[coronatiger]

15th of Ratanu, year 412 (continued)

No. I shouldn’t resort to violence unless I absolutely have no other choice. I determined to stay as tight-lipped as the Azura high priestess. If she volunteered information, or offered a trade, I might speak, but otherwise, I’d remain silent.

Grogg said he only had good experiences with Azura people. He went as far as relating a story about him and Lunari breaking into an Azura library, and they had been kind even then. I could tell the priestess was amused by Grogg’s story, but she kept her face neutral enough that I don’t think the others caught on. Xipil might have spotted the minute shift in her expression, but I don’t think he recognized the emotion for what it was.

Xipil argued that Azura has a secretive cult in the Prince’s Cities, and that they were to blame for major catastrophes in the world. The priestess didn’t react at all. Grogg asked me to look at the priestess through the spirit-seeing ring. I already did, but now I allowed my body language to convey it.

Wolfram asked if it was all right with the rest of us if he told the priestess about demons. The priestess nodded at that word. Xipil said we should leave; we wouldn’t find out anything of interest here. Wolfram wanted to stay, and tried to convince the rest of us. Xipil asked me if I had found what I was looking for here, and I admitted I was a little curious about what – if anything – was going to happen here tonight. Although, if the others didn’t think they’d be able to keep their mouths shut, they should leave.

Xipil has turned very hostile towards Azura, and argued that we didn’t want to stay close to these people. Wolfram disagreed heartily and vocally. He contended that the men had been thrown out of the cult for what they did; now, only women remained, and they were honorable. Wolfram was certain they wouldn’t destroy the world.

The menfolk didn’t realize that the longer they argued, the more information they gave away to the priestess. When they started fighting about the Night Mirror, I told them to take the discussion elsewhere. They all stared at me. “You’re tattling!” I exclaimed exasperatedly. They ignored my warning and threw themselves back into the debate, even Xipil, whose point of view was that we shouldn’t reveal anything to the priestess.

“It’s happening soon!” the priestess exclaimed excitedly. She pulled off her hood and tilted her head even further back, facing the darkening sky. I glanced up at the hole in the ceiling, but I couldn’t see anything, at least not yet.

Xipil began meditating. Having lost his vociferous opponent, Wolfram turned to me and threatened to withdraw his aid for the Ashtarite conflict unless I allowed him to speak to the priestess. I decided not to pick up the fight, and told him he could speak to her if he was still interested in doing so after the drugs had worn off. He said he felt just fine, but I told him I’d be the judge of that. He should wait a couple of hours. Wolfram asked the high priestess politely if that was all right. She turned towards him and replied that nobody would come for her before morning.

Pausing his meditation for a few seconds, Xipil asked if he could sit on Grogg in order to have a better view towards the north. Wolfram decided to transform into a bear, making me groan inside. He looked at me and growled, but his bear mouth wasn’t made for human speech.

Since everyone else was focused on the window to the sky, I pulled Yana with me to the top of the stairs, where I could an eye out for anyone approaching, and one eye on the Azura priestess. I didn’t trust her. Yana whispered that the others had said so much already, that it couldn’t hurt to tell the rest. I whispered back that anything we could withhold from the priestess would be a victory. On the other hand, I did give Wolfram permission to speak. Hopefully, he came to his senses when the river thistle had run its course.

Yana asked if it was all right if she took out her sewing, so she had something to do while we were waiting. I replied that was just fine. I felt I had to listen to the other side or sides of the conflict before taking action, but I began to prepare a speech, for when I have to convince my brothers and sisters to take the right path, which might not be the one the old chapel guard had mentioned. I felt didn’t get very far, for there was much I needed to know. If I held my speech now, I wouldn’t say much of note.

The stars arrived above us, and the priestess focused upwards. It seemed to me like she received information from them. Occasionally, her face twitched in a brief grimace before returning to normal. Whatever messages she received, some of them affected her emotions deeply. Grogg and Kraa started to sing, and I wanted to go and hide. Grogg actually has a good singing voice, but the spirit raved distorted everything with its inane kraaing.

Wolfram transformed back into a human after a good while, and I rose and walked over to him. He was behind the priestess, and when I approached her, I drew one of my knives, just to see if she noticed. I made sure to do it silently so the noise wouldn’t alert her, but more importantly, I didn’t want Yana to see. It felt like such a betrayal, my gut twisted. The priestess didn’t react, so I put the knife away, just as stealthily as I had drawn it.

“That was unnecessary,” Wolfram protested. I ignored his comment and told him to bend down so I could study his eyes. The river thistle was still working its way though his system, so I asked him to wait another half-hour. He said that was all right, and transformed back into a bear, and I returned to Yana.

Yana had progressed from leaves to flowers, and showed me her work when I sat down. In a low voice, she asked if everything was fine with Wolfram. I replied that he was still a little affected by the drug. I touched the flower and raised my voice a little. “This flower is coming along just fine!”

After half an hour, Wolfram transformed back and looked meaningfully at me. I nodded. Wolfram cleared his throat and began to reveal everything. He spoke about how he had a call to come to Arland from the Prince’s Cities, and went on about what we had done together since we met at the Evening Fort. He focused on the supernatural.

When Wolfram mentioned the dragon Palo, Grogg interrupted and put forth his view on the ancient enemy of his god. I watched the priestess. She still faced the sky, but I could tell she paid close attention to what my friends said.

Since Grogg became so agitated, he woke Xipil from his meditation. Grogg revealed why he was so hostile towards snakes; he had heard stories of dragons dressing up as snakes to fool people. The priestess’s mouth formed a pleased smile. Xipil’s eyes began to glow again, for he had returned to his meditation.

After a few minutes, the priestess turned towards Grogg and thanked him. Wolfram kept talking, and Xipil woke up again. The priestess let Wolfram speak for another few minutes, and then she said he didn’t have to tell her all this. Wolfram replied that since he didn’t know what she was interested in hearing, he chose to tell everything.