“Show them in,” All-Father Bran said to the priest. He sat on a throne that wasn’t officially a throne and waited for the Paladins. These self-appointed crusaders had executed a prince and cleaned his sin by fire. King Dara was wracked with grief, though it seems he had none for his son’s victims. The King’s Table met, and the vote had been unanimous to have House Dara stripped of all titles and lands.
A half dozen men and women walked the long, red carpet that stretched from the doorway to the base of his chair. They were not in armor, opting for clothing befitting their meeting with the head of the Panist Church. The tall black man in front was familiar to him. Hristo Syphon was raised alone by his father after his mother had plotted to assassinate his uncle, the king. Two elves were among them, how noble they look, he thought. They are so like us, and yet they seem otherworldly, like better versions of us humans. A tall, beautiful blonde woman walked alongside Hristo, she’s an O’Bell or I’m a monkey’s uncle. Two more men rounded out the envoy, one he suspected to be Radek Oskar.
When they were a dozen feet away, they as one dropped to a knee and bowed their head.
“Rise children, faithful servants of the gods,” Wever said to them. They rose and waited for Hristo to begin.
“All-Father, we have come at your request, though six of our number are still in transit. We have met before Father but let me introduce my fellow Paladins.” He pointed with his open hand at each of them in turn, “Lady Anastasia Shirin of House Shirin in O’Bell,” she bowed to the priest. “Sir Radek Oskar from House Oskar in Jaga-Koba. We have cousins, Lady Iovita Honor and Keshet Honor from our allies, the elves.” They bowed respectfully. “This is Seneca Augustus. Seneca is not a Paladin actually, but a Cleric from Bent. As a man of the gods, when he embraced our teaching from Domina, it filled him with the holy spirit, and he received Domina’s blessings.”
“I thank you for coming to the church, my children. It is with mixed emotions that I greet you. I have been a devout follower of the gods… for my whole life. For all my many faults, no one can say that I am not a faithful man. It warms my heart to see you gentlemen and ladies devoting yourselves so completely to the will of the gods.” A half dozen priests brought each of them a chair. “Please, sit. As I was saying, not enough young people these days are praying and honoring the gods. Mostly in the last few years, there has been an erosion of the fabric of society. All manners of crime…”
“And evil, Father. I know you called us here about what we did in Cozar, but the innocence stolen by Geert Dara cannot be replaced. We found a woodshed on the grounds, packed with bones. The bones of his previous victims.”
“It appears that he was a terrible, terrible person; but burning him alive…”
“If you think it's too much, then ‘we’ disagree. Some sins are unforgivable and the only way to right the situation is to execute the sinner. He suffered as he died, and part of me thinks that I should feel pity or sympathy for the loss of life, but I do not. I’ll not shed a tear for scum like Geert Dara. If we find any others who shared in his molestations, they too will be ‘cleansed’.” Hristo’s face showed not the slightest trace of remorse.
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“In general, I agree with you. I read the reports and ‘unforgivable’ is too soft a word. What I have to consider as the head of the church, and the head of state for this country, is the political ramifications.” Wever ran his fingers through his thin hair. He’d been the All-Father for a long time and had seen much change under his reign. When he took power, magic was non-existent, the subject of stories passed down from a dozen generations ago. The only land in all of Xoran was the continent of Kronos. There were no monsters or mythical creatures, and Humans were the only dominant species. The gods had ripped away the weird and fantastic, allowing men to thrive without competition; but something brought together the worlds pulled apart by Magnus, father of the gods. With each passing year, more mythological creatures appeared. New lands appeared, and old enemies were getting freed from their cages.
“I know politics. My uncle is the King of Kings and runs the King’s Table. The older he gets, the less he spars and the more he sits in judgment of others. Whether it is politically expedient to turn a blind eye to the sins of the royal class is irrelevant. The Mavit Tomar have caused havoc in our cities, and they’ll not stop till the unclean outnumber the rest of us.”
Anastasia leaned in, “As the leader of the church, your first allegiance should be towards the souls of your flock, not the feelings of royal families. Just because someone is born to rich and powerful parents, they should not be allowed to rape and murder for their twisted amusements.”
“Lady Shirin, believe me, I do sympathize with your sentiments, I agree with your every word; but you must realize that these nineteen families that rule the humans,” He turned towards Iovita and Keshet, “and three families that rule over the elves, have immense power. As much as the church relies on taxing the citizens and we rely on the small army that I’ve assembled to protect the church’s interests, we could not survive without the protection of the royal and noble houses.”
Hristo leaned in to speak, “All-Father, I understand quite well. I’ve seen negotiations and treaties being hammered out for most of my life. You requested us to meet with you. What exactly did you want to discuss?”
“It’s one thing to run roughshod over the lowlifes of society, but you need to stay away from the noble houses.” The Paladins were not surprised, and they looked at him with silent contempt. “Kill all the prostitutes and pimps, the waste dealers and rapists, murders and molesters that you can lay your hands on but stay away from anyone with a royal title.”
They sat in tense silence for more than a minute. Hristo didn’t need to consult with the others, they were of a like mind.
“I, we respect you All-Father, and it is with great sorrow that we must go against your wishes. I was visited by the goddess Domina, and she set me on my life’s mission. To destroy, to utterly destroy evil wherever it exists. She laid no boundaries on this mandate. She didn’t instruct me to only seek out the poor who sin. House Dara shows what happens to those with too much power and wealth who think that they are above the law. We showed them that that was not the case. We are the Paladins, and we will seek out those who commit the most heinous sins, regardless of station, and exact on them the justice they deserve.”