Was Maria really ill? It certainly looked that way, but only Gabriel knew the truth of it: this was no true illness. Even so, Maria genuinely did need to stay a few more days in Duke Town.
On the night she received the Tears of the Gods, Maria had fainted. Day after day of devout prayer drains both spirit and strength; Duke Town's surroundings made Lord Dick thoroughly uncomfortable, and Maria was unwell in much the same way. Apart from eating and sleeping, she spent every day gathering all her spirit to pray to the goddess Isis, and she was already exhausted.
Once her spirit finally let go and she fainted — or rather sank into a deep sleep — it was the most ordinary of things for an ordinary person.
Maria had originally had a serving woman for the rough work and a personal maid as well, but these past two days both of them had fallen ill. Perhaps the long journey across the desert to this unpleasant place had truly been hard on them; neither the climate nor the surroundings agreed with them. Lord Dick had brought several maids and slave women for Maria to order about, but Gabriel held that none of them could attend to the holy maiden's daily needs directly.
Gabriel said to Dick, "You are certain that Maria will become the Isis Temple's guardian holy maiden, and the Tears of the Gods are already in hand. Then everything must be done for her as befits a holy maiden."
Isis Temple owns vast fields and countless slaves, yet the holy maiden's standing is set apart: the things she uses may not be passed into her hands directly by slaves, so slave women cannot serve her in person. She may have no bodily contact of any kind with grown men, and her clothes and food may not be presented to her by women who have lain with men. The several young and pretty maids Lord Dick had sent were plainly unsuitable.
Rod-Dick had thought everything through carefully and somehow overlooked exactly these points — not from any lack of care. By the rules, only after a formal ceremony at Isis Temple does an acknowledged holy maiden candidate become a true holy maiden. Gabriel, however, was holding her to holy maiden standards already, scrupulous to the last detail, for fear that something might go wrong on the road between now and their successful return to Isis Temple.
That was just as well. At least it showed that the temple's envoy had already accepted Maria's holy maiden standing in her heart.
Maria was not truly ill, and since Gabriel's duty was to protect her, that duty naturally included keeping her healthy. After Maria woke from a night of deep sleep, Gabriel had already healed her with a simple blessing divine art; there was nothing wrong with her body, and under Gabriel's protection she could cross the desert in perfect safety.
But Gabriel had other business, and she did not even tell Rod-Dick of it. She meant to teach Maria Isis Temple's most basic divine art — the Trial of the Gods. The standard for choosing a holy maiden was not merely obtaining the Tears of the Gods, but being able to awaken the power the gods bestow. That was what Gabriel intended to teach her.
This process is usually very difficult, but with the Tears of the Gods to help, it can be far simpler — one of the reasons the Tears are so precious. Only by awakening the power the gods bestow and passing the most basic Trial of the Gods could Maria prove that one day she would be able to use the Tears of the Gods to bless the people under the temple's care.
Maria already had the Tears of the Gods. If she could manage this before they reached Isis Temple, she would become a true holy maiden as a matter of course. If she failed to manage it for a long time, there might well be complications. Gabriel had escorted Maria a thousand li to Duke Town, witnessed with her own eyes the appearance of the Tears of the Gods, and seen Maria's devotion for herself; she was already utterly convinced of Maria's holy maiden standing, and so she resolved to take this step as soon as possible.
Doing so did not go against the god's will. Once Maria reached Isis Temple, the temple's priests would teach the divine arts by the proper procedure and hold the assessment within the prescribed time. Gabriel was simply moving that rite earlier, giving her special treatment.
Lord Rod-Dick was still worrying over one thing: that the temple's priests might play tricks — not teaching Maria the true divine arts, or deliberately stalling when they did — so that she would fail the assessment for a long while and some holy maiden candidate from another city-state would get the chance to steal her place. He was working out how to arrange public offerings and private bribes alike, while Gabriel, saying nothing, had already quietly solved the trouble Dick feared. From here on, everything depended on Maria herself.
After all, she had guarded Maria the whole way here and obtained the Tears of the Gods; even Gabriel felt herself fortunate. This was the grace of the goddess Isis. She felt an indescribable closeness to this pure and devout girl, and was glad to help her.
The divine art Gabriel taught Maria was still a form of prayer, but it called for sincere faith and a tranquil heart: a special rite to awaken the strange power the gods bestow and so pass the Trial of the Gods.
Maria asked her, "How will the gods test me?"
The ever-stern Gabriel rarely smiled, but she smiled now.
"Pray to the Tears of the Gods in the way I have taught you, and you will gain the strange power the gods bestow — but what is awakened at the same time is the desire that lurks in every human soul. You must learn how to face those desires and not let them sway your heart or your faith.
That is the Trial of the Gods, the threshold of the hall of divine arts. ... Your heart is so devout and so pure that this trial will not be hard for you. How a holy maiden ought to hold herself needs no more words from me."
Maria asked again, a little hesitantly, "But weren't we supposed to wait until we reach Isis Temple, and have the priests preside over the rite, before anyone could receive a trial like this? ... By doing it now, am I going against the god's will?"
Gabriel shook her head. "You are not going against the god's will. All I am doing is helping you pass the Trial of the Gods. If you cannot pass it, you will still never win the god's recognition — but I believe you can." Seeing that Maria was still doubtful, Gabriel thought for a moment and went on, "Let me tell you about something. It happened in this town only today."
Gabriel told her of the quarrel among the crowd in the square at the north end of town, and finished, "I do not think Master Aristotle's words were without sense. The god's will is the major premise. So long as you pass the trial, you have won the god's recognition, because as a holy maiden candidate you already hold the Tears of the Gods."
Maria blinked her big, beautiful eyes and thought it over for a long while, then nodded. "Yes, you are right. You know Isis Temple's rules far better than I do. I will not disappoint you."
Gabriel shook her head slightly again. "No — not me. You must not disappoint the great Mother Goddess Isis."
Then something seemed to occur to Maria, and she asked, puzzled, "But you have been right here the whole time. How could you hear what people were saying at the other end of town, every word so clearly, when I heard nothing at all? Is this the power of the gods?"
Gabriel smiled again. "This is the power the gods bestow. I heard every word each of them said, so long as I gathered my spirit and wished to listen. ... As Isis Temple's holy maiden, you will hold divine power far greater than mine. I am a warrior; I can never learn the high divine arts. But you will master Isis Temple's supreme divine arts."
She had no sooner said this than a maid's voice came up from downstairs: "Lord Gabriel, Master Aristotle has found the servant you wanted and brought him here."
Amon knew perfectly well that Aristotle and Old Fengzi had saved him today. That Old Fengzi would help him was no surprise, but this stranger was plainly a nobleman — why would he help a miner he had never even met? Amon was deeply grateful, and glad of the chance to serve the gentleman. Three days as a servant, that was all — and besides, there was the generous pay of a gold coin a day.
On the way Amon expressed his thanks, and by the grandest etiquette he knew he tried to kneel and kiss the earth before Aristotle's feet. Aristotle stopped him, saying with a smile, "There is no need for that, child. You are not my slave, and I am no god or king." Then, looking at him, he asked, "You want to ask me why I helped you?"
Amon nodded. "Yes, sir, I do."
Aristotle gazed into the distance and spoke as if to himself. "I come from far away on the continent, from a place called Hiton, where there are many city-states. I once studied at Plato's Academy. My teacher said, 'Why do we seek knowledge? Virtue is knowledge, and a clever man ought to make himself a good man.'"
Amon blinked, thinking back, and asked, "Hiton? Then have you heard of a sage named Theaetetus?"
Aristotle was a little taken aback. "I saw him at Plato's Academy. He was the student of Theodorus, a friend of my teacher. Child, how do you come to know his name?"
Amon answered, "An old man in town told me — the same old gentleman who was speaking with you just now." Amon had heard the name Theaetetus from Old Fengzi, who said this sage claimed that there are only five regular polyhedra in the world, and that the regular dodecahedron is the most particular of them: it is the outline with which the god sketched the world, holding the hidden message of the fifth element, the source and symbol of mysterious power.
Amon had assumed it was only drunk talk from Old Fengzi. He had not expected the man to really exist. It seemed Old Fengzi had been telling the truth.
The two walked on toward the south end of town, and Aristotle seemed greatly interested in the boy. As they went he asked, "We were just now debating the divine decree in front of the temple. Do you know why the true divine spirit — the god who left that decree behind — is called by you people the guardian god?"
Why? A god was a god, a decree was a decree; it seemed the town's people had never once looked into the question. Amon did not answer either, only saying humbly, "Sir, please enlighten me."
Aristotle smiled. "In truth I cannot be certain myself; I only wished to discuss it with you. That decree is called the guardian god's because it truly does guard the people here. The godstone mined here is so precious, and the mining craft is passed down from generation to generation — how else would you stop people, driven by greedy desire, from making underage children bear such crushing labor? How else protect the craftsmen here, generation upon generation, so that young boys do not die before their time?"
It was as if a thread of light pierced Amon's muddled mind. He suddenly understood something, and nodded again and again: "The decree — it is this decree! Children who are not of age cannot learn the miners' craft, and women may not mine godstone!"
Aristotle nodded as well. "Yes. That is why the god in that temple is called the guardian god. However that decree first came to be handed down, this place truly needs such a decree. Child, if you become a priest one day, you must guard decrees like it — but you must understand the true divine spirit and where it springs from, and not be like that priest just now."
Having said this he thought for a moment, and could not help smiling again. Turning his head to Amon, he said, "The spirit of the decree is that males under sixteen are not permitted to learn the miners' craft. But in the language spoken here, 'permitted' and 'possible' are one and the same word. You understand what I mean? That is why that priest could not win the argument with me today. But you must grasp the difference, or you will be as confused as everyone else."
Amon had been deep in thought the whole way from the north end of town to the south, and as they were still talking, they arrived at the small building where Maria was lodged.