Measure the Costs

JP with Winteroak and Lorem:

IC: Malacost looked at the young man and resisted an urge to pull his dagger out and just slice his throat. What was all this whining about? What did he think they came all this way to do? Less than half a day ago he decided to join after saying he wouldn't a few hours before.

He looked at the sky and groaned.

"What about you make up your mind, boy?" He whispered making sure they were behind the dunes so that their silhouettes did not show to any sentries.

"That down there could well be an army gathering to destroy our people. So either help us or go hide under a rock. No one forced you to come all this way." He looked at Voah and back at Gonyaul. " And if you are worried about her, no better place to help keep her safe than with her." He shrugged and looked back at the Arbiter. "What's next?"

Gonyaul was visibly shaken, at least in the eyes, by Malacost’s rebuke and Voah’s silence as she played out flawlessly her Arbiter role. What Malacost didn’t know, but Voah did, was that Gonyaul had no allegiance to the Inquisition, Pillars, or Helians. He wanted peace and prosperity for everyone, including the Ozaniae before him.

What more were they hoping to accomplish here? They knew that there was a war party assembled now and they had their eyes fixated on Ostiarium. Did they think it possible they could deliver a crippling blow or uncover a greater mystery that would alter what was already obvious?

Gonyaul wanted to keep Voah safe, this was true. But it was spiraling out of control. Voah was now taking advantage of this fact by going from one dangerous thing into even more dangerous things. Realistically if anything did happen down there, they would have an entire army crashing down on them about a days walk away from the city. Alcuin and Voah didn’t seem to know when to back off, blinded by their devotions.

Gonyaul looked from Alcuin to Voah. He paused. They had made up their minds. He bowed and signed to them both, the bow for Alcuin and the sign for Voah. His hands said to her, ~Measure the costs before you act.~

He turned and left with a determined pace in his step, with gazelle like intensity, to get as far away as he could as fast as possible. After he put some distance between them, he slowed to a jog when the irrigated fields provided more visual cover. He felt awful and scared. Scenarios of what might happen to them, none good, played in his mind. What did voah think of him? He left her. He was a coward. He was inept. Gonyaul felt shame and even when the city was within view again it brought him no comfort.