Clearing the Web

by Cary J Lenehan

  She looks terrified. “Make, you have done nothing wrong and will not be punished. You are here because I have been told that you think that these men were helping you, and that you were going to a happy place. Talk again to any of the women here after this is over. They have told me that you refuse to listen to them and quote from some strange book that is used in your old land in place of the Bible that Christopher uses.”

  “This time when they talk, listen to what they say. Particularly, you should listen to all that Verily tells you. She was brought here by men just like this when she was only a little girl and she was used badly. The man that sold her believed exactly what your master believed when he sold you and lied to you about it. Verily’s old master was evil and the man who sold you is evil. These men we are condemning here today are evil. Soon you will hear them speak of their wickedness and what they have done.” She still looks terrified and, yet she shakes her head.

  Now I need to say something to the other girl. “I am sorry, Maria, there is no easy way to say this, but we think that they killed your family, or had a part in killing them.” She looked from one to the other. “It does not matter what they told you, or what you were told by your old master,” she looked at Make, “they were bringing you both here to be used for sex by other evil people. You both need to realise this. Now we will all wait to hear what they say.”

  Make is still shaking her head. She really is as stubborn and fixed in her belief as Astrid said and she looks set to continue to refuse to believe any proof we give her.

  It has been about half an hour and people are sitting around and talking. No-one wants to leave. We have refreshments, but the atmosphere in the room is very subdued. Make, on her stool, has been moved to sit beside me with her attendants standing beside her. From where she is now she will be able to see the faces of the slavers.

  Maria was on the other side of the Princesses sitting on another stool but with Danelis, who also came from the north, seated beside her, holding her hand for comfort. She will burst into tears any moment. Outside a voice can be heard telling people to gather again, but it seems like near everyone is here already. Suddenly there was a commotion at the door and raised and desperate voices could be heard.

  “I was first,” said one.

  “No, no, it was me,” said the other.

  There were two slapping sounds. “Silence, both of you.” That is Basil. “I want nothing at all from you until I tell you to speak.”

  The two were brought in and forced, again, to their knees, glaring at each other. “It seems that these two prime examples of humanity are brothers, in both senses of the word,” said Basil. “They both have the same father and they come from the Brotherhood and still attend its services.”

  “Which was first?”

  Both men started to claim it was them, until Basil again slapped them both hard on the side of the head, hard enough to rock their heads. “I have told you to be quiet,” he said. He seems to have already lost patience with them. One now has a trickle of blood coming from where one of Basil’s rings seems to have cut him.

  Addressing me he continues: “To be honest, I think that they both put their foot on the step at the same time. So, they are both first, and they are also both last. You will have to decide which dies easily and which does not.”

  The men started to clamour again, and again Basil slapped them hard enough to make their heads rock. They went quiet.

  “I will do that after we have heard them. Do we have their words written down?” asked Rani.

  “We do. We have names, we have places, we know where they are from and who gave them instructions and it is good information. They both gave as their main contact a man who works under, what they call the First Disciples or the Heads of their so-called Council of Elders, who are apparently Brother Enoch and Sister Will-of-the-Lord Malachi.”

  Rani looked sideways at Make. She is shaking her head again. Basil continues: “It seems that all the women, and some of the men have these stupid long names. This person is in charge of their taxes, what they call tithes. He tells the slavers who is having trouble paying their tithes and then they visit him and, if he has a pretty girl in his household, they convince him to sell them that girl to get his taxes forgiven.”

  “While Make was born a slave of a slave woman, the man who sold her was her father. But apparently Repent was the man’s own full daughter from his real wife. I will let them talk now. Which one do you want first?”

  Rani disdainfully pointed at the man whose trousers were stained with the proof of his cowardice. The man swallowed once and then started. He keeps looking fearfully about, particularly at Verily, who stands beside him with a very fixed expression on her face, as cold as ice and as still as a stone statue, a picture of detachment and cold vengeance. Kali would love her.

  “I am Amos,” he said. “I have been doing this now for six years. Micah, he is the man that the policeman mentioned, asked me to do some work for him to pay my debts. None of my females were pretty and so he asked me to bring a slave here. It is dangerous to bring pretty girls through the lands of the Khitan unbelievers. They are sinners and thieves and may try and steal a slave away from you. Now we bring one or two here each year, they are almost all children and they are usually not here when we come back next. We brought one that the policeman tells me you still have here alive. Make and Maria are the first full grown females that we have brought here for quite some time.”

  “Did you know what you were bringing them here for?” The man swallows and nods.

  Christopher stepped forward and interrupted then. “How does this sit with your beliefs? Surely you know that you are a self-condemned sinner?” he said. He turned to Rani: “Sorry, I could not help myself with that question and, while I am talking, I have to mention that he absolutely reeks of evil. Any priest, from any religion, should know this. If he is going to his Church and none have noticed, it is because they all smell the same.”

  “Interesting.” Turning back to Amos, she said: “Answer the good Father. Why do your priests not condemn you?”

  The look Amos gave our priest was pure hatred. “All women need firm direction from their betters…from men. Females have less of a soul than men do anyway, and female slaves have no soul at all. We are told that what is done to them does not count as a sin. Selling them is like selling a chair.

  “We fornicated as we wanted while we were here, the same as you do with your slaves, but here you don’t have to worry about breaking them and losing money. But we know it was not as if it were with real women with souls, so our slate is clean and our marriage vows remain unblemished.”

  “So, you admit having sex with the girls here?” I hope that Verily, whose face has just gotten even harder, if that is possible, does not lash out with that knife. The man nods and looks sideways at Verily. He seems to be hoping the same. Rani turned to Make. “Do you hear what he is saying?”

  “You are making him lie,” she said. “You have told him what to say.”

  “Then would you like to ask him a question that I could not have given him an answer to?” asked Rani.

  Make’s face looks puzzled. Finally, she spoke: “What was the name of the family that you were bringing me to so that I could care for their children?” She looks smug as she sits back. I don’t believe it. She seems confident that she will soon have an answer.

  “Don’t you get it, you dumb bitch?” said Amos, and was rewarded with a hard slap from Basil that nearly knocked him over. He recovered, the side of his head already growing red. He nearly said something to Basil, but stopped himself. He turns again to Make.

  “There was no family. The God-forsaken bastard that is your father was desperate. He had owed his tithes for several years, and we had threatened him with the Flails-of-God, to enquire as to his faith and to take everything from him. He gave you to us this trip, and we were to come back next year for his ow
n ten-year old daughter by his wife.”

  “You know that she was sick when we left, otherwise we would have her now as well, but we were to go and get her when she was well. He just told you that story so that you would come quietly. It worked, and, what is more, the story was even his own idea as well.” Finally Make looks a bit shocked, but there is still a stubborn look on her face.

  Amos shook his head and spoke to Rani. “I hope you take this into account when you make your decision.” He turned to face Make: “I was even promised that I would have you first. All that modesty and hiding away while we were travelling was getting me excited.”

  “We could have had you any time on the trip, but decided not to as the better you were treated the more biddable you were. You…” He stopped what he was going to say and glanced at Basil “…should listen to what they are saying. I am not an evil man, no, that is wrong, I am a goodly Church-going and God-fearing man, but what I do to you does not count against my soul. I can fornicate with you all I want, and God will not judge me. I can lie to you, I can punish you, and I can know you in any way I want. You do not count against my sins as you are not really a person. You have been to church, even though you are not saved and never can be. If you have listened to what was said there, then you should know this.”

  He turned to Rani. “Do I have to say any more to her? She is so dumb that…well…no wonder her master wanted to get rid of her. It is a wonder she can dress herself.” Now there is a look of shock on Make’s face.

  “Very well. Now let us hear from the brother.” She turned to face the other man.

  “I am Matthias, and I am also a God-fearing man. I have done what I have said I have done, but I will die with a clean conscience because what I did is sanctioned by the Church. Brother Micah told me so himself. The Church uses this as a way to raise money from the pagans outside the lands of the Blessed.”

  “These girls are only property. They have no souls, and so we commit no sin. Even though they can talk and act as if they are real people, they are not, so they may as well help the Church by giving it money for its Crusade against the Devil worshipers that surround it.”

  “We sell them here, and we sell them in Freehold, and with the money we raise we better equip the armies of the Lord to eventually vanquish you all and rule you sternly in the name of the Lord. We are simply good stewards in using the gifts that God has given us to have dominion over.” He sounds proud and defiant.

  “So, you believe that you are doing the work of the Church?” I look at my own priests and both of their faces are red, and they look almost ready to explode.

  “Yes, and I know that you will make me a martyr because you are servants of Satan and seek to bring down God’s church. I know that you hate us because you cannot bear hearing the Truth that is held inerrant in our Holy Books. I would just prefer to die quickly rather than risk becoming apostate through pain.”

  “Do you hear this, Make?” Rani turned. The girl cannot answer. She has her face buried in Bryony’s bosom and is weeping silently. Bryony’s face, looking at the man, almost mirrors that of Verily. Rani turned back to face the men. “What has happened to Maria’s family?”

  “They are dead,” said Matthias. Maria began weeping as Danelis tried to comfort her. She starts to stand and sits down again. “We did not kill them.” Matthias continued quickly and dismissively. “Some Unbelievers did it for money. We decided to add to our stock on the way and we asked them if there were any pretty virgins in the area and they told us there was one. We gave them instructions on what to do, and they did what we told them to. It does not matter what happens to her and her family anyway. They are predestined to be condemned to hell as Unbelievers. We just had them sent there sooner.”

  Rani shook her head. I don’t quite believe what I am hearing. I feel sick in my stomach. “I don’t think we need to hear any more from you. You both condemn yourselves out of your own mouths. I look forward to stepping on you in your next lives.” She looked up at the crowd. “Does anyone have anything to say on how they should die and if either deserves any mercy?” This starts a clamour from the women, but Christopher stands forward.

  “These men are evil,” he said. “I had not understood quite how evil they were until I heard them condemn themselves and felt what I feel from them…but, having said that, there has been enough suffering in this valley. We are risking our own souls here. Although the Bible says, ‘an eye for an eye’, it also asks ‘who can have compassion on the ignorant?’ and ‘let not mercy and truth forsake thee’.”

  “I pray that they both be given a quick death so that we can show ourselves to not be the same as the people that used to live here.” He turned to face the crowd. “By our mercy, and only through our mercy and love, can we show that we are better than the bandits.”

  “We need to show ourselves that these people,” he waves a hand towards Amos and Matthias, “are truly the forsaken of God, sunk deep in the pit of evil, and we, by showing our faith through our works and deeds, are fully justified in our faith and not just making a noise with our mouths. Let the most grieved kill them certainly, but let it be a quick and merciful death.” He stands back and reaches for his wife’s hand.

  Now what do we do? I promised these women the lives of these men, and yet Christopher is right. Rani turned to Christopher: “Does your holy book not say that blasphemers should be stoned?” Christopher nods. “Does what they have said count as blasphemy?” Christopher nods again. He is not sure where I am going here.

  “Well, I think that there are many here who are grieved by them, but I agree that their deaths should not be drawn out.” She addressed the crowd. “Bind them and take them down to near the river where there are many rocks of different sizes. You may all throw rocks at them until they die. Personally, I believe that Father Christopher is right in what he says, and I hope that you use large rocks and that their death is quick, but the choice is on your own consciences and I will not judge anyone on the choice that they make.”

  “When you have all returned,” Maria is already rising to follow the others. “we will determine what is to be done with Maria and Make.” Make is about to faint. “Not that they are about to be punished or harmed.”

  Protesting and pleading for a quick death, the two men are dragged away. Their hands are already being grabbed and bound behind their backs. Father Christopher went with them urging them to repent and confess their sins so that they may die with their souls cleansed and was rewarded with being spat upon by Matthias. He just wiped away the spittle and kept up his work.

  Once they have left, I turn to Make. “Do you now see that what we have told you is true?” Make is crying and she turns back to me.

  “I don’t know what to believe. I really don’t. I cannot believe that my Church is evil, but if what they say is true, it must be. I am confused. I know that I am not like a chair. I…I promise you this…that I will talk to the other women and this time I will listen.” She pauses and then in a despairing voice adds: “I don’t know what to think.” She returns to crying on Bryony, who is patting her hair awkwardly.

  The return is swift, given the distance. “What was done with the bodies?”

  “We threw them in the river,” said Verily “As would have been done with the children who they brought here, and would have happened with any of us when we were killed. We killed them quickly, as the Father suggested. I was tempted to do otherwise, but on the way down I realised that the Father was right. I am better than them. I will not lower myself to their level. I will show mercy. We threw big rocks at their heads and they died almost straight away.”

  Her resolute firmness suddenly dissolves and she runs to Aziz and buries herself in his arms. The Hob wraps his arms around her as she sobs against his chest.

  Maria indicated that, knowing what she now did, it was likely that she would probably stay here, but that she remained unsure. She is too upset at p
resent to make up her mind and the matter is put aside until later.

  Chapter XXXIII

  Rani

  14th Primus

  The next issue that had to be dealt with was the treasure that had come from Dwarvenholme. Rani had it all brought into the hall and looked at what was put before her. The books had all been taken away and, with those that they had brought out on the first trip, had been put in the library to be looked at and studied later. Christopher and Theodule and Ruth were, however, already having some excited conversations about some of the volumes that they had glanced at.

  Now we have a pile of objects. There are weapons, light stands, plates and goblets. There is also jewellery of all kinds. I see necklaces, rings, bracelets, brooches, arm bands, torques and cloak-pins. We have seeming mountains of gems; and golden and platinum and even some mithril coins. It is all too much. What is more, we are not even really using money. It seemed that each is just doing what they need to do, sometimes helping another who had helped them, and sometimes just keeping on doing what they had done under the bandits.

  If what is here was added to what was already in Mousehole and we then shared it out and we all went and lived in a city, then not one of us would ever have to work again. Our children’s children would still be living well. Having said that, no-one seems interested in leaving, so that is irrelevant.

  Perhaps the best thing to do is to just share out those things which could have a use and put the rest in store. Someday it might come in useful for us. How it will be useful, I don’t know, but there is enough wealth here to buy an army, even to buy an army that was arrayed against us. Perhaps that may, one day, be the use that Mousehole will gain from it.

  Rani had Valeria fetch Eleanor, who had returned to her home. “Take anything that you need to help you with your making of jewellery. Take only what you need now, you can always get more of it later.”