The mayor shifted in his bed and sat more upright. Kiri could see the worry and concern on his face. She knew that he wouldn’t get any more sleep this evening, once she left, he would toss and turn, fighting to get back to sleep. But, with too many concerns on his mind, he will finally give up.
“I don’t know much. He doesn’t tell me anything. He just comes to me to convince people to do what he wants. He says, because they’ll listen to me.”
“Come on Mayor, I know better than that. They may not share the info with you but I know that you hear things and you know more of what’s happening than you let on.” Kiri said, “Or have you become one of them and join the ranks of The Envahir?”
“NEVER!” the Mayor said with force trying to not raise his voice. “This is MY town. I was one of the people who started this town and built it up from nothing. Long before you can even remember. Even before you and your father came to this town. Yes, I remember when you and your father came to town.” the mayor said, seeing the look on Kiri’s face.
“You were young, quite young and your father was a good man who just wanted to make a life for you and him. He struggled to make ends meet but was happy to be here and was more happy, or should I say proud of you. I was not a close friend of his but I could say that I knew him well enough to know that he would be very proud of the young lady you have become.
You weren’t the only ones who came; I saw everyone who came to this town and watched the town grow over the years. I celebrated every triumph and witnessed the disaster when the tornados ripped through the town destroying everything in its path. But I also saw the townspeople resilience when they crawled out from beneath the rubble and began to rebuild. It showed me how much these townspeople cared for one another, how they put aside their differences and worked together to help each other. You may be too young to remember but, that is how your bar became an inn. The roof was ripped right off of the place. When we began to talk about rebuilding, everyone agreed that we needed rooms to rent out for travelers and it could house those who needed it, until their homes were rebuilt. So we added the second floor onto your place.” the Mayor said.
“And now it’s nothing but a pile of ashes.” Kiri said with sadness.
“You watch, once this disturbance with the Envahir blows over, the people of this town will rebuild; and that includes your place, if that’s what you want.
But like I said, this is my town; I care about this town and everything that happens to it and the people who live here. I am proud of this town and to be the mayor and have a hand in shaping its direction. So I do not take the invasion of the Envahir lightly, and for you to even suggest that I have joined their ranks offends me.
I may not have taken an active stance against them and it would have been suicide for me to do so. So I felt it more prudent to stay in their good graces and learn what I may and wait for my opportunity.
Besides, I had no choice, they …” Mayor Smithson fell silent.
Kiri could see that he had become quite nervous.
“What? What is it?” Kiri asked.
She thought he wasn’t going to answer when he began to speak in a barely audible whisper.
“They know things about me, not good things. They’ve threatened to use them against me if I ever went against them. I know it sounds silly but, these things would destroy my life and my family. So I had no choice but to do what they asked of me. They also said I should never tell anyone about it or they would expose me. You, you are the only one I have told, I haven’t even told my wife. Please, please, you can’t say anything; promise me you won’t say anything.” Mayor Smithson begged, curled up and crying in fear and relief.
“I promise.” Kiri whispered.
Kiri waited for the mayor to calm down.
“If they have this type of control over you, who else might they have control over? Mayor this is all the more reason that we need to take a stand now. So that you and all of our townspeople can be free of Voler and the Envahir’s control.” Kiri said.
“What do you want me to do?” Mayor Smithson asked.
“First I want to know what the plans Voler has for taking
The mayor looked at Kiri and she noticed that he seemed more relaxed and at ease; she realized that a heavy burden had been lifted from him. She was right, the mayor didn’t care at this point what became of himself, he only wanted to make things right; because he knew that if they didn’t take care of him, Voler would never leave.
“Like I said, I don’t know much because he doesn’t tell me things but, I do overhear some things and I pick up bits of information. I overheard Voler and his right hand man, Epier talking the other day.”
Kiri was surprised when she heard Epier’s name but was thankful her emotion was hidden in the darkness.
The mayor continued, “They were saying that they were going to seal off the roads to Capital City and send in people to take over and manipulate the town leaders much in the same way they people of this town had been.” The mayor hung his head in shame.
“What else?” Kiri asked.
“They said that they were beginning, well, it will be two days from now. They also said that our town was to become a prison; and if something went wrong, the remaining soldiers were to destroy it and all the townspeople.”
“Here is what I need from you. I want you to convince Voler to allow you to be one of the people who go into
“I, I can’t do that, he would kill me immediately!” the mayor said. “Why would he let me do that? Besides he wouldn’t let me go alone, he’d think I’d escape.”
“No he won’t, he won’t kill you. He has too many things beginning all at once; he won’t have the time to check the validity of your information so, he has to take you for your word. He’ll like the idea of you getting the information because you will look less suspicious and, you said it yourself, ‘You can convince people to do what you want, because they’ll listen to you.’ As you gain the ‘information’, quietly inform the City leaders of the planned attack and to instruct them to prepare quietly.
As for Voler not letting you go alone I agree, he won’t want you out of his sights; so make sure that he sends Epier as your escort.” Kiri instructed.
“What! Are you crazy? His right hand man.” the mayor exclaimed.
“Don’t ask questions; just accept that it may be your best bet to pull off that which you have been asked to do.” Kiri explained.
“What if these plans don’t work? What happens then, what will happen to the town?” the Mayor asked.
Kiri was silent for a little while, thinking.
“Over the years as mayor, have you not made a few unpopular decisions?” the mayor shook his head at her question, “I’m sure that of all the decisions you made, not all of them completed flawlessly. But, those decisions made but a ripple in the pond because there was a bigger picture which you could see. You were able to work towards that bigger picture and see it to completion and the small disturbances were nothing more than an inconvenience. That is the way these plans are; don’t fret if these plans don’t work out, there is a bigger picture which we will see to completion. But I have faith in you.” Kiri said as she began to back out of the door. Stopping at the door, she said, “and Mayor, I’m sure you can begin to see that bigger picture for your town again.” and she was gone.
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