We looked at Warder’s team first.

  “We know Bridget is in and so is Vena.” I looked at the other four people on the roster. “Mera Grant is the only other person who we know which family they belong to.”

  “Grants are architects, which will conflict with the Bothua.” Ether shook her head. “So no.”

  “I’ll dig into the other three when we get to the Cathedral.” Nakten smiled. “If they know who their parents are, I’ll figure out which family they belong to.”

  “Isn’t the whole point of the Mundane names that the family doesn’t want these people to be part of the family?” I looked at the Anubis. “How much pull would they have?’

  “It depends.” Nakten shrugged. “Most of the time, they don’t let the Mundane-born have a family name so they won’t compete for the position of heir, but the moment they are in a position to open a satellite in another city, you can bet that the family name will be shoved on them in a heartbeat.”

  “Okay…” I sighed. It didn’t sound very fair, but maybe it would help one of my classmates out. “That’s the main team, what about the backup?”

  “Abek Energy.” Nakten pointed at the first name on the list.

  “So we have a way in with one of the utility companies.” I nodded. “Ghofa Masonry is out, and Riff, Tetri, and Marctur are all professional farmers…” I looked at the last picture. “Aryes Harror, why does he look familiar?”

  “He’s Hayz Calx son.” Ether shook her head. “The Calx work out of Alard Hospitals now, so he’s not going to have any connections.”

  “Ouch…” I tapped on his picture. “Maybe we still offer him a place just because?”

  “It’s not on you to restore family companies.” Nakten rolled her eyes. “If you start making offers to people because you feel sorry for them instead of because of what they’re capable of, then your whole city is going to collapse.”

  “Yeah, but—”

  “No buts.” The Anubis shook her head. “You were the one who was just talking about a strong foundation.” She looked between Ether and me. “You were quick to conclude that your friends are going to be okay with taking these positions, but what happens if their families don’t see it as an opportunity like she did?” Nakten motioned at the door to the RV. “I get that you want to make the offers to the people you’re close to first, but some of these other families might be a lot stronger allies.”

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  “If they don’t know how to work in the family business, then we can move on.” I took a deep breath. “But I’d rather have the second or third best and them be someone I can trust and work with than the best and always be looking over my shoulder.”

  “Your call.” Nakten shrugged. “Just don’t get fixated on only having your friends around you.”

  “I’ll remember that.” I looked at the last list of names. “Who’s on Bethil’s team?”

  “Four Mundane, Carter Warray…” Ether took a deep breath as she said the name of her relative. “And Sabil Reace.”

  “We already decided the Warray aren’t needed and you’re not bringing another God’s Chosen into your city.” Nakten glared at me. “Especially not the Chosen of the Goddess who is going to want you dead.”

  “What does a Chosen mean?” I looked between the two.

  “The All-Temple is technically the ones who pick who the twenty-four newly Mantled people who get to go to the Academy in each Ward are, but there are some exceptions.” Nakten straightened in her seat. “More than half have to be Mundane-born and all the Mundane-born from godless towns have to be included.” She tapped her finger on the table. “But a God can choose one student to be included on the Noble’s side of things, but only one of their Chosen can be at the Academy at a time and once they’re there, the God can’t pick another Chosen until they graduate, so it’s not something that the Gods do often.”

  “So what are you saying that Sabil is?” I grasped the concept of what a Chosen was but wasn’t sure how that was relevant.

  “She’s someone who owes her seat to Slece.” Nakten sighed. “There’s no reason for a God to name a Chosen if they were already going to get into the academy. Which means that once Slece learns about who you are, the first person who is going to get ordered to kill you is Sabil.”

  “Oh…” I swallowed. “So I need to keep an eye on her.”

  “If you were smart, you’d find a way for her to have an accident.” Nakten muttered.

  “I’m not going to kill someone just because they might try to kill me in the future.” I shook my head. “That’s not who I am.”

  “You’re going to get us all killed; is who you are.” Nakten grumbled. “Whatever. The Red team is a bust. Last is the Orange.” She looked at the list of names. “A Mundane, Nosi are librarians, not very helpful in building a town. Naxu are professional Adventurers and we don’t need those. Shim Grocery could be fun. Dinx is into researching potions, which you don’t need. And Pascia…” She rubbed her chin. “Ah, they run a theater. Nope, I wouldn’t trust anyone with that pedigree, especially not a family from Juel.”

  Ether zoomed in on Barnel Shim. “He’s the heir of their grocery chain and they’re based out of Klix…” She swallowed. “You think Klix is going to see that as us stealing one of her people?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t know, but we could ask Miel when she gets back.”

  “Well, that’s everyone.” Nakten leaned back in her seat and grinned. “What are we going to do now?”

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