As the Brotherhood Elder sat there and witnessed the explosion that came about from his statement, he couldn't help smile to himself. The hot-blood that is every Corsair's inheritance was very much present in this room.
"Carlos ... I want to stress that this rift that has enveloped between us is your doing. You, or your family, retreated from a battle above Crete. Plain facts speak louder than words. The very fact that you let your pride of family or fear of retaliation stop you from defending your home makes us all question your loyalty to our cause and the unified defense that we are calling for."
Lucendez held up his hand. "But perhaps I was too harsh. I was simply calling for a vote, not ordering you out of the system. I want to give you a chance to regain your composure. I want to move to keep the Benitez military authorization."
"Ares, wait." Ares stopped and turned to face Juan.
"I want to make something perfectly clear. I respect your decision to fight in the SCRA, always have. Any kind of misgivings I have about the organization do not effect my respect I have for you or your decisions. I know I serve the will of the Corsair people because I have not been challenged by any citizen for my choices, and until very recently I was one of those citizens. Perhaps I am ignorant of la revolucion, but I'm doing what I think is right for the Corsair nation's independence. My apologies if I offended you, but I do mean everything that I've said."
"Now, I'm not alone in this Council, the other Elders need to join in the discussion. I'm sure they've got insight that is wanted, and desperately needed."
"The thirteen saloons that had lined the one street of Seney had not left a trace. The foundations of the Mansion House hotel stuck up above the ground. The stone was chipped and split by the fire. It was all that was left of the town of Seney. Even the surface had been burned off the ground.
Nick looked at the burned-over stretch of hillside, where he had expected to find the scattered houses of the town and then walked down the railroad track to the bridge over the river. The river was there."
