When he reached the center, the mass of humanity shuffled to their feet, closing the circle. They looked so small to him, countless children pleading with him to quell their nightmares. In that moment a feeling of superiority came over him, a sensation he quickly quashed by falling to one knee and hunching over so he could converse with them at eye level. It was a painful position, but that was a small sacrifice to make in the name of equality.
He spoke the words of assembly-“With Ashhur in our hearts, our troubles are met”-and the meeting began.
A pair of identical young men, barely out of their teens, pressed two fingers to their lips, the Kerrian symbol of truthfulness.
“I am Allay Loros,” said one of them.
“And I am Yorn, his brother,” said the other.
“I know you well,” Bardiya told them, gesturing for them to proceed.
Allay cleared his throat. “Five days ago my brother and I were hunting an antelope through the grasslands,” he said, his tone confident yet respectful. “We were near the Gods’ Road, very close to another settlement. The antelope was acting as if it were spooked. We had lanced it with a spear earlier in the day, but still the creature ran without tiring, as if no injury had befallen it.”
“We hid behind an outcropping of stone,” Yorn the twin continued, “and watched it gallop across the road and disappear into the hills. We were about to make pursuit when a great shape walked toward us, dust billowing all around him.”
“It was Ashhur,” said Allay.
“Are you certain?” Bardiya asked.
“As certain as if it were our own father,” Yorn insisted.
“What did he do?”
Yorn said, “He stopped in the middle of the road, where the antelope had disappeared into the forest. He snapped his fingers and it emerged, walking right up to him. Ashhur touched the beast on the nose, and it collapsed dead, right then and there.”
“Then others emerged from the east, so many that the land was swallowed by their ranks. Thousands of them. Perhaps hundreds of thousands-we couldn’t tell. The noise was unbearable. Ashhur handed a group of men the antelope, then called out. A whole school of the beasts appeared from behind us, undaunted by the crowd. All of them were slain by spears, then taken for feasting. After that, Ashhur and a strange-looking man on horseback set off again.”
“Strange looking? How so?” asked Bardiya.
“Strangely shaped,” said Yorn. “Red hair, hunched back, but his arms might have been as big as yours.”
Bardiya nodded. So it had started. Ashhur was gathering his children, and Patrick was with him.
“Did you reveal yourselves?” he asked.
Allay shook his head. “We remained hidden until nightfall, then ran back home.”
“Yet,” said Yorn, “I believe our god saw us. His eyes glanced toward our rock at one point, and I felt all numb inside. Allay said he felt it too.”
To be expected, thought Bardiya. He looked to the two young girls who had stepped forward with the others.
“Sasha, Marna, please tell me your tale.”
The youngsters, both of them eight years old, exchanged a look and smiled. Little Sasha raised her chin with pride. Her skin was much lighter than most who resided in Ang, like cream sprinkled with cinnamon.
“Marna don’t talk,” she said in her angelic voice. “She don’t know how.”
Bardiya ruffled her short, curly hair. “That is fine. You can tell it.”
“Well, me and Mar were out with Father getting pretty flowers. By the skinny river near Ashhur’s big house. Red ones, yellow ones, purple ones-all the pretty ones. We had three baskets full. It was great, but no one was there.”
“Safeway was empty?”
The girl nodded, then her cheeks flushed. She looked to her friend, who shifted from foot to foot with downcast eyes.
“Go on, Sasha,” Bardiya said.
“I can’t,” she said quietly. “I’m scared.”
The crowd around them murmured.
He touched the side of her face, his hand larger than her head. “Go on. There is nothing to fear. I will not hurt you.”
The little girl nodded. “The village was empty, but I heard people yelling,” she said, her voice shaking. “Lots of them. Mar screamed and fell. I was in the big fat trees, and when I ran to her, I saw scary men on the other side of the skinny river. They had shiny clothes and spears.”
“What were they doing?”
Sasha shrugged. “Walking. They had horses. And carts. And…and…”
“And what, my dear?”
She leaned in close to him and, her tiny voice trembling with terror, said, “Heads on sticks.”
Bardiya pulled back and smiled at her, humming a soft, sweet tune. He then beckoned the silent Marna forward and wrapped both of them in a hug. By the time he released the girls, they had regained their composure, and Marna grinned at him from behind tears. Their parents came to retrieve them, their whispered thanks barely audible above the crowd’s murmurs, and then Onna Lensbrough took center stage.
“My Lord, I need to tell you my tale,” he said hurriedly.
Onna was a man fast approaching agedness, with a long white beard and deep crow’s feet around his eyes. He was rarely seen in Ang, preferring to sail his Kind Lady across the Thulon Ocean’s open waters. To find him freely on dry land, before such a crowd, was a bad omen.
Bardiya ran a hand through his own close-cropped hair. “How many times have I told you not to call me ‘Lord,’ Onna? Ashhur is the only lord of this land. Now tell your story.”
“Okay. So I was…well, I was out trawling…you know, the bluegills are migrating north this time o’ year. Then I see these two ships-largest ones I ever seen. Three sails each, tall as the biggest pine tree in Stonewood. They float right on by me like I warn’t even there…almost hit the Kind Lady. Would’ve tore her in two.”
Bardiya frowned.
“It’s not rare for ships to sail through our waters,” he said.
“Yes, but…this was different. I was out by the Canyon Crags, near the islands. Never seen a boat try and get through that suicide run. And they was going too fast-almost hit one o’ the crags, matter o’ fact. Too close to shore.”
“What were they after?”
“Don’t know…but they flew the Lion’s flags.”
A chorus of gasps sounded. Bardiya looked for Ki-Nan’s face, but his friend had blended into the crowd.
Onna continued. “Most ships from Neldar that come our way have different banners like…the hook and fish one. Never seen one with the Lion on it.”
“What’s it mean? Who were they?” the man asked.
It means Neldar moves at last, Bardiya thought. Karak sails to Mordeina, and war. He didn’t speak his guess, however; though he had heard of the brother gods’ clash in the delta, he could not know for certain if it had happened. Yet these tales, not worrisome when taken by themselves, drew a frightening portrait when put together. Ashhur had turned against his declaration of nonviolence, and now all of Paradise would suffer.
We will not take part, he told himself. No matter what occurs, we will remain as our god decreed for us to be. It is the only pure way, the only right way.
The throng pressed in on him, working itself into a panicked state. He heard Ki-Nan’s voice rise above the others, pleading for patience and silence. Bardiya lifted himself from the ground and towered above them, holding out his arms and humming, beckoning wordlessly for them to calm themselves. They eventually did, dropping back into a hushed state. He lowered his arms to his sides and spoke loudly and clearly, hoping that even those who had not joined the assembly would listen.