Juniper almost spoke after Noah's brief statements, but held her tongue until Hotaru finished, and was glad she had. Her conscience would have demanded that she defend Morgan's right to sleep with whomever she liked. Oh, Juniper wasn't naive enough to think that Morgan could totally separate her political and personal lives, but she would have felt obliged to say that the Warden deserved the benefit of the doubt.
But if the command to take over Halo had come from Safrin, well, that made things simpler. Then Juniper's doubts about the coup's morality landed on Safrin, not on Hotaru and Noah; they had just followed the goddess's orders, as anyone who wished to live a long and healthy life would. (Juniper, after all, didn't intend to take Safrin to task for giving the order, either.)
Juniper took a long moment, choosing her words carefully. "For Halo to side with the Voice would be a disaster. My understanding, however, was that the will of its people, and its Warden, was to remain neutral if at all possible. A difficult proposition, certainly, but one with which I have no quarrel. I appreciate that you acted to secure the Old Gods' interests here, but I must ask about the wishes of Halo's people as well as its leaders. Do the citizens of Halo want to fight for the Old Gods?"
And, if so, why didn't they remove Morgan themselves? Juniper didn't include that part. For all she knew, the majority of Halovians did support Noah and Hotaru, and it was at their urging that the new Wardens had acted.
As Hotaru sighed, so did Juniper. "I cannot accuse the Warden of failing in her obligations before she was ever called upon to meet those obligations ... but I understand your doubts." And share them, she didn't say. "I would certainly sleep easier at night if you confirmed your intentions to keep her promise."
Juniper stopped just short of actually asking Hotaru and Noah to confirm the existing alliance, afraid that they might demand something more in return than just the food the Greatwood had shipped to Halo last Leafchange. A mutual defense arrangement would make sense -- but Juniper didn't want to agree with one, for fear that the more aggressive Halovian leaders might drag the Greatwood into premature war.
But if the command to take over Halo had come from Safrin, well, that made things simpler. Then Juniper's doubts about the coup's morality landed on Safrin, not on Hotaru and Noah; they had just followed the goddess's orders, as anyone who wished to live a long and healthy life would. (Juniper, after all, didn't intend to take Safrin to task for giving the order, either.)
Juniper took a long moment, choosing her words carefully. "For Halo to side with the Voice would be a disaster. My understanding, however, was that the will of its people, and its Warden, was to remain neutral if at all possible. A difficult proposition, certainly, but one with which I have no quarrel. I appreciate that you acted to secure the Old Gods' interests here, but I must ask about the wishes of Halo's people as well as its leaders. Do the citizens of Halo want to fight for the Old Gods?"
And, if so, why didn't they remove Morgan themselves? Juniper didn't include that part. For all she knew, the majority of Halovians did support Noah and Hotaru, and it was at their urging that the new Wardens had acted.
As Hotaru sighed, so did Juniper. "I cannot accuse the Warden of failing in her obligations before she was ever called upon to meet those obligations ... but I understand your doubts." And share them, she didn't say. "I would certainly sleep easier at night if you confirmed your intentions to keep her promise."
Juniper stopped just short of actually asking Hotaru and Noah to confirm the existing alliance, afraid that they might demand something more in return than just the food the Greatwood had shipped to Halo last Leafchange. A mutual defense arrangement would make sense -- but Juniper didn't want to agree with one, for fear that the more aggressive Halovian leaders might drag the Greatwood into premature war.
Juniper
"art nouveau winged fairy" by e³°°° is licensed with CC BY-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit here
