“However, that all changed three days ago, when I heard the announcement by King Demos Royal that my friend, Tiejo Streetrat, had been executed by an agent of the Cabal. Since then, I have been busy conferring with the Protestant bishops of every village on the Land, and they in turn have reached out to their respective communities. But it has by no means been a foregone conclusion that all Protestants would choose to side with those of us who oppose the Cabal. After all, opposing the Cabal means opposing Demos, and throughout most of his two terms as king, he has enjoyed tremendous popularity among the majority of the populace... including Protestants. Hardly surprising, considering the very first law he drafted upon taking office was the Declaration of Amnesty, which has greatly benefited Protestants. Recently, however, his popularity has begun to wane. This change may have been brewing for some time, unbeknownst to most, but it began in earnest on the day of the election. In the nearly three weeks since then, public confidence and trust in Demos has continued to falter. In large part that is because of the revelation that he's had an unknown degree of involvement with the Cabal, but it actually began with an announcement Demos himself made earlier on Election Day, hours prior to the revelation of the Cabal's existence. And it has persisted because of other statements made and actions taken by Demos since then. It should come as no surprise that my friends and I have closely followed all the news surrounding Demos, the Cabal, and the state of the nation in general. And what has struck me is that Demos, who is well known for his great skill at steering public opinion, has barely managed to retain a roughly fifty percent approval rating, falling from a previous high of about ninety percent. Or rather, outright disapproval has risen to at least fifty percent, while most of the other half of the populace are, at best, undecided about whether or not to trust the king (and by extension, the Cabal).
“Aside from the question of whether the Cabal can be trusted (and what that might say about Demos's trustworthiness), there is the troubling fact that Demos wants to make the monarchy a permanent and hereditary position, rather than elected one. A large part of the public's increasing distrust is Demos's dubious assertion that his detractors have been making completely false accusations as to the method by which he hoped to enact this change. He has claimed that the matter is closed, that he will give up the throne next Win'yet, regardless of the outcome of the war... a claim that has become even more suspect, given his threat to king-elect Quinn Darkstrider three days ago, at the very end of the announcement of Tiejo's execution. And yet, in spite of his suspiciously inadequate attempts at convincing the public of his honorable intentions, there are still many who are willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. And I could understand that... if not for the fact that nine days ago, when my friends and I met with Demos in person, he admitted to engineering a war, in order to keep himself on the throne indefinitely. And he tried to have my friends and I, along with Marshal Poss Primus, killed, in order to accelerate his plan.
“Of course, I can offer no proof of this claim, and Demos may call it a slanderous lie. Then again, the war may be so close at hand that he no longer sees a reason to bother. But I'd be willing to bet his plans require him to retain plausible deniability until the war is won, and the Cabal has eliminated his enemies. So, if it's my word against his...” she paused a few moments, then grinned lightly. “Well, a friend of mine suggested I ask: who are you going to believe, the daughter of Therman, or a politician?” Resuming her serious mien, she said, “But that's not the way I want anyone to make their decision. It occurred to me, while rereading some of Demos's statements in the press as I tried to compose this speech, that asking you to put your trust in me because of who my father was would not be all that different from the king's desire to establish a dynasty of his own. I am not owed your trust, not because of that. And in spite of what Arch-bishop Regent hopes... I hope you don't choose to oppose the Cabal just because the daughter of Therman asked you to. What I do hope is that you'll think about what I've said, and take a long hard look at the evidence, including all the things Demos himself has said and done, and ask yourself... What does it really seem that he wants? And what does it seem like he's willing to do to get it?”