“friendship.”
“Nah,” he said after a while. “Less competition for the ladies, right? It’s a bit of a relief actually. You bein’ so good-looking and smart and everything.” He punched Maddox in the arm.
“There’s nothing I could ever do to get rid of you, is there?”
“Nothing in the world.” Riley bear-hugged him and whispered in his ear, “I accept you for who you are.”
In a bizarre way, it was touching. The last person to say that to him was Tertius, followed by a lecture on discretion. The mages at the Lyceum were expected to follow a code of morality that precluded most casual sex, but it wasn’t strictly enforced. He still remembered working up the nerve to express his attraction to Torin only to feel the sting of rejection and ridicule.
Riley pulled away. “Look, I know you’re going through a rough patch. If there’s anythin’ you need—anythin’ at all—just ask.”
And that was it. Maddox broke down. The raw nerves of his emotions kicked into high gear, and he sobbed, “I don’t have anywhere to go. I don’t have any money. I don’t have anything.”
“Shh, shh, shh.” Riley put Maddox’s head on his shoulder. “You have me. You can stay with us. I got everything you’d ever want. Come on…”
At best Maddox had only ever tolerated Riley. He certainly hadn’t done anything to earn his loyalty or devotion. He was generally a dick to the guy, and Riley never got angry or complained. Stupid, annoying Riley was the only person in all Creation who actually gave a shit about him. And he realized he didn’t deserve even that.
“Okay.”
E LEVEN
Apostasy
H EATH AND S WORD
THE WILL AND THE WANDERER
1.1. In the village of Tarinth, three of every ten were stricken by a virulent pox, and the village elders sent for a priest from the temple at Felice. The Hierophant decreed that Brother Lathan should travel to Tarinth and minister to the ill.
1.2. Brother Lathan was a luminary of the Third Order who never had set foot outside the Temple since completing his Vow and taking his Name. He yearned to travel Creation and perform the good works of our Father Ohan.
1.3. Upon arriving in Tarinth, Brother Lathan was dismayed to find all but a handful dead from their affliction. “We have been forsaken,” the village elder declaimed, and Brother Lathan wept for the dead infants who had been burned last in the Rite of Reunification.
1.4. “What is Ohan’s will in all this?” the villagers cried. “We must know how a god that is just and righteous can allow such misery to befall our innocent children.” And Brother Lathan, who’d never set foot into the world as a priest, found he had no answer.
1.5. Brother Lathan returned to Felice and secluded himself in prayer and fasting. In his despair he demanded the Father of All give account for his supernal reasons. “Lord of Illumination, I must know whether you are unable or are unwilling to stop the needless suffering of innocent babes.”
1.6. To wit the Father of All appeared to Brother Lathan in a sphere of all-consuming light. “My reasons are not within your ability to know, but if you truly desire answers, I will give you the power to understand them.”
1.7. And Brother Lathan understood but found the knowledge did not satisfy him. “I see now, All Father and Lord of Light, the necessity and intention of your design, but knowing your Truth is worse than ten times the pain of grief. You suffer for this more greatly than all of mankind!”
1.8. “It is my burden to bear alone,” Ohan said. “It is my gift and my mercy that you shall not understand my will. But while I will not give you answers, I will remove your pain.”
1.9 And the Father of All struck Brother Lathan with his Light, smiting him where he knelt and thereby raising him to Sainthood.
— EXCERPT FROM THE TRIALS OF FAITH, BOOK THREE , CANTO 16
T HE T EMPLE OF Ohan sat in the center of four large obelisks that stood in the corners of a
“Nah,” he said after a while. “Less competition for the ladies, right? It’s a bit of a relief actually. You bein’ so good-looking and smart and everything.” He punched Maddox in the arm.
“There’s nothing I could ever do to get rid of you, is there?”
“Nothing in the world.” Riley bear-hugged him and whispered in his ear, “I accept you for who you are.”
In a bizarre way, it was touching. The last person to say that to him was Tertius, followed by a lecture on discretion. The mages at the Lyceum were expected to follow a code of morality that precluded most casual sex, but it wasn’t strictly enforced. He still remembered working up the nerve to express his attraction to Torin only to feel the sting of rejection and ridicule.
Riley pulled away. “Look, I know you’re going through a rough patch. If there’s anythin’ you need—anythin’ at all—just ask.”
And that was it. Maddox broke down. The raw nerves of his emotions kicked into high gear, and he sobbed, “I don’t have anywhere to go. I don’t have any money. I don’t have anything.”
“Shh, shh, shh.” Riley put Maddox’s head on his shoulder. “You have me. You can stay with us. I got everything you’d ever want. Come on…”
At best Maddox had only ever tolerated Riley. He certainly hadn’t done anything to earn his loyalty or devotion. He was generally a dick to the guy, and Riley never got angry or complained. Stupid, annoying Riley was the only person in all Creation who actually gave a shit about him. And he realized he didn’t deserve even that.
“Okay.”
E LEVEN
Apostasy
H EATH AND S WORD
THE WILL AND THE WANDERER
1.1. In the village of Tarinth, three of every ten were stricken by a virulent pox, and the village elders sent for a priest from the temple at Felice. The Hierophant decreed that Brother Lathan should travel to Tarinth and minister to the ill.
1.2. Brother Lathan was a luminary of the Third Order who never had set foot outside the Temple since completing his Vow and taking his Name. He yearned to travel Creation and perform the good works of our Father Ohan.
1.3. Upon arriving in Tarinth, Brother Lathan was dismayed to find all but a handful dead from their affliction. “We have been forsaken,” the village elder declaimed, and Brother Lathan wept for the dead infants who had been burned last in the Rite of Reunification.
1.4. “What is Ohan’s will in all this?” the villagers cried. “We must know how a god that is just and righteous can allow such misery to befall our innocent children.” And Brother Lathan, who’d never set foot into the world as a priest, found he had no answer.
1.5. Brother Lathan returned to Felice and secluded himself in prayer and fasting. In his despair he demanded the Father of All give account for his supernal reasons. “Lord of Illumination, I must know whether you are unable or are unwilling to stop the needless suffering of innocent babes.”
1.6. To wit the Father of All appeared to Brother Lathan in a sphere of all-consuming light. “My reasons are not within your ability to know, but if you truly desire answers, I will give you the power to understand them.”
1.7. And Brother Lathan understood but found the knowledge did not satisfy him. “I see now, All Father and Lord of Light, the necessity and intention of your design, but knowing your Truth is worse than ten times the pain of grief. You suffer for this more greatly than all of mankind!”
1.8. “It is my burden to bear alone,” Ohan said. “It is my gift and my mercy that you shall not understand my will. But while I will not give you answers, I will remove your pain.”
1.9 And the Father of All struck Brother Lathan with his Light, smiting him where he knelt and thereby raising him to Sainthood.
— EXCERPT FROM THE TRIALS OF FAITH, BOOK THREE , CANTO 16
T HE T EMPLE OF Ohan sat in the center of four large obelisks that stood in the corners of a
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