The Stone by the Stream (Part 8)
“You think they’re going to try to kill me?” Cynthia whispered, unbelieving.
The acolyte took her broom and set it against the temple wall, raising herself to her full height. She was much taller than Cynthia had realized before. She said, “Let’s take a walk, Cynthia.”
The acolyte led the way from the temple grounds, along the road back to Cynthia’s home. Trees swayed along the road, thick for the most part, thinning out here and there in clearings and meadows. Now and then a traveler would pass on horseback or a farmer would come by leading a laden cart. Squirrels scurried about gathering nuts, but any larger animals avoided the road in the daylight.
They walked in silence until the temple disappeared in the expanse of trees.
The acolyte said, “It wouldn’t be the first time they’ve killed a potential oracle.”
“Is that what happened to their last candidate?”
“It’s… a distinct possibility,” the acolyte said.
Something in the way she stretched out her words gave Cynthia the impression she knew more than she was saying. But Cynthia would have to let that go for now. “I still don’t understand why the Temple would want to kill any potential oracles who wouldn’t join them.”
“Let me suggest an idea to you, then. You’re free to dismiss it if you want — after all, you know I have no love lost for the Temple of the Huntress.”
“I’m listening.”
“Just a little story for you,” the acolyte said. She raised a finger and pointed back in the direction of the Temple of the Huntress. “A long, long time ago, that temple did not exist. It wasn’t even a shrine or a monument, let alone the venerable institution we see today.”
“That’s true…”
“Until one day a woman — let’s call her an oracle, even — had an Encounter with the Goddess herself. Or maybe more than one woman, maybe it was a particularly fruitful time with so much spiritual disorder that there were several such women. Things like that have been known to happen, yes?”
“I suppose it’s possible…” Cynthia said, although in her heart she was dwelling on the wish that she could have an Encounter with the Goddess.
“So this woman, or this group of women, gains the secret knowledge of Spirit from the Goddess herself — knowledge of the future, or knowledge of things unseen, or anything, anything at all. The point is, the Goddess gave the original oracle a mission — as well as the means to carry it out.”
“This is all sounding very strange, but…”
“But you can sense it’s true,” the acolyte said with a smile.
“Possibly…” Cynthia said. “So what happens next?”
“So as she’s fulfilling the Goddess’s will, the oracle gathers a great deal of influence. Nothing so gauche as direct political or financial power — although she may well have a good deal of both of those, too. No, more a matter of deciding which issues get placed before the Kings and Princes and how those issues will be presented — which you might say is a more complete form of power, as well as a much prettier one.”
“And this is all taking place so long ago that no one alive can remember, yes?”
“Of course… in a way. You know this story already, after all. It’s the story of any great oracle, or seer, or prophet, or anyone at all who is granted the gift of seeing something few get to see. And you probably already know how it ends, too.”
“Maybe… I guess it’s that all that influence the oracle gathers doesn’t go away after she dies. It sticks around in the group — and it becomes the Temple.”
“Very good. And no matter how good the intentions of the members, the Temple’s driving purpose isn’t to serve the will of the Goddess — it’s to maintain the Temple’s influence and authority.”
Cynthia said, “So the Temple would want to have control over any potential oracles or visionaries because… no, no that can’t be right!”
“Go ahead and finish that thought, Cynthia. This isn’t a theoretical discussion, remember.”
Cynthia breathed. “So the Temple would want control because a new oracle might be a threat to the Temple — at least, if that’s what the Goddess wanted. But that can’t be.”
“Why not, Cynthia?”
“Because that would mean the Temple was trying to suppress the will of the Goddess!”
The acolyte nodded. “And they’ve certainly said all they want to do is to serve the Goddess’s will. But you’ve seen enough of their activities to have an inkling: do you think that’s really what they’re up to?”
“Well… they are lying about Silas… and maybe a few other things too?”
“Not to mention that they’re trying to keep a potential oracle away from a stone that is clearly imbued with divine power.”
Cynthia trembled, remembering the thrill of energy she’d felt radiating from the stone the night before. Glancing up at the acolyte, she said, “What do I do?”
The acolyte laughed. “If I were you I’d run straight to the clearing and try to speak to the gods directly, immediately.”
“I can’t do that. It’s forbidden, and anyway,they’ll know.”
“Maybe it’s a test of your dedication.”
“A test from the Temple?”
“Or a test from the Goddess…”
Cynthia froze mid-step. “No, no, no, that’s too much… you’re saying if I go there I’m defying the Temple, but if I don’t go I’m defying the Goddess?”
The acolyte shrugged. “It’s a possibility.”
“Oh, I just want to go home and forget about all this!”
“You can probably get away with that for a while. But the Temple is going to force you to a decision eventually.”
“I know. There’s just so much to take in at once.”
“There is,” the acolyte said. “But if you do decide to go home, make sure to ask your parents a few questions about stones and oracles. There’s no telling what you might find out.”
“How do you know all these things?” Cynthia asked.
The acolyte winked, turned around, and headed back toward the temple, once again whistling her clownish tune.