Goddess Rising

Aria briefly wondered if the man could overpower her. The curiosity ended a moment later, when he clamped a grip around her wrist strong enough to rival Garo’s.

He didn’t drag her, but he set a fast pace. They went back into the corridor, but turned halfway before the spot Garo had disappeared through. There, they walked through a wall and appeared in another corridor. This one led into a bustling room. Men and women sat reading, playing cards, eating, or sleeping on long, wooden tables.

The man sniffed in disapproval. “Werri!” He turned his head back and forth squinting as he searched the room. “Werri!”

Aria wished he would loosen his grip, but he clung on like a priest with a sacred duty.

“I’m here.” A different man approached from their left. He was partially bald, but his most prominent feature was two black drawings on his cheeks. One was a rod with flowers sprouting in every direction. The other was a bowl filled with a rippling liquid. Both were done in brown ink just lighter than his skin, so they were faint, but large enough to be prominent.

He smiled at Aria. “Who is this? A new acolyte?”

“Escaped criminal number one.” The other man was already leaving. “Deliver her to his Eminence.”

“Oi!” Werri shouted at the departing man. “Come back here!”

It was no use. Whatever his name was, he had disappeared through the wall.

Aria looked at the gathered people. Some had turned when her identity had been announced, but others continued their activities.

Werri scratched his head and inspected her as if seeing her for the first time. The smile was gone. In its place were suspicion and discomfort.

“Well,” he said, “we should prepare you. Please, do not run. I’m not young anymore and you won’t get far.”

Aria considered it anyway. She had seen no guards along the way. Unlike the previous man, Werri was not holding her back.

She didn’t finish the thought. In an instant, she was kicking her legs with all the speed she could muster. She made it into the hallway within seconds. She could not recall the spot in the wall from which she had come, but she continued toward the end of the hallway. It would lead somewhere.

She collided with nothing. One moment, she was running with all of her strength. In the next, she had come to a halt. It was not a harsh ending. It felt as if she had run into a giant balloon. She was unhurt, but it was impossible to move further.

She turned to find Werri walking toward her.

“That was a waste of time.” His arms were raised before him, crossed at the forearms and pointed towards her. You wouldn’t escape a minor god’s priest. Why would you try to run from me?”

When he was close enough, he took her wrist.

The rest of the walk proceeded in silence. Rather than watch her surroundings, she tried to consider her next steps. There had to be something she could do to save herself, but she could think of nothing.

Werri led her, through several hallways, to an empty rectangular room. There, a plain black altar stood before an empty dais. On the altar burned a circular flame. It filled the room with orange light and cast shadows deep enough to hide grown men. As they entered, two women rose from the shadows behind the altar and approached them. They were of similar height, with the same facial markings as Werri and dressed in formless silver gowns.

They stopped, five feet before him, and inclined their heads. “Greetings, High Priest.”

He nodded in response and pushed Aria before him. “Prepare her for the Rite of Atonement.”

They inclined their heads again.

Werri took a bench at the back of the room while the women led Aria into another room. There, a small bath lay ready. They stripped her down, discarding both Achi’s coat and her purse, and ordered her to bathe. When she refused, they physically forced her into the water and washed her. She struggled, but it felt like fighting against manacles.

They washed her hair too. She feared that their roughness would tangle it, and it did, but they died and brushed it afterward, with a hand-wave.

Despite her humiliation, Aria felt envious. Priestess of Garo only gained the power to kill.

When she was dry, they forced her into a gown similar to theirs. It looked ghastly and felt itchy. She was still considering discarding it when one of the priestesses set her belongings on fire. Only achi’s coat survived. She would wear what they gave her or go naked..

Werri was still waiting in the chapel. The priestesses nodded to him once more, and then returned to sit on the ground beside the altar.

Werri indicated that she should walk ahead of him.

“You served Garo, correct?”

Aria gave no response.

“Silence will not help you here. Did you learn any of Tivelo’s rites?”

She shook her head. She had learned one rite, but denying it was easier than speaking.

“There’s no time for a complete education,” he said, “and it is unnecessary. You only need to know of the rite of atonement. Achi instituted it.” He paused, as if the statement should mean something to her, but she gave no response. “Tivelo’s punishment is usually swift, with no room for appeal. Achi changed that - at least for mortals. There is now a process - a sort of trial before your punishment. That is the rite of atonement. Theoretically, if you say the correct words, your punishment might be eased. I don’t think you have much hope for that, but following the process should grant you what little mercy is available.

“Tivelo will state your crime and ask you if you dispute it. You are to say, ‘your word is correct, Most Eminent One.’”

Aria coughed to hide her amusement.

Werri’s voice grew stern. “I have no responsibility to help you, child. Follow my advice or ignore it. Disputing your crime will only worsen your punishment.

“Next, he will ask how you intend to remedy your crime. Day, ‘I hope to heal every harm I have inflicted. I hope that you will grant me a way to do that.’ Thankfully, you do not need to mean it. Saying the words counts as intent enough.

“After that, he is bound by his word to offer you the least difficult path to remedy your actions. It will probably still be difficult - your crime is not small - but it will be your best opportunity. Whatever judgment he offers, accept it. If you do not, his next judgment will be something even worse. Is that clear?”

He made Aria repeat the answers he had given her. She did not recall them perfectly, but he declared her answers adequate. After that, there was no time for questions. Werri had led her to the prince’s door. He made her wash her hands and feet in the prepared bowls (what was this obsession with cleanliness?) and then pushed the doors open.

Aria was careful to keep her head down. The room was completely unchanged from her previous visit. The view was still spectacular but, this time, there was no prince on the couch.

“This way.” Werri indicated a wide door in one corner of the room.