The Gods Themselves (© Biswapriya Purkayastha)
Page 2 “It is not forbidden,” Pseth’s mother replied weakly. “It is not,” the first Elder acknowledged. “But be you
careful now, for otherwise we can see all too well that you may be raising a
renegade, a seeker of forbidden knowledge, and a threat to the Tribe itself.” “Be you careful,” the other two Elders agreed, and they made
the formal gesture of departure as they backed out of Pseth’s parents’ cavern.
“You know well the penalty for rebellion.” Pseth’s parents knew, and over the next few years they tried
their best to compel their daughter to fit into the Tribe. They kept her
working down in the lower caverns where the great slabs of fungus grew, which
the Tribe depended on for most of its food, and on caring for the mindless,
lumpy creatures which provided the people with whatever ration of meat they
could find. When all else failed, they forced her down even further, into the
noisome sanitary pits, slaving away in the foul stench and near darkness, for
they thought the work would force her to think of her ordinary life as special
and blessed. But Pseth grew, and the more work was piled on her narrow
shoulders and straining back, and the more her parents – with great sorrow –
beat her, the more she thought about why any knowledge should be forbidden, and
what it might mean. And the older she got, the more determined she became that
she would find out. Her Recognition came in her fourteenth year. Once
Recognitions had been held twice, even thrice a year; but, in these latter
days, they were hardly ever held at all. Along with the few other children of her age group, Pseth
stood before the Great Altar of the gods, waiting. And the Priestesses pulled
her forth in her turn, held her right arm above the Sacred Fire, and used a
sacred stone knife to carve the personal symbol they had chosen for her in her
skin. The blood flowed red into the Fire, and it sputtered and sparked. But
Pseth, though her jaws were clamped tight in agony, did not utter so much as a
whimper, while those before her had screamed or sobbed. This the Priestesses
and Elders noticed, and they were not pleased. “She has to be watched,” they murmured to each other. “Such
as she are too strong-willed to be suited to the Tribe.” Over the next days, after her arm had throbbed and ached its
way to healing, Pseth used her newfound freedom as a Recognised member to roam
the world outside the caverns. Often in the evenings, when the swollen red orb
that dominated the dark sky hid its burning face behind the eroded hills on the
horizon, she would emerge from the upper caverns. Standing on the still hot
rock, she would look out on the desolate plains and on the dark sky above,
sprinkled with a few faded stars, and wonder about it all; what it was, and
what it had been. And, eventually, her eyes would come to rest on the silent
circle of figures in the distance, and her feet would itch to carry her towards
them. Once, when she spoke of them to her mother, that lady, now wrinkled and
bowed with the immense weight of her thirty-three years, gasped in shock. “It’s
forbidden,” she said. “The Priestesses and the Elders have forbidden it. You
know this, Pseth.” But this warning merely whetted the young woman’s curiosity.
She knew she had little enough time, for soon the Priestesses would demand her
services as a novice and a worker; and, after that, if she proved unsuitable to
be a Priestess (and how cold she, who questioned everything, ever be suitable?)
the Council of Elders would find her a mate to try and bear babies for the
Tribe. What she wanted in all this was immaterial, unless she acted while she
had the time. Eagerly, she began parsing the legends for clues, and badgered
the oldest members of the Tribe to tell her what they had ever heard or
remembered. Most of them dismissed her, a few talked to her, and some of them,
as she thought they might, went to the Council of Elders. Her time of freedom, she knew, was growing short. And so one evening she hesitated no longer. Wrapping herself
in a cloak she had been given as a present on her Recognition, she left the
cavern of her parents and set out to the upper levels. Whatever happened, she
would visit the gods themselves, if so they were. She would see what they were
like. [ Continue to page 3 ] |