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26
SILAS
Ember's sobshad dried up and turned to sniffles, and she had mostly pulled herself together so that she was standing at my side but not pressed into me. That was a start.
Pacing, I took count of the bodies still splayed about the room. There were a lot of them. In fact, I hadn't realized that the palace even hosted this many residents. I was so used to following the same routine, day in and day out, training under Kiango, that I'd never really looked at the people I was there to protect. Faced with their mortality, I was overwhelmed by how unprepared I truly was.
I sat, lowering myself without thinking into Trydan's throne.
A wave of whispers passed through the room. I looked up, and everyone was staring with a mixture of horror and trepidation. From the far corner of the room, Tatyanna's blue eyes glared at me through her hair, and soft, rueful laughter rasped from her parched throat.
She braced herself against the wall and gained her feet. The room went very still as she glided forward, still as unnaturally stiff as ever, and stood at the base of the dais, looking up at me and Ember.
"You think you can fill his shoes, do you?" she asked with a hiss. "You have not even been confirmed a true Guardian yet! You're a boy playing at a man's game!"
I looked down at the arm of the throne where my fingers rubbed at the filigree absently. When I looked up, I realized that Ember was wearing a pained expression, too.
"No," I said firmly. "I could never fill the shoes of the High Priest. But it is not the seat that makes the man."
It was a quote I had heard from my grandfather countless times, and while I'd only ever grasped at his meaning, sitting here now, it was perfectly clear.
"When Trydan returns..." I continued. "If he returns, I will gladly cede this throne to him, as is his right. But until he does, I am charged with protecting this palace and all within it, and that is what I mean to do."
Tatyanna arched a brow at me and turned to Ember. "And how do you feel about this?"
I looked to Ember myself, afraid of what she might say. I had promised to find Kiango for her, and when I did, he would have seniority over me. I would gladly give the throne to him, as well. But there was another possibility. Imrys might come back, and he held seniority over Kiango and I, both. I wasn't sure I could stomach stepping aside if he were to come back to claim this seat. I simply had to pray that day never came.
"Silas went through the waters and earned his title. He is no mere acolyte. He is a Guardian with all the powers and responsibilities that come with the title. His claim to the throne is legitimate if there are no others to claim it."
Tatyanna gasped and recoiled. "There was no confirmation before the High Priest!"
Ember shrugged. "As he said, it is not the seat that grants power. Re'Utu himself blessed Silas in the pools. You don't mean to question His judgement, do you?"
Tatyanna spat on the floor and snarled at the two of us before moving back to her corner.
"I'm assuming you have a plan?" Ember muttered at my side, looking doubtfully out over my new charges.
"My plan is to wait for Anya to return and figure out how to get these people fed and warm. Honestly, this was just as cozy a seat as anywhere else in the room."
She snorted. "Don't let it go to your head. You have real responsibility to these people now."
Before I could ask her what she meant, she was already moving away.
