Arducius glared at him. 'We will not use our power for violence. Our only chance is to prove we are a force for good. It is what Father Kessian demands.'
The clop of hoofs was so close and loud now. Arducius looked out from under his brow. Four riders came towards them. Two had bows, the others swords. Beside him, Mirron was shaking. This was beyond any of them. The violence they had seen, the blood on the ground, the weapons pointed at them.
Ossacer gripped his arm again. 'I can't concentrate,' he said, his voice small and terrified. He coughed. 'I can't focus.'
'It's all right,' said Arducius. 'Lean on me. Gorian, see to Mirron.'
Gorian enveloped her in one strong arm and she clung to him.
Arducius wasn't sure which one of them was the most scared. And then one of the riders spoke and confirmed all their worst fears.
'Citizens of Westfallen, you will gather in your forum. There is evil here. Heresy against God. Your Ascendants will be unmasked and will be tried. All those complicit in this crime will be tried. Put up your swords. Mov
e.’
Chapter 37
848th cycle of God, 25th day of
Solasrise 15th year of the true Ascendancy
At least the Order didn't know which of them were the Ascendants but it wouldn't take them too long to narrow it down. Right now, they seemed content just to herd everyone they found into the forum. The heat was oppressive, the anxiety more so. Bewildered citizens stood still and silent, or turned round and round, looking at the riders that had secured the forum's every side.
Standing on the oratory stage, under cover from the sun, were six people. Four were soldiers. Warriors of the Armour of God. The other two were Horst Vennegoor, the commander of the riders, and Felice Koroyan, the Chancellor. She was a proud figure, tall and slender, staring down at the people with a sneer on her face. She already hated them and she knew nothing about them.
The Ascendants were standing with Kovan in the middle of the crowd. The soldiers had been taken away somewhere else. Kovan had managed to conceal his gladius under the folds of his light cloak. It gave him some comfort at least. Gorian and Arducius had been arguing, hissing at each other. Gorian wanted to act. To bring on a storm or a gale. Rush the stage and get the Chancellor. Arducius had told him to keep calm but it was getting increasingly obvious that Gorian would not be tamed forever.
'You don't even know if you can do these things you suggest,' said Arducius.
'Don't be stupid, Ardu,' snapped Gorian back at him. 'You can feel it the same way I can. We all can. The energy of the wind thrills your body like it does mine. More so for you as Wind Harker. You know the power that lies under the stone of this forum. We can harness it.'
'And what good would it really do? You cannot scare them all off. There are too many. And when you are done you will be wrinkled and exhausted, unable to run. You will have identified yourself to them and left yourself helpless. Wait.'
'For what? For them to find us anyway just by looking in our eyes?' Gorian's were a livid swirling brown as he felt the power beneath his feet and let it feed him. 'We can't stay here and do nothing. We may as well cut our own throats. Don't you see that they know all about us already? They knew where the villa was, they knew where the Marshal's villa was and they knew where the House of Masks was. Someone has told them everything.'
Kovan turned on him. 'Listen to Ardu,' he said. 'Be calm and wait. We are not helpless. My Father and the Echelon are not yet here. That means they haven't been found.'
'And then what? You think Father Kessian and Willem are going to scare them? They are old men. And your father doesn't have enough with him. It's down to us.'
'But not yet,' said Arducius. 'Please Gorian, don't give us all away.'
Gorian looked at Mirron and she nodded her agreement.
'Please,' she said, reaching out a hand to him. 'Listen to them.'
But Gorian was right in his assessment of the Order's knowledge. Dread clutched at Mirron's heart. Order warriors moved through the crowd. Consternation spread. They were moving in from all sides. Just a handful of them but they missed no one, looked at everyone. And try as they might to look away, Mirron could feel the eyes of the townspeople on them. Not in blame or accusation, but in sympathy. She wished they wouldn't, it would draw attention.
'Eyes down,' whispered Arducius. 'Just look at the ground. Whatever happens don't look up.'
Whenever she glanced around, Mirron could see warriors grabbing people and pushing them towards the oratory and the Chancellor. There were angry words, even the odd scuffle and one screech of pain. People jostled and she caught metal in the sunlight again. She shuddered. It reminded her of the man she saw killed outside the villa. Such violence in her home. Something she never dreamed to see.
The soldiers were coming closer to them.
'Don't struggle,' said Arducius. 'Do what they say. Gorian, that means you.'
'All right,' hissed Gorian, voice still full of anger.
She felt a hand on her shoulder.
'Get to the front,' ordered the warrior. 'Now. Stand with the others.'
She nodded, fixed her gaze on his boots. He put a hand on her back and shoved her. She cried out.
'Get your hands off her,' said Gorian.
'Don't talk back to me, boy,' barked the soldier. 'Go with her. And you. All five of you. Run or you'll feel my boot in your backsides.'
The Ascendants and Kovan breasted through the crowd which parted to let them through. A dog ran in front of them and Arducius stumbled over it. Other hands touched them. But these were friendly and encouraging, as were the words that accompanied them. Mirron muttered her thanks. In front of the crowd, a line of warriors stood across the face of the oratory.
To the left, more Order soldiers separated a small but growing group from the rest. They were beckoned over to join them. Mirron dared a quick glance. Kovan would be about the oldest there at seventeen. Some were as young as ten. Too many of them stared at the Ascendants with the accusing expressions not shown by their elders and parents. Kovan saw it and moved through the group, some thirty or forty strong so far, whispering what he wanted them to do. One loose word and the Ascendants would be unmasked.
'I'm sorry,' whispered Mirron to a girl near to her, feeling a cat brush against her legs. 'You'll be all right. Don't worry.'
Up on the oratory, the Chancellor stepped forwards. Around the forum, her soldiers bellowed for silence.
'Some of you might wonder why I am here and why you are gathered before me,' she said, staring all the time at the youngsters to her right. Mirron could sense her revulsion. 'But I doubt that number is very high. I expect some innocent visitors have been caught up in this and let me assure you that you have nothing to fear. God is with you although He has surely forsaken the place in which you now stand.
'To all those who choose to dwell here, I say this. You have a beautiful haven here. A paradise, some might say, that God has blessed with strong earth and bountiful seas. A gift. And yet you have let evil rot it. And that evil has pervaded to every corner of every villa. You have allowed to be created children who you would seat above God. People who you think will be able to manipulate the elements and the earth, the skies and the seas, animals and trees . . . other people, whether they will it or not.
'Nature in all its glory and terror is for us to enjoy, respect and maintain. It is not in our gift to dictate, alter or control it. That is heresy.'
She paused and let her eyes pass over the crowd. The silence was total among the people. No one even dared to shift their feet. Only the cicadas in the fields and the birds in the sky continued to call and sing.
'And I will uncover all of those who are guilty and bring them to justice under God. And what will that mean, I wonder? Perhaps those who revealed their fears of the crimes being committed here are exaggerating. Perhaps I am only seeking a handful of criminals and four tortured individuals whose bodies contain power they cannot hope to understand or control.'
Mirron shrank back against the comforting frame of Gorian. His hands slid around her waist, holding her close. She tried not to cry but it was so hard to contain her fear. Surely the Chancellor was staring straight at her, speaking into her heart to make her confess. She clamped her lips together to stop them trembling.
Around the group of young citizens, dogs and cats were beginning to gather. They were focusing on Gorian. How long before one of the Order remarked on it. She tried to focus her mind to send them away. Gorian should be doing the same but his barely suppressed rage was aimed squarely at the Chancellor.
'Make no mistake, I will discover the perpetrators of these crimes. Who it is that sanctioned the creation of these Ascendants and who it is that protects them now. And let me remind you that should you shield them, or even should you refuse to identify them when so demanded, you will be as guilty as they are.
'I will leave you to think on that. God looks down with benevolence and mercy on those who repent and return to the true faith; those who renounce the corruption they have experienced. Some of you will resist in a misplaced desire to protect these heretics. I will demonstrate why that would be a very grave mistake.'
She indicated to Vennegoor.
'Bring them up!' he barked.
A ripple ran through the crowd. There was movement left and right of the oratory. From the right the Echelon were moved onto the platform. All of them except dear Jen Shalke who would still be out with the fleet. Father Kessian led them, looking terribly old and fragile.
'Oh no,' said Mirron, feeling the tears running down her cheeks. 'How can they do this to him?'
He tried to look proud but he tottered on his two sticks and had to be helped to where they wanted him. Next to him was Genna, then Willem, Andreas, Hesther, Meera and Gwythen. They didn't look as if they'd been hurt but in their faces was all the stress of their capture. They were all made to stand.
'I won't let them hurt him,' muttered Gorian.
'Nor me,' said Kovan from next to them. 'Not him. They daren't touch him.'
'They would not want us to give ourselves away,' said Arducius. 'Remember that. We must not sacrifice ourselves.'
'I will not stand by,' said Gorian. 'And if I give myself away, so be it.'
Mirron heard a gasp from in front of her and followed the fingers that were pointing to the left of the oratory. Someone was being dragged on to the platform between two Order warriors. A name was shouted out and picked up by the crowd which bunched in singular outrage. Mirron looked hard and knew it to be true.
Through the mask of blood on her face under the tangle of her hair, and in the dishevelled, torn and bloodied robes, she could see it was Elsa Gueran. Elsa who did nothing but smile, love and preach the true word of God. There were shouts of anger and fists punched empty air. Bows were bent all around the forum and here and there, Order soldiers waded in to deliver kicks and punches to quell the unrest.
'And why are you enraged?' shouted the Chancellor. 'This woman took vows of piety and loyalty only unto God. And yet she has not merely turned her head from the heresy in your midst, she has taken active part in it. You should be cheering me for uncovering her crime and punishing her for it. You have to have faith in your Reader. How can you have faith in one who presents her back to God?'
There was renewed silence across the forum. Mirron, like all of them, knew with a sick certainty that there was going to be no justice. There were going to be no hearings and trials. There was going to be killing under the veil of God and with the approval of the
Chancellor, the one person charged above all others with the protection all who walked His earth. And up on the stage, the first act of a hideous drama was being played out before its frightened, captive audience.
'And what did you ask, I wonder?' Kessian's voice was trembling but full of passion. 'Did you care for the truth or did your thugs merely demand justification to beat an innocent woman? How is it that the most ignorant among us stands in judgement over us? How is it that you who should be seeking new glories of God feel so threatened by them that you would kill His people to hide them?'
Mirron's heart sang at the sound of his voice and for one moment, she felt the mortal fears of Westfallen lift. But the whole time he had been speaking, Koroyan had been sauntering easily towards him. She stood in front of him now. He did not flinch.
'So eloquent are the words of evil,' she said. 'So seductive are you tones, Ardol Kessian, father of this heresy. Always, those who seek to destroy God disguise their desires in the clothes of righteousness.'
'Destroy?' Kessian's face was dismayed. 'Will you not listen to us, Chancellor? Will you not see what is being done here and that all who are involved believe utterly in the sanctity of God?'
'I do not need to see. I dare not face it,' said Koroyan.
'You dare not face it for risk that you would see the truth.'
Mirron gasped. It was Elsa who had spoken. Her voice was thick with blood but she was holding her head up, her arms still held by her captors. Koroyan spun on her heel and strode back across the oratory, pointing an accusing finger at Elsa all the way.
'See!' she shouted to the crowd. 'See the corruption that evil brings? The confusion of the once pure mind.' She grabbed Elsa's chin. 'I almost pity you, girl. Because it is you who does not see. I have no need to confront your truth. I
am
the truth.'