Addressing The Issue

Sister Locust let the drunken, older man have his say. Actually, she said nothing for several moments to make sure he was done before addressing the outburst.

“Well, sir I am certain you are not the only one who feels that way.” Letting everyone know she had not been oblivious to the looks given to her by some in that tent. “I was hoping to address this but perhaps in a meeting tomorrow when more sober heads prevail.” Emerald eyes glanced around the room before landing back on the man. “However, you have chosen to speak of it now. So, I will say a few things I would like you all to think of tonight.”

“Obviously, I was not born of the Ozanine but may I remind you neither was the first Prophetess. She too came from a land of other Gods.” Islana paused for a moment. “Do you think the Twins would have allowed a false Sister to take this role? That I would have lived through the pilgrimage and the trials to be bestowed this mantle by them?”

Her voice was remarkably calm throughout this, she wasn’t berating the man for his views just trying to put out her own side never backing down from the fact that she was chosen.

“I was born to a foreign people but it doesn’t mean I was ever truly a part of them. I was born where people worship false gods but it doesn’t mean I ever truly believed in them.

To understand why I was chosen and where my heart truly lies, you must understand to be born with a gift in Helias, is to be born with a target on you. From the time I was very small, I was taught how the Inquisition tortures and kills those like me. It would be one thing for these to just be stories but they are not, they are the truth.

You must also understand, I’ve never felt a connection to the Gods that would allow their most devoted followers to do such heinous things to not just me but others like me. There is no chance I could ever truly be connected to them but to say so marks one as a heretic and is a sure path also to death.

I had no choice in where I was born or the society I was born into. I had no way of knowing of a better way. Then I learned about the Ozanine, and the Twins. That connection that had been missing was strong and felt from the soul, like nothing I had ever felt before. I believed in the Twins before I ever got the call but receiving that allowed me the chance to take that leap full-on.

Who better to lead the battle against our enemies than someone who understands that enemy the way only someone who had been on the inside could? Who better to tell of the Helians secrets than one who might know such secrets? I can give insights no one else here can.

No, I do not possess the gifts of air or water but I do possess a valuable gift of connection to animals that might serve us well where we are headed. I will be riding a Sk’kelp into battle because it chose me, it choose this fight. I believe it did so, at least in part, due my gifts.

Do you not believe that the Twins give the Ozanine what they need when they need it? Do you think that if I was a fraud that I would still be here, alive?

I can not prove anything to you until I get a chance to. I can tell you my loyalty lay with all of you but it will not matter what I say as some of you will take it as just words. I can say if I was laying out a trap, there would be an easier way to do that than by keeping the Horde together or not going through Fang.

I am not asking you to go into to battle for me. It’s not for me, it’s for the Ozanine. It’s for Arcadia. We have no option but victory. The Helians, especially the Inquisition, will slaughter our people and destroy Arcadia if they win. We need to stick together in order to fight the foreign invaders. If we do not fight together, we die apart.”

Islana stopped speaking and took a sip of her wine. The entire tent had their eyes on her now, she had commanded their presence. Those words were hers and she meant them but the way they were spoken were half of the wine drunk and half of the older souls inside of her. Now, it was to wait to see if those words made any difference at all.