Ellen Severson - Hederick the Theocrat

"Venessi"-Hederick would call her "mother" no more, for the Seeker gods were his parents now-"Tiolanthe is a myth." He sneered down at her, glad that at last the tables were turned. She was beneath him, and powerless to hurt him now. "You imagined him-to lead these people into sin and satisfy your greed. But Tiolanthe does not exist, and never did."

"Hederick, get down!" Venessi ordered. "You are a mere boy. That heathen priest has filled you with grandiose ideas. Get down, I say!"

"No."

"Tarscenian has fled like a cheat and a thief," she continued, satisfaction ripe in her tones. "I knew he would. Tiolanthe will forgive you, Hederick, if you stop this now. Even I will forgive you. Recant at once."

Again he refused.

"Then you will die," she announced with smug satisfaction. "I'll not permit such viciousness, not when I can so easily prevent it." Venessi pointed to three of the largest men in the crowd of villagers. "Peren Volen. Willad Oberl. Jerad Oberl. Fetch my worthless son!"

The men hurried to do Venessi's bidding. "Sauvay, god of vengeance, stand for me," Hederick prayed. He expected Sauvay to strike the three dead, but they advanced up onto the wagon, towering over him with balled fists. All looked delighted with their mission. "Sauvay, your servant awaits," he whispered. "Come to me now."

There was no rushing wind, no circle of brilliance. Sauvay had said he'd be with Hederick as long as the boy was faithful, but now there was no sign of the god. Had Hederick weakened? Was Sauvay angry with him for

some reason? Perhaps this was a test of his resolve. "I will show myself worthy, Sauvay," he murmured.

Hederick searched his pockets for some weapon. There was nothing but the glittering dragon he'd taken from the witch. Garlunders were simple people, he thought, perhaps the gaudy thing would distract them like crows, just long enough for him to escape.

He cradled the dragon in his bare hand. It felt warm to the touch. "Stop!" he cried. He raised one arm to throw the dragon-then halted, stunned.

All the villagers, Venessi included, looked at him as though entranced. The bauble was bathed in an eerie glow. A miracle!

"The sign!" Hederick breathed. "Sauvay is with me! Blessed be the Seeker gods," he intoned, raising his voice. "People of Garlund!"

They gaped. Some actually beamed inanely. "Look," said a woman who'd berated him earlier, "it's young Hederick. Hasn't he grown! Venessi must be proud."

Venessi emitted a beatific smile. "Certainly, Marta. Hederick is the joy of my life. All my trials become nothing when I see his triumph. Everything I have done, I have done for him. I am blessed."

Now all were speaking, smiling, pointing. "What a pious young man!" "Aren't we lucky to have a saint among us." "He is destined for great acts." "I always saw promise in the lad." "He has been set apart for a higher calling." "Blessed be the Seeker gods!"

They cheered, and the boy who stood above them felt the power of their acclamation. Sauvay had been bountiful beyond Hederick's imagining. He stroked the dragon and sighed a prayer of thanks.

"People of Garlund," he repeated, purposely pitching his voice low. The villagers had to fall silent to hear his every word. "We are at a holy crossroads tonight. Venessi has led us down a false path. For a long time we followed

her fraudulent gods, but the real gods, the gods of the Seekers, cry out for justice. Venessi deserves punishment. She cares nothing for us."

Frowns fell across their dull faces like flickering lamplight, and they began to mutter. "Lad's right." "Venessi would see us damned before she'd admit to being only a common woman." "She's too proud." "She murdered her own husband!" "See her fine house-so much nicer than ours." "We fed her, served her, and for what?" "She must think we are fools." "Cast her out! Banish her!"

"People!" Hederick interjected forcefully when their emotions had been raised to fever pitch. All heads turned his way. Venessi backed away from the wagon, but two women caught her arms and prevented further retreat.

"This woman tricked you into duplicity and sin!" Hederick cried, pointing at the woman who had been his tormentor for thirteen years.

"That's true," one man shouted. "Listen to Hederick."

'This woman used your piety against you!"

"That's so," another man responded.

"This woman stole from you!"

"Yes."

"She starved you and your families!"

"Vile witch."

"This woman endangered your souls by leading you to a deity she knew to be false-and by spurning the very gods who could redeem you!"

Peren Volen spoke from behind him. "She is evil," he said.

"This woman led her own daughter to witchcraft, sent her away to study the black arts!"

"She is evil." Jerad Oberl added his voice.

"This woman slew her own husband!"

"She is evil," Willad Oberl agreed.

"And you would do no more than banish her?" Hederick's eyes blazed, and he raised his hands before the crowd.

"Kill her!" Peren and the Oberls howled.

"You would leave her alive to lead others into blasphemy?"

"Kill her!"

"The Seeker gods watch you now, people of Garlund, to see if you will prove your faith. Do you love the New Gods, villagers of Garlund? Do you fear them, adore them?"

The people screamed and shouted. They danced, leaping into the night air as though ecstacy forced them to take vigorous action or die.

"Kill the sinner!" Hederick shouted. He swept his hand toward Venessi. She struggled against the women who held her, then cowered as strong, determined hands twisted her arms and vicious fingers pinched and pulled at her.

"Let not such an evildoer remain alive to infect you and your children. Kill her!"

With a roar, the crowd fell upon Venessi, drowning out her screams with their cries of righteous rage. Hederick caught one last glimpse of his mother's terrified face, then she was swept under clawlike hands and booted feet like a leaf in a whirlwind.

At length, the people drew back. Some looked bewildered, as though they had awakened only that moment to find Venessi inexplicably trampled and beaten to death on the ground before them.

"People of Garlund." Hederick held the dragon aloft and offered another silent prayer to Sauvay. "See what you have done," he remonstrated quietly. "This dear woman lived only for you. She risked her life bringing you out of the decay of Caergoth to the richness of these plains. Venessi gave up her beloved husband for you because he had sinned and no longer could set the example she knew you needed. She sent her daughter away for the same reason: to keep you safe. It was through her actions that you, the people of Garlund, came to the altar of the New Gods. She tried her utmost to warn you about the false priest, yet you have so little love in your hearts that you…"

Hederick sighed, gesturing at the body. He clasped the dragon so tightly that the diamonds cut his hand; tears welled in his eyes. He let a few drops spill onto his cheeks. "She was my mother, never forget." He forced more tears to flow, and several villagers began to cry. All avoided looking at Venessi's dead body.

"This is murder," Hederick whispered, so piercingly that all could hear him. "You have sinned, people of Garlund. You know such a heinous act cannot be expiated by prayer and fasting, or by sacrifices and gifts to the gods and their priests. There is only one punishment for such a crime.

"Willad, Jerad, Peren, attend me." The three men straightened as if hypnotized. "I order you, in the name of Sauvay, god of power and vengeance, to execute the sinners of this village." To the villagers, Hederick said, "I order you, in the name of Sauvay and the Seeker pantheons, to accept your just punishment."

The villagers stood, sheeplike, awaiting their fate. Hederick rejoiced inwardly to Sauvay.