Saia barely managed to keep a calm face while the monks exchanged glances in absolute silence.
“What?” the one at Haina's left repeated. They were a person with long black hair tied in a bun on the top of the head and prominent cheekbones. They'd never spoken before. “What exactly has Koidan told you?”
“That there is an evil god in the village,” Aili started. “And he's fighting him, so he can't take care of us like he did before. Then he divided us into groups and gave each one a task. Ours was to keep track of everything and make most of the decisions in his place.”
Another round of glances. Daira and Coram both nodded when they met the eyes of the others.
“She told me that,” Daira said. “It's difficult to believe.”
“A drunk man at the tavern mentioned something like that,” Coram said. “Everybody else was trying to make him shut up, but I didn't think much of it.” He looked at Saia. “Why didn't you tell me?”
She shrugged.
“I thought you already knew. You seemed to know everything.”
“How he dared?” the person to Haina’s left said. She put a hand on their shoulder.
“Maybe he didn't have any ill intent, Maris.”
“I think he was just trying to save his ass," Ebus said. “Find an explanation for why his powers were fading, and at the same time make sure that any issue was being fixed in some way.”
“It's a coward move,” Maris said. “He already had two hundred years.”
Saia dared a glance in Aili's direction. She was very still now, hands joined in her lap, as if she was following the exchange with her whole body as well as with her eyes. Saia wanted to stop the discussion in some way, prevent the monks to give her any more information. She'd have connected it to what she already knew and spit the whole explanation back at them, everything from where to find Zeles to Saia's involvement. But she couldn't say anything without the risk of giving her more answers.
“Do you think the tremor was his fault, too?” Daira asked.
“Obviously,” Maris answered.
“We can't be sure of that," Cailes said. "But the ship certainly was.”
“And the fire,” Ebus added.
“It's Zel- Koidan we're talking about,” Coram said, cheeks red again. “He's always been extremely helpful every time we needed him. He never gave us any reason to suspect he didn't want to follow the rules, and it’s not something I can say of every god. What if something is actually happening and his disappearance isn't his fault?”
“We should talk about this later, don't you think?” Haina said, covering a bit his last words. "We still have an explanation to finish, and our guests might want to sleep, at some point."
They all became quiet as she continued.
“We live inside the mountain. We are divided into three groups, each taking care of an aspect of the village’s life. The helpers make sure that we all stay alive: we cook food, sew clothes, take care of the animals, clean the common spaces, make art. Each of us is specialized in one or two main occupations, but obviously we help each other when we can.”
“What do you do?” Aili asked.
“I’m a teacher. Ebus is a cook.”
“I also take care of the sheep, sometimes,” he said.
“The next group are the sentinels. They mostly observe what's happening in the villages, to make sure there are no problems.”
“We also guard the mountain in general, and take care of security inside the village,” Maris said.
“Maris and Coram are sentinels,” Haina explained. “The last group are the scholars. I was one of them, before realizing I preferred to be a teacher.”
“We study pretty much everything,” Cailes said. “From math to history to viss manipulation. And religion, obviously. Each of us works on a main subject, trying to expand the knowledge…”
“Wait, viss manipulation?” Aili said. “Did I hear that right?”
“I fear it's another thing we can only explain if you'll join us.”
“Do you remember the boar?” Daira said. “That's what viss manipulation can do.”
“I have no idea what that means, but yeah, good example,” Cailes continued. “I’m a botanist, with some interest in chemistry on the side. Daira here specializes in magic. Or viss manipulation, as it's formally called.”
“And I'm a prior,” Daira added. “So I don't have time to study much else.”
“A prior?”
“Yes. There are three priors for each group. I obviously work with the scholars, while Maris is one of the sentinels' priors. We make sure that everybody in our group follows the rules and we assist the abbot in making the most important decisions.”
“The abbot supervises everything,” Coram said, eyes fixed on the ground and half-closed by sleep. “He knows every detail about what's going on in the village and is the only one who can change our rules, provided he has the support of at least one prior from each group.”
The silence returned inside the tent. Ebus made a big yawn.
“Any questions?” Haina asked, then nudged the last half-full plate toward them. “You didn't eat anything.”
Saia took a meatball. Even if her stomach was still tangled with anxiety, she wanted an excuse not to speak.
“Yes,” Aili said. “You talked about children. Are they born in the village or do you take them from the outside? Do they become monks too?”
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“They are born in the village. We can have relationships with each other, but only helpers can decide to have or adopt kids. If a scholar or a sentinel wants to have a family, they have to leave their position first.”
“Why?”
“It's a matter of focus,” Cailes said. “Scholars should consider the subject they study the most important part of their life. Having a family would disrupt that. And there are so few of us, spread thin on so many subjects, that we can't really allow anyone to be distracted by other things.”
“And a relationship wouldn't disrupt that?” Aili asked.
“No. When it's between two monks, they both know how important each other's work is for the village, and they're going to respect that. A child wouldn't be able to give that much space to their parent, nor should they be required to.”
“And once the kids are older, do you go back to your position of scholar?”
“Usually, yes.”
“And what about sentinels?” Aili asked, turning to look at Maris.
“Mostly the same reason, but it’s also important that we remain as neutral as possible, since we’re the ones who take care of crimes and misbehaviors. We can’t favor anyone, least of all our children.”
Aili nodded, even if judging by the glance she shot Cailes she was still unconvinced about the scholars leaving their studies.
“About them becoming monks,” Haina said. “They all receive the same education, and they get a chance to work with all three groups, even if obviously they're not involved in the most difficult parts of their job. From the moment they turn twenty, they have a year to decide whether to stay in the village and become monks, and which group they'd like to join. Then, they discuss with the priors about their specific occupation, which will be usually different from what they wanted at the beginning. They'll have the chance to get the task they want later.”
“And what about the ones who don't want to be monks?”
There were some glances exchanged, mostly in Ebus' direction, but he was focused on plucking away a fallen hair from Cailes’s tunic.
“It happens rarely,” Haina said. “We generally find the right place for everyone. But if someone doesn't want to be a monk, they have to leave.”
“It can also happen if they commit a trust crime,” Maris added. “In that case, they are forced to leave.”
Saia wanted to ask what a trust crime was, but Haina continued without giving her the chance to.
“Yes, but that's rare too. In this case, the village is chosen based on what they did.”
Saia frowned.
“And you don't fear that they will reveal something about this place?”
“The gods know that they have to kill them immediately if they ever try that.” Aili sat up straighter in hearing those words. “But it hasn't happened in decades. When we're little, we have to learn how to keep a secret properly, no matter how much pressure we are put under.”
Saia’s eyes widened. She didn't say anything, but she saw Maris nod.
“You're from Suimer, right?” They noticed the confused expressions of the others and added: "They train on a light form of secret-keeping.”
They said that with an uncertain look to Saia. She nodded, still shocked to find secret-keeping so far away from her village.
“What is it?” Aili asked.
“We teach kids to keep secrets and important information to themselves, essentially.”
Haina turned to look at Saia.
"You've been a lot more quiet than we expected. Do you have any questions?"
She rubbed her hands together to clean them from the bread crumbs and gain some time to think.
“You said you have kids that can become monks. So why would you ask us to join you?”
“Yeah, right?” Ebus said. "It doesn't make sense.”
“Because,” Haina started, glaring at him, “the abbot wanted us to.”
Daira sighed and shook her head.
“You make it look like our abbot doesn't have a reason for this." She looked at Saia, hunching a bit forward as if cutting off the other monks from the conversation. “It's an old tradition that started before the villages were founded. It was born from the understanding that we always need a connection with the external world and fresh perspectives of people who don't come from our village. So every time a god starts disappearing we choose at least one person from their village, provided they have shown spirit of sacrifice or contributed to keeping the community safe when the god couldn't do it, and then ask them to join our village.”
“There are more criteria,” Haina added. “For example, the person shouldn’t have close ties, like partners, kids or elders who depend on them.”
“All true, but the abbot should also consider that we're a couple of hundred more than the original monks,” Cailes said. “We already need to be careful with the resources we have, adding more people isn't going to help.”
“Who are you to say what the abbot should or shouldn't do?” Maris said, voice calm but threatening.
“It's better not to discuss these things here,” Daira said. “Especially not criticize the abbot in front of people who have never met him.”
“Two more monks won't make a difference,” Haina added. “We'd be happy to have you among us, if you decide that you like our beliefs.”
Cailes looked at Ebus, as if in search of support, but he only shrugged and looked at him with a hint of a smile in his eyes.
“Have any other gods disappeared recently?” Saia asked.
Haina opened her mouth, but Maris cut her off.
“We're not allowed to talk about it.”
Saia nodded.
“And, last question, had the people you made this offer to in the past joined your village?”
“Yes, but it hasn’t happened in a while,” Haina said.
“Can't blame them,” Ebus commented. “Why would they leave their villages, possibly forever, to follow some weird strangers they didn't know existed up to the day before.”
The other monks didn’t argue with that sentence, even if it seemed to go against the very reason they were all inside that tent.
“At least we get to celebrate a bit,” Ebus continued, tipping his glass of wine toward the newcomers. “A nice evening in the woods with good food, away from obligations.”
“Anyways,” Daira said. “Coram is almost asleep, so if you don't have more questions I have to ask you: would you be interested in joining us? You don't have to decide straight away, you'll have a whole night and a day to think about it, and then a week to spend among us and learn more.”
Saia was about to shake her head, but Aili spoke first.
“I’d like to.”
Daira’s eyes widened. She turned toward the others, as if to make sure that they had heard too.
“What?” Ebus and Haina said at the same time.
“Are you sure?” Saia asked her in a whisper.
Aili looked at her and smiled.
“Yes. You can take my place as the administrator, right? And if you need help finding an assistant, I have some candidates in mind.”
“It won't be necessary,” Maris said. “We're taking the lead from now on, until Koidan is restored.”
“Is this really happening?” Ebus asked to no one in particular.
Saia realized she was still staring at Aili, so she lowered her eyes on the rough red rug on which they were all sitting. The monks were still talking to each other, but she wasn't listening. She pictured Aili going up the mountain alone with the monks while she stayed behind, with a sleeping god that was about to die and would have resigned himself as soon as she'd awakened him. She couldn't see a way to both save Zeles and get her revenge if she stayed there. He probably would have never talked to her again, and there was nowhere else she could go to find answers.
“I was thinking to join too,” she said.
The monks became quiet again.
“This is completely unexpected,” Cailes said. “One of them becoming a monk was already unlikely, but this hasn't happened since…”
He trailed off.
Saia knew that Aili was looking at her, but she kept her eyes on Haina’s face.
“Now what?”
The monk seemed to return to reality.
“Now... Now you'll spend the night here, and think about what we told you. We’ll wake you in the morning to go to Lausune together, in order to organize the next three months.”
Daira nodded and stood.
“You can finish the food, if you want. We've also brought you some water.” She pointed at a bottle in the corner. “We'd also have left you the wine, but Coram has finished it.”
He was basically asleep. Maris had to help him stand with Ebus's help. Cailes took the pile of dirty plates and walked out of the tent. Saia heard him talk with the two monks outside, but she didn't understand what he was saying.
“Here, have some sheets,” Haina said, passing her a pile of multicolored fabrics. “Have a good night.”
They all left. Saia waited for a second, then stood to check from the entrance that they were actually walking away. The air was colder than the morning wind coming from the sea. She let the cloth fall back into place, acutely aware of the presence of Aili behind her, like a wave ready to hit.