22 Second-guessing
"Yatol Wadon! By great Chezru himself, we are most fortunate to have you in control of Jacintha at this most troublesome hour!" Yatol De Hamman cried, clapping his hands together and leaping and skipping across the great audience hall in Chom Deiru.
Across the way, a very dour-looking Yatol Mado Wadon sat in the throne normally reserved for the Chezru Chieftain of Behren. The old holy man was slumped forward, his wrinkled head in his hand, his eyes unblinking, and his stare more downward than at the bounding man heading his way.
Yatol De Hamman, so excited at the news that Yatol Peridan had surrendered, with his forces crushed, didn't even notice the confusing expression. "I have the most promising young apprentice ready to step into Peridan's place, after we execute the dog, of course," De Hamman explained, slowing as he approached the raised platform that held the throne of the Chezru Church, and thus the throne of Behren itself. Only then did he notice another figure, that of Abbot Olin of Entel, standing just off to the side. Flanked by Honce-the-Bear soldiers, the man seemed almost amused by De Ham-man's approach, and that curious expression, combined with the look De Hamman then noticed upon the Jacintha Yatol, set off alarms within the excited man.
"You need not trouble yourself with replacements for Yatol Peridan,"
Abbot Olin explained in perfect Behrenese, with an accent befitting a man who had spent his life in Jacintha rather than in Entel. His hands folded before him, invisible within the wide sleeves of his brown robe, Abbot Olin moved forward to De Hamman's side.
"Surely we will not let him continue his rule," De Hamman replied, looking to Yatol Wadon. "He is not to be trusted."
"Yatol Peridan will be properly punished, fear not," said Abbot Olin.
"And no, he will not be allowed to continue his rule in any manner.
Should he be spared his life, he will then live out his days here, at Chom Deiru, under the watchful eye of Yatol Wadon and the palace guards."
Yatol De Hamman was more confused by the speaker than by the actual reasoning. Why was a priest of the Abellican Church relaying plans for a traitorous Yatol, especially with the serving leader of Behren seated right before them? "We have already selected a replacement for Yatol Peridan," Abbot Olin went on. "A man of proper temperament and loyalties."
"We?" De Hamman asked, looking from Wadon to Olin and back again. "What business is this of an Abellican abbot?"
"Perhaps you did not notice that the soldiers who fought back the legions of Yatol Peridan and Yatol Bardoh wore the uniform of Honce-the-Bear,"
Abbot Olin answered. "Perhaps it missed your perceptive eye that the soldiers who moved to the south to expel Peridan from your lands wore that same uniform, and that they were accompanied by warships flying the flag not of Behren, but of your northern neighbor."
"And thus you have earned our friendship," De Hamman reasoned. "That does not equate to a voice - "
"Everything I relate to you, I say with the blessing of Yatol Wadon,"
Abbot Olin interrupted, and the two men stared at each other for a long, long while, with De Hamman trying to get a full measure of this foreigner.
"We cannot dismiss, nor should we, the friendship that Abbot Olin has shown to us, nor the aid that he has offered in our time of direst need,"
Yatol Wadon said, somewhat diffusing the tension - at least enough to turn De Hamman's focus back to him. "And it is strength we will continue to need, my friend, if we are to have any hope of restoring Behren to a singular and strong nation."
"A nation?" De Hamman dared to say, his voice barely more than a whisper.
"Or a province of our northern neighbor?"
Abbot Olin burst into laughter. "We are your friends, Yatol De Hamman,"
he said. "Can you not see that? King Aydrian has taken a great risk in sending so many warriors to your aid at this desperate time, when his own kingdom is not yet secured. But he felt that a secure Behren was necessary for the safety not only of you and your fellow Yatols, but for Entel and all the Honce-the-Bear cities who regularly trade with Jacintha."
"And your assistance was appreciated," De Hamman said, somewhat dismissively, and he turned back to Yatol Wadon.
"And it came with a price," Abbot Olin assured him. At that De Hamman's eyes popped open wide and he slowly turned back to face the man.