That answer stops me for a moment.
Because it means something very specific.
“They don’t want soldiers,” I say slowly.
“No.”
“They want leaders.”
“Exactly.”
I shake my head.
“You still haven’t told me who you are.”
She walks past the pews, stopping a few feet away.
“Mara.”
“Just Mara?”
“For now.”
I nod toward the board.
“And you’re part of this network.”
She tilts her head slightly.
“Not exactly.”
“Meaning?”
“I’m… adjacent.”
“That’s comforting.”
She ignores the sarcasm.
“You and your team are asking the wrong question.”
“Which is?”
“Who’s running the network?”
“That seems important.”
“It is.”
“But it’s not the real problem.”
I hold her gaze.
“What is?”
She hesitates.
Just long enough to suggest she’s deciding how much to reveal.
