Keeper Stout laughed and his rounded belly shook with glee. “And what a fine Keeper you will make, Gemynd. But you have many years before you need to make any of those decisions. You are all correct in that being an official member of Aerie means that you will begin to take a much more active part in the daily work of running our wonderful village; and, yes, it also means you will know the secrets of Aerie. And you will be trusted with those secrets; trusted to not share them with the younger children or with outsiders. But the most important part of being an official member of Aerie is that you are expected to live every moment by the ten Truths in The Book of Life. These Truths are what you have been studying since you began discipleship and now it is time for you to not only know them, but also live by them.”
Soman closed his eyes and lightly ran his hands across the top of the soft snakegrass, feeling it tickle his palms. He listened to the delicate lapping sound of the water as it reached the lakeshore in tiny waves. He wasn’t sure what it meant to live by the Truths and he suddenly felt that he might rather doze off than think about it.
“I think I already live by the Truths, Keeper,” Numa said.
“I know all the Truths!” Gemynd announced loudly and Soman opened his eyes.
“I’m sure you do, Gemynd,” Keeper Stout said. “Let us each choose a favorite Truth and tell how we live it. Soman, would you like to go first?”
Soman continued to run his hand through the soft grass. He went over the Truths in his mind as best as he could remember them. Did he have a favorite? They all seemed equally good to him so he decided to keep it simple and go with the first Truth. “Anything that can move has Life,” he said, reciting it as he’d been taught.
“Well done!” Keeper Stout said. “Now, can you tell me what it means to live this first Truth?”
Soman sat up and grabbed a fistful of grass. He’d known this first Truth all his life and could recite it as well as anyone, but he didn’t know what it meant to live this Truth. He wasn’t even sure he understood the question.
“Can you tell us why it is your favorite?” Keeper Stout asked in an encouraging tone.
Soman shrugged. “I don’t know,” he said and lowered his head. “I just picked one.”
“Well, then, can you tell us what you think the first Truth means?” Keeper Stout asked.
Soman thought hard for a few moments then looked at the wad of grass in his hand. “Since snakegrass can move when the wind blows, does that mean it has Life?”
“I believe it does,” Keeper Stout replied. “What do you think?”
Soman nodded slowly. “Does this part that I pulled off the rest still have Life?” he asked with a sinking feeling in his chest.
“Turn your hand over,” Keeper Stout replied and gently turned Soman’s wrist. The blades of grass fell from his hand and mixed in with the rest that covered the ground. “Does it still move?”
Soman nodded happily. “It does move! It still has Life!” he exclaimed.
“Yes. As long as it can move, it has life,” Keeper Stout explained. “What about you, Gemynd. Can you help Soman understand this Truth a little more?”
Gemynd jumped to his feet. “I think that everything has Life since everything can move. I can’t think of a single thing that can’t move,” he said in the high-pitched voice he used when he was excited. “Some things can’t move by themselves, but everything can be moved by something else. And since everything has Life that means that I am never alone because I am always with something. Even when I’m sleeping I am not alone because I am with my bedsack.”
Soman saw Keeper Stout’s eyes widen for a moment before he spoke. “Very good, Gemynd. You’ve really given this some thought, haven’t you?”
Soman felt a bit ashamed as he realized he’d never given the Truths any thought before. He had always just accepted them and it never occurred to him to spend time thinking about them. But the things Gemynd said had him wondering. Could it be true that everything has life? Wasn’t there anything that could not move? Soman looked around him. He already knew that the grass could move because he moved it with his hands all the time. The water in the lake was constantly moving because of the waterfall that poured into it. Then he looked at the Baldaquin tree. Here was something that couldn’t move. It was rooted into the ground. And it was so big that no one could move it with their hands. “What about the Baldaquin tree?” he blurted out.
“The Baldaquin tree moves in many ways,” Gemynd said in a lofty tone of voice. “When it grows, it becomes taller and that’s a form of moving. Also, the wind moves its leaves and branches. Isn’t that right, Keeper Stout?”
“That is right, Gemynd. And what a wonderful question that was, Soman,” Keeper Stout replied, and Soman felt glad that he had asked.
“I live the first Truth in a different way,” Numa said softly. “I live the first Truth by dancing. When I dance, I move so that’s when I have more Life.”
Keeper Stout’s smile spread across his entire face. “You children have really impressed me. You have given me some very thoughtful insights about the first Truth. Well done. Now, Numa, can you tell us about your favorite Truth?”
“I think for today my favorite Truth is the second one,” she said. “It is the breath of The Deis that animates all Life and this Lifeforce is called Joy.”
“Very good,” Keeper Stout replied. “Now, this one can be a bit tricky. Do you know what ‘animates’ means?”
“‘Animate’ means to make something move,” Gemynd called out.
“Good. Now let Numa answer the next question. Can you tell me what this Truth means and why it is your favorite?”
Soman was still thinking about the word ‘animates.’ Hadn’t they just been talking about the way some things are moved by the wind or by hands? If that were true, then the second Truth didn’t make any sense. How could the breath of The Deis move all of Life if some things were moved by the wind or by human hands? Soman closed his eyes and imagined the feel of wind against his skin and suddenly it made sense. “The wind is the breath of The Deis!” he announced.
“Good, Soman,” Keeper Stout said. “I’m glad you’re giving this some thought, but now let’s hear Numa’s answer.”
“When I dance, it is the breath of The Deis that moves my body,” Numa said.
“Very good!” Keeper Stout said. “And what about the Lifeforce called Joy?”
“Joy is another name for the breath of The Deis,” Numa replied. “So when I dance, I have more Life and more Joy. That is why this one is my favorite. If I want to feel more Joy, all I have to do is dance.”
“Well done,” Keeper Stout said again and smiled. “Gemynd, do you have a favorite Truth?”
“Well, I was thinking about the tenth Truth,” Gemynd said, sounding uncharacteristically hesitant. “But the more I thought about it, the more it seemed like I didn’t understand it.”
Keeper Stout smiled. “And what does the tenth Truth say?”
“Making any choice that sustains the Oneness of Life brings Joy,” Gemynd answered.
“Good,” Keeper Stout said. “Soman, can you tell Gemynd what the tenth Truth means to you?”
Soman pressed his lips into a straight line. He’d hoped he was done answering questions for the day. “To me, the tenth Truth is about helping your friends,” Soman said, feeling pleased to have an answer.
“But what other kinds of things sustain the Oneness of Life?” Gemynd asked. “That’s what I’m getting confused about.”
“Helping your friends is a very good one,” Keeper Stout answered. “And maybe also things like caring for plants and animals.”
“And the way we share everything in Aerie,” Numa added and Soman noticed that her answer seemed to make Gemynd even more confused.
“But what if someone makes a choice that sustains the Oneness of one part of Life but disrupts it in another?” Gemynd asked and Soman laid back down on the grass. Sometimes Gemynd’s questioning could go on for hours and Soman had found
it was best not to try too hard to follow along.
“Can you give us an example of what you mean?” Keeper Stout asked.
Gemynd was quiet for several moments, but then to Soman’s surprise, he simply shook his head. “No,” he answered quietly. “I chose the tenth Truth as my favorite because I like that it brings Joy when I make a choice to sustain the Oneness of Life.”
“I am so proud of all three of you,” Keeper Stout said. “You have learned the Truths well and will make very fine members of Aerie.”
“What is your favorite Truth, Keeper?” Soman asked.
Keeper Stout plucked a long piece of snakegrass from the ground and chewed on it as he thought. “All ten Truths are equally important,” he said with the blade of grass between his teeth. “The Deis gifted us with the Truths so that we would know how to live every moment of our lives in Joy. I believe that to be the real purpose of the Truths and so I have no real favorite. But there are some moments when I think about one of them more than the others. And right now I am thinking about the fourth Truth. Shall we say it together?”
Soman had to think for a moment. Which one was the fourth Truth? He knew the first Truth and Numa had said the second Truth. The third Truth was the one about every Life being an expression of The Deis. So the fourth Truth must be the one about everything being equal. “All expressions of The Deis are sacred and equal,” he said aloud just as the other two were finishing their recitation.
“That is correct,” Keeper Stout said and spit the piece of grass onto the ground. “I chose this one as my favorite today because I believe it shows us that everything is equally loved by the Deis. It makes me feel Joyful to know that, regardless of any differences we might think we have, every one of us is deserving of a life filled with Joy.”
Soman smiled. “I like that very much, too, Keeper,” he said.
“Me too,” Numa agreed.
“What if one person has something that no one else has?” Gemynd asked and Soman wondered if his friend was capable of feeling Joy, even for one moment, without having to ask questions.
“Do you mean the way you have black hair and Soman’s hair is yellow?” Keeper Stout asked him.
“Not exactly,” Gemynd answered with a shrug. “I mean, like, what if there was only one piece of merryfruit in all of Todor and I was the one who had it and no one else had any?”
“Well, what do you think would be the right thing to do in that situation?” Keeper Stout asked.
Gemynd looked thoughtfully at the ground but didn’t make any moves to answer the question. “It would be right for Gemynd to cut his merryfruit into enough pieces to share with everyone,” Soman answered after Gemynd remained silent.
“Good, Soman,” Keeper Stout said. “And by doing that, everyone would remain equal as the Truths have taught us. Does that answer your question, Gemynd?”
Again, Gemynd shrugged. “I guess so,” he said, still staring at the ground in front of him.
“Come with me, children,” Keeper Stout said as he hefted his body into a standing position. “I have something I want to show you.”
Soman put his hand out to pull Gemynd to his feet. He was concerned about his friend’s peculiar behavior. “Do you feel poorly?” he asked him.
“I feel fine,” Gemynd said as he let Soman pull him to his feet. “Sometimes the Truths just confuse me, that’s all. My mother says I over think things.”
“Probably better than under thinking things,” Soman offered, wanting Gemynd back to his old self.
It worked and Gemynd chuckled. “Probably,” he replied.
Keeper Stout led the three of them out of the discipleship area and around the lake to the western shore. “Now, I’d like the three of you to lie on your bellies with your faces as close to the water as you can get without touching it.”
Soman loved this kind of activity and was the first one on the ground. He shimmied his way right up to the water’s edge and peered over. He had intended to put his nose just a hair’s breadth from the surface of the water, but misjudged the distance and his whole face ended up underwater. From behind him, he heard Numa burst into laughter.
“You weren’t supposed to touch the water!” she teased and laughed some more.
Keeper Stout produced a small piece of cloth from somewhere inside his robe and handed it to Soman to dry his face. “Let’s try it again,” he said with a wink and smile directed at Soman.
This time all three of them got it right and laid next to each other with Numa in the middle; three faces peering into the water.
“Now, tell me what you see,” Keeper Stout said.
“The ripples make my face look bent and frightening,” Gemynd said. “And when I smile, it looks wicked, like a snarling dog.”
“I see many, many things,” Numa said. “Too many to count. I see my own face, but also the plants and little rocks in the water and the reflection of the clouds above me.”
“I see the drips of water coming off of my hair,” Soman said as he watched one fall from the end of a curl and splash into the lake.
“You all see something different,” Keeper Stout noted. “Let’s keep looking for differences. Why don’t each one of you tell me something that’s different about your reflection compared to the other two? Numa, you can go first this time.”
“I look smaller than the other two,” she said. “But my hair is the longest.”
“Soman looks the biggest,” Gemynd said as soon as Numa was finished speaking. “My hair is the shortest. My hair is black, Numa’s is red and Soman’s is yellow. And Soman’s is the curliest. Although we can’t really see it in our reflections, we all have different eye colors too. Mine are black, Numa’s are green and Soman’s are blue. And look how wide Soman’s shoulders are.”
“That’s good, Gemynd,” Keeper Stout interrupted. “Let’s leave something for Soman to say.”
“Well, I noticed earlier when we first started that I was the only one smiling,” Soman said, feeling pleased to have come up with anything after Gemynd said so much.
“Very good, Soman,” Keeper Stout said. “Now, which one of you is the best?”
Soman watched his own reflection as his smile faded. He looked at the other two and saw that they, too, had become quite serious.
After several moments of silence, Gemynd said, “Numa is the prettiest.”
“I agree,” Soman said, but didn’t want Gemynd to feel that he wasn’t the best so he added, “But Gemynd is the smartest.”
“And Soman is the strongest,” Numa put in quickly.
“But which one is the very best?” Keeper Stout asked again.
“All three of us are the best,” Gemynd said, sounding annoyed with the question.
“Is there one of you who is better than the others?” Keeper Stout asked.
“No,” the three said in unison.
“So, despite all the differences you just told me about, you agree that you are equal?”
“Just as the fourth Truth says,” Soman said, making the connection that this was a way to live the fourth Truth. “We are all sacred and equal.”
“I think that is true,” Numa said and sat back from the water’s edge. “But now that you have asked us if one of us is best, it made me realize that not only are we equal, but we are better together than we would ever be apart.”
Soman and Gemynd sat back too and Soman felt Joy well up inside him. What great friends he had! He turned and saw Keeper Stout wipe at his eyes with the back of his hand.
“You bring me so much Joy, children,” he said then glanced up at the sun. “And I think that is a perfect way to end discipleship today. Let us go get the three of you ready for the parade!”
Numa
Keeper Stout led the three sevens from the Wishing Hut. It was finally time. Numa and her dearest friends were about to become official members of Aerie. Numa loved Aerie with all her heart and felt honored that she would now belong to it. Her mothers had always told her of their travels and, a
lthough they had seen many wondrous things, they said nothing compared to the beauty and Joy of Aerie.
“I need to relieve myself. I will meet you there!” Gemynd shouted suddenly and ran off as soon as they’d stepped outside.
Numa looked at Soman who was clearly just as confused as she.
“Well, then, we will see Gemynd in a few moments,” Keeper Stout said and began to usher Numa and Soman toward the Meeting House. “Unless the two of you need to visit the river as well?”
Numa shook her head. She wanted to get on with the preparations. “I hope he returns quickly,” she said, looking back over her shoulder.
She soon realized she had no cause to worry for as soon as they reached the Meeting House, Gemynd ran up behind them.
“I will leave you in the hands of the preparers now, children,” Keeper Stout said at the doorway of the Meeting House. “But I will see you during the parade. Be full of Joy today and always.”
Numa felt a strange tightening in her chest much like she had felt during breakfast. She closed her eyes and tried to replace the feeling with Joy. After all, she was a seven at the Feast of Sevens and should be bursting with Joy. As she stood there with her eyes closed, she felt a very large hand close around her much smaller one. Soman. His gentle touch always made her feel safe.
“Aren’t you feeling Joyful?” Gemynd asked.
Numa shook her head. “I’m trying to,” she whispered, knowing the people who were assigned to prepare them for the parade were just on the other side of the doorskin.
“It makes sense to be nervous,” Gemynd replied, also in a whisper. “We’ve never done this before and what we don’t know can be frightening. But what we do know for sure is that the three of us are together. Nothing can change that.”
It was just what Numa needed to hear. She threw her arms around her two best friends and felt a smile spread across her face. “Yes, as long as we’re together, I am not afraid.”
“Then let’s get prepared for the feast,” Soman said and held open the doorskin. “I’m getting awfully hungry.”
Revelation: The Todor Trilogy, Book One Page 4