room. The door closed behind him, likely by Mam. He hurried to the furnace room in the basement. With any luck, he’d be able to hear something through the air vents. He stood under the large duct, where he knew the voices from the living room would carry.
“— your son,” Elder Naseph said.
“Which one?” asked Da.
This evoked a soft chuckle from the old sage. “The eldest.”
Taemon leaned against the cellar’s stone wall, listening for a scream, a gasp, the sound of Mam collapsing. He heard nothing.
The next noise was the back door opening and slamming, along with Yens’s voice. “Mam! Da! Wait till — Oh. Hello, Elder Naseph. Good wishes.” His words were buttery smooth.
“My son is not the True Son,” Da said calmly.
“Perhaps not. But he shows great promise. Still, we will test him. Train him. A decision will be made.”
“Da, please. It’s my duty. I want to do everything I can for the people.”
“Nothing good will come of this, Yens. Can’t you see they’re just —?”
“I’d be very cautious about how you finish that sentence, Brother Willjamen. Very cautious.” The high priest’s voice took on a threatening tone: “You would do well to remember that we have been watching both your sons. Today we leave one son with you. If you decide to challenge the authority of the church, we may decide not to be so generous.”
Taemon thought he heard a gasp that must have come from Mam.
Did the high priest know about Taemon’s condition? He must. And he was using it to control Da’s objections. Taemon sat on the floor and hugged his knees. Being powerless hadn’t erased the danger he posed to his family after all, only shifted it.
“It’s the right thing, Da. I’m going.” Taemon heard excitement in Yens’s voice.
And from Da, silence. Da, the Stone.
The high priest told Yens he was not allowed to bring anything with him. Taemon thought he should stay downstairs until they called for him, but that never happened. By the time he decided to go upstairs anyway, Yens was gone.
That night, Taemon pulled his copy of the scriptures from under his bed. He hadn’t read the True Son prophecies for a long time. What exactly did they say? Could it really be Yens?
And the True Son shall be the blade that separates, and he shall sever the bonds that lash the burden of my people, for the True Son is the knife.
Well, Yens
was
born under the day sign Knife, but there were only twenty day signs and everyone had to be born under one of them. There were plenty of other people born on Knife. And Taemon thought about something Da had told him and Yens long ago, when they were first learning scripture: in ancient texts, “he” or “man” or “son” was used to refer to men
or
women. The True Son could actually be a True Daughter, for all anyone knew.
Taemon turned to another passage:
He shall be born in the lineage of Nathan and shall bear the people into the next Sacred Cycle.
Yens
was
a descendant of Nathan. But so was Mam, and her father before her, and back and back. There had to have been another Knife in there somewhere. What made the high priest so sure that the True Son was born
now,
in Yens’s time?
He scanned down to the part of the verse that talked about the New Cycle.
A cycle of peace. A cycle of knowledge. A cycle of deliverance. A cycle of new power. And the people shall be astounded by the great sign which shall begin the next age. Then shall the True Son enter the New Cycle through the North Gate.
Interesting, but not very helpful. Da was right. There was no mention of when all this would happen. Which meant the high priest could decide when he wanted it to happen. And who he wanted it to be.
It is for the Heart of the Earth to choose the True Son.
Earth and Sky! That voice was in his head again. The one from after the accident, with Yens. This was dangerous. He had to get rid of it!
Don’t talk to me,
he thought as forcefully as he could.
The Son who is
“— your son,” Elder Naseph said.
“Which one?” asked Da.
This evoked a soft chuckle from the old sage. “The eldest.”
Taemon leaned against the cellar’s stone wall, listening for a scream, a gasp, the sound of Mam collapsing. He heard nothing.
The next noise was the back door opening and slamming, along with Yens’s voice. “Mam! Da! Wait till — Oh. Hello, Elder Naseph. Good wishes.” His words were buttery smooth.
“My son is not the True Son,” Da said calmly.
“Perhaps not. But he shows great promise. Still, we will test him. Train him. A decision will be made.”
“Da, please. It’s my duty. I want to do everything I can for the people.”
“Nothing good will come of this, Yens. Can’t you see they’re just —?”
“I’d be very cautious about how you finish that sentence, Brother Willjamen. Very cautious.” The high priest’s voice took on a threatening tone: “You would do well to remember that we have been watching both your sons. Today we leave one son with you. If you decide to challenge the authority of the church, we may decide not to be so generous.”
Taemon thought he heard a gasp that must have come from Mam.
Did the high priest know about Taemon’s condition? He must. And he was using it to control Da’s objections. Taemon sat on the floor and hugged his knees. Being powerless hadn’t erased the danger he posed to his family after all, only shifted it.
“It’s the right thing, Da. I’m going.” Taemon heard excitement in Yens’s voice.
And from Da, silence. Da, the Stone.
The high priest told Yens he was not allowed to bring anything with him. Taemon thought he should stay downstairs until they called for him, but that never happened. By the time he decided to go upstairs anyway, Yens was gone.
That night, Taemon pulled his copy of the scriptures from under his bed. He hadn’t read the True Son prophecies for a long time. What exactly did they say? Could it really be Yens?
And the True Son shall be the blade that separates, and he shall sever the bonds that lash the burden of my people, for the True Son is the knife.
Well, Yens
was
born under the day sign Knife, but there were only twenty day signs and everyone had to be born under one of them. There were plenty of other people born on Knife. And Taemon thought about something Da had told him and Yens long ago, when they were first learning scripture: in ancient texts, “he” or “man” or “son” was used to refer to men
or
women. The True Son could actually be a True Daughter, for all anyone knew.
Taemon turned to another passage:
He shall be born in the lineage of Nathan and shall bear the people into the next Sacred Cycle.
Yens
was
a descendant of Nathan. But so was Mam, and her father before her, and back and back. There had to have been another Knife in there somewhere. What made the high priest so sure that the True Son was born
now,
in Yens’s time?
He scanned down to the part of the verse that talked about the New Cycle.
A cycle of peace. A cycle of knowledge. A cycle of deliverance. A cycle of new power. And the people shall be astounded by the great sign which shall begin the next age. Then shall the True Son enter the New Cycle through the North Gate.
Interesting, but not very helpful. Da was right. There was no mention of when all this would happen. Which meant the high priest could decide when he wanted it to happen. And who he wanted it to be.
It is for the Heart of the Earth to choose the True Son.
Earth and Sky! That voice was in his head again. The one from after the accident, with Yens. This was dangerous. He had to get rid of it!
Don’t talk to me,
he thought as forcefully as he could.
The Son who is
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