“H-hey,” the archbishop said as he attempted to stand without Justitia’s aid. “Hold on a second. Why don’t you want centaurs working under you? What did I miss while I was unconscious? I don’t believe this harpy.”

Palan snorted. “I don’t need to explain my reasoning to you,” he said.

The archbishop wet his lips with his tongue. “I just wanted to see how a great mind like yours thought,” he said. “Maybe I could gain some inspiration and become half as intelligent as you are. Won’t you grant me this blessing?”

Raea rolled her eyes at the obvious flattery while Palan grinned. “Centaurs are cowards,” he said and crossed his arms. “And cowards are worse than goats.” His eyes narrowed as his smile disappeared. “I despise them.”

The archbishop cleared his throat. “I’m going to take a guess and say you intimidated one of the braver centaurs in the tribe,” he said. His lower body shook as he teetered before catching himself by placing his hand on Justitia’s shoulder. “But isn’t that more of a testament of your intimidation rather than a statement about our fear? You’re just so naturally terrifying. It’s unreasonable to expect anyone to be brave while facing you.” The centaur tried to raise his arm but didn’t have the strength. “Look at our home. It’s completely ruined. Who wouldn’t feel despair?” The other centaurs murmured in agreement.

“I wouldn’t,” Palan said and raised an eyebrow. “Is a home that important to you? If you lost something, then replace it with someone else’s.” He swept his gaze over the centaurs. “There’s no fire in your eyes. You’re defeated like a starving man ensnared in a trap waiting for death. Why would I want people who lost the will to live to work under me? If I gave any of you the chance to come up and slap me without retaliation, none of you would take it. One loss is enough to make you lose all hope? What happens when you reach the capital and get your asses kicked? Do you just crawl into the ground again, give up, and die? I’m not a merciful person, but even I want to kill all of you right now to bring you out of your misery. You’re all wastes of space.” The surrounding centaurs lowered their heads.

Hooves clacked against the ground as Cherri approached Palan while biting her lip. Her body trembled as she took in a deep breath, stopping in front of him. He towered over her, but she stuck her chest out and met his gaze, craning her neck upwards. “Y-you’re wrong,” Cherri said as she raised her arm.

Pah!

Her hand made contact with Palan’s cheek. His head didn’t move, but Cherri’s hand throbbed and started to swell as she hugged it to her chest. Tears sprang into her eyes as she tried to step backwards, but tripped and fell to her knees instead. “I-I’m not scared of you,” she said and gulped. “You’re just a big bully.” Palan touched his cheek and took a step forward. Cherri’s legs scuttled against the ground, pushing her body backwards. “You said you wouldn’t retaliate!”

Palan’s hand wrapped around Cherri’s shoulder. He yanked upwards, lifting her up, but her hind legs still touched the ground. “Weren’t you supposed to be a coward?” he asked and furrowed his brow. When they first met, she couldn’t speak straight because of fear. She was the last centaur he expected to come up to slap him.

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“No,” Cory said, waddling over. “She was stupid, remember?”

“Those aren’t mutually exclusive,” Palan said, not taking his gaze off of Cherri. “Well?”

“So what if I’m a coward!” Cherri said, angered by Cory’s comment. “So what if I’m stupid! I still smacked you didn’t I? Not all centaurs have given up.”

Palan released her, and she yelped as her face planted into the ground. She pushed herself off the ground and frowned at him. “I hate this place,” she said. “It’s drab. It’s dreary. It’s damp and dark. Everyone snores too loudly and it echoes through my room at night. It smells like poop all the time. I have to bath with goblins and trolls and lizardmen and harpies. I have no friends because my father’s hated and doesn’t belong to any faction. I really really hate this place. I want it to change. I snuck aboveground once when Dad wasn’t looking. I want to live where the suns are always shining, where there’s grass beneath my feet, where I can smell fresh air and have space to run around.” Cherri gazed into Palan’s eyes and bit her lip.

“And?” he asked. “What have you done about it?”

“Nothing,” Cherri said. “I can’t do anything. I’m just a child without her tattoos. I try to help my father manage the tribe, but there’s only so much I can do.” She lowered her head. “I thought just waiting for everyone else to do something would be fine. Our tribe joined Solra’s army and fought against the angels, but we’re still living underground. Why? When we wanted to move to the cities we destroyed, Solra always told us to wait. Wait a little longer. Wait a little more. Soon.” She climbed to her feet and bowed towards Palan. “I’m weak. I can’t do anything by myself. That’s why I need your help.”

“That’s right,” the archbishop said before Palan could respond. “You shouldn’t be satisfied with living underground. None of us should be. Isn’t that why we colluded with Solra?” His face cramped as he turned his neck, making eye contact with as many centaurs as possible. “Why have we turned against each other, struggling for power? Even the poorest centaur living in the world above will have a better quality of life than the richest one down here.” If Palan wasn’t going to agree to his plan, he’d unite the centaurs in another way. He didn’t become an archbishop by blindly gambling on a single outcome. There was always an alternative for him to fall back on.

“That’s right!” Mathias said and raised his four arms into the air. “We should stand united! Follow me and I’ll lead us to victory!”

Everyone’s expressions turned odd as they looked at Mathias’ face before staring at the lower half of his body. Vasher cleared his throat. “Cherri doesn’t seem like too bad of a leader, right?” he asked. “She’s a bit weak, but it’s fine as long as we all support her. While competing against each other, we’ve forgotten what really matters. I am willing to set aside my differences with everyone, as long as Mathias isn’t the leader.”

Palan frowned as the centaurs talked amongst themselves. Cherri was still bowing her head towards him. He turned towards Raea. “What’s going on?” he asked. “How are they so motivated all of a sudden when my speech didn’t do anything?”

Raea shrugged. “Motivation can come from lots of different sources,” she said. “Not everyone is driven by revenge and proving themselves better than others like you are.” She nudged his arm with her elbow. “Does that mean you were trying to inspire them?”

Palan snorted. “No,” he said. A lightning bolt flew towards him, but he blocked it with his hand. His expression didn’t change. “Must’ve been a coincidence. Anyways, I got Cherri to react. So that means I can claim all the credit for revitalizing the centaurs.”

“Weren’t you the one who broke their spirits in the first place?” Justitia asked.

Palan ignored her and pushed his tail against Cherri’s forehead, forcing her to stand up straight. “You want to be my underling?” he asked.

“Yes!” Cherri said. “I’ll do anything as long as you can lead us above ground.”