Sloane remains quiet, listening to the others gathered. She feels like a stranger here, not at all knowing any of these people. Sure, she’s seen a couple here and there, but she doesn’t know them and they certainly do not know her. In fact, she still on the fence as to whether or not she should tell them of her encounter with the little squirrels that she saw in the forest. She doesn’t owe this court anything. They haven’t given her anything worth paying for, except perhaps a home – even though she’s not convinced that the home will come at no cost to her. Everything comes at a price.
She looks back to the one they deem a god. Sloane has never encountered a god before, not really knowing what distinguishes them from her. He looks mortal, more or less. There’s nothing there that would scream he is anything more than what she or the individual next to her is. And yet, he speaks as though he has a holding on these individuals, as if he is a king or perhaps a god they worship. Sloane has never worshiped anyone a day in her life and she certainly wasn’t about to start now.
She is just about to leave the gathering, not really caring to talk about the fires. What was the point? They could not stop the fires so why bother worrying about them? It was far easier to just accept what was happening than to try to alter the course of history. And yet, something stops her just as she is about to turn and leave.
The individual…the god…the Oriens has said something that causes her to pause. She’s slow to turn her head back towards the being. He speaks of creatures able to start fires and yet not get burned. She has seen a creature like these – those squirrels. But what has caused her to turn around is the way he identifies her by name – that he knows she has seen them.
Eyes settle on Oriens, her attitude altogether questioning. She has never seen this being before, so how does he know he name and how does he know she has seen the squirrels. “How do you know this?” She is skeptical, unwilling to believe that perhaps it truly is a god, that perhaps he truly is omniscient.
By now she has turned completely around to face Oriens. While she is still hesitant to divulge her information, she knows that Pavetta will. She wants to be the one who receives the glory for this knowledge. She is already slipping through the encounter undetected until now. Now she does not want to be undetected. She wants to show these people that she is not simply a fly on the wall. She does possess information…information that she’s willing to sell for a price. “They look like ordinary squirrels…and yet…” Her voice pauses a moment as she looks around the gathering, hoping that each set of eyes rests on herself. “When startled, fire ignites upon their back. They are able to maneuver through the underbrush, successfully igniting it in their wake. But they do not die. They do not burn. I am unsure how to kill them.” Kill was perhaps a strong word and yet, she does not want to leave these creatures a live. They are dangerous. If given the opportunity, they could ravage the whole world in fire. Yes, the squirrels needed to die.
