A Second Tyranny

The Allgood Leaders

WHIT

I sat in my seat at the large round table with Emmet, Ross, Janine, and the other twenty-nine kids chosen to be on the Council, listening to the ticking of the large clock on the wall. We waited silently in the City hall chamber for my sister Wisty to arrive.

Three months had passed since Wisty and I defeated The One and Pearce in battle at the City square. Our citizens named us "leaders of the City" a week afterwards. We decided to uphold our people's idea of having a Council to restore the City and turn it into a place of peace and prosperity. The new Council that Wisty and I formed consisted of thirty-four kids chosen from members of the Resistance, aged around twelve to nineteen. Amongst the thirty-four kids were seventeen boys and seventeen girls. We banned anyone over nineteen from serving on the Council, of course, as my sister and I had learned the hard way that adults couldn't be trusted with City leadership because power corrupted them too easily.

The Resistance members appointed Wisty and I, a witch and a wizard, as Speakers of the Council. We refused to accept the title at first and suggested that for each meeting we change to a new Speaker instead, you know, to prevent us from turning into power-corrupted kids; but the rest of our group would not have it. They went on about us saving the City thrice from destruction—first from The One Who Is The One and his New Order, then from the Wizard King in the Mountains, and from Darrius and his army after that. They reminded us of our heroic deeds in the past and emphasized on how vital it was for Wisty and I to lead. They reminded us of the Prophecies written about us in the Book of Truths—I still remembered each and every word. They told us that we were different from all the previous Speakers of the Council such as Terrence Rino and Matthias Bloom, that power won't be able to corrupt us. Our people claimed that we were meant to be their leaders; we were meant to rule.

And Wisty and I both realized that they were right.

The Council held its meetings once in every two weeks at the City hall chamber, at nine o'clock in the morning. We've held six meetings so far, and Wisty had arrived late at every single one of them apart from the first. Apparently she was late for this one as well. I stole a glance at the clock on the wall, which read 9:08. Her constant lateness was beginning to embarrass me. As leaders, Wisty and I were supposed to wait on the rest of the Council. What kind of a leader lets the Council wait on them?

Where is she? I wondered anxiously to myself. What could've kept her so busy this time?

I cleared my throat. Just as I was about to begin without her, the doors to the chamber swung open and banged loudly against the wall, and in walked Wisteria Allgood in a chic green dress.

"Sorry everyone," she said guiltily, "I woke up early to start a new book I've been dying to read. I got so engaged in it that I lost track of time."

She quickly slipped into the vacant seat on my left. I noticed that her long red hair was matted and tangled. I guessed she didn't have the time to brush it.

"This is a habit for you now, isn't it?" I sighed, "It's okay, Wisty, just don't do it again."

"I won't," she whispered.

We sat around a round table instead of a long, rectangular one because everyone in the group believed that a round table represented equality. Although Wisty and I were the Speakers, everybody else on the Council had an equal right to share their own views.

I turned to my fellow Council members, "Welcome," I addressed them. As much as I hated speaking in front of an audience, I've gained a lot of experience as a leader from the meetings we held in the past, with a little help from Janine, who was an excellent speaker. I continued, "Before we move on to our agenda for today, lets pick up from where we left off last time. Bring forth any tidings that you have about our City." Yep, that was how I always liked to begin each Council meeting, by allowing my fellow members to share any news, opinions, and suggestions they might have. Wisty had agreed it was a good idea.