"Honestly," he said, opening the door to let her out, "I have no fucking idea."
She tensed at that.
"Hey," he said, grabbing her hand when they stood outside of the throne room, "We'll figure it out. Whatever we decide, we'll do it together, okay?"
"Yeah," she said, giving his hand a little squeeze. "Together."
They made their way inside.
"Where are the others?" she asked. She expected the room to be full of people. Instead, only their group of friends and a few others that had been on their side were there.
"We've told them to stay in their rooms for the time being," Hunt said. "I just figured that we needed to talk about everything first."
"Good idea," Lex said.
They joined the group at one of the long tables in the center of the room.
"First things first," Lex said as soon as everyone was seated. "I'd like to thank all of you for what you have done. I know that...that not all of you agreed to what happened here. I know that some of you came here to find your people."
He looked around at the group gathered before him.
Aria thought about how angry he'd been all those months ago when weapons went missing from the throne room. And then how angry he'd been when Ben stole the knife.
"I wish that things would have gone differently. If you had come here in peace, you would have seen that I did not take your people as prisoners. But it happened, and none of us can change that. We can only go forward from here," he said.
Compared to how he had been acting now, the way he had been in the beginning made her realize that she wasn't the only person that had changed in the past few months.
He was different.
The others looked around at one another.
"We hope that you know that we sincerely apologize, that we sincerely regret what happened," Hunt said from across the table.
"You are not at fault. I understand that some of you were only acting on orders," Lex said.
"Be that as it may, we still caused all of this," Hunt said, "And we would like to make it up to you. All of us. And we hope you know that you have our support and that we mean you and your people no harm. We do wish to live in peace among you. And we are grateful for the opportunity to be here."
Lex nodded.
"We can't bring back the ones you've lost," Hunt said, "But we hope to make up for what has been done in any way we can if you allow us to stay."
Lex turned to look at Aria. She reached forward and took his hand into hers, lacing her fingers through his under the table.
"You are allowed to stay. The palace can't hold this many occupants, but that is a topic we can discuss later. How many people did you leave behind?"
"About two hundred," Hunt said, "Give or take a few."
"And these people, are they like your leader?" Grace asked from a few seats down.
"I'm sure that there are some that side with him, yes," Hunt said.
"And how can we be sure that they won't come here and do as your leader did?" Grace asked.
"We can't tell you that," Katy said from beside Hunt. "We don't know what they might try. But we believe that if they're allowed to come here and live in peace, they won't cause any trouble. A lot of us didn't agree with this. And a lot of the ones that did, did so out of fear. Take that away, show them a different way, and they'll bear no ill will. I'm sure of it."
"I agree," Hunt said, "A lot of them were acting out of fear.
"Fine," Lex said, cutting Hunt off. "We will send for them. But I would like to go, along with a few of you, and talk to them first. Give them a choice. And make sure they come here with no weapons."
Aria nodded in agreement. It was what she'd been hoping to hear.
"Thank you," Hunt said. "And we will. We'll make sure to gather all the weapons beforehand."
"What about the others?" Grace asked. "What will we do with them?"
Lex looked at Aria.
This time, she had no idea. She wasn't sure what they should do with Warren and his council, his guards. Those who stood firmly on his side.
The whole room went very, very quiet. No one spoke up.
"Can't we just send them back?" Martinez asked.
"I agree with Shawn," Adrian said, "Just send them back. When you leave to get the others, take them with you, and leave them there."
"But what if they figure out a way to come back?" Isla asked. "Do you honestly believe they'll just give up?"
"Well, if we take their weapons and everything they own, they won't be able to," Martinez said.
"We can't just leave them weaponless," Katy said, "The Terra would kill them all."
"So," Grace said, raising an eyebrow. "How many people have they killed? And what would they do if the situation was reversed?"
"We can't think like that," Hunt said, shaking his head.
"And besides, won't the Terra be pissed if they hear that you sent them back to their land?" Peter asked.
Everyone began to talk at once, arguing about what was the right thing to do. Aria's head began to hurt. She looked over at Lex. They were the only two with nothing to say.
"Everyone shut up," Aria yelled. They weren't getting anywhere.
"Lex, you can't seriously consider letting them go. They killed so many of us! They need to pay for what they've done! What will our people think of you if you don't avenge the dead? And besides, the Terra will never forgive you if you send those monsters back! That's just asking for more trouble," Grace yelled.
Lex sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I need to think
