It was dark and the sound of rain cut through the talking of two people. "We both follow the faith, loyally. And now is a ti to co together in a ti of great strife. And yet you don’t because of what? Your ego. Pride." Mother stood in front of an old man holding a large book. Abdul looked up through his sunken eyes at the woman.
He smacked his lips together and chuckled. "You think I stand against you because of my pride." His voice was full of disdain talking to Mother. "I see you for what you are. Your faith is as empty as your words. You wish for Khors’s worship for yourself. A woman who doesn’t understand her place." Abdul turned his back, "Don’t seek out again."
"Stop." Mother ordered with a cold voice but Abdul kept walking. Her eyes went cold. "Do you really doubt my faith that much? I love Khors. He saved when no one else did. I have given everything for him and I thought you of all people would be able to understand this." Her voice spoke with a mix of passion and anger and Abdul stopped turning back to look at her. "I am asking you to help save our beloved lord. This is the only way."
Abdul looked deep into her eyes. He could see the worship she felt but deep inside he saw it wasn’t truly pure. "Maybe once you felt that way. But no more. Your pure intentions have been corrupted. I stand against you simply because I don’t wish for the faith to beco sothing that it shouldn’t be. You want to beco a state like the Church." He spit in disgust at the thought. "We don’t hold a seat of power for a reason. To create a nation for Khors will lead to persecution of those in it. We are not Sol. We do not rule and control the lives of others. We are the guides. The ones who must lead our fellow faithful down a pure life so we can bring about our Lord’s return."
He walked back over to her grabbing her dark purple hair. "To claim you are kissed by Khors. What a joke." He opened the door leading out into the small storm and pulled up his hood. "Because you are not completely lost I will give you this. Seek out the Sisters. Because my words won’t reach you." Mother stood there alone in silence. She took a couple of steps back falling onto a ledge, sitting. She grabbed her hair and looked at it.
She thought about Abdul’s words and took a deep breath. Closing her eyes and opening them again a great confusion was in them.
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The Sisters of Gaia. The faith was built upon the unity and worship of the Three deities, Gaia, Sol, and Khors, taking Gaia as the mother who seeded and nurtured life. A faith dominated by won for its safety, it had beco an organization protected by both the Followers and the Church for the reverence of Gaia and representation of both Khors and Sol as Gods, even if it is misguided.
Mother stood outside a small temple for the Sisters. She took a deep breath and walked in, hit with the fragrant earthly sll of nature. A green tinge was ever-present. Mother walked through as a woman in green robes walked past with a happy smile. She looked through the corners of her eyes at the one guard wearing the symbol of Sol and realized she had co to a temple under the Church’s protection.
Although it made her slightly nervous she knew she was safe inside these walls. Soldiers of the Church would never dare to spill blood in the temple unless they were protecting it. Despite this she quickened her pace and walked through the temple, arriving at a booth. Opening a door she saw an old lady sitting there with a soft smile, looking at her.
Mother gave the old nun a bow related to Khors. "I greet Sister." She said politely taking a seat.
"Another child of Khors." The old lady gently shook her head. "Many of you have co to scared of the new regi." The old lady took Mother’s hand and held it tightly. "But you must not worry. Staying true to your faith is the only way to keep the soul at peace."
Mother gave a weak nod. "I ca here for a reason sister." She said getting the full attention of the old lady. "I waver in my beliefs. A man I greatly respect told that my faith isn’t as pure as it should be. He spoke with such certainty that I must doubt it, for few are as faithful as him. Few understand the Lords will as best as him."
"And why co to ?" She asked Mother in return. Mother looked down at her hands and fiddled with her fingers.
"He told to speak to the Sisters. I don’t know why." Mother took a deep breath. "Tell . When you look into my eyes what do you see? Do you see a devout woman?" Mother looked deep into the old lady’s eyes and the old lady reached out and grabbed her cheek with one hand.
"Think about what troubles you." The old lady said kindly.
After saying this, Mother saw a change in her. Her kind eyes turned into soone who had seen everything the world had to offer. She felt every inch of her soul was being read, nothing being hidden from the old woman. She thought about her dreams, her encounter with Abdul, and her life as a whole. Everything she thought she felt was being laid bare for the old lady.
She had never t the Sisters of Gaia like this but now she understood why Abdul had told her to seek them out. She assud it was from the years of reading people’s worries that she was like this, but whatever it was she found the old lady’s eyes terrifying and amazing.
"You are conflicted. Sothing you hold dear is being slowly eroded, knowing or unknowingly." The old lady looked at her hair. "So beautiful. Like Sol’s own son’s. A dangerous thought." Staring back into her eyes she carried on. "Your eyes hold a deep arrogance. You think yourself special when you are human. Purge it and you will beco the fist of your Lord."
The old woman pulled her hand away and gave a deep smile. She reached out and grabbed Mother’s hands once more. "Child." She said softly. "You are a very holy woman. Few can claim their faith is as strong as yours. But you are slowly letting this faith beco sothing it shouldn’t be. Don’t be stupid. Read your own scripture and reflect. Only then should you do what you wish."
The old woman pulled her hands away. "But I am only an old lady. You do not have to listen to ." The old lady closed her eyes and Mother knew she wouldn’t say anything more. She got up giving another religious bow. Quickly leaving she rushed back to her ho, wishing to read the scriptures once more.
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"I won’t allow it to beco like the worlds of Sol." Mother said to herself out loud. She had been raging to herself the entire ti for the past day after reading the scriptures once more. "Our faith is pure. We need a state for Khors. We need it to protect the faithful." She said quietly to herself.
’We don’t hold a seat of power for a reason. To create a nation for Khors will lead to persecution of those in it.’ Abdul’s words ca to mind. She thought hard about it.
’He fears tyranny because of unchecked power. But what if there was a way around it?’ Mother ran to her shelf. She looked through every book she could to try and find an answer she could use from history, but it was all worthless. She frantically checked book after book, but nothing worked. She tried to think of all the scriptures within the holy texts to see if they gave an answer but nothing ca to mind.
’Is he correct?’ Mother thought to herself but she couldn’t agree. As much as Abdul claid that an official state could never exist, he practically ran one in the previous regi. It worked fine and allowed the faith to remain protected for over a hundred years in a land surrounded by enemies. They needed it again after losing their shield.
A theocratic state could even see the freedom of the puppets of Sol. She could create sothing that could truly bring about Khor’s return. A state that treated everyone’s voice equally would allow it so the fear of Sol’s tyranny would never beco a reality. A state where leaders ruled not by blood or their na, but because the people wanted them to rule.
Her eyes went hard. She was sure a state for the faith was possible. The faithful were too scared of Sol, but it was fated for Khors to overco his father. She knew problems would arise in such a world but she was sure it could succeed.
’The Blood Child is already educating the people. Let them beco the first to want their own rulers. Let them see a new path. Let show it to them.’ Mother smiled. She had to take over quicker than Alfred. She needed to create a stronghold quickly. She needed to roll out Alfred’s reforms faster than him.
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