The Fall of Ossard (21 page)

Strangely, I felt born anew and so alive, but also cold and numb. No, it was more than that. I felt uncomfortably
chill
and deathly
stale
.

I wondered at that, at such contrasting sensations - life and death. Perhaps in some way I’d been reborn and in the process part of me had also died. Regardless, one thing was certain; I‘d begun to see the world differently.

The Book of Truth…

There was nothing in the book about how to use magic, let alone anything to help me understand what talent I might have. In that regard I felt disappointed, but it did speak of the cost of utilising such gifts.

It said that a responsibility came partnered with working magic, something that touched upon more than oneself. The passages concerning this were brief but grave and also warned of being greedy for power. It gave me a premonition, it rank with dread, and I knew that a day would come when that cost would weigh heavily on me. Still, I told myself, such worries were for another time. Fatigued and distracted, such a thing was easy to believe.

The beginning of my illumination came through the book, but it was only the start. The ancient tome wasn’t what I’d expected, neither a listing of spells, lessons of the magical, or a guide to a witch’s art. Instead it was a record of the world’s history, its true history, it holding the divine truth.

It left me shocked, but also exhausted and confused.

Astounding as it was, I just didn’t have time for it. I mean, all I really wanted was to find Maria and Pedro, but these new revelations, I wondered; could they help me in my search?

“Yes!” my grandmother whispered.

I couldn’t see her, but I sensed her as the air chilled.

The feeling didn’t sit well though, not after all that I’d read. From where I sat by the window, I looked back to the tome where it lay on the bed. It set me to shiver.

The divine truth…

It was unbelievable and so well hidden, yet obvious all at the same time. And it had already touched me, but until now I’d never known.

A war was raging, one that was being fought right around the world. It was a secret war, a divine war, and it pitted the goddess of life against the god of death. Sometimes it was a war of bloody battles, other times bandits and raiding pirates, or plague and famine, or even cultists stealing children from dark and dirty slums. Each of those happenings was another victory for Death and the bleak world he promised.

Unknown to most, this war had been going on for thousands of years, and only now was coming to a close. And that was the worst part, for Life, Schoperde, had all but lost.

Now was a time for the last empires to fall, sanctuaries to be overrun, and for peace to choke on gore. In the end there would be nothing left but ruin and whatever Death chose to build upon his bloodily won ground. That was why Ossard had become a place of abductions and murder with only worse to follow.

And here I was with so many burdens weighing down on me, and no idea of what to make of it. I wondered if it wasn’t my problem, but with my family stolen away that simply wasn’t true.

With a grim face, I turned back to gaze out the window. The sky above the city was busy with long grey clouds moving in from the west. By the light of the rising sun, something that should have painted them gold and amber, they only looked ominous.

Drifting in my thoughts, I eventually found myself lost. It was a sanctuary of sorts and led to another; daydreams, in particular, the dream that had given me respite from the lustful fevers inspired by my mother’s lotus.

It returned as before, with me passing like a bird over the steep and narrow valleys of the coastal sounds. Eventually, I arrived at an area of rolling hills, green and spotted with herb-brush that climbed from behind rocky bluffs and beaches. Nearby, but back from the water, and amidst the heights of those hills, a canyon opened wide. Its sides fell away deep into the soil with small streams of water seeping out to trickle down until they found its bottom. There, half hidden by mist, they watered a wondrous fern forest.

The images of my sanctuary left me feeling settled and content, but I had to drag myself away from it. It was an indulgence, and such daydreams weren’t going to save my family.

My family…

I felt confident that they were still alive. With so many people taken in the past few days the cultists had to be building to a ritual beyond anything they’d already run. Simply, I had to find Maria and Pedro before it was enacted.

A knock sounded at my door.

I got up and went to it.

Sef stood there taking in the sight of me, his eyes wide with surprise.

I smiled. I was changed, not only did I feel it, but from Sef’s reaction he could see it.

He said, “I came to check on you.”

“I’m good, the night has agreed with me.”

“So it seems.” His surprise faded, replaced with a cautious smile.

“At noon I’m going to go to Market Square.”

“For the proclamation?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“I’ll accompany you.”

I shook my head.

“Juvela, you’ll be in danger.
They
may try and take you.”

“Sef, I know I’m new to this, but I also know that I’ll be safe. It would be better if you went with my father and found out what the Guild is doing about searches. I’ll need to know when I return.”

He nodded, reluctant, but willing to trust me.

11

Founding The Pious Empire

For the first time in my life, I walked from Newbank to Market Square. I passed under grey skies, dawn’s dark clouds having moved in to smother the sun and lend the city a sombre air. The tight streets about me were again busy with traffic, but all of it subdued. It was as if everything held its breath waiting to see what would come, waiting for the Inquisitor’s unveiling of the new.

Before long I was crossing the wide way of the Cassaro Bridge and leaving my home district for Ossard’s Heletian heart. Here the streets ran thick with late-morning crowds, many also making their way to Market Square.

Oleander hung from many doors, twigs of its long leaves tied with bunches of the shrub’s wilting pink blooms. Some homes even hosted braziers or pots that sat in windows or doorways from which the bitter stink of their smouldering offerings arose.

The crowds grew thicker, but moved aside for me. I saw their sideward glances and heard their whispers, some from their lips, and others escaping their thoughts, “The
Forsaken Lady
!”

I pitied them. Yesterday I was their hero, but today I was their villain. They’d changed so quickly, yet in that they weren’t alone. Not so long ago I’d been an innocent girl, but now I was a learning witch, an angry mother, and also a lonely wife trying to avoid being widowed.

And the voices had changed with me.

Their whispered messages came clearer now. It wasn’t as though they sounded out any louder as they offered their advice, instead they came on a different level. I no longer
heard
the thought to beware or to look with celestial eyes, now it instinctively happened.

In much the same way, I found myself sensing the thoughts of those that I passed. Those mixing their thoughts with strong emotions came easy to sample, yet most were lost within confusing veils, and then there were others who came across as simple voids.

Those that hid their thoughts so completely turned their knowing faces away. To read so many startled me, but to be
refused
by so many others was unsettling. The Inquisitor was right; the city
was
riddled with cultists, cabalists, and the Sisterhood.

How could we have missed it?

The thoughts I did read ranged from anger and disgust, to sorrow and fear. They combined to create a stinging bitterness in the celestial, the scent of souls turned sour.

They hated me.

The followers of Santana believed my denunciation of the new saint had endangered the whole city. In penance they’d rededicated themselves.

I shivered. The city
was
a whore willing to sell itself for yet another turn of luck.

Others pitied me. To them I’d become a mourning widow and mother, the very thing they so desperately wanted to avoid.

Mothers held their children close as I passed, fathers averted their eyes, and some recited Santana’s prayers. I noticed on more than one occasion that their mumbled, whispered, or wailed verses were offered up to more than Saint Santana. The name of another saint, Saint Malsano, also came into their good graces.

Those who’d accepted the new saints didn’t trust the Inquisition. They remembered the city’s long history, the conflicts, the rigid dogma, and the upheaval of The Burnings. They wanted safety for their families, not the hatreds of firebrands from a distant and almost
foreign
Black Fleet. Benefice Vassini might question the legitimacy of the new saints, but none of those who offered them prayers seemed to have suffered at the hands of the kidnappers. They’d won protection. In contrast, everyone knew that the one person who’d openly denounced them, me, had lost her family.

A circle of space followed my progress down the avenue, it eight paces wide. I think it had been there through Newbank, across the Cassaro and St Marco’s, but now it was unmistakable amidst the thickening crowds. Still, with more and more of the city’s ugly truths revealed, I was glad to be outcast from it.

I finally reached the square to find it almost full. Well over ten thousand stood across its cobbled expanse, a sea of people extending all the way to the Lord’s Residence. More joined the mass every moment, all come to hear the city’s fate. A subdued murmur sounded out from the crowd to build over a tense and deepening air.

The Lord’s Residence stood festooned with both the long white and yellow and gold-starred ensigns of the Church, and the dour black and navy, with gold star and sword of the Inquisition. Anton and the Benefice were making a point; now they were the lords of the city.

I went forward, wanting to be close enough to hear.

A few Flet guildsmen stood out amongst the masses, recognisable by their guild jackets and caps. They’d be here to listen to the proclamation, the Guild no doubt worried that our people were going to be blamed for the woes of our beleaguered city.

I came to a stop at the centre of the square where my circle of space remained, but even that had shrunk under the crush. I hoped it was small enough to keep me hidden: I wanted to hear the proclamation, not become a distraction from it.

Looking about, I could see many in the crowd holding on to objects of faith; holy symbols, charms, and countless sprigs of oleander. The square was a focus, a divine focus, a focus of yearning and belief.

I glimpsed skyward and let my perception drift into the celestial. The eye remained above, huge and wide, watching and waiting…

But waiting for what?

I feared I knew the answer; the next ritual, the ritual that would see Pedro and Maria slaughtered along with the rest of the Liberigo bloodline. The thought made me shiver, sending my perception back to the real world.

Just in time…

The noise of the crowd began to fade, and at noon the previously empty balcony of the Lord’s Residence became full. At the centre stood the Benefice and the Inquisitor, the two flanked by priests, monks, and even some of the Inquisition’s feared knights; the Sankto Glavos.

Inquisitor Anton raised his hand in greeting to the crowd, but wasted no time. “Welcome Ossard, welcome to your judgment!”

Ossard had been judged once before…

“For twenty years you have been without your shepherd, the Inquisition. Left untended, you, our most northern flock, surprisingly did quite well, even going on to recapture some of your past glory and wealth. Together you earned it, through your hard work and continued faith, but alas it could not last.

“Amongst you were some who wanted more, those who were jealous of their neighbours, yet too slothful to apply themselves. Instead of working harder, you just watched for an easier way.

“Inevitably, and without your shepherd to watch over you, the wolves that the Inquisition guard against found you, even here in the cool north. The ragged beasts slunk in during the long night that you were without us, them looking to feed and build a dark fort. Before long they met with those from amongst you who were of like minds and desperate for power, and together they struck a deal.

“Your betrayers gained favour by not only selling their own souls, but by agreeing to supply the souls of others - souls not theirs to sell. In return they gained wealth and power, and into their dark conspiracy they recruited others. Soon the city of Merchant Princes became a place of secret cults conducting child-theft and murderous rituals.

“Ossard, the wolves are amongst you! The Council of Merchant Princes has unwittingly let them in, delivering you into unclean fields - fields of heresy littered with the butchered ruins of your own children!

“Why? Because of sloth and greed, and a lust for power! They have cursed this once-great city and endangered your eternal selves!