treated him like a person. Especially now, they acted as if he was nothing more than an object to be fought over. He wanted to disappear, become nonexistent, invisible, and he couldn't.
"I can't believe you're referring to Revpora as home! After everything!" Baine pointed out disdainfully.
"That's all beside the point," Emi interrupted. "The risk needs to be taken. The attackers didn't discriminate between infected and uninfected. They shot everyone. One shot wouldn't be enough to kill any of you, but for Iggy and me, it will."
Baine dropped his jaw and stared down at her as if he had never seen such an animal before. "You agree that now is the time to transition?" he questioned her. She looked back into his eyes and nodded. "But, you're only eighteen, aren't you? And Iggy is only seventeen. You should be at least a little scared."
She met his gaze unwavered. "Yes, I am afraid, but it's time. Or else we're both dead."
Over her head, Baine gazed through the witnesses, thinking. Then, he shrugged his shoulders. "So, the whole room is voting yes, except for my two brothers," he swallowed, "I wouldn't have expected anything less. Since we have consent from the majority and the Silgria heiress, we will move forward without attending to this disagreement."
The room shook from the cheering.
"Attention!' Baine hollered. "Attention!" They struggled to return to their positions and focus back on him, quietly. "From tomorrow on, I require that every member under this roof keep a maximum distance away from our newest members, until they approach you. There will not be light consequences for anyone who disobeys this rule." He encircled the room with a long stern glare. Then, he slapped the tabletop. "The meeting is dismissed. Go get some rest." The crowd flooded out of the room. "And you two…-" his large burly arm hung around Iggy's shoulders "-...wait right here."