“It matters,” said a female American Mage to his right, “because Americans are shallow and stupid. They don’t care about policy, they don’t pay attention, they’re numb and just want to be told what to do. All they care about is that their leaders are charismatic, charming, and good-looking. You used to be all three. Now you’re ugly, repulsive to look at it, so all the charm in the world won’t matter. We believe you’ve ruined your chances to be president.”
Now Garrou hung his head. He’d never considered how his injuries, how his new appearance, might affect his chances to win the presidency. After the attack he’d just wanted to heal, get back to the plan, to move forward. It had never occurred to him that a shallow electorate might reject him because of a scarred face and missing fingers.
