“Now is better. But I want to find Lluisa after, before the committees start.”

Ducking into the family room. “We did it! We got it through the floor. Well, Korva and the nobles did most of it, but we have a right! Soon we’ll have more!”

One of the benefits of the Family room is that it has a door, which should be sturdy enough to stop anyone from eavesdropping.

Weak smile. "It's really not the law I'd've wanted to pass, if it was totally up to me, but it beats having our laws written by Evil nobles who think anyone who ever criticizes them should hang."

(She is not entirely sure how to broach the subject of what happened on the third, if it's not something he's willing to say in front of the scribe.)

"Not the one I would have passed either. But better than what they passed. I think they're really bad at repenting, if this is what they're like after renouncing evil."

"At least we have some good ones too. What did Jilia need to talk to you about?"

Nod nod nod at the comment about them being bad at repenting. As far as she can tell the Evil nobles basically use "repenting" to mean "still just as Evil, but they'll try to kill you for saying it." Her lord would've killed people for saying lots of things but not, actually, for saying that he was Evil, as long as you didn't imply that was a bad thing.

"There's a pamphlet saying the riot was actually because me and Alicia tricked Valia into saying what she did in her speech and calling for us to be executed for it." Oh, that's a good reminder, when she was thinking about who she needed to talk to during the break she forgot she needed to warn Alicia. "Except the person who wrote the pamphlet didn't actually know anything besides what they said at the trial, so instead it said the Queen should arrest every song-sorceress and Calistrian until she finds the right ones."

"I heard they already did that and then let them all go. But people will still read it and– the speech at the start said we could ask for bodyguards. We can go find how to get some, and you and Alicia and anyone else you trust can stay with each other. A few peoples bodyguards all working together can probably keep you safe."

"As far as I know they didn't arrest all the song-sorceresses and Calistrians, the Queen knew better than the pamphleteer. But, yeah, she did, and she let us go afterwards, but the Evil nobles don't care that Valia was found innocent so I don't see why they'd care that the Queen let us go.

...Delegate Bainilus also thought I should try to get some guards but I'm worried that if someone tried to kill me it would just get them killed too. I guess I can ask if the archmages would bring them back if they died protecting me?"

"If someone offers to fight besides you, that means he's ready to die for you. Or for the convention and what the gods are trying to build here. No small thing, and it's no small thing to look at someone who made that choice and turn him away. Maybe if these guards have a family and no one else to take care of them, that's a reason to, but in that case I hope a man would find something less dangerous to do than guarding."

Victòria still feels uncomfortable with the idea of innocent people getting themselves killed for her. Like she'd be saying she's more important than the people dying for, like she'd be setting herself up like some kind of nobleman, like she'd be deciding she doesn't care about innocent people dying after all—

Or they could be Evil. Not Evil like the diabolist nobles, not Evil like the Asmodean prosecutor, but Evil like Lluïsa is Evil, where they haven't actually done anything bad enough to deserve what Hell will do to them. She hadn't even thought about that, when Delegate Bainilus suggested the idea, but it settles in her stomach like a rock.

"I don't know how the archmage picked the guards. I guess we could ask. There's — a lot of ways it could go wrong, but some of them might not apply if they're the archmage's guards, rather than guards I have to pay for.

But also, I mean, I don't want to die, if I die that'll suck a lot. But the archmages will bring me back, it won't actually hurt me the way it would hurt the guards. And maybe then everyone'll realize that the Evil nobles are Evil, and they'll stop listening to them."

“I don’t actually know about that. Before I thought only archdukes or heroes from stories came back after dying. But if the archmages bring all of us back, that changes things.”

”It isn’t just nobles you need to watch out for. Normal people can read pamphlets and then make bad decisions. Some of my friends— not friends anymore– wanted to kill the archduke who summoned the skeletons, and who summoned an angel for you. Never met him, but the pamphlet said he was evil. Same might happen to you. Someone who never met you reads this and thinks you’re evil. Decides to kill you for it.”

Would people really believe — yes, people misinterpreted Valia's speech as saying go murder a bunch of innocent people, there are absolutely people who would believe a pamphlet saying she should hang, even if the only reason the pamphlet was upset about her was that she helped Valia with her speech. If some random Evildoer murders her... it'll still suck, obviously, and she won't even be able to use it to show why the Evil nobles are Evil, but it doesn't feel like the sort of thing that would be worth an innocent person dying to stop.

"...Do you need guards? I don't know what happened to you—"

“I don’t think so. Maybe one, if he knows how to read and I can ask him to do that too. But what happened to me was my own fault.”

"...What happened to you?"

“Pretty sure I’m not getting arrested but still best not to say too much, unless you really want. Thought I was about to die, that night. Then thought I had to run or get arrested, in hiding for a bit. Met some of the families out here, some decent people. But it’s all okay now, thank good. I’m back, and ready to fight. Not actually, unless we have to, but ready to argue in committees and on the floor and all.”

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, if I get arrested again — not that I'm planning to! — they might read it out of my mind. But I don't think the Queen would have you punished for whatever happened if you weren't doing anything wrong. She might have you arrested, just to find out what happened, but—

—when I got arrested, I thought I was going to die. I knew the Queen had arrested Valia, and that she was angry about the speech, and Valia's a priestess of Iomedae so I thought she might end up being okay but I'm not. No one would hold it against her if she had a random Calistrian executed, they'd all just assume I'd done something to deserve it. And when I got arrested I had started to think that the Queen was Evil, but even if she were just Neutral I'd've expected her to have me killed there.

But it turns out she actually is Good, and so she let me go. So I think she'd let you go, too, if you didn't do anything wrong."

Enric knows better than to assume things are okay just because someone was released. Sometimes a noble will drag someone away and then let him go. Then drag him in again and have everyone who gave him hospitality beaten. (Enric still thinks it was worth it, giving the man some extra bread and eggs.) Then let him go, just so he has to sleep outside and starve. Then take him in again and feed him like a noble for a few days. Then release him into the forest to be hunted for sport. 

It doesn’t seem like that’s what the queen is doing. There’s all the public fair trials and the actually being good. Better to stay safe, though. Good queens are still nobles; it’s dangerous to come to their attentions 

”I don’t trust that being arrested is safe, not as much as you do. Even with a good queen, there’s also still nobles who… well you heard them in there. I also don’t know for sure if I did wrong or not—“

It was dark, he can’t remember how many moments it was, how many moments for it to stop being defense and start being revenge. Enric knows she probably thinks it’s good either way. Makes him want to tell her even less. 

“But— Thank good that you are okay. I think they shouldn’t have made you scared you were going to die the whole time. I forget exactly how the cleric said it, but, good should be safe for other good.”

"I don't really think there's anything they could've done that wouldn't have made me think I was going to die, except not arresting me in the first place." She thought she was probably going to die even before they found out about the arson. "The woman who asked me questions told me they weren't allowed to mistreat me and I didn't believe her, I hadn't figured out yet that the Queen was actually Good all along.

—also, uh, it turns out I'm actually Chaotic Neutral. I thought I was Chaotic Good but apparently Good priests always channel positive and I don't yet. And I mean, I think the Crown should be safe for Neutral people too, but it wouldn't really be surprising if a Lawful Neutral queen, or even a Lawful Good queen who wasn't trying very hard, wasn't safe for Chaotic Neutral people."

That makes sense. In rights, she seemed halfway from evil to good. Good ideas for rights, but needed to be convinced that torture and hell are bad. 

“I heard that, in some places, they have paladins go from village to village to be the law. That works for people knowing they’re safe, since paladins can’t hurt anyone innocent. Doesn’t matter much what I think, though. They took judiciary. But at least they gave it to the paladin archduke.”

”About you being chaotic neutral, I think I found out something like that too. I’m a radical now. Not a chaotic neutral one, radical but on the side of heaven.”

Enric wasn’t sure if someone could be radical and also for heaven, but he realized Valia was. So Enric can try that, except instead of giving speeches and denouncing people, he can be on committees and try to get more rights for everyone.

The paladins idea sounds really good, way better than what was happening under Asmodeus. Maybe they can just keep doing that forever. (Is there a way to get that through the Rights Committee? "People have a right to have their trials decided by people who definitely aren't Evil Asmodeans?" The Evil nobles will obviously be against it, but if they have to explain why surely all the normal people will realize the nobles just want to get away with hurting them.)

"I'm honestly still not totally sure what they mean by 'radical,' like as far as I can tell they're basically just using it to mean anyone who thinks nobles shouldn't be allowed to just hurt anyone weaker than them as much as they want and get away with it because they're nobles."

“It means that, you got it right. But it’s also drinking coffee and calling people Citizen and drinking coffee and reading old constitutions. It’s something to do with Galt, that’s why everyone is so scared of it.”

"On the diabolism committee Delegate Thrune — uh, I don't know if you heard, one of the noblemen is a Thrune from hundreds of years ago — kept telling us that not letting Evil nobles stay in power was basically the same as what they did in Galt. But I don't really think that makes sense if you aren't an Evil noble, the problem with Galt was that they killed a bunch of innocent people and none of us — none of us want to — none of us wanted — I guess a bunch of people in Westcrown did decide to go murder innocent people. But I don't think anyone here wants to kill innocent people except the Evil nobles, and I guess also Delegate Ibarra, and I think — when the nobles try to compare not wanting people to be ruled by Asmodeans who keep hurting them and getting away with it to wanting things to go like they did in Galt, the only people that comparison makes sense for is Evil nobles? And wanting that or drinking coffee or reading constitutions or calling people 'Citizen' aren't going to randomly make anyone decide to murder innocent people. —I call almost everyone here Delegate but it's not mostly about being a radical, I just don't know all the titles I'm supposed to use."

A thrune from a hundred years ago… Enric was pretty sure that story was made up. Archdukes usually get old like normal people do, but maybe this one’s an elf. Or brought back by the gods and wizards.

“It makes sense because—“ He pauses for a moment, trying to figure out how to say something.

“We weren’t trying to kill innocent people. We were trying to get to heaven.”

”Sometimes a noble or a priest of asmodeus or a bandit will hurt and kill innocent people, just for fun. But normal people don’t do that. Most people in Westcrown are— not good, it’s a city, but more neutral than evil. Didn’t think they were killing innocent people, thought we were doing what Valia told us to, killing evildoers to get to heaven.”

”I was with the men who threw Lluisa in the river. Tried to stop them. They weren’t asmodeans or bandits or nobles. We all lived together in lodging house. One man worked at a butcher, sometimes brought back some leftover bits of bird or pig. One knew how to read, we all listened when he read a novel or pamphlet. Common people. Not evil— or a little bit evil but not evil enough to murder innocents for no reason.”

”They threw Lluisa in the river because they thought she was evil. Lawyers are evil, make their money from tricking people and stealing souls to sell to hell. They didn’t know that she’s a good lawyer for heaven now. It’s hard to tell when someone changed from evil to good. They just saw that she was a lawyer. That’s as bad as an evil noble, so they grabbed her and threw her in.”

”I heard of some people who tried to burn down the house where the mayor lived. Because he was an evil noble, one of the worst. Burning down a house with an evil noble, sometimes we have to do that. Can’t win a fight against a noble and guards. But the mayor was already gone. An innocent family was living there, people say. Tried to kill an evil noble but they ended up burning an innocent family.”

”Galt was like that too, I think. Everyone trying to fight evil. They didn’t want to kill everyone, but they kept thinking innocent people were evil. There’s still good reasons to be radical but— that’s why they are scared.  Galt killed good nobles and good commoners, thinking they were all evil.”

Victòria really doesn't think it's as hard to not murder innocent people as everyone keeps saying. She's never killed an innocent person. Sure, maybe if you don't even bother to check that you're killing the right person you'll mess it up, but it's not usually that hard to tell — or, well, at first she did think Lluïsa was Evil, but she wouldn't have murdered her over it. 

"I think — so, one of the things I was talking about with the azata was that people need to be careful about killing Evildoers, you've got to make sure you've got the right person, you've got to make sure you don't accidentally kill a bunch of innocent people to get at the Evildoer, that sort of thing. You shouldn't just go out and murder someone because of something you read in the pamphlets, or assume that anyone who's a lawyer, or even a nobleman, definitely deserves to die. 

But I think you can be careful, if you're trying to be. When they arrested me they didn't just assume I'd done something wrong, they asked me a lot of questions and read my mind so they could know for sure. And one of the things they told me, during the interrogation, is that there was a group of people on the third who only killed Evil nobles, and didn't kill anyone innocent at all, and I think if everyone just did it like that things would be fine. —not that I'm, uh, inciting you to do that." She can't see anyone else in the room, but it's not safe to assume that the guards who are presumably watching her can't hear. Now that she thinks about it she should've warned Enric, but it would probably put him in more danger to warn him now.

"I don't know why that didn't work in Galt. I — it would be good if we could tell people that we don't want to hurt anyone innocent, but — that's what Valia was trying to do and people twisted it to make it sound like she'd said to murder innocent people and all the Evil nobles are trying to use it as an excuse to have her killed—"

“Don’t worry, I’m not incited. I really don’t want to have to fight.”

“You’re right that it’s better to be careful, ask lots of questions and don’t start trouble with strangers, all that. Like you say they did with—“

He still feels sick and angry about Victoria being arrested. She said they didn’t hurt her, but that just doesn’t feel true to Enric. ‘They drag you away and don’t hurt you’ isn’t a thing that happens.

Takes him a moment to catch his train of thought again. 

“I think the reason it didn’t work in Galt or in Westcrown is that getting rid of nobles is a fight, and you can’t really be careful in a fight. Everything happens fast, everyone is scared and angry, if you wait too long to ask questions then the other guy hits you in the face. Valia only wanted to fight the evil nobles, but once she started the fight she lost control. No one was in control, and innocent people got hurt. That wasn’t just evil people twisting her words to make it worse. When I first heard her give the speech, it was scary. I was ready to fight but I knew that, if a fight started right there, lots of people would have died. Evil and good.”

“Sometimes starting a fight is worth it, because stopping the evil is more important even if innocent people get hurt.” That part is true in the way that something’s true because it has to be. “Sometimes but not always. I think, right now, it’s better to not say things that would start a fight, especially if there’s another way to stop evil.”

”That’s part of what the convention is for. If the nobles all agree to the constitution, and it says they have to stop all the evil things they do, then we don’t have to get rid of them. Unless they don’t follow the constitution and the queen ends our help to stop them. But if they agree and follow it, there doesn’t have to be a fight.”

That last part was from one of those speeches Aroden gave, about what a constitution is for. It sounded better when he said it.