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“I want to stay here. My first child was born on this world. And I hope the second one will also take her first breath here. But I refuse to start a war with the people that this land belongs to. The fairy let us go. This tells me the land is willing to tolerate us if we prove we will respect it and its inhabitants. As Mirella said, let’s investigate more before jumping to harmful conclusions,” Ashley added before sitting back down to a thunder of applause.

“It pleases me tremendously to see that everyone in attendance appears to agree with the sentiment expressed by this lady,” Mares said, the relief audible in his voice. “The theory presented by Ms. Fiore has a lot of merit, and based on the testimony of the other witnesses, it seems to have legs. The UPO will spare no resources or assistance for the local authorities to help resolve this issue.”

“We will certainly follow up on this new evidence,” Chief Constable Daleus said. “In the meantime, please carefully read the pamphlets that have been passed out to everyone. The same information has also been sent to the com systems of every resident of Mazeria. We need your cooperation to avoid further injuries.”

The meeting went on a while longer with additional questions from the attendees. However, the murderous glares Professor Ludwig kept leveling in my direction had me all but squirming. Of all the people I pissed off, why did it have to be him? As the head of the Syllen Task Force, it made sense that he should have been on this panel. But why in the world was he so eager to label them as the bad guys? I expected him to be the fiercest voice defending them.

As the meeting ended, people swiftly made their way out. After exchanging a few words with Ashley and the other four survivors of my group, I glanced towards the dais, hoping for a brief talk with the Ambassador. It shamed me how envious I felt about him having met one of the Syllens in the flesh since their awakening. I would greedily gobble up any crumbs of information he might be willing to share with me.

However, as I wove my way towards the dais, movement at the edge of my vision drew my attention. My heart sank upon seeing Professor Ludwig barreling down towards me with daggers in his eyes.

“You were extremely rude and out of line, Ms. Fiore,” he said sternly.

“I’m sorry you feel that way,” I replied in a calm voice with what I hoped to be the proper level of deference without falling into submission or obsequiousness. “It wasn’t my intention. I merely spoke the truth of what we experienced and my sincere opinion as to the cause of the situation.”

“No one cares about your opinion,” he hissed. “An attack was launched against us!”

“With all due respect, Professor, I almost died there,” I retorted, my voice hardening. “I watched a man die from the spores and from poisonous darts. So you better believe that my opinion matters on this topic. This townhall was set up specifically so that everyone could express their thoughts and opinions. This morning, my instincts were right and allowed me to save most of my group.”

“It was a fluke,” he huffed with disdain.

“You weren’t even there!” I exclaimed, throwing my hands up in frustration and disbelief. “Have you even seen the gardens? So much about them was problematic. Moving those trees there and surrounding them with lethal plants were absolutely dreadful choices. Who the hell thought it was okay?! You don’t put deadly plants in range of civilians. Frankly, I’m shocked there haven’t been any other accidents before this.”

“Shut your filthy mouth, you obnoxious little nobody!” he snarled, taking a menacing step towards me.

I recoiled, backing away as I stared at him in disbelief.

“Excuse me?!” I asked even as sudden understanding struck me.

“You think you know better than me how to set up a botanical garden? You think yourself superior to me?! My design has been hailed as one of the great accomplishments on Mazeria!” he ground angrily through his teeth.

I flinched, kicking myself inwardly for not having known that. It had to be a recent change because someone else had initially been appointed to design the gardens. In fact, I had fawned over the images and videos that were shared about the original concept.

“There have been no accidents in the past four years since I redesigned the gardens,” he said, confirming my thoughts that this had been a revamp. “But the Syllens awaken and then this happens?”

“Like I said, Professor, I believe it is a coincidence not the cause,” I replied in a reasonable tone.

He gave me a disgusted look as he slowly shook his head.

“You’re not who we thought you were. We’ll have to rethink your tenure at Acadia,” he said in a tone frosty enough to freeze the sun itself.

Before I could speak another word, he stormed off, his back stiff.

“Professor Ludwig!” I called out, but he kept walking, ignoring me.

Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!

If he fired me, he would likely also block me from ever returning to Mazeria. It had already been nearly impossible to obtain this first visa. A black mark against me would be a death sentence.

“Good evening, Ms. Fiore,” a kind voice said behind me.

Startled, I spun around to find none other than Kayog Voln, smiling gently at me.

“Master Voln!” I exclaimed, the pleasure of finally meeting him in person somewhat dampening the distress I felt. “It’s an honor to meet you.”

“The honor is all mine. But please call me Kayog. I am quite informal,” he said with a mischievous glimmer in his eyes.

I instantly found myself smiling. “Very well. But I insist you call me Mirella.”