Marriette watched the meeting between the city council and the nobles fall apart, again. Each side was so sure the other was out to cheat them, they couldn't trust even a little.
Three years to figure out what the citizen councils should look like, while some screamed it was too slow and others too fast. Then another two years to set up the elections to choose the councillors. Five years of work forcing her to hand over running the schools to others.
Nikay had grown into a bright, cheerful boy, always willing to help, devoted to his younger sister, Beatifa, and she didn't see either one of them nearly as much as she wanted.
"We are done for today." Marriette stood up, interrupting an argument between a blacksmith and a minor noble over cobblestones. The men and women stared at her, th
