Chapter Twelve: Auspices

Priestess Oestel really got Val. She could tell because the priestess hardly addressed her directly and didn't crouch down and try to get chummy with her for the ten seconds they had before the priestess had to welcome the next household into the temple. She just shook hands with Ginn and Ette and said, 'Welcome, Val' with a nod and a smile. Val trailed after the Vinzennos like a little puppy, not wanting to stray far from the anchor of familiar faces. And, luckily from her, they were from out of town and so weren't mingling as much as some of the other folks.

The entryway of the temple opened into a big rotunda - from the outside, she'd have guessed a very different interior from the vast, airy space. Unlike the altar and pews of a Pale Order church, the temple was all open space with an altar at one end and a raised stage at the other. Behind the altar was a great big fireplace twice the size of the pretty-sizable one back at the St. Gaspard abbey. Crankwork ventilators drew the smoke away and up the chimney, but the whole hall was toasty warm despite the blizzard outside.

There were at least two hundred people inside, most of them mingling around a series of food tables, though a few of them gathered around the stage, where a quintet of erstwhile street performers were busy entertaining a group of children and a few parents. It was very unlike any church Val had ever been inside, and she decided on the spot that she liked it more. While the Pale Order wasn't utterly-opposed to merriment, they definitely discouraged it in their temples.

Ginn tapped Val's big pot of dumplings with a scar-nicked finger. "Why don't I take that off your hands? You can go and see what's going on about the stage…"

"I don't know anybody here."

"And you'll never start if you don't mingle. I thought orphans were supposed to be self-reliant…"

"Fine," Val grumbled, and she placed the pot of dumplings on top of the one Ginn was already carrying. Ginn was right - Val could look after herself and doubted she could get into much trouble just mingling with a captivated group of kids… well, some of them were around her age, but half of them were kids. A year or two younger than Val at least.

"Hey, it's Val! The girl I told you about!" a girl shouted.

It took a moment for Val to recognize her as Iselde, the urchin who'd help her procure clothes the day before. The girl had cleaned up and dressed in a black felt dress with a crimson sash and bow - a dress matching that of about a dozen other girls, the only difference being the color of the sashes and bow. They were a bit shabby but better than anything Val had ever been given at an orphanage. Iselde's little brother wore a similar outfit, albeit with knickers instead of a dress and a kerchief instead of a bow. She assumed these were school uniforms, since she'd seen the children of posh merchants wear a much fancier version of the same thing back in Wayfair.

Val waved awkwardly as Iselde jumped off the stage, her dress fluttering all around her, and she and a small gaggle of other orphans gathered around Val. One boy about Val's age squinted at her in a way she didn't much care for.

"She don't look much like a bondswoman," he stated. And, when he had the audacity to try to poke Val, as if that would help him determine anything, she smacked his hand away hard enough to make him yelp.

"Of course she don't dress like that in the temple," Iselde said very matter-of-factly. "Even tough folks have got to be presentable in temple. She got your hand, didn't she, though?"

"Only on account of I wasn't expecting it," the boy said.

"You're full of shite," Isabel stated.

"Children! Language!" A woman closer to the stage said. "You should be going over your lines anyway. I don't want to hear any chit-chat."

With less fanfare, Iselde introduced Val to several of her friends, some of whom would be getting anointed along with Val that very evening. This included Iselde, even though Val had taken her to be no older than ten. Iselde was actually eleven - Val supposed she was about the size Val had been about a year ago, so she was just a bit small for her age, too.

All of the orphans, whether they were getting anointed or not, were taking part in a little stage production called The Passion of Jerob, who was some sort of hero who had once (allegedly) been elevated to Sturmhalle just before he died of grievous wounds suffered due to the scheming of Axter, the trickster god. Even as Iselde was explaining this, people had begun to wander over from the food area to the stage, where the quintet had just finished their set.

"Iselde! Get your scrawny behind up here!" the teacher from the orphanage hissed.

Iselde slipped a little foil circlet with glass jewels over her head. "I'll see you after the Passion, right?"

She skipped up on stage, donned the rest of her costume, and the Passion of Jerob commenced. The orphans acted out the various roles from the tale as Hale Jerob (Hale seemed to be an honorific a bit like Saint) won the love of Princess Wulde (played by Iselde) and they absconded, causing the princess's suitor (who had designs on the kingdom) to declare war and raze Jerob's village, killing his family. While fleeing, Jerob and his men received a vision from a messenger goddess promising him a great victory if he caught the evil prince's army off-guard in the nearby pass.

Unfortunately, Axter, the trickster god, warned the evil prince and slipped poison into the mead that Princess Wulde gave to Jerob to warm his spirits. When he rode into battle, the enemy was ready and Jerob's reflexes were slowed, such that he was captured by the enemy despite killing twenty of their number (the child playing Jerob declared as much, even though he'd only 'killed' four 'warriors'). Realizing that her love had been captured, Princess Wulde rode her own troops into battle, taking the evil prince off-guard.

Realizing he was defeated, the evil prince (who was, apparently, an expert archer) declared that if he could not have Wulde, he would kill her, whereupon the princess and the evil prince both drew their bows and fatally shot one another. Hearing that the princess was mortally wounded, Jerob emerged from the cell where he had been tortured and ran to the dying Wulde. However, his horrific wounds and the rattle of his shackles made Wulde's men mistake him for a beast and stab him with their spears.

Dying, Wulde and Jerob embraced one another, whereupon the winged goddes, Valkyrie, riding a winged horse (Val wasn't clear on why both needed wings) rode down from the heavens and carried both off to Sturmhalle.

"Why isn't it called the Passion of Jerob and Wulde?" Val whispered.

"Probably should be," the woman next to her whispered back.

The audience clapped politely and each child was given a sip of mead as they left the stage, though the sips weren't much larger than a thimbleful.

Afterward, Priestess Oestel gave what amounted to a benediction and declared that there would be dancing, feasting, and merriment until the nocturne, which Val gathered was around nine o'clock. After the passion play, Val was half-expecting a great, meat-heavy feast like the Sudren warriors of ancient myth. Those warriors were Val's forebears, at least along half of her ancestry. Frankly, she had no idea where her father was from or even which country he'd fought for in the great war. She'd expected great slabs of meat and tankards of ale - but, really, it was just a pot luck dinner and each household had brought one or two dishes that they knew how to make. There was wine and mead, but they did not flow freely. When she tried to get a glass of wine, the woman pouring the glasses stated that she was too young, even after Val insisted that she was twelve.

Ette had noticed this, apparently, because he slipped her a glass of wine a few minutes later. A glass with all of about three sips of wine in it. It made Val feel slightly more-adult to be walking around and swishing wine, though, as opposed to the juices the younger children liked. They were also big fans of Sabine's fry bread.

"Which god do you want to touch you?" Iselde asked her.

"Or goddess," Val said. Part of her wondered if it would be her namesake. Would that be a bit too convenient? "I think I know which one," she said eventually. "It's…"

"Don't say it! It's bad luck!" Iselde insisted. The girl next to her - the pretty, blue-one who'd actually played Valkyrie in the passion play - strongly agreed.

"So it's like saying what you're going to do when you get the Gift?"

Iselde laughed. "Don't even joke about that! That's really rare…"

"My uncle told me more people used to have the Gift in olden times," pretty-girl-who'd-played-Valkyrie said. "But, yeah. I think there are like six people in the whole sept."

Soon to be seven, Val added mentally.

+++++

There was feasting and music and dancing. The boy who'd played Jerob - the one whose hand she'd slapped - asked her to dance about four times, and Val turned him down slightly more brusquely each time. On the fourth time, she stomped on his toes and told him to piss off, to which he stated that Val should respect him because he would soon be apprenticing under a metallurgist and would be a man of means.

"Very good, Hale Jerob," Val told him. "Why don't you take your means and piss. The. Hell. Off?"

She was happier to dance in a vague circle with a trio of orphan girls - Iselde, Nikoli (who'd played Valkyrie), and Yvanni (who'd played a few minor roles), all of whom were roughly Val's age and none of whom insisted that Val had to dance with them despite being orphans just like her. When she glanced to 'Jerob', his angry stare was fixed upon her, as if she'd made an enemy for life simply by slapping his hand away and then telling him to piss off. If he tried a fifth time, she'd pop him in the nose, even if it was Taagsnit.

As the hour of Nocturne approached, people seemed to sense it and the music and merriment gradually died down. The lanterns about the hall had grown dim (or maybe somebody had dimmed them) and the dominant source of lighting was a great golden glow coming from the hearth behind the altar. This was because somebody had set a lens and a great frame of frosted glass in front of it to give the whole front of the temple a glow that could have been considered either warm or ominous depending on your point of view. Val wasn't sure which she took it to be.

Priestess Oestel strode to the front of the altar - there was no pulpit to hide behind - and spoke to the crowd, her iron-gray hair haloed in golden light like an angel. Val couldn't remember whether the Old Sudren religion believed in angels or whether Valkyrie's winged warrior women were the closest they got. When the priestess spoke, her voice was strong and commanding despite her size.

"Siblings and cousins, ours is the Temple of Hale Jerob, and today we have witnessed the Passion of Jerob…" she glanced in Val's direction… "and Wulde. Two hale heroes for whom love was more important than life or earthly power. Tonight we have feasted - I thank you for your offerings of sustenance. And my gotskosen and I have already negotiated your offerings of maintenance. I am pleased to say that our temple is strong as we go into this winter!"

The gathered sept whooped and cheered, and Oestel waited for the silence to descend once again. The only sound was the occasional babble or inane question of a child too young to know to be quiet. Val could hear the wind and snow howling away outside in that quiet moment.

"We are strong, but there is much work to be done, and so I call upon each household to give its offering of effort. First among these is our Orphanage at Hale Wulde, who already performed a very fine passion for us. Gotkosen Mellia, what say you?"

The teacher from the orphanage strode up to the altar and stood next to the priestess. "Priestess Oestel, we are pleased to offer three youths who have declared themselves ready to walk the Way. We offer their good works as they walk the path of the hale."

"Thank you, cousin. We rejoice as our temple grows!" The priestess lifted a goblet, which was apparently the signal for all of the temple members to take a drink, because nearly everybody did. Most of them had switched to non-alcoholic drinks at some point. Val supposed their sept did not engage in the same sort of wanton revelry as their ancient forebears.

This went on for each of about fifty households - one member from each would approach the altar and announce either youths who would be anointed that night or offers of work. One family of carpenters promised to build new bunks for the orphanage. A household of washerwomen offered to clean the rugs and tapestries. And Sabine offered to provide protection for the temple's public events. Val thought she was an honorary member of Sabine's household for her time in Verdenlecht, but apparently Ette and Ginn were considered to be their own household. The priestess said as much.

"For those of you who do not recognize this face, this is Ginn Vinzenno. She and her husband have lived in our neighbor city of Wayfair these past twenty years, first to tend to Ette's parents, may they rest in glory, and then as a personal favor to the temple. Not that we were trying to keep them scarce!" that got a laugh. "Ginn, what did I ask you to do?"

Ginn was visibly nervous, clearly unused to speaking in front of so many people. Oestel winced, seeming to realize this a little too late. But Ginn shook off her nerves and addressed the sept: "Things aren't so good for our people in Wayfair. The Pale Order has the run of the place, more or less, and we practice our Way in secret. Priestess Oestel asked Ette and me to help protect our brethren when they needed it… and to keep them clean. Just the other week, Ette and Val brought in a witch who goes by Valina Forsooth… I can see that some of you know the name. It's bad behavior like hers that gives the Pale Priests bolts in their quiver. And dragging in the likes of her makes it easier to hide the other part of our job."

Val hadn't suspected anything of the sort but, in retrospect, it made a lot of sense. Ginn and Ette interacted with quite a few strange bedfellows - presumably cousins in the faith. They protected the washerwomen and 'washerwomen' in the old abbey. And they brought in criminals on the regular, a disproportionate number of whom were followers of the old ways. At first Val had thought that maybe there were just more criminals who worshiped the old gods, but it made more sense that Ette went out of his way to nab them - both because he and Ginn knew their ways better than other bondspeople and because it didn't do to have the bad apples making a public nuisance of themselves.

"I take it that your mission in Wayfair is now over, Ginn?"

Ginn glanced to Ette, standing not too far off in the crowd, and nodded. "Probably. It's not safe for us there anymore. We've found ourselves too far on the wrong side of the Pale Order and now we've got a g- young woman in our household in quite a bit of danger from them. It looks like we'll be here for at least a few months and maybe permanently if we can find an apprenticeship for our son here."

Priestess Oestel nodded. "If anybody knows of any apprenticeship openings for leatherwork, see Ette to get a sample of his boy's work. And if there are any houses for rent or sale on fair terms, see Ginn. And I take it, this young woman…"

"Val - we've taken her in and she's apprenticing under Ette. Under the both of us, really. She's ready to get anointed tonight - that's our offering of effort. We, uh… we offer her good works as she walks the path of the hale."

"Thank you, cousin. We rejoice, and our temple grows!" Oestel raised her goblet for a final time before setting it on the floor in front of the altar. "And thank you all for your offerings tonight! I'd like the youth who are ready to be anointed to come forward and join me behind the altar over here. If you're not sure - if you don't want to do this - then you must not. Whether you're ready or not, when you offer yourself to the gods, one of them is likely to pick you. Remember - each of you have to be accompanied by two witnesses who will attest to your character and readiness."

Ette nudged Val, which was her signal to follow him up to the alter. The others were already congregating up there - Iselde was so excited she was bouncing on the balls of her feet and Gotkosen Mellia had to calm her down. Ginn motioned Val forward and offered a nervous smile. And, for her part, Val was very nervous to suddenly being the center of attention, even if it would only be for a minute. Her stomach did flips, her palms were sweaty, and her whole body felt vaguely unwell.

Did that mean it was time to turn around and call it quits? But Ginn and Ette looked so proud - she couldn't possibly disappoint them. Not in front of so many people. She'd have to do it now.

Since she'd hesitated, that made her the last in line. All of the orphans went first since the two gotkosens who ran the orphanage acted as the sponsor for all of them. After that were the children from the families of the sept, eight of them in all. And Val was the last - not quite an orphan anymore, but she didn't quite have a family, either. Would Ginn and Ette even want her if they brought their son to Verdenlecht and he didn't live all the way across town anymore?

The anointment went faster than Val thought it would. Each of the witnesses swore that the youth was ready to walk the Way, each youth swore an oath before the gods to renounce all other pacts and allegiances, and then the priestess dipped a little golden stamp of the seven-boughed tree into a tray of oil and pressed it against each youth's head just hard enough to leave a little red mark.

Now Val was next. On instinct, she reached out and squeezed Ginn's hand, perhaps a bit too hard. After they swore the oath in front of the sept and all the gods (assuming they existed), would that make things official? Surely, they couldn't give her up after that.

"Do you, Ginneweth Vinzenno, swear before the gods that this young woman is good and true, that she will do honor to this sept?"

"I swear it before the gods," Ginn said.

"And do you, Ettebono Vinzenno, swear before the gods that this young woman is good and true, that she will do honor to this sept?"

"I swear it before the gods," Ette said.

"To be initiated in this sept, you must swear before the gods - you must swear to that you are beholden to no demon or spirit, that you will honor the gods, that you will accept the patronage of whichever goddess or god would claim you, and that you will walk the Way. Swear now, saying: I…" the priestess leaned down to whisper to Val: "Val, what's your full name?"

"Valkyrie. Valkyrie Valicent…"

For some reason, this upset the priestess. "Girl, this is no laughing matter!" she hissed. "Is it Valerie?"

Forgetting where she was and that she was standing in front of the whole sept, Val turned and frowned at Priestess Oestel. "I said my name is Valkyrie Valicent, just like my ma named me. Why would I lie about that?"

"Child, you cannot be named after a goddess - that is reserved for those who have been blessed by the gods. Perhaps your parents thought it was a pretty name, but they did not understand. You cannot be anointed as Valkyrie…"

"My mother understood," Val said. "I know she did, because the last thing she said to me before she died in a Wayfair alleyway was to remember my name. Valkyrie Valicent. If that means I can't get anointed, then I guess it's not going to happen."

The priestess raised her hand up, and for a second Val thought she was going to slap her in the face in front of everybody. But then the light flashed in Oestel's eyes and Val felt the vague whispering at the base of her brain. She felt an energy rising up from the center of her being and washing throughout her body. The gods Gifted Val right there by the temple altar. No, not the gods - the goddess Valkyrie had touched her, and it was neither the first time nor the last.