Bard's Tale 03 - Miriel

Mindal got up to follow him, and Reison joined her. Mindal stopped and put a hand on his shoulder. "Stay here and keep your mother company. When Miriel wakes up, she may become a handful. I'll be right back."

He nodded and returned to his seat.

When Mindal left, Medhbh looked at her son. "Reison? Your sister looks the same age as when she disappeared. I'm afraid to ask, but why is that?"

"Didn't you listen to what Tia told you? Miriel was kidnapped by a very bad man. He tortured and hurt Miriel badly. For a whole month he brutalized her. Then he murdered her. She never had a chance to grow any older."

"Then how...?"

"You can thank Tia for bringing Miriel home. She's the priestess who left with Tahna. She summoned spirits, and using one of the Miriel's hairs from my locket, tracked her to her grave. I am so grateful to Tia! It hurt her to do it, but Tia did it anyway. And do you know why? Because we were married, and that made Miriel their sister, too. Mother, Miriel has awful memories to contend with. She's going to need a lot of help and love to get past this."

The older woman digested what he told her, looking sadly at her sleeping daughter. "Not very many priests can do what you tell me she did."

"I witnessed it all. Tia brought her body up from the earth. I saw the bones and flesh knit and grow whole. It really is Miriel, back from the dead. Legally, she's eighteen, but she still has the body of a thirteen-year-old girl. And that healer that's coming? If Tia says that she's gifted and skilled, you can believe it! Mom, I know it all a lot to take in. But it's all true."

"This evil priest really forced her?" Wiping her eyes, she looked at her daughter sorrowfully.

"I don't know all the particulars, only that Miriel's time as a prisoner and her death were agony. I cannot fathom such cruelty, nor the idea that my sister endured such vile treatment." Reison had seen his sister's shade attack his wife, and suspected there was more to the story of his sister's torment.

"Rape was one experience I had hoped to spare her." His mother stared off to the mantel.

"Mom?" he said.

She gave him half a smile. "When you children were growing up, neither of you ever asked, and I never said. At time, that was fine, because you both were too young. Your father and I stressed the romantic nature of his rescuing me, and nursing me back to health. And I bless the day I met your father. But in the dark days prior to that, I was one of dozens of women captured by foul, black-hearted slavers. We were stolen from our homes and families by scum of the earth. Your grandfather, Sean O'Hara, died trying to stop them, to keep me safe. I wasn't tortured, but know all too well some of what Miriel endured."

The realization of her words slammed into him. He looked at the grief on her face helplessly. Already grieving for the pain his sister endure, it hurt to think that his mother, too, had once been treated so foully. Tears spilled unbidden. "Mom?"

"You are a good man, Reison. I thought you too young to be fighting with the scouts, but your father allowed it and you proved me wrong. You're only twenty! For a human, that's plenty old, but you're a half-elf, and your voice was still cracking until last year. You should having a good time and going out on dates. Not married -- to three women, mind you! -- and already trying to have babies! I'm not sure how I think about that. I was raised to believe that marriage should be one man and one woman."

"And so you raised me. But now I'm married to three beautiful and amazing women. We four are a family now. It feels right, and I won't give any one of them up."

"I'm sorry, son. I don't want to focus on that. What I meant to say... what I want to say is how proud I am of you. Today you brought your lost sister home, where she belongs. Don't be ashamed to be a man. You aren't responsible for the behavior of scum acting worse than animals. Only be ashamed if you see it and do nothing to stop it."

Reison just nodded.

* * * * *

"Heads up, Tia. Looks like they're bringing up some priests to help bring down your circle of protection. Wait -- is that Wauser Djoseti from the temple of Thoth? When he quit attending the interfaith meetings held by Duchess Diane, I admit to having had an I-wonder-whatever-happened-to-that-blithering-idiot thought pass through my head. So now I know where he disappeared to."

"Yes, now you know. And, I'll concede the game to you."

Tahna shook her head. "No, fair's fair, Tia. Interrupted games don't count. Let's call it a draw."

"You have my queen pinned for a rook sacrifice. I'm already down a bishop and three pawns. Take the victory. You earned it, fair and square."

Using oration to boost his volume, the priest of Thoth called out in Kemetic to Tia and Tahna. Tahna noted that he did so from behind the gathered soldiers, remaining about fifty meters distant.

"You are hereby commanded to quit the field and cease your attacks upon our city, or face the wrath of the gods! Stronger mages and more priests have been summoned. You will be defeated!"

The priestess and monk burst out laughing.

"This is not a laughing matter," the bald priest warned sternly, shaking his staff at them to emphasize his point.

Using an oration spell of her own, Tia shouted back in Kemetic, "Go ahead. Cast detect lie, Djoseti, and then ask us if we attacked your city! Go on! Do it!"

"Who are you? How do you know my name?" Agitated, the priest strode forward a few steps, scowling and squinting at them in the hopes of seeing who they were.

Two bronze-brown women with black hair, a Ba'lorian high priestess and a warrior-monk...

No! He recognized them, and felt his insides turn over twice in protest. What were the busy-body Landers Sisters doing here in the Caloren States? Uppity trouble-makers, the both of them! Well, the watch commander said they'd attacked the city, so it was time to gather up the other priests accompanying him and begin channeling their power together. By the power of Thoth, they will bring down her wall and erase that--

"We know who you are, Djoseti!" Tia shot back. "We are here in an official capacity to seek justice, and we demand that you and the others immediately stop hindering us! Such right to pursue criminals convicted of high crimes are guaranteed by the Religious Concord, and signed off on by the Kemetic, Hellene, and Ba'lorian churches, and passed by the Caloren High Council. Tahna is here to lawfully serve a Death Warrant, Djoseti! Do not oppose us!"

"Show the warrant!" he demanded.

A confirming glance to Tia, then Tahna strode the boundary of the protective circle. When the priest of Thoth, accompanied by a retinue of eight lesser priests, were within two meters, Tahna held up the warrant with both hands for him to read.

"Some of those are indeed serious charges," he admitted. Then he sneered at them both. "I see your House name is changed. Funny. I would have thought your cold cunts frozen shut years ago. However, I only see your name on the warrant. It needs at least two witnesses. You are still a bitch-whore priestess to a bitch-whore goddess, and are hereby ordered away from this city forthwith."

Tahna narrowed her eyes. Reaching through the barrier would bring it down and end the protection for them both. But it would be so satisfying to pluck him off his feet and pound his arrogant face into the dirt!

Focus, she reminded herself. Tia knows what she's doing.

The priestess looked at Djoseti scornfully. "Look again. We bear a lawful warrant for the apprehension and execution of the evil high priest of Set known as Karst. This foul priest has committed torture, rape, child murder, cannibalism, and black magic. Is that what you defend, priest of Thoth? After my name are the symbols for the Lawgiver Herself and for Brigit Balisama, Celtic goddess of the Tuathan de Danaan, showing that the gods themselves are our witnesses. If the gods support the warrant, how can you possibly stand against it?"

Even as he looked at the warrant again, more symbols appeared. Some he didn't recognize, but the ones he did gave him pause. Isis, Osiris, Horus, Shu, Tefnut, Seker. Alarmed and enraged, he yelled out, "What deception is this? Adding yet more names to your warrant? Including those of the true gods of Kemer? Liars and deceivers! You commit blasphemy!"

"Priest of Thoth, use your god-given insight! I tell you the holy symbols on this warrant appeared without mortal alteration. The warrant was generated earlier today, and has been within my possession and sight ever since its creation. I demand that you test me! Answer me, Djoseti! Do I lie?"

Scowling, he stared at Tia belligerently. The power of Thoth revealed all lies spoken before one of his priests.

Troubled, Djoseti quietly admitted, "No, you have not."

As all three watched, the warrant continued changing. After the name of Miriel Whisper Wind as victim, other names and dates of death began appearing.

"Are you doing this?" he demanded.

"No," Tia replied, equally surprised by the turn of events.

He knew she spoke the truth. And it would take formidable power to bypass the circle of protection without bringing it down.

Tia knew the gods must be watching even now, and were responsible for amending the Death Warrant.

Such a thought crossed Djoseti's mind as well. He knew the warrior-monk was incapable of spell craft. Still, he needed additional proof before he openly challenged the city guard. Taking a step back, he cast true seeing and stared at the priestess.

Then he took a deep breath in fear. No foul magic at work here. Quite the contrary, the priestess and the monk glowed with holy light. As he continued scrutinizing her, spectral images appeared above and behind her. Most of them he did not know. But he recognized the images of those Kemer gods whose symbols were affixed to the document.

Seeing their stern looks -- god save him, Isis herself turned to glare directly at him! -- it took Djoseti three times to find his voice. "The church of Thoth has no further objections to your Death Warrant and will not interfere."

Turning about, he motioned with his hands to his fellow priests. "Come, let us quit the scene at once!"

Hurrying away, Djoseti glanced back. Isis herself placed a ghostly, glowing ankh above the priestess, granting the priestess further protection and divinely sanctioning the warrant!

The priest of Thoth began to run. "Make way, make way! Let them pass unhindered!"

He ran past the enraged officer, toward the gate and passing on through, his white and purple robes billowing about his scampering sandaled feet, his attendant priests hurrying to keep up. It never even occurred to Djoseti to aid them.

The soldiers observed the fleeing priest and milled about in confusion. Their officer had demanded they attack the two women and deny them free passage into the city, yet the priest had just countermanded that same order.

Then, over the battlements, flew two groups of individuals at great speed.

The first group was a struggling man held in check by three aerial servants. As they landed, the darkly clothed man cursed roundly in Kemetic. Slightly behind them was the fourth wind spirit, carrying a limp, young, and naked Caloreni woman. The girl was barely alive. Carefully, she was laid on the ground before Tia.

Tahna reached over to the flailing man, grabbed his ear and twisted. As he cursed at her in protest, she looked at his face, comparing it to the image on the back of the Death Warrant.

A match!

At that moment, the man uttered out slay living, and one of the aerial servants wailed and vanished. He began repeating the spell.

Whipping out both sais, first weapon slammed down in an overhand strike, between his neck and collarbone. The second sai was thrust under the rib cage, puncturing his heart. Blood spurted from both wounds, spraying Tahna with crimson.

"You are hereby lawfully executed for crimes against the gods." She held the steel there for five seconds, then withdrew the sais and stepped away.

Karst collapsed.

"Justice is served, you miserable fuck," Tahna growled. Then she spat on his corpse, but remained next to him, guarding the body.

Some spellcasters had contingency spells in place in the event of their death, spells designed to revive and even transport and restore them in a place of safety. While Tahna stood next to the corpse, the warrant prevented any such magic from taking effect. She fully expected Tia approach and cast destruction upon his remains, so as to vaporize his body and frustrate any contingency magic. If anyone deserved oblivion, it was Karst.

Tia, kneeling by the bleeding girl, thanked the aerial servants. They bowed and promptly vanished. To her dismay, the broken, mutilated girl vanished as well. If not for the blood on her hands and her robes, there would have been no proof the girl had even existed.

The next instant, both priestess and warrior-monk found themselves on a featureless landscape of cloud-covered ground. Above them, all three suns shone brightly overhead, making their faces tickle with the warmth they radiated.

The blood on them both also vanished.

Before the two women stood the goddesses Rena and Brigit. Even as they watched, the Dark Warrior shifted, her ebony skin and face becoming bronze-brown. Her black gi transformed into a casual tunic, trousers, high boots. With one hand, she pulled on her bush hat, giving it a downward tug to secure it. The Dark Warrior had changed into her aspect as Earth's Daughter.

Before they could drop to their knees, Rena said, "Stand, please."

"What about the girl?" Tia blurted out. Then she bowed her head. "I'm sorry for my presumption."

"Don't be," Earth's Daughter told her priestess. "You saw Takonset injured and in need of healing. Yes, that is her name. The daughter of a glazier abducted three weeks ago, she was due to be killed tomorrow morning. You were about to give her aid and comfort, and she knows that you and Tahna were responsible for her rescue. She is a follower of Isis, and her goddess wanted to heal the girl herself. She is being well taken care of, I assure you. Please know that Isis is grateful for your efforts on the girl's behalf."

Tahna looked at her goddess, emotions welling up. "What... what about all the new names on the warrant?"

The normally cheerful Earth's Daughter slowly exhaled. "He was probably your greatest act of justice, Tahna Whisper Wind. One hundred and thirty seven murders, with the girl you saved almost one more. Karst has plagued the world for decades. He had planned to become a lich, and once that was fell deed was accomplished, he intended to use the links to the dead girls to draw them in and swallow them up, as a bid to further his evil power. Karst, however, is even now getting his just reward. Citing the charge of cannibalism, Set, the Howler of Trackless Wastes and Eater of Excrement, declined to intercede before Ra on behalf of his priest. Through the courtesy of Isis, you may witness the final judgment of Karst."

With a wave of her hand, mist gathered and formed a mirror that became as a window. They could see a gathering of several Kemetic gods beneath a moonless night sky. Tia recognized them all. Isis, Osiris, Horus, Thoth, Anubis, Sobek, and Ma'at. Nearby, standing witness, were Shu, Seker, and Tefnut. Sprawled on the ground before them all was the bloody body of Karst.

Ibis-headed Thoth recited a few passages from the Book of the Dead, and then leveled the charges against Karst, using the same words from the Death Warrant. Beside Thoth was a huge scale. At a gesture from Anubis, the dog-headed guardian of the dead, crocodile-headed Sobek reached down to the body and ripped out the heart-shaped part of the soul called the ba, dropping it onto the left tray of the Scale of Judgment. The ba turned black. Ma'at took the feather from her crown and placed it onto the right tray.

The sins of his deeds measured against the truth of Ma'at brought the tray with Karst's soul crashing onto the ground.

"Judgment is rendered," Anubis intoned. "You are too foul even for Sobek to consume. Therefore you and all seven parts of your soul are hereby immediately consigned to oblivion. You sentenced to feed the demon serpent Apep."

A portal opened up, and Sobek disdainfully picked up Karst's body, and the ba from the scale with the other. With a single word, he summoned the other six parts of Karst's blackened soul to merge with his ba. As Sobek turned aside, all could see an enormous pit. A giant serpent rose up, hissing, as its mighty fanged maw opened with anticipation.

Sobek tossed the body and soul of Karst into the pit, straight into its mouth. The giant reptile gulped and turned away as the portal closed. Karst was no more.

The crocodile god held out his hands, and Tefnut poured forth cleansing water to wash away the filth.

The scene before them faded.

"What of the others he murdered?" Tahna asked. "Miriel was granted a return to life. What about all the others? Will they, too, be granted life?"

"Nearly all of them belong to other gods, so the matter is for them to deal with. Two others were Celts, however, and with the consent of Brigit here, we have attended to them. And, the two Nordic girls -- well, the Aesir aren't known for their ability to raise the dead. Brigit and I did some work for Sif, which I think will work out well in the long run. My own three children among the dead have chosen rebirth, rather than face families many years older who had mourned for them and moved on.

"Your restraint with the priest of Thoth was noted by the other Powers. You ended the spree of a very evil man, and did so without fanning any interfaith discord. Tia and Tahna, I commend you both."

Tahna shook her head. "I did not appreciate his description of either you or my sister."

Rena nodded. "Such was noted. Djoseti has come to the attention of his gods, and not just Thoth. Your part is done. Let it go. Your sense of honor shouldn't get entangled with pride."

At the look of her goddess, Tahna squelched her protest.

"As for any insult to me? Has not your sister willingly, even gladly served in the temple of my own brother, Osh Mayan? Acting as a holy whore in exchange for monetary donations? Donations that help provide for healing and other spells for the poor, and help run the orphanages? During her years there, Tia served with diligence and compassion. She gave pleasure to others and gave instruction to those needing it. If she took pleasure in those acts, that was her right. Moreover, I was under the impression that a woman has the right to pick the lover of her choice or to remain chaste, and if she chooses to have one or many lovers, she also gets to choose the manner and frequency of her enjoyment of said lovers. If men are allowed to pick lovers, whether one or more or even to forego conjugal union altogether, then the right must be granted to women as well. That stupid priest meant insult, but it merely bespoke his jealousy and ignorance."

Tia reached out and clasped her sister's hand. Gave it a squeeze, letting her sister know she appreciated Tahna's motives.

Earth's Daughter continued. "Now, if you make a promise to a husband or lover to be faithful and are then false, then you have good cause to feel shame, for breaking your word is no small matter."

Glancing at Brigit, who looked up sharply, she added, "If you aren't being treated properly, the smart thing is to simply kick the bastard to the curb. But that is not always an option, and remaining faithful to one who dishonors you or your covenant is foolish. In the long run, who you have sex or make love to is your own business. What truly matters is how you treat your fellow sentient beings, and the intentions within your heart when you so interact. Care to add anything, sweet Brigit?"