"Well, considering King Kufun's attacks in the past, it does not surprise me. At least his son has left off attacking us over the Sidunna. His father was nearly as bad as she in his greed."
"Abysmal. All these demons running unchecked in the land and no help?"
"It is a war of the gods, I tell you. Who will win?"
"I know one thing. These attacks will come to an end. They will not attack men of the tribes in this way again. The only way they were able to kill so many is because they used the element of surprise. They will find it will be a very difficult and deadly matter next time. That is a fact. There. I have just prophesied on the matter of the killing of the tribes, like the desert prophet himself." He said bitterly and sipped his tea. The others murmured in agreement.
Parso drank the last of his tea. His heart, once light, was now weighed down after hearing this news. But should he have been surprised? He looked in the direction he would have to go, where most of the Aishanna-La had fled from Jhis if they did not go to Hevan or Gamina. Parso was not sure Rhuctium would always be a safe place. This plague would spread and if it did not, the cult of the Egian Queen would. Both were plagues. He did not know which was worse. He lifted up his eyes to the sky and said a silent prayer. A tribal merchant saw him.
"We should all pray, like that man is doing there."
"But God does not listen any longer." Said another. Parso turned and looked at them.
"He listens and He will act in time, but for now we must endure." He said before getting up and leaving. But when?
. . .
Zigal was surprised to see Rapheth around the house. He had taken recently to disappearing for long periods of time. Sometimes even his friends would come by and wonder where he had gone. That was when she'd become worried. She did not want to pry too often but she was his mother. It was her right to know. Where was he going? Who was he seeing?
She continued to skin the rabbit. All they had ladre for was for milk, rabbit and nookal this week. There were many things they needed. More butter, milk, oil, flour, perhaps a cheese if they could get it. Most of the ladre went to pay Rhajit to help Rapheth learn better sword fighting skills and that would soon run out. And for some reason Rhajit was willing to work for barely next to nothing. She had one silver coin but it lay in the bottom of the milk pot to keep it from souring. On days like this it was hard to get rid of her desire to fish it out and spend it. She was reminded of the rich foods she had when living in the palace. Oranges, melons and other fresh fruits and exotic fruits from the South Lands, perfumed rice from far away, luxurious soft cheeses, hard cheeses flavored with herbs, candied fruits, honey on the comb, always red meat or a roast pheasant, a variety of flat breads and loaf breads with cow's milk butter or goat's milk butter. ambrosia and many different wines and even spirits from the Great Ridge lands - and chocolate! It reminded her also of her mother, when she was a courtesan in her prime, beautiful, when many a man in Egi desired her mother and so she was able to procure the best of everything. At least for a time. A terrible malady rendered her mother destitute and eventually they made their way back to their homeland, the Zikiluwai Islands.
Now it wasn't exactly a famine. They had enough to eat most of the time but sometimes eating the same dishes became tiresome. Please let me be thankful. I have something to eat everyday. She sighed. This was really no different from the food at the citadel long ago. She had learned discipline there and would have to keep to it now. There was work to do and now that Ilim was gone and she had no idea when he was coming back. She ran the entire household and its finances.
Taking up a large basket of the nookal, she was preparing to step out into the small courtyard where the outdoor oven sat when there was a knock on the front door. Setting the basket down she went in and answered it. A man, tall and slightly husky in appearance with short brown hair and a short beard stood looking down at her. He was well dressed in fine linen striped clothing with no head covering or turban and he was carrying several bags on his back and a basket and an amphora in his arms.
"Blessings to you, my sister!" He said with a big grin on his face. She just stared at him, not quite sure what to make of him.
"Are you-"
"Parso, yes! I am Parso Lemun Uftal. Ilim knows me and says you were expecting me."
"Oh yes! Come in, please."
"I brought gifts, some wine among them, I hope you do not mind!"
"Wonderful! I was just thinking of having some but we do not have any left. Ladre is scarce in this household."
"How are you getting on?"
"When Ilim was here he often worked as a scribe for some of the businesses in the city, for the Aishanna-La who listen to him and support him. I glean from some of the farms on the outskirts when I can get there. Sometimes I work as a washer woman."
"Well I do have a few coins left to help. Here, let me get that for you." He set his own bags and basket down and took up the basket of nookal turnips she was getting ready to lift up again. He followed her out to the courtyard where a small cooking fire had been started. The pot was simmering with bone broth.
"It smells good already."
"So, from where are you? You do not look like a man from here. Your beard is short." His slight accent, to her ear, also made her wonder where he was from.
"I am from here, actually, but I prefer to keep a short beard and shorter hair. I was born and raised in Hybron from a priestly family. I studied at the priestly school and worked at the Golden Temple and became an Ainash priest but I was thrown out of the temple for heretical talk." She lifted a brow.
"I see."
"My accent comes from my traveling. I have been to many places. I suppose you could say that I have picked up the sounds of different tongues. So, from where do you come from?"
"I am originally from the Zikiluwai Islands."
"Ah. A South Sea woman! I have yet to travel there. From the big island, Zikiluwai? Tiluwiki or which one?"
"There are four that surround the big island. I am from the smallest one, Piki Isle. My mother moved from there when I was a babe and went to Zapulia for a time and then from there to Egi where she became rather well-to-do. Her fortunes fell and she moved back to Piki. By then she was dying and I was eleven years. She was full of lesions and rashes and she was going blind. She could not care for me any longer. We were destitute and she did not want to see me go the way she went. She gave me to the scions who were traveling there on a mission and I went with them to Gamina."
"You never saw her again?" He asked. She shook her head sadly.
"Well, the scions are good people if I ever knew them. You landed in a safe place."
"I wish my mother had also. But do not let me burden you. You sound like a man of adventure."
"No need to worry about burdens. I love to know and understand people. I rather needed adventure before I found my way back. I went traveling to many places far away, saw many things, even worshiped in different temples but I found in the end that it is the First One of all the gods, the one who made them all who deserves my devotion."
"Where all did you go? What things did you see?"
"All kinds of things. I shall tell you of them, shortly."
"Let me show you your room." Zigal felt excitement welling up in her. Someone to talk to, someone fascinating, but she wondered. Is this man truly of the Aishanna-La or is he something else? An apostate? A heretic? Surely Ilim would not invite such a man into his home. She led him upstairs to the little room that had been made into a guest room. His bed was made of a reed mattress inside of a hollowed-out wide, wooden box with cotton bedding and there was a small window in the room. There was a brazier and a small table with a porcelain bowl of water for washing.
"Thank you. I am tired from traveling."
"I shall get your meal ready soon. Please sit and relax until then. Rapheth is here, studying in his room."
"He is? Where? May I see the boy? After all, he is the reason I am here."
"Of course." She
led him down the tiny hall to the next room and knocked on the door.
"Rapheth! Someone is here to see you. Your new teacher." Footsteps came to the door and it opened. The boy peered out.
"This is the one Ilim has told us about." She said.
"Hello Rapheth. My name is Parso."
"I shall leave you two and finish my own work." Said Zigal and she went back downstairs, wondering if this was a blessing or if she had just let a scorpion into the house to get to her precious Rapheth.
. . .
"You came all the way from Egi to be here? What did Ilim tell you? Do you know where he went? I think he was supposed to be back by now."
"The last I spoke with him, which was thirteen days ago, he was headed toward one of the river villages in Egi."
"He is in Egi?"
"Yes, last I knew. That is where we met up. Do not fear for him, Rapheth. God protects him."
"So where did you travel? I heard you used to be a priest of the Ainash."
"So you were listening!"
"Yes.." Said the boy. Parso chuckled.
"A good skill to have, listening. Too many people love to hear the sound of their own voices." He sat back slowly. "I have been to lands not even on most maps in Hybron. I have ridden on the backs of god-elephanta, thought long dead. But they still live in the high northern plains where the wind howls and bounces off mountain peaks and the ground is almost always covered in deep, ice-like white powder."
"Snow!"
"Yes, snow."
"What is it like to be in such a cold, cold land?"
"Well, they dress in furs and thick skins and a fire roars in the hearth of every home or yurta. There are great forests in the west there and many of the people are tall and strong. Some are giants, as big as trees, a different race from the mortal men who live there. I went north and then far east to a mountain-top kingdom hidden in mists. A kingdom named Qutan. I have also been to the land of Funda and even served the king and queen of the land as an eunuch for a time.
"Great stars! I wish I could travel like that." Rapheth looked down at the scrolls and papers he was reading. He was reading the Law, the first words given to the tribal fathers by Airend-Ur long ago before they'd dispersed and went their own ways. Parso leaned over to look at the papers.
"Hmm. Hard at work I see. What are you reading? The Holy Aishanna?"
'"I am. I am trying to commit some of it to memory. The world was so different back then. More primitive and elemental. Things seemed easier back then. So many things are confusing now."
"They had less to distract them. I will give you that. Can you remember a passage? Show me. Quote a passage." Parso sat back and watched him.
Rapheth sighed. He was not very good at remembering things like this, even though he read them quite regularly.
" 'I put before you the Red Path and the Black Path. If you will only listen to my voice, to walk in my ways and have love for me and for your brothers, each one that is with you and keep my commandments you will keep living and multiply and your way will be successful indefinitely and you will prosper, you and your sons to the seventh generation.'. The book of Racmah, written by Anushbi, the oldest of the first fathers."
"Good. And fitting. Now, I shall tell you a thing. 'Man is a stubborn experiment; resisting improvement, disobedient to a fault, persisting in imperfection.' Do you know who wrote that?"
"No."
"It came from a book that is banned here. Nagilla wrote that."
"Nagilla? But he is one of our great old sages and teachers in the Law and the Writings!"
"Yes, the greatest. The brightest star of Airend-Ur."
"I've often wondered, why do the Ainash suppress his writings?"
"He says things that do not line up with their way of teaching. Even in the days of the Red Kings when he still walked the world, the Ainash hated him even then. He made them uncomfortable because he spoke truth."
"Why would he say such a strange thing? It sounds heretical." At this Parso emitted a deep laugh.
"It is not heretical it is simply true. Are we not stubborn? Are we not imperfect? What mortal man can say he is the very pinnacle of perfection?"
"There many men and women who believe they are." Said Rapheth. Parso laughed.
"And if the rest of us are willing to disregard their charisma we will eventually see right through them. Nagilla always spoke truth whether people liked it or hated it. Ilim follows in his footsteps."
Rapheth was surprised and delighted. This was exciting to him.
"I will tell you another thing. Listen. Is the law the end of all of righteousness?"
"Which law do you mean?"
"I mean laws in general, laws of the kingdom and crown, laws of a temple, laws governing daily life made by men. Is it the law that leads to righteousness? I put it before you, young man. What do you say?" It was a strange question and it caught him completely off guard.
"Well," he said slowly, "If there is no law there is no "right". How do you determine what is right or wrong without a law to govern you? It depends on who sets the law."
"Alright. Who sets the law, then? Where do laws come from? How does a man determine what should even be a law with nothing to first work from?"
"He does not. He. . ." Rapheth was stumped. "I do not understand what you mean."
"I am sure you are familiar with what is known as principles?"
"Of course."
"Laws are derived from principles, are they not?"
"Well, yes."
"So that is where a law is derived from. What principles a man has determines the law and if there are no laws to govern specifically how a man should behave, his principles, the beliefs he holds to his very core, will determine his behavior."
"But where in the world does a place exist where there is no law? Even among the wild peoples they have rules among themselves."
"True. But when there is a breakdown in order, and these places do exist, chaos rules supreme. Like during the Dark Age and even to the times leading up to the Age of Empires, and in other lands who are now entering their dark age, while we see the light at the end of the tunnel in Hybron."
"How do you know?"
"Do you not believe the prophecies?"
"I do." He felt strange about it. The prophecies were about him. Some in particular. Or were they? Sometimes he did not know and other times he was supremely confident. He found Parso's stare intensely uncomfortable.
"So do I. And I know because I have traveled. Some men are ruled by intellect, some by passion, others are ruled by law but the best men are ruled by principle. Even when there is no law a principled man does not lose his way while others may. There is also an opposing problem among men. I was once an Ainash priest and seeing their corruption and that they lost their principles and were ruled only by law, I left the temple and the religion entirely for a while. One could say, I stumbled for a time. I worshiped in many places and searched for God anew but I came to the conclusion that the First One who created the others knew from the start what was the best way to live. Whether those that claim to serve him or not actually do serve him, whether they change or not, He does not change. A man who forms and makes a thing and becomes master at it knows that thing through and through, does he not?"
"He does."
"So why should an apprentice come along and get the glory for himself? Or worse yet, an apprentice who has turned thief? That is what these other gods are. Apprentices. So I came back to the Source. But I did not come back to go to the temple."
"I have never heard anyone speak like this before. It sounds dangerous. Father Ilim always says that obedience is key and that obedience is what matters, for those who disobey create trouble for themselves and may suffer divine punishment."
"That is true but even he disobeyed the Ainash. Blind obedience is never good. And it is about more than just obedience. A dog can be obedient. So can an ass. A man or a woman needs to know why. They need to be driven by something higher, something
more lofty than a mere rule. Do not do this or do that is not enough. We need explanations. We are stubborn and imperfect, you see. I never received explanations from my Ainash instructors which angered me to no end. I have seen many things in this world and I have come to the simple conclusion that our people have lost their way because they have forgotten how to live by principles. They are rule-bound."
"I see what you mean now. They are obsessed with Law. Especially the Ainash. But they do not even follow the Law."
"Well, they follow the little rules that govern material things but not the most important ones." Said Parso. "When the first shaikhs walked the land they did not have paper to write upon or rock to chisel. Before Airend-Ur gave Anushbi the Law from heaven they all had oral histories. So they had to know how to live by principles. If they did not, no man on the surface of Chialis would be here now. Mankind would have died out long ago in utter barbarism. I will explain it another way. A principle is a fundamental truth from which other truths are derived, Rapheth. Give me a piece of paper and a stylus." Rapheth handed these to him. Parso took the paper and inked the stylus and drew an upside down triangle.
"Principle," he wrote at the top where the broad line of the triangle was, "and law." He wrote the word "law" where the point of the triangle was, at the bottom. "The reason I do this is because principles are broad-based. Law is narrow, constricting and it has sanctions. Things will happen when you violate the law and you suffer punishment. So when you break a law the whole weight of that point will fall on you and in some cases, kill you. It does not necessarily have to be in the form of execution either. Before that, you have to get past all the principles upon which the law is based. God directs his whole creation upon these principles and they never change. Man may change a law because of circumstances but principles remain. When the circumstances no longer exist, there is no need for the law. Once you are governed by principles you will find life far less confusing, difficult and lurking in gray. Things become clear as the sun when a man is guided by divine principles. Principles and even life itself is based upon a divine pattern. Some see it in mathematics, others see the divine pattern in the principles of the Holy Aishanna. It is not just some collection of sayings and old laws. It is a pattern of wisdom to acquire. The prophets of old knew it. Also the holy warriors or judges, and the old shaikhs. They understood the importance of law but they did not put it above principles. Once you discern the pattern in the holy words it requires sustained thought. Laws do not require thought. Principles do. What I mean to say is, a principled man is a thinking man." He looked over the table and spied a clay ewer and a cup.
Red World Trilogy Page 49