The Preacher Man

There was a soft half-hour chime. I looked at the clock, 2:30 AM, sunrise in less than twenty minutes. I suddenly felt a wish for the execution signals to come in now, before they could defile the dawn of the new day.

I was certain Makin had the same thought. "This is ridiculous!" he hissed. "Two years ago we had to wait to 2:53 AM, the worst in recorded history. It was already sunrise here, an abomination, and now capital is doing it again! This is senseless cruelty!"

Makin's point was well taken. The time limit had been set eight thousand years ago. By the Law of Bel'dar, the decisions of Judgment must occur in total darkness. This is interpreted to mean all the cathedrals in the world must be between sunset and sunrise. The discussions started at 8:30 PM last night at sundown at the capital, the last cathedral to lose the sun at this time of year. It would have to end before the morning sun touched my cathedral at Karbala, or heads would roll. Literally. All the Royal judges would be executed.

Hadramawt is much further east of here but also closer to the equator. Sunlight would reach Karbala here at the monastery first, and the extra distance west would prevent the sunlight from reaching my cathedral until just around 3 AM.

I made a humph noise about what happened two years ago. "I remember it well."

Makin looked at me and blinked, suddenly remembering when I became an adult. "That's right, I'm sure you do." He paused for a moment. "I became an adult in 7997. I started hearing the hissing in my room at 1:07 AM. I'll never forget the relief when I realized it was just air. Back then, it was considered very bad taste to have Judgment go beyond 2 AM."

"Ah, the reign of Abdul Rahim, Servant of the Merciful, 81'st Cunif Califar."

Makin nodded and reminisced. "Those were good times..." He suddenly looked frightened and stammered, "These are good times too, of course!"

I tried to reassure him. "Relax Makin. It's okay."

He looked at me for a moment and nodded. "Thank you Ilias." He looked at the sky for a moment. "I feel I should return to honoring you as Glorious Mufeto."

I nodded. "How about at the dawn?"

"Hah!" He gave me a friendly smile. "Okay! Ilias?"

"Yeah?"

"You have given me one last chance to pry." He was silent for a moment, collecting his thoughts. "You are right Ilias. By law, Ruling Royals do have the right to take a monastery test rather than the standard adult exam. I assume you know why no one does."

I have a quiet laugh. "Of course! The monastery test is much more difficult!"

"Ilias, do you have a plan, of how you might someday advance? I'm not asking what the plan is."

"Hmmm," I muttered. "A few ideas perhaps, nothing complete enough to be called a plan..." I returned to gazing at the pinkish southest horizon. The stars were gone, and the coming sunrise just minutes away.

The Code of Bel'dar is used in all promotions, both adult and childhood gates. The childhood gates are not absolute though, and the Priesthood dickers and trades with the children, theoretically at any gate but in practice usually just their third and final one. It's expensive to pull a child out of the suggested culling lists, and exponentially more difficult the farther the child is from the cutoff. On an average year, just a few hundred adjustments will be done.

For adults below Ruling Royal, the Code is an absolute arbiter, passing and rejecting with complete autonomy. It was Bel'dar's grand design to have the theocracy also be a meritocracy, and have promotions based not on politics but solely on ability.

One adjustment was made to this, at the end of the Wild Times. The year was 305, and the widespread use of the anti-aging drugs had already been in place for close to a century. At the death of Abdul Zahir, Servant of the Manifest and seventh Cunif Califar, a new theological way of interpreting the Code of Bel'dar was adopted. It resulted in the execution of certain individuals of an opposing faction and the coronation of Abdul Nur, Servant of the Light, as the next Cunif Califar. Officially, the interpretation allowed the Ruling Royal body to have some latitude in weighting the different aspects of their promotional testing. In practice, it completely switched the process to political infighting.

A point of golden light broke the surface of the horizon. Makin let out a great and heavy sigh and whispered, "At least the Holy's universe runs on time, Glorious Mufeto."

I nodded in shared sorrow. "It would be blasphemous to have this light touch my cathedral with Judgment incomplete. The Code would call for massive executions. I'm sure... just a few more minutes Makin..."

We continued to wait in silence. At 2:53 AM the room's consoles suddenly came to life, indicators signaling execution signals were being fed into the boy's dormitory, and the large video monitor activated to show Jibran, the CL-27 Ruling Royal and former Domine of Karbala.

All the Priests in the room except me fell on their knees. I walked to the monitor and bowed politely. "Yes sir?" With Jibran as a fellow Glorious Mufeto and only one level above me, I was showing the proper amount of respect.

"How did you know Ilias?!" he asked excitedly. "You could not have known, yet you must have known! How did you know?!"

"Sir?"

"You may speak freely. Your friend Zaim has assured me this call is completely private."

"Sir? Speak freely about what?"

Jibran stared for a moment longer and then shrugged and smiled. "The sir is no longer necessary, not with me."

It was my turn to stare. "I passed?"

He nodded. "Monastery testing is weighted differently than adult testing, harsher, and the Code has more direct authority. There was no weighing system found that did not pass you." He took a second to laugh. "There is a rumor going round that the Supreme Council even tried to pick negative weights." He laughed again. "Negative weights for correct answers! But the Code rejected them."

I tried to make sense of what he was asking. "Jibran, I still don't fully understand what you're saying."

Another smile. "Nobody understands it completely Ilias. There is still a massive investigation going on. But the Code of Bel'dar at Babylon would not release Judgment without this issue being resolved to its satisfaction, and the Supreme Council ran out of time. The code could have ordered their execution if they went past 3 AM."

"Saved by the Bel'dar," I thought in my mind, though I would never voice such a blasphemous joke. "But how..."

"Yes Ilias, how indeed! One theory being investigated is that you and the Lion never officially said goodbye to each other. The Lion never rejected you, and you never passed on an opportunity to ride. Unknown Code appears to have been activated." Jibran paused for a moment. "The political impact is immense. We'll talk more after your marriage!" And with that he broke the connection.

Makin and I turned and stared at each other in wonder.

Chapter 23. Blinking Yellow

Time: Judgment 3, 8237 10:53 AM

"Thank you Nikahaldi, for a fine marriage ceremony."

The CL-7 marriage priest nodded nervously and got off his knees, trying to stretch his stiff legs without being too noticeable about it. Royal weddings were clearly not his specialty. Not that I could blame him. All Royal weddings are done at capital cathedrals, at least they were until now. The Nikahaldi had been tense throughout the ceremony. But he was efficient and thorough in inspecting the medical aspects of the marriage. He carefully reviewed all the logs as well as the videos of the injection cycles before registering my bride as a certified eternal virgin.

His meticulous attention to the medical details made the marriage ceremony take longer than I expected. I wouldn't have as much time with my new bride as I had hoped before her first sleep cycle would take her. It was almost an hour after morning Prayers before I could meet my new wife.

It was a short walk to her holding pen. We were deep within my cathedral complex, in a private chapel area adjacent to my living quarters. Within moments I was standing before Shephatiah. She was dressed in a white and blue marriage burqa, the traditional colors for a Karbalan wedding. The required black marriage hood on top of her veil was completely blinding her, and I could hear her breathing heavily underneath it. Hyperventilating? After such a long ceremony, I thought the air under the hood must be getting stale.

Completely hiding my deep shame, I reached up and released her hood and burqa veil. My mind seemed to fracture into a hundred directions. A part of my mind returned to Abigail's words. The Holy, first wife! You were right, she is so beautiful! Another part of my mind realized Shephatiah had been crying under the hood, and my soul seemed to drown in shame and sorrow. Her eyes were downcast, staring at the floor, waiting for permission to look at me. I tried to hide my distress by clearing my throat.

At the sound of my voice, Shephatiah raised her head slightly, her eyes looking at my arm insignias for a moment, a checkerboard of squares, purple and red on the bottom, green and blue on top. It identified me as a fourth-level Ruling Royal, Citizen Level 27. With the current twin vacancies on the Supreme Council, I was currently ranked seventeenth in the global hierarchy. I saw her mouth twitch at the sight.

Shephatiah completed her head turn, looking up from my arms and gazing into my eyes. I realized in an instant that she was expressive as Abigail in communicating with her eyes. But this was so different than my first marriage! Abigail's eyes were full of pure joy. Shephatiah's eyes were a complex mixture of fear, resentment, and despair, with an unformed swirl of darkness that could easily organize itself into hatred. Outwardly she was maintaining the required silence and stillness, even tilting her head back as required to expose her bare throat as a sign of obedience. Inwardly my instincts were warning me to watch for both homicide and suicide.

Sensing that I wouldn't grab her throat, Shephatiah broke the eye contact and lowered her head again in submission. She started kneeling on the floor before me, awaiting my commands. I assumed the Nikahaldi's video monitors were still on. This was no place to have a conversation. "Follow me Shephatiah," I said simply and turned and headed out the door. I heard the faint sounds of her rising and walking behind me.

We reached the inner bedroom of my private quarters a few minutes later. I looked at the clock. It was already past 11 AM. Abigail and I had had several lengthy discussions about what I should do now, tell Shephatiah beforehand that she was not an eternal virgin, or wait until after her purge cycle when she would have the physical proof of her memories. Abigail tearfully concluded that without physical proof, there was very little chance my new bride would believe me, and that perhaps it would be best to wait. Abby had heard of horror stories of men teasing their virgin wives with lies about recovering their memories, just to play with their emotions. So cruel!

But now there was very little time to do anything. I sighed in relief that the clock had spared me from the painful choice. I simply gestured with my arm and hand to Shephatiah's marriage book upon the bed, and then walked over and sat down by the windows to gaze at my private courtyard and gardens below.

I heard the soft turning of the pages as she read the rules of the house. My own eyes were fixed on the bright summer flowers waving energetically in the ubiquitous wind. Even in my inner courtyard, the wind never stops. And on the horizon to the northwest, a compact mass of black clouds was hurtling towards my islands. I thought a brief but violent storm was not far off. As I watched, the first band of clouds raced in at an angle and covered the northern sun.

I sighed and closed my eyes. I very much wanted Abigail here when I brought Shephatiah back, but there is a strong tradition for men to have a few days alone with a new wife, especially one taken at the marriage gate. It would have been seen as very odd for Abigail or Michal to be here, and they were both scheduled return on Judgment 5. That was the earliest that would be considered socially acceptable.

An uncertain whisper from the bed, "Ilias?"

The tentative question brought me out of my thoughts. Shephatiah had quietly stripped herself of clothes. Her burqa, halter, and panties were folded neatly and placed against the side of the security console near the bed. My new wife was lying flat on her back, bent legs raised and held wide apart. She was clearly testing her book's description of her right to call me by name, and was also submitting herself for mounting.

I walked over and sat on the edge of the bed. I saw a look of puzzlement in Shephatiah's eyes, and realized she was wondering why I wasn't undressing. I saw her eyes gazing shyly at my body, and then she looked up at me.

I was so embarrassed. This was so wrong. I briefly waved my hand at her and shook my head no.

Shephatiah misinterpreted my gesture completely. She thought I was rejecting her choice for a coitus position. She turned her body to kneel, head and taut breasts on the bed, rump held high in the air, legs flayed out to open herself at her rear. Her head was turned towards me, and there were tears in her eyes.

And my heart was filled with shame. I was again torn between wanting to reach out and touch her as an expression of apology, and a deep desire not to violate her with the unwanted contact of my body. Abigail's heart was full of joy when she first submitted to me. Shephatiah's submission was being driven utterly by intimidation. I quickly decided against touching her.

"Shephatiah, no..." I whispered.

She gave a brief grunt and a jerky nod, and then reached with both hands to her butt, low on her hips near the backs of her thighs. She gave a sobbing gasp and squatted a bit lower in her kneel, pulling her ass cheeks wide apart to expose her anus. She was now in another class-taught position, clenching her jaw against the coming pain as she made herself accessible for anal mounting.

I felt like crying. "It's not that. Are you sleepy?"

A pause, and then her head tilted up to look at me. She sighed. "Sleepy? A little sire, just this last minute."

"It's the start of your first purge cycle. You're going to get very sleepy, very soon."

"Do you want to wait until then? Sire, it's your right to fuck me while I sleep."

"That can be very dangerous," I said, telling Shephatiah something I was sure she already knew. "Strong physical stimulation can arouse a woman out of her purge cycle. The damage to the mind can be catastrophic."

"I know. Sire, you have the right to damage my mind. It's..." She paused and looked confused, very sleepy and barely able to stop herself from saying something blasphemous. Any criticism of her state as an eternal virgin would be a capital offence. I was watching her eyes, they are so expressive! I knew she had almost said, "It's already damaged."

She yawned deeply and sighed, the cycle almost taking her. "It's your right to have sex with me now."

"I know. Let's wait. I'll stay with you as you sleep. You won't be disturbed. I promise."

Shephatiah breathed deeply and then nodded, letting her body fall from its rump mounting posture to the bed. She was lying on her side facing me, her breasts and body trembling as she fought to stay awake. She was so innocent, so vulnerable! My need to show concern for her broke through my shame. I moved up near the head of the bed and sat back down, covering her nakedness with a thin sheet. She nodded and smiled at me slightly in gratitude. My hand came up and started stroking the side of her head.

Shephatiah was in a brief window of time between awake and sleep. Her eyes were glassy but still full of intelligence. Her breathing was deep and slow, her mind pulled down by the power of the eternity drugs. She finally turned peaceful as her sleepy mind could no longer hold onto its fears. I smiled at her and kept petting her head, very gently, tucking her in and covering her with another blanket. She realized I would not violate her as she slept. She tried to give me another smile of gratitude, but the cycle took her in earnest. Within seconds she was deeply non-responsive.

Shephatiah, my third precious wife! There is so much I need to tell you! Have I done everything correctly? With my new CL status, I was sure all my actions would be examined under a microscope, and I had racked my brain to come up with absolutely the most undetectable and untraceable way of controlling her virginity injection cycle. Nothing was foolproof. There are just too many unknowns. It the end I realized I would just have to take some risk.

I've been having nightmares about this recently. In the dark dreams, the Priesthood knows of my treason and blasphemy, but is waiting before picking me up. The Inquisition Council is using me as bait, trying to lure a secret organization at Qataban to make contact with me. At the end of the dream, a screaming Abigail is strapped to a gurney and injected with drugs until she dies. I wake up in tense sweats calling Abby's name. The Holy! I pray this is not a vision of the future.

I gazed down at Shephatiah as I petted her head. Oh Abby, she's so beautiful! Golden hair, wavy curls falling around her shoulders. Her hair and body smelled faintly of the lilac soap the Nikahaldi use to wash the new virgin after she is "anointed with the holy drugs of eternity." Shephatiah was then dressed and hooded and led into her holding pen for the final part of the ceremony.

My fingers gently moved her hair from near her mouth. A fine, noble face, streaked by her tears but still filled with strength and good purpose. Her body below had also taken my breath away, but I didn't want to think of it, not now, not even in my mind, not while we had so little understanding between us. My physical response to her beauty seemed unclean, shameful.

And she was resting peacefully, deeply. I kissed her cheek and got up, pulling the heavy curtains at the windows and killing all the lights in the room. My bedroom was now quite dark, only the faintest of light from the cloud-hidden sun. The room also had superb sound suppressors for the wind, and in any case, Shephatiah had lived at Karbala since being a one-month infant at the town's nursery. The howling wind must be a natural part of her life. I walked over and turned off the sound suppressors.

I then turned and watched Shephatiah sleep, trying to decide whether to stay with her or give her some privacy. The room became super dark as the storm clouds gripped the city, pitch black except for the instant flashes of lightning and the tiny glow of the security indicators. Outside there were loud rumbles of thunder. She was completely unmoving, the outside sounds a natural part of her life. I decided to retreat to the living room, maybe grab a book.

Another flash of lightning outside, a big one, and then a loud clap of thunder. The tiniest flicker of a light caught my eye. I turned and looked hard. What did I see? Did I see anything? I wasn't certain. Was it where Shephatiah laid her marriage burqa? I walked over and stared at both the burqa and the security monitor.

There were a dozen green lights signaling a green-board display, showing the room was bug free. All was well. Then there was another flash of lightning outside and a loud clap of thunder three seconds later. At the sound, sensor-eleven briefly cycled to yellow, held yellow for about one second, and then cycled back to green. Huh?

I stared at the display. All seemed well. A return to green was a strong vote of confidence for no problem found. Just a fluke? But then there was another flash of lightning, and at the sound of the clap the same process repeated.