Dave didn’t say anything that time.
I glanced at him, and he wasn’t looking at the old guys across from us, but at me.And with an expression I couldn’t name.“What?”
“You don’t know, do you?”he asked gently.
“Know what?”
“Some of the less well-heeled clans force out their elders if they have no families to look after them, so they don’t become a burden.”
“What?”I said, because I must have heard wrong.
But his expression said I’d gotten it right the first time.“You were originally from Lobizon, I believe?”
“Yes, but—”
“And then joined Arnou.Both of those are old, leading clans with deep pockets.Not all are so fortunate.”
“So they throw out their own people?Theirfamilies?”
“Yes.”It was stark.But then he softened it slightly.“Not everyone views clan as family, Lia.To many, they’re more like allies.And allies are only useful when they’re strong enough to help you.”
“And when they’re old, after a lifetime of supporting the clan, they’re just… thrown away?”
I didn’t believe it.
“Oh, no,” he said, and there was a sudden flash of anger in the dark eyes.“Not everyone.Just those who have outlived their caretakers or never had them to begin with, and who are too old or sick or addlepated to work, and thus become a drain on the clan’s strength.”
I felt my blood pressure test its upper boundaries again.“Does Sebastian know about this?”
“Of course.The council has been debating it for some time—”
“Debating it?While our elders are—”
He cut me off with a gesture, although I didn’t know how, considering how furious I was.But there was an air of authority around him, only not of the usual sort.Quieter, less aggressive than normal, but there nonetheless.
He didn’t back down, and he didn’t waver, not even in front of Sebastian himself.I’d heard the term “moral authority” before, but wasn’t sure I’d ever encountered it.I kind of thought I might have, now.
“It’s better than anything we’ve had before,” he said firmly.“People elected Sebastian because they wanted change, yet when it came down to it, when it required something of them, some sacrifice, some inconvenience… they were not so happy, suddenly.
“But before him, no one even acknowledged these things, and threatened those of us who dared to bring them up.There was no dialogue, no attempt even to begin a discussion on how to rectify these wrongs, and no one with the willingness to try.It was easier to rug sweep, to ignore the problems in our society, to let them fester—and rot.”
He was looking at a man that one of the nurses was tending to down the hall.The man was on crutches as he only had one usable leg, the other having been amputated at the knee.He looked about sixty to me, which made him still able to work, but I guessed the injury had put paid to that.
And to any hope he had of clan support.
“We house some of the dispossessed at our hospital,” Dave told me.“And the care home we’ve established beside it, but not many, not most.The majority we don’t even find before… well, before they no longer need care.”
“Yes, because they’ve been left to die alone!”
“But now, for the first time, the council is discussing the problem.Sebastian is making them do so.Nothing has been decided yet, as it keeps being shelved due to more pressing matters, but it’s more than we’ve had.”
“It’s not enough!And thisispressing!”
He smiled at me suddenly.“You know, you’re not at all what I envisaged.”
“You envisaged?”
“You’re rather… talked about.”
