Lachlan turned to face his sister more fully as she spoke, signalling that he heard her even if he did not agree with what was said. “Our common objective is wanting to drive the Catchers out from our country, that is why each one of us is here tonight,” he replied, cutting in even as he saw Fiona open her mouth to reply. “It is simply not possible for each one of us to understand the reason behind what is being done. I would trust anyone here in this room with my life-” yes, even Morrie when she was so clearly not willing to easily accept what they had been charged with. “- But the more people who know, the more chance there is of information leaking to the enemy. We cannot risk that, and must trust that Swallowtail knows what he is doing.”
Mention of longterm consequence made Lachlan’s jaw clench involuntarily, and he had to swallow hard before he was able to relax his tense muscles. From the blinking and muttering between those on the other side of the room, it was evident that most had not caught what Morrie said, but Reagan wasn’t counted amongst their number. Lachlan’s gaze, the one that hadn’t shied away from the intensity in his sister’s eyes, flicked across to his friend’s.
Lachlan knew the sharp side of Reagan’s tongue well, and had steeled himself as soon as he saw her open her mouth to reply. What came forth was not nearly so harsh as it could have been though, for which he was infinitely grateful. An argument was fine, Morrie was not a child and could easily handle that, but he did not want to see an impassioned discussion devolve into something impossible to recover from. “There is no blame to cast at anyone’s feet. We are here to discuss our orders, and that is what we are doing.”
While Lachlan still had reservations about Morrie being a part of the resistance, he recognised that the feeling stemmed from his own selfish desire to avoid seeing her hurt ever again. He might not have liked that she was not in line with his stance on the subject matter, but what mattered more was her strength and willingness to speak up. The war would not be won by the meek, after all.