Sam and Remi were both trusting souls, but for once Jigano didn’t berate the alchemist for it. Phoebe and Amalia spoke the words that were running through his mind and he nodded slowly in agreement. ”I trust Sam,” he said quietly, flickering a glance at Amalia at her vehemence, sending a pulse of silent agreement to her. ”But… I don’t trust the Voice. Not after the Blight and how little she did – how she did nothing - to help those it struck down.” He nodded gravely to Phoebe, who knew, and he tilted his head curiously at Remi, who knew almost as well as they how hard it had struck, given how his husband had been affected.
Amalia’s mention of Sam as one of the killers at the Mathair – after the men’s conversations before and during LongNight – left Jigano looking stunned, pain and disbelief pulsing briefly through the Attuned bond before he shut it down with an effort and bowed his head to get control of himself. He had suspected, but he hadn’t known…
And now he did.
Remi’s next question should have been expected. The bard had spoken with the theatrical flourish he fell into too often, but in this case it was also the truth as he drew a shaking breath, pulling himself together enough to give another nod. ”Twice now she has killed to access a portal rather than seek any sort of negotiation,” he said grimly. ”Amalia mentioned the Fae, but she also killed the guardian serpent that Rae set to protect the portal from Ascended. It would let any non-Ascended through, and perhaps in time it could have been convinced to allow Ascended to pass… but Wessex attacked it and me when I tried to negotiate with it rather than help her fight. So I am not inclined to give her the benefit of the doubt at the moment, given her bloody-handedness at every turn recently.” Or ever again. Jigano knew how to nurse a grudge with the best of them.
He sat back to listen for a bit, tilting his head thoughtfully at the suggestions and nodding slowly at them. ”Giving them warning is fair,” he said to Remi, ”though will the threat be enough, given that they’ve ignored and killed other guardians so far?” He swallowed the rest of his words, holding to the lessons the alchemist had taught him, but Amalia’s fervor brought a shadow of a smile to his lips. ”There is that,” he agreed softly. ”Ronin is Safrin’s chosen, and Aoife is blessed by the star-eyed goddess. Your family – our friends – are inextricably bound to the old gods… for good and ill both. It might not have been our war when we arrived, but I don’t think it’ll be so easy to hold ourselves apart from it now that the Voice is moving her agents in ways that have already hurt non-Ascended. The Blight and now the killing of those loyal to the old gods are opening volleys in a new chapter, I fear. We’ve already been dragged into it, whether we wanted to be or not. I don’t know what we should do…” He sighed, looking around at each of his fellow Guardians and meeting each of their eyes in turn. ”But everything that’s been said is a good start. Let the Ascended know that there will be repercussions if they continue to kill the first time someone disagrees with them on access to a portal on someone else’s land. Watch the portals we do know about to make sure they aren’t being abused or used to spread this war further. And warn those we come into contact with, making sure that they know about our history with the Voice and her people and what they’ve done so far so they aren’t taken in by lies or events that are ‘conveniently’ left out of the Ascended’s narrative.”
He paused, then raked his hair back with a weary hand. ”We should also consider the other side of things. That there may be threats in other lands that could come through the opposite direction and cause problems for the people here, if the portal in the Spire is left unwatched and undefended.”
Amalia’s mention of Sam as one of the killers at the Mathair – after the men’s conversations before and during LongNight – left Jigano looking stunned, pain and disbelief pulsing briefly through the Attuned bond before he shut it down with an effort and bowed his head to get control of himself. He had suspected, but he hadn’t known…
And now he did.
Remi’s next question should have been expected. The bard had spoken with the theatrical flourish he fell into too often, but in this case it was also the truth as he drew a shaking breath, pulling himself together enough to give another nod. ”Twice now she has killed to access a portal rather than seek any sort of negotiation,” he said grimly. ”Amalia mentioned the Fae, but she also killed the guardian serpent that Rae set to protect the portal from Ascended. It would let any non-Ascended through, and perhaps in time it could have been convinced to allow Ascended to pass… but Wessex attacked it and me when I tried to negotiate with it rather than help her fight. So I am not inclined to give her the benefit of the doubt at the moment, given her bloody-handedness at every turn recently.” Or ever again. Jigano knew how to nurse a grudge with the best of them.
He sat back to listen for a bit, tilting his head thoughtfully at the suggestions and nodding slowly at them. ”Giving them warning is fair,” he said to Remi, ”though will the threat be enough, given that they’ve ignored and killed other guardians so far?” He swallowed the rest of his words, holding to the lessons the alchemist had taught him, but Amalia’s fervor brought a shadow of a smile to his lips. ”There is that,” he agreed softly. ”Ronin is Safrin’s chosen, and Aoife is blessed by the star-eyed goddess. Your family – our friends – are inextricably bound to the old gods… for good and ill both. It might not have been our war when we arrived, but I don’t think it’ll be so easy to hold ourselves apart from it now that the Voice is moving her agents in ways that have already hurt non-Ascended. The Blight and now the killing of those loyal to the old gods are opening volleys in a new chapter, I fear. We’ve already been dragged into it, whether we wanted to be or not. I don’t know what we should do…” He sighed, looking around at each of his fellow Guardians and meeting each of their eyes in turn. ”But everything that’s been said is a good start. Let the Ascended know that there will be repercussions if they continue to kill the first time someone disagrees with them on access to a portal on someone else’s land. Watch the portals we do know about to make sure they aren’t being abused or used to spread this war further. And warn those we come into contact with, making sure that they know about our history with the Voice and her people and what they’ve done so far so they aren’t taken in by lies or events that are ‘conveniently’ left out of the Ascended’s narrative.”
He paused, then raked his hair back with a weary hand. ”We should also consider the other side of things. That there may be threats in other lands that could come through the opposite direction and cause problems for the people here, if the portal in the Spire is left unwatched and undefended.”
