by Jordan Baker
Aaron did not know what he hoped to discover among the many temples but he hoped it would not take too long. He had ridden out early, claiming that he had to deliver a personal message to Lord Carlis. He would have to be back before mid-day because he and a number of the students from the academy were scheduled to ride out of the city later that day.
Aaron had heard from Borrican that Queen Calexis herself planned to visit Maramyr. Regent-King Cerric was planning a Royal Banquet in the Queen’s honour, he was also fortifying the Maramyrian army and building up the defences of the kingdom. Cerric had called for teams of scouts and rangers to conduct exercises in the countryside around the capital city as well as in the outlying regions as a show of force to the citizenry across the land. The presence of Royal Army regiments in the cities and across the land was to serve as a reminder to those who might break the peace. It was in preparation for a royal visit that had been requested by the Xallans, a political event that, as far as anyone knew, had never happened between the two kingdoms.
To that end, the Academy Captains had decided that it was a perfect opportunity to train their students on scouting and ranger techniques. Aaron looked forward to spending some time outside the city, but first he had to satisfy his own curiosity about his conversation with Anonymous. The trip outside the city suited Aaron's purpose further as the students from the Academy who had been selected to go had been issued uniforms of the Maramyrian guard, that anyone they might encounter outside the city would not recognize them as trainees. Aaron pulled his black and grey cloak over his leather armor and made sure the red and gold band on his arm was properly affixed as he neared his destination.
The street widened out sharply into a large square that was faced on all sides by countless temples to different deities. Smaller booths and stalls scattered around the square that were painted many colors and decorated with countless differing designs and motifs were empty. The only activity in the square was at the center where workmen were erecting a new temple about which Aaron had heard. It was being built by the Priesthood, to be a place where they would worship their one faith and their One Book. Aaron better understood why the Priesthood had named the book as they had once Anonymous had explained that all the books like the one Aaron carried beneath his cloak were identical. It made sense in a way that the books were, in essence, all one, as reflections of the mind of the same god. Aaron looked at all the temples gathered around the square and wondered which of the many gods represented there was the one that had inspired the new religion. As he dismounted and tied off his horse to one of the empty booths, a black-robe approached.
“Young sir, what assistance may we humble priests be to you this day?” he asked. The man seemed genuine though Aaron detected the look of a believer behind the man’s eyes.
“I have been sent from the armory to make a survey as to how the grounds surrounding the new temple might be better fortified and protected against unbelievers. I am to survey the surrounding temples to ensure that they will not present a risk to the safety of the true believers.” Aaron lied to him. The mage-priest smiled.
“We of the Priesthood are quite capable of protecting ourselves,” the black robe said. "But we appreciate the concern for our many followers. What is your name young sir, that I may commend you and your superiors for offering such help?”
“Reynald, your grace. Corporal Reynald. I am with commander Halson’s unit of engineers.” Aaron told him, making up names as he went along. He remembered there being a commander Kelson in the engineering core and hoped there was no Halson anywhere in Maramyr in the event that someone checked up on his story later. The black robe nodded. The names sounded real enough.
“Very good then. Please convey the thanks of the Priesthood to your Commander Halson. I hope to see you at the inauguration of the temple once the building is complete, Corporal Reynald.”
Aaron smiled and said that he looked forward to it then set off to explore the various temples around the square. He skipped the smaller ones in the center, seeing on some of them pictures of animals and natural phenomena. He had heard that in addition to the major deities, some people worshipped various lesser gods who were believed to manifest themselves through the natural world as animals or even trees and plants. Aaron hoped that if those lesser gods actually existed, they would not be offended as he left the small booths behind for the first of the larger temples.
Even though his experiences had been predominantly limited to the Academy, the people of Maramyr had not struck Aaron as overly pious in their daily lives. When he was a boy he had witnessed a few parades in the small town of Ashford where some people had persisted in celebrating holy days of the old gods but ever since Cerric had proclaimed the Priesthood and their One God to be the true faith of the kingdom, the clerics of the old gods had ceased any public activities for fear of being arrested and put to death for heresy.
Aaron opened the door to the temple of the god Kroma, god of Valor, who was also known as the god of Courage and Virtue. He had once been a popular god among some of the knights and officers who believed that the god rewarded good deeds and preserved those who strived for greatness. They would say a prayer to Kroma, hoping that he would give them reprieve from the world of death or, should they fall in battle, that he would then conduct them to a heroes’ paradise in the afterlife. Inside the foyer was a large statue of a knight in armor with his visor open and his sword raised. Sunlight filtered from the glass windows of the dome above and shone on the statue, creating an uplifting scene for all entering the temple during daylight. Aaron walked around the stone representation and into the temple itself, thinking how belief in such a god would encourage people to acts of greatness.
The hall was quiet and seemed to have been undisturbed as of late. A thin layer of dust had settled on the hard benches and the great stone dais at the end of the hall. Aaron walked to the center and noticed that there was a door on one side of the hall. He went to the door and pushed it gently and it swung easily open. Aaron ventured through the short passageway and, opening another door, entered another hall, similar to that in the temple of Kroma.
He looked back to where the entrance should be and saw a large statue, this time of a woman, holding her hand up, faced away from Aaron toward the entrance to the temple. Though Aaron could not see the statue from where he stood, he knew that she represented Wisdom, Knowledge and Truth and her image was once commonly used to mark coins. Now the likenesses of nobles were more commonly found on Maramyrian crowns. Of course, Aaron remembered her name. She was the goddess Mara for whom the kingdom had been named. Her temple too was empty. He saw another door and realized that all the temples were connected to each other this way. He decided to try the next one.
Aaron could not figure out how the temples had been designed, but even though he felt like he had walked in a straight line, he knew that he should have turned a corner somewhere since the last few temples’ entrances were on the adjacent side of the square from the side where he had started. It did not make sense, but Aaron knew that he had gone halfway around the square without turning any corners.
Aaron opened another passage that led him to a room that was totally dark. He knew without seeing that he was in the temple of Kenra, the god of Chaos and Destruction, who many called the god of Darkness, Death, and Lies. He felt his way across the temple floor and opened the passage to the next temple, spilling light from it into the dark temple. He turned back and saw that the temple of the dark god had no statue like the others nor did it have any kind of altar or raised area where a priest might conduct a ceremony. The dim light that filtered back into Kenra’s temple illuminated the floor and there, Aaron saw embedded into the floor at the center of the hall a great seal patterned with a swirl or a vortex. It hurt his eyes to look at it for too long and he quickly turned back to his path and walked into the bright light of the next hall.
He found himself in the temple of a god he knew a little better. Stroma was known as the god of Time and also co
nsidered the god of Light and Order. Many of the books Aaron had read claimed Stroma was one of the oldest of the gods. When Aaron entered the god of Light’s temple, he saw that the entire ceiling of the temple was made of glass and parts of it were made of painted fragments shaped to show scenes of clouds and bright fire. Like the last temple, the entrance did not have a statue in it and, on the floor, where in Kenra’s temple there had been the depiction of a vortex, there was embedded a bolt of lightening. It was made of what looked to be some kind of white stone Aaron did not recognize and it reflected different colored patterns from the light above. Aaron felts as though there had once been great joy in the great hall though there was now only an echo from the empty sky that shone light in from above. He noticed that the dust had been disturbed in some places and suspected that there were perhaps a few of Stroma’s followers still brave enough to visit their god.
He waited in Stroma’s temple for a while, trying to decide whether he should give up his search. He did not know what it was that he was looking for, but he hoped that something in the temples would remind him of what he saw in the book that he carried, the book that the priesthood worshipped so fervently. Discouraged that Stroma’s temple did not reveal any answers, Aaron realized he was running out of time and that he should probably return to the Academy soon. He could see by the light through the glass-paned ceiling overhead that it would be midday soon. There was only one more major temple to explore, but he would have to hurry. Aaron opened the door that would lead him to the next temple.
A few moments later, Aaron found himself in the temple of the Lady. Aaron had read a lot about the Lady. There were many more books still available about the goddess since the seafaring people of Aghlar to the south still worshipped her in great numbers. Still, despite the many mentions of her, he had never come across any reference to her having a name like the other gods. Aaron felt sure that the Lady must have a name and for some reason even felt somehow that he should know it. The Lady was thought by some to be the oldest of the gods and by others to be the youngest, an ongoing debate among theologians down through the ages. They all agreed, however, that she was the goddess of Nature, of Life and Luck. Some believed that she brought luck to those who worshipped her and everyone from thieves and pirates to a soldier in battle would whisper a prayer to the Lady when they felt unsure of what lay ahead. Many women believed that she was also responsible for fertility and all things of beauty and would say a prayer to their Lady goddess every night that they would awake looking fresh and beautiful as a young flower.
Aaron noticed that, much like the temples of Stroma and Kenra, this temple also did not have a statue at its entrance. And, unlike the other two, there was no seal embedded in the center of the floor. Instead, there was a small fountain and a pool in which the water ran cheerfully under the soft light filtering through the frosted glass ceiling above. Surprised by the noise of the water, it took a moment before Aaron noticed a young woman sitting on the stone edge of the pool. He stood motionless as he watched the beautiful maiden picking the petals from a flower and tossing them into the waters of the pool. She turned her head and looked directly at Aaron and she smiled.
Aaron took a step towards her and his foot slipped on something, causing him to stumble. When he looked up, the woman was gone and the fountain was still and covered in dust, its waters having dried up long ago. He reached down to the floor and felt for what he had slipped on. His fingers found the small object and brought it up to his eyes. It was a ring, too small for most men, but one that would fit nicely on the hand of a lady. A simple band, it looked like a marriage ring except that it was made of a kind of gold that felt much harder and shone more brightly than usual. He did not sense any magic to the ring, not that he would know how to sense such a thing, but it certainly did not make his head hurt and there was even something a bit soothing about the coolness of the metal as he touched it. He tried it on his smallest finger and, though it felt snug at first, it slid past his knuckle and rested comfortably on his hand. In fact, it was so light, Aaron could barely feel it on his finger at all.
He stared at the fountain again and walked around it several times, wondering whether he had been dreaming or if some magic had been at work. The pool had long since dried out, but Aaron noticed that at the bottom were dried petals of the same flower the woman had been casting into the water. He reached down to pick one up and get a better look but it fell to dust at his touch. He got the impression that he would find nothing more here and he knew that if he did not leave soon, he would be late.
Aaron slipped out of the door of the Lady’s temple and made his way back to the booth where he had tied his horse. The black-robed priest glanced at him as he passed but was busy talking to a man who looked like one of the builders and he let Aaron pass without another conversation. Aaron smiled and waved at him anyway as he mounted his horse and left.
Shortly after Aaron rode out of the temple square, the black robed mage-priest had completely forgotten that a young guard from the city had been by. He remembered having thought something about the safety of the common people coming to worship at the temple but decided that it was a problem for the city guards. He had bigger things to attend to and the builders could not seem to follow even the simplest instructions. He rubbed his eyes to try and clear his head. The mage-priest tasked with overseeing the work had not slept for more days than he could remember. All he knew for sure was that this temple would be perfect, even if he had to work himself to death to make it so.
*****
Ehlena Valamyr, niece to the Duchess Elaine Valamyr, watched from her hidden vantage point on a quiet side street as her friend Aaron rode away from the temple square. When she had seen him exit from the temple of the Lady, she had wanted to call out to him but would have risked attracting the attention of the black robed mage-priests, many of whom were constantly lurking around the area. She would have had a hard time explaining what she, a young noblewoman, was doing visiting the temples of the old gods and risked being recruited by the Priesthood. She had heard about how they had become more and more aggressive in their crusade for new converts and it was risky to be seen in the temple district. Nowadays, not even the few remaining clerics who still believed in the old gods dared be seen near the temples, let alone tend to their duties. Most of them remained disguised in common clothes, forsaking the trappings of their faith, fearful that they might be singled out by the priesthood and arrested for heresy.
Ehlena had heard rumors that many of the priests and clerics who once lived and worshiped at the temples had been converted by the mage-priests. Many of the priests and clerics had magical powers but had chosen to follow divinity rather than the secular pursuits of magic. Ehlena knew all about the power of the Priesthood and their special book and had heard about how it could influence people, especially those with magic.
She had been very young when one of the local clerics at Aghlar had sensed that Ehlena might have some talent for magic. He had claimed that her aptitude was of a more empathic and spiritual nature than the kind of magic the mages wielded and that such power often manifested at an earlier age. He could not be certain until she was older and her talent matured further but he did, recommend that Ehlena begin to think about which gods she favored, that she might consider taking instruction in the ways of the divines whether she eventually chose to follow a life as a cleric or not.
Still very young at the time, Ehlena had thought the old cleric silly for believing such things, but one afternoon, out of curiosity more than anything and perhaps a small part sorrow, she did visit a temple in Aghlar. It was several days after her mother’s death and, despite having the entire royal household at her disposal and plenty of people who cared about her, Ehlena had felt lost and alone in the bustling city. One of the places her mother had wished to go in her last days was to the temple of the Lady and, one morning when Ehlena had been out aimlessly wandering the city of Aghlar, she found herself wandering into a place that she recognized as be
ing the temple of the Lady.
Aghlar was different from Maramyr in that the temples were not all clustered together in one place. The place she encountered that day was not so much a building as a series of archways and structures, some of them with vaulted roofs and others open to the sky above, surrounded by gardens that ran through the entirety of the grounds, both inside and out. Its smooth columns and delicate ornamentation of leaves and flowers carved into the stone structures were both impressive and subtle and Ehlena marvelled at the combination of nature and architecture. Ehlena wandered through the grounds and found herself exploring marble hallways and courtyards that could only be described as elaborate gardens. The smell of flowers permeated the air and a gentle warm light filtered in from the many high windows and open air spaces.
At the center of the grounds, Ehlena discovered a beautiful garden with a pool and fountain surrounded by all manner of flowers and vines. As Ehlena drew closer to the fountain, she had realized that she was not alone and the feeling of loss that had left her empty since her mother’s death faded and turned to a kind of contented joy. That was when she met the Lady.
For all her wandering through the temple grounds, Ehlena had not seen another soul save for one woman who she found tending the flowers by the fountain. Ehlena watched as the woman rearranged flowers and vines so they could get more light while she hummed an elusive but pretty song that followed no particular tune. Something about the woman's movements were graceful and deliberate yet seemingly random. Ehlena watched as the woman cut flowers from stalks and vines, gently tossing their petals to the ground and into the water of the fountain. She watched as the woman knelt upon the earth, trimmed shoots and stems, then nestled the cuttings in damp soil. It was some time before Ehlena realized that the woman was naked except for a razor-sharp silver knife she held in her hand and used for her gardening work. Startled by this discovery and worrying that she might have ventured into someone's private space, Ehlena took a step back and the woman turned to look at her.
