"I'm meeting with two tomorrow, three more the day after." Marron consulted her hastily-written schedule. "Millie's reaching out to her network. We're hoping to have at least ten chefs committed by the end of the week."
"And if we don't?"
Marron met Charlotte's eyes steadily. "Then we prioritize. Save as many vendors as we can with the chefs we have. It's not perfect, but it's better than letting them all get exploited."
The room fell silent again, the weight of partial success hanging over them.
"There's another option," Mokko said from the window. Everyone turned to look at him. "Public pressure. If the citizens of Lumeria understand what's happening—that the Merchant's Guild is trying to destroy the street market through bureaucratic exploitation—they might protest. Force the Guild to back down."
"That's risky," Charlotte said. "The Merchant's Guild controls a lot of commerce in this city. They could retaliate against anyone who speaks out."
