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‘I can’t leave,’ he whispered, shaking his head ‘There’s more to do The toe far from any ould use it for ill’
‘In your hands?’ he asked ‘That’s not right Your Abysmyths--’
‘My children,’ she snapped back, ‘are without theirfor family, for my influence They seek to use the book to return me to their embrace Afterwards, ill have no further use for it or for bloodshed Let us live in peace beneath the waves Forget about us’
‘All you want … is your family?’
‘What does any mother want?’
‘But Miron said--’
‘PRIESTS LIE’
The ocean quaked Sand stirred below; light fled above The song of the creatures died The swi shadows Corpses fell like lead; wood fell upon theht in his chest, unseen fire searing his body
‘Priests send children to die, condeh for the ashes of the burned to reach thenashed, roared ‘Priests betrayed me Betrayed you’
‘Betrayed me? How? I don’t--’
‘NO’ The ocean boiled around hi horrendously hot ‘No more explanations No more answers No matter what they call me, I am still a mother My pity spares you this once But re: This isas I will it’
And with that, his breath was robbed froht to keep out the water that flooded hisdesperately for air that was far too far above hi, low bellow, a coe far too old forup to drive Lenk towards the surface Struggling to hold his breath, he watched the teeth grow faint as he was sent hurtling above
And yet, her voice only grew louder
‘A final kindness, mortal Follow the ice to see what I tried so hard to protect you from Follow it … Follow that wickedness inside your head and realise that I was only trying to protect you fro else This is all I can offer you Happiness is far out of your reach Truth and survival is all you can hope for Take thereat golden eyes opened and stared at him with hate
‘Before I take them back’
Thirty-Five
THE SINS IN THE STONE
The statue of Zah, stone cheeks had been polished The waves of Her flowing hair were lovingly carved so that each granite strand was distinct and apparent Her bountiful breasts, uncovered by the thin garment about Her hips, were perfectly round and snored It had been easy enough to sneak into, unseen The pillars thatwalls were shattered and decayed Those tapestries that still hung from their sconces were frayed and coated in dust Supplies, crates and boxes had been stacked beneath theinal purpose and had been resigned to storage and other practical needs long ago He would have accepted that He would have smiled at that
If not for the statue
Zah stone eyes, sh stone lips She was confident in Her own care, s in Her own polish They still worshiped, She told hi their prayers went unanswered, the people would still polish Her statue The people would wait for Her to save their dying children, to give theh wealth to buy a loaf of bread It would never come They would die and praise Her nauish
‘No more,’ he whispered ‘No lanced at the vial in his hand, the swirling liquid of Mother’s Milk ‘It ends here In Your house’
Resounding through his skull and the te approval
Stretching between the Mouth and the Goddess, the te as ten men in a vast, perfect circle The waters upon it were placid, unstirred and quiet, not the silvery flow of a lake This water was dense, heavy, like iron
A door to a prison
As he leaned over the edge, staring into the water, the heartbeat grew faster, louder The Father sensed his presence, sensed the scent of his consort, his h whatever prison held hia-Mer scented the faintest trace of Mother Deep
And beneath the iron waters, Daga-Mer railed against his liquid bonds
Free hier, tempered by sermon The Father must be freed before Mother Deep can rise Mother Deep e Ree, he reht not treht not waste their words on deaf gods Change that children would not die while their parents languished in doubt
He stared back up, saw the statue of Za hi hie was terrifying They would pray to Her when Mother Deep rose, She said with a stone voice Change bred a need for the familiar She would watch children die, parents die, all in darkness, all in doubt Change was violent
Then … A doubt spoke within hi in darkness and watered with despair What’s the point?
He heard a scrape of feet against stone floors His own heart quickened; had he been seen? He reached for a knife that wasn’t there Where was it? He had left it elsewhere, in another life, another house, when he had seen …
He paused, noting the silence No one was e a shadow painted upon the walls by the di
‘I know you’re there,’ he said The shadow quivered, shrinking behind the pillar ‘You shouldn’t be here, you know’
A bush of black hair peered out fro at him with dark eyes that betrayed wariness, caution She was not panicked He shouldn’t have smiled at her, he knew His smile shouldn’t have been intended to reassure her, to coax her out Change was co them
And yet …
‘Neither should you,’ she said to hi out a little more ‘Mesri says that no one should be in here’
‘In the city’s temple?’
‘There’s less call for prayer these days,’ she said, easing out from behind the pillar ‘More call for medicine and food’
The Mouth eyed the crates stacked against the walls ‘So they are left here to rot?’
‘Don’t be stupid,’ she sneered ‘If we had any, Mesri would have distributed them’
‘Priests serve the Gods, not man’
‘Well, if there were any in here, I wouldn’t be scrounging in dark, abandoned houses eird, pale-skinned strangers,’ she replied sharply ‘This’ – she gestured to the crates – ‘is as left behind when the rich people left Yonder’
He glanced to a great, hulking shape beneath a white sheet ‘And that?’
The girl traipsed over to it, drawing it off to expose a well- drawn and bolt loaded ‘They bought it when fears about Karnerian and Sainite incursions were high’ As if she suddenly re a hand on the siege weapon’s launching lever ‘I kno to use it, too’
Hers was the look of childish defiance, the urge to run suppressed because so was for cowards It was fae to point out that the ballista was pointing at least ten feet to the right of hi to hurt you,’ he said
‘And I’ the truth,’ she replied snidely ‘Because, as we all know, only reasonable hairless freaks chase young girls through alleys with knives, screa like lunatics’