It is morning in the temple. The morning after Leeta rescued Nebo from an assassin. Now she is back in her chambers with Tahir Archelaus, the Inquisitor Candidate for the Captain-Astromancership.

The first rays of sunlight filter into the room, causing a squeal of protest from Tahir. the human yanks the covers over his head and grumbles to himself.

Leeta has been up for a long time already. Her sleep was disturbed and her thoughts overwhelmed her. She's been sitting curled up on her cot, rocking back and forth. Her tears have all run out, and they have dried on her muzzle. Hugged between her knees and body is the Savanite coat. Her hands grip it tightly, and she just rocks.

Like any child, Tahir proves to be capable of sleeping through most anything. He stirs a bit more under the blanket, then mutters something to himself and falls silent as he drifts back to sleep.

The Savanite makes a small moan every once in a while. She's probably not even aware of it. A mewing sigh, as she holds the pelt coat tightly. Her hands clenched in the fur, something to hold onto. She rocks.

Leeta's thoughts wander around and back on themselves. A particularly bad one prompts a sudden barking sob that she buries in the coat she holds onto. Her chest heaving, she tries to put her feelings away, to work out the ones that have been stirred up in the last few days. She keeps rocking, with her small noises, getting louder.

*Thump* Tahir's pillow falls to the floor. The human stirs and slowly rises to look around. He blinks at Leeta, not quite able to see her yet with the sleep in his eyes.

The Savanite keeps rocking back and forth on her cot, her knees hugged against her chest. She stares straight ahead, looking at nothing, wringing the coat in her hands.

"Is something the matter?" the human asks as he pulls himself out of bed. He walks over to Leeta and kneels down near her. His eyes fall upon the coat.

Leeta nods her head. The spots on the coat are obvious, Savanite spots. She holds it more in comfort, than anything else. As if she was holding onto the people it used to be. She keeps staring straight ahead.

Tahir frowns and moves to stand in the general spot Leeta is staring at. "What wrong?" he signs.

"Everything, Tahir. The coat, the notes, everything," Leeta signs, but quicker than she should for her student. "I don't feel very good, Tahir."

Tahir looks at the coat again. "Savanite fur. How did you come across it? And what notes are you talking about?"

She looks over at the human with dried streaks in her facial fur. "I got it in Moffat's room. Its what his assassin was wearing. I took it because… I just did."

The human's expression softens a bit. "Are you afraid that someone might turn you into a coat?"

The Savanite nods, her fingers feeling the cured fur. "Why would someone do this? Its just so wrong. Everything has changed for me. I mean, yesterday… its just different. I used to believe people were basically good. Maybe they were having a bad day, but this… this… "

"All of it Tahir, all of it. I can't believe anymore, everything has gone bad." Leeta reaches to where she's hidden the folders, and pulls them out. She drops them on the bed in front of her and goes back to clutching the coat.

"Tell me Leeta, have you met more good people in the temple than bad?" He walks up to the closed door of his room and knocks on it. "I am awake and would like to have breakfast prepared for my slave and myself."

The guard's voice comes back through the door. "At once, sir," he says. Some footsteps walk away.

"I've met good. I thought they were good. I don't know anymore." She waves at the folders. "You don't know what's in there. I've read them. It's all, so… dark Tahir. So convoluted, so twisted. Everyone doing things and they all wrap up to come out bad."

Leeta makes a small cough. "I can't believe anymore. I don't know anymore, its all gone. Yesterday I thought… now I don't. I didn't think someone could just be so terrible."

The human picks up the folders and begins to go through them. "So you will allow the legacy of a man bent on destroying others destroy you as well… "

Tahir somberly looks through the papers, his expression quite blank.

"Don't Tahir, you shouldn't, its so much hate." She doesn't stop him, she just stares. "I can't believe it, what he did, what the other people touching him must have done. How it all ties together. All the secrets, all the lies, nothing good and everything wrong."

Leeta sniffs, looking up at Tahir. "I want you to trust me. I don't want secrets. I want you to know. I was so afraid, all the things my being here could mean. You don't know about my family Tahir. You have to know."

The human looks at Fire-Mane, the stare from his eyes glides over the incriminating notes before it touches the Cheetah. "There is evil in all of us. It would seem that Moffat simply knew how to locate it within people. I myself am the victim of a traitor… in another life."

Something clatters to a stop outside. Voices speak.

the candidate quickly stuffs the papers under the blanket in his bed. "Breakfast" he signs to Leeta, tapping his nose.

The guard opens the door to admit a matronly Rath'ani and her cart – the wheel squeaks and rattles as she wheels the delicious-smelling dishes inside. "Your breakfast, sir," she says to Tahir.

"Very good." Tahir says. He keeps his position on the bed and tries not to look at Leeta, for fear of drawing attention to her.

Leeta sits on the bed, waiting for the Rath'ani to leave, making no noise.

The Rath'ani smiles and takes the covers off of the dishes. The main dish consists of several thin pancakes wrapped around fruit fillings, covered in a white creamy sauce that smells almost cloyingly sweet, and to the side are several dishes including chopped fruits, a round of bread cut and buttered, with a honey-pot nearby and a jam-jar, and finally a small saucer bearing several rounds of spicy-smelling meat cooked to a purplish color. "I hope everything is to your satisfaction, milord," she says to Tahir.

More utensils have been laid out to the side as well, including forks and knives. To drink, the chefs in the kitchen have provided juice and water and a sweet-smelling brown liquid. There are more utensils here, in fact, than one person could reasonably use to eat all of this food.

The Savanite looks over at the cart, and watches. She sniffs again, looking at the food but not feeling very hungry.

The human inhales sharply through his nose. "Excellent as always. I sometimes wonder if the technopriests wish for me to become fat." He smiles but doesn't touch the food yet.

Leeta manages a small smile at that. She keeps watching Tahir and the woman, waiting for her to leave and making sure Tahir doesn't try to taste anything before she does.

The Rath'ani gives Leeta a meaningful look. "Why don't you try some of this?" she suggests as Tahir comments about 'fat'. "You look like you could use a little fattening up to me, too."

The Savanite sniffs, shoving the coat under the covers as she turns and slips from the bed. She goes over to the cart, to see what the Rath'ani is pointing at, and picks up a utensil.

The Rath'ani points to each of the dishes in turn, apparently taking no offense at the notion that the slave must taste the food before the master does.

Tahir watches quietly. He's obviously hungry, but also understands the Savanite's duties.

Leeta takes a small mouthful from the centre of each dish, and from the side. The food is tasty, but she's not very hungry and has to force herself to eat it. That it might be poisoned, and she might suddenly die, doesn't seem to be bothering her all that much right now.

The food tastes wonderful – the crepes turn out to have a bit of a cream cheese flavor to the stuffing, mixed in with the fruits and the meat is spicy, but not overly so. If Tahir were to drizzle the honey onto the bread, it might be a little too sweet, but then, children are terribly fond of sweets.

The taste of the food lifts her spirits a little, and she manages a small smile and starts to enjoy it. Leeta selects a few cubes of fruit, and pokes around looking the bowl that holds them. Finally, she takes two sips of the juice, water, and the brown liquid. Her curiosity peaking a little at the last one, something she's never seen before.

The Rath'ani smiles. "Well then, I'll leave you to your breakfast, Sir. Do enjoy, and when you're done, tell the guards and I'll come back for the dishes." She puts the dishes onto the side table and wheels the cart out.

It's deep, rich and creamy, and very sweet. An Abu Dhabian drink called 'Xhocolatl', and a particular favorite of Tahir's.

Leeta smiles, licking it off her muzzle. "I think it's safe Tahir, I don't feel any worse than I did. A little better even. "

The human grins and begins preparing himself a plate. "There's no way I can eat all of this. Please, join me, I did request breakfast for both of us after all."

The Savanite joins the human, sitting beside him and taking a plate for herself. Leeta lets Tahir take the first servings from each dish, and then takes what is left over. "Thank you Tahir, for being my friend, for everything."

"Friends are an important commodity." Tahir says. "But friendship is not an easy thing. As your friend I must speak any concerns I have for you. And I have one now." He points to the hump on the bed where the papers lie. "You cannot hide this you know. If you do, more people will die. We need to show it to someone that can help stop the damage that has already begun."

"A friend would tell you about my family Tahir, they would want you to know." Leeta signs with one hand, using the other to poke slowly at her food as she watches the candidate eat. Looking over at the folders under the covers, she nods. "I know, but… can't it wait for a few more minutes? I've seen so many bad secrets in there, I don't want to keep any from you."

Tahir sips his Xhocolatl, "You seem to have a great deal to tell me. I am listening."

Leeta starts signing. "I don't know what you know about wild Savanites. Most people don't know much, they think we're just running around like animals. We aren't, there are tribes, with rulers. My father was the chieftain of one, and my mother was the shamaness. Then we were captured, and then we were slaves."

"I was very young, but a little older than you are now. A few years. I'm not sure. They split us up." She stops signing for a moment, then continues, "I won't tell you about the slavery and the discipline, that's not important. What is, is what happened to all of us. Where once my family ruled other Savanites, now we're all the slaves of the important rulers in Rephidim."

The human simply nods, chewing on a piece of the bread quietly.

Leeta signs, "I had six sisters, or even maybe a seventh, I'm not sure now. I never met that one. Some of them I haven't seen, or heard of in over ten years, Moon-Brow, and Storm-Hand. I don't know what happened to them. I know where the others are. My mother and Emerald-Eyes, my youngest sister, they belonged to Titus Haut Mikide."

"They were kidnapped, taken away during a slave rebellion that happened several months ago." She shakes her head, "I heard they all died, It hurts more somehow, to almost see them, and lose them again. I found all this out from Long-Lope. She works here in the Temple, as the slave of the Quartermaster supreme."

Leeta signs, "I've only seen her a few times, and we didn't talk much. She's very privileged, I thought she wasn't even a slave at first. She helped me. She let me know what happened to my other sisters, and my father."

"But you were not involved in any of this, were you? The rebellion and suchlike." Tahir begins to clumsily eat a crepe'.

The Savanite shakes her head, "I was Nartak's slave at the time, and his fortunes were still good. I heard of it and thought it was a foolish idea. City slaves cannot survive in the Savan, and there is no place to run that is civilized and not be a slave."

"Once they escaped, when everyone heard of it." Leeta corrects herself, "My father was not along on that, I don't know why. I think he would have tried to stay with my mother if he had the chance. Long-Lope told me what happened to him. He also used to be a slave of Titus' but he was sold."

Leeta signs, "The Champion of Roses bought him. You and the Inquisitrix wondered why she would take me up to Golgotha. She knew he was my father, and she wanted to give us the day together. That is why I stayed, and that is what I didn't want to tell you before."

Leeta takes another bite, and another sip of food while she waits for her friend to respond to this news.

Tahir wipes his face off with a cloth napkin. "Why is all of this deserving of being a secret? I admit to being uneducated for the most part about slavery – but what you just told me, especially the information about visiting your father does not seem deserving of secrecy. The rebellion perhaps… but the rest?"

"It could be used to pressure me into doing things against you. If someone knew… I would not want to have to choose between you and my father Tahir." Leeta looks down at the human's plate, "Anyone who knew could try to use me, and get around your guards. I am a weakness in your armour. Moffat would have exploited it, if he hadn't sent me to you in the first place. I'm sure there are others like him who would try."

The candidate ponders. "How many know this about you?"

Leeta signs, "My family know, Tahir, and anyone smart enough to match our patterns. I have told no one, but some people might have guessed."

"The technopriests would take me away from you for sure, if they knew. I have no doubts about that." She looks down at her own plate, "I'm afraid even you might as well, now that you know, and there is still more."

Tahir licks a smear of honey from his fingers. "As I have said, there is evil in all of us. Be it from our own actions or the actions of others, it is there. If someone wishes to exploit me they will find a means of doing so… slave or no slave. I admit that I have some concern, but not enough to wish to send you away."

Leeta looks into the human's eyes, "Thank you, for trusting me. I would never do anything to hurt you Tahir. I want you to believe me. I have risked myself for a master I didn't like, and a guard I barely know. I would do more, for a friend, for you."

He reaches under the blanket and pulls out the folder of papers. "There are others that need saving right now, Leeta." the human says softly.

Leeta nods, "I know, I've been reading them. It can be stopped. There are passwords and keys, to break the orders and stop the packages from being delivered." The Savanite looks at the folder, "Moffat trusted no one, even himself. He set it up so that if he made a mistake, he could stop his machine. I could do it myself, if I could speak, if I wasn't a slave."

"And I cannot leave the Temple. Which means that we will have to find another agent." The human pops a bit of fruit into his mouth and washes it down with another gulp of Xhocolatl.

"There is Nebo… " She signs, then realizes, "But he is not bright enough to do this all. I would have to be with him. I don't know anyone else to trust Tahir, that won't try to take this information and use it for themselves. Inquisitrix Turtle is still away, and it will be days before she is back. Who else is there?"

Leeta signs, "I didn't want to bring that here. All my worry about my family and I am the one to bring all of the corruption in Rephidim into your room. I'm sorry, it just happened."

"Perhaps you could inquire this Nebo fellow about whom he trusts in the temple?" the human offers.

Tahir pats Leeta's hand. "Do not concern yourself with me so much. I am capable of taking care of my self, even though I am now stuck in the body of a child and under constant guard. I have been around longer than the temple itself, and will continue to exist long after this body has died."

"Would that be safe? I don't know the Jupani well. Nebo seems loyal simply because he isn't bright enough to think up treachery. But could he be fooled, and used?" The Savanite signs with a worried concern, pausing at the strange statement from her friend. "I don't understand Tahir, at all. Will you remember me, after this body has died?"

"He owes you his life. It would not hurt to simply ask." The human runs his short fingers through his shaggy hair. "To be honest, I think that I have already died, many many thousands of years ago. The whole process is too complex for me to explain. And it does not matter. Just remember that despite my form, I am an old man who should not exist by all rights. Every day is a gift from the fates."

Leeta rests her hand on the young human's. "I will try Tahir, but you should not let your childhood go to waste. Even I had some years of freedom in the jungle before I was taken to my duties. Once you lose that, it does not come back." She seems to be thinking of something else during her last signs. The Savanite pauses long enough to take a sip, and some more food, then continues. "I can go find Nebo now, if you let me out. I have more things to tell about my other two sisters, but it can wait."

"Finish your breakfast first, silly girl," Tahir teases. "Nebo is probably still asleep after last night's… excitement."

She grins, taking another sip of the dark drink, and getting a mustache of it on her muzzle. "I hope someone explains to him just what happened. He seemed so confused over it all." The fire-maned Savanite works on the meat, enjoying the meal finally.

Leeta savours the pieces of spicy meat, for once not being able to speak is a benefit. She chews the morsels and signs "My other sister, well… there's no way to tell it that doesn't sound unbelievable. My sister Cloud-Mark, is the Champion of Roses."

The human tries to sandwich some of the meat in a slice of bread folded in half. "How was she able to become a champion if she was born a slave?" he says between bites. "Or do slaves have more freedom than I'm led to believe?"

"I don't know Tahir, I don't know how she managed it," the cheetah signs, taking a sip of juice, "She's not a Savanite. She's some kind of spotted Khatta. My father told me she was abandoned by a sky-ship, and he decided to take care of her. I guess sometime after we were all captured, she started speaking, and the slavers or owners realized they had made a mistake."

Leeta looks at her glass of water for a long while. "She's not how I remember her. It would be better to say she once was my sister, and she's the Champion of Roses now. There's… a distance, with her now."

"You have been separated for a long time." The human notes. "And some branches of the temple require a certain amount of… discipline among it's members. Champions are often sworn to silence if I understand correctly. And if what you told me about your family history is true, then she must also keep that distance to protect herself and you."

"I know, it just hurts. I get her back, but then I haven't really at all. With Long-Lope, or my father, at least we're all still in the same place, we're all slaves. With Cloud-Mark, she's someplace else altogether." Leeta looks at Tahir, "She's still my sister, and I miss her. That's also why I know she wasn't involved in the attempt to assassinate Moffat. Not that it really matters now I guess, but she would never allow one of her lancers to own that!" She jabs at the cheetah coat.

A soft sigh escapes the human's mouth. "What do you plan to do with the coat now? Keeping it here only seems to cause you anxiety."

Leeta signs, "I want to put them to rest, somehow. They should be given their rites, so they can shine in the procession. If I could find a shaman, among the slaves, that would be a way."

"You will have to ask around." Tahir stuffs the remnants of the bread into his mouth and chews thoughtfully. "Now then. Is there anything else I should be told of?"

The Savanite nods, and stares at her plate for a while longer before signing. "Yes, my last sister. The one as evil as Moffat was. The only thing good about her is that I heard she is dead now, killed by bounty hunters."

Tahir drums his fingers on the edge of the bed. "Unfortunate… or fortunate, however one looks at it. what did she do to merit a bounty upon her head?"

Leeta signs, "I'm not like her Tahir, I don't want to be like her, and I'm afraid. All this… " She waves at the 'Insurance' and blackmail folders, "Its so evil, so wrong, but its so much power… I get thoughts signing, 'you don't have to be just a slave anymore', to me, and, 'you could get revenge with this'."

She looks up at her human friend, "… and I think, maybe this is what Third-Eye felt about magic. Maybe this is how she became so evil. She saw some power as a witch, and grabbed at it, and it destroyed her… and the rest of us."

The human's expression falls back into a blank emotionless gaze. "Good people can turn into beasts with the promise of power. It's a sweet and enticing dish indeed." He doesn't quite seem to be talking to Leeta – more like he's remembering something from long ago.

"I don't want it to do that. I don't want it to do that to me, or to you Tahir. I want it gone." Fire-Mane watches his face and expressions. "I wanted to throw it all down into the furnaces, but I knew I couldn't do that. It would hurt too many people, just to keep the temptation away."

Tahir shakes his head. "But you should not embitter yourself so. The papers, much like the coat seem to have a profound effect upon you." He looks to the doorway. "I will write a message for you to deliver to Nebo. H has worked for the inquisitors so hopefully knows of me. I hold no power in the Temple, but I do have a small increment of influence. Perhaps that will be enough."

Leeta nods, "They did, Tahir. I thought I had seen how cruel people could be, by being a slave. I realize I was wrong, it goes much deeper than I ever expected." She finishes the remaining food on her plate, and drinks the water. "I hope Nebo knows someone we can trust. I don't know anyone who wouldn't be tempted by Moffat's legacy."

Tahir wipes the crumbs from his front and places his dishes by the doorway. "I will tell Nebo that you wish to keep events such last night's unfortunate incident from reoccurring, and that you would like for him to recommend a trustworthy individual who can quietly handle very sensitive information." He pauses and then chuckles to himself. "did you know that I was a diplomat at one time, Leeta? I had forgotten… and I just reminded myself."

The Savanite grins, "No I didn't, but you sound just like one. You had better use small words or Nebo will never understand. Can you tell me all the things you remember sometime?"

"Perhaps." Tahir says with a wry grin and a wink. He walks to his writing desk and begins scribbling a note. "Small words… hmm. This might not be as easy as I'd hoped."

Leeta crouches down on the opposite side of the desk, and watches Tahir write. Every once in a while she interrupts to sign, "I think that should be shorter." Inside, her feelings burn a little brighter, her friend has heard all her dark secrets, and still trusts her. The coat and the folders don't seem as overwhelming now.