As the silver rays rescinded, revealing a figure in a flowing white dress, every occupant of the chamber immediately kneeled before her. She approached Kyalin, who also knelt reverently before her, more probably to avoid her gaze with a deep look of shame.
“Justice is mercy.” The priestess replied in a soft, ethereal voice rarely heard even within the holy city. “Justice is fairness. Justice is understanding.”
She surveyed the room’s occupants, gesturing for them to resume themselves in their posture. Slowly, reluctantly, they did. Absolute silence still reigned, only until the priestess herself spoke, projecting her voice just enough so that it may be heard by all within the room.
“Elune teaches us two things above all others. First, to love and care for one another, and for the world in which we live. Second, she teaches us to destroy our enemies, and those who would defile our home vociferously and mercilessly. Placed together, these lessons contradict, but most people will never see that conflict. It is easy to wage war on the Orc. It is easy to share love for one’s kin. As brothers and sisters, we have pillars, structures arrayed one next to the other in our minds, in which we separate these teachings.”
“A Warden, or a policewoman, if she should succeed the warden…. ” The priestess continued. “Lives in the shadow of the alleyway betwixt. She confronts those among our kin who mean us harm. For her it is not as simple, and it will never be as simple.”
She paused, looking back to the bookish councilman who spoke last. “So…. should she have domain therein? Or should we be worried about those who find themselves down there with her? Our great Shan’do, and the High Priestess before me believed that, were they wrong? Should we dictate from on high what a Warden should do, how she is to do it, even though we ourselves have never been there? Elune does not give me the answers to those questions. She doesn’t always fill in the gaps.”
The councilman did not reply, staring at her as she stared at him, expecting an answer that just didn’t come. So she went on. “I wonder what Furion would have made of this. All of this… It’s the product of ghosts of the past like the one before us, but… would he want this? This ghost is asking us to answer that question too – are we who we are anymore. I don’t know that we can. I simply know that we should.”
The stood there, almost shyly, like she wasn’t expecting to have to go on like this. Without a word, an indication she was finished, or crushing final line, she quietly returned to her seat behind the curtains, assuming the chair as officially as she had done before.
The rest of the room took some time to resume itself to its dull murmur. Kyalin still looked ashamed of what she’d just done.
Irontree spoke “This council will adjourn until a later date to… decide this matter at the discretion of the High Priestess. There is of course a comment period which we will observe…. the full transcript of this meeting will be made available. Sentinels, please take Warden Raintree into custody. Warden Skysong and Ms. Verronia Fay – you may leave at your convenience.”
THE END
