'You lied to me,' Mokoya spat.
'I didn’t,' Thennjay said, 'I said nothing. There’s a difference. You never asked how much slackcraft I knew.'
'You should have said you were a Tensor.'
'I’m not.' He kept his voice gentle. 'The Tensorate and the Grand Monastery aren’t the only ones who know slackcraft. My father had books. Scrolls. He hid them. After we lost him, my mother taught me as much as she could.'
Mokoya’s anger hissed between their teeth, in and out. 'I trusted you.'
Thennjay looked apologetic. 'I didn’t trust you.' As Mokoya froze, the shock of this revelation wrestling across their face, he said 'I wanted to, I promise. But I couldn’t. You’re still the prophet. The Protector’s child. And I’m just some troublemaking Gauri boy.'