Page 132 of These Divided Shores
Ben reached for the Bright Mint vial in his back pocket, fingers moving slowly—
“My son was taken years ago,” Elazar said. Ben frowned, his body freezing. “Swept up in the war on Grace Loray. I admit before you now that he was the product of an illicit romance, an affair that speaks to the sinful nature at my own core. Yes, I am capable of being seduced by evil—but I repent my sins and strive, every day, for purity. Mypunishment for this failing was to lose my son. But the Pious God has seen fit to return him to me. My youngest son, a fresh start.”
The declaration was so incredible that Ben’s mind went white. He was vaguely aware of Lu shooting to her feet and saying a name:
“Teo.”
The boy? Elazar’s—
Ben’s vision fogged. Gray clouds and a thrashing sea.
“Teo Gallego,” Elazar corrected, giving Lu a sweet smile. “The Pious God has given me a new son to cement the rightness in Grace Loray’s rebirth. He rewards his followers when the costs we pay are great.”
“You’re lying,” Lu growled. She turned to Ben. Saw his blankness, his immobile panic, and he felt her fingers on his arm. “He’s lying, Ben. Teo is too young, he can’t be your—”
“You asked me, Benat, if I ever loved you,” Elazar cut in. Ben glared at him, and Elazar grinned. “The truth is: not enough. For your sake, though, you should be glad—the Pious God requires sacrifices even from his staunchest children, but you never meant enough to me. No, Benat, there is a greater sacrifice. I told you once—the Pious God showed me what I have to do, once and for all, to resurrect Argrid from the poverty it has sunk into, and he has confirmed it by returning Teo to me—this boy, filled with power, who is worthy of my name.”
It shouldn’t have hurt. Ben was glad not to be worthy ofElazar—but the look in his father’s eyes, the direct negation of everything Ben had wanted, hoped for, dreamed of—
“We will turn this island against you,” Lu snapped. “We already have what we need to stop you from destroying Grace Loray more than you already have.”
Elazar’s eyes widened in amusement. “Do you? With so many raiders against you?”
Lu’s shoulders leveled. “The Mecht syndicate doesn’t—”
“Not those barbarians.”
At the rear of the stage, Pilkvist looked up.
Ben stepped closer to Lu, taking her elbow. He didn’t dare scan the crowd, hoping for Nayeli’s Tuncian raiders to be nearby; he couldn’t make himself look back at the docks to see Gunnar, flames up his arms.
He waited, breathing only to fill the moments until the storm broke.
“You provided the means to uncover Menesia’s purpose in the Pious God’s plan,” Elazar said to Lu. “Your father—his brilliance on this subject has kept him alive, despite his weakness over you. The Church’s hymns, when sung after the highest Menesia dosage, trigger utter obedience. Which is what the Pious God rewards.Obedience.”
Lu staggered. Ben’s grip on her arm pinched tighter.
“Many of the raiders on this island,” Elazar said, “once uncontrollable criminals, are now docile servants of the Pious God.”
“The missing raiders,” Lu guessed.
Elazar’s smile was steady. He tipped his head and lifted the fingers of his left hand, motioning above him—to the sky? No, to the castle, the one sitting on the cliff over Lake Regolith, night’s black shadows curling around the towering stone walls.
Soft light emanated from it now. Ben’s stomach twisted. What—who—was up there?
“The raiders, like the people of this island, refused to submit to purity,” Elazar said. “But the Pious God is wondrous. Everyone is helpless when asked to play their role in his will, even those the Devil has ensnared.”
“No,” Ben stated. “We’re done. This isover, today. We won’t—”
“But you will, Benat! Don’t you see? You came for war, didn’t you? You have raiders lying in wait to attack. You have allies, weapons, all out for blood. Just as the Pious God wants!” Elazar’s madness drew color into his cheeks. “This islandis the source of all evil. It brought war. It brought division. It caused the ills that harm Argrid. To bring peace to our country—no, to theworld—I must sacrifice Grace Loray. I must cleanse this island, in its entirety, and thereby destroy the source of all evil.”
The crowd might have reacted with gasps, protestation. But Ben was beyond himself, watching as though above his own body.
“These people”—Elazar waved at the crowd—“even the ones who have not been given Menesia, they will not fightback. They believe the word of the Pious God. And the villagers in the outskirts—they will receive with open arms the people my defensors arrested and are, even now, returning. People like yourmissing raiders, who are now wholly my servants.”
“No,” Lu murmured.
“Every soul on this island”—and Elazar didn’t stop,couldn’t—“every speck of corruption, every seed of evil—everyone, after tonight, will be given over to the Pious God, as I should have done long ago. This new son of mine, Teo—he is the beacon of Argrid’s future. We shall leave this island, fresh and reborn, and Argrid will rise from Grace Loray’s ashes, anew.”
