"Not without an automatic rifle at least." I motioned Cinder to follow us and we made our way toward the building with the briefing room in it.
By the time we saw the building, it was obvious something big was up. Templars and other personnel swarmed the area. Elyssa stopped a guy as he emerged from the building.
"What's going on?"
"Artemis Coronus is in there. He just ordered us to stand down."
Elyssa frowned. "He can't give an order like that. Not without—"
The man shook his head. "The Grand Master sent the order." With that, he stalked away, face grim.
We waded through the crowd of Templars until we could see inside the briefing room.
"Clearly, a military solution did not work," said a tall man in a long, red robe at the front of the room, his voice pompous. "Many lives were lost and the leader of this vampire rebellion escaped."
I studied the man, noting how his attire looked like he'd just stepped from the set of a movie about the Roman Empire.
"The Divinity has spoken. The Grand Master and the Synod have voted. The Templars are to stand down from this conflict. Our duty now turns to shepherding negotiations."
Christian Salazar stood from his seat at the side of the podium. "Honorable Knight, you do us great honor with your presence. However, Maximus has never responded to our attempts at diplomacy. His army represented a growing cancer in this city. We had to act before it metastasized."
Artemis nodded gravely. "Perhaps we should have stepped in sooner, Commander Salazar. The Synod feels confident Maximus will respond to us. Even the Divinity granted us clarity on this matter."
"If I may speak," Thomas Borathen said, standing.
The Templar Knight narrowed his eyes. "Despite your circumvention of the Synod's orders, and assaulting the vampires, I will allow your voice to be heard."
"First, the Synod's orders were never circumvented," Thomas said. "The vote had not yet been cast. Second, we have evidence the Divinity, an entity who goes by the name Daelissa, is directly involved with Maximus."
"Cease your blasphemies!" Artemis boomed. "The Divinity has guided our holy mission for thousands of years. I will not hear you speak of it this way."
"My daughter heard the truth of the matter straight from the Divinity's own lips," Thomas said, face defiant.
"The Divinity reveals herself only to the Synod," Artemis said, eyes glowing with anger. "To claim otherwise is blasphemy and untruth."
Anger boiled in my stomach. I felt my fists tighten. Heard my knuckles crack. This idiot didn't know what he was talking about.
"Should you continue to spout such lies, Commander Borathen, we may have no choice but to relieve you of leadership." The knight put a gloved hand under his chin. "The Synod is aware your daughter had—how to put it politely—psychological issues, which you deemed damaging enough to order her to take the White."
"It was an error on my part," Thomas growled.
"You have not made many command errors during your service," Artemis said, his voice taking on an insulting air of pity. "But where progeny are involved, it is easy to let one's judgment be clouded. Still, not every child of a Templar is sturdy enough to become a Templar."
"My daughter—"
"Your daughter proved reckless and immature." The knight sliced the air with his hand. "She let evil guide her and it sounds as though you have done nothing more to help her. Her morally corrupt—"
"You, sir, are a blithering idiot!" My face burned with rage.
All heads turned to me.
The knight turned to me, his eyes bright with outrage. "How dare you speak to me in such a manner, Templar."
"Elyssa Borathen is not evil or morally corrupt, sir. But I can tell you who is. The Divinity, aka Daelissa, aka the brains behind Maximus's operation and god only knows what else." Artemis tried to speak, but I cut him off. "Daelissa is using her influence to pit the Synod against the Templars now. She wants all the factions to be weak so when her people invade, the Overworld won't be able to resist."
"Blasphemy!" Artemis said, his face glowing red. "Who is this Templar?"
A thin man with stooped shoulders stepped from a dark corner in the front of the room and spoke into the Templar Knight's ear. Artemis's back went stiff at whatever he heard.
His finger stabbed toward me. "He is not a Templar. This boy is the demon spawn known as Justin Slade. He is the instigator of this sordid mess."