BOOK THREE
THE BOOK OF THE DOVE
Chapter One
Now in the 231st Year From The Beginning, the wise and good Speaker who had been leading The Land Of Spirit died, and a young Warlock of good reputation and proud clan was chosen to lead the people.
2 At first he was a good Speaker, but then he began to change.
3 Many of the people he appointed were lax, and more interested in money than justice.
4 The rich began to take control of the land.
5 For a certain number of gold coins, a Speaker would make a decision in your favor, rather you were right or wrong.
6 Money intended for widows and orphans bought expensive robes, golden symbols, and houses for Speakers.
7 The First Speaker decided that the house originally built for The Old Fox was not befitting his office, so on the outskirts of the city he built a lavish Speaker's palace, the rival in grandeur of any known King.
8 He said that the percentage The Church received from businesses and the donations from the people were no longer enough to support the necessary officials and army to run and protect the country.
9 So he abolished the Law against taxation , and taxed everyone in the land.
10 Foreigners he taxed double, and foreign religions he made pay a fee to worship in his land.
11 There were many grumblings among the people, but many felt that because he was First Speaker, he had the right to change The Law.
12 Then one day, as The First Speaker was hearing cases in the lavish courtyard near his gate, an old man entered, banged his staff loudly upon the ground, and everyone fell silent.
13 "First Speaker of The Lords," he cried, "you have been weighed, measured, and tallied, and your days have been numbered. The day will soon be at hand when you shall lay your bloody hand upon another, and put the care of The Land onto his shoulders.
14 And because of what you have done, because of what the people have let you do, your people; all The Land, will suffer greatly.
15 For The Lords have said, 'These people who break The Law, who forsake Our Justice shall be punished.' But there is yet a short time, a short while that The Lords will be merciful.
16 Undo that that you have done. Forsake your evil. Return to The Lords. If you will, mercy shall be given. If you do not, you and all you love will be destroyed!"
17 With that The Old Man turned and left. The Speaker sat for several minutes, stunned, then jumped up. "Who was that?" he screamed. "How dare he speak to me like that? I am The First Speaker! Whatever I do is right! He has spoken treason! Go! Fetch him! We will find a place for him in our jail!"
18 The guards rushed out, but quickly returned. "Well," asked The Speaker, "where is he?"
19 "My Lord," gasped a guard, "it is impossible, but he is gone! We searched all the way up the road to the main gate, and back the other way. All we found were three children playing with a toy ox cart. There was no old man!"
20 The First Speaker Waved them away. "Forget it!" he snapped, "It is of no importance. He was only a crazy old man." And he returned to his judgments, and nearly forgot about the incident. But the rest of the people in The Hall did not.
21 The Old Man's words were soon repeated throughout the city and carried by travelers all over the land.
22 In many villages and cities Speakers picked up the message and began to preach it to their people.
23 The First Speaker was not pleased. And he was not pleased, either, a few nights later when he was bothered by a terrible dream.
24 He was fighting in a great battle, and a shadowy army was all about him.
25 Suddenly, a band of spearmen rushed his guards and before they were felled, one of them drove his weapon deep into The Speaker's body.
26 He was then carried to a village, and sat against a wall.
27 As he watched, three shadowy forms approached...two fighting men, and someone in a Warlock's cloak.
28 "Bring me my sons," requested The First Speaker. "On one of them I must bestow The Speakership."
29 But someone spoke to him, saying, "Lord, all your sons are dead, your brothers, and all your nephews also. Not one of your kin survived."
30 And a voice spoke from The Lords saying, "Behold, the price of your evil. Look upon the one in the Warlock's cloak. For he is your successor...the one who will rule the land after you, chosen not by you, but by The Lords!"
31 The First Speaker looked to the man in Warlock's garb, but before he could make out his face, he found himself in his own bed, screaming, "No! No! One of my sons will rule! No! No!"
32 His screams were so loud that the young woman in bed with him ran from the room seeking assistance. But when the guards arrived, The First Speaker told them to be gone. It had only been a dream, only a terrible nightmare.
33 But the next day as he watched his sons exercise in the courtyard, he was troubled. "But no," he said to
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