Elsewhere 3

Tanju was in a really bad situation. He knew without a doubt that this was the worst situation he had ever faced. In front of him were a set of condemned prisoners just arrived from the outskirts of the empire. Each one of them was a “Schtut”, a worshipper of a false god who had stood in the face of their captors and declared that they would never convert. These people were just getting to meet their false gods a little sooner and see what they actually were.

Tanju had always believed this in the past and wasn’t shaken in his belief until this moment. What changed? Sitting, huddled amongst the other captives in the caged wagon were a pair of children. They couldn’t have been more than ten seasonal cycles old. There were no adults there with them, just a brother being held by his older sister. For the first time in his life he didn’t feel that the law should apply to these two.

This was a predicament for the adherent of the god of law. How could he, a caller of the laws and orderer of the empire not follow the law? The punishment for any Shtut was to be publicly executed on the landing of the temple complex. The reason was so that the priests could ask for the gods to find the soul of the blasphemer and give them another chance once they saw what their false gods actually were.

That was the official reason. The real reason it was done there was so the military could brag about all the lands they had conquered. Aside from that, the clergy would incite the people to loathe the condemned for their inability to see their false gods for what they were. Once the people were agitated enough, the clergy would sell prayer sigils.

Tanju wasn’t among the clergy who sold the sigils but he was often among the clergy offering inciteful words against those who wouldn’t follow the laws. That’s how he knew about the prayer sigils. He always considered them to be a little cruel. The sigils were small ornaments of paper and lace with a prayer inscription on them. The ornament hung from a string attached to a vaddath quill.

Those who bought the sigils would line up and pick a Schtut to attach their prayers to. They would literally stab the quill into the often squirming blasphemers’ skin. The Schtut were always hung naked with their hands and legs splayed apart. The adherents would pin the sigils all over them in the bloody ritual. At sunset the Schtuts would all have their throats slit in a sendoff to their false gods.

Normally Tanju had no problem with this treatment of these vocal blasphemers but the idea of children being condemned the same way didn’t sit right. Children didn’t have enough time to form their own opinions and beliefs. They also had a long life where they should be able to make a better decision.

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Tanju passed them along after noting down the number of Schtut in the cart. Later he went to the temple library and looked for any exemptions to the law. What he found disheartened him. Any who were condemned as Schtut were to face judgement without exception.

Not content to just sit by and do nothing, he went to the temple holding cells and dismissed the guard while he “Offered the condemned a prayer of blessing to meet the true gods”.

As soon as the guards left he went right to the cell the kids were in and called to them. The little brother was too afraid to come near but the girl came to the bars. He talked with her about why they were there and what he learned horrified him.

The girl had been propositioned by one of the soldiers and told that it was her duty to the gods to offer herself up. the soldier not getting a response that he wanted told her that she needed to follow the teachings of the gods if she wanted to protect her brother. It was a blatant threat and a lie!

Then the girl recounted how her brother spat on the guard and yelled “who would want to follow your rotten gods!” The soldier had been quick to thrash them and then had his way with her anyway. When they woke up, they were in the wagon. The guard had sent them off as Schtut to cover his crime.

Tanju had a cold sinking feeling the more he heard. This wasn’t right at all. He had to do something. There was the problem of all the other prisoners in the cell or he would just let the pair out. He made up his mind and grabbed the keys. He was breaking the law by letting any of them loose so what was a few more!

He called out to the gathered prisoners and told them to be quiet and he would lead them out. He unlocked the door to the cell and began leading them all out of the temple grounds. Once they got out they would be safe! They could blend into the commoners and disappear.

They were making good progress. They had already made it about three quarters of the way out of the temple when he rounded a corner and came face to face with a guard soldier. The soldier made a face upon seeing the prisoners and asked what he thought he was doing.

“I was…” he had turned to look at the prisoners and try to come up with an excuse, any excuse! The words wouldn’t come though. It wasn’t that he couldn’t think of anything to say, he couldn’t get any more words out of his mouth.

It wasn’t until then that the terrified expression of the children registered. They weren’t looking at him but at the face of the guard. Suddenly Tanju felt a tightness in his chest and looked down to see the end of a sword sticking out of it, accompanied by a lot of blood.

The last thing he remembered was hearing the guard jovially mocking him while the children and other prisoners screamed. “That’s why you never turn your back on a Schtut, they just might put a blade in it. And would you look at that, the ones that attacked the priest were the same ones that mocked me! Well, looks like this lot won’t make it to the trial. Can’t have any witnesses saying that you didn’t give them weapons when you clearly did now can I?”

“You are banished to the void. This is the law for those who break my laws!”