Sect Year 8 · second month · day 5 · Azure Stream Sect, Council hall, then the gate
Lin stood. The bench creaked under him and went quiet. He kept his hands at his sides, the right one open and the left one stiff at his side, and he waited until the whole length of the table had turned to look at him. It took a while. The conservative Elders turned slowly, like men who had been caught eating before the grace was said.
“I’ll pay what I owe,” he said. “I won’t pledge what’s lent.”
His voice was not loud. The hall was built to carry a voice to its far end, and his carried, and he heard it come back off the high wall in a faint echo.
Jiang did not move from the foot of the table. “The Court can read the deposits,” she said. “It will enter your refusal against your name. It will hold the sect’s share of the slots and the seat in the books. It will offer them to the next valley that asks.”
“The seat goes to the next valley that asks,” said Lin. “Yes.”
“Then you’ve chosen what the sect pays for.”
