save time had given him a code phrase that would
put him under instantly. Making sure there was no one around that would
realize what he was doing, Morn spoke. "Look into my eyes, North, and
relax. You can do it. Don't think about it, don't think about the
words, don't feel the words, just get up, say them, and forget them, as
if you never spoke them. Once they leave your mouth they
don't exist. You never denounced your father. You never shamed his
name. You only repeated words that made no sense, words you were told
to say, meaningless words. Now, as I have instructed, so will you do.
Awake."
61 North could not take his eyes of Morn's while he was speaking, but
when he commanded him to awake, he looked away and shook himself,
unaware of what Morn had done. A few moments later the Priest appeared,
and began the Services. When they finally called him, North
rose, spoke the words, and when he was done, returned to his seat.
62 The High Priest turned to two of his fellows. "Does this one speak
true?" he asked them. The two Priests stared at North. North had heard
stories that certain Priests could look into men's minds and could tell
if they were speaking the truth. He felt a strange tingling in his mind
that suddenly stopped. Both Priests shook themselves in a strange
manner and looked from North to his friend Morn, then quickly looked
away. They turned and spoke to the Priest. "He speaks true, Lord," they
answered in a strange unison voice.
63 The High Priest nodded and closed the Service, calling forth the
Bearers. "Take this coffin of The Beloved Dead, and entomb it with his
Ancestors. But this coffin of The Damned, the despisable take to the cliffs above the city and open
it. Let the birds of the air, and, the beasts of the fields devour
what is within. And, when they have picked the bones clean, take what
remains and dump them in The Great Sea."
64 With this The Service was ended, and the people filed out. In the
Courtyard North and his family watched the