"A lack of desire to imagine doesn't equal a lack of ability to imagine," Solomon observed. The priest could very well imagine. He just refused to. There was a big, and rather amusing, difference. Less so because of how Paddy simply accepted the propensity of others to imagine, rather than condemned it, like most other priests would have, but at the same time that only made the amusement genuine and not petty.
"Some," Saffron said, still quietly.
Solomon hesitated for only a moment, his gaze resting on Sean's soul. The boy was bright and eager in that fashion of someone who had never actually, truly had to struggle for anything, but who hadn't been raised spoiled either. He was still young enough to be malleable, though. To be able to accept oddities in the world he knew. To pursue them. That was probably why Paddy had brought him along; he looked the sort of person who wouldn't stop asking questions.
Which was, Solomon could see, what their discussion had been about.
"Tenebrae's put the Temple on lockdown," he said, as matter-of-factly as if Sean already knew magic existed, "but the nature of my departure has raised a few eyebrows. Saffron is a true-healer, not a Necromancer, so she has no withdrawal to undertake--"
"Withdrawal?" she asked, startled into interrupting. Immediately her soul flushed and she muttered, "Your pardon, Cl--s- sir."
"--and never rose high enough to be aware of most of the Temple's secrets," Solomon went on without missing a beat or showing any sign he'd noticed the interruption. In the Temple, it was the best possible reaction to such an interruption. "All those like her are born and raised in the Temple, so they're properly conditioned without the addiction to keep them in line. She was one of the nurses who tended me after my--illness. One of my, uh, peers managed to get Saffron out in the guise of getting medical supplies."
He said 'peers' in a manner he'd said before when referring to those who had witnessed his torture, with no intention to actually mention the torture. Sean was a child, after all. "She should have returned by now. They'll be looking for her, highly ranked or not, and they'll know to look for her near me. She needs somewhere safe to go, somewhere they wouldn't think to look."
In the mortal world, with a mortal priest, with people most sorcerers, let alone Necromancers, would never think of even once.
no subject
"Some," Saffron said, still quietly.
Solomon hesitated for only a moment, his gaze resting on Sean's soul. The boy was bright and eager in that fashion of someone who had never actually, truly had to struggle for anything, but who hadn't been raised spoiled either. He was still young enough to be malleable, though. To be able to accept oddities in the world he knew. To pursue them. That was probably why Paddy had brought him along; he looked the sort of person who wouldn't stop asking questions.
Which was, Solomon could see, what their discussion had been about.
"Tenebrae's put the Temple on lockdown," he said, as matter-of-factly as if Sean already knew magic existed, "but the nature of my departure has raised a few eyebrows. Saffron is a true-healer, not a Necromancer, so she has no withdrawal to undertake--"
"Withdrawal?" she asked, startled into interrupting. Immediately her soul flushed and she muttered, "Your pardon, Cl--s- sir."
"--and never rose high enough to be aware of most of the Temple's secrets," Solomon went on without missing a beat or showing any sign he'd noticed the interruption. In the Temple, it was the best possible reaction to such an interruption. "All those like her are born and raised in the Temple, so they're properly conditioned without the addiction to keep them in line. She was one of the nurses who tended me after my--illness. One of my, uh, peers managed to get Saffron out in the guise of getting medical supplies."
He said 'peers' in a manner he'd said before when referring to those who had witnessed his torture, with no intention to actually mention the torture. Sean was a child, after all. "She should have returned by now. They'll be looking for her, highly ranked or not, and they'll know to look for her near me. She needs somewhere safe to go, somewhere they wouldn't think to look."
In the mortal world, with a mortal priest, with people most sorcerers, let alone Necromancers, would never think of even once.