Lady Ovida spoke as though quoting scripture. "Where there is no vision, the people perish. If you really accept the mantle of a god, start acting like one."

"What do you want from me?" Ruyo asked.

"You can't provide the same kind of wisdom as the Fastness, but you can give the people hope that a literal goddess is on their side. Learn enough of the scriptures to get by -- with the understanding of the secret meaning of the Fastness -- and support our spirits, not only our troops."

She thought of slaves, cultists, soldiers, and lost treasure. She wasn't at the heart of it all, and was glad for that. But her homeland needed her.

Or more accurately, they needed the mighty and wise Ruyo, Lady of Waters, more than the real near-mortal behind the title.

Ruyo sat cross-legged on a cushion and steadied her breathing. "I'm here. If you'll help me understand and grow, I'll listen, and try to do what needs to be done. And... may I study those fire and water curtains on the way out?"

#

They lectured her on Church doctrine. It wasn't radically different from what she'd picked up casually, but it was helpful to have some experts explaining things. The main point seemed to be the role of each person helping to build a lasting society, a living and growing monument. There were no secret horrible rituals.

The talk grew uncomfortable when it turned to the afterlife. Ruyo had tried never to worry herself about that topic. Real or not, she had no control over it. But now maybe she did, and the nobles wanted to know.

Ruyo shook her head. "I'm sorry. If there's such a thing as an afterlife powered by my kind of divinity, it's well beyond anything I've learned yet. Someday, maybe..." It hurt even to suggest she might develop that kind of magic, because it might well happen after everyone in this room was dead. Except her. "Just thinking of being alive one century from now gives me vertigo."

"You wouldn't want to live so long?" asked a nobleman.

"Oh, I would! There's just so much to learn. More and more to do. I wonder if my precursor was mortal, once."

"All the more reason for us to hurry you along," the man murmured.

Official Steadfast Church doctrine said that when someone died, his soul was judged and sent again into the world, in a new life of better or worse condition. That idea naturally led to the teaching that it was best to accept suffering and weakness in the hope of doing better next life. For the nobles it created a sense of obligation, but also smugness.

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It gave Ruyo a slowly creeping fear. "Wait. You have access to a supernatural source of insight. Did the Fastness tell you this is what happens?"

The nobles were quiet. Finally Anemos answered, "It's what happens, if there's any justice in the world. And we choose to believe in justice."

They don't really know! thought Ruyo, breathing shallowly. They've been telling everyone this for generations. And they want me to preach it as true!

Ovida put in, "Our founders looked into the Fastness for what they could teach, what insight they could share with everyone, and what effects it might have."

"Then did it tell you the truth?"

"Listen to me. They sought out what we could teach, that would bring about a good society. And so, we teach this and commit to it."

Could it be that there was deceit at the Church's heart? And yet, that it spared people from misery and encouraged people to live together in harmony? What good would it do to shout the truth from the rooftops? Ruyo thought of herself as an honest woman, seeking never to do worse than exaggerate the quality of her goods. Now she was being asked to participate in a grand trick, where thwarting it in the name of truth seemed like it would help nobody.

She sat with her head on her hands. "May I say something possibly heretical in this room?"

"You may," said the chairman.

"The Night God was a tricky, confusing bastard."

A few nobles scowled or murmured. Anemos shrugged. "I think that's just the nature of the world we live in, where nothing ever works quite how you'd like. Maybe he saw that better than most."

#

And so, Ruyo emerged from the darkness and was treated to a good meal, with the promise of a public ceremony tomorrow. A dress-maker took her measurements before she'd even sat down, and then during the salad course a pair of architects arrived. One of them was Quintus.

Ruyo winced but stood to greet him. "I'm sorry," she told him. "But I worked out that Tulia can go free. From jail, I mean, but as a full-time priestess."

"Full time! What am I supposed to do without a servant?" Quintus threw up his hands, ignoring the other architect and the fact that he was in a high-class dining room.

Ruyo had been negotiating while she studied. The ideal would've been to leave Tulia completely free to do what she wanted, but the nobles were instead making the slave an offer. She'd be legally a free citizen, and all but owned by the Church for the duration of the war. Tulia would have to preach for the city's slaves to either join the army for their liberation or be content where they were. Ruyo hadn't seen her lately but heard the woman had accepted. And now, Ruyo was committed to back this strong-arm offer. And to pacify the man who was supposed to help build her another shrine.

Ruyo said, "Tulia can do more for the city this way. You can hire or even buy a new servant."

"But I spent years training her to do it right! To use my instruments, to organize my notes."

"She really likes you, you know."

"What?" said Quintus, blinking.

"She knows you better than anyone, right? And you feel lost when she's not around. Why don't you try spending some time with her outside of your work? She might have some ideas."

"For finding a replacement."

"Among other things, yes. She'll be as good at that as at everything else she does for you."

"I suppose," Quintus said, looking at his shoes. Then he pulled a large scroll out from his backpack and pushed silverware noisily aside to spread his diagrams on the tablecloth. "Now, I'm told you need a good stone building..."