Desert World Rebirth by Lyn Gala

that made sense.
    “So you’re sending Shan up and hoping he doesn’t make a fool of himself.” Naite sighed. “Well, there are worse people on the planet you could send.”
    Shan glared at his brother. “Thank you for that endorsement.” He might poke at Naite, but he was feeling the same way. He knew the tech, but he’d left the church because of his inability to handle people. Earlier, Temar had said that his fight with Cyla left him physically sick, and that described how Shan felt right now. He’d finally listened to God. He’d finally stopped trying to make himself into Div and accepted that his talent lay with his hands, with fixing things. This felt like a step backward into a life he’d never truly fit into.
    Lilian laughed softly. “From Naite, I think that’s as much of an endorsement as you’re getting. So can we agree to vote on Shan as the representative?” Lilian looked around the room, and the council members all nodded. “Good. By acclamation, Shan Polli is now the chosen negotiator for Livre. Now we have to go out to the other towns and make sure they vote the same way.”
    “Should you be….” Kevin let his voice trail off.
    “Kevin Starwalker,” Lilian said in a dark tone, “if you even suggest that I’m too old or sick to manipulate a few Blue Hope council members, I’m going to take offense, and you know I’m not nice when I take offense at something.”
    “Who, me?” Kevin asked with exaggerated innocence. “I would never suggest anything of the sort. I was simply going to offer you a ride.”
    Lilian gave a little huff, but she didn’t turn him down.
    “I’ll go on one condition,” Shan blurted out. The entire council looked at him. “I don’t know glass, and that’s the one thing they want from us,” he pointed out. “I need Temar to come with me.”
    “Me?” Temar sounded shocked.
    Surprisingly, Naite spoke up. “Temar’s got a cooler head than Shan, and he’s a watcher. He watches a situation until he’s sure what side to take. I’d be more comfortable with him going along to keep Shan from offending the universe with his almighty morals.”
    Shan gritted his teeth. “I don’t go around offending people with my morals.”
    “You’d be surprised,” Naite shot right back.
    Kevin returned to the table and sat down. “Temar, would you want to go? You have a farm to tend and an apprenticeship you just started.”
    Shan looked over, realizing that both were true. Temar had a lot of reasons to stay here, and not a lot of reasons to go with him. Temar looked around the room for a second. “I have Naite to run the farm, and I think Dee’eta can tell you that I don’t really have the patience for glass right now. Maybe I just don’t have the temperament for it at all.”
    “That’s not true,” Dee’eta spoke up. “Glass is like a living creature, sensitive to your moods, and you need time to find the calm that will allow you to work a piece. However, you will be a great glassblower, one day.”
    “But not any day soon,” Temar said, and Dee’eta didn’t disagree.
    “So you’ll go?” Lilian asked.
    Temar nodded. “As long as I make this clear,” he added, and Shan waited for some sort of condition or maybe a salary demand. In hindsight, a salary wasn’t unreasonable, at least if they managed to pull this off. “I told Cyla that if she tried ignoring any more of Naite’s advice that she’d be banned from my land and I would pay for her to apprentice anywhere that wasn’t near the farm. I need the council to enforce that if Naite comes with a complaint.”
    Lilian leaned on her hand and studied Temar until he started shifting nervously. Shan could understand because as much as he respected Lilian, he wasn’t exactly comfortable around her. Slowly, she smiled. “I have underestimated you, and I’m not used to reading people wrong,” she finally offered. “You have my word that if Cyla gets out of hand I’ll take her off the farm