The Rogues Who Went Rogue
Chapter 135

In the meeting room, everyone brought their notes along with their own copies of Iridessa's theses as they took their places around the table. Toby was walking to his own seat when he muttered a complaint as he walked past Lucianne, "I swear, I've never seen that many words in a single document in my entire life."

Lucianne merely scoffed softly in amusement, whereas Xandar saw the need to respond, "It's a thesis with research taken from all species, Toby."

"Wrong. It's TWO theses, Xandar."

Lucianne covered her mouth to swallow the chuckles when Xandar continued, "Exactly, so what did you expect?"

Shamelessly, Toby declared, "I expected more graphs and charts, preferably with color."

Weaver exclaimed, "That was exactly what I said!"

When Weaver and Toby high-fived, Yarrington shook his head with an amused smile as he exchanged a knowing look with the queen.

When everyone arrived, they started the meeting. Toby came up with the simplest way to steer the discussion. "I work better with short words and notes, so from whatever I understand from this encyclopedia, it's essentially three parts of support that we can be expected to provide: personal, professional and environmental.

Personal support, as the theses noted, was aimed at helping inmates understand and make peace with the whys. Why was the crime committed? Why did it happen to them? After this, it would be emphasized that they may not have known better then, but they did know better after the incident.

For Ivory, the crime was an unfortunate mistake. The consequence of remembering that he accidentally killed his colleague would stay with him longer than his sentencing. He wasn't careful then, but he undoubtedly became more careful after that. Hailey's child-swallowing-crayons scenario was another one which fitted here.

For Desmond, the crime was intentional fraud but in one of their chats without Greg being present, Desmond confessed to Lucianne that his own father had been cheated of sixty percent of his retirement fund that was supposed to help he and his sister get into college. The fund was monitored by a third-party company which was headed by the employer's brother, hence Desmond's anger and resentment towards abusive employers. Filing a lawsuit to claim the money took another thirty percent of the fund. Although Desmond's father and many others won on paper, the company filed for insolvency and the sum stolen couldn't be restored.

The support that the government aimed to provide ways to help inmates understand that what they did was not entirely their fault, like Ivory and Hailey; and it sought to open the minds of those like Desmond, who would be given suggestions on how to further their cause in a legal

manner.

Alissa's type of circumstance was very delicate because it involved the mate-bond, betrayal and loss, which would inevitably entail strong and justified emotions of infuriation, resentment and devastation. Personal support would be more frequent for inmates like her, to encourage them to get better and ensure them that they won't be alone when they assimilated themselves into society once again.

At the end of discussion for the first segment, it was agreed that therapy should be provided to every inmate at least thirty minutes a week. Annie and Hale were the ones in charge of seeing this through. They were to reach out to organizations and professionals to collaborate with the government and to ensure that only when inmates are mentally, emotionally and psychologically stable would they be released from prison. If they didn't reach this threshold even after completing their sentence, therapy would continue, which would be scheduled by parole officers at the convenience of ex-inmates.

As an incentive to encourage related professionals and organizations to help, the government decided to offer a ten percent bonus for a therapist's time at every eleventh inmate if the first ten had successfully reached the threshold.

Vanessa said, "How many professionals would have to certify that an inmate has reached the clinical threshold is now the question. I'm voting on three."

Some voted five, others two. But the majority swung towards three, so three it was.

Xandar called for a short break, which was when Christian heaved an exhausted sigh and uttered, "One down."

Toby slumped into his seat to get a quick shuteye when he continued for the duke, "Two to go."

Christian, Annie along with some ministers left the room to just walk around or get some air during the break. Xandar himself placed Lucianne on his lap and guided her to lean into his chest as he closed his eyes and buried his nose in her hair to get his preferred type of fresh air. Lucianne leaned into him to let the sparks soothe her being and replenish her energy.

Everyone came back a little fresher after the fifteen-minute break, and got on to the next item: supporting inmates and recently-released ex-inmates professionally.

Inmates should be required to take up a class that would teach them some kind of skill that would give them a competitive advantage when they entered or re-entered the workforce. Yarrington and Benedict were in charge of this segment since they were already working closely with teachers, mentors, lecturers and professors at every level of education. The point was to make sure that they could do something to feed themselves when their imprisonment term was over.

Yarrington and Benedict pointed out that the issue of replaceing employers who wanted to take ex-inmates was of concern, and that was where Christian came in. Since he inherited companies from various sectors, he'd be able to absorb a significant number of ex-inmates. Xandar and Lucianne disclosed that they were mandating the removal of the section of job application forms which asked whether the applicant was an ex-inmate, and to declare a company discriminatory if it was found that this topic had been raised during an interview. Companies which were found to be discriminatory would be fined and their taxes increased.

The king and queen had also pledged to meet housekeeping agencies, food and beverage owners and the like to offer ex-inmates employment opportunities should they still fail to replace a job. Zelena and Tate offered to do the same in wolf territory to speed up the process. The Minister of Justice, Pamela, even offered to propose recruiting them as clerks, runners and timekeepers in the next meeting with the judiciary.

"That should suffice for now." Yarrington said. Everyone looked to their king, waiting for a signal for a break.

Xandar was already lifting Lucianne off her seat while she was still running through her notes. He placed her on his lap when he told the rest, "Yup, go ahead. Fifteen."

Lucianne continued scrutinizing the points when most of them went for a breather. The moment Xandar felt the throb in her head, he took away her notebook, placed it back on the table and pressed her into his chest. Lucianne was too drained to protest so she simply closed her eyes and inhaled his scent, concentrating on his heartbeat. Round three: environmental support

Weaver agreed with Iridessa's suggestion that public housing should prioritize ex-inmates instead of excluding their eligibility just because of their criminal record. The government should subsidize the first two months of rent, and provide a small congratulatory payment if the ex- inmates eventually manage to move out. The earlier they move out, the higher the reward.

In the 'miscellaneous' side of things, the theses emphasized the need to raise public awareness about how any creature was capable of changing for the better, and how acceptance would only benefit society, the economy and harmony in the long run. There should be media coverage, talks and seminars to educate the general public about the subject. The government unanimously agreed that they wanted Iridessa to lead this initiative, and Lucianne offered to speak to the woman herself.

When everything was concluded by lunch hour, Weaver was the first to get up and stretched out his body when he said casually, "How I love a meeting without Cummings, Whitlaw and the other morons."

That was probably the fifteenth time Weaver said that after a meeting was concluded. Still, those who went through the years of ordeal of working with those time-wasting, anti-change and solution-repelling ex-ministers could never get tired of hearing Weaver's line. Yarrington merely packed his things as he entertained his mate for the fifteenth time, "I'm sure you do, my dear."

Lucianne was looking at them with an 'aw, you guys are so cute' look, like she always did after Yarrington responded to Weaver's remark, so the education minister met the queen's gaze with a smile and said, "We'll see you later, My Queen, My King." "See you." Lucianne's significantly softer and weaker voice surprised even herself.

Her husband pulled her out of her seat and started speedily packing her notes as he said, "Let's get you something to eat before we meet Pelly and Octavia. You'll get a shuteye in the car and some sleep on the jet." A quick kiss on her forehead before he slid his hand into hers and uttered, "Come," before leading her out.