Chapter 5: Chapter 5 – Judgment

For the second time that day, Grayson woke up with a splitting headache, which wasn’t helped by the raised voices nearby. Grayson tried to move his hands to cradle his head, but he found them bound. Feeling somewhat disoriented, he tried struggling against his bonds.

The raised voices quieted, which was good for his headache, but Grayson soon found the priest dressed in ornate robes taking up the field of his vision. The man’s face looked calm, but when he started speaking, it was with a cold fury.

“Now that he’s awake, we shall get some answers while we wait for the guard captain to arrive.” The man focused on Grayson before speaking again.

“Do you know who I am?”

Still reeling from the turn of events, Grayson shook his head mutely, though he did get a better look at the man. The gold trim of his blue robes was actually embroidery of small clamshells sewn along the edges of the garment. Apart from the robe, the priest wore several strings of fat pearls, including one string that had a clamshell hanging in the middle as a centerpiece. Grayson was starting to think people on this world might be obsessed with clams.

“Interesting,” the man said, looking somewhat miffed at the revelation. “I am Archbishop Sandoval, leader of the church of Velos.”

Looking into the man’s eyes, Grayson knew that the priest would either be a powerful ally or a dangerous enemy, but before he could respond, the archbishop continued in a more conversational tone.

“So, stranger, when Brother Tindol told me you demonstrated the sigil, I have to admit I was rather skeptical.” He said, gesturing to the side where a familiar priest in light blue robes stood. The same one that had ushered him into the temple. “But when the guards I called to deal with you said there were rumors of a man who entered the city by showing the sigil to the gate guards, I thought it might be worth a little more investigation. Which brings me to the point. Is there a reason you used the sigil of our god to desecrate his effigy?”

Grayson considered the question before answering. The only thing he could come up with was to tell the truth. That seemed like the best way to get him out of this situation.

“I was commanded by Velos to touch the statue. I simply did what he asked of me.”

“That seems unlikely to me, as Velos has been all but silent recently. He has seldom spoken to his chosen priests since the calamity, and yet he would speak to you- a stranger of dubious origin.”

Sandoval paused, and many of the priests nodded along to that, confirming his words to be true before continuing.

“And for even more proof, the effigy struck you down. That hardly seems like it would happen to someone doing the will of Velos. So, I return to my original question. Why use the sigil to desecrate the effigy?”

Grayson just shrugged at the man, feeling helpless. This wasn’t looking good. Not only did this priest seem to have it out for him because he touched the statue, but he knew that this made him look bad. He wasn’t too worried, because inn the end, as long as he had the sigil as proof he was on an errand for Velos, he would be fine. But this Sandoval character didn’t seem to like him at all, and that was the real problem. Grayson was sure he would need the churches support in the future, and this would make cooperation much harder.

“I told you the truth, it was by Velos’s command, and I can prove it to you if you would allow me to show you the sigil.”

A commotion outside garnered Archbishop Sandoval's attention. The priest looked over before smiling. A moment later, a contingent of city guards walked into view. At their head, none other than Guard Captain Shier.

“Perfect timing,” the ornately robed priest said, “We can continue now. It didn’t seem like we were getting anywhere as it was.”

Shier walked forward, and the priest gestured at Grayson. “Is this the man who showed you the sigil.”

“Yes.” Shier said simply, after taking a moment to examine Grayson’s face. The guards who had arrived with the captain appeared to be the ones stationed at the gate when Grayson had arrived at Silmia. Each of them nodded in agreement.

“Excellent,” the priest said before turning a frosty glare toward Grayson. “Show us the sigil then. Demonstrate the proof that Velos commanded you to touch the effigy. If you can manifest it, which I find doubtful, I will overlook the infraction. But if not…”

Two city guards began to untie the ropes, and Grayson took the time to study the room. He was no longer in the place where he had touched the statue, but judging by the vaulted ceilings, it did appear that he was still in the temple. The room was full of angry priests, though a fair amount of city guards had gathered inside the room as well.

Grayson did his best to understand why the statue had shocked him, but nothing came to mind. Velos had said to touch the statue to continue his journey, but aside from having a severe headache and making a whole lot of priests hate him, he didn’t see the reason why he needed to touch the thing. There was no new information like he thought it would give him. He didn’t feel like he suddenly had magic powers. There was simply… nothing.

At this point, the guards had untied his hands and he was getting expectant looks from the onlookers.

“Well?” The archbishop said impatiently.

Grayson sighed and took on the pose once again and called Velos’s name out in his mind. And nothing happened. No light appeared. Grayson looked above his head, but the space was empty. He started to panic internally then, as the faces of the onlookers began to darken. He tried again and again, but the sigil refused to appear.

“I think that proves it then,” the high priest said, an air of satisfaction entering his voice. “This man has made a mockery of our god, impersonating one of his emissaries to deface the effigy Velos himself placed on Selenya.”

The priest nodded at the guard captain, who gave a curt nod in return.

“I will recommend he be sent to the proving grounds.” Guard Captain Shier said, “I am sure Lady Altera will approve.”

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Archbishop Sandoval smiled widely at that before beginning to walk away with no further words.

With that, Guard Captain Shier signaled to his men. The guards moved to restrain Grayson once again, but he struggled against them.

“Wait!” Grayson cried out. “Velos told me to touch the statue, it was on his order.”

The high priest simply scoffed, not bothering to respond, striding away, many of the priests following behind him.

Grayson called out for him to wait and listen to him several more times, but the man quickly disappeared through a large door. With that, Grayson stopped struggling against the guards. They had already succeeded in pulling his arms behind his back, and they were beginning to bind them together. Seeing that it was useless, and he would only get himself further into trouble if he continued to resist. Instead, he turned his attention to Guard Captain Shier.

“Please, you need to understand, I was sent here by Velos. I don’t know why the sigil isn’t showing, but this is a mistake.”

“The high priest has spoken, and the proof has been witnessed by all.” Shier responded, “It is possible you were sent by Velos, but it would appear that you have lost his blessing. Even if I wanted to intercede on your behalf, it would be a lost cause. Perhaps if you are able to appeal to Lady Altera, she will shield you, but it is unlikely. Though I will promise that if you are on good behavior, you will have a much better chance.”

“Please-” Grayson said, almost in a whisper, looking the man in the eyes and trying to convey his innocence.

Shier just shook his head, speaking to the guards. “Take him to the red holding cells.”

As the rest of the guards started hauling Grayson away, the guard captain turned to him with some parting words, spoken with the same impassive face as ever.

“I warned you to stay out of trouble in the city. You should have listened.”

Grayson spent the entire trip to the holding cells in a fog. With all that was happening to him, it was beginning to be too much. He was being yanked mercilessly from one direction to the other. Any excitement that he had earlier in the day was completely gone at this point.

Yet again, something had happened that left him with more questions than answers. He had thought that maybe by reaching the statue he could finally start to get a handle on the situation, but it seemed to have just made his problems bigger. The archbishop hated him now, when the man should have been Grayson’s greatest ally.

This couldn’t possibly be what Velos wanted, he thought, there's no way he would do this to me purposefully, right?

But the more he thought about it, that seemed like the only explanation. Why else would the god suddenly decide to withhold the sigil. He was still trying to think of an answer when a loud cough rang out, snapping Grayson out of his thoughts. The guards had brought Grayson in front of a small desk where a man sat, looking and Grayson with cold eyes.

“Welcome to the Silmia holding facilities. I am Warden Brent. Before you begin your stay here you should know your crimes will be presented to Lady Altera, and if she takes an interest, you will be able to argue your case before her. I wouldn’t hold my breath, though. There's only a small chance she’ll decide to meet with you, and an even smaller chance she’ll pardon the offense. It’s almost a guarantee you’ll be headed to the proving grounds. If those poor fools in the green cells can’t get out of it, then there’s certainly no chance you will. There is no appeal process, and I assure you this is a legal use of the wartime powers given to Lady Altera. Begging and pleading will not help your case. Stay quiet and keep out of trouble.”

It was all said in a clinical tone, as if the same thing had been said many times before. The warden waved the guards onward and Grayson was taken through several more doors before reaching a large room lined with cells. He was dragged to the far end of the room and shoved into one of the cells before the door clanked shut behind him. As the light from the torch the guards carried receded, Grayson was left in almost complete darkness. It was fully night at this point, and there were no light sources inside the prison block.

Grayson curled up in the fetal position. Going through everything that had happened in his head. Trying to arrange all the information he had received to try and find a complete picture that would explain why he was here, sitting in a cell, on a world he knew nothing about.

In particular, he ran through his conversation with Velos, trying to think everything the god had said. What it all came back to was that the god had been acting strange. The infection had already seemed to be affecting him.

Was it possible that the god had already perished? That seemed unlikely, seeing as he didn’t seem to be hurried when speaking to Grayson, but it was a possibility. It was also possible that the episodes the god had were getting longer. Twice, Velos had seemed to short out during their conversation. Perhaps he had done the same thing while Grayson was trying to call the sigil, and it hadn’t been available during that time.

That sounded so unlucky it was hard to believe, but Grayson still needed to try out the sigil again, just in case. Optimistically, they might be able to release him immediately if he were able to manifest the sigil, and if not maybe he could use it to get a meeting with the Lady Altera they had mentioned. It sounded like she had the power to lift the sentence to the proving grounds, whatever that was.

But the way everyone was speaking about these proving grounds made them sound terrifying. The archbishop had looked particularly pleased at the sentence, which was worrisome. The priest had been furious beneath his calm exterior, and Grayson had a feeling that he wasn’t the merciful type.

He took on the pose with his fists connected in front of his chest, his arms creating a triangle in front of him. Once again, he called out Velos’s name in his mind, but nothing happened. A groan of pure frustration escaped him as he looked balefully at the space above his head. He hadn’t thought it would work, but it would have made his life so much easier.

The only other thing he could think of was that the statue had done something to prevent him from using the sigil. That was an interesting theory. It seemed more promising than the others he had come up with. The effigy had shocked him for what appeared to be no reason at all, and instead of the continuation of the journey he had been promised, he had been sent here.

That didn’t do much to explain why it had happened, but it did seem to explain how it might have happened. If that was the case, it seemed increasingly likely that Velos had purposefully stripped the ability away from him.

Grayson wanted to scream. These thoughts were making him angry, but the worst part was it was all just guesswork. It could be something entirely different, and he would never know. It was possible Velos didn’t even know the sigil wasn’t working.

Whatever it was, this had been the longest day of his life, and he was tired both physically and mentally. He needed some sleep. Grayson felt around the cell until he ran across a pile of straw and collapsed into it. And despite the turmoil of his thoughts, he was asleep in minutes.

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