by Zoha Kazemi
“This poor girl has confessed to her unforgivable crime. Even though it was Tirad who had forced her to act unwontedly, but we cannot forgive her for poisoning our Great Disciple. She is to be punished today, thrown into the water the same time as our parting ceremony,” Akhgar goes on, as the guards put the small, wooden wall in front of the girl again.
“Perhaps these calamities and disasters would bring us to ourselves to try and conduct the ways of the Saviour in our lives and obey his rules at all costs in order to prevent the anger of the sea. If we do so, we shall pass through these difficult times together and never face such tragedies again,” Akhgar finishes his words. The crowd bursts into ruckus again. Akhgar steps down from the platform and the Circle members follow him. Six guards carry Hurmaz’s body towards the harbour. Two other guards drag the girl behind. The chiefs and other mourners follow behind, slowly walking in the island dust road to the harbour.
Another crowd has gathered around the docks, waiting to say farewell to their leader. Akhgar orders the guards to take off the fabric from Hurmaz’s livid body and wrap him in a pre-prepared metal net. Hurmaz’s winded body is put on a boat to be thrown out into the deep water. The girl is next in line. Metallic muzzles are put on her face, heavy metal handcuffs are tied to her hands and stones that should keep her underwater are attached to her leg chains. The girl can hardly walk from the heavy weight that pulls her down. The two guards drag her into the boat. Akhgar starts singing the Saviour Departing Hymns and the leftovers follow him, singing along: “Man is made from water… He shall return to water… We bestow the child of the water into its care… May he comeback to us in the best of bodies…either of man or the giant fish…”
Khunas and Chouman get on the boat with the guards and the boatmen. They have to be present when Hurmaz’s body is thrown into the sea and the death sentence is carried out for the girl. The mourning pilgrims return to the stranded ship, forming a line for the free food of the ceremony. Akhgar turns to the chiefs and invites them for the lunch that is going to be served on the deck. He keeps Mart behind saying he needs to have a word with him. Two guards stay behind to protect the First Disciple and Mart, and the rest walk back to the Saviour Ship with the crowd and the guests. Akhgar asks Mart to sit beside him on a bench overlooking the harbour, pretending that the two sorrowful members of the Circle needed more time saying farewell to Hurmaz. They just stare at the departing boat for a few minutes until the harbour becomes less crammed.
Mart puts his hand on his brows to shade his eyes. But it is no use; the sun is shining directly to his face. The humid weather has made his brand new, fine clothes stick to his body. He tries to stay put and look ahead calmly. But he is not just annoyed by the heat; this talk with Akhgar has made him anxious. He doesn’t know what he wants to speak to him about. Akhgar is always too careful not to have such one to one meetings in public. Perhaps having become the First Disciple has given him a new confidence. They don’t need to be scared anymore. He should be more confident too. He is no longer a third-tier disciple. Having dealt with the refugee crisis and sending back the fire stricken women and children to their ships has granted him a secure seat in the Circle. But being a Circle member is not enough for Mart. He desires to become the First Disciple in the coming years, giving speeches to the pilgrims in the parting ceremony of Akhgar like he did today.
“Everything went according to our plan… Except for Tirad getting away!” Akhgar says. Mart sighs. He is relieved that Akhgar’s important matter is Tirad’s escape and nothing else. But Mart is not worried about Tirad, since he is not smart enough to understand about their affairs and dealings, yet clever enough not to return to the Saviour Ship or Oxan. Living on the sea will not suit Tirad because of his weak heart that makes him unable to swim, he will surely die soon. He tells these to Akhgar assuring him that Tirad will never come back to make any troubles and that they could assume him dead. But Akhgar shakes his head. Mart knows he will not be blamed for having lost the Saviour coins, both the coins that Tirad had took from his room and the one thousand three hundred coins that somehow he had stolen from the naval guard. Akhgar had said so before that such victories have heavy prices and those coins were a part of it. He doesn’t say these to Akhgar, he just waits to see what Akhgar is sorry for, shaking his head like that.
“The people of the sea are scared. They believe a mad disciple that we introduced as the criminal might attack their ships and burn them down,” Akhgar explains and adds that they have had six reports from the ships declaring incidents with the Saviour missioners with two of them murdered. Mart already knows these and he blames himself for not having predicted such reactions but he doesn’t say anything to Akhgar who is determined that such attacks and killings of the Saviour missioners should be stopped. Such killings would definitely weaken the Saviour Ship and the Circle. He says fishers and divers attack anyone with a Saviour tattoo especially after the cruel death of the naval guard and Mart’s agent. Mart shakes his head, not because he is sorry, he just wants Akhgar to know he understands. He shouldn’t let Akhgar continue this conversation since it will reveal Mart’s fault as not having dealt with such reactions on the sea. Mart stops Akhgar and says he knows how to handle the situation. Akhgar waits for Mart’s ingenious idea with a spark in his eyes.
Mart thinks loud. He is not sure of what he is saying but doesn’t want to appear naïve. He says they should find someone that looks like Tirad, put him on a trial and kill him. But the trial should take place in Oxan, since there might be some close disciples and maids who would recognise the imposter. Or they could beat the imposter before the trial so that no one would be able to recognise his face. He waits for Akhgar’s reply to his smart idea. But Akhgar shakes his head in a sorry gesture again. Mart defends his idea saying that they did a similar thing today, trialling the poor girl and throwing her into the water. He assures him that what they did today brought comfort for all the followers and pilgrims.
Akhgar stops him. He says it is not as easy as he thinks. Even the girl was difficult to frame. She had taken coins from them for over a year to poison Hurmaz but she hadn’t done it. She had told Hurmaz everything the first day and at the end, Akhgar had to finish off Hurmaz, something he wanted to do but not with his own hands. Obviously, the blame falls on Mart again. Mart tries to save himself from taking the fall. He says they had done a fine job covering Hurmaz’s death and no one had suspected anything. They could do that again, set up a scene for Tirad’s arrest. He goes on with his thoughts saying that he will send Yuma to Oxan to find a lookalike, arresting him in an exciting way and putting him on trial while people would stone and curse him… Akhgar stops his vicious fantasies.
“Is Lealy still in Oxan?” Akhgar asks and Mart nods in reply. He had seen her after the fire, she was unconsciousness. Her right hand had burnt badly. He says he doesn’t think Lealy could do anything with her hand again. He doesn’t think she would return to the Saviour Ship; she is no use anymore. She should have died in the fire, it would have been easier for her, he thinks to himself, not saying these aloud. Akhgar says this is one of the weak points of Mart’s plan. Tirad will have people in Oxan and on the ships that would recognise him.
“You have to go yourself and bring him in!” he orders Mart. But Mart doesn’t want to accept the responsibility. He raises his voice and defends himself saying this is not possible and who knows where Tirad had run off to on this vast sea. Tirad was not alone. The bald girl and a weird man were with him and they could easily hide him anywhere, they are helping him like they did with the killing of the naval guard.
“The sea is so vast…so big! So many ships! How can I find him? Besides if we go from one ship to another looking for Tirad, it would only make the sea people more scared and nervous!” Mart says with a pleading tone. But Akhgar doesn’t want to hear it. He stops him.
“There is one other matter!” he says with a serious tone. Hurmaz had said something before his death, before he had drank the poisoned cup. Mart
listens carefully. Hurmaz had said he has a copy of all their illegal dealings and hid them somewhere. Mart is suspicious about it saying if he had such a thing, he would have revealed them sooner. Perhaps he didn’t have the time. Or he had given them to Tirad. But if Tirad had them, he wouldn’t leave the Saviour Ship in the first place. He is confused and annoyed. Hurmaz didn’t trust anyone but Tirad. Could Chouman have them? Chouman seems more ignorant to the matter and if he knew anything, he wouldn’t vote for Akhgar to become the First Disciple, nor would he accept Mart joining the Circle. Could he have given them to Farnab or other younger disciples? If they had possession of such documents, they would have revealed them by now, for their own sake and progress. No one would lose such a chance, becoming the First Disciple by throwing out all the Circle members because of treason. Perhaps the documents are not factual enough. Even though, anyone who has them could use the documents as a means to blackmail Mart and the others. He still doesn’t think such documents and a person having them exist. If they did, they would have acted on them by now. Maybe it’s someone smart, keeping them for a critical time to reveal or blackmail. Akhgar doesn’t seem too involved. He asks a different question.
“Why did Tirad want to come back here from Oxan as soon as you had arrived there? What did he know?” he asks. Mart doesn’t know. Maybe he had felt something in his heart, sensed a danger and wanted to make sure everything was fine. Whether they accepted it or not, Hurmaz and Tirad had a heartily bond. But Akhgar believes he was warned that something was going on here. He even thinks Tirad knew Hurmaz’s life was in danger; otherwise, he wouldn’t go to so much trouble returning. But Mart thinks if Tirad had any idea of what was going on, he would have stayed in Oxan and tried to stop the fire.
“What about Lealy? Did she know anything?” Akhgar asks. Mart sneers. If she knew, she wouldn’t go to the harbour that night.
“Did she know about Hurmaz’s assassination?” he asks his question more precisely. Mart doesn’t think so. He brags about having done something to her from the beginning of their trip, making her so mad not to talk to anyone. Even if she knew, she hadn’t spoken to Tirad to let him know.
“I had two agents watching Lealy and Tirad at all times. I’m sure she didn’t know anything,” he says proudly. Then he remembers something.
“The night before our trip, I went to Tirad’s room to deliver a note, while he was asleep. I searched everywhere. All he had was a forbidden book. He definitely didn’t have the documents!” he explains. If Lealy had those documents, she would have used them by now to declare Tirad’s innocence and save his life. Mart tries to convince Akhgar that such papers don’t exist. Akhgar sighs and puts his hand on Tirad’s shoulder. He says they better get back to the Ship; their guests are waiting for them. He sends the guards to walk before them and clear the way. Mart walks side by side continuing his talk to Akhgar. He wants Mart to listen carefully and do as he orders. The first thing he has to do is to find those hidden documents or make sure they don’t exist. And secondly, he has to find Tirad and bring him to the Saviour Ship to be tried.
“And both before the dry season is over!” he emphasises. Mart wants to bring more excuses and say such jobs are given to the third-tier disciples not him. He has so much to do! He reminds Akhgar of the new deals and contracts that they are abiding, one of them is to be finalised today with two of the Oxan chiefs… But Akhgar wouldn’t have it. He says he doesn’t trust anyone for these two matters except Mart. He insists that the first matter should be kept a secret and no one should even suspect anything, if anyone finds out such documents exist somewhere, they will try to find and use them against Mart and Akhgar. Mart has no choice. Even though he is sure Hurmaz hadn’t given any papers to anyone, he says he will take care of the matter.
Akhgar also insists that Mart should personally find Tirad and make sure he doesn’t have the documents before he is tried. If someone else finds him first, they might kill him before they have a chance to interrogate him about the documents. Mart promises he will set off to Oxan tomorrow and follow east towards Atlan, searching all the ships on the way. But then again, he has another thought. He knows where the documents may be hidden: in the library! He stops Akhgar on the Ship’s entrance and explains.
“Hurmaz usually went to the forbidden library. I had heard he hid secret and important documents between the rusty books. I have a plan for that!” he says excitedly and tries to convince Akhgar of not sending him in chase of Tirad. He says he trusts Yuma and if he is told to bring Tirad alive, he will do so. But if he has to go look for him, they might lose valuable time. As for the library, he thinks they should talk to the paper dealers that have come from Yorifa Ship today and sell them the useless books. In this way, Mart can have his own cabin sooner and they can get rid of anything that might be hidden among the books without having to search them one by one. The paper dealers don’t care about the contents, all they want is bulk material and that’s how they would treat these harmful forbidden books. They will pay them a lot of coins for the books. Akhgar seems to have liked the idea but gives him a deadline.
“If Tirad is not found by the end of the dry season, you have to go and find him yourself!” Akhgar says. Mart agrees. They should go to the dinner table now and to their important guests who have donated chickens to the Saviour Ship for the mourning dinner. Mart shall lay out his plan after lunch. He is starving and all this thinking and planning has made him tired. He follows Akhgar to the table and sits next to Yuma who has saved him a seat. He needs to talk to Yuma about it all, but after the feast. Akhgar sits on the top of the table and welcomes the guests again. He starts singing the Saviour Grace Hymns to thank the sea for providing them with food and invites the guests to feast on the humble Saviour food.
Chapter 25
Tirad cannot draw anything but the image of the Oxan fire and the picture he has in his head from Lealy, imagining her with burnt face and hair, pink burn marks and deformed eyes and ears. He has no image of her body, just an agonised face covered in smoke and lips that shudder with fear. The whole six days he has spent on the sea with Dalia, he had tried to sketch her, but her image like herself seems too slippery, sliding away from Tirad’s mind. He has drawn Narivan, as he is still lying in front of him, with a pale and feverish face. His hair is wet and tangled due to constant sweating and wet cloths Dalia puts on his forehead to bring down his temperature. He has become worst the last two days. The infection must have gotten to his blood and to the other parts of his body. Dalia and Tirad ride the boat and take care of Narivan in turns. Dalia is sailing now. The sun is going down and she will ride until dark. They will turn off the engine after dusk to rest for the night. Tirad is very tired. Dalia must be frustrated too. But they don’t have any other choice. They have about two weeks to get to Atlan and another four days to reach the island that Narivan had shown them on the map. But these six days has felt like six years to Tirad. He is already sick and tired of the sea, the endless water, the wheel and the rudder, raw and dried fish and a path that may lead to nowhere. This route was Narivan’s idea to avoid any contacts with the ships. They had indeed avoided ships on their way so far, and had only seen a couple of boats from afar. Tirad has gotten used to the boat’s shaking but still not happy of the devouring silence. He is used to living on the crowded Saviour Ship where children, pilgrims, masters and maids are always walking about loudly. Sometimes, he was annoyed of the constant comings and goings and the noise and had wished for a complete solitude, away from all the chaos and the people. Now he doesn’t know what to do with this everlasting loneliness. All he does is reviewing the events of the last week in his mind, over and over again.
He yearns for a Spawn-Scorching ceremony, yet he knows even the purest flames can’t heat up the cold he feels, every time he remembers the things that had happened – the cold that slides down from his neck onto his spine like a snake, shaking him with fear and despite. He feels the hole in his heart has become larger after the turbulent events, unab
le to fill it in or soothe its pain. He can’t recall the sequence of the events anymore. The real and imaginary images just circle around his mind like endless waves: the burning harbour, Hurmaz being thrown into the sea, the bursting blisters on Lealy’s face, Mart’s coins, the young woman with her healthy island-born baby, his removed Saviour tattoo and blood! The blood that spilled from the guard’s head, the bloodstains on the iron rod, the blood scattered from Narivan’s torn leg, the blood that lead to death by Tirad’s hand. He has killed, not just indirectly, but also willingly. He no longer blames himself for the deaths of Hurmaz, Lealy and the innocent women and children refugees since he knows now what it is to kill intentionally. He is ashamed of himself. The two swollen bodies must have been found by now, the naval man and the guard. Can any Spawn-Scorching ceremony cleanse him of this heinous fault? Can he ever be forgiven by the sea for the act of murder? He is waiting for the punishment of the sea, as the Saviour has promised.
He has reviewed all the Saviour Hymns in the last few days and has read Parsana’s handwritten pages over and over again, looking for some console, a lead or a ruling that could exonerate him. He has killed in defence; he has wiped out his tattoo just to save his life and has run away only because he was innocent and wants to prove it. But who is he fooling with such justification? There are no Saviour Rules that tolerate Tirad’s ill doing. He cannot be forgiven. He has failed all the challenges, set forth by the Saviour and life! He doesn’t even know what to do next. Should he go to the Paradise Island that Narivan had told him about when he was still lucid? What is he going to do among those happy people who are the followers of naught? He doesn’t even know if he can still stay a Saviour Disciple in his heart, after so many unforgivable disobediences. Most of all, he keeps questioning himself about why the Saviour had abandoned him? Is he being punished for his past faults, having read the forbidden books, spending his nights in the comfort of Lealy’s arms, having saved the lives of Dalia and her mother or killing the snake in his teaching cabin? Perhaps it is some disobedience that he is not aware of. But Hurmaz would have told him so if he was doing anything wrong. Maybe Hurmaz too was punished for his ignorance, or for his past faulty life.