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December Free Fiction: Advent Story: Thear Collection: Orla: 1002 words
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“Logan is religious and he thinks that religious freedom is more important than anything else, as long as it's his sort of religious freedom.” Yannis smiled. “My aunt is a very deep believer in the fact that Bast and Anubis belong to the Tein-Igni, so as far as Logan is concerned there could never be a Dorma priest of Anubis, or anything like that, and that deeply affects how he believes the world should be. If it wasn't for that I would say that Logan is Thearan.”
Orla nodded, remembering the lessons her father had given her about religion. If it wasn't for Artemis she could easily see herself believing the same things that Logan believed, because that was what her parents believed, and she knew a lot of the Tein-Igni believed the same thing. A few didn't believe in any of the deities, which meant their view of Thear was very different to the other Tein-Igni and the other two races.
“What does your mother think?” Orla remember Yannis' mother and had always respected her, even though she didn't always agree with her. “I remember her regularly visiting the temple of Anubis when we were younger.”
“She still does now. Father and Mother regularly argue about how best to protect the Tein-Igni, especially from the Dorma supremacist movement. Mother believes that the Anubis movement is the best thing for the Tein-Igni, but Father wants to put an end to their group because he doesn't think that any of the priests are honestly connected with Anubis.”
“He's too late.” Orla looked over at the group around the priest again. “The Anubis movement has a lot of powerful followers and no one is going to stop them from doing what they believe is right for us, any more than I think anyone can stop the Bast movement.” Her eyes met Yannis'. “Or the movements in the other two races, and I can see Thear being divided between the different groups.”
“What do you think will happen to the Thearans of that happens?”
She shrugged. “We'll find somewhere.”
North Square was on the other side of the country to where Orla's village was, so that was going to make the journey more difficult than she would like. If it wasn't the winter solstice then she would have taken the coach and tried to hide herself in amongst the other Tein-Igni people travelling, but she knew she shouldn't wait, which meant she was going to have to ride. Riding wasn't something she much enjoyed, and it would draw the attention of people who might be watching. She hated feeling paranoid, as though someone was planning to get rid of her, even though it made sense to be under the circumstances.
“What are you thinking about?”
Orla sipped her soup. “Anubis, and what he'd think of the priests. I agree with your father, because I can't see Anubis being a deity who wants control over a race of people, any more than I can see Herne being like that.” She sighed. “Maybe I'm just weird.”
Yannis shook his head. “I don't agree with Logan's belief that each of the deities, apart from Loki, belong to a specific race. They should work together because they all have different priorities and I think that it is important to have a Thearan religion, even if I don't agree with mixing the races together.”
“Having a Thearan religion wouldn't stop some people from choosing a deity that they believe is better than the others. You could still end up with this sort of situation, but it's possible the movements would be in the minority rather than the majority, and then people would feel less like they have to pick one specific deity to follow.” Orla sighed. “It really doesn't help that all the priests and priestesses seem to be working towards their own aims rather than the aims of their deities.”
“If you weren't the priestess of Artemis which deity would you choose?”
“I honestly don't know, Yannis. Father brought me up to believe the same thing that Logan does, that Bast and Anubis are Tein-Igni deities rather than Thearan. I doubt in that sort of situation I would even know about the Bast movement, so in this town it wouldn't really be a choice.”
Yannis nodded. “I remember what you were like before Artemis chose you to be her priestess. You were a very different person back then, so I'm glad that she did choose you.”
“Even though you don't believe in her?”
“Orla, I know, without any doubt, that you are connected with a deity, and I believe you when you say that it's Artemis.”
“Do you honestly think that my connection to Artemis makes me a danger to the Tein-Igni?”
Yannis smiled. “Personally I think all of the deities are bad for the Tein-Igni, but I would say that you are harder to understand. You have much more information that everyone else does because of that connection and I think you should share it with us all, although I do understand why you don't.” He looked at her. “When we were younger I looked up to you, because of what you are, and I still do now, but I have my own beliefs. This morning I told Father about you.” He sighed. “I don't know what he's going to do with that information, but I did it because I felt I had to.”
Orla nodded. There really wasn't anything else she could do. Biting hard on her lip she forced back the tears that were threatening, because Yannis had been her best friend and the person she trusted with everything, and knew she had even less time that she needed. Going home was impossible, even though she wanted to tell her parents what was happening. Trying to seem calm she put the mug down.
“I'm sorry.”
“Don't, Yannis, please. It's done now.”
“What are you going to do?”
© K A Jones 2011
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
This entry was originally posted at http://kajones-writing.dreamwidth.org/43668.html. It currently has
comments.
Read the second part of this story (LJ link).
“Logan is religious and he thinks that religious freedom is more important than anything else, as long as it's his sort of religious freedom.” Yannis smiled. “My aunt is a very deep believer in the fact that Bast and Anubis belong to the Tein-Igni, so as far as Logan is concerned there could never be a Dorma priest of Anubis, or anything like that, and that deeply affects how he believes the world should be. If it wasn't for that I would say that Logan is Thearan.”
Orla nodded, remembering the lessons her father had given her about religion. If it wasn't for Artemis she could easily see herself believing the same things that Logan believed, because that was what her parents believed, and she knew a lot of the Tein-Igni believed the same thing. A few didn't believe in any of the deities, which meant their view of Thear was very different to the other Tein-Igni and the other two races.
“What does your mother think?” Orla remember Yannis' mother and had always respected her, even though she didn't always agree with her. “I remember her regularly visiting the temple of Anubis when we were younger.”
“She still does now. Father and Mother regularly argue about how best to protect the Tein-Igni, especially from the Dorma supremacist movement. Mother believes that the Anubis movement is the best thing for the Tein-Igni, but Father wants to put an end to their group because he doesn't think that any of the priests are honestly connected with Anubis.”
“He's too late.” Orla looked over at the group around the priest again. “The Anubis movement has a lot of powerful followers and no one is going to stop them from doing what they believe is right for us, any more than I think anyone can stop the Bast movement.” Her eyes met Yannis'. “Or the movements in the other two races, and I can see Thear being divided between the different groups.”
“What do you think will happen to the Thearans of that happens?”
She shrugged. “We'll find somewhere.”
North Square was on the other side of the country to where Orla's village was, so that was going to make the journey more difficult than she would like. If it wasn't the winter solstice then she would have taken the coach and tried to hide herself in amongst the other Tein-Igni people travelling, but she knew she shouldn't wait, which meant she was going to have to ride. Riding wasn't something she much enjoyed, and it would draw the attention of people who might be watching. She hated feeling paranoid, as though someone was planning to get rid of her, even though it made sense to be under the circumstances.
“What are you thinking about?”
Orla sipped her soup. “Anubis, and what he'd think of the priests. I agree with your father, because I can't see Anubis being a deity who wants control over a race of people, any more than I can see Herne being like that.” She sighed. “Maybe I'm just weird.”
Yannis shook his head. “I don't agree with Logan's belief that each of the deities, apart from Loki, belong to a specific race. They should work together because they all have different priorities and I think that it is important to have a Thearan religion, even if I don't agree with mixing the races together.”
“Having a Thearan religion wouldn't stop some people from choosing a deity that they believe is better than the others. You could still end up with this sort of situation, but it's possible the movements would be in the minority rather than the majority, and then people would feel less like they have to pick one specific deity to follow.” Orla sighed. “It really doesn't help that all the priests and priestesses seem to be working towards their own aims rather than the aims of their deities.”
“If you weren't the priestess of Artemis which deity would you choose?”
“I honestly don't know, Yannis. Father brought me up to believe the same thing that Logan does, that Bast and Anubis are Tein-Igni deities rather than Thearan. I doubt in that sort of situation I would even know about the Bast movement, so in this town it wouldn't really be a choice.”
Yannis nodded. “I remember what you were like before Artemis chose you to be her priestess. You were a very different person back then, so I'm glad that she did choose you.”
“Even though you don't believe in her?”
“Orla, I know, without any doubt, that you are connected with a deity, and I believe you when you say that it's Artemis.”
“Do you honestly think that my connection to Artemis makes me a danger to the Tein-Igni?”
Yannis smiled. “Personally I think all of the deities are bad for the Tein-Igni, but I would say that you are harder to understand. You have much more information that everyone else does because of that connection and I think you should share it with us all, although I do understand why you don't.” He looked at her. “When we were younger I looked up to you, because of what you are, and I still do now, but I have my own beliefs. This morning I told Father about you.” He sighed. “I don't know what he's going to do with that information, but I did it because I felt I had to.”
Orla nodded. There really wasn't anything else she could do. Biting hard on her lip she forced back the tears that were threatening, because Yannis had been her best friend and the person she trusted with everything, and knew she had even less time that she needed. Going home was impossible, even though she wanted to tell her parents what was happening. Trying to seem calm she put the mug down.
“I'm sorry.”
“Don't, Yannis, please. It's done now.”
“What are you going to do?”
© K A Jones 2011
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
This entry was originally posted at http://kajones-writing.dreamwidth.org/43668.html. It currently has
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That should say "remembered" above.