Reckish stood at attention, his gray eyes steely as he did his best not to openly glower.

  Tivera, for once, was pale, and the faint jingling of his bells came from his subtle trembling as he kept his lips pressed together and his wide brown eyes fixed on the floor in front of him.

  Zeviras sat staring at them both calmly.

  “Reckish, you knew this particular monk was going to take exception to being selected as a priest,” the god of truth and balance began peacefully. “I have never seen you select such a reticent human to act as a priest on your behalf.”

  “That is because I made my promise to Heleka, Zeviras, and you know it. I am making progress with my chosen priest… or I was until Tivera opened his gaping mouth.”

  Zeviras’s gaze hardened. “Tivera told your priest the consequence of failing a trial. He was well within his right to do so, and it is in fact what he is supposed to do. You will apologize for insulting him.”

  Rekish’s eyes flit to the jester god, and as a result Tivera’s trembling grew worse.

  “I brought Tivera here to have him investigated for sabotage with purpose,” Reckish informed Zeviras tightly.

  The god of truth raised a wiry white eyebrow. “Why do you think that?”

  Reckish turned behind him and gestured toward the gold rimmed oval mirror.

  It began to instantly show the nature of the two tests that Lou had been subjected to…

  By the end of it, Zeviras was staring at Tivera with a mixture of disappointment and pity.

  “Tivera… One of those tests being issued I could have condoned, but two? I understand now why Reckish is upset. This has made his priest a mockery and does not best represent our position of those who exist to serve the universe for the better.”

  “Both tests had valid lessons to be learned for this particular priest!”

  Zeviras’s stare softened, as it always did with Tivera.

  Reckish struggled with the urge to start pointing out the injustice he felt.

  He knew it was his own shortcoming.

  Zeviras only displayed fair treatment given the truths he saw in a being’s soul.

  This meant that there was something about Tivera that, while annoying, juvenile, and chaotic, earned more patience from Zeviras than anyone had ever known.

  “What were these lessons?”

  “The first, that to be laughed at is not always a bad thing. To not hide from the damage of pride when this priest could do good for others.” Tivera’s brown eyes sharpened, and it was his seriousness that brought silence over the ten other gods and goddesses that stood in attendance.

  “And the second?” Zeviras asked softly.

  “That confrontation doesn’t always have to be aggressive. Violence, as Reckish knows, is not a first resort. It should be the last. If a situation can be resolved amicably, it should be. This test shouldn’t have bothered the priest if he had truly learned the first lesson anyway! So really, I was being generous!”

  Reckish emitted a low rumble, but during his explanation, Tivera had steadied himself.

  Zeviras pondered the god of jester’s response carefully, then moved his attention to Reckish.

  “What do you have to say in response?”

  Tivera’s resumed self-assurance dissipated when he saw Reckish’s level mood.

  The war god usually got angry when he knew he was in the wrong, but that was not the case in that moment.

  “I want to ask Tivera to relay everything he knows about my chosen priest.”

  The gods and goddesses who stood as witnesses whispered amongst themselves.

  Reckish glanced briefly at Heleka, her warm brown eyes unreadable.

  Zevira regarded Tivera and stiffened when his pale blue eyes glowed and he saw things no one else could…

  “Very well. Tivera, what do you know about Reckish’s monk? Every god and goddess that participates in the trials should know everything about the chosen priest to offer the most suitable tests.”

  Tivera balked.

  “H-He is the most reticent of all the priests Reckish has chosen before. He has the fire in him that can bear the power, and he-”

  “What was the biggest moment of betrayal in Louis Barrach’s life? Or in case you didn’t know his full name… Brother Lou. What was the largest betrayal Brother Lou endured?” There were fiery threads of anger in Reckish’s tone as he asked the question of Tivera yet held Zeviras’s gaze.

  “W-Well, it can be argued that it was when you chose him to be a priest! He chose his life of peace and his purpose for his life and-”

  “Louis Barrach has been betrayed three times. All of those betrayals led to him resolving that there is no point to fighting, and that living a peaceful life of little consequence is what he desires, when in actuality he is merely licking his wounds and hiding.” Reckish at last spared the jester god a look, his eyes sharper than any holy sword he could wield.

  Tivera rounded on him, his bells jangling threateningly.

  “Then wouldn’t my first test be beneficial for him?”

  “You issued a test without proper appraisal of the priest, this could result in a corruption of his soul and therefore bring about chaos to the entire world.”

  Tivera swallowed with difficulty. “You always pick the same, Reckish.”

  “I gave my word that was not the case– and even if it was the case? Each and every human has variances. You’ve been careless, lazy, and risked torturing a human. That is the job of the demon lords, not us.”

  “Tivera,” Zeviras called out, and the god of performance and jester’s hands clenched. “Reckish is right. You tormented a human, you did not test them. Never has a god behaved thusly.”

  Turning back to face Zeviras, Tivera raised his chin. “This priest has been given exemption after exemption. Reckish visited him in tangible form, and even when applying to be a monk, he was far beyond the age required to be first joining the monkhood!”

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  “The latter was a human decision not of our own volition,” Reckish interrupted.

  “Did Zeviras not guide the High Priestess on the matter? Of course we interfered!” Tivera snapped back. No one had seen the jester god so grounded in an argument, and one or two of the divine beings that watched noticed that they could no longer hear his bells when he moved his head.

  They all stared at him, judgment and disapproval in their ethereal gazes.

  “Fine!” the god snapped and rounded on the group of onlookers. “You all want to know the truth?” Tivera started to laugh, a mad light coming to his eyes. “I’m testing Reckish. I’m testing all of you! As you should have been time and time again! What a joke that we test humans, when we ourselves are never inspected, only worshiped. How can we be held accountable when we do not challenge our own thoughts and actions? If we are not growing and changing as the humans are through the ages, then we are only hurting them.”

  “How do you use that as an excuse to tamper with a trial?” Reckish boomed, his voice echoing around the crowd.

  “Because the trial is flawed! If you say you are keeping your promise with Heleka, then the trial shouldn’t be conducted with the goal of unlocking more of the priest’s powers!”

  The crowd fell back into stunned silence.

  That is, until Bilsib stepped forward.

  Her long white wavy white hair reached her hips, her eyes white and milky, an oak staff in her hand.

  “Tivera you should have spoken of your fears. Darkness is already starting to hover over you in wait.”

  Gasps echoed around the group.

  Zeviras rose from his seat as he stared down at Tivera, pain in his eyes.

  “Tivera… I know you have struggled since joining us, but you should have-”

  The god of jesters laughed and flipped his middle finger in the air at the crowd and at Bilsib.

  “Bilsib has always known it’d be like this. She just chose to point it out now. Anyone want to know why?” Tivera gave a twirl, his former jovial attitude returning in a most alarming way. “It’s because now is the time she thinks will reduce concerning collateral damage. If Reckish already knew at the start of my trials I hadn’t investigated this Brother Lou person, why didn’t he bring it up before now? Instead, he let things play out, hoping I’d trip up somewhere in a big enough way to cast me into my own hell! I’m now dragging you all under investigation, and Bilsib is trying to negate that!” Tivera laughed then sighed. “You know… I do regret not learning about Brother Lou more before giving him his tests. I didn’t know he and I were so alike.”

  “You know nothing about Lou,” Reckish drew his sword, the ring of the blade making the crowd of onlookers shift backward.

  “Well I think we all know by now how much he detests being a priest of yours! He’s risking exile from the temple! Shouldn’t that and this alleged ulterior motive of hiding due to betrayal be a sign you’ve chosen someone prone to corruption?!”

  Reckish raised the tip of his sword to Tivera’s throat.

  Beads of light began to float up the blade’s center and stack themselves.

  Zeviras held up his hand and drew everyone’s eyes back to him as a result.

  “Bilsib, Reckish, do you really think I didn’t see the darkness touching him? That is what makes his insights into truth so invaluable. While Tivera does need to be punished for his careless attitude regarding Louis Barrach, we need to discuss his points. Self examination is something not even us deities are exempt from.”

  Reckish looked at Zeviras, a mixture of calm and anger warring in his eyes. His propensity to lust for a good fight difficult to keep at bay in that moment.

  “What are we to do now that my priest knows what happens when he fails his trials?”

  Zeviras paused, clasped his thick bulbous fingers in front of himself, and leaned forward, his gold threaded cream shirt sagging as he leaned forward in his seat.

  “Before we address that question, Reckish, are you certain this is the monk you wish to anoint as your priest?”

  Everyone waited with bated breaths as the war god did not immediately answer.

  However, after a moment, divine light flecked Reckish’s eyes.

  “He is the right priest to represent me, and I ask that Heleka confirm she is still in accordance with our earlier agreement.”

  The goddess stepped forward, her voluptuous figure making her pale blue gown ripple as she moved. “I do.”

  Reckish gave a humorless half smile and a nod.

  Zeviras observed this exchange, then looked back to Tivera who bobbed his head despite Reckish’s blade still being directed at his throat, and gave a roguish grin.

  The god of truth laughed and once again drew everyone’s attention.

  “A mere human has cast our ranks into a disarray unlike any other,” Zeviras observed. “I suppose we shall henceforth decide how we are to manage the remainder of his trials.”

  Everyone looked at one another, uncertain of what to suggest for such an unorthodox situation.

  “Excuse me, but I think I might have an idea.”

  Hagar, god of hunt and animals, volunteered while stepping forward, his black beard neatly trimmed and thick, while his dark eyes were as keen as ever.

  Zeviras bowed his head. “Please, let us hear your plan.”

  ***

  Lou whistled jauntily to himself as he locked up his chapel. The next morning was to be the day of his second sermon in Oxby, and he was feeling quite confident about it.

  Of course that wasn’t the only reason he found himself in such high spirits.

  The monk nearly skipped over to his pony, Baldwin, who waited patiently outside in the cool, dying light of the evening.

  “I think after the sermon tomorrow, I’m going to feed you an entire sack of apples!” Lou informed his steed happily while gently rubbing the pony’s velvety nose.

  Baldwin let out a warm breath of approval.

  Resuming his happy trilling, Lou clambered back into the driver seat of his cart and turned Baldwin into the street that, given the dining hour, everyone had abandoned for their own hearths and tables.

  Little did the poor monk know, however, that his momentary reprieve was going to be short lived.

  And what awaited Brother Lou the following dawn, would mark the end of his good mood for far longer than he would have liked.