Emily, Healing Shrine of Mugash
Twessera and Kayseo removed all the embarrassing medical tubing and accessories and got me some clean clothes to lounge around in. Unfortunately, Twessera noticed my stockings were baggy on me. She got my new belt and fitted it around my waist and took it in two holes. She gave me one of those looks and was about to start the nagging when I cut her off.
“Don’t, just don’t,” I scowled though I took care to speak with a neutral level voice. “There is nothing you can say that I haven’t already heard many times before over the last year. You w...will spare yourself the effort and me the annoyance if you refrain from lecturing me about my w...weight. It might be faster if I just took over the lecturing of myself since I already know all the w...words by heart.”
I had a bad thought just then, wondering if Mugash had also jinxed my weight to keep me weak. I would not be surprised if she had a hand in my failure to gain weight despite always forcing myself to eat more. Ever since I arrived in Foskos, she wanted to keep me near Aylem and would do whatever it took to achieve that, with the collusion of the rest of the gods. It was so fresh in my mind that it was easy to get angry again. Damn gods.
“Emily!” Kayseo was shocked. I must have thought too clearly again. Crap.
“Gods again?” Twessera sighed and looked resigned, “this is not good at all.” She closed her eyes for a short moment, “the Blessed Lisaykos is coming.”
“Y...you didn’t need to summon her,” I panicked. I didn’t want anyone to know. It’s a lot easier to run away from the gods if no one knows you’re a prophet.
“You can’t!” Kayseo squawked after picking up my thought. Both Kayseo and Twessera were appalled. This was getting worse. I couldn’t even flee given that I was still in bed recovering. Once I was well again, the shrine would put a constant watch on me. My life and future freedom were doomed.
“Not necessarily,” Lisaykos said from the doorway. “You two, scoot,” she pointed at Kayseo and Twessera, “and put what just transpired into the deepest darkest pocket of unreadable thought you can find. Discuss it with no one, not even with yourself.” The two young women looked at each other and got up to leave. Twessera held the door as Kayseo thumped her way out of the room on those horrible crutches.
Lisaykos settled into a chair next to me. “When did you discover the gods wanted you as a prophet? Did they tell you when you were recovering this time?”
“You don’t sound the least bit surprised,” I studied her expression.
“I’ve been sure that you are a prophet since you came back from the Shrine of Galt,” she studied me.
“I found out the night before going to Black Falls,” I admitted. “Tiki told me and I wish he had not. I might have been happier if I had stayed ignorant. I’m pretty screwed, aren’t I?” The world looked bleak. I wondered if killing myself might be a practical option to get out of the prophet gig. Being stuck as Aylem’s token Coyn prophet and sidekick wasn’t a life I wanted. Since reincarnation was real, it wasn’t as if suicide would end my existence. I might not remember my time here but from what the gods said at the campfire meeting, that would likely be the case regardless of when I died.
“Let’s have none of that,” Lisaykos said, not disguising the fact she just read my mind.
“W...why does it seem like more people are picking up on my thoughts lately?”
Lisaykos sighed, “it became much easier after you died. Still, only the most powerful mages can do so and it only happens if a mage is right next to you. Your problem is that you’re around silverhairs all the time. There’s another thing you probably don’t know: the more time you spend with a silverhair, the easier it is for that silverhair to overhear what you are thinking.”
“Oh, joy,” that explained why Kayseo picked up my thought of running away from the gods so quickly.
“Emily dear, I have no intention of putting a watch on you unless you were truly suicidal. I have never intended to box you in, assuming you were well enough to take care of yourself. I had the guards keep an eye on you after the kidnapping because I didn’t want anything else to happen while you were relearning how to talk. If you are well enough and you want to leave, I will not stop you. I don’t think I could stop you, to be honest. You’re too clever to stay caged. I will not mention what happened just now to anyone and I will make sure Kayseo and Twessera never leak it.”
“Seriously?” It’s not what I expected from Lisaykos, given that she was so protective of me.
“If you can walk out of here on your own two feet, or even if you make a deal with Asgotl to be your mount while you extend your walking range, I will not stand in your way. I won’t be happy about it and I will worry about you, but you are one of the least helpless people I have ever met. And excluding the injuries from the murder attempt, you are getting better. You’re walking farther, you’re talking better and your brain never even slowed down.” She raised an eyebrow, “if your mouth gaped any wider, Ud might be able to get inside.”
“I’m...I’m...I’m just surprised, that’s all.”
“Maybe twenty years ago, I would have tried to confine you for your own good,” Lisaykos sighed again. “I used to have a darling boy. With him, I discovered that his love was not my possession, it was his gift. I will not make that mistake again. When you care for someone, you must care enough to set them free.”
She tilted her head and studied me, “I need to get a measuring stick to make sure Ud can fit.” I rolled my eyes at her and made a face. She laughed, “when you leave, which I believe is inevitable, I will miss your library of expressions, your elevation of grumpiness to an art form, and all the outrageous things you say and do. I won’t stop you but others in the Convocation might try,” Lisaykos warned. “A prophet is a much bigger deal than a revelator. If you want to go somewhere, leave quickly so no one can catch you. Do not tell me ahead of time. You’ll have a better chance at getting away. What I don’t know can’t be used to drag you back here by someone else.”
“Even if I w...want to go to Mattamukmuk?”
“Especially if you want to go to Mattamukmuk. That bunch over there is just plain strange.”
I nodded in agreement though I was still having a hard time thinking of Lisaykos as a help, not an obstacle.
“Emily, did Mugash really slow down your recovery to keep you near Aylem?”
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“Yes, she admitted it to my face,” I could feel my skin flush red. I was still angry about it and probably would be for a long time.
“Not good,” she scowled. “It would help if we knew what the gods expected from us.”
“We already know, Lisaykos.” It was the first time I held nothing back about what I knew reagarding the gods’ plans. “Can y...you tell me why breaking the crystal at Landa matters? Why does it need to be the crystal at the White Shrine of Landa and not the Crystal Shrine of Tiki? How will that break magic use?”
“You don't know?" she looked shocked, "and where did you see the prophecy?"
“Which prophesy? The Holy Uaysserex’s, Aylem’s, or the one I know about but haven’t gotten yet from Landa?”
“Gods, you’ve seen both Uaysserex’s and Aylem’s?” Lisaykos looked upset.
“Neither," I shrugged. "Who needs to read a prophecy when you can talk to the gods who have big mouths? W...when the crystal breaks, something about the magic that sustains slavery will break because of it. That, incidentally, makes no sense to me, because according to Galt, magic is one of the forces that underpins reality. As a fundamental force, you can't break or rearrange magic. It just is.
"Instead, the breaking event in the prophecy should be the disruption of something built out of magic that can't be replaced easily," I summarized for Lisaykos. "If it destroys something that perpetuates the enslavement of the five non-Cosm races, let's get Aylem, fly up to the White Shrine of Landa today and get things started."
“Shouldn’t you wait a day or two so we can get the split off your arm?” Lisaykos the Practical asked.
“To be honest, I do not want to w...wait a single minute longer. Wrap me up in one of those oversized flying cloaks and let's go! Do we really need Aylem at all? Give me two days and a pair of hands to help me out, and I can blow up the crystal just as easily as Aylem can destroy it with magic."
Lisaykos shook her head, "whatever happened to your slow and steady patience? Please be kind to our ancient shrine buildings. Aylem's magic would make a lot less mess than one of your explosion potions.”
“One, my patience is not infinite and I’ve used most of it up over the last half-year trying to get well. Two, I can wait a few more days to get the splint off. In the meantime, where can I get fresh glayon vine?”
“Something can be arranged. The students are going out to collect glayon vines next rotation. They’d be out there now except things are too hectic with moving everyone from the Shrine of Sassoo in.”
“What?”
“Your fish faces are truly excellent today, dear heart. The Shrine of Sassoo is small in numbers and the Shrine of Mugash is the largest in terms of living space. I have opened the two unused wings on this floor for its students and staff. The great hall will serve as a temporary classroom space. We're combining the first two years of classes for the magic students and we’re lending the Shrine of Sassoo some of our unmarried healers as student supervisors. The Sassoo Coyn have already moved into a barracks at the garrison --- they would like you to visit, by the way.”
“Really?”
“Several days ago, a Coyn named Oytwee came up to the welcoming table with an escort from the garrison. He returned your carrying bag for your divine, which still had your underwear and stockings inside. You left it at their camp in Black Falls. He said they want to invite you to their music nights, which they hold every threeday and eightday, and to bring your divine.”
“That was nice of them. They asked me to play it at their encampment while Asgotl and I were looking for Princess Opo’aba.”
“Coincidentally,” Lisaykos cut off my tangent, “the Queen’s daughter is currently two doors down from you because of the attack in Black Falls and the attack here two days ago. She’s eating with us for now, though we need to move her back in with her classmates soon.”
“What attacks?”
“You’ve been out for a rotation because of your injuries,” Lisaykos explained. “A lot has happened since then. And speaking of attacks, Kamagishi will want your judgment on the two who assaulted you. We couldn’t execute them with the rest because the law is clear that their punishment is up to you.”
“Execute with the rest? What has happened?“
“The House haup Ixism’os and the House haup Angsum launched a preemptive revenge attack on the tent city in Black Falls. They targeted you, the King and Queen, and Princess Opo’aba. You were already here when that happened. The attack failed and those two noble families are no more.”
“Ixism’os and Angsum? Those are the two lord holdings between the Villa and the Glass Butte, yes? Were the two who attacked me from those houses?”
Lisaykos nodded in answer to my question.
“And there was a second attack here on the shrine?” I asked, incredulous.
“Two days ago,” Lisaykos began, “a small force of silverhairs and halfhairs attacked the shrine here and the night market on the eve of growing season midday. The attack was led by the missing Lord Gandrohas haup Yuxviayeth, the son of the late Lord Kushamar haup Blockit and the King’s cousin. This second group of attackers included Impotuans and some mages from Ixism’os and Angsum. Only four of them survived the attack alive. The King and Lord Usruldes are at the garrison right now interrogating them.”
I shrugged, “they attacked a shrine. Isn’t that sacrilege? Then they are already dead people simply waiting for the cessation of the soul's existence in their bodies since that crime means death by exhaustion.”
“In this case, it’s also the attempted murder of royalty or high clergy, which includes revelators, by the way,” Lisaykos explained. You should remember from your reading of the law that the punishment is the death of melted rocks, where a priestess adept of Landa casts the condemned into an actively erupting fissure in the Great Cracks. Twelve of the attackers tried to assault Aylem and Opa directly at a small gathering for those not well enough to go to the night market. Aylem hosted it on the south balcony. The attackers scaled the walls to reach the gathering. They were foolish to try to attack Aylem. The survivors will meet their fate at the Great Cracks as soon as Kamagishi sends the sealed warrants of punishment to Fassex.
“So, now that you’re awake, you need to give some thought to what you want to do to the two fools who attacked you in Black Falls."
"I want to talk with Kamagishi about this," I decided. She was the kingdom's head judge and could tell me about the nuances that I knew I was ignorant about.
"Good enough. I will let her know. She probably doesn't even know you're back in the world of the living yet. I do need to warn you that there’s a line of people who want to talk to you. Remember those sketches and notes you made for me while at Manse Gunndit on First Growing Day? Well, I must confess that I showed them to Aylem right after we returned from Black Falls. I was thinking she might have some memories about what water systems were like that might be helpful. She didn’t but she did show your notes and sketches to the King.”
“She showed the King my half-baked notes?” I didn’t like where this was going.
"Imstay got excited and took them first to Moxsef, then Moxsef and the King took them to Raoleer. Imstay, Moxsef, and Raoleer took them down to Black Falls and showed them to Ud and Lord Skalta since Ud is getting ready to put down water mains and drain pipes where the new streets will be. Actually, Ud said you had already advised her to leave room to install two drain systems because that's what a water system required, so there is already room for a second drain system in Black Falls. Ud has been waiting for you to wake up so you can advise her on the necessary pipes to install so she can finish the major streets."
“I think I feel a huge headache coming on,” I grimaced. The notes I did for Lisaykos were just scribbles on how to scale up wastewater treatment since Lisaykos had asked me what it would take to have flush necessaries throughout the Shrine of Mugash.
“So, as soon as you feel up to it,” Lisaykos said in a cheery voice, “the Holy Raoleer and the Holy Moxsef want to meet with you, Ud wants to consult with you, and the King and Queen want to negotiate for your services. Here,” she handed me a pillow, “use that if you want to scream. This is a place of healing and you should avoid accidentally waking Senlyosart, who is in the room next door.”