Knights of Alchemy
Chapter Thirteen: Concerning Shapeople
"You're mad," Cata stated. She spoke without emotion, but that was mostly because she couldn't decide whether astonishment, fury, despair, or fervency of belief should get priority. "You're absolutely mad," she added, for good measure.
"Is it just me or is that statement getting overused?" asked Padriac.
"Aye, we be hearin' it a lot," Hail agreed, thoughtfully.
The rest of the Knights had followed Howl through the Hesperian jungle, and arrived at the village at nightfall. Cian said –luckily not too loudly, for reasons that would become clear later– that it wasn't the Shaman Village, but clearly was a settlement of the same people, complete with the same spiritual ritualism. They found Padriac, standing like an exiled statue, at the edge of the village, and it was apparent that he had completely given up on the idea of 'dry' ever being a part of his life again.
When Elys called out to the landlocked pirate, he had sprung to life again and demanded silence until they found a safe place, with only a warning to watch out for pink-haired women to add to their confusion. Why it was necessary to sneak back into accommodations that the villagers had apparently set aside for them wasn't clear, but anything that could worry Padriac had to be serious.
Inside the surprisingly warm and dry building, where Dagna had hunched into a coil against the wall beside the fire like a clockwork dwarf that had run down, Padriac explained what he knew of the situation, and what he had told Lori, which is where Cata's statement came in (several times).
"We're supposed to be delegates from Shaman Village?" Cian repeated.
"That was the feeling I got," the pirate agreed morosely. "Something about issues and violence."
"Seems like we're supposed to be solving some kind of dispute," Lynn remarked. "That shouldn't be too hard, should it? It'll be nice not to have to kill everything on the opposing side for once."
"You're mad too," Cata went on, turning to Lynn.
"She's got a point," Elys admitted. "Lynn, how do we settle a dispute when we don't know what it is, let alone how many sides there are or who's done what or even what sort of laws they've got?"
"Any chance you know those things?" Meg asked Cian, but the Lemurian just shrugged helplessly. "Right. I'm for heading back out into the jungle. I prefer slaying Slayers to deceiving shamen."
"Shamans, I think," said Zak.
"Ridiculous," Meg insisted. "One man, several men, one shaman, many shamen."
"But then you'd have to call the females shawomen," Zak replied.
"There's a problem with that?"
"There's a problem with leaving," Padriac interjected. "They'll hunt us down and kill us. You did catch the bit about 'no trespassing'?"
"…You never said that they killed trespassers," Elys said.
"Bring 'em on," Meg growled. "We can take Slayers, we can sure as Prox take on some shamen."
"I've run plenty of times before," Howl told them. "Once more doesn't matter much to me."
All of them, with the exception of the unconscious Dagna, looked at Cata. She stiffened at the uniform motion- Cata knew perfectly well that she was the one most knight-like in the group, and that she had been the one to start the entire adventure, but until this moment, she had never really thought of herself as the leader. They would stay or flee at her command.
And she wasn't going to be reckless with their safety if they had given her their trust. "We'll go. In the storm, with Meg and Howl to guide us, we can get out of their reach–"
"You've arrived!" Lori exclaimed, coming through the door with a bright smile. "It's good to see that Shaman Village does care about our troubles… but by Jupiter, I would never have expected so many of you. Or so varied a group," she commented, eyeing Howl, Dagna, and Cian in particular.
"Agcck," Cian said –choked, really– extending his hand just a little too fast.
Lori shook it with an acknowledging nod. "I'm sorry, I don't speak ancient Lemurian. …Were you visiting Shaman Village at the time of the envoy's leaving, and ask to travel with them, or is this a pilgrimage?"
Cian coughed and tried speaking again. "As a matter of fact, I work with Dagna. And Meg, that's her there. Also, don't concern yourself overmuch, not many people on Lemuria know the old tongue fluently, and I would be amazed if you did."
Meg imperceptibly raised an eyebrow– not so much at the lie as at the fractional hesitation before he had managed to say 'tongue'. "Since our delegate companions have refused to say much about their mission while we escorted them from Shaman Village, perhaps you would be more enlightening? I'd like to know what happens now that my part of the job is done."
"The debate is scheduled for tomorrow," Lori answered. "Even I'm not sure what sort of format it will be, but of course you will be presenting our case to the Shaman Council, and a few fossilized fools will be trying to argue that we're breaking ancient laws. Jorl is the only one I'm worried about; he's young enough to put together a rebuttal that would sound good and right, even if it were pure evil."
"And… what sort of arguments do you think they'll be using?" asked Cata, innocently enough.
The Hesperian woman turned away. "Everything they can get their hands on, of course," said Lori, glaring at the fireplace as though it offended her. "Saying that it's tradition. Saying that we're not capable of it. Saying that it's not our place, as though being male somehow gives one extra powers or insights into the ways of shamanism." She spun back on Cata, sapphire fire in her eyes. "But you believe in us. Shaman Village sent a delegation, so we must have support in other places. The women of Hesperia will rise to the place we deserve."
Cata couldn't help seeing in those eyes the fierce spirit that drove Lori, and suddenly the cryptic words made sense. "Yes," the knight agreed. "And we'll help you."
It was almost midnight. Lori had left the house, informing them that a messenger would be sent in the morning to alert them of the gathering council. The Knights were still awake, except for Zak, who was in a warm stable beside the house, counting the number of ways it was better to be a horse than human, or at least humanoid.
"That's the problem," Cata said. "The reason that they've called for people from Shaman Village. The laws say that women can't become shamans, and someone's finally realised that it's a stupid law."
"Why do they need people from somewhere else? Can't this be handled by local people?" asked Elys.
"Ah!" Cian exclaimed, pointing at Elys. "That's one I do know. Any modifications of law in the Hesperian cultures have very specific, ritualistic procedures to follow. For one thing, the decision is made by a council of elder shamans, and one council is as good as any other, so it's always done in the village where the question first came up. The 'capital', Shaman Village, still has some control, though, because they send a delegation to whatever village is hosting the debate and they get to pick the side they'll argue for–"
"Okay, Cian, we're all bored now," Meg said, cutting him off. She grinned, just slightly. "Still, it's good to know you're not permanently… tongue-tied."
"What's that supposed to mean?" the Lemurian demanded.
"Just noticing your reaction to Lori is all," Meg replied innocently.
Cian looked around the circle of Knights, and realised that of the five males in their band, only two were really human, and Padriac was, to be fair, a 'good' pirate. "She's an elf, if you must know."
"What? There's no such thing as an elf, they're mythical," said Howl.
"Do you ever, you know, think before saying stuff like that?" asked Meg conversationally.
"What's your point?" asked the man who was a fusion of wolf and Adept.
"The right word isn't 'elf', I admit," said Cian. "That's just what Lemurians –among other people– have always called them. People who have faery blood in their ancestry."
"Faery blood," Elys repeated. "Those weird creatures that live in the jungles around Kibombo?"
"They live here, too, and some of them are even civilized enough that… ah…"
"Humans fall in love with them?" Cata suggested.
"Yes. So there are half-faeries, or less, or sometimes more than half. Elves."
"And she is one. I guess it was a bit much to hope," Howl admitted, staring into the fire with a brooding furrow in his furred brow. Most of the other Knights looked at him expectantly. "Well.. I did see her pointy ears."
Cata tried very, very hard not to laugh, and mostly succeeded. "You thought…?"
"Hey, lycanthropes come in all shapes, sizes, and colours," Howl informed her stiffly.
"Maybe before the full moon," Padriac agreed.
"Ach," rumbled a voice like a dry-throated avalanche, and Dagna tilted his head up from his chin enough to see Howl. "Bin meanin' ter ask ye 'bout tha', Howl. How come ye're all wolfie whole month long?"
"I'm a Venus Adept," Howl replied, since werewolves consider few sorts of questions personal. "Lycanthropes are supposed to be aligned with Jupiter, so it beats me how I can even exist, but apparently earth power ties knots in the works, so I'm transformed all the time."
"Grea'," Dagna murmured. "Prob'ly put ye on yon debate team, then. Other twerps'll be scared silent." He said this with such an air of tired finality that the entire conversation ended, and the Knights drifted into whatever places in the building they found most comfortable. This was easiest for Howl and Meg, who enjoyed the hard floor and stone near the fire, and by luck there were enough beds for the others.
When morning came, the sky was a dull grey, but the city was well lit by sunlight radiating through the thin cloud blanket. A surprising number of the Knights were already awake when Lori's messenger arrived, a youth who Cata thought looked suitably impressed to meet a band of powerful adventurers– even if he did think they were delegates from Shaman Village.
"Their Excellencies the Elders of Attephes request the presence of Your Excellencies the Delegates from Shaman Village at the Council Hall in one hour's time," he said, and although the boy's eyes kept leaping from the sword that Cata insisted on leaving strapped to her belt to Padriac's menacing Lemurianish features, or Howl (who needs no explanation) and back again, his voice was calm and sure.
"Excellent," said Cata, who bowed –as she had read was proper for a knight, including women– and closed the door after thanking him for the information. "Right. No problem, is it?"
"I thought you said I was mad," Padriac groaned. In theory, he had been awake for some time, having never got used to the lack of motion when sleeping on dry land, but until Cian found a way to make coffee strong enough for pirate captains, he refused to do anything but lie on the leather sofa (a luxury in the extreme) with one arm protecting his eyes from the light.
"Yes, but you didn't know what you were getting into, and I do," Cata countered.
"I don't like the idea of letting Jastyx and Dullahan get any further ahead," Cian stated, "but I left my decision up to you. And I've got to admit that this is a worthwhile cause."
"Right," Spring agreed cheerfully. "So, as long as the world doesn't get covered in a new darkness that will destroy all life and give rise to an army of the undead or something, let's argue with some small-minded shamans. I'm sure there'll be time to rescue Weyard later. I certainly wouldn't say that you've got some sort of problem with your priorities!"
"No wonder things seemed so peaceful. The Djinn were keeping quiet," Meg realised.
"Want me to exercise some control over them?" asked Tinder.
Elys turned to her Mars Djinni in surprise. "You can do that? What kind of power to do you have?"
"Watch," said Tinder, and her blue eyes flickered, the only outward sign of a Psynergy call to the others. All the Djinn became visible, even Coal poked his head through a window, through which they could see Zak trying out the local grasses. Tinder cleared her throat, and not having one didn't seem to stall her in the least. "When they want your opinions they'll give them to you so get back inside and keep quiet unless you've got something useful to add!"
"Oh. That power," said Elys.
"I think we've tried that before," Padriac murmured.
"You know, from some unknown region I got the idea that you were a peaceful sort of Djinni," Elys remarked. Tinder looked at her in surprise and slight confusion.
"You want lighter?"
"That would be a start."
"Oh. Hey, guys, lay off a bit. They're doing the right thing as far as anyone can say for sure," Tinder announced to the Djinn, as though her first tirade had been a test run.
If they had known better what kind of person Lori was, the Knights might have been more wary of their current situation, but they didn't, so when she combined the act of knocking and throwing the door open into a single smooth motion, they simply stood frozen to the spot.
"Excuse me, I heard shouting and wanted to make sure oh sweet Jupiter preserve me DJINN!"
"You see any point in vanishing?" Geode asked.
"Nope," Squall replied.
"We could pretend to be hallucinations," Fever suggested.
"Or stuffed animals," Zephyr added.
"Dwarves don't have stuffed animals," Geode pointed out.
"What do the kids take to bed?" asked Spring.
"Ore samples," the Venus Djinni replied.
"Yes, those are definitely Djinn," Lori said mildly, her eyebrows raised but eyes looking vague, in the tone of one who has seen this all before and is less than astonished with the process. She brightened and turned to Cata. "Still, this is wonderful. Only two council members even have Djinn –one of them rather wouldn't but it's better than giving up the extra status afforded– and this will raise our side even further in their eyes."
"What kind of maniac would rather not have a Djinni?" asked Padriac, who had finally risen from the sofa, poured two cups of coffee for Cian and Lynn, and was now drinking the remainder of the kettle.
"Arr, ye be makin' an excellent point. We'd best be sure we're getting' a fair trial, an' crazy elders make th' whole thing more of a gamble than any pirate'd be wantin'."
"Hail, we're not on trial," Lynn said. "It's just a debate to get rights for" –here she grinned at Meg– "shawomen on Hesperia."
Hail frowned. "…They'll still be hangin' us if we be losin', right?"
"No," said Lynn, Padriac, Elys, and Howl in unison.
"The landlubberin' cowards! Where d'they think they get the–"
"My apologies," said Padriac, shoving Hail inside a Riot Glove and stuffing it into his belt. "She's insane is all."
"Sometimes I think everyone is," said Lori, and smiled in such as way as to make Cian stagger the next time he tried to take a step. "If I may lead our honoured delegates to the Council Hall?"
The face of a great clock adorn most of the south-facing wall of the Council Hall, carved from more than a dozen different species of tree, and by its polished hands the Knights saw that it was only ten o' clock (not that Meg had any idea what that meant). Lori explained that the debates sometimes went on for days, but if possible the elders would want to deal with it before nightfall.
"I don't think they're going to want you in there," Cata said quietly to Zak, taking cover by letting Cian ask Lori about the giant clock. "They don't know you can talk, either, so let's just leave it that way. Hang around for a while if you want to, but go back to the stable before dark."
"Yes mother," Zak hissed, though he spoke by careful manipulation of Psynergy, and so didn't appear to do anything except crop the nearest tuft of grass.
"And don't take that tone with me, you little colt," Cata added, patting his back.
"One of my legs has as much mass as you," Zak muttered to himself as she moved on. "I wonder if they'd mind if I played some tricks on the local guards… Better not risk it with Jupiter Adepts, though…"
The grin on Lori's face was smug enough to deflect arrows by the time she had led the remaining Knights through the massive corridor that might have been understated as a vestibule and into the wide, domed chamber where the elders waited. Rows upon rows of seats filled half the semicircle for several levels up, reminding most of the Knights uncomfortably of the coliseum in Tolbi (except for Elys, who had felt like she was in another dimension for much of the battle).
"At least we don't have an audience," Meg murmured, and was less than pleased to hear her own voice echoing around the dome. The other half of the room, however, had a dais on the left and right side, with several chairs around a large table and a podium to speak on. Those podiums faced the far wall, where nine roughly-aged men sat in imposing chairs, clothed in severe and ceremonial robes, armed with glares to silence any but the boldest of speakers.
"That's the council, of course," said Lori to Cata. "You can trust them– even if they don't agree with a position, the elders are under vows of faith to support the side that makes the better argument."
"How do you know?" asked Cata, very quietly, and Lori's expression made it clear that she didn't believe she could possibly have properly heard the question (to the Hesperians, it was worse than insulting any of ancestors), so none of the Knights questioned the elders' honor again.
"Venerable Shamans of Attephes!" Lori called out, acknowledging the village's council. "I have the honor of heralding the delegation from Shaman Village, who will be representing our people in the matter to be discussed in this place and on this day."
"We don't have to talk like that, do we?" asked Elys.
"Only to the elders," Lori replied, bowing low, and the Knights caught on quickly enough to follow her lead.
"I am pleased to know that we are now fully prepared to dispense with the issue," said one of the nine, and waved his left hand in a vaguely irritable manner. A purple Whirlwind started up in the middle of the room, between the Knights and the elders, and rose vertically into the air until it reached a heavy bell at the apex of the dome. The elder's Whirlwind sent it into a frenzy, ringing six times in quick succession before freezing perfectly still again.
Doors were thrown open around the room, and what must have been the entire village streamed into the chamber, filling the same seats that Meg had previously been so grateful to see empty. She was fortunately shocked into silence by the arrival of the council's thousand closest friends, and couldn't find the breath to curse all shamans.
"Good turnout," remarked the youngest of the men seated on the left-hand dais, the ones who were going to be arguing against the Knights. The smirk on his face was enough to make Cata despise him instantly, but she held back, in the knowledge that he would soon probably be providing even better reasons. "I suppose the only reason that you would have agreed to this sort of issue is that you're the kind of person who believes there's glory in failing spectacularly?"
Every Knight (even Dagna, who was hard to see in the crowd) and Lori glared at him, but Jorl –as Lori told them this particular fool was called– just amplified the obviousness of his smirk and turned back to the pages of notes they had brought.
"Respected council," asked Cian with a half-bow, "are there particular places our Djinn should be taking during the debate?"
The entire room fell silent, except for the elders, who began leaning over to each other and trading frantically murmured comments. "They've got what?" "More than one, unless he doesn't know the right plural form." "Is there even policy for this?" "By Jupiter, Shaman Village must be serious."
"Around the sides, I think," Cian ordered them calmly, and the Knights' nine Djinn took physical shape in a squarish circle around their Adepts. The crowd gasped loud enough to deafen passers-by.
"Ye Spirits," Jorl blurted, but then his face and resolve hardened. "This is the best you've got for us? Showing off a collection of elementals is supposed to bolster your argument?"
"To tell the truth," said the most senior councillor, "so many Djinn does suggest that the Spirits themselves might side with…"
"Audacious ones," said Cata, hoping that she wouldn't be hung for cutting him off, "we will win this debate by merit of words, not the power or significance of our allies."
"Significance!" Jorl exclaimed, waving frantically at the Djinn. "Do we recognise the dominion of Mars on Hesperia? Mercury? Venus?"
"I take offence at that," Geode mumbled.
"Venus is as significant a part of Alchemy as Jupiter, even if it is not our way to worship it as we do the winds," said a councillor mildly, and with a start the Knights saw that he had a Venus Djinni sitting on his shoulder.
Jorl opened his mouth to speak again. "Excuse me," said the senior elder, smiling without malice, "but if I may be so audacious, may I suggest that you even your numbers before we officially begin the bloodbath– I mean… debate?"
"Yes, get on with it," said one of the older men seated near Jorl, who seemed to be busy with a page of notes. "We're ready any time."
The Knights collectively paused, then spun to face inwards. The crowd began to murmur among themselves about the bizarre group that had arrived from Shaman Village, brimming with Djinn and seemingly unaware of a single protocol.
Elys was glaring at the others as they did their best to point out how much better everyone else would be in arguments, and while she could see the point with Dagna and Howl, it was aggravating with the others. "Oh, enough already. They want three? Here, me," she said, grabbed Lynn, "you," nodded at Meg, "and you." The other Knights reluctantly took seats at the lowest level, separated from the three advocates by an ancient wooden railing.
"Me?" Lynn hissed as she allowed herself to be dragged toward the podium. "Why me?"
"You're persuasive," Elys replied.
"I am?"
"Aren't you?"
"Just don't call them 'audacious' again," Meg suggested.
"That was Cata!" Lynn and Elys protested.
"Whatever. I'm not doing any arguing here, I'm just going to stand here and look imposing, maybe try to break their concentration. The actual arguing is left to you, got it?"
"Got it," said Lynn. "I'll take the moral views, you try to break up any of their legal arguments."
"Just as long as you know I'm not doing the arguing thing," said Meg again.
"How can I do that if I don't know the laws?" Lynn demanded of Elys.
"Say whatever sounds good and hope no one looks them up?"
"I'm supposed to be really good with this sort of thing," she reminded the Mercury Adept fiercely, having had the sense to keep in mind that they Knights were supposedly delegates from the capital.
"Great," said Elys, and Lynn knew instantly that she had been misinterpreted.
The senior elder, who was now sporting a Jupiter Djinni on the arm of his chair, cleared his throat, and the girls looked up, slightly startled. Meg sighed and unbuckled her sword belt with one hand (the other was busy shielding her eyes so that she didn't have to watch the proceedings in all their agonising glory). He looked from Jorl's side and back again, eyebrows raised expectantly and said "Let it begin."
"Venerable ones, the allowance of females to enter shamanhood is absolutely unthinkable," Jorl began instantly, like a leaping spider. "The issue–"
"Unthinkable?" Meg repeated. "Welcome to the world, Jorl, people are thinking it. And if you think that your own position is endangered by women becoming shamans then by Mars you're right if the best opening you can come up with is to say that no one's thought about it, because anyone with a working head will realise that your establishment has always been upheld by women, even if they weren't wearing the robes. I assume all of those gathered here today, with the exception of that thing over there called Jorl, had mothers? Wives? Can anyone say that even their friends have no influence on the kind of person they are? Forget even that a world of men would end with the first generation and ask yourself just how often your choices are altered at all by the other half of the population?"
When Meg was done not-arguing, Lynn was fully ready to agree that Jorl probably didn't have a mother, as anything human would have the decency to be stunned beyond words for a least a few moments. Instead he weathered the storm and immediately fired back.
"I didn't mention the world, I was referring to the cities of Hesperia, united under Jupiter's faith– a faith, I add, that contains within its precepts many references to men attaining the rank of shaman, and makes no mention of women within our holy order."
"Maybe Jupiter assumed you'd be bright enough to make the connection on your own?" Meg suggested scathingly.
"My point is that if women were meant to enter our ranks then the title granted would not be shaman," Jorl countered. To Elys' horror that silenced Meg, who had been asking the other Knights about precisely the same point less than an hour ago and still didn't have an answer.
Elys leapt up and offered Meg her seat, saying "I'll handle this one," in what she hoped was a confident manner that didn't look at all like Elys was dragging a stunned huntress out of the argument before she could take another hit.
"You have an answer to my question?" Jorl asked, smirking again. Meg instinctively reached for her swords, but they and their belt were currently in Cian's hands, fifteen feet away.
"I do," said Elys, and praised Mercury that she thought of one at that second. "I think the reason the title is 'shaman' is that you're all men." This failed to get any reaction at all, but that was better than being immediately thrown in her face.
"…I'm not sure I see your point," Jorl said.
"It's simple. If there were women in the order, then maybe you would have a different title for them. But you don't, so you don't," Elys said, shrugging.
Jorl and his comrades were looking at each other dubiously, and Elys saw one of them mouth the words 'Did she actually make a point, or just look like she did?'
"The point is entirely moot, then," the oldest man on Jorl's side stated loudly. "The remaining fact is that women are infirm for the purposes of shamanic rites."
"What, do we lack the ability to bluster properly?" Meg snapped, having sunk into one of the chairs, offended. "Or is it the clear thinking that you're talking about?" She tilted her head back to see Lori over her shoulder. "I always knew that would get us into trouble. We need to be more muddled."
"Shamans are frequently tested under terrible circumstances. We are the line between destruction of our continent and protection from the most fearsome storms and monsters. Shamans are the difference between salvation and doom for us all–"
"And for some reason you'd rather have us at your back than your side?" Meg remarked. "I admit I'm excellent at protecting someone while they're busy with other matters, but I'd be best placed at the front of any struggle."
"That is not my choice or concern," Jorl replied. "You cannot challenge the nature of shamanhood, and part of that nature is–"
"Excuse me," said Lynn, raising her hand with a crackling purple spark on one fingertip, guaranteed to attract attention. "Are we going to get around to Jupiter being female soon? It's just that you keep coming back to shamanhood being fundamental, and it seems that Jupiter herself is even more fundame–"
"What?" snapped both the older shamans on the opposing side, while Jorl muttered some long stream of unheard words, scowling at Lynn the whole time.
"It's true," Lynn said mildly, without gloating but clearly enjoying the effect her words had. "You know, Jupiter? The spirit of wind and lightning, the matron of possibility?"
"Matron?" one sputtered, still beyond most words, but the other (who had been letting Jorl speak so far, but was now shouldering in front of the younger shaman) was more articulate.
"Are you trying to tell me that the great Jupiter, commander of the winds–"
"I don't like to keep cutting you off, but I think you should also keep in mind that Jupiter doesn't command the winds," Lynn pointed out.
"Blasphemy!" he roared, recoiling from her, and Lynn's face instantly transformed into an unimpressed, irritated, and slightly curious scowl.
"Jupiter is the wind, you narrow-minded, cantankerous…" The Attekan girl took a deep breath and continued with less anger but equal intensity. "Jupiter is the wind rushing across the plains and hanging in the deepest jungles, the flash and thunder rolling across the sky and the subtle dance inside our heads that creates thought, the living lightning that raises us and all thinking beings above the mindless beasts called monsters. Jupiter commands nothing. She is, and she does." Lyn turned and raised her eyes to sweep across every person in the dark, domed chamber. "As should we all."
"Show me proof," the shaman demanded.
"Prove me wrong," Lynn countered. "I am a Jupiter Adept, and not a weak one. Jupiter lives in my every thought, every breath, and for myself I need no more proof than what I know."
The shaman, thought he still stood firm and unwavering, could say nothing, and worked his mouth silently for a short time before turning and calling on Jorl, who was leafing through the many pages heaped on their table.
"I'm looking, but there's nothing old enough for precedent," Jorl said apologetically. "Every reference to Jupiter as male has either been translated through so many dialects that it could be talking about sticky rice recipes, for all we know. The articles defining shamanhood are still very definite, but we can't actually prove her wrong with documents."
"We're still sure Attephes is on the border between Atteka and Hesperia, aren't we? And that Psynergy exists?" the shaman went on, gushing sarcasm.
"Enough!" proclaimed the leading councillor. "If there are no more major arguments to be brought forth, I believe the remaining details either side may have prepared are either already known to the elders of this hall…" and here he frowned at both sides briefly "…or irrelevant to the situation. Thus, excepting protests, we will adjourn to deliberate the resolution of this issue."
The elders stood (prompting the same from the rest of the room) and began to file into a room in the back of the hall, moving solemnly and silently while their two Djinn commented on the debate.
"Took them to the cleaners, didn't they?"
"Don't be a fool, Waft, it's nothing like definite."
"Crystal, I realise that as Bane's sister you're less sane than some Djinn–"
"I'm not his sister any more than you're his nephew, and you're missing the point, this is protocol we're discussing, not some silly little rule invented last week."
"Why did you think I said it was definite? That argument's going to break protocol?"
"…It sounded like you were favouring the delegates."
"I sound like I say a lot of things."
"Waft, you were just covering your feathery tail!"
"And doing it with style."
As though hypnotized by the bizarre dialogue following the elders out of the room, the Knights watched in a daze until the councillors were gone. Jorl took no notice, shuffling all the notes he had made on the official writings into a single pile. After a moment's contemplation, he gave a laughing shrug and hurled them all over his shoulder into the remaker's bin to be shredded and turned into new parchment, then approached the Knights.
"Good work," the shaman said, extending his hand to Lynn, Meg, and Elys in turn. "It was good of you not to challenge me to single combat to prove your worth."
"You wouldn't have liked being filleted, would you?" asked Meg acidly.
"No, I wouldn't," Jorl agreed. "It also would have shown narrow-mindedness on your part, as though physical prowess mattered. Still, you could have brought up Jupiter him- or herself a bit sooner. You left me far too much free time to talk about the original doctrines."
"What?" Elys demanded flatly.
"Well, you left it long enough that there's some chance now the patro-shamanic side could win," Jorl explained. "That'd be depressing after all this time; as you know appeals aren't allowed–"
"No," said Lori, coming up behind him. "They don't. They're not from Shaman Village."
Elys whirled around to see if anyone had heard, but the villagers watching from above were all too busy discussing the debate or other local gossip to take notice. "Lori…"
"Just don't mention it to anyone," she added, and Jorl nodded solemnly. Then, to all the Knights' surprise, they both smiled and shared a firm hug that went slightly beyond friendly. "Now," Lori went on, looking Jorl in the face with a mixture of severity and playfulness, "thorough work and all, there, but if you're not careful I'm going to get the idea that you believed even a word of what you said."
"Not a chance," Jorl insisted, raising his hands in a pose of innocence. "But when the elders call…"
"I know," Lori said, giving him a playful half-punch, "you've got to hearken to the call of duty. Do you fetch, too?"
"Wait," said Lynn, holding up a quieting finger to both Lori and Jorl.
"Wait wait wait wait wait," Elys agreed.
"You mean to say that you didn't actually believe any of what you said?" Meg demanded.
The shaman shrugged, embarrassed. "I was commanded to do it. Lori and I weren't quite ready to go revolutionary on the elders yet."
"You're mad," said Cata, who was leaning over the railing and listening in.
"I want to know how you know where we didn't come from," said Elys, frowning at Lori.
"They can't be back already!" exclaimed a villager, calling attention to the door the elders had left through, which had just swung open again.
"Apparently they can," said Lori in a concerned tone, and she let go of Jorl.
"Jupiter be with us," Lynn murmured, taking her seat to wait for the proclamation.