20 "I will obey, father," Gray Deer answered,
but in his heart he said "As long as you live I will worship The One.
But on the day you die, I will return to Spirit."
21 So it was, he grew, and refused the mate
his father had chosen for him, but chose instead a daughter of
Spirit. Though he kept his word, and never entered her Temple,
each Worship Day he would wait for her outside her Temple and listened
to The Speakers.
22 One day a new Speaker began to teach, and
when he spoke Gray Deer's heart was filled with wonder. For never
had he heard such a voice! Never had one spoken The Lords with
such authority and such wisdom! Each day the same man came to the
marketplace and spoke to the people.
23 "Children of The Lords!" he cried, "I am
Their Voice crying in the wilderness of evil. Come out of The
Darkness! Return to The Light! Repent your evil, cast off
the blood. Return to The Love of The Lords. They await!
They are forgiving. Come back to Those who love you!"
24 Now, so many in the crowd ridiculed him,
but he answered them not with anger, but returned to them love.
25 "Already," this Voice cried, "the one who
shall lead your city from The Darkness has been chosen. The one
who will fight the evil that has come among us and destroy it, is here
today. This very night I shall knock on his door, and he shall
let me in. His heart shall be opened, and he shall follow The
Lords."
26 Now, Gray Deer would like to have heard
more, but he had errands to do. "Oh, I wish," he said in his heart,
"that man would come to my home. For the promise I have made my father
weighs heavy on me, and I wish to serve The Lords. But I do not
know how, or if I should break my word."
27 He returned to his home greatly troubled, and spoke to his mates on the matter.
28 Now, Red Blossom Boar, his eldest mate,
listened with interest. "Long have The Children prayed," she
cried, "that a great Speaker would come and bring the people back to
The Lords. Perhaps this new Speaker that calls himself The Voice
Of The Lords is the answer to our prayers. Long have we waited.
29 It must be the time. The things I see
in the street sicken me. A young woman cannot safely walk alone,
if she does not want to end up a captive in a house of pleasure.
Even young boys are not safe. There was a mother in the
marketplace just yesterday seeking her son. He never came home
from school.
30 And the sellers of Pon are
everywhere. You cannot walk the street without someone asking you
if you want to dream. Yes, I hope this Speaker is the one!
31 I know some say The Lords have
forsaken us, left us to our evil, but I do not believe that. The
Lords are love. They would not forsake Their Children!"
32 Little Deer, Nameless Fox's son, spoke
up. "Grandfather says The Lords are evil. That They do bad
things. That is why The One is driving Them from our land.
That the people should not look for a new Speaker, but burn The Temples
of The Lords, and forget these old superstitions. He says you are
wrong, father, to even let your wives speak of such things."
33 "For one who is only seven-and-a-half
seasons old," Yellow Blossom Boar scolded, who was Gray Deer's second
mate, "you speak awful boldly criticizing your elders."
34 "I am only saying what grandfather said,
mother. And grandfather is very wise. He doesn't like me going to The
Children of Spirit's school. He wants me to go to the temple of
The One. He says he is not sure of father's heart. He says we
belong to The One, not to Spirit."
35 "We have discussed this before,"
interrupted Gray Deer. "My father is a good man, and I love him, but I
cannot agree with him in all things. The education you get at
Spirit's School is far better than that at the temple of The One.
When you are older you may make your own choice as to which Lords you
will follow. But I want you to have an education that will
prepare you for life."
36 "Yes, father," the boy answered.
37 "Well, I believe in Spirit!" put in
Bright Blossom, Gray Deer's daughter, "And I like the Spirit
School! The One won't even let girls go to school."
38 "As it should be!" argued her brother. "Why
do you need to go to school? All you'll ever do is keep a house
and have babies! Why do YOU need an education?"
39 "That is ENOUGH!" snapped Gray Deer. "Your
sister may be many things....a Healer, and Nurse, a Clerk, like her
mother."
40 "Grandfather says women shouldn't do those
things," the boy answered back. Gray Deer shook his head.
41 "Well, anyway," continued Yellow Blossom,
"I think, too, that this Speaker is the one. I love to hear him
talk in The Temple! Did you hear what he said last week when the
man complained about how complicated The Old Fox's Laws were?
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