“ Uncle Will! We can't kill him! He's clearly a sweetheart that doesn't deserve to die!” Marada says, trying to get the Mayor to change his mind. Brax glares at the girl who dare challenge him, and what he wants to do. The Mayor seemed to be in thought, as he now had a person who wanted to kill Sil and a person who wanted Sil to live.
I'm sit crouched behind the tree with a heavy heart. I don't want Sil to die, but ultimately it was the Mayor who chooses the giant's fate.
“ I don't know who's side to take at the moment, so the beast can live for now” the Mayor says with a sigh and starts to walk away. Brax follows with a dramatic huff.
Once they were a good distance away I stand up and walk back to Sil and Marada. Sil looks like he is about to fall asleep again and Marada pats his nose, “ ok won't die big guy, my uncle is a good man… he is just being lead astray” she murmurs to the giant.
“ please don't tell him thing that may or may not be true. I'm not saying the mayor is bad or anything, it's just Sil has a fifty fifty of dying” I say with a small sigh. Marada glares at me when I say the and tells me, “ You need to have a bit of hope!”
I just sigh again and sit by Sil's cheek. The giant gives a yawn and his eyes start to droop sleepily. I give a small chuckle and asked my friend, who is usually so full of energy, “ are you sleepy buddy?”. I wasn't really expecting an answer and I didn't get one. Sil's eyes close all the way, and I could tell he was starting to doze off again.
I sigh and look around, not really knowing what to do. After a few minutes All was sleeping peacefully, Marada went off to talk to her uncle, and I got up so and walked away from Sil not to be spotted in the open.
♦♦♦
About half an hour later the entirety of the small town was surrounded around the still chained up giant. The mayor, Brax, and Marada were standing near Sil while I was lurking in the shadows. I could hear the townspeople murmuring about Sil, but I couldn't hear precisely what they were saying.
The mayor then speaks up loudly so the whole town can hear him “ Everyone! Everyone! Quite down! I want to talk about what we're doing with the beast!”
The town quiet down after few moments so the mayor continued to speak loudly “ I have a decision to make and I can't make it on my own, and I wish for everyone to help me with it! We will vote! We will vote on whither the best lives or dies!”
The mayor gives the town a few minutes to murmur amongst themselves, of course I stayed silent not wanting to be caught. After about five minutes a person I couldn't see calls out a question in a shout, to be heard, “ How will we vote William?”
The question catches The mayor off guard and I give a low chuckle, I don't think he thought of how the voting would actually happen. The mayor, Brax, and Brax's two goons talk about it for a few minutes before the mayor calls out to the crowd again, “ we will vote with the polls, everyone The age of fifteen or older come back in about an hour and we'll have the voting booths set up!”
I quickly slink back to the shadows, so I'm not caught when the crowd separates and goes back to what they were doing before they were summoned by the mayor.
I sit in the shadows to watch over my giant bud and to watch them set up the thing that will decide whether Sil will live or not. Maranda was, presumably, talking to Sil and petting His nose. I'm pretty sure she was trying to either reassure or comfort him. It seemed to be working as the sleepy giant gently nuzzles the girl with his nose.
I thought it was a truly heartwarming sight, I'm pretty sure several people saw this. That gave me hope, as the giant's action showed he wasn't trying to hurt anyone. I hoped the people who saw this told others, it would give Sil a greater chance of survival.
I fidget a bit as Brax and his goons walk away from the mayor, Marada, and Sil. They walk near my, what I'm now realizing is a very terrible, hiding spot and I hold my breath and hoped not to be noticed. By some miracle Brax, John, and Nanook are very oblivious at this moment. The reason I probably want caught was because the goons were trying to calm down Brax. I overheard John say “ Brax, please calm down! The town's people will think of the thing as the monster it is! You'll be able to mount its head like you want to!”
I feel my stomach drop as I hear what John says. I know I haven't Known Silver for very long, only knowing him for about a week, but I already felt like we had a strong bond. He did let me stay in his home, help heal my leg when it was hurt, and was just generally kind to me. I didn't want to half of my friend group!
I felt like crying, I honestly did, but I didn't because this was not the time to do so. I go back to watching Marada talk to Sil, the mayor set up the voting booths by himself, and the random passersby.
The mayor was struggling with the setup of the booths so he walks away in what I'm guessing is frustration. The mayor was gone for about twenty minutes before he returns with his son. Jewl and the mayor sets up booths. A few minutes after that the mayor handed Marada a stack of papers, a pair of scissors, and a marker. I didn't see what she was doing with the supplies exactly, but I did see her sit near Sil, Mark on the the top paper several times, cuts the paper into smallish square pieces, set the places to the side, and start the process over again. I had no idea what she was doing.
I look down at my watch to see how much time was left before the voting would start. It was going to be about thirty minutes. I sigh as I try and wait out the time. I was getting uncomfortable from sitting in my hiding spot.
While I wait for the booths to be set up I decided I would sneak into the voting and vote for the giant to live. I really hoped most or even all of the townspeople had a heart.
It takes the remainder of the hour for the mayor and Jewl to set up the booths and put the paper Maranda was working on into them. I guess the paper was the ballots.
The crowd shows up and I stand and sneak into it. Jewl organizes people into four lines as there were for booths. I get into the line, keeping my head down.
It takes about an hour and a half for everyone to vote. I am watching from the shadows once again as the mayor was counting up the votes. He suddenly answers “ the votes are in! It was a very close vote! The beast Will...-”
