One more. Everyone knows that a successful revolution never solves everything right away and there are always people with something to complain about, even when things are still falling to pieces.
The Nightwings that end up liberated from the Downside all have huge parts to play in the rebellion so it would only make sense for them to take on some leadership role afterward.
Maybe I'll keep going with this, but long-form fic has always given me problems. I would love to see all of them back together though!

"-and so in conclusion, a task force is of the utmost necessity in order to protect the assets that still remain after Scribes' Return. Tensions are still high, and there's no telling what the more… rambunctious among the citizenry would do if they got a hold of it."

The Reader kneaded her temple. Lord Brandybark had been prattling on and on for several minutes longer than he really should have about the concerns of the diminished nobility in the wake of the demolition of the Commonwealth, and no few members of the council were throwing him dirty looks when they thought he wasn't looking. She barely managed to stifle a weary sigh.

"Your concerns have been noted Lord Brandybark," she said as evenly as she could, "but at the same time the population is in dire need of resources and protection themselves. We all have to make sacrifices."

Brandybark scoffed. "Those resources will be necessary to build up this Union, High Reader. Without the nobility we may as well deliver our heads to the Highwings and be done with it."

"That a threat Brandybark?" Almar snapped from the other end of the room. The Savage man was stood half out of his seat, poised and snarling like a Howler ready to pounce. "People like you are why a handful of people in this room were banished! You sat on your asses while we took the Commonwealth! We didn't need you then and we certainly don't need you now!"

From there the chamber erupted in shouted threats and hurled insults while the Reader tried to wear her temples to the bone with her fingertips. This is what all of these meetings had turned into recently. Not even Jodi, Hedwyn, Rukey, and Shae, all of whom were considered heroes for their involvement in the overthrow of the Commonwealth, could get a word in edgewise. The Commonwealth was well and truly overthrown but there were uncountable problems both civil and administrative that threatened to smother their fledgling Union before it could take its first step.

"I believe it might be wise to call the meeting, Dear One," Jodariel leaned down from beside the Reader's chair to whisper in her ear. The Reader felt her lips quirk up at the endearment, but she simply sighed in reply.

"Not yet," she said. In one fluid movement she pushed back her chair, planted her hands on the table before her, and stood.

Everyone in the room fell silent, though not of their own accord. There had been a ripple from around the Reader, like a stone thrown into a still pond, that was felt more than seen. The wave of her silent thought crashed over them all and they all felt the urge to go quiet. The Reader almost winced at the stunned looks on the council members faces. She greatly disliked using her power in such a manner, but it seemed that it had finally become necessary.

"That is enough," she said, calm but stern. "I know times are hard for us all but arguing like this isn't getting us anywhere. Lord Brandybark," she addressed the Sap with an even stare, "I'm aware of the prestige that your family once held within the Commonwealth but I'm afraid that if you are not willing to make concessions than I cannot in good conscience spare resources and man power to the protection of their estates. Any move they wish to make on that front will have to be through their own means and will not be officially sponsored by this council."

Brandybark, still compelled by the power of the Reader's mind to remain silent, could only scowl in reply. Across the room Almar smirked smugly before the Reader's cool gaze upon him swept it from his face. "And Almar," she said, "your involvement during Scribe's Return will always hold you in high esteem in my eyes but threats against any member of this council will not be tolerated. I hope I can trust you to be more cool-headed in the future."

Almar flushed in his embarrassment, but he, like everyone else in the room could not speak.

The Reader's eyes slowly tracked around the room, taking in every diverse face that was gathered there. "We are not the Commonwealth," she told them. "We cannot be like them, not if we want this Union to be something better. Every skill and every voice is important, but if we cannot all come together than we're all just shouting to see who can be the loudest. This future we hope to build cannot rest on the backs of individuals but rather must be shouldered by a community. I can't do this without you, and you can't do it without each other."

The Reader let out a slow breath, letting the waves of her thoughts lapse into stillness and releasing the council from her hold. Though no longer compelled the chamber was quiet, though it was a contemplative silence rather than an oppressed one.

"We will call this meeting for today," The Reader announced wearily. "We will meet again in three days time to discuss ongoing relief efforts. Please, spend this time to deliberate."

The only sound was the scraping of chairs as the council members pushed back from the tables and filed out, some casting furtive glances back at the Reader still standing before her seat at the head of the table. Eventually, the only ones who remained were those that the Reader trusted most; the Nightwings long since liberated from the Downside. When the doors finally fell closed with the departure of the last member, the Reader let out a heavy sigh and slumped back into her chair, pressing her fingers against her eyes. The pounding behind her temples from the usual stresses of the meeting had increased four-fold with the use of her powers. She was used to spreading her mind among three others, not two dozen.

"You alright there, sister?" she heard Rukey ask.

"I hate having to do that," she groaned. "It gives me such a headache."

"Well, it was certainly effective," Hedwyn offered. "I think that's the longest I've seen any of them go without talking."

"Ohh, they probably think I'm a tyrant," the Reader murmured, sinking further into her chair. "I should have listened to them instead of forcing them to be silent."

"And doing so would have gotten you nowhere," Jodariel told her, lightly stroking her hair. "As you so eloquently put it they were all just shouting to see who could be the loudest. It won't kill them to learn to listen to someone else for a change."

The Reader sighed, relaxing a little under Jodariel's touch. "No one told me that creating a Union would be like herding Howlers. I'm starting to wonder if we'll ever get them to cooperate."

"Oh, Miss Reader, don't worry," Shae reached out and took one of the Reader's hand, squeezing it tight. "The Scribes have blessed this Union! I know we will succeed!"

The Reader gave Shae a fond smile. Liberation had treated the little Moontouched girl well, feeding and clothing her and welcoming her with open arms despite her peculiarities, though somehow she still managed to get twigs and leaves caught in the gray cloud of her hair. Her eyes might as well be full of the Scribes' own stars for how bright they shone.

"Thank you, Shae," the Reader replied, squeezing back the hand that clenched hers. "Though honestly if they want to come down here and deal with this for me, that'd be an even greater blessing."

"Maybe they can."

Four heads whipped around and pinned Hedwyn with curious and confused looks until his face turned pink.

"Not literally," Hedwyn was quick to add. "I just remember Sandalwood saying that the Nightwings were formed to symbolize the second coming of the Scribes, and the people certainly seemed to take that to heart when we took the Commonwealth. But we didn't come back with everyone."

"Hedwyn, are you-"

"And even if we aren't actually the Scribes," Hedwyn plowed on ahead, "having a few more race representatives and administrative expertise could only help." His mouth snapped shut and he looked away as though embarrassed that he had even suggested it. But the words couldn't be taken back and it set a tiny flame of hope in the Reader's chest. She'd be lying if she said she'd never considered it, but she'd never given it voice, always convincing herself that it could never happen.

"C'mon Hedwyn," Rukey said with a half-hearted laugh. "Everyone knows that the Downside's a one-way trip." Even as he said it, though, there was a light shining in the Cur's eyes. The idea had taken root in everyone present.

"But what if it's not?" Hedwyn replied, a grin spreading slowly across his face now that he had captured their attention. "After all, the Messenger Imps could cross between the Commonwealth and the Downside and back again. There's got to be something."

"And if we find it," the Reader added, "we could do so much more than just free the other Nightwings." Eyes shifted their attention to her, but she hardly noticed as she pondered, hand on her chin. "Banishment to the Downside was a staple of the Commonwealth. What better way to show that we are different than to bring back the people wrongfully sent there? Not to mention all we could learn by studying the Downside itself."

"If it is even possible," Jodariel said grimly. "The Downside has been a place of banishment for centuries, and even the Scribes themselves never found a way to escape besides the Shimmer-Pool."

"The Scribes were resigned to their fate," the Reader told her. "I'm not sure they ever even considered another way. Neither do I believe they ever explored the whole of the Downside."

"Where would we even start?" Rukey asked. "The world's a big place, and something tells me that a way out of the Downside isn't gonna have a big old sign outside."

The Reader sighed in reply. "I don't think we'll be able to start at this moment. We're still in the midst of civil war and are in desperate need to rebuild. Manpower is not something we can spare."

"And," Jodariel added with half a frustrated growl, "this is a rash and dangerous notion the requires much more thought before we even consider attempting it. I hope you all realize that if we fail we may very well end up trapped there again, and I have no desire to see any of you sprout horns. I wish to see those trapped there liberated, but not at that risk." The long look she gave the Reader was tinged with fear, as though seeing in her mind's eye the cruel transformations the wasteland would wreak upon her.

"No, never that," she said softly, and it reined in the fire that had been growing ever brighter in the Reader's chest.

"Of course not, Dearest," the Reader answered, laying a hand over Jodariel's.

"Jodi is right, of course," she said to the others. "Such an undertaking must be handled with the utmost caution. I do, however, believe that if we succeed it will have been a risk worth taking. No until we're ready though," she gave Jodi a small smile and squeezed her hand. "Keep it in the back of your minds everyone."

With their collective nods, the Reader stood from her chair and stretched, feeling her back pop in a few places. "I'll see you all later then," she said. "Let me know if you find anything of note."

Hedwyn and Rukey called their farewells as they left the chamber, and Shae snatched quick hugs from Jodariel and the Reader before following. The Reader watched them go until her felt Jodi's hand lay softly across the back of her neck. "Come now, Dear One. You look exhausted," she said gently, leading the woman out the back of the chamber and down the corridor toward the room the Reader had claimed for herself within the Council Hall.

"Quite the day, Jodi," she answered, leaning slightly into Jodariel's side as they walked. She could feel her eyes drooping. "Such ideas though."

Jodi's face pinched just a little. "Now Reader," she said, "I know the thought is tantalizing, but you must promise me that you won't jump into this before we are ready."

"Oh, you old worrywart," the Reader teased, "you know I won't. I've got enough on my plate right now as it is. Besides, if I weren't around, the Council Members would just go around complaining to whoever they could get their hands on."

Jodi snorted out a short laugh. "Oh yes, my valiant little Reader, protecting the ears of the innocent citizens."

"But of course! I'm the only thing keeping their evil at bay!"

"Is that so?"

The Reader let out a squeal as Jodariel's arms wrapped around her waist and lifted her high into the air. "Well, they'll have to fend without their savior for a little while," Jodi chuckled as she nuzzled against her neck. "Because the Big Bad Demon is stealing her away to make sure she gets some sleep."

"Oh you villain!" The Reader gasped dramatically through her giggles. "However shall I escape?"

"As if you would want to," Jodi purred, tracing light kisses across the Reader's scarred cheek.

"Ah, you've discovered my one weakness," she sighed, catching Jodi's mouth for a quick kiss. "I suppose they can all do without me for a little while."