The voice that interrupts him sharply is not the one I expect.
Sunani cuts in, “Hisusefulnessdoesn’t matter. He is aperson.”
Her voice is quiet but sure.
The whole room hears it.
Waten doesn’t appear to notice the effect Sunani speaking up at all has on the attention of the room because he continues, “So are the priests, and I see you didn’t invite any of them here today to speak for themselves, did you? Someone has to.”
This time it’s Gisa who counters him calmly. “You do not, in fact, have to speak up for kidnappers. The only reason to is if you think you owe them something.”
“Of course we owe them! We pay them our tithe every quarter, as Jiran here can attest. Are you accusing me of something?”
Jiran does not, as far as I can see, react to Waten’s attempt to garner backup from that quarter.
“I wasn’t,” Gisa says mildly, a neat trick with the past tense. “I’m sure you talked to priests yesterday the same as the rest of us did.”
“That’s right, wealltalked to the priests.”
“I wasn’t with you for that conversation, though, was I?” Nomi says. “I think everyone in this room canattestthat I was with them when the Sage of Compassion spoke to them. What did you talk about, Waten?”
Waten looks around the room and sees all the people nodding; realizes how Gisa has trapped him and flushes. “I didn’t do anything wrong. There’s nothing wrong withtalking to a priestnow, is there?”
“Did you tell them where I live?” Nomi demands.
“Since when is that secret knowledge?”
Nomi roars, “Since you knew they were looking to kidnap one of our own and you told them how to do it!”
Zan grips my hand to anchor me as I breathe, holding my aura in with an effort of will.
Waten obeyed in advance. Before the Order even had to try.
The room is on its feet now, and Waten jumps up too, all the way onto his chair. “One of our own?” he yells. “Weare people here! Andyouwere going to risk all of us for a monster who’s been lying to us for years, putting all of us at risk? I did what anyone would do! And the only reason any of you are mad about it is because I stepped up so you wouldn’t have to!”
There is truth in his words, bitter to swallow as they may be, and even as the room erupts into shouting, I think many of the people here know it.
What would people have said to Eraya, had Nomi not been standing right there? Nomi was even more tactical than I realized.
But so was Eraya: leaving Nomi behind for now so as not to push too hard, too fast.
To see what Crystal Hollow will tolerate easily, encouraging them to bend and bend and bend rather than snap.
Then Jiran stands up.
It doesn’t quiet the room.
Not until he starts to simply walk away without saying anything, that is.
And what needs to be said, anyway?
This is not a town ready for a revolution against the Order. These are people who have been comfortable their entire lives and don’t want to believe that they have to risk it.
What irony, that they sacrificed the Sage of Comfort to keep it.
But when Jiran approaches the door, I hold out a hand.
I’ve been holding backso hard.
