From the Parliament building, the sounds of the riot outside almost resembled the muted tones of conversation. One could almost ignore the errant auditory intrusions of gunshots and screams to simply listen, trying to glean some meaning from the strange, half-heard language of the world without.
Yalwen Mako, First Arbiter of Valiyrio Province, realized that the sharp voices outside were speaking to him, singling him out. Calling to him, begging the only reply of which he was capable; the performance of his duty. Never before in the History of the Accord had an Aribiter been forced to enact a Repudiation of an entire province.
Was this truly the best course of action? The question stuck to the recesses of his mind as the sweat did to his brow.

P.S. This was thirteen lines in my 8.5 X 11 word processor; does this dimension set the objective standard for what thirteen lines is, or is the measurement based on the size of the forum window? I apologize in advance if I've violated a posting more.