"No. Ever since Demostes died I am alone. No one wants to hear and see the tears of a woman in constant grief. I married a man beneath me. So I get no sympathy from the good women of the community. I know not whether my son lives or is dead and for it, I am the living dead." Her face was drawn, haggard, beaten by all her griefs and cares, but she did not cry.
"Actually father, I came here seeking help. Something heavy has been weighing on my mind-" The footsteps of several priests passed behind them. She remained silent until they passed, her eyes now lit in fear. Zarhaz sensed her nervousness which made him anxious.
"What is it?"
"Five years ago my gardener was working on the garden in the lower courtyard and he was digging up the soil to plant some trees and he happened to dig up a small wooden box." She produced a small, dark red leather-bound book no bigger than the span of her hand. It was old but looked as if it had never been used. It's pages were of vellum. She turned it around. It's leather case was bound well. Zarhaz took the book and opened it.
"The gardener cannot read so he did not know what he had." Zarhaz's mouth dropped open when he read the title page. It was the Book of Nagilla. He made a murmuring sound of both awe and fear. He carefully opened to one of it's pages. The passage that caught his eye read: ""The beautiful tree that bears rotten fruit must be cut down and thrown in the fire." It was a paraphrased passage from the Holy Aishanna. He read the words this time in a whisper. Then he finally looked at her.
"How did it come to be in your possession?"
"I do not know. All I know is that my gardener found it buried. Along with another box with precious family heirlooms, heirlooms from a minor noble family that died out. A seal of this noble family, a ring of silver set with black and white pearls and a deed to a house that no longer exists. I thought that perhaps, maybe Demos brought it home from the temple one day before he left, but why he would hide it - I do not know who else could have done such a thing or how it could come to be at the house." She looked frightened. "What should I do?"
There was once a time when Zarhaz would have told her to take her mind away from it and then he would have taken it to the high priest or burned it himself but not now. Long had he looked for some sign from God. This was a most distressing one for the Book of Nagilla was banned but looking at how far the priesthood had strayed he began to question everything. If a book was banned by those who are corrupted, perhaps that book should be read. And perhaps God had placed it in safe keeping for such a purpose. His heart hammered. The temple would be flooding with congregants in a few hours. Lady Trione was still a supporter of the temple but she had happened upon him. Perhaps for a reason.
"Lady Trione, I will take this for safe keeping. Do not worry yourself over it." He glanced around carefully. "But perhaps we really should talk. Momentous things are happening." She smiled faintly. It was a warm smile. "I shall call for my own litter and I shall follow yours." He said. He hid the book within the folds of his robes. No. This book must not be burned. The foremost prophet and messenger of Airend-Ur. Nagilla! This was a purpose directed happening and the prize he now held awakened in him a new purpose.
Chapter Thirteen
After she became queen she addressed the people and had a great ceremony for the king's funeral and burial and she took his body to the Valley of the Royal Tombs of Kings in Egi and there was much celebration after her period of mourning."You will find in me, your reigning queen, strength and mirth and prosperity. I am victorious and rule through the power of Khalit the king. In me, put your trust and in me you must love as you loved your king and I shall pour down upon you all the blessings and prosperity that shall come your way." During the mourning feast days of eating and drinking and memorials for the dead king she secretly had the wells and cisterns tainted in Jhis so that when the people drank the waters of the wells and cisterns in the city they became enthralled to her. She spoke with a seductive voice, of promises of blessings and good things and the people saw these things coming to them from Above. But the gods who would give them would come from Below. She then instituted her gods in the land so that Nimnet and Elyshe were not resisted. In every official building the cult of Nimnet was instituted. But a few of the people of the city of Jhis under the warnings of the prophet Ilim warned others to avoid drinking the water to avoid becoming enthralled to the queen. Many ignored the warnings but as for those who heeded them, they would only drink milk, beer or wine. As for water, they only drank from harvested succulent plants of the desert.
- The Fourth Book of the Kings, 1:3, Translations of the Holy Aishanna
Ilim covered his face while making his way through the jumbled street. He forced his way through thick crowds with his staff, looking like just another mendicant wandering Yilphaeus. His very pride and nerves were tested to their utmost here. In some ways it was worse than Jhis. He would have to purify himself and where he would have time to do that, he did not know. It was the reason he did not come to Yilphaeus. Excrement, offal and dead animals all rioted for the attention of one's senses. He focused on his task. Find Parso.
Parso gave word that he was residing at a small sojourner's hut in the Black Quarter. He'd asked for directions to this place at the city gate and after two toilsome hours he had found it. Yilphaeus was an odd place to his eye. As he approached the Black Quarter he noticed that some people were dressed strangely, grossly misshapen bodies hidden under suffocating robes and cloaks and other ill-fitting clothing. He thought he had seen a woman with more than two eyes but as she wore a thin veil he was not sure and everywhere there was the deplorable sign of slavery. Slave pits, slave markets, people branded or held in chains waiting to be bought. It sickened him but one day he knew these things under Airend-Ur would be corrected.
He longed for a large cup of quass, or milk wine. It had been a long time since he'd had a strengthening drink. He was even older now but even though he was full of power for a man his age he felt beyond tired at times. And under the hot sun!
He found Parso lounging with his feet up in the hut drinking from a large skin flask. Ilim glared irritably at first. Parso gazed at him indifferently and then a look of belated recognition hit his face.
"My brother! Ahaifa!"
"Ahaifa." Said Ilim, feeling put out and tired.
"Still the same prickly cactus are we? I would know that dour glower anywhere." Parso said, grinning widely. Ilim shook his head.
"Still relaxing your guard and putting your feet up whenever possible? How did you manage to find this place? It is nearly an oasis compared to the rest of Yilphaeus."
"I know it. Terrible out there. A mendicant of the temple of Gelgud, the god of travelers and pilgrims directed me here. Come, rest up your feet old man! Have a drink of wine. I am afraid I have no milk to mix it with."
"That is well. I need something to drink. I came traveling far and now I crave water! Which reminds me! Parso, before I forget it. Do not, whatever you do, drink the water in Jhis. It has been poisoned."
"Poisoned? What do you mean?"
"The queen had the waters in the wells and cisterns infected with some type of drugged mixture. It has caused a strange thing among the people in the city. It is as if half the city is drugged and blind to what she does. Even with all her barbaric cruelties. There are some who have gotten wise to what is going on and have not fallen for the Cult of Taliat and her goddess Nimnet. When passing through, only drink wine or beer or milk and you will not fall into her cult."
"What sort of things does she do?"
"Oh. Now there is a nightmare. Her favorite form of punishment is impaling people alive." Parso blanched.
"I wish I had not asked."
"And those stupid priests at the Golden Temple thought Khalit was bad. I wonder when it will be when she turns upon them?"
"Serpents turn upon each other. One will eat the other." Said Parso.
"Which passage is that?"
"It is not from the holy book. I heard it from a mystic in Yinzhi, a city far to t
he easternmost east. He said he heard the saying from a foreign man." Ilim cocked his head to the side and frowned.
"Interesting. You have been that far? I have never heard of such a place."
"I have. You have not seen the new maps out of the Cartographer's Guild these days. There are lands we never thought existed and isles we never thought existed. Many years ago when the Ainash threw me out of the temple I had no other place to go. So I settled in Egium. God has not called me to be a prophet as He has called you. So I traveled. I even became a monk in Qutan." Now it was Ilim's turn to blanch. Parso smiled.
"I have never heard of such a place! And apparently I have come seeking you for no small purpose. I come to lay a grave responsibility upon you Parso and you tell me that your own soul is in need of someone standing vigil over it!" Cried Ilim. Parso laughed, which was a quality Ilim had always found maddening.
"Do not worry Ilim. I came back to the Old Ways of Airend-Ur because they are most true of all things I have found and explored. He would not direct me to this most important task but would strike me down if I was false and would lead the boy astray. Know that." Ilim's expression softened a bit.
"You have always been odd, Parso. I know we have not really agreed on many things but I am content. I have learned to trust in God whatever the outcome. Even when it comes to you."
"And I have learned that sometimes what you seek was already where you began. I was a dog chasing his tail but I learned some things and saw the world. I have no regrets."
"Yes, well, let me give you the place where we are residing. We are living in Rhuctium, in the western side of the North Quarter. A small Aishanna-La community. A woman, a former maidservant of the last queen, named Zigal, resides there also. She does the washing, cooking and the cleaning and she cared for the boy alone the first five years of his life before they traveled to Rhuctium. He has come to know the Holy Word and the Law and the Writings well. He reads and writes in Alhar and he knows some Shirpul. He also knows some Jili, Zigal's mother tongue. He has some very basic sword training from an old swordsman who died a few years ago. Zigal has hired a new one to train him. His training is rather more haphazard than I would like. I have a weighty commission that takes much of my time and at times I wonder if I have done enough by him."
"You can only do the best you can. What you must do now is go full force into your commission. That will make a greater impact than any reading and writing of the holy book."
"Parso! The holy book is of utmost importance! How can you say such a thing? Those are like gold leaves coming down from the heavenly realm to us."
"I know, but what I mean is this, your example of fire and zeal will make a deeper impression than just reading a book. Of course it is important. But your doings and sayings are known beyond Jhis and some people, Aishanna-La or not, are heeding the call to leave Jhis while they can. I have met a few Hybronians outside of the community who have moved here because your prophesying. It has made an impression. More than you might know. A king must be more than a scholar. He must take action to lead. Both the reading and the doing and the seeing of the doing is what the boy needs. You have done all you can. Do not worry so much."
"But I fear for many people, Parso. Not only him. There is a great sickness in Jhis. A haze of blithe indifference and abject fear boils under this haze. It is spreading throughout Hybron and it is hard to penetrate. I feel as if I am climbing a mountain that has no summit."
"I do not doubt it, Ilim. Only in prayer can there be comfort and answers, my brother."
They caught each other up on old times and on each other's doings and slept there for the night. After reaching the city gate the next morning they parted ways, Parso east to Hybron and Ilim heading south. After twelve days of traveling by mule he found shelter in a village by the Mowret. Named Bytir meaning "little place", Bytir was a tiny village right on the banks of the river populated by fishermen and their humble serifahs. Every structure was built on stilts with high wooden plank walkways that connected each house and among the community. Seeing his staff with its markings of holy scripture and perceiving that he was a holy man of some sort, one of the fishermen allowed him to stay with his family for a few days and there Ilim sat down and began to write more of his prophecies and visions. He looked wistfully at the setting sun, a small dot of light in the sky and then he looked eastward. One of the fisherman's many children brought him a fried fish to eat with a bit of mashed, fermented millet. He was grateful for any and all such luxuries and he thanked the little one, whose eyes shined. Ilim pondered this. A prophet was rarely welcomed in his own land. He was born and raised in Jhis, had come from the junior branch of one of the old priestly families in Jhis. He was the last of his family line. Most of the younger generation had died when a terrible plague swept the land many years ago. Ilim had gone to live among the wild peoples at that time and when he had returned only his youngest aunt was left, and she dying. After he'd turned away from the Golden Temple he became like those dead to the community. He sighed, deep in thought and in apprehension. Even with the Divine Purpose driving him and helping him to thrive against so many odds every now and then his thoughts turned despondent, even fearful. How would he die? What would it be like? When would his reward in Paradise come? Did he even deserve it? He dared not think on it and pushed it away. There was still much to do and others to think about. There was Anet, who remained faithful in her own weighty mission. He decided to have a letter sent to the citadel and from there if they could find a way they would send it to Anet. She had turned out to be the best student he ever had, even more dutiful than Rapheth. He thought of her back when she was just a skinny, inquisitive and feisty child. Why he had ever doubted her, he could not understand. He said a silent prayer for God to keep and guide Anet and Rapheth. He also had a prophecy concerning the queen that needed to be sent soon. She would hate him even more for it but it was his task and he would fulfill it come what may. He would write it and have it sent by falcon later. He set aside his writing utensils and papers and ate his meal, relishing every morsel. One day he may not ever taste the flesh of plant or animal again or see the sun or hear the laughter of happy people and the hum of water-insects and frogs. Not in death could a man experience these little things and Ilim wondered exactly where his road would end before it was all over. He sensed the queen's men were getting close now, hemming him in. He could not stay here long. All his steps upon the sand would now require deep prayerful consideration for power, for guidance, for sustenance. His most dangerous task was still ahead.
. . .
It was brought to her while she was receiving the princes and the governors of the northern cities to hear of the economic report from those cities to once again fill the royal treasury. A letter from the Prophet. For some reason it struck her with great fear as she had never expected for him to actually seek her out. The queen ripped open the seal and read it. Her usually passive face erupted with purple rage.
"Why does the queen Her Greatness become angry?" Asked the governor of Galieh. She threw a piercing glance at him and he fell silent. She could feel the heat in her face and knew her eyes were flashing with specks and sparks of flaming color. The words etched themselves in her memory like a powerful spell that she could not shield herself from. It was a grave affront, but it now proved to her beyond all doubt Ilim's power came from his god. She steeled her hands from trembling. The letter, was this:
The word of Ilim the prophet has gone out and he has a message from Airend-Ur. Here is the message, oh queen of Hybron and Egi:"Taliat, Queen of Egi and Hybron, listen to Airend-ur the God of Hybron and perhaps you may save yourself from the calamity that I am bringing upon you. You have placed yourself before the princes of the land and before all the first ones you have spread out your couch before them. You have caused the people to fall deeper into darkness for all the blood you impel them to shed to your gods. A constant stream you keep sending, the blood of innocent ones, the blood of children for your gods to eat up lik
e a fire eats up the kindling. And I shall turn my attention to you and deal with you for your evils have risen clear to heaven. You have killed the king and you have wrecked the offspring of his house and you sought the blood of his son, your own son, so that you may be a queen in the heavens. I shall knock you down to the dust. I shall bring serpents up against you from the west and in the darkness they shall come in, three great serpents and they will eat you up and destroy you and you shall have to die. Your gods and your temples shall have to be torn down and only one great thing from you shall be left. But your name shall go down in infamy for you have taken what is not yours and you have killed the innocent ones for greed and much spoil and power. You shall have to die." This the word of the First One, Airend-Ur."
Calmly she put the letter away and composed herself.
"Eishnu," she called to one of her messengers."Have word sent to the high priestess that I have need of her to divine what this can mean. And Bakku, I shall have need of you later with the huntsmen. We must narrow the net of the trap for this prophet. Tonight. There can be no delay."
"This must be serious. I have never seen her so ill-composed!" Whispered a courtier to Caullas, the governor of Galieh. The governor stroked his well-oiled beard.
"I hear this Ilim is more than a simple prophet. He must be a powerful sorcerer, for how can he do the things he has done over the years and slip by every hand that has tried to punish him? He works with the unnamed one. Of that I am sure." He was not particularly empathetic to the queen for she had insisted on this temple to the foreign goddess when Galieh already had its greatly loved patron god. It was Heros who had caused Galieh's wealth and fortune, not Nimnet or Elyshe. Still, if some mummering desert prophet or prophetess could so abuse the gods, nothing was sacred. The rule of law needed to be applied with all force.
Red World Trilogy Page 45