Chapter 7
A rapping at the door woke her. Sun, shining through the open windows told she had slept a long time. Scrolls crumpled under her as she rolled out of bed; she hurriedly pressed them flat again. After blowing out the lantern and checking her appearance, she opened the door.
A Temple Messenger bowed deeply, handed her a scroll with the Temple’s seal on it, and hurried away without a word.
Matron Deonta has set aside time for meeting with Varlet Minna of Malikii and her two escort, Cadlius and Jeffers, this day. She will meet with either Cadlius or Jeffer at half past first bell this morning, and with the other at second bell. She will speak with each man individually, and will have the second be ready to speak with her as the first one leaves.
Minna knocked quickly on Cadlius’s door, then went to her door and asked the Guardsman for the time. He answered, “First bell should be sounding shortly.” There was time.
The scroll had one more line.
Varlet Minna is summoned to the Temple at second bell.
The use of the word “summoned” indicated that the Varlet had no option to refuse this request. She realized she had heard no answer from Cadlius’s room and knocked again. Again, silence answered her.
She knocked again, called out his name, and when he still did not answer she opened the door and looked in. Cadlius was not there; nor was his armor and weapons. She went back to the front door to her room and asked the Guardsman if Cadlius had left.
“Early this morning, m’lady. He said that he was going to run a lap around the city, in his armor and weapons no less, and ordered a bath prepared for him when he returns.”
“That’s his style,” Minna said. It was a lie; Cadlius was not lazy, but neither did he torture himself with exercise. She recognized his need for exercise as part of a plan to explore the city while making it difficult for Guardsmen to follow. “Find him and tell him the Matron wants to see him before second bell. And wake Jeffers and send him over.” The Guardsman moved to obey.
Jeffers came over too quickly and closed the door behind him. He was already dressed in freshly laundered clothes; the Guardsman could not have caught him sleeping. “How did your research go?” Minna asked.
“I’ve been through the scrolls I took with me. I found a little of interest. The Council has compelled citizens of Malikii to testify in its courts before, quite regularly in fact. A merchant witnesses a theft, or a visitor is accused of a crime and his friends are called upon to testify as to his character, happens every month or so at least. It makes sense that they should have this power. But your case is unique in that you are a member of Malikii’s royalty and you are here in the Earl’s name. Whether that gives you any right to claim immunity from these laws, nothing says.”
“But if you or Cadlius witnessed a crime, then they would have the power to force you to testify.”
“It seems so.”
“Why should you be forced to participate in their religious institutions if you are not a member of their religion?”
“Excuse me, m’lady, but if a K’nonite were in Malikii and had evidence about an accused’s mental state, would he not be compelled to testify before Malikii’s tribunals?”
Minna felt no need to give an obvious answer. She signed, “It’s no good, is it?”
“Not promising.”
“Well, you’ll be off the hook soon. The Matron wants to speak to one of you half way through first bell. Cadlius is gone, so you will go. Just tell her that you know nothing about Zin except what I’ve told you and I’m sure you’ll have permission to leave the city.”
“Until I’m charged with conspiracy to aid in your escape,” Jeffers answered with a malicious smile. “Us criminal types. We just can’t be happy unless we’re getting ourselves into trouble. Throw us out of one fire and we run straight for another.”
“You should not do this Jeffers. You should leave. If they discover your dual talents, they will assume . . .”
“If I get permission to leave, I think I’ll take a short trip outside the city walls and temporarily lose a few things, but I won’t be gone long. I’ve got work to do here; a missionary who doesn’t make an attempt at converting a few people during his travels just isn’t doing his job. Besides, if they decide to execute me for corrupting the youth or worshiping false gods, well, the same thing was done to some of my greatest heroes.”
“You’re taking this pretty lightly.”
“Maybe I just don’t think I’ve got that much to worry about, or that much to lose.”
Minna winced at the double meaning behind his words.
Jeffers and Minna discussed the results of their research over breakfast, then Jeffers headed off to the temple. He had acted a casual, lighthearted attitude during breakfast. But once alone his greatest weakness gnawed at his stomach. He was a terrible liar, and he knew it. Even in the most embarrassing and dangerous situations, he knew the weakness of his lies and, instead, typically stunned his opponents by bluntly saying what he believed. His lack of practice was not the result of any particularly noble code prohibiting lies; as Minna said, if one can kill in self-defense then certainly one can lie. He simply was not good at it.
He attempted to anticipate the Matron’s questions so he could practice his answers. Hopefully, they would only concern Zin and he would not have to lie. There was a chance that they would want him to testify against Minna at her trial, if there was one. He worried more about the casual questions that commonly started such a meeting; questions about his childhood. He imagined himself giving an honest answer.
This planet, known for some mysterious reason as ‘Greater Earth’ in many of your languages, actually has a companion, Lesser Earth. Your legends tell of it as the birth place of the gods or one as dominated by technology as yours is by magic. The second one is true, but we are not the gods you worship. There, I studied the history and philosophy of science until an elf named Theresia Phawn popped in and asked me to help her people fight a war against the Gatian Empire, of which Malikii Province is a part. But Thrakutter invaded and things got complicated and I ended up helping the Gatians defend themselves from Thrakutter, instead of helping the Laurellans protect themselves from Gat. Why did they bring me here? Well, unlike people here who can use that technology demons and devils bring in, I actually understand it, somewhat. That’s how I ‘invented’ gunpowder when I lived in Yellow Troute and how I knew how to set up blood transfusions at the Second Siege of Nighthawk’s Castle.
Jeffers easily imagined the reaction.
He found himself rubbing his wrist. For the first time in months he was without his watch, and it felt awkward to not wear it. It had left a light mark on his wrist, but the Matron would likely think that a bracelet or sleeve ring made it.
The Temple had a poem to recite as one rose to the temple; a list of the fifty virtues that elevated a person to where they are deserving of being in Sif’s presence. Because of his disagreements with the Temple, Jeffers climbed with a modified version of this poem in his head. He had never received complaints from the angel that watched over him.
When he stepped into the idol room, he saw a walled off section in the corner that was not there last time. The symbol of the Matron’s office hung near the entrance. This was required of Matrons when they wanted to meet with the male members of their congregation. When he took his place in line, Guardsmen gestured for him to go straight in. Inside, the Matron bestowed blessings on a man’s newborn baby boy. As the man left, the Matron signaled Jeffers to enter. He knelt on the subject’s rug at the Matron’s feet and bowed.
“Stand, son of Sif, we are here to talk, not engage in ceremony.”
Jeffers stood, and she moved to sit in her chair. “Tell me, Jeffers, you said that the war convinced you to serve Sif. When did you complete your training, and what have you done since then?”
“A year after the end of the war,” Jeffers answered. “After that, I served Thane Tiempko in the Earl’s Dungeons. That is how I came to be on this trip.” It was not entirely false. He remembered a prisoner telling him the tricks of a successful con; one of them was to control the conversation. Jeffers added, “I’ve considered your invitation to help in the troll wars. I’m afraid I have grown tired of war with its pain and suffering. If needed, I will gladly aid and comfort the wounded, but I will not fight. Not any more. I’ve killed enough people for one life time.”
“I’m certain everybody you killed deserved it.”
My pardons, Matron, but I killed soldiers. One thing I’ve discovered about war is that most soldiers are ordinary people caught up in events larger them selves. Besides, this property of being deserving that you refer to is simply another way of saying that Justice was served by my action, and I am not comforted by the fact that my actions may have served to further His violent ambitions.”
With a wave of her hand the Matron dismissed his comments. “As you know, I really called you here to determine what you know about Zin Kussad.”
Jeffers presented his memorized speech, saying that he had never met Zin and knew what he looked like only from drawings made of him after his imprisonment. He worked with the Thane. He gave Minna the task of finding Zin because she needed some time away from the dungeons, and assigned him to watch over her. He was not here to find Zin but to serve Minna.
The Matron laughed at the term ‘burn out’ which Jeffers used in describing the Varlet’s attitude toward her duties as wardmaster.
Jeffers had not planned to say anything about Minna’s reasons for leaving the dungeon, but felt suddenly that the Matron should know. “About a month ago, one of Minna’s charges pulled a knife on her. Before the guards could subdue him, he had cut her up pretty badly. If she had not had the noble’s right to the magical aid of the Church of Sif she would have died. The Church took care of her physical wounds well enough, but the magic for dealing with mental wounds is not so far advanced. She would not step back into the dungeons; even the darkness of a hallway frightened her. Tiempko gave her this assignment as a chance to rest, and sent me to look after her.”
“I see.” Deonta said with a slow nod. She lost herself in thought for a few moments, once turning to Jeffers as if about to ask a question—only to reconsider and return to her contemplative trance. Finally, she commented, “Then I regret her decision not to cooperate with the council all the more. But, you understand, we can not allow something like this to be argued as a reason not to sentence her to the dungeons if she refuses to testify.”
“I understand,” answered Jeffers. “I’m sure she never would have mentioned it. She probably won’t like it if she learns that did.”
“Your cooperation is appreciated,” said the Matron. “Do you agree with our decision? The impression I got yesterday afternoon is that you sided with the Varlet.”
“We are still sorting through the issues, m’lady.”
“Well, then, I have hope that you will come to see the wisdom of doing as Justice commands us.”
“I beg forgiveness, m’lady, but I see little chance of that. That harming and, in some cases, killing you do to appease Justice cannot be counted good. You cannot succeed in shifting responsibility for your actions by claiming that defendants could have called upon Wills Power to have done otherwise; that power is myth. You have offered nothing in defense of retribution that we have not already considered and rejected. The questions we are sorting through concern the alleged right of your Council to demand our cooperation against the obligation everybody has not to participate in evil.”
The Matron hissed air through clenched teeth. “Prophet Jeffers, I tire of being called ‘evil.’ It is all the more galling that you stand there and do it so casually. Those are fighting words, my son, and do not be surprised if somebody accepts the challenge.”
“Perhaps it is an unpleasant truth, m’lady, but by the evidence I have seen so far it is a truth nonetheless. I will retract my words as soon as I am shown evidence that I am wrong. Waiving a sword in my face and saying, ‘take that back or I’ll cut you open’ is not evidence that the person waiving the sword is not evil.”
“By tradition, we invite members of the clergy who visit our temple to speak to the congregation,” the Matron said. “I had planned to give you offer you that invitation when I met with you today.”
“If you offer me the chance, I will select as my lesson one which the people of K’non need most to hear. No doubt, the greatest evil visiting the town of K’non is its practice of sacrificing all or part of people’s lives to this demon you call Justice.”
“How dare you insult is like this!” the Matron shouted, her words echoing far beyond the chamber. “We try to be hospitable and to show you every courtesy, and you continue to repay us with insults.”
Jeffers felt his own frustration. “Matron Deonta, neither you nor your people are at risk of spending time in the dungeon by our hands. You are safe, we are not. Nor have you shown any respect for our beliefs; you insist that yours are correct and demand, under threat of punishment, that our behavior conform. Your actions leave us with a choice; either we must ‘insult’ you by challenging the wrongs you force us to participate in, or we must turn our back on our beliefs and pretend to adopt yours not only in the actions you compel us to perform but in our words as well. Our actions are yours to control; our words are ours.”
“Tossing insults like ‘evil,’ ‘barbaric,’ and ‘primitive’ is your way of showing respect for another people’s belief.”
“It is our way of answering the questions put to us truthfully.”
“Get out of this temple, Jeffers. You have no invitation to preach here. You are prohibited from setting foot on this sacred ground again. If you feel a need to preach sermons while you are in K’non, arrange to do so elsewhere.”
“As you wish, m’lady.” Jeffers answered with a bow as he backed towards the entrance.
“One last thing, Jeffers. You are free to leave K’non. I urge you to exercise that freedom.”
“Thank you, m’lady.”