Page 135 of The Pacifist
Mila and I spent a lot of our time in the political corner of the festival. With the election only a week away, all the remaining presidential candidates had been given room to meet voters and stump for their ideas. By now the number was down to thirty-four Nmen fighting for the presidency. The rest of the candidates who had signed up when the election was first announced had lost interest when they realized the amount of work involved in running a campaign.
Our meet and greet tent was located in the corner with a large banner outside that had the faces of all us celebrities who had volunteered to take shifts in the tent. A headline said:
Ask us why you should vote for our friend
Khan Aurelius.
A long line formed hours before we opened on the first day. Seeing a business opportunity, Freya made sure the people waiting in line could buy refreshments and merchandise from theMen of the Northseries.
“How are sales?” I asked her Tuesday when I found her on the side of the tent, bent over boxes in the spring sun.
“Great. We had new supplies printed overnight. I’m just sorting through the boxes. For some reason the sizes got mixed up.”
“But surely someone else can do that.”
Freya’s eyebrows drew close together. “Don’t give me the ‘you’re too young to be part of this’ speech. I’m not.”
“I never said that.”
“Do you know how annoying it is to be eleven years old and have everyone look at you like you’re a kid.”
I suppressed a smile. “Technically, you are a child, Freya.”
She rolled her eyes. “I had to convince my parents to let me be part of this project and still I’m constantly watched by two guards.”
I’d already noticed the two Manor guards watching us.
“Your father is just looking out for you.”
“I know.” She pulled up two large shirts and held them up for me to see. “We sold almost ten thousand of these two.”
I read the text on the first t-shirt aloud:
Fucking proud to be a
Free Man of the North
The second had a large beer on the front with a text saying:
I make beer disappear
What is your super power?
She handed me another one. “This one sells well too.” It said,
Beer
Technically a vegan meal
“That’s great, Freya, and what’s the update on the community homes?”
“We’ve had to make some adjustments.” She nodded toward the tent. “Despite the positive reaction when my dad announced it, I’ve noticed that almost none of the men that walk through the tent take time to study the information on the screens. My theory is that it’s because they don’t want to step out of the line and lose their place.” She sighed. “And of course, once they’ve met you celebrities they’re dazed and can’t think of anything else.”
“Maybe we can move the screens closer to the entrance instead of the exit,” I suggested.
“That would be nice. Also, my mom and I had these flyers made last night.” Freya handed me one. “So far, it looks like the men are not just reading them, but keeping them.”
I studied the flyer and read to myself:
