MAEGYA | ii. "YOUR GRACE, STOP TALKING." INTERROGATION IRRITATION
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"WITCH-HUNT" HELD an entirely new meaning now, thanks to the press.
Half of the articles and newscasts Thea basically devoured were just the tip of the deprecating iceberg. She figured Peter and Bex were steering her away from the crueler ones about her and her background. They didn't have to be kind like that. She knew the score and so did the whole world.
The truth of their identities and connections to the devastation in London spread like wildfire, jumping from one new station to the next and this was a special flame even Thea couldn't extinguish. The Daily Bugle never stopped its slew of atrocities against the teenagers. Jameson was relentless, unfiltered. For a "professional" newscast, he cleverly avoided keywords like "allegedly" in his flamboyant tirades of the trio's villainy.
Thea had to give it to him, he could get creative with the nicknames. Bex was suddenly the Big Bad Witch and Peter was Spider-Menace. So far, Thea had The Wicked Witch of the Eastern Seaboard and The Mother of Monsters under her belt. Segments of Illyris included a detailed rehashing of her father's crimes and though Thea would agree with some of the nasty things said about the Mad Dragon, she wouldn't excuse Jameson's allegations that she was trying to continue his legacy. She was still a Maegya. She was still a human being. And she would always be proud of her heritage no matter who she was related to.
Was there even diplomatic immunity for the exiled daughter of an aristocratic dead terrorist? Well, Serafina Celtigar was trying to make sure there was.
Theadora didn't know how it was possible (though there was a lot she didn't know about Sera), but she had gotten into contact with a person who worked in Homeland Security. Meanwhile, Thea, Peter, Bex, May, and Lydia have been glued to the couches for the entirety of the hectic day, watching the uncomfortable press coverage. Rhaegon wouldn't leave Thea's side and was wedged between her and Bex on the couch while Vissera was on the ground. With his endurance training, Daaryo was comfortable with standing guard for over nine hours but his face was lethal after hearing everything that had been spewing from Jameson's mouth. The sun had set, though it was difficult to know with the shades of the windows kept closed.
Although Lydia Ortega and May had never formally met, they still sat together and gave each other comforting pats on the knee occasionally. It was weird that they were united in the worst scenario but maybe there was an invisible, unspoken comfort for everyone in each others' presences. While they were struck with a depressed silence, Sera was condemning the American government over the phone.
"No, this is ridiculous," the woman snapped, the sharpness in her voice startling Peter when she passed him during her pace. "Sovrani sovereignty has had diplomatic immunity in the United Kingdom and the U.S. for the past fifty years. She's not the Queen of England but there is a protocol you're ignoring here. Yes— no. You can not prosecute her in a civil procedure!"
