Em hurriedly grabbed up the sachet of crystals and stones on the bedside table and a leather-bound journal and stuffed both in the hand-made sling bag that had once been a deep purple but was faded and worn from years of use. She rummaged in a drawer for an old sock, in which she'd been keeping all the coins she'd come across over the past few months. Em heard her name being called by many different voices. As they got closer she stuffed her feet into boots (but didn’t lace them up) and, unable to locate her jacket (which her sister Goody probably “borrowed”), yanked on an over-sized flannel before rolling herself into the floor of the closet. Though it was not a messy space, the clothes hung down far enough that if she drew her limbs close and was perfectly still, she could easily hide from anyone who came to look for her.

Such as her brother, who burst through the door of the small bedroom in an angered frenzy.

“This isn’t a game, Em, Mom's mad as hell,” he shouted. He didn’t even come in to find her, just gave the room a once-over from the door before running back down the hall.

As soon as he was gone Em straightened and pressed herself against the back of the closet. She felt the porous paint beneath her palm and focused on the texture, and the wall, and cleared her mind to see beyond the wall. She could see the entire house, like the walls were glass, and could see the cloudy summer sky above. 

Exhaling, Em merged with that world. She moved through the wall like a shadow, or like water, and lifted through the ceiling and up to the roof. She planted her feet on the shingles and took in the wonderful wind that wiped around her. The house stood atop a hill and the tree had been cleared enough that she could see the village spread out over all the bridged mountainous islands, and could see the dappled shadows of the clouds as the wind drove them over the rolling landscape. Em knew that there would be little chance of seeing shadows and spirits on a day like this, and she was grateful for that (considering the news that had the villagers in a tizzy). It was a bright day, and warm despite the strong gusts. She used that wind to unfurl great feathered wings that caught the breeze and lifted her away from the house. It was a wonderfully freeing sensation to have herself pulled high above the ground and the house and above the swaying trees. 

If her mom wasn't mad before, now she was going to be furious. 

Em didn't land right in the middle of the market. She lighted in the top of one of the towering oaks and let the conjured wings blow away from her body like milkweed tufts. From there she skillfully descended down the twisting limbs and rough trunk, as she had done many times over the years. It was crowded enough in the market that she could step out from behind the tree and merge seamlessly with the bustling villagers without drawing too much attention. At least, no one thought to ask where she ever came from. 

Em tucked her hands in her pockets and looked casually at all the stalls as she passed. Most were just tents or lean-to's, set up quickly by traveling merchants, and others were more permanent store-fronts pieced together out of tin and wood and, for more well-off shopkeeps, salvaged cinder blocks. Most traveling shops had wares like fabrics and spices, traded for and gathered from other villages and townships around the outskirts of the Sister Cities. One booth was laden with blades so finely crafted that Em knew they had to be illegally obtained from the Faefolk and Angels. And by illegal she meant stolen from battle fields by underpaid soldiers during those few overwhelmingly lost battles some four decades prior. The Governance had tried to collect all non-human contraband but had (clearly) never been successful.

Though she saw many enticing artifacts and wares, Em was on a mission. At the end of the Market street was an eccentric cart with faded paint on the sides and charms and chimes hanging from the eaves. The removable hanging sign beside the presently unlit lantern said “Mama Bane”. Mama Bane rarely had customers other than Em, though there were times when Em saw a villager or two sneaking in and out of her mobile shop for her potions and wards. Mama Bane was a witch, a shaman and a medicine woman. Her appearances in the village market were unpredictable and rare, so when Em knew Mama was in town she forsook everything to pay the old witch a visit. 

Often, Em came looking for practical magical aids, which his how she came about her crystals. Their initial meeting was purely happenstance according to Mama Bane, though Em had her suspicions. The witch had come directly to the front door of her parent's house when Em was seven years old and ready their fortunes despite her mother's livid protests. In those readings she hinted to knowing about Em's abilities, and said that she could help Em learn to control the inhuman powers she'd been given through her dreams. “The only control she'll have is the control to never use them,” Em's mother, Maisel, had screamed louder than Em ever heard in her life. There would be none of that talk in her home, none of that nonsense. If Em's father was embarrassed he didn't show it, but he also didn't seemed surprised by Mama Bane's announcement. In fact, he walked her back out to her cart, paid her for the readings, and even snuck Em out of the house with him claiming to his wife that he was taking her with him to see what was involved with a village council meeting, and instead took her to the Market street where Mama Bane had set up shop and left her in her care for the day.

Mama Bane taught the basics of magic, from which she built up to lessons of conscious manipulation and control of what Em's mother called a curse. She taught Eden many things about the history of Humankind and about what exactly Em was. 

“43 years ago, the world of Men changed. Were humans ready for the changes that came? No. Have they now learned from those changes? Also no,” Mama storied. “And I'm of course speaking broadly. Here and there some humans have learned to accept change and change themselves... and their beliefs, in turn.”

“Humans like me?” young Em had asked. She had at that time learned many things about fairies and angels and the broad spectrum of “demons”. All things considered monstrous and dangerous to humans. Em had quickly taken up magic and communicating with spirits and even the mindful tempering of her own dreams. Mama had both cautioned Em about listening to the spirits and entities that called to her in her sleep even moreso than when she was awake, as they could more easily hide their true forms. But she also warned that if Em always took her dreams for dreams, she would miss messages from those beings that chose her. Em did not question Mama even if she did not fully understand what that implied, at least until the following response. Mama Bane's smile was one Em would not forget, even though she hadn't seen it since. The old woman looked amused, and proud, like there was a secret she finally got the chance to expose.

“Oh no,” she had said. “Not like you at all. It's true you've learned their ways, and have come to respect them and the rituals that keep order grant humans a sliver of the power that those once Unseen beings hold. But humans like you and I, we're something special. You even more than me.”

“What do you mean?”

“You told me when I first came to your home that you learned your first powers through dreams,” Mama Bane recalled.

“There were things that showed me how to move things with my mind and control people with my thoughts.”

“You and I are what are called Sidereal,” Mama revealed. “We are humans chosen by entities, or spirits, gods of old and their hosts. By being chosen, we are granted powers specific to their abilities.”

“How do I know who chose me?” Em asked, anxious and excited to find out if she had some patron who had selected her, above all others. Her own mother didn't want her. Was there something who actually did care for her, and what happened to her?

“For me, the answer was very forthcoming. And for most Sidereal it is,” Mama Bane said. Then she shook her head. “But this is what makes you even more special than the average Sidereal. We tend to be chosen by one, and only one. But you, dear Emma, have many who have chosen you. Beings and creatures which don't even have a name known by Man.”

“How do you know?” Em questioned, head spinning.

“I listen,” Mama had said. “And I see. And someday you will hear and see and understand as I have learned to.”

Such a time had not yet come to Em, not really, but she did have more of an understanding than she did at that time in her life. 

But Em was not coming to Mama's traveling emporium today for a lesson, per say. Em was here with questions, but not the kind that delved into Sidereal or magic or herbal concoctions. She was here with questions about the rumors she had heard other merchants share in frightened whispers, as though the Governance had spies amongst them. 

Mama Bane knew it was Em before she had swung open the door. She did not pause nor turn around from her hanging of dried herbs from the cart rafters. Only her blue-eyed calico, Agatha, immediately ran to Em's side and circled her legs, mewing loudly. Em bent down to massage behind the cat's ears. 

“I would have thought you'd be here earlier,” Mama said. Em was not surprised or sheepish by the assumption.

“I had to work a little harder to escape this morning. We're all expected to arrive for a council meeting since my father is the Mayor's second in command. Something big is happening, but I don't know what.”

“Which is why you're here,” Mama Bane said knowingly. “You've questions about what I may have seen in other towns and villages around the cities.”

Em nodded. Mama Bane finally stopped her work and faced Em. She dusted off her hands on the patchwork apron and climbed down off the stool she was using as a step ladder. She gestured to the small propane stove with her head.

“Tea?”

“Yes, please.”

As Mama twisted the knob and moved the kettle, Em grabbed the cups from the lower cupboard. There was a plain white cup that Em always took her tea from, and she knew Mama Bane's favorite was the one with a mint-green rim and cascade of painted roses on the body. 

“I think the sage, blackberry leaf and Helichrysum will be the best blend for us today. Grab a scoop out of the customer bins if you would,” Mama directed.

“Doesn't this induce vivid dreams?” Em asked.

“The Helichrysum alone does, but this blend is ideal for calming and clearing the mind,” Mama patiently explained. “And besides, any answers you don't receive today you may wish to dream about tonight, no? Come, sit now. The water will take a minute or two.”

Em pulled out Mama's chair to sit, and Agatha leapt into her owner's lap. Mama Bane's dark and leathery hands held the speckled feline with gentle care and she started to comb the chromatic fur as Em took her own seat. 

“So, before I share what I know, why don't you tell me what you've heard,” she invited. Em inhaled, knowing what she wanted to say but not really knowing where to start.

“I heard the Baker saying that he'd heard from the spice-seller that the Governance was sending suits out to the villages. That they were interviewing local leadership and offering citizenship to their nearest city. Some of the merchants are saying that they are not offering citizenship, and that it's just charlatans taking people to sell to wealthy buyers in the capitol. Some say they are offering monetary rewards for turning in half-breeds and...people like us. Although Gokhan at the weapon's booth was saying that he only heard of them going to places that specifically had Sidereal citizens.”

The kettle started to squeal, and Em jumped up so that Mama wouldn't have to move Agatha from her lap. 

“Two sugars, dear,” Mama requested. Em placed the cup in front of her and sat back down herself, dropping the tea ball up and down so that the herbs bled into the water. She watched Mama do the same, taking her time to talk. It was clear to Em that she was calculating what she intended to share, or how to share what she'd seen.

“Is that all that you've heard?” Mama asked. Em nodded.

“Your weapons dealer is correct. The Governance is going to places where Sidereal have been seen or reported,” she sighed. “They are speaking with local leaders and they are trying to extend free passes into the capitol in particular. Those who go willingly do get all they are offered, so long as the Sidereals of their town agree to attend the ”

“Why?” Em frowned. “You said that the Governance wanted to root out and destroy Sidereal as traitors.”

“In the beginning, over four decades ago, that was exactly the case,” Mama agreed. “And there is undoubtedly a steady fear and disgust that resonates through Nons when they hear the title. To them we are the same as half-breeds, which in so-called 'proper' circles are deemed as no better than beasts. They are often collected as oddities for viewing in sideshows and museums.”

“Nons are regular humans?” Em guessed.

“Yes. And in the cities, Sidereal are divided into categories based on their abilities – Sidereal with abilities that only have physical effect or who only have abilities that cannot be detected visually are simply Sidereal, but Dua is the term for a Sidereal with both physical and mental abilities. Like telekinesis and telepathy. And then there are Wings, though those are rare and dangerous and tend to die upon their choosing.”

Mama took a careful sip of her tea, then shook her head.

“Oh child, there are so many political tangles that ensnare the lives in the cities. So many things that I hoped you'd never have to know.”

Em thought, but sagely kept to herself, that that must be the reason why she was hearing these things for the first time. And it sounded like Mama suspected Em would hear more about it in the future.

“It has been many years since there have been battles between humans and those who are not. But in the last year two of the western Sister Cities have fallen to either non-humans or Sidereal. There were no survivors to hear first hand what happened, and no distress calls were sent from either city. I'm sure you can imagine the panic that caused. People my age, people who lived through the Cataclysm fear that another 'purge' is happening, so to speak.”

Em remembered this history. Where monsters came from the sea, and mythical beings from the forests, and from caverns beneath the earth to lay waste to humanity. Buildings were twisted up, and so were many people – Mama Bane said that some Unseen must have affected the magnetic field, causing metal to move like rubber. She had watched her mother's legs, fortified with plates and screws after an accident, bend and curl and roll like they were made of paper. Land rose and fell, and water poured from the seas inland. Angels rained fire from the skies, and allied with demons, and faeries in war against the unprepared and overwhelmed humans that were left. And then after a year of complete devastation, the attacks petered out and Sidereal began emerging. Humans began to resettle and reestablish themselves. Some gathered in former metropolises and banded with other cities to reform the government that had ultimately collapsed in the wake of cataclysm. Thus formed the five Sister Cities, with Newhere as the crowning capitol. Those who wished to live free of the new Governance and abide by their own rule formed towns and villages from the ruinous lands beyond the city walls.

“I suspect,” Mama continued, “as do many other Sidereal on the road, that the Governance is trying to build an army of Sidereal. Better to have them on their side than on the side of those gods and spirits that chose them.”

“If a Sidereal chooses to fight for the Governance...or, I guess, for something against their patron's wishes, can't their powers just be taken?” Em asked.

“In extreme cases I've heard of such, but mostly in the form of other Sidereal killing of any bad eggs,” Mama shrugged. “And usually by others chosen by the same patron. But the Governance had been using Sidereal on a small scale since the beginning. First to study, then to sell. Now most of the city Sidereal live among the wealthy socialites as mercenaries or body guards, though many choose a lawless life on the streets and dealing with activities considered by the Governance to be illegal. They have not yet been culled as traitors to their patrons.”

“If there are Sidereal in the cities already, why seek them out in the villages?”

“Fresh blood. New to the rules, new to the established order, new to the cliques and clans,” Mama Bane said. Then she leaned in, careful of Agatha sleeping in her lap. She gave Em a most serious look. “But Emma, you must remember, above all, that the Governance does not like to be told 'No'. They will get what they want.”

She eased away from the table. “Many of the northern villages already declined the Governance's proposal. Things did not go well for them.”

Em felt horrified. The Governance was spoken of with fear and no small amount of disdain, but many towns did not have but some bows and knives and maybe a handle of machetes for hunting. There was rarely any ammunition for guns if firearms were lucky enough to have survived the Cataclysm in some usable (or salvageable) condition. The cities had made new guns, new weapons of war, but they had the man power and the industry for such.

“Are they really so cruel as to attack villages that turn them down?”

“They do not attack villages. That would spark an uprising for certain, and even in the cities themselves are political activists who would oppose the violation of the sanctity of the villages and towns outside of the Governance's control. No,” Mama Bane said over her cup, “there have been accidents. Terrible, devastating accidents. Natural disasters that drive survivors into the cities' immigration offices as refugees.”

“Every time that they refuse, there is a natural disaster?” Em reiterated. 

“Every single time,” Mama assured pointedly emphasizing each word. “They probably have a meteor-kinetic Sidereal, or something of the like in their arsenal.”

Em clasped her hands beneath her chin, thinking feverishly. If this was all true, if the rumors were true, then – 

“Some suits from the Governance is coming here today,” she stated. Mama Bane nodded.

“Their emissaries are most likely meeting with your Council right now to discuss plans to assimilate your town's populace in exchange for your Sidereal population – for you – to wander right into their midst and become educated by them,” Mama said. She moved her cup aside and adjusted Agatha to lay on one arm. With the other she reached out for Em's hands. Mama Bane had been a very strict teacher, and a little coarse sometimes, but she was better than any mother Em had known. And now Mama looked like she was about to send her own daughter unprepared into a wolf den. Em took the old witch's hand.

“There is so much more I should have tried to teach you. So many things I wish I could say. I wish I could take you away right now and save you from what the spirits tell me is coming...But it will make you stronger, and you will have to apply what you've been able to learn from me in tandem with what you feel is right.”

Em moved around the table, not releasing Mama Bane's hand, and embraced her. The elder's coarse and steely hair that managed to escape from her head wrap tickled Em's cheek and filled her senses with an earthy warmth.

“Thank you Mama,” she said.

“Good luck child,” Mama Bane said. “I will be leaving as soon as you go to the meetinghouse, and I cannot say if or when we will meet again.”

“The spirits will tell you someday,” Em comforted. Mama laughed.

“As they may tell you,” she returned. Mama released her and waved her away.

“Now go on, git.”

Em ran down away from the Market, up and down two hills to the village center. It was built on a small island out in the lake that nested around all the hills and mountains, filling what used to be winding valleys. The makeshift and over-repaired bridge clamored under foot. Fortunately there was no one else going or coming from the meetinghouse, so she wouldn't be seen by people who knew her, but the guards for the emissaries stood outside the door. Em slowed to a brisk walk. From a distance Em could tell by their sleek uniforms with red motifs that they were Vermilion, elite and battle-coded androids built to replace human soldiers. Not that humans were not used in war or positions of guardianship anymore, but despite their very human appearance Vermilion units were emotionless, direct, and efficient, which things humans tended not to be.

Em had hoped to sneak around the side of the meeting hall and climb into one of the broken fans near the roof. The rafters would be dark enough to watch the proceedings without herself being seen. But that plan was no longer a possibility. She would have to walk in through the front doors, straight past the Vermilion, without being identified. Would they have scanners? Genetic tracers? Em's mind raced, making it harder for her to look unassuming. She ducked her head as she came closer. Even if they didn't have those things, the color of her eyes would surely give her away. No human had eyes like her, nebulous and purple. It would surely give her away as a Sidereal. Of course, if Mama Bane's information was correct (and it always was) they already knew there was at least one of her kind here. Still, Em did not want to be so soon discovered, assuming the emissaries did not already know who they were really here for.

She should have know that she couldn't just walk past. The Vermilions' arms shot out, crossing low in her path and blocking her from moving forward.

“The council has already started, and cannot be interrupted,” the male Vermilion said. Em reeled.

“I'm part of Councilman Able's family, requested to be present at the meeting today,” she said quickly.

“Identify yourself,” the female Vermilion demanded.

“Emma Lee Able.”

“Look up when you speak,” the male demanded. 

Em's heart was going as fast as her mind now. Could she trick an android like she could a human? Em never had any reason to try before, but it couldn't hurt now. Her hair was lighter than her mother or father's, a “wet chestnut” color as her sister would say while the rest of the family had beautifully dark, black and near-black hair. She couldn't' change that now, but she thought hard about the hazeled eyes of her mother and the cold gray farrows of her father's irises. 

“Look up,” the male said, tone threatening, and Em drew a deep breath.

They see hazel-gray eyes, she thought on loop. They see hazel-gray eyes.

` She met the red eyes of the female droid (VM-SVE according to her lapel), who scrutinized her with what she feared they might have – a scanner. Whether it was looking for her face alone or for a family match, she did not know, nor did she know if her eyes truly changed in the visual receptors of the Vermilion like they would have in the mind of something decidedly more organic. But she was allowed to pass after a brief inspection of the contents of her worn bag, and the male unit – VM-BX4 – guided her into the darkness of the conventicle. 

Mayor Lew Breton stood at the center of the illuminated stage, and was surrounded by the entire village council. Directly to his right was her father. On his left, seated in the finest chairs the village could gather, were the three emissaries from the capitol Newhere. Em's eyes did not need to adjust to the difference in light between the stage and the seats, and even in the dark of the audience she could make out every pair of eyes that followed her as she was led to the front row. She could see her brother, sister and mother sitting together, with the Mayor's family was beside hers – though an empty seat separated them. She could see that everyone had dressed in the best they had, trying to look presentable for the visitors from the city. And then here she walked in, dressed like a wandering lumberjack and smelling like sweat and the dried lavender sprigs Mama Bane had hung in the cart. She almost felt bad for looking like she did, but she felt worse that everyone here had bothered to look like something they weren't.

Mayor Breton's wife sat on the other side of Em's available seat, and it was clear that the woman was less than happy to have Em arrive. Pierson was gracious enough to move down one so that Em could sit between him and Goody, putting a buffer between both the Mayor's wife and her mother. Em was thankful for her brother's understanding, but was sure that their mother would have words for him too when this was over. Her stomach flipped at the thought of her mother's wrath when they got home. She could already feel her mother's disappointed and disgusted gaze burning into her.

Mayor Breton had continued opening the council as if there had been no interruption. 

“Governance Emissaries Arriola, Howarth, and Shoewicker have requested our and our families' attendance today to discuss what they hope will be a beneficial proposition for both our village and for...Newhere. Following their remarks we will delegate as a village as to our final decision on the matter. Questions for the emissaries are to be held until the closure of their proposal.”

Mayor Breton gestured for the emissaries to take the stand, and the one introduced as Howarth – an olive-complexioned, dark-eyed young man – stood and moved to the center of the light shaft that filtered in from the dirty skylight above the platform. As he walked he re-buttoned his finely tailored blue brocade suit coat and pulled down on the waist. The green-eyed, peak-faced blonde woman, Emissary Shoewicker, adjusted her position so that she was poised to jump in at a moment's notice. The other woman, Emissary Arriola, never looked up from the tablet upon which she typed with one dexterous hand. Her closely shaved black hair had interesting patterns of scroll-work cut nearly to her scalp. Dark lip colour emphasized the hard set of her mouth. Her long feathered lashes cast spidery shadows on her cheeks because of the overhead lighting, and would have hidden the golden brown of her eyes if the tablet screen was not reflecting on her face. Em assumed that she was taking notes of the meeting, or recording what was said, like she'd heard being a practice do in court cases. Howarth flashed a bright smile to the crowd.

“As your gracious Mayor said, my compatriots and I have come with news from Governor Greene that we hope will shed a bright light on your futures,” the young man said. “You may have heard through the grapevine how difficult it is to be granted access to the amenities of the Sister Cities if you are not a citizen, and that citizenship is itself incredibly difficult to acquire. It is true that the Governance holds high standards for those who wish to live and work and vote as members of the cities' societies, but Newhere is extending an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of no-questions-asked citizenship to every member of your village.”

There was a ripple of excited and suspicious murmurs in the audience. Goody seemed excited at the prospect, but Pierson was tense beside Em. Looking over, she could see her mother looked confused and conflicted. But looking to the stage, Em's father was an impassible mask of neutrality. Em didn't like that.

“We have only one request with this offer,” Emissary Howarth said over the rush of whispers. “That any and all Sidereal in your midst register for and participate in a specialty training and education program as set forth by the Governance and the prestigious Elba Academy.”

Em felt eyes and bodies turn her way, much to her dismay. She should have anticipated that such a thing would have been said. She could have made it so that no one would have been able to physically react. 

“Are there any questions I can answer before we release you all for a period of discussion and consideration?” Emissary Howarth asked.

A woman in the back raised her hand. “If we accept, will the Governance force their education on all our children?”

“We offer schooling of many kinds to those who come into Newhere from outside villages,” Howarth said with tact. “We understand that the, ah, educational backgrounds of individuals in villages varies greatly. The only thing that the Governance requires is that all new citizens take a literacy screening and be taught basic reading and writing.”

“Are their jobs immediately available to us if we move to the capital?” a man asked.

“All able-bodied persons will be given a skills test which will determine what jobs will best suit their talents and abilities and will determine if they need any further training in specialized areas. Those individuals will be prioritized for job positions within the city.”

“Is this just a way to get a larger workforce? Are the cities' youth not capable of filling needed jobs?” the older man beside the first asked.

“That is certainly not the case,” Howarth tried to laugh. “The Governance has established the governing systems that were lost during the Cataclysm, and have organized systems meant to help, protect and benefit humanity. We merely want to offer these to all humans.”

Em's father stood up at his chair, directing Emissary Howarth's attention.

“I'm sure I don't need to remind you that the villages outside the Sister Cities came to be because some people did not want to have their quality of life dictated by politicians,” Jacoby said. “I think that more than being concerned with re-establishing ourselves in a new place, we should be asking what freedoms will we be asked to relinquish if we accept your offer? Surely you don't expect to house us, employ us, educate us and allow us to roam free of charge. I cannot accept that the only caveat would be that any Sidereal that may be among us would have to essentially sell themselves for our sake's.”

“We're not just talking about quality housing,” the green-eyed, peaked-faced blonde Emissary Shoewicker interjected with a breathy laugh. She hurriedly took a stand next to Howarth and addressed the crowd rather than Em's father. “We're talking first class health care, clothes, food...all things that you would never have to wait for seasonally or to be brought in the unpredictable rotation of traveling merchants and folk healers. The Governance is offering protection from the inhuman beings and monsters that still reside on our planet and that hide in the wilds.”

“Not a one of us here has ever in our lifetimes had issue with the creatures of the Wilds,” Jacoby informed as he retook his seat.

“And many villages have learned that if they don't bother them, They won't bother us,” another elderly man added. Some of the villagers nodded in solidarity of the claim. 

“Do we have any other questions that my colleagues and I can answer?” Howarth pressed. He was clearly trying to real the conversation in before a political argument ensued. The crowd murmured and leaned one to another in private conversation, but it seemed that no one had anything else to ask. Mayor Breton cleared his throat.

“In that case we shall take a ten minute recess to deliberate our decision,” he said. “Those who wish to cast their vote will return to the Meeting Hall by but not after such time has passed. We will ring the bell as a three-minute warning.”

As Em expected, her mother had quite a few things to say when they stepped outside.

“I can't believe you,” she seethed. Maisel tugged at Em's clothes and tried to make her look half-way presentable. Em jerked away when her mother reached out to work on her hair. “You know that your actions reflect poorly on your family, don't you? And when we have people from the Governance here, you run off and risk exposing yourself.”

“How would I be exposing myself?” Em balked. “I didn't do anything but take a quick trip through the market.”

“You know what I mean,” Maisel whispered harshly.

“Auntie saw you fly away from the house,” Goody grinned maliciously, only to be swatted on the arm by her mother.

“Hush,” she spat. “Don't say such things here.”

Maisel took a deep breath and calmed herself.

“We are going to pretend like nothing of this morning ever happened,” she instructed. “We are a loving family of the Mayor's assistant and we are going to give him and our village our full support and loyalty.”

“So we're voting against the offer,” Pierson affirmed. Maisel nodded, and opened her mouth to answer, but a voice from behind Em cut her off.

“It's in everyone's best interests if we stay away from the Governance and if they do the same for us,” Jacoby said. Em turned to her father as he approached. He patted her on the shoulder. Em could see a mischievous and knowing twinkle in his eye.

“Glad to see you could make it, I hope you found what you needed at the market.”

Em nodded slowly. She looked into the faces of each member of her small (and admittedly a little dysfunctional) family.

“A lot of the traveling merchants' rumors are right,” she said. “About the Governance sending emissaries to other villages. But one of the shopkeeps said that they are only going to villages with...people like me.”

She said so with tact, knowing how her mother felt about her abilities and knowing that if she mentioned Mama by name that a new rage would spill over her mother's dam of patience.

“So they're not so much reaching out to villages as much as they are looking for people they deem inhuman?” Pierson guessed. Em shrugged.

“I don't know, but I heard that bad things have happened to the villages that turned them down,” she said, looking to her father for emphasis.

“There is nothing they can do that would warrant giving up the freedoms we have right now,” he said. “And there is no offer or self-acclaimed opportunity they can give that would change my mind.”

“Do you think that the other villagers feel the same?” Pierson asked. “It looked like the Dascal clan was really excited in there.”

“Then they can pack up and start walking to the capital's check point and ask entrance themselves,” Jacoby said and spat on the ground. “They always were a backwards, lazy bunch with their eyes set on getting for nothing. Let them go up and rot on Newhere's good graces. There is nothing sacred or safe in the cities. Nothing worth going back to.”

Em tugged at her lower lip for a moment.

“What if the Sidereal they are looking for just...turned themselves in?” she asked. Jacoby was quick to answer.

“There is nothing to say they are specifically looking for Sidereal and there is no reason to assume that they would only take one and not the rest of the village, based on what the Emissary said.” It seemed like he had already played this out in his head. Em wondered if there was more information that he knew, or that had perhaps been shared with the villages leaders prior to the council meeting.

“But if it meant staving off potential retaliation, would it not be worth it to try?” Em asked, honestly worried. Her mother and sister disliked her and so did most of the other villagers, but this was her home and her family. If the Governance had some way to hurt them, Em was prepared to sacrifice herself for their well being. Or, so she told herself.

“Your father already gave his answer,” Maisel scolded. “You'll keep to yourself and do as you're told.”

Em wanted to roll her eyes and ask if in her mother had any new advice to give. How often had she been told the same thing, almost every day for the past 17 years of her life. She looked to her father, who was absently tugging at his beard, and then to Pierson, who lifted both brows at her in a nonverbal gesture of sympathetic solidarity.

“Dear, it looks like Lew is coming to get you,” Maisel suddenly said. She stepped between her children and stretched up to give her husband a kiss before turning him around to the Mayor, who was indeed approaching with a purposeful pace. Jacoby started towards him, meeting him at the threshold of the bridge.

“I think that we don't need the full ten minutes Jacoby,” Em could hear Mayor Breton say as her father walked back with him to the Meeting Hall. “It seems most of the families have already returned and are ready to vote.”

“I think we should also get going,” Maisel said. She put a hand on Goody's back and turned her towards the bridge, doing the same to Pierson as she passed. Em followed quietly behind them, listening to the prematurely rung bell clanging over the lakeside valleys. 

Walking back in was not as hard when she was with her family, though Em still made a point of not making eye contact with the Vermilion units. Whether or not her trick worked last time, she was not going to risk attempting it again to blend in.

Many of the village audience had already returned, as the mayor had said, and the Able family wandered in with the rest of them. Both Mayor Breton and Emissary Howarth stood on the platform together, waiting for everyone to take their seats. There was no talking and no noise but quiet shuffling and the sound of creaking wood. Once everyone was re-admitted by the Vermilion guards the doors were shut and the open space once again immersed in darkness. In the light of the stage, the mayor stepped forward.

“To reiterate what we have gathered to vote on today, the Governance has extended an invitation for our village's assisted assimilation in return for the unconditional education and service of any Sidereal who may be among us,” he addressed. “If you will please raise your right hand to indicate your choice.”

Mayor Breton paused to clear his voice. “Those in favor of accepting assimilation?”

The Dascal family and two or three others raised their hands silently. It was already apparent which side had the greater number, but Breton asked anyway.

“And those who are opposed?”

The remainder of the village families raised their hands, some making sure to stare daringly at the emissaries as they did so. Emissary Arriola emotionlessly tallied the votes in her notes while Shoewicker shook her head in regretful disappointment. Em could see her lips move to say “What a waste. You can't help some people,” to the woman on her right, though Arriola paid her no mind. Emissary Howarth was more pleasant and at least outwardly more polite and sportsman-like than his peer. He shook the Mayor's hand and thanked him for his time, and then thanked the villagers in attendance for allowing him and his coworkers into the village before Mayor Breton issued formal permission for dismissal.