A/N: A shoutout to my anonymous reviewer! Trouble is indeed on the way. ;) Glad you liked it!
Chapter 14
Councilman Barat opened the door to the temporary Council Chambers, letting Glinda and Lieutenant Bayram into the room. The two quickly took their seats and were surprised that the new Councilman wasn't there. Barat quickly explained that the Councilman just wanted to freshen up in the restroom. It was a long trip from Quadling Country and no one could blame him.
"Lady Glinda!" A few minutes later the surprise by the new Councilman was realized by all in the room.
"Hello sir! Don't worry I'm not expecting anything but you introducing yourself and us explaining anything you need explained," the blonde smiled at the man whose dark, ruddy complexion seemed to deepen, as if he was blushing. The tall man quickly took the seat formerly occupied by his predecessor.
"Thank you for welcoming me to the Emerald City in this tumultuous time. My name is Chalumpo. I must admit, I have not been filled in as to why Councilman Pepi's seat was vacated," he said.
"Regrettably, he attempted an assassination, in the name of the Wizard and the Gale Force quickly dealt with him," Glinda explained. Chalumpo nodded and his mouth formed in an "o".
"I'm Lieutenant Bayram, assistant to Lady Glinda. We have asked you here today to indeed fill Pepi's seat but we also need to know what the temperature of Quadling Country is," the Lieutenant spoke up.
"We are a simple people but that does not put us immune to those beings around us. I fear that Pepi is… ah was… not alone in his convictions. I have no illusions and have seen what the so-called leader of Oz was up to. The Wizard is no friend of mine, nor is he a friend of all Quadlings. Do you fear something that you haven't mentioned yet?" Chalumpo wanted to know.
"Civil War my good man," Fekri spoke up.
"It is that bad here in the Emerald City?" He asked. Quite obviously his superiors hadn't informed him of much – sending him into the lion's den as it were.
"Former Gale Force have attempted to storm the Palace. We have held them back with the help of the Vinkus and now have back up from some in Gillikin. Our fear is that if we attempt to strong arm those that support the Wizard, then we'll find ourselves in a fight that will only get innocent people killed," Arif told him.
"Ah. I see. So you wish for my fellow Quadlings to come here and fight to prevent a larger fight?" Chalumpo wondered.
"No, we'd like for you to do is to speak to your leaders back home and see if you could get them to swear allegiance to Lady Glinda. We're hoping that will be enough to get people to realize that things have changed. We want you to tell them that we are having a trial for the Wizard. It will not be a show trial. He will have a defense attorney and he will be afforded the belief of innocence before guilt. This will be a defining moment in the history of Oz as no leader has ever been tried for treason," Glinda spoke up.
"I'll need a full list of crimes and what exactly he's being charged with. If I can show that there is little hope of him worming his way out of this mess, that he's gotten himself into, it might convince the leaders of my country to realize this is no joke," the new Councilman said.
"Yes, this will be no sham trial. We will all live with the consequences but I can assure you that we do not see how he'll be able to avoid a conviction," Bayram explained.
"If he is convicted, that would mean a death sentence. Do you not worry that, that action will make him a martyr?" Chalumpo asked.
"If he is sentenced to life, he will continue to be a danger to society. There will be those who will try and break him out. Also, he's not fit for banishment as we cannot tightly control our borders to ensure that he wouldn't sneak back in," Glinda said.
"A pickle indeed. Then we must follow the legal recourse. It is the only thing separating us from chaos. Ok, let us go over everything and I will draft a letter to my superiors," the new Councilman said.
"Regrettably, this needs to be done in person. Letters can be intercepted and news distorted. We will offer you Gale Force soldiers to escort you back to Quadling Country in a few days. Your cohorts will be doing the same," the blonde told him. Chalumpo nodded. It was going to be a long week.
To Be Continued…