Talen wondered if all this speaking hurt his throat, but someone needed to talk sense.
“Some wicked servant came to fetch their mother, and you want to harbor them?”
Da’s anger broke. He lifted up one side of the table and slammed it back down again. A leg gave way and the table slid over to one side. “I’m about to lose my temper!” If his voice had been normal, it would have come out as a bellow. But this voice, as if he were sick, was worse to hear.
Talen was going to say, don’t worry you’ve already done that, but Da’s eyes were as round as eggs. His face was red.
Years ago Da had let Ke and even River feel the open face of his hand. Ke had many a story; he also harbored much resentment that Talen didn’t receive the same good instruction. But Mother had made Da give it up before she died.
Da violently scratched the side of his head. He said, “I can forgive you your ignorance. But I won’t stand your disobedience. Do you truly think I’m such a drooling idiot that I would invite monsters into our house?”
“No,” said Talen, “but you might blind yourself so you couldn’t see the danger. All this time it’s been about Koramite oppression, jealous Mokaddians. Well, the facts are staring us in the face, but you won’t look at them.”
“You are the one that won’t look at them,” said Da. “What do you think the questioners will do with them? What do you think the Fir-Noy will demand?”
They’d demand the children be locked up as bait. They would torture them until they produced answers. Or they’d kill them.
“Only a coward lets the innocent be punished when it’s within his power to stop it,” said Da.
This was crazy. These weren’t two children accused of stealing apples from their neighbor’s orchard. “It’s not cowardice,” said Talen. “We’re talking about Sleth, Da. Sleth.”
“Sleth,” said Da. He sighed. “Fine. I suppose River’s right. It’s time. Although I do not believe you’re ready.” He turned to Nettle. “That would go as well for you. Of course, this should be your father’s office, shouldn’t it? But we can take care of that. You two are coming with me today, we’re—”
Talen didn’t understand half of what Da had just said. But it didn’t matter. “What about them?” he asked, pointing at the girl and boy.
“What about them? River and Ke will return soon enough. And it doesn’t appear you enjoy their company much.”
“You’re just going to leave them here unattended?” And then he understood what Da was doing. “You’re going to give them a chance to run, aren’t you? And that way if someone asks, you can truthfully say you have no idea where they are.”
Da shook his head. “Them running is the last thing I want, Talen. Because then they’ll surely be caught. You might want to think about that. Even if you haven’t a nit’s teaspoon of compassion, you’ll want to consider what will happen when the questioners begin their work. How long will it take before the boy is tortured into revealing who hid him for so long?”
That was easy to calculate. As were the consequences. Da had placed them all on a crumbling precipice and asked them to dance. “I don’t understand why you’re doing this,” said Talen.
“Nettle,” Da said, “tell me. Does your da tell you everything that goes on in his councils? You’re his son. If you were to ask him, would he tell you all his battle plans?”
“He tells me a lot.”
“Everything?”
“No.”
“Why is that? He trusts you, doesn’t he?”
“Well,” said Nettle, then he fell into silence and shrugged. “I guess he thinks I’ve got a butter jaw.”
Da laughed. “Hardly. It’s because some truths, if shared, would hurt those who do not deserve it. And it is at such times that you cannot simply pass the responsibility of the secrets you hold to someone else. You either carry the burden of the secret or release the whirlwind.”
“Secrets?” This did not sound right. This did not make him feel comfortable. What secrets did Da keep that concerned the girl and the boy?
“There’s more to this than the flimsy logic you’ve tried to fob me off with today, isn’t there?”
“There’s more to everything, son. Even when all the words have been spoken. But right now I have an appointment to meet the Clan Council. I was overtaken by a messenger earlier. I’ve been summoned back to Whitecliff to testify about