Chapter Forty-Three Silence for a Voice #2
Demetria and Poppy rose, forcing him to stand too. Neither woman volunteered to see him out. When he had left the room, Poppy collapsed back onto the couch, pressed a throw pillow to her face, and screamed.
She had made the best of the situation, scraping out a win in a scenario where loss was inevitable. But Richard would go free, and she would never forget it.
· · ·
“Are you sure you know what you’re signing up for?” Harithi hissed.
The two of them sat in Arun’s cramped sitting room while he prepared chai in the kitchen.
After the celebrations—and their hangovers—had subsided, Hasan and Arun had drawn up plans for a delegation, one that would represent the interests of the common people and coordinate demonstrations around the city.
Arun already had experience with this, having been a labor rights advocate for years.
Today, they aimed to recruit Arun’s people to their cause.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Hasan whispered back. “Wasn’t it you who said we should be giving more importance to our vasudhakt gang members?”
“I meant that about our gang activity,” she said. “This is politics. This is a game that we don’t know how to play.”
“Well, we’re going to have to learn”—he gritted his teeth—“because if we don’t, then we’ll never be free.”
A knock on the door interrupted whatever Harithi was going to say next.
“I’ll get it,” Arun called. He brought the chai into the living room, putting the pot down on the coffee table before answering the door. A small group filed into the house, four in all.
“What’s this about?” one asked.
“Sit, please.” Arun gestured toward the living room. The newcomers froze when they saw Hasan and Harithi already there.
“Arun, do you know who that is?” one of the men asked, eyes flashing in warning.
“This is my friend, Hasan.” Arun smiled pointedly. “Hasan, these are my friends, Tara, Maya, Akash, and Niraj.”
Akash scoffed, thick brows lifting. “No, that’s the Jackal.”
“Both of these things can be true,” Arun replied. “The Jackal is my friend, and I hope you can all keep your minds open enough to allow him to be your friend too.”
“What’s this about, Arun?” Maya’s gaze never left Hasan. “Why did you call us here?”
He raised his arms. “As you know, the succession to the viceroy’s office is still undecided.
We’ve all heard rumors that Poppy Sutherland has been rallying for the seat, but Hasan knows her personally and has confirmed this to be true.
He and I both believe that she is our best chance at a better life. ”
“We’ve talked about this, Arun.” Niraj sighed. “You yourself have said it—how can she empathize with us when she’s never lived among us?”
“You don’t have to have the same experience as someone to feel for them, only the desire to understand,” Arun said. “After meeting Hasan that first night, I spoke to some of the laborers in Sanivali. Poppy was there, earlier this month, learning about their struggles. Clearly, she cares.”
“I also heard word from Sanivali,” Tara said. “I have a cousin there. Is it true that Poppy is daivyakt?”
“It is,” Hasan said. Seeing the way her face soured, he asked, “What? How can her being gods-blessed possibly be a negative thing?”
Niraj grimaced. “Perhaps we remember the age of daivyakt rulers differently. The maharajas used their power to extort vasudhakt, withholding aid from poorer regions who could not pay the taxes. Their wars ravaged landscapes and destroyed homes. Their obsession with blood purity and hoarding power barred vasudhakt from entering entire sections of cities. Is it so unreasonable, then, that we do not wish to return to an era like that?”
“Poppy only discovered her powers recently,” Hasan said. “She didn’t grow up with any entitlement, and even now she remains an underdog. If we refuse to support her, then we’ll lose this chance. We’ll never get another Virian viceroy. Our lives will be hell forever.”
“Since when do you care?” Tara tossed her thick braid over one shoulder. “Do you know, Jackal, how many lives you and your brothers have made hell with your business?”
“Call me Hasan. I insist.” His smile was dissolving rapidly. “And we never forced anyone to do business with us. If their lives were ruined, it’s because they made poor decisions.”
“Does the victim blaming help you sleep better at night?” Akash asked.
“You make these loans because you know we’re too desperate to refuse them.
You know the banks won’t give us the money, and so you hike up your interest rates, forcing us to agree to unethical terms. You and your brothers have only ever used your power against us, instead of fighting back. ”
Hasan bit his tongue. Defenses, half formed, floated through his mind. He didn’t want to admit that he’d spent the past ten years doing more harm than good. But if he couldn’t humble himself now, he’d lose their support. Poppy would lose their support.
“You’re right,” he said grudgingly. “I’m sorry. I can’t take it back, but I recognize that what we did was wrong.”
“Let’s not let the past prevent us from looking at the future,” Arun suggested. “Sit, and if you don’t like what we have to say, then you may go.”
The four newcomers exchanged skeptical glances but relented, taking seats across from Hasan and Harithi. “What do you have planned?” Tara asked.
“The hearing to confirm Poppy Sutherland is this Monday,” Hasan said.
“We need the Welks to know that we won’t be silent about this.
We have to organize crowds to come and rally outside the House of Representatives, really lay the heat on them.
Let the representatives know that we won’t follow anyone else. ”
Akash and Maya exchanged a look. “I don’t know,” Maya said. “We’ve heard what’s happened to your daivyakt followers, Jackal. It sounds an awful lot like you’re forming this delegation as a substitute for your gang.”
He pressed his lips together. He couldn’t deny that if he had the choice, he’d have much rather had his gang to support him on this. In his silence, the others came to conclusions of their own.
“Why are we here?” Niraj threw up his hands, turning to Arun. “You say it’s about the girl, but I think it’s really about the Jackal.”
Hasan tilted his head up, closing his eyes for a moment. When he looked at Niraj again, he asked, “Answer me honestly: If Arun had been the only one to present this idea to you, would you have agreed to support Poppy Sutherland?”
Niraj hesitated. It was Akash who said, “Yes.”
Hasan rose to his feet, heart heavy. “Then I’ll be on my way. I recognize that my untrustworthiness is the roadblock here. I’ve done things that I cannot expect forgiveness nor understanding for, but Poppy shouldn’t have to bear the consequences for this.”
“Hasan.” Harithi reached for his hand. “Sit down.”
“No,” he said. “All that matters is that there’s a show of support for Poppy. If the only way I can help her is by leaving, then I will.”
He opened the door and left. He was a good way down the street when the door flew open again.
“Stop,” Maya called. He turned to see her standing on the road outside the house, faded pink dupatta fluttering. “Come back.”
He approached slowly, as though if he moved too quickly, he’d startle her into changing her mind. She let him back into the house, where Arun and Harithi wore matching satisfied smiles.
“We’ve decided to let you stay,” Niraj said. “It seems like, at least for now, you truly care for the girl’s interests, if not ours.”
“And we’ll join the delegation,” Akash added. “But we all get an equal say. You don’t get to order us around just because you’re daivyakt.”
“We’ll do coleaders,” he said. “One daivyakt, one vasudhakt. Me and Arun.”
Tara nodded. “Very well. What do you have planned?”
“We have to organize,” Hasan said. “We have to spread our messaging, reach Virians in the city and the countryside. There needs to be a massive turnout. Because if there’s one thing we have to make clear, it’s this: We will no longer be governed silently. Our voice will shape the rules we live by.”