I’m still angry about being put in this position, and it gives me strength.
Zan wants me to have space to choose for myself, but I don’t have it.
I want him to have space to be himself, but he doesn’t have that either.
This sucks and I am evidently going to have to do something about it, starting now.
Starting today, before he leaves me.
“Priests are going to be able to come to town in greater numbers, because the Quiet has fallen,” I tell the room, and immediately sit back down.
Ironically, this statement causes the opposite of quiet.
Only because I’m a sage can I parse the rapid flows of emotion this news creates—shock and fear are predominant, but there is excitement too.
And anger. A stirring of resentment, that their peace has abruptly been stolen from them without their consent.
I sympathize.
But I don’t regret my actions.
Zan didn’t deserve to suffer so they could remain comfortable.
Gisa raps her bony knuckles sharply on the desk in front of her, and the commotion quiets. “Interesting that a newcomer knows this. Is your arrival a coincidence?”
Teren did warn me to expect a question about the timing of my arrival with an unknown source of ice, so I was prepared for a version of this.
“I came to Crystal Hollow for sanctuary for reasons of my own,” I start.
Teren also explained that it’s normal for people to not volunteer why they came here, and the expectation is that people won’t pry. So this opening should be innocuous enough and resonate.
But to what we talked about I now add, “I have an awareness for magic, and under other circumstances might have joined the Order.” Had they not been obscenely shitty. “There was no dampening field when I arrived, and the priests must have realized the same.”
A big man in the front row turns to me—it’s Haben, the cobbler. “That how you’re getting ice, then? The mountain?”
Not what I was planning to tell them, but I suppose the dragon has flown the eyrie.
Quick thinking under pressure is also among my skillset.
“Yes. After I arrived, I traveled up the mountain as far as I could. There was no sign of the Quiet remaining, but I got high enough to access ice. I am capable of dealing with treacherous terrain, but it’s not an easy trek. So my supply of ice is consistent, but since I have to carry it down myself I can’t offer it at scale—but nor will it affect your existing ice supply lines.”
“How treacherous?” Haben asks. “We have some fit folks in town—”
Nomi interrupts, “Who have no experience climbing mountains, let alone icy cliffs.”
“If it’s a skill, there’s no reason some of us can’t learn it,” Haben says.
“It’s not practical,” a woman who was in my line says. Romasa. “How many people would it take to supply the whole town with ice?”
“I’m not talking about supplying the whole town,” Haben says irritably. “I’m talking about having a source for emergencies without having to pay out the nose.”
“And if we don’t go to the continent, they’ll realize we aren’t being honest about our resources, and what then? What if they charge us more money? What if they start poking around in our businesses and find other things?”
Romasa had seemed perfectly pleasant in my line, and she seems perfectly pleasant now, as she advocates for people to remain dependent for the sake of personal convenience.
I take a breath, idly twisting my hands in a shortcut kata. That’s not fair. She does have some real concerns. I think she’s approaching it the wrong way, but that doesn’tnecessarilymean she’s acting in bad faith.
“Romasa is another rep,” Teren informs me quietly.
