67, Making a decision

The following morning, Ayya and her group arrived at the council chamber. As usual, Zerden stood waiting for them. 

“Your grace,” he greeted Ayya, and she greeted him back. “You and your bodyguard are welcome to join the council,” he said.

“Thank you,” Ayya said as she and Tenac began removing the weapons they carried. “We will have a visitor arriving in about an hour. Could you please let your men know?” she added. Zerden nodded. Ayya stepped through the double doors with Tenac by her side and Zerden trailing in behind them. Zerden announced Ayya, and she felt all eyes in the room shift to her as she took her place in the chair in front of the throne. 

“Your grace, thank you for your patience and thank you for joining us again,” the king said as Zerden had taken his place behind him. 

“It is our pleasure. It has been nice to get some time to rest after the long journey and the exciting first days here,” Ayya said with a smile. 

“Let us presume the questions,” the head of the council said. He sounded like he dreaded another day with questions almost as much as Ayya. 

“Before we get to the questions, may I have a moment to speak?” Ayya asked. the council seemed surprised by this. The head looked at the king, who nodded. 

“Yes, the floor is yours,” he told Ayya.

“Thank you,” she said, inclining her head slightly. “I have spent the past days thinking and I have reached the conclusion that I haven’t shared enough of my story to give you a reason to trust me,” Ayya started, but was interrupted.

“I knew it. She has been lying to all of us!” the bishop exclaimed. 

“Your Holiness, may i remind you that the lady has the floor, even you need to respect her right to speak uninterrupted,” the head of the council gently reminded the bishop.

“As I was saying,” Ayya picked up where she left off. “I haven’t told you my story because I didn’t think it should matter. I still believe it shouldn’t, but I have also come to see that it is a somewhat naïve world view to have. You all know me as Ayyanapia Teeran, an aari from Salmis. But I started my life as Mary Group. I grew up in the artisan quarters of this city. My father was a silversmith and when I was ten years old my parents succumbed to the sickness, but I was lucky and got brought to the castle by the Lady. I think most of you know my fate after that,” she told the council. She could hear the surprised whispers that ran through the members. 

“Is this your way of seeking revenge?” one of them asked. 

“No. I don’t harbour any resentment towards a person, a croup or the city as a whole. My life brought me to where I needed to be. If it had looked different, I wouldn’t have ended up back here with the power to help the city. I know you have questioned my motives. But my motives are simple. There is a city full of children outside these walls. I don’t want any of them to go through losing their parents the way I did,” she told them. 

“And how do we know this is true? How do we know you just didn’t hear the story about the orphaned girl and are now using it to gain sympathy?” the bishop asked. 

“I’m glad you asked, bishop. I would like to call a character witness. There is someone who knew me back then, someone I haven’t been in touch with while I was away. He has agreed to come before you to testify,” she told him.

“Who?” the king asked.

“Castellan, would you be so kind to call in my witness?” Ayya asked. Zerden looked at his king, who nodded, and then walked back to the double doors and retrieved the guest. As people saw who it was, there were whispers all around Ayya. She was satisfied when all three men on the platform looked equally shocked. She got up from her seat to greet father Link as he walked up to the place she was sitting at. He stopped and bowed toward his king, the bishop, the head of the council and at Ayya. “I don’t think my guest needs an introduction. Father Link is well known for his work with the illness and before I left, he had a good standing as a trusted priest in the city. Please, father, take a seat,” Ayya said, indicating the chair that Tenac never used. 

“Thank you, your grace. My legs aren’t what they used to be,” he said and sat down after her. 

“Why have you summoned one of my priests?” the bishop asked. 

“Now, now, bishop. I do believe it’s God’s priest and not yours,” the head of the council said, and Ayya did her best to hide her smile.

“Father Link knew me when I grew up. I have asked him here so you can verify my story with him. If you wish, me and Tenac can leave you to it,” she offered.

“That won’t be necessary, you grace. Or do you feel pressured by their presence, father Link?” the king asked.

“I don’t. Mary has always been a kind person. I don’t fear her or the people that she has at her disposal,” father Link said. 

“Very well, then I think we can get started,” the king decided with a nod. “I will ask the first question. Father, you have already called her grace by the name Mary. Do you know the full name she used while living in the city?” 

“Mary Group, my king,” father Link stated.

“And how did you come to know this, Mary?” the bishop asked. 

“She showed up at my church one day. She always sat in the back, always alone and always quiet and respectful, with her head bent in prayer. One day, after seeing her regularly for several weeks, I talked to her to see if she needed help. That is how I got to know her,” father Link said. 

“And what did she tell you about her life?” a councilman asked. Father Linked turned towards the side the man was sitting on.

“As a priest, I do not divulge what my parishioners tell me. It would go against my vows to God,” he told the man. Ayya hadn’t counted on that. It was honorable and spoke about what kind of man father Link was. But Ayya needed him to talk about her.

“It’s okay, father, I give you permission to talk freely about anything I have told you,” Ayya said. It was a risk. She had told him deeply personal things. Things she didn’t wish these men to know. But she was willing to put up with it if she were able to achieve her goal.

“Please guide me in this, your holiness. Do I still need to honor my vow to God if the subject releases me of it?” father Link asked the bishop. The bishop looked a little taken aback by the question. But he recovered quickly and looked to be thinking it over. 

“If her grace frees you from the vow of secrecy, God will not demand it from you,” he concluded. Father Link frowned, but nodded.

“She told me about her family dying in the sickness, about being rescued by the Lady and brough to work in the kitchen here in the castle. She often spoke about her fear of not being good enough to stay in the castle and of disappointing her friends and God,” he said. Ayya focused on her breathing to stop herself from blushing. Tenac stood close behind her and put his hand on the back of her chair. His fingers brushed her back and she focused on the sensation to tune out the room for a moment.

“How long was she part of your flock?” the head of the council asked. 

“For seven years.”

“Was she a god-fearing and honest woman?” someone asked.

“She was. Mary would always think about others before herself. When the sickness came around last time, five years ago, she volunteered at the orphanage to help those that needed help. She always contributed more than her share to the alms box. She went to church twice a week as she had those days off. If all the people in my flock were as dedicated, humble and caring as Mary, this city would be a better place,” he said. Ayya blushed this time.

“But that was a long time ago. She has changed since you knew her.” The bishop didn’t ask a question. It was a statement. 

“It is true, your holiness,” father Link agreed. “But if I may dare to say, after serving my flock for almost thirty years, in a part of the city that is home to not only honest people, I have become somewhat good at reading people. And when talking to her grace, listening to her tell me how she wants to help us, I could see the girl I knew. There is no doubt in my mind that her willingness to help comes from the same selfless place as it did back then,” father Link told them.

“Do you think she is so pure even after straying from the true path?” one of the council members asked.

“It’s not my place to judge what path another person walks. That is for God to judge the day we stand before Him.”

“But how can you think she can help us? We have prayed to God for help. Surely he will save us?” another one asked.

“As our good Bishop will surely tell you, the good book says that when we ask God for help, it is He that decides how help will be given. The lady besides me survived the illness when it wiped out her family, she was rescued from the streets and placed in the castle, despite hardship she proved she had a pure heart and she was sent away to a place hardly no one from our city visits. There she has been trained to help cure the illness that so long has tormented our city and she was then carried back to us. If that doesn’t have all the signs of divine intervention, I don’t know what would have. What is to say that her grace isn’t God’s way of answering our prayers?” father Link asked them. There was a soft murmur in the room as the council members discussed it between themselves. Ayya looked at the bishop. He was fuming. 

“Thank you, father. This has been most interesting, but I will excuse you now so we don’t take you away from your flock too long,” the king said.

“Of course, my king.” Father Link stood and bowed to them all again and was escorted out by Zerden. “I don’t think we will get any further with our questions. I am asking for a vote on the matter of letting the delegation from Salmisara help us with the sickness. We will ask lady Ayya and her bodyguard to step out so we can debate freely. I will give you two hours to debate and then we vote,” the king said. Ayya stood up and bowed to them.

“We will be in our chambers. Please let us know when you have reached a decision,” she said before walking back out of the chamber with Tenac. 

“You as well, Zerden,” she heard the king say as they were walking out into the waiting room. 

“They will make their decision in about two hours,” Ayya told her friends as they were walking up to her. They didn’t wait, but formed their usual group and set off towards the tower. Ayya knew the next couple of hours would be horrible.