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“What did you ask?”
“We spoke only a few hours ago, yet you do not remember. I suppose the healer made you forget.”
“The healer?” Lila frowned, barely remembering her CUT procedure. “It’s called anesthesia.”
“It’s called an annoyance.”
“Did you just make a joke?”
The woman turned, nary a smile line on her face. “Lila of New Bristol, you have become problematic.”
“How so?”
“You do not listen. You bring me to look at scenery instead of battlefields.”
“What battlefields?”
“You know exactly what battlefield I speak of. You finally take up arms against our enemies, then you turn away from your victory. You should be celebrating. You should be drinking and feasting and recounting the story with those who stood at your side. A tale spinner should have written a—”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“I do not care. You killed for the glory of the gods. You protected future oracles. You won a great victory.”
“I killed eight human beings.”
“You killed eight enemies of the gods, and that is only the beginning. More will die. You will be a part of it, yet your stomach turns at the thought.” She leaned into Lila’s face. Her breath smelled of honey. “I could take you there again.”
Lila stepped away.
“But that would not help you, would it? You’d run from the sight like you run from your thoughts. You would have preferred it if those men had taken the oracle daughters.”
“No, I wouldn’t.”
“You would rather have spent this time tracking the kidnappers back to their homeland?”
“No.”
“You would rather have brought back three small corpses?”
“Four.”
“Four, and yet you still you turn away. If you cannot cheer your victory, then at least put it behind you.”
“Just like that?”
“Yes. Stop wasting your time on remorse. There is no time for it.”
“Fuck you.”
The woman reached for her sword. Her hand lingered on the hilt, but she did not draw. “Sileas’ daughters have much work ahead of them. They neglected you for too long.”
“Sileas’ daughters? You mean the oracles?”
“At least you know the old names,” the woman said, dropping her hand at last. She rolled her shoulders and sighed. “The world has become soft and deaf over the centuries.”
“We’ve become civilized.”
“At some point, civilized people must rise up, their words spent, and pick up a weapon. Otherwise, they won’t have a civilization left to defend. That is what you did, Lila of New Bristol. You rose up. You did what must be done. Now you must continue on your path.”
