In companionable silence, Jallina and I made our coffees the way we liked, the way we had left them at the coffee shop.
I took in the room around us a little bit more.
It looked a lot like the temple but was clearly not meant for dedications and prayers alone. The room was more functional, more welcoming.
Certainly, much more versatile, as evidenced by the delicious coffee.
“What happened?” My quiet words didn’t seem to break our pleasant silence too uncomfortably.
“There were arguments. When Milgran realized you were the one at the temple and spreading the news of the Breaking Times, he was… angry.” Jallina snorted in the coffee impolitely. “Well. Perhaps angry was an understatement. He was furious. He was at a loss for words, and he wanted to…”
She cleared her throat, trying to put off what she was about to say.
I waited.
“He wanted to go there and…kill you. At first. He calmed enough within a few moments to amend that totake you away fromthe temple, but Drez and I heard the words leave his lips.”
A week before, a day before, I would never have believed that Milgran would say such a thing. Either sentiment, killing or kidnapping.
I was now a day older and wiser.
What a difference a day made.
I stalled, then took a sip of the coffee, enjoying the warm, delicious drink as it spread through me. I savored it for just one moment longer, relishing everything that was innocent and pure just one more time as I got ready to admit that my own innocence and purity were ending.
“None of that surprises me.”
Jallina’s head snapped up, then hung a moment later.
“So they did try to take you last night.”
This time, my head snapped up. “What do you mean? How do you—”
“Mil wasn’t quiet about his plans and where his ideals were aligning. And they weren’t with you and the temple, for sure.”
I was aghast. “You knew he was going to try to kidnap me?”
Was one of my oldest friends lying to me?
Was she baiting me?
Why had she not come and told me they were going to try that?
Disgusted, I stared at the coffee.
It lost its taste suddenly.
My taste for my company was also lost.
Jallina’s head shook in the negative. “Nothim. The group he has been showing more than a passing interest in. He was…enthusiastic about the idea that they were going to take you from the temple and teach you how the temple is wrong.”
“Why would I ever be convinced the temple is wrong? I am…wasan acolyte. I serve the Lost God. I have since we were children, and he’s known me since I was a child!”
Another pregnant pause filled the air. This one was not uncomfortable, merely long and laden with things Jallina wanted to say.
“Remember I said we were children and really didn’t have a clue? It all comes down to that. We don’t know this world as well as others do, and we certainly never knew about Antithesis.”
My hand flew up to a hold position.
