Shavek was a religious fanatic, and that made him dangerous because he wasn't thinking logically. Navuh had put him in charge of religious services, and the guy delivered impassioned sermons about the wisdom of Mortdh's teachings and the path to victory the Brotherhood must follow. He would have to bemanaged carefully, which was one of the reasons Losham had decided to put him in charge of the breeding program. He needed the guy to report to him daily.
Borhash was a joker, and no one took him seriously, but Losham wasn't buying his act. He also would need to be watched closely.
None of them looked at him directly when he swept his gaze over them.
Losham stepped to the podium.
"Brothers," he said.
His voice came out the way he had practiced, low, steady, and carrying an undercurrent of grief. The acoustics of the hall were good, and it carried to the back rows without the need for amplification.
"Two days ago, the Brotherhood lost three of its most prominent members. Kolhood, Hocken, and Hazok made a grave mistake, and it cost them their lives."
He paused, letting the words hang in the air.
The hall was perfectly silent.
"They violated Lord Navuh's sanctuary. They entered his harem. It was a blatant defiance of a prohibition put in place by the god Mortdh himself. Lord Navuh's judgment was severe. His judgment was just. His judgment was final."
A murmur started in the back of the hall, but it was quickly suppressed.
"The loss is difficult for me," Losham continued. "They were my brothers, and I did all I could to dissuade them from taking this reckless step. But they did not listen, and now they are gone,and their absence is a grievous wound to me and to the entire Brotherhood."
He drew a breath, keeping the expression of heavy grief on his face.
"Their fate is a lesson to us all. Lord Navuh's word is incontestable. His will is our law. His rules are absolute, and the harem was, is, and forever will be off-limits to anyone but Lord Navuh, or those whose access he authorizes personally. There is no one in this room who does not know that the harem is off-limits. There is no officer who does not understand that the prohibition applies to all regardless of rank, regardless of seniority, and regardless even of blood."
He looked across the hall.
"My brothers convinced themselves that the situation justified their entry, but they were wrong, and they suffered the consequence that Lord Navuh has always promised to whoever dared to break his most sacred of rules."
He paused, looking around the gathered force with a solemn expression firmly affixed to his face.
"I tell you this as a cautionary tale. I tell you this because the Brotherhood is built on submission and obedience to our god Mortdh and to his son, Lord Navuh. It's the foundation that holds us together."
Losham paused again, allowing time for the two thousand or so males to adjust their internal calculations about what kind of leader the new acting head of the Brotherhood was going to be.
He had them exactly where he wanted them.
The Eight worked the room, using a light thrall that was the cognitive equivalent of a hand on a shoulder, suggesting to the assembled officers that the loyalty they felt was right, that the obedience they were being asked for was natural, that the path Losham was laying out was the path they had always intended to walk anyway. The thrall would not produce loyalty in men who had no foundation for it. It would only amplify what was already there. Their loyalty and obedience to Navuh would extend to Losham.
"Today, I am announcing a new leadership." He turned toward the row of chairs to his right.
"Shavek. Will you please stand?"
There was a small ripple of attention as Shavek stood. He had not been expecting to be called first, and Losham could see the calculation in his eyes.
"Shavek, you have served the Brotherhood faithfully, and your devotion to Mortdh's vision has been a model for all of us. You will assume Hazok's responsibilities, overseeing the Dormant enclosure and the breeding program. Producing soldiers for Mortdh's army is the most important endeavor on the island. This is the future of our cause."
"I shall serve faithfully." Shavek bowed more deeply than the situation called for, which could signal that he was honored by the assignment, or that he'd been hoping for something better and was disappointed. Religious fanatics, or any fanatics for that matter, were hard to read.
"Thank you, brother," Losham said. "You may sit."
Shavek sat, and those gathered nodded and murmured their approval, but no one clapped.
It wasn't something that was done in the Brotherhood.
"Modak. Will you please stand?"
