Kayseo, Healing Shrine, Harvest Season, 6th rot., 4th day – Foskos time
I watched in admiration as the eagle Elladees managed to hover as she gently dropped my folded crutches on the south balcony tiles. Then she landed. A waiting guard officer ran up to help Thuorfosi dismount and then climbed into Elladees’s saddle to take her to the city garrison, where she would get a meal and a rub down. Thuorfosi picked up the crutches, unfolded them, and reset the bottom-piece bolts.
Drilfetl landed immediately afterward. We were not the only people trying to land at the same time. I recognized the Holy Fassex on her eagle, Dray, circling and landing next to me. Fassex leapt off Dray and started walking toward me. She then gaped when Drilfetl laid down so I could dismount. As soon as I was on the ground, Thuorfosi and I made our bowing obeisance to Fassex. When we were done, she extended her arm.
“Shall I walk you in, young Kayseo? Or do you prefer to walk on your own? Thuorfosi, I assume someone is watching your little one for you. It’s only been a few rotations since you gave birth.”
“It’s been five rotations, Holy One, and yes, we have several wet nurses available. My little Resepex will not go hungry while I’m here.”
“But you, daughter,” the old High Priestess gave Thuorfosi an appraising look, "need to express your milk soon. Shall we go in?" Fassex took my arm and guided me gently while the garrison guards held the doors open. Thuorfosi followed, carrying my crutches. The double doors into my Mistress’s study were open and inviting.
The gravity of the upcoming meeting was underscored by the Blessed Lisaykos, who was wearing a formal embroidered reception gown with the white stole of her office around her neck. She was dressed just one step down from her full liturgical robes.
Fassex helped me kneel, and then she and Thuorfosi knelt beside me as we made our obeisance to Lisaykos.
“Come in, come in,” Lisaykos had gotten up and her new scholar attendant, Sarfaz, was already standing next to us to take out flying cloaks, coats, and leggings. “I do believe, Sister Fassex, that our Kayseo is now taller than you,” the Blessed Lisaykos eyeballed our respective heights as I stood next to the High Priestess of Landa. “You may be taller than me when you're finally done growing, dear heart," Lisaykos said with a hint of a smile, looking like she was plotting some incredible crime.
“But Great One,” I replied, “how can we really tell how tall I am when I have no feet?”
“Huh,” my Mistress frowned. “I didn’t consider that. Though speaking of growing girls, I must ask if your false legs are pinching anywhere or getting too tight?"
“No, this new pair still fits fine, Mistress.”
“That’s good to hear,” the Blessed Lisaykos nodded and then turned to Thuorfosi. “You took exactly the right action in casting stasis yesterday, Priestess,” Lisaykos took the crutches from Thuorfosi and gave her a fond look. “I have laid out supplies for you in my bathing chamber, dear. You’ll want to express your milk before we start the meeting. Knock before you go in because the Queen is doing the same thing. The meeting may be long, but I will order breaks so you and the Queen can use the milking jars. Come down and meet us in the Well of Mugash when you are done. Sarfaz, come down when the rest have arrived.”
“Of course, Great One,” Scholar Attendant Sarfaz nodded.
My Mistress’s words surprised me. Holding the Convocation meeting in the Well meant that Lisaykos could propose a law or dogma change. I assumed Jost’s injury and the Convocation meeting were related. What had happened to the Coyn Jost to prompt such a dramatic action?
The staff had set up a circle of armchairs and side tables inside the Well, between the door and the Healing Shrine's Great Crystal. The Throne was part of the circle of chairs in front of the Great Crystal. A recording scroll was set up on the side table next to the Throne. I assumed the Blessed Lisaykos intended to sit on the Throne of Judgment. Whatever her reason was for calling the meeting, it had to be serious for her to take her seat formally as the avatar of Mugash.
The High Priestess’s serving staff, usually invisible, was busy fetching drinks for the meeting attendees who had already arrived. One led me to a chair with a Hassock for my legs and brought me a beaker of the hot sweet tea I liked. The Holy Senlyosart walked carefully on her own pair of crutches to join me, sitting in the chair next to me.
“Honored One," Senlyosart smiled at me, "I didn't have time to reply to your bird before I received the Blessed Lisaykos's summons. Will you have time to talk after the meeting? I want to speak with Sister Raoleer and you about your problem."
"That would be most kind, Holy One,” I bowed my head in gratitude. I liked Senlyosart. We spent so much time together last year while recovering from our war injuries.
Senlyosart was as welcoming as the Holy Foyuna and as outgoing as Mother Kamagishi; under the friendly exterior, she was as sturdy as Ark’kos Butte and as fierce as the Holy Fassex in protecting her own. The story of how she defended Princess Opo’aba had become one of the most circulated stories of the war. The common folk considered her a hero, recounting her great deeds of slaying the soldiers who tried to capture the Princess while still bedridden with her injuries after her death-defying defense of the Singing Shrine. She had become one of the most popular public figures in Foskos.
“Are you beginning to show?” Senlyosart asked in a motherly way. “Your figure looks fuller than the last time I saw you.”
“I can’t wear any of my old clothes,” I confessed. “I’ve had to make new kirtles twice now.”
“It’s probably time for you to switch to maternity gowns, the ones with side laces that will expand as you do. I’ve had three children, so I have some experience with being pregnant.” She looked at me and sighed, "I regret I had three girls. If I had had a son, I would have married him to you.”
“Good thing you didn’t have a son,” the Holy Kamagishi said from behind us, “because my Otty and Kayseo are a perfect match.” She stooped to embrace me from the side, “How is my favorite daughter by marriage today, dear?”
"I am well, Mother Kamagishi. Sorry, I didn't bring Otty with me. He's busy dealing with our mine situation."
Kamagishi walked in front of us so we could both converse with her comfortably. "I heard you found the mine. I'm surprised the King didn't hop on his griffin yesterday to visit as soon as he heard."
"That's because I stopped him," said the Queen's melodic alto behind me. She joined Kamagishi. She wore a deep purple nursing gown that brought out the color of her eyes. Her beautiful wavy silver hair was down today, with a jeweled diadem tied around her head. She looked so majestic that it took my breath away.
“That’s an interesting look, Honored One,” the Queen said in a neutral voice.
“I was just thinking how well that gown sets off your lovely eyes,” I said, hoping I sounded as sincere as I felt. “You look stunning today, Great One.”
The Queen's jaw dropped, and her cheeks and ears turned red. I caught the motion of Mother Kamagishi’s elbow as she nudged the Queen’s arm.
“Oh,” the Blessed Aylem blinked. “I...You...Well, thank you, Kayseo. I thought my appearance was still off since I hadn't lost my birthing weight yet. I'm still a little too pudgy around the middle."
“Where’s Grandmother Lyappis?” I asked.
“In Is’syal, looking after the twins for me.” the Queen said.
"So, Kayseo," Kamagishi inserted herself back into the conversation, "do you know why the Blessed Lisaykos called this meeting? What's the connection with the fire opal mine? The timing can't be a coincidence."
“I have no clue, Mother Kamagishi.” I looked around the room. “Are we ready to start soon? Who are we missing?” I hope the meeting won't take all day. I had a lot to do back in Pinisla.
“The Holy Foyuna, the Holy Ilsabess, the Holy Mieth, Priestess Healer Thuorfosi, and Priestess Healer Arma,” said Lisakos, joining the small crowd in front of me and Senlyosart. “We can get started as soon as they are here. Sister Senlyosart, I had set up a chair over there with a hassock for your leg. Do you wish to sit here instead? If so, I'll bring you the hassock and your tea."
Senlyosart gave me a brief but warm glance and then answered Lisaykos, "I will stay here if you do not mind, Great One. It didn’t look like you had arranged seating.”
"Except for the Throne of Judgment and hassocks for you, Kayseo, and Mieth, I did not bother to assign seats. Precedence will not be important today. Today we will all be equal in the sight of the gods,” Lisaykos said cryptically, looking more stern than usual. She waved a hand, and one of the serving staff hurried over. A hassock for Senlyosart appeared immediately afterward.
Lisaykos’s face brightened, “Look, here’s Arma and Mieth.” She stepped away to greet the two Impotuans.
“Alright, Sister Ilsabess,” Fassex’s voice rang out, “you can drop the charm now.”
The Holy Ilsabess appeared next to the Throne of Judgment, “Sister Fassex, you have the bad habit of ruining my fun.”
"You cast a perfectly executed charm of misdirection," Fassex laughed. "If you weren't already obligated at another Shrine, I'd want to hire you as an instructor. This is the second time you’ve almost slipped by me.”
After a few moments, everyone had arrived, excluding the Holy Foyuna. Lisaykos was pacing by the door. Foyuna finally appeared, out of breath and carrying a scripture case wrapped in golden yellow velvet. She reverenced the statue of Mugash on its pedestal and then entered the Well.
“You brought it,” Lisaykos said.
“I had to enter the vault to get it,” Foyuna replied. “Where can I put it?”
“Put it on the Throne,” Lissaykos directed. “Let it have the place of honor for now. If I have my way, it will be a discarded revelation by the time the sun sets.”
The Well went silent. We were all shocked by her words.
Lisaykos sat in one of the two remaining empty chairs. Foyuna sat in the other. Sarfaz and the last of the serving staff served tea to both High Priestesses, walked to the door, and left, shutting the door on the way out. Lisaykos gave the blessing and started the meeting.
"I welcome you and thank you all for coming on such short notice," Lisaykos began. "This matter has urgency since a life is at stake. I intend to convince the High Priestesses present to petition the gods today to overturn the prohibition on a forbidden magic."
Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.
“What charm and what revelation?" Fassex, the avatar of the god of magic, asked.
"Sister Fassex, please do not interrupt," Lisaykos glowered. I was sure the temperature in the well was suddenly much colder. "I will now explain and outline my agenda for this meeting,” Lisaykos continued, “so we can adjourn before the seventh bell. I have also asked three witnesses to testify, two of whom are pregnant and one of whom gave birth this season. I propose to hear their testimony first so they can retire if needed; however, the three are welcome to listen to our deliberations because they are already involved in this affair. If we determine later that we will petition the gods today, they and Imstay King must leave. The rite of intercession is restricted to those with triple blessings.
“My purpose, sisters, is to save a life today and many lives in the future. I propose that we petition the gods to allow the use of the forbidden charm of unraveling time with conditions to restrict its use – that it be used only by ordained healers, only in the presence of a Great Crystal, and only for saving a life when conventional healing magic has failed. It is a dread and dangerous magic, so the conditions upon its use must be significantly restricted. The abuses of three millennia ago must never be repeated.
“Over thirty-two hundred years ago, the revelation of Tiki to Paldoys forbade the use of the charm of unraveling time. The original scripture sits with us today on the Throne of Judgment. No one has used this magic since Paldoys’ time except for the spider monster Ud, to whom our rules do not apply. Ud has taught the charm of unraveling time to two living mages – Aylem Queen and Usruldes the Wraith.
“I do not know if our Queen has ever used this charm other than learning it from Ud. Lord Usruldes, on the other hand, has used it."
"What?" cried Kamagishi, Supreme Justicar of Foskos, who oversaw the kingdom's courts.
“When he used it, I did not realize what he had done,” Lisaykos responded. “Neither did he. Usruldes is not Shrine-trained. He was ignorant that he had cast a forbidden magic whose use carried a death penalty.”
“You let it go?” Kamagishi demanded to know. “We should have at least tried the usage in the Well of Galt to test intent. What did he use it for?" Kamagishi looked appalled.
“To save the lives of Bobbo and Kayseo haup Pinisla,” Lisaykos replied calmly.
“What?” Kamagishi frowned. “How?”
“When used for healing in the most desperate of circumstances,” Lisaykos explained, "the charm of unraveling time is a powerful life-saving magic, despite its abuse by the cursed Cult of Gantree in their pursuit of perpetual youth.”
“How did you determine Usruldes had used it?” Kamagishi asked.
"I asked him to teach me what he had done to heal Heir Kayseo and Lord Bobbo. He did so after the Battle of Black Falls. It was then that I realized he had used a forbidden magic, in ignorance, with the sole intent to save two lives. You may call him to the Well of Galt, and I know you would find him innocent on the grounds of intent.”
“What a muddle,” Imstay King muttered.
“Does Lord Usruldes know he used a forbidden magic?” Kamagishi inquired.
“He does now. I informed him," Lisaykos said. "He was confounded to learn it was banned. After all, Ud uses and teaches this magic. The gods may have forbidden the use of this charm, but our revelations are not binding on Ud. She bears no consequences for its use. To be blunt, the gods favor Ud despite her use of magic forbidden to us.”
“If we consider the teachings of the Prophet Emily,” the scriptural authority Foyuna said, “it is the use of a thing that is good or evil, not the thing itself. Usruldes’ well-intended use of this charm was a right action when we look at it this way, whereas the atrocities of the Cult of Gantree were simply wrong and resulted in great harm.”
“There is still room within the law for Lord Usruldes to be judged for wrongdoing," Kamagishi argued. "He is not a healer with a blessing from Mugash, so his actions could fall under the statutes about the use of rogue magic."
“Holy One,” Imstay King interjected, “if you used the statutes regarding rogue magic, we would need to dismantle the Corps of Wraiths, and the kingdom cannot afford to do that.”
Kamagishi gave the King an annoyed look.
"I will make an additional counter, Sister Kamagishi," Lisaykos stated. "Lord Usruldes is indeed a priest healer of Mugash. Because of his healing prowess and willingness to aid my Shrine last year, I asked him to approach the Great Crystal here in the Well of Mugash to see if Mugash would accept him. She did. Next time you meet him, look into his aura, and you will see the blessing. So, I will argue now that Mugash accepted him as one of her own despite his use of the forbidden charm of unraveling time. Would a god have blessed him as clergy if his use of the charm had been evil? Mugash surely knew he had used it and blessed him anyway.”
“Foyuna?” Kamagishi looked at the younger High Priestess with a look of inquiry, “What is your opinion as our keeper of scriptures?”
“It is a sound argument if we weigh it against the revelation of Tiki to Tessoep. Tessoep’s revelation is the scriptural basis of our laws concerning intent.”
“But the revelation of Paldoys is clear as an outright ban,” Kamagishi rebutted.
“No, having read the original just this morning,” Foyuna responded, “I believe there is room for ambiguity. The prohibition in the law is a paraphrase of the scripture. It leaves out Paldoys's preamble, where she describes how the cult abused time magic for their own gain, leading to madness and acts of great cruelty and harm. A good canon lawyer could make a case that the revelation bans the abuse of the charm."
“But it was the charm that was forbidden,” Kamagishi protested, “not its abuse.”
“I believe there is room for doubt, Holy One,” Imstay addressed Kamagishi. “You posit that the charm is banned by the gods. The Holy Foyuna makes a good case for ambiguity. We should also weigh the indisputable blessing of a man by Mugash three rotations after he used this forbidden magic to pursue a right action."
“Three rotations?” Kamagishi looked confused.
"That was when Aylem and I sponsored him and escorted Usruldes to the crystal here in the Well. After all, clergy blessings must be witnessed by three others who have already been blessed. Because of his employment, we did not invite anyone else. After all, one must approach the gods in simple garb. He wore only the robe of a trainee, as is our custom."
The third-day bell rang.
“Sister Aylem, Priestess Thuorfosi, I believe this is a good time for you two to have a break and take care of your business,” announced Lisaykos. “The same applies to you, Priestess Arma.”
“Oh, yes, please, Great One,” the very pregnant Arma squeaked.
"Very good," Lisaykos nodded. 'We will take a break for a quarter watermark for the sake of nursing mothers and those who have had too much tea.”
Arma was up out of her chair, bowed a quick reverence, and ran out the door of the Well, sprinting for the healing staff's necessary room. I had no idea someone that pregnant could move that fast. Full-term fetuses are not kind to bladders.
During the first break, we gossiped about the Coyn problem. After the Great Crystal of Landa was destroyed at the White Shine, Coyn slaves everywhere left their appointed work and flooded the streets in a spontaneous celebration. They filled the Surd Halls and the open forecourts at chapel shrines, where they bit the gems off their hands and smashed them. So many gems were pulverized that the streets of Foskan towns and cities sparkled from all the crystal fragments.
Hundreds of thousands of Coyn walked away from their owners for several days, singing and dancing in the streets. So many left their work that commerce in the Kingdom stopped. Then, after three days, most of the Coyn returned because they were hungry. The Coyn staffs of the dining halls had walked out of their kitchens, so most Coyn had nothing to eat.
The Coyn celebration had a profound effect on the rulers of Foskos. It made us realize that we depended on the Coyn. They did most of the menial labor for farming and housekeeping. As business along the Salt River came to a standstill, we got a lesson on how essential that labor was for us. We had always believed that it was the Coyn that needed us, our protection, and care. Now we discovered that we needed them too.
After the Coyn abandoned their workplaces, the Holy Ashansalt was frantic that the walkout would hurt the barley and root crop harvests. That fear evaporated as the Coyn returned to their homes and labor.
It is said that several hundred Coyn died from exposure and road accidents. I was thankful that none of my Coyn were among those dead or injured. Pinisla's Coyn were former Queenstown spoot slaves. We acquired them from the Shrouded Shrine for a silver per head. The Shrouded Shrine was selling off its idle spoot slaves for a pittance. Because we knew the end of slavery was coming, we treated our Pinisla Coyn just like we treated our flying mounts. We gave them contracts, paying them with housing, food, education, and an allowance.
The Coyn reaction to the destruction of Landa’s Great Crystal lasted two days on my holding. They were back at work on the third day. I did dock their allowance money for two days. The responses at some other holdings were not as benign, but I’m getting off-topic.
When the meeting reconvened, Lisaykos asked me to describe the discovery of the lost mine. When the Holy Rakkalbos realized the victim was a Coyn, she interrupted me.
The High Priestess of Surd addressed my Mistress in an annoyed voice. “You summoned the Convocation because of a spoot slave?” The contempt on Rakkalbos’s face was impossible to miss.
It wasn’t my imagination. The temperature in the Well was appreciably colder. Anyone who had worked in the Healing Shrine knew what that meant. High Priestess Lisaykos hat Gunndit haup Foskos was angry.
The Blessed Lisaykos’s unblinking glare skewered Rakkalbos to her chair. The silence was suffocating.
“Yes,” Lisaykos replied after what felt like an entire bell.
The silence grew longer.
Finally, Lisaykos added, "Do you have any more questions, Sister? If not, I would like to hear the end of the Honored Kayseo's statement regarding yesterday's events."
“I have no more questions,” Rakkalbos answered tersely.
“Honored One, would you please continue?” Lisaykos nodded at me.
When I finished, Lisaykos invited Thuorfosi to describe her prognosis of Jost.
“Are you sure it was stinkdamp poisoning, Priestess?” the Queen asked when Thuorfosi was done.
“I could smell it when I arrived,” Thuorfosi said. “That bad egg odor is hard to miss, and Jost got a face full of it when he collapsed. We usually lose people who have breathe in too much stinkdamp.”
Thuorfosi was followed by Priestess Arma. Arma was at the greetings counter in the chapel shrine when Jost was flown in. She triaged Jost and then supervised the healers who were managing his stasis. Recognizing the hypoxic state of Jost’s brain, Arma was the one who asked Lisaykos for help. Brain injuries are one of Lisaykos’s specialties.
“It is possible to identify stinkdamp once it’s in the blood,” Arma explained. “If you have read the revelation of Mugash to Lisaykos, you know that the gas oxygen is essential for life. Stinkdamp is a gas called hydrogen sulfide. Once it's in the blood, it prevents oxygen from reaching the rest of the body. It behaves similarly to the orange poison. We can't tag and remove it because a small amount of hydrogen sulfide is needed at the cellular level. A body doesn't work right if you remove all of it."
“This knowledge isn’t in the training curriculum for healers,” the Queen stated. “Where did you learn this?”
“I can see at the cellular level, Great One. I worked for two years in the mines at Sukgasa, where I saw a lot of stinkdamp victims. Back then, I tried removing all of the toxin. The victims usually died anyway because cells don’t work right without a small amount of hydrogen sulfide.
“Yesterday, we tried replacing all the blood in the patient’s body. We thought to eliminate most of the toxin that way while preserving the hydrogen sulfide needed by cells. It didn't work. The toxin had entered the brain and a brain without oxygen will die."
“Why doesn’t the soft healing charm work?” Fassex asked. Her question surprised me since, as an adept, I assumed she already knew the answer. Was she asking so those not versed in healing magic would learn the nuances between the healing charms?
“The soft healing charm only works on soft tissues, Holy One. It doesn’t work on foreign substances introduced into the body from outside. The body will heal by returning to a state before the poison was introduced, but the charm can’t remove the poison itself. The poison will still be inside that patient where it will continue to do more harm.”
"Do you know how the forbidden charm of unraveling time differs?" Fassex inquired. "Both charms manipulate time in a similar fashion."
“I am not sure, Holy One," Arma replied. "Because the charm is forbidden, I know little about it."
“From what I have read,” Lisaykos interjected, “unraveling time is stronger and more inclusive than the soft healing charm. There are two differences. First, unraveling time can be used on the entire body. In comparison, the soft healing charm can only affect a small volume.
“The other difference is that unraveling time works on everything inside a body regardless of whether something was ingested or inhaled. If you swallowed a bronze coin and used the soft healing charm to regress time for the stomach, the coin would still be there. If you used the forbidden charm, that bronze coin would vanish. If we could use the forbidden charm for the Coyn Jost, or any other poisoning victim, we could vanish the poison by taking a body back to the moment before it was poisoned.”
“If unraveling time is just a more powerful version of the soft healing charm, then why was it banned in a revelation?” asked the Holy Sutsusum.
“Because repeated self-use leads to insanity and irreversible changes of personality, according to our records,” Lisaykos answered. “The mages who abused it had to be executed to protect those around them from harm. It is a dangerous magic.”
The fourth-day bell rang just then.
“Mid repast will be in my dining room, sisters and guests,” Lisaykos announced. “Please do not discuss this matter outside of the Well. We will reconvene after we eat.”