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“And so you came to me,” Ratha said.
Tom nodded. “I would have come regardless. I sense there is much that we can learn from each other.”
Ratha smiled. “I am no prophet, Tom Downey.”
“Perhaps not,” Tom said. “But you can be much more than a mere prophet. You can be a priest.”
Ratha paused for a moment, then laughed. “Unless much has changed since last I undressed, I am not eligible to join the ranks of the priesthood. Or have you forgotten that all Anari priests are women?”
“I have not,” Tom said. “But not all priests serve at the temple. Your women, bless them, know less of war than you. And in these ill times, the fate of the Anari, indeed the fate of the world, lies on the field of battle. But the war will end, my friend. And what then?”
“If we are defeated, nothing,” Ratha said.
Tom nodded. “Aye, but if we are not? Must there not be those who can create peace in hearts hardened for war? Who can be among men who have shed blood, who have swum in anger and fear, and coax them to the shores of forgiveness and hope? Your men have followed you into battle, Ratha Monabi. More will follow you into battle again. Will you not lead them into peace when the battle is over?”
Ratha shook his head. “That is too heavy a burden for any man, my friend.”
“Yes,” Tom said. “It is not the burden of a warrior. It is the burden of a priest. But will men who have walked with a warrior suddenly turn to a priest who has not known their pain and horror, of one who has not seen in the night the faces of those he has slain? They will not, friend. They cannot. They will need a priest who has borne their burdens and who carries their scars.”
Ratha felt the truth in Tom’s words, even as he doubted his strength to fulfill them. This war would not, could not last forever. And if the gods should bless them with victory, then he and his men would have to return to their homes, to the stones of their Telner, and find again the beauty and joy in the simpler things of life. They would have to bear the daily trials of life with the warmth of husbands and fathers, and not with the cold hearts of warriors. They would have to step out from under the dark cloud of war into the sunlight of peace.
Could he lead them thus? How could he himself emerge from that darkness and be a man of peace, when he had never known the life of hearth and home, of wife and child, of sowing seed, nurturing field and gathering harvest? It was as if Tom were asking a blind man to teach color to those who had shut their eyes from too much.
“I am not the priest you seek,” Ratha said. “Call instead upon Jenah, who at least has lived among the Anari all of his days.”
“Had this war ended in the canyon, that might be,” Tom said. “For that was Jenah’s war, the war of the Anari to shake off their shackles and live as free men. But this war to come is more than that. It is a clash of brothers, of Annuvil and Ardred. The Anari will look to you, because you have walked beside Annuvil longer than any among us. You must be that priest of peace, my friend. For if you cannot, I fear the Anari can never again be as they were.”
“And how would I do this?” Ratha asked. “It is not enough to be willing. I doubt that I am able.”
“The power of one is the power of many,” Tom said. “And the power of many is the power of one. Begin with the one, my friend. Begin with yourself.”
When Tess emerged into the morning sunlight surrounded by her sisters and the clan mothers, she felt a lightness of spirit that had long been missing. It was as if spending the night surrounded by protectors had lifted her out of the dark place into which she had been steadily slipping since her battle with Elanor.
The sunlight seemed particularly clear and bright this day, paining her eyes until they adjusted. It seemed to her that she was seeing the beauty of Anahar afresh, almost as if she had never seen it before. Everything looked cleansed, almost purified, as if by a heavy rain.
Yet it had not rained.
She lifted her gaze to the cloudless skies, feeling the touch of Cilla’s and Sara’s shoulders against her own, and waited to see if anything would happen.
Something had changed. She felt it now in the chilly air. It was not only as if the darkness within her had vanished, but as if it had been driven out of this part of the world. Only in its absence did she realize how much Ardred had overshadowed everything.
She turned to look at the clan mothers who were arrayed behind her. Their dark, aging faces revealed fatigue, but a kind of shining joy as well.
“Thank you,” she said. “Thank you all.”
As one, they bowed to her. Then, as they straightened, Jahila, the youngest of them, spoke.
“Long have we awaited you, my lady. Your burdens are heavy and many, and what little we can do to help is gladly given.”
Tess returned the bow, but could feel her cheeks heating with embarrassment. Despite all that had happened, she didn’t believe she was even half what these people believed of her. She was certainly no savior, although they seemed to think otherwise.
“I am,” she said quietly, “only a woman like all of you. I hope I will not disappoint your hopes.”
She turned to walk away with Cilla and Sara. Behind them, the clan mothers drew bells from within their robes and shook them. A tinkle of almost unearthly music followed the three Ilduins’ departure.
“You look ever so much better, Tess,” Cilla commented. “I did not at all care for how you looked when I arrived yesterday.”
“Nor I,” Sara agreed.
Tess felt herself smile for the first time since the wedding. “Something has changed. Can you not feel it? Anahar is cleansed of his presence.”
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