“The pleasure is mine, Mrs. Reid. And please call me Melanie.”
The woman sat across from Melanie. “Since you and I will be talking a lot in the future, call me Jacqueline.”
Mel smiled. “Right, then, Jacqueline. I’m glad you were able to come and meet with us. I’d love to chat and share some tea, but we don’t have a lot of time. We should start.”
Bram was sitting next to Melanie. He jumped in, “I agree. I’m especially keen to hear your response to our proposals.”
The Home Secretary looked at each of them in turn. “Before we get to that, I need know if you passed on the necessary information we requested to MI5 or not.”
Bram replied, “Yes, they have all of the information we could find on the dragon hunters and the Dragon Knights. Granted, the information on the Dragon Knights is centuries old and may not be much help.”
The Home Secretary bobbed her head. “Good. Anything is better than nothing. The public is keen to stop the hunters, thanks to Arabella MacLeod and the other victims. If we don’t step up our efforts, we may have a few riots on our hands.”
Melanie resisted making a remark about public opinion being more important than the lives of dragon-shifters. It wasn’t the time to fight that battle.
Instead, Mel folded her hands in front of her and kept her tone level. “We’ve fulfilled every request you’ve asked of us. So, now will you tell us about our proposals?”
“Of course.” Jacqueline pulled out some papers from her briefcase and handed one copy each to Melanie and Bram. “There is merit to your ideas, but after talking with the Prime Minister and some other Cabinet ministers, we have some suggested changes.”
Melanie glanced down and read the cover sheet, “Inclusion and Visitation Laws.” Looking back up at the Home Secretary, she said, “This stack of paper is at least fifty pages thick. While we’ll read through it carefully later, if you could run through the basics for now, we’d much appreciate it.”
Jacqueline answered, “The logistics are still being finalized, but visitation passes for humans to enter dragon-shifter territory will be granted on a case-by-case basis, allowing relatives and business interests to visit dragon-shifter land. Nothing is permanent and each case will have a set time period, but no longer will non-sacrifice visits be illegal.”
Bram said, “That’s a good start. Although, one day, I hope the laws will go further.”
Jacqueline tapped her stack of papers. “I understand your desire to do away with the sacrifice system and rule your lands semi-autonomously. However, we’re all aware of the growing popularity of the so-called Dragon Knights and their threats. Until we can find a way to contain them, full autonomy, let alone integration, is out of the question or we risk more domestic terrorist attacks.”
Before Bram could argue a point he couldn’t win, at least not in the present political climate, Melanie stepped in. “That addresses one-half of our proposal. Tell me about the inclusion side of things.”
Jaqueline flipped open her papers and tapped on a certain sheet. “Page twenty goes into more detail, but basically, we will allow dragon-shifters more freedom of movement provided they carry a micro-chipped ID card.”
Bram crossed his arms. “Storing massive amounts of data on each dragon-shifter in the chips is risky and dangerous. There will be hackers paid to find out our information and pass it on to the highest bidder. We’ll become easy targets.”
Jacqueline folded her hands on top of her documents. “The ID card is non-negotiable. We will instruct MI5 to do everything in their power to prevent a breach, but too many citizens are scared at the thought of a dragon-shifter running amuck.”
Bram shook his head. “I won’t allow every secret to be stored by the human government. I can compromise to allow basics or past criminal offenses, but nothing else.”
Mel watched as Bram and Jaqueline stared at one another. Bram might look calm and collected on the outside, but Melanie wondered if her leader was as nervous on the inside as she was. If Jacqueline said no, then their hopes of dragon-shifter inclusion would be significantly diminished.
It was the Home Secretary who finally broke the silence. “I’ll see what we can do, but even if I can get the Prime Minister to agree, I will need a guarantee that all possible threats are identified. It will only take one rogue dragon terrorizing London to change public opinion and undo all of the progress so far.”
Bram answered, “Done. I can’t speak for the other clans, but I can assure you that Stonefire will cooperate.”
Jacqueline leaned back in her chair. “Yes, well it’s a good thing Stonefire is our trial clan. The reputation of some of the other British clans is less than stellar.”
Bram added, “Speaking of being the trial clan, I want a guarantee the law on chipped ID cards will be reevaluated on a periodic basis. Maybe every two or three years. And those dragon-shifters who don’t visit human populated areas won’t be required to carry one.”
The Home Secretary nodded. “That sounds reasonable. Although I can’t promise anything, I will suggest it. However, these laws will only go into effect in England and Wales. I’m afraid you’ll have to talk with the Scottish Parliament and Northern Ireland Assembly to set up laws there.”
Sensing Bram was satisfied for the moment, Melanie asked, “How soon will you start issuing visitation passes?”
Jaqueline smiled at her. “You want to see your family.”
Mel nodded. “Yes.”
“The law will take some time, what with debate and calling a vote, but I’ve already put in a request for your parents and brother. Provided the Prime
Minister doesn’t object, you can see them in a few weeks.”