Food for thought

JP with Omni and Lorem

Gonyaul could not tell what she had been doing; however, it looked like she had somehow managed to make a crackling prison out of air. How was she able to manage that remarkable feat?

Gonyaul took note of how pleased she looked as she came over to the campsite. He also took note of the shattered look the Odsier had when she left him. It did not bode well that one should gain pleasure at the expense of another’s pain. He would have to be sure to find out more before jumping to any conclusions.

He prepared a portion of the stew and handed it to her. It wasn’t a culinary treat, but it would suffice as nutrients and fuel for the body.

“Go well?” He asked very curious and clueless on what she had been up to. The question was intentionally kept vague, to see what Voah would prefer to volunteer.

The Arbiter was not in a mood to speak but Voah couldn’t ignore Gonyaul.

She took some of the stew and responded, “…for the moment…”

“Good hear it.”

Gonyaul nodded and took his portion of stew and began eating. He felt an awkward silence in the air between them, a disconnect. Her short reply had hurt his feelings. For the past several days they had been conversing openly about everything under the sun in detail and a steady stream of follow up questions. Now it was a three word response that he felt meant he should drop the topic. As he ate, he was trying his best to exercise patience. Perhaps she was tired and did not mean to brush him off disrespectfully.

With the door of that conversation quickly shut in his face, Gonyaul contemplated how best to bring up even more serious issues he had been grappling with while setting up camp. He kept looking to Voah wanting to say something, but felt slightly tongue tied. Fortunately filling his mouth with stew helped to disguise his discomfort. With his last bite though, he had nothing left to stall himself.

“Voah? I concern I make trouble for you as Arbiter. I no want this. But I see you wrestle pain because disagree. And see frustrate because me confused with Pillars way.”

He looked over to the prisoner, whom he was going to be bringing some stew to once he was done talking with Voah.

“I thank you no kill. Try new way of journey with instead of judge. ..nnn… I think if you take him to purger, he is certainly die.”

Gonyaul looked sadly to the ground, “I think if you take me, I get you in bad troubles. Perhaps me get in troubles too?” Even though he had been learning much about the Pillars they still weren’t his core set of beliefs as was proven by their conflict over the Odsier survivor. If that happened around the Purger it could be disastrous for her.

He looked back to Voah, “Maybe …nnn… best I no go further?” It was an honest question and deep down he was slightly wondering if she was stringing him along just to turn him in like the prisoner.

“Please let me take man with me? No die. No want to take key from you no permission.”

Voah intentionally avoided his eyes as he spoke, there were always those pleading Gonyaul eyes. She was aggrieved by his thanks for sparing the Odsier, but the fruits of her experiments could prove worthwhile.

Gonyaul brought up the matter of facing the Purger which she had been endlessly debating since before they left Aquilo. She didn’t want to listen to her negative thoughts then, and she certainly didn’t want to hear his now.

She could tell she had hurt Gonyaul and that made her feel even worse. He wasn’t wrong. The Purger would certainly kill the man… unless perhaps she told him he was a prisoner and a test subject for the Inquisition. But where could it go from there? It wasn’t a good plan and she didn’t want to tell the Purger about her experimentations. She didn’t know why, but it seemed personal to her. It was something she had figured out on her own and she was proud of that. Besides, the inquisition had secrets of their own and no doubt Otho had his as well.

At first her plan seemed feasible, but the longer they progressed, the more she doubted that. It was a foolish hope to think that it would be easy or safe. Not only was Gonyaul a non-believer, but truly a Vaux. She didn’t know if the Purger or anyone besides the Duke, knew about his people… Voah and the Purger had similar education and training but all she knew came from vague accounts from an antiquated journal, memories of her old mentor, and stolen memories from Omen’s deal. But if the Purger did know of the Vaux, she didn’t know what he would do to Gonyaul but she was sure it wasn’t good for Gonyaul.

Maybe she SHOULD send him away, besides… how long could she keep straddling the line between Arbiter of the Pillars and… heretic?

Lost in thought, Voah realized she hadn’t responded to anything he asked. And of course she ignored the plea.

“Tell me about the Vaux.”