CHAPTER 22
Waste not your breath with
the likes of them. Unless it is talk of
god or gold, their ears will close like shutters against the rays of reason.
- Phylon, 3276
About the Conservative Party
"I
cannot believe you are even considering this!"
Thalsha's
voice thundered through the senate's meeting chamber so loudly that Ampharix
was sure the crowds waiting back in the main hall would have heard it. The senators sat around the massive round
table. A modest repast set upon silver
trays sat before each.
As
was usual during any debate about Sarwin, Ampharix was uncharacteristically
low-key. She knew the other senators
were aware of her personal hatred of the heretic and of her family connection
to him, and anything she said would be viewed in that light. Only a moment ago, she had found herself a
member of the slight minority in a preliminary vote on the matter before the
senate this day. But now Ampharix was
deep in her own thoughts, barely conscious of the rancorous arguments about
her.
"Have
you all gone mad?" the Thalsha continued, smacking her walking stick
against the wooden table in frustration, "By T'Chen's holy name, am I the
only one of our kind left to defend the sacredness of the Scrolls?"
"Calm
yourself, senator," warned the Chancellor, trying to give an air of
authority, but not arrogance. Chetit
worried that if Thalsha began to look like a martyr, some of the moderate
senators could swing in the old crone's favor.
"I believe that we, as civilized people, can have a spirited
discussion about these matters without shouting at each other," she
continued.
Thalsha
thrust her meal tray away from herself in disgust, the tea in her golden cup
sloshing out from the sudden motion.
"You can discuss this all you like!"
hissed the old matron poisonously, "but nothing you can say here will
change my mind. I don't need to tell you how I will
vote. I cannot believe it may not be
unanimous! Do you hear yourselves
speak? A mission to prove our
scripture?! This is preposterous! It's worse than that; it's an outrage! Maybe some of those soulless scum who walk
our streets feel they need proof, but the truly faithful rule this World, thank
the Goddess, and we don't need proof! I
have nothing else to say!" She
folded her arms in front of herself and scowled down at her reflection in the
glossy tabletop.
"Well
if the esteemed senator has decided her position and has so stated it, then she
has little else to contribute anyway."
This coming from the junior, but very brash and ambitious, senator
Ventis, from Garath.
"How
dare you!" fumed Thalsha at the upstart.
She cast Ventis a glare that, if sustained long enough, might soften
iron.
"I
mean no disrespect," defended Ventis, quickly, "but the hour is
growing long and we must decide this matter.
I have made no secret that I support the sizable and ever increasing
portion of our population that desires more freedom of thought and behavior
from the strict code of the church. We,
too, read the Scrolls and believe in them, but we do not interpret them to be
so strict as do some in this room.
People must be allowed to think for themselves and not have the temples
think for them. Otherwise, we are no
greater a people than are the trees."
A
shy chorus of muffled accords evinced that Ventis was not alone in his
position.
"Even
if I were to go insane and agree to this," argued Thalsha, "do you
realize who we are dealing with here?
It is the heretic Sarwin. He has
been excommunicated for crimes against the church! How can we support him in any respect?"
"My
point exactly," countered Ventis, "as you yourself say, 'crimes
against the church.' There are those of
us who believe a person should not be totally isolated, just because she, or he in this case, disagrees with some
aspects of temple thought. I myself
have questions with how the temple interprets some aspects of the Scrolls. Would you have me, a fellow Priat and
senator, banished as well?"
The
look that Thalsha gave the younger matron answered the question as well as any
spoken word could have. "The
heretic has done more than just disagree with the priesthood's interpretation
of the scripture," the aged senator replied, "he outright mocks
us! He says that the Goddess never
placed Shihara and Zecras in Osh. He
says that notion is silly, but in the same breath espouses that we are the
progeny of lizards! Evolution my
rump! Does anyone not see the insanity
of this but I? Why, I recall he once wrote
that, if given the time and fortune, any animal could evolve into sentience;
even a mammal. Ha! Can you picture that? Walking, talking mammals! He openly advocates the propagation of
Vartyiar! And yet you listen to this
heretic! I am beyond words."
"Again,
you speak so sure that the Scrolls are true," argued Ventis, "Why
then, do you fear this investigation so?
Cannot the scripture only be proven correct? Your case can only be vindicated, is that not so?"
"You
speak like a puppet of the heretic now," taunted Thalsha, "There is a
another matter that I must bring up before we make a final vote. As you know, the counsel of elders, to which
I belong, is on an eternal vigil for the Q'Talon. We believe the heretic Sarwin to be the most likely candidate to
date."
Ventis
made a token effort to cover her snort of laughter, but let just enough out to
make it clear what she thought of Thalsha's comment.
"Please,
spare us with your dogmatic accusations," mocked the younger senator,
"So Sarwin is the Q'Talon of the day, is he? At least he is in good company; Grentus... Phylon...
Ivermik... If my memory of
history serves, none of them brought about the end of the World."
"Mock
us if you must," defended Thalsha, "I would expect nothing less from a
child of Garath. Tell me, Ventis, do
you truly love all the gray-hides that brought you to power, or is it just lip
service to win their votes."
"If
one Priat vote did not equal three Ordinary votes, your entire council of
elders would be vanquished overnight," seethed Ventis.
"Okay,
that is enough!" Chetit had
clearly had her fill of bickering.
"We are getting off the subject.
We have ten minutes left to render our decision," warned the
chancellor, "Make your last arguments and make them count."
For
a moment, silence reigned as the senators glanced furtively about the big
table, trying to gauge each other.
Finally, Restulic, one of the moderate senators who had voted in favor
of Sarwin earlier, spoke up.
"I
was unaware that the defendant had been identified by the church as the
Q'Talon. I am considering a change to
my vote."
Thalsha
smiled slightly as the chamber erupted into hurried whispers. Restulic had some in agreement with
her. Ventis had a look of worry as her
mind raced to find the words to stem the change of opinion in the room. Aid came from the most unexpected of
sources.
"The
Scrolls also say," Ampharix finally spoke up, "that in a time of
crisis for the church, the profit Shradia shall send unto us a child, who shall
bring the meaning of the Scrolls back to the World and sooth the restless souls
of the disenchanted. All disquiet shall
be mollified and T'Chen's holy church shall reign in glory forever."
Thalsha
and the other members of the council of elders stared at her with dropped jaws,
dumbfounded that any of their own would suggest this, let alone Ampharix.
"Ampharix!"
bellowed Thalsha, "What is this madness?
Are you suggesting that..."
"Yes... YES!" interrupted Ventis, seizing the
initiative, "Popular myth has always assumed this child of the profit
would be a Priat matron, but the Scrolls say no such thing. There is no reason to assume the child must
be green, or even female. We don't even
know what Shradia looked like herself.
There are no photographs of her and no surviving testimony of her
time. It is only the Priat who,
hundreds of years after her death, assumed her to be green like
themselves. Defeating Garath with
swords was not enough for the Priat, they must destroy us with myth as
well."
"Silence
infidel!" roared Thalsha at Ventis, but her rage was really with
Ampharix. She turned to her fellow
Elder.
"Look
what you have unleashed," she said, appearing genuinely hurt, "Why
have you done this? You have seen the
signs of the Q'Talon as well."
"I
have seen the signs," conceded Ampharix, "but nowhere do they bear
the name of Sarwin. Truly, I don't know
what to think anymore."
"You
are senator, for T'Chen's sake!" argued Thalsha, "You aren't expected
to think! You are expected to
vote. And in favor of the church! Am I the only one on this World who has not
lost her faith?"
"I
have not lost my faith, good Thalsha," replied Ampharix,
contemplatively. Suddenly, the old
senator produced from the sleeve of her purple robe a small toy hoverball. She held it in her outstretched hand and the
shiny toy bobbled a couple of inches above her palm. She stared at the ball, as if entranced by it.
"Faith
alone can be enough for one person," Ampharix continued, "but not necessarily for an entire
society. You all read the papers. You see the news; the marches... the
demonstrations... the riots. Our society is fracturing. More and more people are turning from the
wisdom of the temple and become involved in other religions or worse yet, no
religion at all."
"All
the more reason to squash this here and now," interjected Thalsha.
"I
agree," said Ampharix, "but we cannot be the ones to do it. Already, billions denounce the government
for being intolerant and unwilling to give other ideas a chance. If we prevent their hero from any further
time travels, that image will be hardened manifold and turned against us. Change is coming to our World, good sisters,
and we cannot stop it any more than we can stop a tidal wave from the sea. But if we are careful and if we are smart,
perhaps we can ride upon that wave rather than be washed away by it."
"This
course troubles me," complained Thalsha, clearly unsettled.
"Serving
the goddess is never an easy path," argued Ampharix, "I urge you to
vote with your hearts. But I also urge
you to think of the consequences of how you vote. I offer you the profit's progeny fable as a face-saving excuse to
save us from voting ourselves into irrelevance, but vote as you see fit. If the Goddess truly desires that Sarwin
bring back proof of the Scrolls, she will allow it and we cannot prevent
it. On the other hand, if the goddess
desires he not go," she grabbed the hoverball out of thin air and thrust
it back in her sleeve, "then she shall prevent him and we shall not be
responsible."
"Sisters,
we must now vote," interjected Chetit, "The hour is up. The people await our word."
"I
still don't trust him," persisted Thalsha, shaking her head, "Even if
he finds proof of the Scrolls, he may ignore it, or worse yet he may try to
present false evidence against them."
"We
will insist that he bring with him a member of the clergy," offered
Ampharix, "to act as an observer for the church, so that he can perform no
deception. Does this sound
reasonable?"
"I
yet have strong reservations, Ampharix," replied Thalsha, "Who would
go with him? He will not accept just
any priest who knows nothing of his methods.
It must be someone of the temple we can trust, yet also someone who
knows this science the heretic so loves.
I can think of no one who satisfies both these requirements."
Ampharix
took the voting box that sat on the table near her and, placing her hand under
the velvet cover that concealed the color of her vote, dropped in her
tile. She then pushed the box in front
of Thalsha.
"I
can," assured Ampharix.