blue blood. kieran speech.

[dars]

MAYOR KIERAN EMBERSTATT He'd taken a big risk, not involving District Ten in Eleven's affairs. Such a lower district, so historically poor, so obviously against the Games and everything they stood for. Siding with Izar was the easier choice to make when he was letting his heart make the decision, but when it came to decisions of this magnitude, he rarely allowed himself to be anything other than logical and to do what was in the best interest of his people. District Ten's economy, while certainly nowhere near what it could be, was self-sustaining and happy. The District Student Exchange was still going strong through several crises of varying magnitudes, shut downs and riots. The poverty rate decreased. The unemployment rate decreased. He was good for District Ten. The Emberstatt family always had been. "Thank y'all for coming out tonight. As always, your support means everything." He caught Paige in the audience. Emerson was already almost as tall as her at eleven, his goofy fluffball of hair peaking up next to her. He could just barely see the top of Elonna's braid, and imagined Eden was probably already sneaking under the bench to go outside and play. "I'm here tonight with my beautiful family-" he gestured to them, the crowd applauded- "I'm very proud of them. I'm very proud. And I'm proud of this district. Our home. Each and every one." He'd felt it ever since moving from Twelve all those years ag- He was struck with the realization he was as old ten as Emerson was now and he felt old. Christ. Anyway, he's felt it ever since moving here: a sense of community. Back in Twelve, he knew his mother and his neighbors and the kids he went to school with and that was all. Here, everyone had a name and a story and it had always charmed him right into a thawed mess of something that'd only ever lived as ice. This time next year, his son was eligible for the reaping. No way in hell was he giving the Capitol a reason to punish his family. "Test scores are up-" They weren't the highest district by any means. Five swept in as a surprise first, followed by the obvious Six and Three, but Ten was directly behind them. Historically, Ten was in the lower half of the lower half. That was a huge improvement for Five years. "Employment, economy-" Whiplash was a favorite to win this games, and it's possible that was because he was charismatic, it's also possible that it's due to Ten's distance with the various recorded rebellions. "Our people are flourishing-" His stomach turned at the unfair technicality. He wanted to help. Truly help. He knew things could be better, but it just- the time wasn't right yet. There were too many people who could get hurt, too many people who could be punished for his mistakes. But then, his people deserved to at least know... They were all completely ignorant to what was going on elsewhere, limited to the information they've smuggled out from the very contained instances of rebellion. "The people trust Emberstatt, because Emberstatt delivers!" Applause, applause, applause. "With your support, I'm happy to continue to lead our district to a brighter, safer, happier tomorrow."