"I've worked hard to make sure that everyone has an equal voice, Anita. I can't pull rank now. It would undo everything I've tried to change."
"Ideals are great in theory, Richard, but they don't work too well in real life."
"I disagree," he said. His anger was already leaking away. He just sounded tired.
"I'm not going to argue things we've been arguing since we met. I'm going to concentrate on the things I can change. And no matter how much we want to, we can't change each other, Richard. We are what we are." My voice was uncertain again, full of some of the emotion I was feeling. "So, is Gregory okay?"
"He's okay."
"I want him back, you know that."
"I know that." His anger was making a comeback.
"Now that I'm not lupa, not pack, how do I get him back?"
"You have to come to the lupanar tomorrow night and petition for him."
"What do you mean, 'petition for him?' "
"You have to prove yourself worthy. There'll be some kind of test."
"Like multiple choice, essay, what?"
"I don't know yet. We're ... voting on it."
"Fuck, Richard, there's a reason why we have a representative democracy in this country, not a pure one. Pure one person, one vote, just doesn't work well. You can't decide anything that way."
"They're deciding, Anita. You're just not liking the way it's going."
"How could you take Gregory? How could you do that?"
"As soon as I realized what had happened, I knew that the pack would vote you out. Most of them weren't happy with you even before. You weren't pack, and they didn't like that. The fact that you've avoided them--all of them--for six months didn't help."
"I had to get my shit together before I could come back, Richard."
"And while you were getting your shit together, mine was falling apart."
"I'm sorry, Richard, I am. But I didn't know."
"Tomorrow night at the lupanar, about an hour after dark. You can bring all your wereleopards and any other shapeshifters that are your allies. If it were me, as Ulfric, I'd bring the wererats."
"I'm not lupa anymore, so they aren't my allies, are they?"
"No," he said, and the anger was gone again. Richard never could hold a grudge for long.
"What happens if I don't win Gregory back?"
He didn't answer me, just the sound of his breathing on the phone. "Richard, what happens to Gregory?"
"He'll be judged by the pack."
"And?"
"If he's convicted of killing our lupa, it's a death sentence."
"But I'm right here, Richard. I'm not dead. You can't kill Gregory for killing me, when he didn't do it."
"I delayed the judgment until you were well enough to attend. It was the best I could do."
"You know, Richard, sometimes it's good to be king. A king gets to pardon whomever he wants, a king gets to fuck whomever he wants."
"I know that."
"Then be king, Richard, really be king. Be their Ulfric, not their president."
"I'm doing what I think best for them all."
"Richard, you can't do this."
"It's already done."
"Richard, if I fail your little test, I will not let you execute Gregory. Do you understand me?"
"You won't be allowed to bring guns into the lupanar, just knives." His voice had gone very careful.
"I remember the rule. But Richard, are you listening to me? Are you understanding me?"
"If we try to execute Gregory tomorrow night, you'll fight us, I understand. But understand this, Anita, your leopards are no match for us, not even with Micah and his pard. We outnumber you five to one, maybe more."
"It doesn't matter, Richard. I can't stand by and watch Gregory die, not for something stupid like this."
"Will you try to save one of your cats and risk losing them all? Do you really want to see what would happen if they tried to fight their way out of the lupanar, through the pack? I wouldn't want to see it."
"This is ... damn it, Richard, don't put me in a corner, you won't like it."
"Is that a threat?"
"Richard ..." I had to stop in mid-sentence and count slowly under my breath. But counting to ten wasn't going to do it, maybe a bijillion. "Richard," my voice came out calmer, "I will save Gregory, whatever it takes. I will not let the wolves slaughter my leopards, whatever that takes. You lost your temper and took one of my leopards. You made your pack a freaking democracy, where you don't even have presidential veto. Are you really going to compound the mistakes by starting a war between your pack and my pard?"
"I still think that everyone having a voice is a good idea."
"It's a great idea, but it's not working, is it?" He was quiet again. "Richard, don't do this."
"It's out of my hands. I'm sorry, Anita, you don't know how sorry."
"Richard, you won't really let them execute Gregory. I mean, not really."
Silence again.
"Richard, talk to me."
"I'll do what I can, but I've lost the vote on it. I can't change that."
"Can you really stand by and watch him die for something he didn't do?"
"How do you know he didn't infect you on purpose?"
"I was there. He fell on top of me with two of the snake things riding him. It was an accident. He kept them from cutting out my heart. He saved my life, Richard, and this is damn poor payment."
"He couldn't have turned his claws aside at the last minute?" Richard asked.
"No, it all happened too fast."
He laughed, but it was bitter. "You've been around us so long, and you still don't understand what we are. I could turn aside in less than a blink of an eye. Gregory isn't slower than I am. As a leopard he's quicker, more agile."
"Are you saying he did this on purpose?"
"I'm saying that he had a fraction of a second to decide what he'd do, and he decided to keep you as their Nimir-Ra. He made the choice to take you from me."
"And you're going to make him pay for that. Is that it?"
"Yeah, that's it."
"With his life?"
He sighed. "I don't want him dead, Anita. But when I first found out what he'd done, I wanted to kill him myself. I wanted it so badly I didn't trust myself around him, so I had him taken somewhere safe until I could cool down. But Jacob got wind of it, and forced a vote."
"Who's Jacob?"
"My new Geri, third in charge behind Sylvie."
"I've never heard of him before."
"He's new."
"Damn, third in line, and he's new. He's either a very good fighter, or a very vicious one, to win that many fights in less than half a year."
"He's good, and he's vicious."
"Is he ambitious?" I asked.
"Why?"
"If Jacob hadn't forced a vote, would you have given Gregory back to me?
He remained quiet so long, that I finally asked, "You still there?"
"I'm here. Yes, I would have given him back to you. I can't kill him for what he's done."
"So Jacob set in motion something that's stripped you of a powerful ally-- me---and forced you to declare war on another group--the wereleopards. He's been a busy boy."
"He's just doing what he thinks is right."
"Jesus, Richard, how can you still be this naive?"
"You think he wants my job?"
"You know he wants your job. I can hear it in your voice."
"If I'm not strong enough to hold the pack, then it's Jacob's prerogative to challenge me. But he's got to defeat Sylvie first, and she's as good as he is-- and as vicious."