Hederick made his way past the high priest, moving toward the door. "She was a witch, Dahos," he spat over his shoulder.
"A witch?" Horror showed on Dahos's face. He edged away from the corpse. "This is Norah Ap Orat," he said. "She baked bread and blended special teas to sell in the marketplace. We were one of her customers, Your Wor shy;ship!"
"Be quiet." Hederick replied. "Have the guards remove her. Burn her-no, better yet, have her fed to the materbill; the creature likes carrion." Hederick watched the high priest as a pair of guards hefted the woman's slight body and bore it out of the room. The High Theocrat felt the strength of leadership rekindle within him.
"Personally oversee the destruction of any of this witch's wares in our stores," he commanded. "And order all who have partaken of her wares to undergo immediate emetics and begin two days of prayer and fasting." A thought occurred to him. "Was her tea served at my table, Dahos?"
The priest shook his head. "To the novitiates, mostly."
"A week of prayer and fasting, then. Tell them immedi shy;ately, Dahos." As the high priest rose, Hederick stopped him. "Wait. Bathe first. And change your robe. It disgusts me."
Dahos nodded mutely.
"You are dismissed," Hederick finally said, and the high priest hurriedly left the chamber through the doors beneath the pulpit.
Alone again, Hederick glanced upward and around the Great Chamber. Statues of Omalthea and the pantheons stood behind the top tier of benches. There was no sound, no sign of Ancilla. The sun was sinking low. It was the sweetest, holiest time of the day. Usually.
Hederick.
With no warning, the thing stood before him. Part lizard, part dragon, part woman, part smoke, its shape shifted ceaselessly. Whatever Hederick tried to focus on melted and was no longer there, or became something else. The only way to see it, apparently, was out of the cor shy;ner of one's eye. He did not doubt that if he reached out to touch Ancilla's apparition, his hand would pass right through.
The shadow Ancilla held in its filmy claw a lance the length of a man. The lance was real enough, and the mon shy;ster seemed to have strength enough to wield it.
The lance began as green and purple mist and solidified to terrifying sharpness just under the High Theocrat's breastbone. The tip of the lance severed the fibers of his robe, but stopped short of pricking him. If Hederick moved at all, if he shouted for help, he knew the projectile would pierce him through his heart before anyone could rescue him.
Before, the Presence had appeared as smoke; this was a more solid emanation. "You are forbidden here," he whis shy;pered. "I blessed this chamber in the name of Sauvay and Omalthea themselves." Sauvay's Diamond Dragon has failed to protect me here, he thought in panic. What have I done to offend the New Gods?
Do you remember the Garnet Mountains, Hederick?
He dared not move. The creature's whispery voice con shy;tinued.
They stood to the east of our village. Sunrises in Garlund vil shy;lage were nothing to boast of, but we had sunsets to inspire the gods. I see you continue that tradition here.
When Hederick again refused to answer, the sibilant voice resumed.
Remember, little brother? We were refugees. Con, our father. Venessi, our mother. A handful of lost souls from Caergoth who believed that a new god had spoken to our parents. Do you remember the tales of that time, Hederick?
"I forget nothing," Hederick muttered. "Ever."
Alas, I have watched you for years, and I believe you have for shy;gotten much that matters.
Hederick realized the numbing terror that the Presence originally inspired in him had lessened. "It is time for my evening revelations, lizard." He turned his back on the Presence and made his way toward the pulpit stairs.
Will she kill me? he thought. He risked a glance back.
The Presence was gone.
Dahos stood at the double doors. He had donned a fresh robe, as ordered, and waited for Hederick. Novi shy;tiates were making their way up the aisles. The audience would be seated before the Seekers began the nightly pro shy;cession. Hederick hurried to join his high priest.
Tonight, as always, he would prophesy for the New Gods.
Chapter 9
People crammed the benches, knelt in the aisles, and squatted on the floor of the Great Chamber. Children sat on parents' laps, but did not chatter or fuss. Everyone watched the High Theocrat as he busied himself in the pulpit above.
Hederick sipped yet another chalice of mead and exam shy;ined the sinners below him. The crowd sat mesmerized, like fat blueberries, ready for plucking in late summer.
The High Theocrat imagined himself harvesting souls- a handful for Omalthea, a bucketful for Sauvay, a basket shy;ful for Hederick…. He resisted the urge to giggle. Truly the mead was working miracles tonight. Hederick swayed in the pulpit, lightly touching the Diamond Dragon. All was going well.
The High Theocrat had delivered the greeting, encour shy;aging Omalthea and Sauvay and those of the pantheons
to enter the hallowed ground of the Great Chamber. He had already downed two goblets of mead … or was it more? His head was swimming devoutly.
He'd gone on to exhort the crowd to abandon sin, to reject magic and spellcasters, to ferret out and punish all who continued to show fealty to the Old Gods. And, espe shy;cially, to report the sins of their neighbors.
The crowd had followed the novitiates' lead admirably, nodding when they did, weeping when two neophytes burst into noisy tears of repentance, and surging forward when Hederick issued the call to the converted: "Come to the altar. Receive the blessings of the New Gods. Join with them, O Faithful Ones."
"Join with them." The priests, led by Dahos, echoed the response.
Converts moved their lips: "We come to the altar of the Seekers, O New Gods, to receive the blessings and to mingle our wealth with yours."
They presented their offerings-coins or precious stones wrapped in parchment and purchased at exorbi shy;tant prices from the Seeker peddlers who roamed Solace and the rest of Krynn. The peddlers, in turn, handed over most of the proceeds to the Seeker organization.
As always, High Priest Dahos handled his offices with aplomb. He looked each convert in the eye, and remem shy;bered to follow the sipping of the mead with the welcom shy;ing handshake. "The eyes of the New Gods smile upon you," Dahos intoned to each penitent, directing them toward the two priests who would retrieve the chalice, take down each individual's name, and receive the pledge of further money and goods for the holy cause.
Hederick looked down upon the winding line of would-be Seekers and swallowed more mead, always tilting the glass first toward the marble-and-gilt statues of the members of the pantheons that stood by the slit win shy;dows at the upper back of the chamber: Omalthea-tall and forbidding, with an unsheathed broadsword in one hand; Sauvay-broad-chested, with flowing hair and implacable visage; Ferae-pale and womanly, one hand stroking a doe and the other cradling a basket of grain; Cadithal-the laughing god, hands on hips and head thrown back; and Zeshun-earthy and sensuous.
Excited signs from the two priests told Hederick that people were far exceeding the usual gifts this evening. There was a sense of tension and excitement in the air. "Nothing like an execution to increase the pledges," he murmured.
All of this was for the glory of the New Gods, of course. The Highseekers Council be damned, Hederick thought, momentarily considering the Seekers council in Haven that, theoretically at least, ran the holy order. I have more wisdom and holiness than that whole lot com shy;bined, he thought.
Now the people had returned to the benches and were watching the High Theocrat intently. They knew what came next: the revelations. The priests doubled the incense and began to drone.
As always, Hederick's first words were barely above a murmur, a private conversation between supplicant and gods. "Omalthea, be with us, who adore you," Hederick whispered. "Likewise Sauvay. Bring with you the Greater and Lesser Pantheons. May all New Gods know that I, Hederick, am here to serve as your dutiful voice. Devoted am I to you, to the order, and to your work in this world. I join my will to yours, O New Gods, secure in the knowl shy;edge that you will never betray us as the Old Gods did."
His voice grew in strength as he repeated the invoca shy;tion. His eyes closed. The divine ones approved of him. He, Hederick, was their chosen vessel on Krynn. All eyes were upon him.
Hederick infused his voice with throbbing passion. "Omalthea of the Greater Pantheon and mother of us all,
be with us, these who adore and exalt you."
"So be it," Dahos replied.
"Likewise Sauvay, Fatherlord of the Lesser Pantheon. Bring with you tonight your hierarchy."
"So be it." Dahos's voice gained power.