“How do you know that, though?” Romasa asks. “And just becauseyouare safe, which we have only your word for—it’s been what, a few days since the Quiet went down, judging by when we started seeing priests?”
Into that rumble, I’m surprised by who cuts through it.
“I trust Teren,” Sunani says.
We all look over at her.
Her color is high, her chin raised defiantly, her fists clenched as she refuses to look away from all the unwanted attention on her.
Teren gapes.
Then Waten snorts. “Well, that’s sweet and all—”
Nomi then says, “Ilivewith him. Or do you not trust me?”
“You’re biased,” Waten snaps. “And maybe weshouldn’ttrust you, with all you’ve been hiding from us—”
“Andmaybe,” I finally snap, “you will find any excuse to not look out for your neighbors lest you be mildly inconvenienced.”
I look at Romasa when I say that.
“It’s more than mild discomfort,” she snaps right back.
“Why do you deserve to keep your comfortable life unchanged when your neighbors can’t, through no wrongdoings of their own? And can you really be comfortable while your neighbors are stolen and killed next to you? You can rationalize it however you want. You’re either comfortable killing your neighbors, or you’re not,” I tell her.
“You don’t know that would happen!”
This time, the room doesn’t agree with her, and I watch Romasa see it.
There. That’s it, isn’t it?
If I want to change things, I have toactually use my power.
Teren is doing it—he knows exactly how to hit them for comfort,ordiscomfort.
And maybe wrath can change minds, too.
Except committed curmudgeons’, because Waten apparently realizes that Romasa, who people actually like, isn’t getting her way and his own life might be affected, and points at me. “You can’t just decide this for everyone and force it on us.”
I mean, technically I could, but—
Exasperated with him, Nomi says, “We’re literally making this decision as a group.”
“While ignoring those of us who dissent!”
“The majority of the room disagrees with you,” Nomi tells him. “That’s how this works. You don’t get a unilateral veto. Or have you forgotten when Teren and I both voted with you to enable you to expand your fledgling bakery here when not everyone agreed because you were new? We welcomed you. So you will forgive me for not being willing to offer myself to be executed for your convenience. If you don’t like this, move. Or is there a reason you moved here to keep the priests out of your business?”
Waten scowls but subsides.
Even he can sense the room’s mood has shifted in agreement with Nomi, apparently.
“Well,” Gisa says with some amusement. “That’s that then. This is why we all come to these things, isn’t it? For the excitement.”
Chuckles throughout the room.
“What do we need to do to make this happen, Nomi?” she asks.
Nomi looks over at Zan. “I’m thinking Jiran.”
