Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Tuerny" data-source="post: 1080126" data-attributes="member: 674">Naja's Thoughts on the WaitingThe guards had left the room, presumably to fetch the Brahmin Evatrya Ellama Visantra. The giant stood in the doorway. Anvar and Sanjay stood between Naja and the doorway defensively; her back was to the corner. This was not how she'd expected her evening to progress. Hindsight told her that perhaps revealing the 'secret' she carried within her to these new strangers was a mistake. Anvar had taken it well; she was impressed with this man while still a little wary, but his friend had not. Being a priest, the Nishavan felt it his duty to have Naja purified. He was in the right, by the laws of the Empire. And thus the group found themselves defending Naja - something she had not expected. She never did.Standing there, her fate balanced on a razor's edge, her mind whirled with a thousand thoughts. Sanjay had helped in convincing her to submit to the purification. He might be blindly obedient and trusting, but he was well-intentioned and would never suggest anything that he thought would harm one of his companions - even a companion as foul as Naja'd been. Anvar shared her views of taking circumstances into consideration. Naja was fairly certain that they all agreed that one's blood was not the determining factor in the direction one's life would take - of course this thought in and of itself defied Matayanism. Naja had only lived for her sister until she came to Sudarsha. And even then, Naja had gone to lengths to protect her sister from deeds that might alter Shukri's form in the next life. If Shukri could be given a better life on her next turn on the wheel, Naja was willing to forfeit her own. Now Naja had a child growing within her. True, it was not created in love - as Naja'd always imagined it should be - but it was hers nonetheless. Now she was faced with the fact that, because of the blood that flowed in its veins, the child was to be killed. This would possibly kill her, as well. She was not prepared to end this turn on the wheel. No "purification" or "cleansing" would save her from the fate she'd forged for her next life. There were things she had yet to resolve, and no ritual could grant her spirit the absolution it would need to move on to something better.The tension in the air was thick as they stood there, waiting. Different scenarios played themselves out in Naja's mind as she stood there. On one hand, the Brahmin Visantra may find a way to shuffle the companions out of the temple and away without the purification being performed. On the other, she could order the purification done immediately. The secret was no longer so "secret". The Nishavan priest and six of the temple guardians knew about it. While less scrupilous politicians could "deal with" this, Naja did not expect this to be the case in Anjeeti's temple.But then, what Justice was it that a child's life be forfeit simply because of the blood in its veins? Naja knew that not all Asura-born were "evil". No more so than the Nishavans of the Empire's history. No more so than the foul men who served unknown foul purposes within the Empire itself. There was no "Justice" in this, in Naja's mind. Ah, the ironies of life. Now she understood more clearly why the Rangsten kept outsiders away...</blockquote>

Verification