Chapter Twenty-Four
The past few weeks Anet had started her training under Ilim, whom some of the scions and many of the people in Gamina started calling The Prophet. Since he had come, the readings of the Law and the Writings had gone to him and he read with such vigor and charisma that he drew rapt attention from the crowds. Anet was sent to work with the guardian scions on how to wield weapons. She felt sore all over for days but she'd never had this much excitement. It was even more fun than perusing the citadel library, especially even the more fanciful sounding and exciting parts of the Holy Aishanna. She pretended when she wielded her skinny, wooden scimitar that she was fighting the great Gikunda-giki or the Lord dragon of the Llordis Sea. But each night she went to the citadel apothecary or to Tala's adjoining rooms for relief as she had many bruises, scrapes and sore body parts. When she wasn't practicing swordplay she was at her history lessons, same as all other scions. Or she had another new thing to do – surveying the land all around from the citadel. Ilim demanded that she pay close attention to certain land features, which direction she saw them, what was around them and at night for a few days she was made to sleep outside. Kaisha slept with her for comfort the first three days but after that she had to do it alone. He always questioned her on what she heard, the sounds and what animals they came from, what she smelled. She was already familiar with certain plants and what they did so what this was all for, she did not know. Nor did he enlighten her but it was far better than peeling beets.
However, after Night Prayers this night there was something special in store. Ilim had told her to pack a sack and wait for him by his house and so she did. He took her by mule to a place outside the citadel but still within the confines of the town and he had given her instruction. Three hard boiled eggs he had hidden and told her the features of each place where each egg was hidden and she was charged with finding them. The first egg was easy to find. It was only a few paces away from his house, near a cropping of red long grass. Anet tasted the long grass. She recognized its sharp, spicy flavor. She caught wind of a slight sulfurous scent and figured the egg was hidden within and went cautiously foraging through the grass toward the scent. She was right. She picked it up and put it in her sack. The first moon was high and the second moon was rising. She saw better than she had thought she would. Then she went for the second egg. He told her it was hidden on a hill north of the citadel but before the town wall. From where she stood, in the moons' light she could see the black shadows of the mountains they'd studied earlier against the dark horizon. Anet pulled her gray mantle over her head and shoulders as it was getting slightly chilly. When she was sure she saw no one, she made her way toward what she thought was the hill, northward. A tiny moth fluttered nearby. She watched it's sylph-like shadow against the ground and followed it, nearly forgetting the egg. “Observe the beasts. They know the hidden way.” She heard Ilim's voice in her head. Moths knew how to hide themselves in plain sight. At first its wings were a delicate, gleaming white. She followed it as it made its staggered path along the way. It finally rested upon a long blade of grass, crawled underside and folded its wings. Its color then blended into that of the grass blade, the faint light emanating from it had gone out, and she could not see it any longer. Anet looked at the underside of her covering garment. It was brown on the inside and gray on the outside. Perhaps she could be like the moth. She slipped along as quietly as she could until she found a large dug out hole in a clump of the tall grasses. She hid among them, flattening herself against the ground. She stayed there under the moonlight watching the stars for a long time until she heard a shuffling sound in the grasses. Peeking out from her hiding place she saw in the distance the shadow of an animal which made her heart beat faster. A lone wolf come up from the desert? A lion from the plains? How could it get in here with the gates to the town closed? She watched intently and as soon she could make out the silhouette better it looked more like a wild dog. It's eyes shined like starry pinpoints. It snuffled and sniffed here and there. She quietly lay upon her sack to hide the scent of the egg as much as she could. She had brought a blade with her but was afraid to use it. She pulled it out anyway in case it came too close. She had learned not to scream or make noise during these lessons by getting a few beatings from Ilim for making too much noise. He told her one day she may have to find her way in the desert alone and it would not do to jump at every sight and sound she heard. She hated him for that. Soon the creature moved on. She would have to train harder with weapons in case she encountered an animal looking for meat on one of these night lessons. When she was sure the animal had truly moved from the area she lay on her back to watch the night sky. She gazed into the eyes of the moons and the far stars dotting the sky. Was He even higher than all this? She closed her eyes, no longer listening to the night sounds. The night reminded her of the dark backdrop in her dreams. She closed her eyes and prayed about them. What did they mean? Who is the dark man? Is he real? Was he wicked? What did he want? she asked fervently in her young heart for an answer, for she was confused. A few moments afterward, she went back to studying the night around her. Like a tiny ringing bell it came to her after a few hours, quite out of nowhere, one word: purpose.
“Purpose.” She whispered. Purpose. She soon fell asleep. When she woke it was barely dawn but she could see the hill in the north clearly. The first moon was slipping beneath the horizon and the second moon was rising once again. The crimson line of dawn was bleeding in. It was dark enough to still give her privacy and quiet from the sounds of people and animals stirring but light enough to see shadows clearly. She could make out the sulfurous scent of egg, and not just the one she had already collected. Anet bounded toward the hill and digging carefully through the bushes and tufts of grass she found the second egg and then she ran home back to the citadel. Tala who was waiting for her, let her in.
“Child, I was so worried! These lessons! If you ask me the prophet should be ashamed having a young girl out there by herself!” She clucked. Anet smiled tiredly.
“Come child, let's get you something to eat in the kitchen. Medeah has something prepared for you.” Anet followed her and gave Medeah the eggs. She was given one of the eggs, a generous piece of bread and some milk which she ate hungrily and then went to bed. Anet now slept mostly during the mornings, after Morning Prayer.
However, later this morning she was beaten again.
“Why?” She cried.
“There were three eggs you were sent to find! Why did you come back with only two?” He snapped. Her face fell. She had forgotten the third egg.
“Oh.”
“Is that all you have to say? When you are out on the desert and you must use your wits with nothing else but the windstorm of the open desert and God's eye upon you, you cannot afford to forget anything or to play around! It is life or death beyond these walls. Many a man has died because of not respecting the majesty of the desert or the dangers of the world around him. A desert prophet must be even more careful to respect not only the wild but the Holy Word of God. If He asks that you make a trek here or there and does not tell you why immediately and you do not do the way He asks, it could mean your very life. Obedience to the desert trains one for obedience to God. It is the way of life, Anet. If you are to be a prophetess, you cannot afford to be careless.”
“Desert prophetess?”
“What in the world do you thing I am training you for, child?” Anet shrugged. She had momentarily forgotten her sore bottom.
“It is in you to foretell the future Anet, to expound on the Word of God and to lead the people to righteousness, like me. He is raising up prophets once again in the land. . .what is the matter?”
“Kaisha said that people no longer have the power to do that any longer. That no one is special enough.”
“Do not listen to foolishness! You may be able to listen and see things others cannot because it is God who gives the messages. It does not come from you or me or anyone else. Any man who boasts of such gifts witho
ut giving praise to God is either a liar or he works with demons. It is the spirit world that gives messages in dreams and we are simply portals for those messages, much like a man uses the ram's horn to call the people to congregate. A god may use a human to give a message. Beware which side you are on, whether it is good or bad, so that you are not used as an instrument of wicked spirits, Anet. Of those, there are many in this world.”
“Like the Unnamed One?” She asked quietly.
“Speak not of him!”
“Can I try again tonight, Father Ilim?” His expression softened for a moment.
“Yes. And this time do not let yourself be distracted. You must not forget. This is training but one day you will be on your own out there and enemies will abound against you, seen and unseen. You must be bold like the ram, cautious like the serpent and wise as the hawk. Even those touched by God can die if they behave foolishly.”
“ 'Do not test the hand of God less He is angered and let you fall.' ” She recited a passage of the book of Izingu, written by the scribe Izingu, leader of the Makebites, who took the true faith to them long ago.
“That is correct. Soon I must leave here, Anet. I have duties in Jhis.”
“Will you go back to the temple?”
“You are bold. I will give you that. Perhaps that is why you were chosen though it may have been better to choose a boy. In any case, no, I will not go back to the temple. I go back to denounce the priests at the temple for their evil and treachery against God and the people. I do not know if I will come back. I might survive the message or they may kill me for it. Never the less, I am commanded by God to give them this message. One day, perhaps when you are a woman the temple will be swept clean from the evil that resides there now. It is up to us to speak boldly for what is right even against those who claim to know the Law and the Writings.” Anet nodded. It all sounded very scary to her.
“Why would you want to do it if you might die? Won't they kill you as soon as you get there?”
“Not before the message of God is given. We each fight our own monsters and must be fearless. Not all monsters breathe fire or ice or have scales and sharp teeth. Not all warriors use swords. Some use words and visions and fight monsters that look like men.” Monsters in men. Anet thought on this.
“Well. Make sure you eat well and attend to your studies Anet. Instructress Helga and Mother Berenice will continue with your lessons. I will write to you instructions by falcon when the need arises for more information and instruction. You are well read for one so young. Be better read and continue to memorize what you read for one day you will have to give your own proclamations against wickedness and you will have to be bold about doing it. You may not always have access to scrolls and books in a warm library.” Said Ilim, then he got up and left on his own business for the day. She was both relieved and a little sad. She did not like this man but he had a great presence and zeal that impressed her. Still, it would be better to get her lessons through the guardian scions and Mother Berenice. They weren't as grim as he was.
Each morning, afternoon and night there was the ram's horn call to prayer, the recitation of the Law and the Writings. Ilim had known this ritual all his life yet he missed the elemental, primitive ways of the worship of the wild peoples who followed it. It was the very center of life and brought them to life, a circle in which everyone danced around and around. Not the stilted ritualistic mummery at the temple which had come to mean nothing but behind it was blackness. It struck in him a fervor he'd thought vanished. Here, there were no court intrigues, politicking, gaming or bribes for this and that. It reminded him of his time living with the Karig, teaching and instructing many children of the tribe and his thoughts went to Khalit, who rejected the old ways for the world. A world now that stood condemned and one that Khalit helped to further corrupt. It saddened him. The king was now his enemy. He packed his few things and went to see Mother Berenice one last time.
“My sister, I shall leave you now. I will write to you and send instructions for Anet, as they come to me.”
“You go to pave the way.” She said smiling serenely. He bowed his head slightly.
“One never knows what is in store during tumultuous times as these.” He said.
“It is strange too since we are doing the roiling and tumult!” She said. Ilim smiled at this.
“Say not that we are, but that God is.” He chided, She laughed gently.
“My brother, you are right, you are right. I meant to ask you, how is Anet coming along?”
“She is coming along all right. She needs to concentrate better but she is young. She is also sharp. I have arranged for two of the warriors to help in her training. Night training, weapons training, also her regular studies of history and the holy book. Concentrate on the prophets, the sayings and the histories especially, for her. Memorization is important. Take her aside and train her privately if you can. God has made it known to me that she shall be the first desert prophetess raised up.” Mother Berenice's eyes widened with excitement.
“Long have I desired to see this day when a desert prophet would come again. I thought I'd never see it and now I see two before me. A desert prophetess. Think the Ainash will hate that?”
“Who should care? They have acted disgracefully and have not kept the ways of holiness. Because of them some of the people are losing their way. I have seen many evil things in my dreams. Some of our people have even turned to other gods. Gods that require far more than readings and prayers. Has she come to you about her dreams, Mother Berenice?”
“Not yet. I have encouraged her to come to me but she has not truly done so.”
“She may and she will need your guiding hand through prayer in understanding them.” He said and sighed heavily. “Well, I must go.”
“Do you have enough food for your journey?”
“I do and I thank you and your sisters and your kindness to a poor brother of the desert.” He said.
“Then I hope to see you again. May there be peace within you, brother. You are always welcome here.”
“And may there be peace within you and with this house.” He said. With that he took his leave upon a mule. The townspeople and the people of the land came up to see him off.
“Be careful, father!” A man said.
“Jhis is a dangerous and evil place! Badness abounds everywhere there!” Cried a woman. Ilim smiled but did not say a word. Gaminites were good-natured but very provincial and firmly set in their ideas about anything outside of their province. But there were many good people even in Jhis and many were not part of the faithful. He was being sent not only to warn and denounce the wicked but to give heart to the faithful and to others inclined to listen, to teach the ignorant of the God whose arm was coming to crush the scorpions' nests and rebuild a kingdom. A prophet was now in the land.
“Perhaps now we shall see the prophecy come true.” Said the people as they watched the prophet riding upon his mule down the hill that morning and toward the city.
Schisms Page 24