Nathan held back a laugh at what was happening. Burrau was pressed into a wall while Fuge glared down at him.

"Self-approving your own protest permit?" Fuge said. "I have to admire the sheer audacity. Did you at least buy yourself dinner first before you signed off on it?"

"The permit process was followed exactly as written.” Burrau’s starchy neck flushed red. "As a councilor, I retain all my rights as a citizen to—"

"Oh, spare me the legal gymnastics. Next you'll tell me you filed the paperwork in triplicate before joining a rally that nearly became a brawl. What's next on the agenda? Perhaps you'll approve yourself a permit to throw rocks through your own windows?"

"That's hardly—"

"You're a councilor, not some firebrand rebel," Fuge said. "Though I must say, watching you try to simultaneously be the establishment and rage against it is remarkably entertaining. Do you argue with yourself in the mirror about municipal codes too?"

Watching Burrau squirm under her clear disappointment was one of the top ten moments of the apocalypse so far. Nathan had to bite back a smile.

After some more angry yelling, Nathan headed to the town hall alongside Fuge. Burrau was corralled into coming along by her, despite his protestations. Zayen tagged along as well. Fuge raised an eyebrow but seemed to judge that, since Nathan wasn’t making a fuss about it, she shouldn’t either.

Nathan also learned that there had been an attack on the town hall. Some lunatic had planted gunpowder underneath it, and the plot had only been discovered by chance. This explained why Fuge and the military had taken so long to get to him—they were providing guard service to various members of the provisional government.

Before long, the group finally arrived at the Meeting Hall. For once, the room was silent. Bricks, Sticks, and Vee were the only ones present.

“They must’ve been delayed,” Fuge said. “With your permission, sir, I’d like to look into it and make sure they’re safe.”

Nathan nodded. “Go ahead.”

Fuge turned and marched out the door, flanked by half of the guard force. The rest stayed inside, taking up positions at the edges of the room. Nathan’s eyes wandered over to Sticks. He was still shocked that Sticks had somehow become the leader of a pseudo-fascistic revolutionary party. Granted, it seemed like all the major parties were veering toward extremism, but still—why was he involved?

Nathan walked over to Sticks and sat down beside him. The mushroom man nearly jumped out of his seat.

“Nathan!” Sticks said.

Nathan nodded. “Sticks. How are you?”

Sticks laughed, the sound pale and flaccid. Deep lines crisscrossed the skin under his eyes while his complexion was sallow and sagging.

“Well, I gotta admit, I’m not doing so great,” he said.

“Does this have anything to do with the TPP?” Nathan asked.

Sticks froze. “Please don’t tell me they harassed you?”

“I wouldn’t say harassed.” Nathan paused. “More like… they might’ve gotten a bit too excited.”

“I told them not to do that, but they just don’t listen!”

“How did all this start?” Nathan asked. “We’re not best friends, but I think I know you well enough to say you’re not the type of guy interested in creating a political party.”

Bricks, seated nearby next to his brother, smirked. “Yeah, he isn’t. Not that it stopped anyone in the TPP.”

“I swear, it all just happened out of nowhere,” Sticks said, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “The party wasn’t started by me. It was started by some lunatic mushroom person who called himself Bloom. The guy had wild ideas—all about ‘national revival,’ creating a purer society, and how mushrooms like us should dominate the werewolves. He even formed a paramilitary wing to enforce his vision. They’d go around in uniforms, waving flags and breaking up rallies held by anyone who disagreed with them. I didn’t realize how bad it was until I got an invitation to one of their meetings from a friend.”

Nathan raised an eyebrow. “And you went?”

“I didn’t want to embarrass my friend,” Sticks said. “I figured I’d just drop in, see what was going on, and then quietly slip away.”

“That plan worked well,” Bricks muttered.

Sticks shot him a glare. “Yeah, it went horribly wrong. Bloom was giving some fiery speech about purges and building a new order. It made my skin crawl, so I decided to leave. But as I’m heading out, he catches sight of me and starts ranting about traitors who wouldn’t support the cause. He made some vague threat about me—which scared me, so I ducked into a side room to avoid a scene.”

Nathan leaned forward. “What happened next?”

“Well, apparently, Bloom thought I was rallying a coup because I didn’t come back out right away. Paranoia must’ve gotten to him. By the time I worked up the nerve to leave, I walked into chaos. Half the room was shouting that I was the new leader. The other half was shouting at Bloom for being weak because he let me waltz in and ‘challenge him.’ He went berserk and… well, long story short, his own guards dragged him out.”

Bricks chuckled. “He basically got kicked out by his own people. Sticks walked out as leader without even saying a word.”

Sticks groaned. “I didn’t want to be leader! I kept telling them I was just there to feed my chickens! But they thought it was all some kind of metaphor for political growth. Someone called it a masterpiece of political theater.”

Nathan blinked. “What about the name change?”

“Oh, right,” Sticks muttered. “The original name was the National Revival Party. I thought it sounded ridiculous. I suggested they call it the The Party of People Who Just Want to Hang Out and Stuff because I figured that’d make it clear I didn’t want it to last. But of course, they took that as another piece of ‘brilliant political strategy.’ Now we’re stuck with the TPP. Calling it the PP makes more sense, but apparently people didn’t like the sound of that for some reason.”

If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

I guess some jokes are just cross-cultural.

Nathan stared, unblinking, at Sticks. The poor man was breathing heavily, his left eye twitching at random intervals.

“What did you do afterward?” Nathan asked. “Did you try explaining it to them?”

“Of course I did! I keep telling them I’m just a farmer, but they keep saying I’m just being humble. But I’m not!”

“Why don’t you just leave?”

Sticks froze.

“Social pressure,” Bricks said. “He feels awkward about walking out on them.”

“Sounds like you’ve had a rough time of it.”

“It’s awful.” Sticks sighed. “But I should stop bothering you about it. Anyway, congratulations on the marriage.”

“Wait, what—“

Before Nathan could analyze that statement, the doors swung open, revealing the other members of the council. Casc, Gius, and Papim entered in through the front door. They all shuffled in and took their seats.

“Now then,” Gius said. “It’s time to talk about some serious issues.”

----------------------------------------

"We're in a precarious situation," Gius said. "The sparks of democracy have lit a fire inside the hearts of our people. For the first time in centuries, the mushroom race has the opportunity to be involved in the political process."

Casc stood up abruptly. "And this is exactly the problem!"

"Sit down, Casc—"

"No, I will not!" Casc looked around the table. "I have great respect for Lord Nathan, but he made a significant mistake agreeing to this. Look at the discord that's been sewn as a result of this foolhardy plan."

The flames of the torches seemed to flicker at Casc's words. Nathan pulled his lips into a thin line.

"Has it really been that bad?" Nathan asked. "Are a few rallies so awful?"

"It's not just a few rallies!" Casc said. "My lord, all of the main parties have begun employing paramilitary factions. The TPP, the Reformers, and even the Contractists—even if they won't admit it. Many of my homeowners have been intimidated or even had their homes broken into. People have been seriously injured! You weren't there for it, but it's been happening!"

Nathan paused and frowned. His chest tightened and he began to seriously wonder if he'd made a mistake.

Papim shook her head. Nathan blinked.

"The violence has been occurring before the introduction of elections," she said. "Remember? Gius had to bring Nathan in to prevent a riot, earlier."

Gius sat back down in his chair. "Still, this was a hasty move. Nathan and Gius should've consulted us."

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but Casc has a point," Vee said. "Besides that, is this really the best option? I've looked at the charter for the new government, and we're giving so much power to the people…"

"Is that a bad thing?" Sticks said.

"I mean, they're not qualified to make decisions."

"So you're against the election plan?"

"No, that's not what I'm saying—"

Nathan stood up. Everyone stopped speaking. Vee cleared her throat.

"Well, my lord," she said, "at least there's some good news. The people seem quite excited about your upcoming nuptials."

Nathan blinked. "My what?"

"Oh, you haven't seen?" Vee pulled a colorful pamphlet from her bag and slid it across the table. "The Town Tattler. It's quite popular these days."

Nathan picked up the pamphlet with visible bewilderment. "'Lord Nathan's Secret Romance with the Goddess of Destruction,'" he read aloud. He looked up. “I didn’t even know we have a printing press.”

"Keep reading," Gius urged, grinning. "It gets better."

"'Sources say the couple's chemistry was obvious during the Battle of Broken Ridge, where the Goddess of Destruction saved our beloved lord with a perfectly timed explosive,'" Nathan continued reading. "Well, that part's actually kind of true, though I wouldn't call nearly blowing my eyebrows off 'romantic.'" He flipped the page. "'Wedding preparations are already underway. Inside sources claim the bride plans to enter on a modified artillery platform—' Actually, knowing Mara, she probably would do that."

"Oh, flip to page six," Papim said. "They have a detailed analysis of your compatible star signs."

"'The lord's practical earth sign perfectly balances the Goddess's explosive fire nature,'" Nathan read, shaking his head. "Who even writes this? Though I suppose they got the 'explosive' part right." His smile faded slightly. "I just hope she's okay, wherever that portal took her."

"The Town Tattler has a theory about that too," Sticks said. "They're saying she's actually on a secret quest to find you a proper wedding gift."

"Of course they are.” He dropped the pamphlet. "Can we please focus on the actual crisis at hand? The sooner we sort out this political mess, the sooner we can work on figuring out where she actually ended up."

“Right, my lord,” Gius said.

"Casc has a point," Nathan continued, steering them back to business. "I was wrong to take action without prior consultation. However, we've already made the decision. The only thing we can do is continue down this path to the best of our ability."

A few grumbles rang out but no one said anything. Gius gave a small smile and nodded at Nathan.

"Well said, my lord," he said. "We're in the worst of it anyway. When the situation stabilizes, we should see tensions dissipate—assuming the new government can navigate the current political landscape."

"That's not the response that I was hoping for," Casc said.

"Too bad."

Fuge stepped forward. "If I may?"

Nathan nodded at her. "What is it?"

"I understand that we just need to hold out until the elections, but that may not be possible. The military is spread extremely thin and we can't hold the entire city."

"We've already started implementing reforms," Gius said. "But they don't seem to have made much of a dent."

At that, Zayen stepped forward. "You need to show them."

Everyone's eyes darted over toward Zayen.

"Who's the brat?" Casc said.

Zayen bowed with his hand on the palm of his chest.

"Greetings," he said. "I am Zayen, King of Sandara."

"A boy king, eh?" Gius looked him up and down. "What do you mean by show them?"

"The most frequent mistake of my reign has been my inability to show the people what I have done. As a result, they've lost confidence in me and my rule."

The words were spoken coolly, without a single twitch in his expression. He might as well have been discussing the weather.

Gius frowned. "I see."

"If I could do it all over again, that is the change I would make," Zayen said.

Nathan rubbed his chin.

"What about a town hall event?"

"Town hall?" Gius said.

"We let the citizens here, into the hall and let them ask us questions. We screen them in advance, of course, to make sure that they're not crazy, but maybe this would help alleviate some of the pressure?"

Gius nodded, quicker and quicker. "That could work, I like the idea."

"Why here?" Casc said. "What if they cause a mess?"

"It's about perception." Nathan stood up and used his arm to gesture at the Meeting hall. "This is the seat of the government, but we're letting normal people in. I think that sends a powerful message—that we're committed to giving the people a voice and a say in the running of this town, which is what the public upset is really about, on a fundamental level."

"On top of that, it'll give us a chance to explain the decisions we've been making," Papim said. "And perhaps clear up some... personal rumors as well," she added with a small smirk in Nathan's direction.

"We'll have to pay close attention to security," Casc said.

Fuge stepped forward.

"I'll take care of screening," she said. "Though perhaps we should ask Mara to help with security arrangements?" She couldn't quite hide her grin.

Nathan pointedly ignored the suggestion.

Sticks rolled a wheat stalk between his fingers. "This could go well, but it could also make things go worse."

"What do you mean?" Nathan asked.

"Take it from someone who's dealt with these people," Sticks said. "A lot of them are stubborn and aren't really interested in hearing your viewpoint. Anything you say is just gonna become ammunition for them and their faction."

"We're not aiming to change the minds of the hardliners," Gius said. "So we can safely cast that aside. The main concern is all the people caught in the middle who can be swayed."

Nathan looked around the table. "Are we in agreement, then?"

A sequence of nods came around. Some were more excited, some more hesitant, but everyone was in agreement.

"Then let's get ready, it's time to hold a town hall."