Robert Hughes - The Power and the Prophet

He spent his days standing upon a huge boulder that towered over the seething sea. Sometimes he looked down, watching the waves hit the rocks with a rhythmical roar. But most of the time he studied the southern horizon. At last he saw the sail he’d been expecting and, while it was still a half hour distant, he began to summon the brothers to gather.

When the new ship anchored in the small cove beside the two vessels that had brought the rest of them to this island, there was already a large crowd waiting on the beach. Erri stood barefooted in the surf, watching as the rowboats ploughed the waves toward him. He waded out to meet the first one and helped guide it up onto the sand. Several of its occupants leaped out to help him. The man in the bow did not. Instead he clutched the side of the boat with one hand and his stomach with the other. His gown was the sky blue color of that of all initiates, but his face was a sickly green. He rolled his eyes to gaze up into Erri’s and murmured, “Prophet. This wasn’t how I’d planned to greet you.”

Erri laid a hand on the man’s shoulder. “Come on, Naquin, stand up. You don’t have any disease that can’t be cured by solid ground.”

The former High Priest of the Unified Dragonfaith stepped out of the boat with Erri’s assistance and almost collapsed into the foam. The prophet caught him and led him up onto the dry sand. There he helped Naquin sit and sat beside him.

Naquin looked around unsteadily, then felt the land on either side of him and asked with pale, trembling lips, “Are we still moving?”

“Just relax a moment.” Erri smiled. “You’ll soon feel better.”

“Nothing in the Temple of the Dragon ever prepared me for that” Naquin sighed.

“I daresay you’ve experienced quite a lot in the last few months that your father and his advisors never prepared you for.”

“Oh, yes.” Naquin nodded. Erri could tell the man was feeling better already by the hint of animation in his voice. “Quite a lot. On the other hand, I found politics in Queen Bronwynn’s court not much different from those in Lamath.”

“How was Bronwynn when you left her?” Erri asked with intense concern.

“Distracted,” Naquin sighed. “Terribly distracted over Rosha’s absence. And distracted, too, over some strange new experiences…”

“What kind of experiences?”

“Magical, I’m afraid.” Naquin sniffed, evidencing his disapproval. Erri nodded knowingly. He seemed unsurprised. “Well, doesn’t that bother you?” Naquin asked.

“Should it?”

“Well, I hardly believe the Power would use powershaping to accomplish Its purpose, do you?” Naquin had once been the premier priest of the Dragonfaith, despite being a nonbeliever. Erri had given him a faith to believe in and a responsibility for sharing it. As sometimes happened with new believers, the pupil was more dogmatic than his teacher.

“I don’t know,” Erri said flatly.

“You don’t know!” Naquin was shocked.

That didn’t appear to bother the Prophet. Not much did, these days. “No. I thought I knew, until very recently. But these past few days I’ve had the luxury of time for thinking and I’ve been using it. And I wonder. Just how much do I really know about this Power? It seems that every time I’m certain I know something, the ground shifts under my feet, and I discover something new that just raises more questions.” Erri grinned brightly at his frowning follower. “Who knows what the Power might use to accomplish Its purposes? Or whom?”

Naquin didn’t return the smile. He’d been in Chaomonous— and on his own—for some months, acting as the spiritual leader to those initiates Erri had sent with him. He’d buried a few of those charges, committing them into the Power’s keeping. He’d led a number of Chaons to don the sky blue cassock, and some of those had accompanied him here. Naquin had a stake in this new belief men termed the skyfaith, and it made him uncomfortable to hear his leader talking this way—especially in front of the newer initiates. “If that were true,” he asked quietly, “how could we be certain that the Power can be depended upon?”

“Oh, I never have any question about the Power’s hold on me, or about the task I’ve been assigned.

That much is clear and remains so. I’m just never certain who else is on the same side. But that doesn’t matter, anyway. It doesn’t keep me from doing what I must. I see your work goes well.” Erri beamed at the new arrivals on the beach. The rowboats had already dropped off thirty and were headed back to the ship for more.

Naquin accepted this praise with a tight-lipped smile and a slight nod. Then his frown returned. “But what about Lamath?” he asked gravely. “Is all hope lost?”

“Lost?” Erri exclaimed. “Oh my, no. If anything, it’s been found again.”

“Then steps are being taken toward your resumption of governmental control?”

“No, no. At/least I hope not. I’ve not taken any. No, nothing kills faith so effectively as making it part of politics. You ought to know that yourself, with your past experience.”

“Well, I—”

“Governing Lamath distracted me from my real assignment. Personally, I wouldn’t mind the royal family maintaining their dynasty for another hundred years, but for the fact that they’ve endorsed this renewed Dragonfaith business. And that wouldn’t bother me so much if they were honest. But it’s not a faith at all.

It’s politics and power. And it’s all being done at the direction of this man Flayh. I may not always know who works beside me, or how the Power moves, but I do know this man Flayh is against all that we’ve tried to accomplish.”

“Because he’s a powershaper,” Naquin snarled.

“No. Because he wants to be all-powerful.”

Naquin nodded. “Then perhaps we should return to Chaomonous and join ourselves to the queen’s army.”

Erri looked away. He slid his hands backward through the sand and leaned back to gaze at the cloudy sky. He seemed to weigh his words carefully before he spoke. “I think not.”

“But if this Flayh is our enemy—”

“He’s the Power’s enemy.”

“Then we must work to defeat him!”

“By performing our appointed tasks.” Erri looked back at Naquin, his face solemn. “Do you expect to destroy Flayh and his thugs and his dogs with an army of Chaons? The thugs, maybe. But not the shaper.

And even if successful, how would the Golden Throng knit the three lands back together into one? By force of arms? No. Perhaps Bronwynn’s army will be part of the Power’s total plan. I don’t know. I do know that if Bronwynn departs Chaomonous prematurely, she’ll leave a vulnerable kingdom behind her.

These magical powers she’s experiencing are not without purpose. When you get back to Chaomonous, you must urge her to wait.”

“Then we’re going back?” Naquin frowned. “I had thought…”

“We would advance on Lamath like conquering heroes?”

Erri smiled. Then he stood up and turned to face the large gathering of blue-robed believers. Many conversations died as all eyes turned to look at him. He waited for the last of the rowboats to beach, then he began:

“Brothers. We’ve gathered here just to be together briefly and to talk and encourage one another, to draw strength from each other. Soon we’ll go back to our appointed tasks. It won’t be easy for any of us.

But it will be good.

“Lamath is no longer under our rule. Now we can go out freely and mingle with the people, as we should have been doing all along. We’re few, but we’re enough. We’ve all been together in the capital. It’s time we divided and went our own ways, to find those who need what we offer.

“Naquin, lead your people back to Chaomonous. But don’t stay in the city. The queen doesn’t need your guidance; she has her own. The people of Chaomonous are educated skeptics, but it’s an age of uncertainty. Naquin, your strength is an unshakable certainty in your faith. That’s a security the Chaons need.