December Free Fiction: Advent Story: Thear Collection: Aisling: 947 words
Read the first part of this story ( LJ link).
Biting her lip, Aisling tried not to let Logan's words get to her, because he was sounding more and more patronising with every word he said. “What is your relationship with Anubis like?” she asked, feeling the need to change the subject.
“Up until last night it was good, I guess.” Logan shrugged. “I don't know what anyone else's relationship is like with their deity, so I can't really compare it, but it's been useful to have someone to talk to when I need to. He's been supportive and understanding.” He sighed. “Then Anubis told me that Trey was the High Priest of Bast.” His voice filled with anger. “Trey should not have any connection with Bast. Bast is a Tein-Igni deity and she deserves a Tein-Igni priestess, not a Dorma priest.”
“Do you think that each of the deities belongs to a certain race?” Aisling tried her hardest to sound interested rather than like she wanted to yell at him. “I've never believed that personally, but I have heard it said by people before.”
“Yes, I really do. Anubis and Bast are Tein-Igni deities, Poseidon and Persephone are Uisdro deities, and Herne and Epona are Dorma deities. Loki doesn't connect with any specific race.”
“Why do you think that?”
“I was taught by my family that each of the deities belongs to a race, apart from Loki.” Logan shrugged. “Nothing anyone has said to me has ever convinced me otherwise.”
“What if you'd been chosen by Epona?”
Logan looked at Aisling and it was easy to see the confusion in his eyes. “I don't think that would have happened.”
“During my time at the training temple three true priestesses were chosen. One was a Dorma chosen by Epona.” She smiled. “The other two were an Uisdro chosen as a priestess of Anubis and a Tein-Igni chosen as a priestess of Herne. None of the deities have ever told their chosen priests and priestesses that their choice is based on their race, so I don't think that what your family said was correct. It could easily be a belief of the Tein-Igni that has become normal.”
“Aisling, it's just not possible for that to happen.”
Aisling bit her lip, once again searching for the right words to use. “At the training temple I was taught that a deity choses their priests and priestesses based on the personality of the person, not on their race, or anything else like that.” She sighed. “It was believed, by many of the girls, that they would only be a priestess if they chose the right deity, so they all picked those they thought were right without actually connecting with a deity. I'm a priestess of Persephone because of who I am, not what I am.”
Logan shook his head. “When you arrived I believed Anubis, but I don't know if you someone like you could really be the saviour of Thear.”
“What do you mean by that?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.
“It's just...” He sighed. “You seem to be a very different person to the one I was expecting because you have such strange beliefs. I always thought you'd be the same as me, but you're not and I don't know if you are the right person to help us.” He shrugged. “When I say us I mean the Tein-Igni.”
They turned a corner and Aisling found herself wondering where they were going. It was something she should have thought about before, because she had never been to the Residence before, didn't know what to expect from the building or the people inside it, but instead she had focused on Logan. Both she and Persephone knew that he was going to be an important part of the change that was going to happen, and there were days when Aisling wished she didn't know as much as she did, but that decision had been made too long ago for her to change her mind. Unfortunately it seemed like he was going to be taking a path that no-one, especially Anubis, wanted him to.
“Is the Tein-Igni more important to you than Thear?” she asked, trying not do sound disappointed.
“I think it is, now. If you'd asked me a year ago I think I might have answered differently, but being here has shown me the good I can do for my people and I want to continue doing it.”
“Even if it leads, in the long term, to the end of the Tein-Igni?”
“Aisling, I'm not against mixed handfastings, although I know some people are, and I think that in order to keep our race from fading we need to marry other bloods. However I do think that we need our own religion, because I don't believe the same things that other people do.”
Aisling looked at him, biting hard on her lip as she thought about what he was saying. “You would be happy,” she said slowly, unsure whether she was understanding Logan correctly, “if we created a place where people could handfast other bloods, but the Tein-Igni would need to have their own religion.”
Logan nodded. “All Tein-Igni children are taught that we have our deities and other races have their deities, so I wouldn't want that to end.”
“What about the Uisdro, Logan? They have their own beliefs too, so what would you do if you had a child with an Uisdro girl and she wanted to teach your child her beliefs too?”
“I don't know what the Uisdro believe, but if it isn't too different from my beliefs then I wouldn't have a problem with it.”
© K A Jones 2011
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. This entry was originally posted at http://kajones-writing.dreamwidth.org/39969.html. It currently has
comments.
Biting her lip, Aisling tried not to let Logan's words get to her, because he was sounding more and more patronising with every word he said. “What is your relationship with Anubis like?” she asked, feeling the need to change the subject.
“Up until last night it was good, I guess.” Logan shrugged. “I don't know what anyone else's relationship is like with their deity, so I can't really compare it, but it's been useful to have someone to talk to when I need to. He's been supportive and understanding.” He sighed. “Then Anubis told me that Trey was the High Priest of Bast.” His voice filled with anger. “Trey should not have any connection with Bast. Bast is a Tein-Igni deity and she deserves a Tein-Igni priestess, not a Dorma priest.”
“Do you think that each of the deities belongs to a certain race?” Aisling tried her hardest to sound interested rather than like she wanted to yell at him. “I've never believed that personally, but I have heard it said by people before.”
“Yes, I really do. Anubis and Bast are Tein-Igni deities, Poseidon and Persephone are Uisdro deities, and Herne and Epona are Dorma deities. Loki doesn't connect with any specific race.”
“Why do you think that?”
“I was taught by my family that each of the deities belongs to a race, apart from Loki.” Logan shrugged. “Nothing anyone has said to me has ever convinced me otherwise.”
“What if you'd been chosen by Epona?”
Logan looked at Aisling and it was easy to see the confusion in his eyes. “I don't think that would have happened.”
“During my time at the training temple three true priestesses were chosen. One was a Dorma chosen by Epona.” She smiled. “The other two were an Uisdro chosen as a priestess of Anubis and a Tein-Igni chosen as a priestess of Herne. None of the deities have ever told their chosen priests and priestesses that their choice is based on their race, so I don't think that what your family said was correct. It could easily be a belief of the Tein-Igni that has become normal.”
“Aisling, it's just not possible for that to happen.”
Aisling bit her lip, once again searching for the right words to use. “At the training temple I was taught that a deity choses their priests and priestesses based on the personality of the person, not on their race, or anything else like that.” She sighed. “It was believed, by many of the girls, that they would only be a priestess if they chose the right deity, so they all picked those they thought were right without actually connecting with a deity. I'm a priestess of Persephone because of who I am, not what I am.”
Logan shook his head. “When you arrived I believed Anubis, but I don't know if you someone like you could really be the saviour of Thear.”
“What do you mean by that?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.
“It's just...” He sighed. “You seem to be a very different person to the one I was expecting because you have such strange beliefs. I always thought you'd be the same as me, but you're not and I don't know if you are the right person to help us.” He shrugged. “When I say us I mean the Tein-Igni.”
They turned a corner and Aisling found herself wondering where they were going. It was something she should have thought about before, because she had never been to the Residence before, didn't know what to expect from the building or the people inside it, but instead she had focused on Logan. Both she and Persephone knew that he was going to be an important part of the change that was going to happen, and there were days when Aisling wished she didn't know as much as she did, but that decision had been made too long ago for her to change her mind. Unfortunately it seemed like he was going to be taking a path that no-one, especially Anubis, wanted him to.
“Is the Tein-Igni more important to you than Thear?” she asked, trying not do sound disappointed.
“I think it is, now. If you'd asked me a year ago I think I might have answered differently, but being here has shown me the good I can do for my people and I want to continue doing it.”
“Even if it leads, in the long term, to the end of the Tein-Igni?”
“Aisling, I'm not against mixed handfastings, although I know some people are, and I think that in order to keep our race from fading we need to marry other bloods. However I do think that we need our own religion, because I don't believe the same things that other people do.”
Aisling looked at him, biting hard on her lip as she thought about what he was saying. “You would be happy,” she said slowly, unsure whether she was understanding Logan correctly, “if we created a place where people could handfast other bloods, but the Tein-Igni would need to have their own religion.”
Logan nodded. “All Tein-Igni children are taught that we have our deities and other races have their deities, so I wouldn't want that to end.”
“What about the Uisdro, Logan? They have their own beliefs too, so what would you do if you had a child with an Uisdro girl and she wanted to teach your child her beliefs too?”
“I don't know what the Uisdro believe, but if it isn't too different from my beliefs then I wouldn't have a problem with it.”
© K A Jones 2011
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. This entry was originally posted at http://kajones-writing.dreamwidth.org/39969.html. It currently has
comments.