31.
And he took out a document and handed it to the other man, who glanced at it and handed it back.
"All right," said the Temple Guard, "go in, but you'd better go down the side. You know the priests don't like weapons in the Temple. Keep them out of sight as much as possible."
North and his guards avoided the main aisle and headed for the side one to the right. At the bottom of the aisle Morn met them.
"Here's your seat." He indicated an empty one at the end of a row. After North had sat down, his friend sat beside him. "They'll have the service of praise for him first," Morn said, nodding toward the coffin nearest them, "and then the service of damnation for your father. When they're done they'll call you forward. This is what they want you to say." And he handed his friend a piece of paper with a short formal speech on it. North looked at it and almost got sick. "Can you do it?" asked Morn. North looked directly at him.
"I think so," he said.
"Look into my eyes, North," said Morn, "and relax. You can do it. Don't think about it. Don't think about the words. Don't feel the words, but just get up and do it, and forget about it."
North could not look away from his friend's eyes while he spoke, but when his friend looked away, he slightly shook himself. A few minutes later the priests appeared and began the Services.
North knew the prayers by heart, and did not pay much attention, and it seemed like no time at all had passed until someone was calling him forward. He stood between the coffins and found himself speaking, but was almost unaware of the words. When he was done 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 the stories that certain priests could look into men's minds and tell whether or not they were speaking the truth. Then he felt a strange feeling within his head. Suddenly both priests shook their heads in a strange manner, and looked away from North to where his friend Morn sat. Quickly looking away from him they spoke to The High Priest.
"He speaks true, Lord," they said in a strange, unison voice, and The High Priest nodded for North to return to his seat, then closed the service. Calling forth the bearers he said,
"Take this coffin of The Beloved and entomb it with his Ancestors, but take this coffin of the Damned to the great cliffs above the city, and there open it, that the birds of the air and the beasts of the field may devour what is within. And when they have picked its bones clean, take what remains and dump it into The Great Sea!"
With this the service was ended and the people filed out.
From the courtyard with his aunt, uncle, and mother, North watched the coffins borne skyward. As they were leaving North saw the Guard