happened, Brother Osmun? What else did you see? Tell me everything.”
Osmun told him as much as he could, nearly every detail, except he transposed the event to Ellsland. He did not want to mention the trial or the involvement of the two clerics should those facts taint Nestor’s answer.
“How certain are you of this?” Nestor asked after a long pause. “Is there any way you are ascribing traits or behaviours that perhaps were not being exhibited?”
“There was nothing ambiguous about what I saw. It spoke to me, as certainly and as plainly as I am speaking to you.”
Nestor turned and paced, unsteadily. He muttered to himself for a moment, waiving his hand in the air as if orating. “No,” he said, stopping suddenly. “I have not heard of such a thing. It kept you in place , you say… Quite troubling.”
“I told this to one of the other priests. He thought I was seeing things. Or lying.”
“It could certainly seem that way. Quite unusual that no one mentioned something similar. Quite troubling, I think. You’re not lying, are you?”
Osmun shook his head slowly. Nestor patted him on the arm.
“No, I know you aren’t. Do you know how I know?”
Osmun shrugged.
Nestor smiled. “Because I’m far too intimidating to be lied to.” The old historian chuckled to himself, and the laugh then became a cough. Osmun helped him back into his chair.
“So you believe me? You don’t think I’m seeing things?”
Nestor breathed deeply as he cleared his throat and gave Osmun a strange look.
“Seeing things? No, no. Not in the least. Had you thought that of yourself?”
“What I saw was nearly… impossible to comprehend.”
“Comprehension has nothing to do with your senses. Do we comprehend what a bird says when it sings? Of course we don’t, but we hear it all the same. It’s not possible that your senses were fooled.”
“How do you know?”
“Because Ryfe said so himself. It is written in the Recounting.”
Osmun’s mind raced through the passages of the holy book written by the Beacon himself, but there was no passage he could think of that spoke to this. Nestor noticed Osmun’s confusion.
“You’ve let your studies lapse, Brother Osmun. You don’t know the passage? You ought to, being one who communes…”
Osmun still searched… nothing.
“You need to have a more critical eye, it seems!” Nestor said, pleased as he always was to best someone with his intellect. “It’s actually two passages, in two different doctrines. The first would be…”
“First doctrine, second thesis. What he said about speaking with phantoms.”
Nestor smiled. “Good! Yes, that’s good. He was the first with the ability to commune, so he knew that most people could not see what you see when you commune, or speak with phantoms , as it were.”
“But the second thesis is only what he wrote about the ability to see the Beyond, it says nothing about…”
“You’re only scratching the surface, Brother Osmun,” Nestor interrupted. “The truths of the Beacon go deeper than their obvious meaning. He said that the spirits that haunt our world deceive us.”
“They deceive…” Osmun opened and closed his hand as he thought. “They deceive those who cannot see them, those who are not aware.”
“Which means…”
“Which means that those who see them are not deceived.”
Nestor smiled, pleased at having guided Osmun to the conclusion. “He had a way of teaching two things by saying only one.”
“It’s something of a reach,” Osmun said.
“Perhaps by itself, but the second passage is from the first thesis of the third doctrine. Xidius said, ‘Follow me and know the truth of the world, and be saved from its evils.’”
“He was referring to the first two doctrines and the formation of the church.”
“Yes he was, but he was speaking to someone in that passage – Anson Marinus, his first disciple, and the first person who later learned from Xidius himself how to commune.
Osmun told him as much as he could, nearly every detail, except he transposed the event to Ellsland. He did not want to mention the trial or the involvement of the two clerics should those facts taint Nestor’s answer.
“How certain are you of this?” Nestor asked after a long pause. “Is there any way you are ascribing traits or behaviours that perhaps were not being exhibited?”
“There was nothing ambiguous about what I saw. It spoke to me, as certainly and as plainly as I am speaking to you.”
Nestor turned and paced, unsteadily. He muttered to himself for a moment, waiving his hand in the air as if orating. “No,” he said, stopping suddenly. “I have not heard of such a thing. It kept you in place , you say… Quite troubling.”
“I told this to one of the other priests. He thought I was seeing things. Or lying.”
“It could certainly seem that way. Quite unusual that no one mentioned something similar. Quite troubling, I think. You’re not lying, are you?”
Osmun shook his head slowly. Nestor patted him on the arm.
“No, I know you aren’t. Do you know how I know?”
Osmun shrugged.
Nestor smiled. “Because I’m far too intimidating to be lied to.” The old historian chuckled to himself, and the laugh then became a cough. Osmun helped him back into his chair.
“So you believe me? You don’t think I’m seeing things?”
Nestor breathed deeply as he cleared his throat and gave Osmun a strange look.
“Seeing things? No, no. Not in the least. Had you thought that of yourself?”
“What I saw was nearly… impossible to comprehend.”
“Comprehension has nothing to do with your senses. Do we comprehend what a bird says when it sings? Of course we don’t, but we hear it all the same. It’s not possible that your senses were fooled.”
“How do you know?”
“Because Ryfe said so himself. It is written in the Recounting.”
Osmun’s mind raced through the passages of the holy book written by the Beacon himself, but there was no passage he could think of that spoke to this. Nestor noticed Osmun’s confusion.
“You’ve let your studies lapse, Brother Osmun. You don’t know the passage? You ought to, being one who communes…”
Osmun still searched… nothing.
“You need to have a more critical eye, it seems!” Nestor said, pleased as he always was to best someone with his intellect. “It’s actually two passages, in two different doctrines. The first would be…”
“First doctrine, second thesis. What he said about speaking with phantoms.”
Nestor smiled. “Good! Yes, that’s good. He was the first with the ability to commune, so he knew that most people could not see what you see when you commune, or speak with phantoms , as it were.”
“But the second thesis is only what he wrote about the ability to see the Beyond, it says nothing about…”
“You’re only scratching the surface, Brother Osmun,” Nestor interrupted. “The truths of the Beacon go deeper than their obvious meaning. He said that the spirits that haunt our world deceive us.”
“They deceive…” Osmun opened and closed his hand as he thought. “They deceive those who cannot see them, those who are not aware.”
“Which means…”
“Which means that those who see them are not deceived.”
Nestor smiled, pleased at having guided Osmun to the conclusion. “He had a way of teaching two things by saying only one.”
“It’s something of a reach,” Osmun said.
“Perhaps by itself, but the second passage is from the first thesis of the third doctrine. Xidius said, ‘Follow me and know the truth of the world, and be saved from its evils.’”
“He was referring to the first two doctrines and the formation of the church.”
“Yes he was, but he was speaking to someone in that passage – Anson Marinus, his first disciple, and the first person who later learned from Xidius himself how to commune.
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