====== In the Name of the Tender ====== "In the name of the Tender, definitely the Tender, completely the Tender, not to be confused with the Traitor..." **THWACK** It's going to be a long road to recovery, mused Simon. Today had confirmed what he had long been growing to realise; people really didn't like the traitor. It was surely all down to bad publicity; Penelope being the public face of the church and all that. Sure, he had been blinded to her true nature, a mistake he was alas only just coming to realise, but that didn't detract from the importance of the Traitor. "Come on, I said definitely not the Traitor..." **THWACK** Armand had confirmed it, Penelope removed the heart of her own volition, not because the Traitor forced her to. Thinking about it, that might not be the interpretation other priests took from the vision. After all, he had had to clarify it with Armand, and he followed the Traitor, and had known Penelope well. Well, so he had thought. "Are you going to hit me every time I say the name 'Traitor'" **THWACK** Apparently yes. Another example of someone misunderstanding the Traitor. Why couldn't he get Marian to see past the name. And Adraiana. Poor Adrianna. He could have stopped and helped - but then the Watch might have exploded. This was why he needed the Traitor; to make the hard decisions. To make the decision to save the Watch over Adrianna. Had he done the right thing? Adrianna seemed to despise the Traitor even more than Marian. "Fine. In the name of the TraitorImeanTender" **THWACK** Although at least Adrianna didn't hit him every time he mentioned the word Traitor. Had he managed to get her to see his life was better after joining the church; going from a thieving criminal to respectable member of society (as much as a member of the Traitor Church could be considered respectable)? He would never know. The 8 Riel he had taken was now in the hands of the Tender church. That was probably be some sort of metaphor. "TenderTenderTenderTenderTenderTenderTender" Simon almost expects to be hit. Oh well, he'll be back to full health soon. And anyway, hopefully this new secret Traitor Church thing is going to work out. "Traitor" **THWACK** {{tag>"in the name of the tender" fic}}