Journal 141

The crowd continued to increase. The Black Cobras struggled with their restraints that held them to the post. I think everyone was holding his or her breath. Most of Bear Country was present, including Tony. Tony was having a great deal of trouble letting Joshua handle the situation. I was having trouble letting Joshua handle the situation. He was doing well considering the circumstances. It would have been stupid to intervene with the dialog Joshua was establishing with Hess. All the people gathering around were starting to make Hess nervous. She started waving the torch at people and talking about how the Cobras have ruined her life. I was holding my breath hoping Joshua could convince Hess not to torch the Black Cobras, especially not Victor. He made several bad choices, but he didn’t deserve to die burned at the stake.

Yates whispered in my ear that he had an idea. He silently sent a couple of his soldiers around behind Hess. The next few minutes were extremely intense as Joshua tried to get Hess to focus her attention on him. Yates’s soldiers slowly crept up on Hess. The crowd, aware of what was happening said nothing. There were a couple of Blue Monarchs in the crowd. I continued to hold my breath hoping no one would tip Hess off that someone was sneaking up behind her. One soldier grabbed Hess as the other grabbed the torch before it hit the ground igniting the Black Cobras.

After the ordeal ended, I offered to take the now bound Hess back to Bear Country. She was not herself. The Blue Monarchs in the crowd said they had been having difficulties with her. Their numbers had dwindled down to a few because she was out of control. They welcomed having her out of their hands.