seven
Murderous Debate

 All things to everyone is nothing to no one,
a song in the purse and gold in the eye,
the silver in the dapple-tongued lie,
a chameleon of faces,
a chameleon of words,
a chameleon of all things to everyone,
spunk and bluster,
hissing and lisping,
one-armed and limping,
show me the how, oh Leaf-Tongued Liar.

—Tomes of the Touched

Meliu sat beside Sedut, both women wearing their robes of the High Priestess, both with full glasses of Helelindin wine in hand, and both staring at the same passage in the Codex of Sol written without encryption in Canonic Silone. Holy scholars from every clan, eleven in total today, studied them, making certain any discovery or question would be relayed to their betters.

The agreement to read and study the Codex of Sol was struck months ago, three times a week, minimum, since finding the book deep beneath the city of Endelêun. By now, they'd read the thing a dozen times. By now, no one bickered over the subtleties of translation. No, the words stood plain on the page; it was the interpretation that vexed folks now. A translated riddle was no less a riddle, and this was the depressing conclusion so many came to. Still, the truth was worse: Prophecies were riddles without a single inarguable answer until the event happened, and even then, its meaning spun further riddles.

That's why wine became so important.

Meliu sipped, set her glance down, and rubbed her temples before continuing. "And the City of Oxêum, once felled, will speak to the world once more before twice, and behold, the burnt bones of destiny's hands will grasp again the life taken and take a life. The Gate of Emuluhûzu will split wide the world's womb."

Emud of Remenok said, "Where are we on the Gate of Emuluhûzu?"

"The same place we were last week and the month before. Nowhere and everywhere."

Sedut spoke in what, for her, was a soothing tone, "Can you blame the man for asking?"

"I can, and I do." Meliu stood in a huff, spinning her chair, then clutching her head to stare at the ceiling and oak beams. "Nobody knows a damned thing about Oxeum, but oh bless me, how people want to swear the Gate of Emuluhûzu is the gate in Istinjoln, but what the hells! The demon trying to get through, her name isn't Emuluhûzu. So maybe it's the gate in the Chanting Caverns, but why name such a minor gate? Is there such thing as a minor gate that lets demons into our world? If so, or if not, who or what the hells is Emuluhûzu anyhow? Your sister's cousin's bastard brother on your mother's side, perhaps? And what about bony, burning hands? Nobody knows!"

Sedut waited flickers before saying, "All better now?"

Meliu grabbed her wine and slugged the burn down her throat until her glass was empty and her eyes watered. "Now I'm better." Sedut filled her glass, and Meliu swallowed it down, though slower. "Right. Now I'm better." She straightened her chair and sat again, but her eyes were still unwilling to focus on the page. Or maybe she was getting drunk.

The Red Wanderer Prophecy refocused, and her eyes stared at the words without reading them. She knew everything that came next, and maybe that was the problem more so than anything else. "A warlord's rise and fall and rise again the portents demand, the Warrior of Sol, the Blessed Damned in the eyes of the Bone Prophet who walks the Living Stars unbidden and unknown in his knowing, the Toucher, the Touching and the Touched. A mirror in the river of time, King Priest Esreriun the First's murder unholy and his Holy Rise and Dead Once and Dead Again Warlord after communing with Sol the Lion Forever Mighty wages war, bringing the rise and fall of Once a Queen, saving destiny's twins and destroying the binding of Forgetting since Forgotten in the darkness of Shadows living in Dark."

She stopped and looked up, shocked the group let her get so far without a question. Her outburst may have done some good.

Sedut broke the silence. "We all know the tale of Esreriun killed on the battlefield in service to Sol, battling the Totokotwonu."

Emud said, "Killed in battle, not murdered."

"Couldn't they be one and the same? An assassin could be called a murderer even if the attack took place on the field of war."

"Yes, of course, High Priestess. But if we are here to parse words and their meaning, this one stands out. And consider the reference to a mirror. I think we all agree that Ivin Choerkin is the Warlord named."

Meliu said, "We agree, but our vision may be dictated by the times in which we live."

Emud's head bobbed. "True, but assume we're right. The Choerkin was killed, poisoned, by a Silone. Many contend at the hand of the Ravinrin who also died. Murder, even if it was a priest who attacked him. A mirror would demand that King-Priest Esreriun, too, was killed by a Silone or an ally."

Speaking of Ivin's murder always brought a sickness to her gut, but with two glasses of wine quaffed, the burn was stronger than normal. The implications staggered her mind to the point of not wanting to consider them, even if they'd been on her mind since Solineus took Ivin's body north. "You're saying that Sol will send Ivin Choerkin back to us a vessel of his power?"

"I'm not saying it will happen, merely pointing out what the  Red Wanderer Prophecy might say."

"The Wanderer Prophecy has flaws."

"If any one prophecy didn't, we would be farther along in our estimations of their worth and meaning."

"Esreriun was King Priest, while Ivin Choerkin almost severed the souls of thousands from the pantheon." She omitted the part where he did so because she underestimated the scroll's ability to function despite being incomplete. "Most priests believe his soul will fall to the forges."

"Only if Sol is so vengeful that he forgets the Choerkin led the people to the holy city of Endelêun."

"We don't even know if Ivin is alive or dead."

"There are several passages in various prophecies speaking to his return, so I'd say he is."

Edmun's retorts felt directed at her and came with such accuracy aimed at her heart that she questioned if this priest wasn't the Face of Ulrikt. The possibility squelched what little of her mood was inclined to debate. "Yours is a valid opinion."

"This brings us to Kinesee and her twins, where the prophecy speaks of a queen and destiny."

"Can we at least leave her children out of this conversation for a time?" The crack of her voice brought her back to a more dignified reality. "The Touched, do we have any ideas?"

Either the topic or her flash of anger brought silence across the room. She was the only priest she knew of who had heard the story of the giant skeleton who called himself The Touched, and seeing as she promised to keep that secret, she hoped it was the former.

Edmun cleared his throat. "There are rumors of Ivin Choerkin and Eliles of Istinjoln speaking with a skeleton to retrieve what turned out to be the true Sliver of Star spoken of in several prophecies."

She wanted to scream but sighed instead. "I hadn't heard that one. Please note in your journals that a rumor speaks of a skeleton that may be the Bone Prophet."

Sedut stood. "Might I suggest we adjourn early for today?"

Meliu thought, Dear gods, please do, knowing that Sedut's word would carry any vote. "I put an early recess to a vote."

The number of ayes echoing in the chamber eliminated the need to call for nays, and Sedut said. "I thank you all for coming today. We will gather again in three days."

Meliu sat and pinched the bridge of her nose, staring at her eyelids until the sound of feet departing came to an end. But when she opened her eyes, she knew to expect Sedut still sat beside her.

"You might as well leave as well."

The woman grinned and raised her glass. "When there's still wine left?"

Meliu snagged the bottle and poured. "Not for long."

"You're in more of a mood than this passage in the Codex of Sol warrants."

"Am I?" She sipped as her free hand circled before flopping to her lap. "I am. The council meeting has me flustered."

"I suspect I know how you'd vote if the vote was due."

Voting on a change in canon was still months away, but tension already burned with a fever. "Canon will likely change, but should it? Saying nay will keep the peace between the High Priests. And maybe the clans."

Sedut leaned in her seat and stared. "Do you think young Hulerê should die for being able to heal?"

Hulerê was the young girl capable of healing the blows of The Maimer's Lash without leaving a scar, a miracle of sorts. "Of course not! But I'm not sure she should be made a priestess."

"Eliles was ordained in Istinjoln. Tell me you don't see it."

"One Lash. Yeah, I see it even if others choose not to."

"And what don't you choose to see?"

Meliu stared back after a big swallow of wine. "What the hells are you talking about?"

The woman smirked. "There is a saying among the Priests of Light, isn't there? Something like, 'standing too close to the Light may blind you,' am I right?"

"A warning, yes."

She shook her head with a laugh. "Speaking of standing too close... One Lash. Three lashes. Eleven Lashes. Thirteen lashes. Four of the lowest counts in the history of the Church since the Great Forgetting."

Meliu looked at her, confused. "Eliles. Ulrikt. Me. You. Enlighten me to your point."

"The Lord Priest Broldun bore forty-nine scars."

Meliu scoffed. "Everyone knew his ascension was political."

"Priests hunted the Children of the Vanquished Gods for centuries, but it wasn't until Lord Priestess Sadevu that the Church paid for their capture. The result? Her successor, Lord Priest Ulrikt, with three lashes. He raises the reward again, and the result? Eliles, with one lash."

"The tinker brought her to Istinjoln. There was no payment rumor ever spoken of."

"Me with thirteen scars for lightning. You with eleven lashes praying for Light when Dark is your strength. As easy as Dark comes to you, how many lashes do you think you would've born if they allowed training in Elemental Dark? Three? One? None?"

"What the hells are you saying?"

Sedut raised her hands in exasperation. "Lord Priestess Sadevu paid to bring the Children to Istinjoln, and Ulrikt was one of those, but Sadevu had stopped murdering them. She read the Codex of Sol and saw the Light blinding you. Ulrikt was one of those. I was one of those. You were one of those. With Sadevu, the Church stopped murdering the Children and trained them! Did your father bring you to Istinjoln because he couldn't afford to feed you or because he couldn't afford to not bring you to Istinjoln?"

The air left Meliu's being as the words rolled from Sedut's tongue, and tingles shivered the length of her body. A numbness and silence in her brain. It took three breaths before she could speak. "No." Her father was a wicked drunk, but selling his blood to die?

"Put the pieces together, Meliu. You know it's true even if you can't prove it."

"No." If she'd used Dark, what sort of evil would her father have believed her to be? "No."

Sedut stood and took steps toward the door before turning back. "For over four hundred years, they murdered children like us. The gifted. The chosen. Chosen by our gods! Not chosen by devils and demons or The Vanquished. You know it's true. When the time comes, you will vote for the hundreds or thousands of children like us who died instead of serving their people and their faith. You will vote for all those children like us who will be born after."

She stalked from the room with heavy steps, the door slamming behind her. Leaving Meliu alone with the chills fading from her goosebumps, alone with her thoughts tied into knots, alone with a revelation that altered her view of herself, her father, the Church, and maybe more impossible still, altering her view of Lord Priest Ulrikt.