“He is not Kowri. The failings of those who raised him are irrelevant, even if he did not contradict himself when describing—”
Gimi interrupted. “The temple rules do not allow adult punishments for one raised badly.” She leaned back with a smile far too sweet for this room where so many Kowri were fluffy with rage. Bekdi looked like a stuffed toy that had been attacked by static electricity.
“The outsider is not a Kowri youth to be retrained.” Bekdi slammed his hands down on the table.
“Kowri have only one set of rules to serve justice,” Minait had snarled back, all her teeth on display. The small snake on her shoulder raised his head and sent his tongue flickering into the air. Dante could see how those with sacred animals small enough to take into meetings had a real advantage. It wasn’t as though Bekdi could fit a cranky pebafri into a meeting room. Minait continued after taking a deep breath, her voice slightly more measured. “We do not invent new rules for new situations.”
“And the outsiders have committed theft of technology! That calls for death!” Bekdi’s upper lip kept creeping up, revealing white teeth.
Minait stood. “The outsiders reacted to your inadvisable decision to invade their ship against temple advisement. Youwere told to keep your adherents away from the outsiders, and you issued orders in contradiction of the temple. If you wish to use a person’s actions as evidence of wrongdoing, you may not commit wrong first!”
“Exactly,” Gimi said with unforgivable cheer. “A person who would never break a law will react oddly in times of fear or stress. We see it often with children. Lord Gyrity of psychology had led to many an investigation into the phenomenon. I do admire the exalteds of Lord Gyrity. They are friends of Lady Onidba.” She nodded, and it took Dante a second to realize what she meant by staring at Bekdi. She was calling him a fearful child, and every bit of Bekdi’s hair stood on end. Dante had seen southern women like her. Sweet. Polite. Able to emotionally eviscerate a person without ever raising their voice.
“But he’s an outsider,” Leevshi cried.
Dante got the feeling he was the youngest exalted here, and Gimi muttered something about his logic being as brittle as the crystals he worked with. Dante was seated next to her, so only he heard her. Gods willing.
“It is decided,” Minait said. “This is not an issue for full debate, and Ter will lose his adult status and be demoted to his Father’s Years. He will not be promoted to Temple years until he can control his temper.”
Ter was trembling with either rage or frustration, and he surged out of his chair. “I am not a child, and there are not more than five hundred active brain cells among you!” Ter snarled before he lurched for the door. Regi leapt to his feet, but then he hesitated before staring at his mother who sank back into her chair.
“I will not have the outsider on my ship,” Bekdi a’Gavd snarled, “and if I am forced to accept him, I will ensure he learns manners. The idea that species excuses rudeness is absurd.” Hestrode toward the exit, and several exalteds followed. Most of them, in fact.
“Perhaps rudeness is natural to more than one species.” Nawr said, touching his thumbs to his temples as he glanced at Minait. Like Gimi, he seemed amused. He grabbed his rolling bar and pulled himself to his feet, and the few remaining exalteds aside from Minait and Gimi followed him.
Gimi a’Onidba touched her own temples. “Minait, your reputation has been well-earned.”
She seemed to sag. “I have always respected the exalteds of Onidba. To embrace logic over one’s own needs is a burden I would not be able to carry.”
Regi gave his mother an incredulous look, but then Dante had heard enough stories about how Minait a’Otutha always put her goddess before anyone’s needs, including her own. Dante could guess what Regi was thinking.
Gimi inclined her head toward Minait. “I thank you for listening to logic rather than hearing only the loudest voices, particularly when those individuals appear to have closed their ears to our gods.”
Minait sucked in a quick breath and her ears went back.
“I offend you,” Gimi said.
“Merely surprised me,” she said. “Regi, perhaps we can speak before you must resume your duties,” Minait said.
“I shall excuse myself, then,” Gimi rose and offered a two-thumb salute to first Regi and then Dante before she left, her smile now a smug grin.
Regi’s shoulders tightened and the hair on the back of his neck stood on end, which signaled unhappiness. Dante was getting quite good at reading Kowri body language, or at least Regi’s body language. Minait was still a complete mystery.
“I cannot be spared from my duties for long,” said Regi.
His mother tilted her head in Regi’s direction. “Then I shall endeavor to be concise in our communications.”
“I'm sure that Vk can cover any security duties that require your attention this afternoon,” Captain Cota said. He brought his hands halfway to his temples as though he would make a Kowri gesture before deciding that he shouldn’t imitate them. “I appreciate your assistance,” he told Minait.
She grimaced.
“Captain,” Regi said in a tense voice, “I should contact the temple and request information on which ships are currently seeking crew and would be willing to take an outsider.”
The captain winced. He might have accepted the sentence in order to avoid Ter being sentenced to death, but he wasn’t happy. Dante wondered if the captain would get in trouble for doing a better job of protecting his engineer or if the Coalition would blame Ter.
Regi’s mother scoffed. “I believe we both know which Kowri ship you intend for him to serve on,” she said.
Dante looked to Regi for his reaction. If Regi did have an ally on some Kowri ship, Dante didn’t know about it. Of course, there was no reason for Regi to tell him everything.
