<div class="floatleft">(https://i.imgur.com/GhiPE9D.jpg)</div><br/>It was a busy time for the slums. The guards being routed had solidified the idea that the new princess no longer held any real power. The statue which still stood, beheaded and graffitied, in what was increasingly being called 'Kieri Square' continued to be a symbol to the ineffectiveness of the current ruler. "Nothing like this could ever have happened under the King," were words often whispered. In regret, sometimes, but also, increasingly frequently, opportunity. There was a power vacuum to be filled, opportunities to be had, but also, on everyone's lips, a name. 'Kieri'. She said that could want more. Could be more. To live as equal to those outside the slums. not bu bringing everyone else down, not to live as dependents of charity, but to be given a fair chance to let their own talents shine. This message resonated especially well with the non-human species, too often undervalued in a society that cared too much for human values or for what humans were good at.<br/><br/>Now, houses, then streets were starting to give their loyalty to Kieri and to her cause. Newly formed patrols, mostly orcs, guarded those streets, from guards or whoever caused trouble, the best of their numbers being assigned to Kieri's personal use. Certainly, Kieri had done little of it herself. Not directly. She was a goblin and goblins don't take well to orders. Mostly, they organize themselves and need no more than a prod, a push or a small suggestion. A good way to lead, in fact, in the chaos of those times.<br/><br/>And Kieri was now in the square that bore her name. Held aloft by one of her guards, she was making another speech to the assembled masses. She was pleased to see it. The first time, species had been in groups, self-isolating. But now, they joined more, mixing into each other. Kobolds, gobling, orcs, humans and many more, all standing next to each other. "...and we have to remember, it's not all humans that we're standing against. Look here," she waved her free hand. The other always held her polearm, a sign that while she was willing to do things in peace, there was always steel for those who sought otherwise. "We have humans with us. They are with us. There are also non-humans who aren't. Ones like Cornelius Trunkenhammer!" She very deliberately omitted his title. "Non-human as he is, he and his family cling to power just so that he can better look down on us. We will bring him down!" A cheer spread, which one of Kieri's guards quieted with a movement of her hand. "But we won't kill him, won't hurt him. We will not rise only to become the ones who trample. No, we will do something much worse. We will make him one of us. His children will play with our children. They will learn together. Maybe love each other. And then the same for the generation after. They will be given a chance, no less than they deserve. But we're not going to give them more either!"<br/><br/>Another cheer, followed by a few directions, a few dull updates and Kieri was off, leaving the rest to one of those administrators that always seemed to be there. A ratfolk, as it happened. Kieri thought of what he might have been doing if he wasn't doing this. She took it as a sign that what she was doing was right.