The Trials of the Minotaur

Part Two: The Oracle's Mortification (Chapter Nine)

Velthar the First felt shunted aside and ignored in his own temple, the coming godchild now at the center of all their lives. It was a blessing for them all, as he never failed to say to all the other penitents with a wary smile. Yet he could not put aside these black and swelling feelings, try as he might to ignore them. The god had abandoned him, leaving him to darkness and empty dreams, choosing another, first with that woman and now with her child. It was infuriating, though Velthar would not admit that even to himself. It was his dream that had foretold the temple and his efforts that had ensured that it was built. Now he was to be set aside.

He had not been able to summon the courage to voice these thoughts to the god – probably for better given the distracted state the beast had been in these last days. The day after Galrice had announced to the temple that she carried the god's child, Velthar had gone before the god and thanked him for the blessing they had been given, though the words tasted like ash in his mouth.

“A blessing for us all,” the god had said in reply.

“We shall all see to the care of the godchild.”

The god had considered this for a moment and then had spoken again. “You, Sufferer – you I want to take particular care of the godchild. We shall have great need in the days to come.”

Velthar had thanked the god for his kindness, even as he wondered why the beast tortured him so. Not only must he find a way to live with his being forsaken by the god, now he must see to the care of those the god had chosen in his stead. It was a test of his faith, he told himself, but it did not feel so. It felt like an end.

These were uneasy days for everyone in the temple and Alari itself. Following the revelation of the coming of the godchild, Thedeo had struck against those conspiring against his rule. Initially he had arrested a few of the most important grandees, accusing them of all sorts of misdeeds. But after their punishment, when the city had relaxed into its normal rhythms, he had sent his forces out again, seizing other nobles and courtiers, even some merchants, saying that these men too were conspiring against him.

This became the routine of Alari for some weeks: a purge, followed by a watchful period of quiet, only to be succeeded by further arrests and punishment. There seemed no end in sight to the conspiracies that the king uncovered and, in response, many of the remaining important families who had escaped suspicion fled the city, going into exile before the king could send them there. This only served to enrage Thedeo further, and he sent his army, filled with men he trusted absolutely, taken from the lesser families and commoners, to lock the gates of the city, allowing no escape for his enemies.

The populace, unsure of what was to befall them and fearing the king's army, who had taken to ransacking the estates of those who had already received punishment, and a few who had not, stayed in their homes, venturing out only briefly for sustenance. With no one in the city willing to stray far and the gates closed to outsiders, no supplicants came to see the god, and with no offerings those within the temple began to run out of food.

Velthar went before the god as this happened, telling him that were no supplicants and no offerings. King Thedeo, once the first among the faithful of the city, had not ventured to the temple to see the god since he had begun his purges. Velthar voiced the concern that was foremost in the minds of all the penitents: “What if the king has abandoned your glory?”

“Quiet your fears,” the god told him, “he shall return.”

Velthar accepted this without question, though he was unable to quiet his own growing misgivings. Before, in such moments of crisis, he would have had his visions and his fits to guide him, but now the days and nights were empty of all but fear and doubt. Rumors began among the penitents, and reached his ears, that Thedeo had lost his faith and that soon the purge would turn its bloody eyes upon the god and those who served him. A few even fled the temple as the state of siege showed no signs of relenting. They were not seen again, and word came that they had been butchered by Thedeo's men for being about on the streets without cause.

Hearing this, Velthar went again trembling before the god to tell him what had occurred and to seek guidance, for soon they would be out of food.

“Have I not told you to put aside all worry?” the god said to him. “Thedeo has always honored us.”

“I do not doubt you,” Velthar said, frightened beyond belief. “But he does not come before you.”

“You would believe what those who have no faith say over what your god says in this matter? He shall return. Have faith.”

The last words sounded like a thunderclap in the god's tower, and Velthar practically ran from his presence. Retreating to his chambers, he fell to his knees and wept abjectly. So distraught was he that he nearly collapsed into a fit, but it escaped him, leaving him only with a feeling of bleak emptiness that could never be properly filled. The audience filled him with despair, for at last he saw the truth of what had happened these last weeks. The god had not forsaken him for the godchild and Galrice – he had forsaken the god. He had doubted, had put no faith in his wisdom, and so the god had left him in darkness, blind as he to the world.

How could this have happened, he wondered? He had thought – vainly, he saw now – that his faith had matched and exceeded all the other penitents, even Galrice. Instead his had been an empty belief, as insubstantial as the air. This realization so devastated him that he contemplated throwing himself from the tower as a penance, or leaving as the other faithless penitents had, testing what fate had on offer. But the god's words stayed his hand. Had he not asked him, as the First, to care for the coming godchild? To dedicate himself to it?

That night was supposed to be for his union with Helthe, the penitent Galrice had chosen for him, but when she arrived he fell at her knees, crying out, “You must help me. I have forsaken the god and must give penance.”

She was shocked at his words and said nothing as he rose to his feet and handed her a whip with four barbed tails. He removed his robe and tunic and abased himself before her again. There was a long silence before he felt the air move and the snap of the leather against his skin. He gasped in pain and Helthe paused, waiting to see if he would stay her hand further. When he said nothing she continued with her ministrations, the barbs tearing at the flesh of his back until he could feel the blood running freely.

His vision and mind swam with pain until an obliterating darkness took hold. From that stepped the god, serenely leaning down to the prostrate Velthar and offering his hand. He took it and the god embraced him and Velthar wept with ecstasy such as he had never known. The god turned from him then and, reaching back into the darkness that still surrounded them both, brought forth the godchild and handed it to Velthar. The beast bowed in obeisance before the godchild and went back again into the darkness, leaving only the Sufferer and the child.

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This is the seventeenth  chapter of the Trials of the Minotaur. I will post a chapter a week (there are over 30), but if you enjoy what you're reading and don't want to wait, you can buy this book at Amazon, Kobo, and Smashwords. Thanks for reading.