Blood Priest

An old man was sitting on a small stool, his sunken eyes gazing towards the city’s center, and his hands clapped together in his lap.

Behind him stood a building made out of dirt and wooden sticks. A sort of symbol was carved on a large plank above its doorless entrance. It was a simple symbol comprised of a circle with a straight vertical line passing through the middle.

That building was the church of Nazir, the so-called God of Peace, one of the hundreds of gods worshiped in the north of the continent. Nazir was the main god worshipped in the Kingdom of Love and a few of its neighboring kingdoms, but his influence has reached neither Oath nor Blood.

The old man, Priest Paxon, was the grand-grandson of a religious man that had to escape from his kingdom and hid in the primary place where people who wanted to hide came, the Blood Kingdom.

Paxon was born in this cursed and poverty-stricken place; it was all he had ever known since he was a little boy. Since he had fallen in love with his father’s stories about his home, which he mainly had heard from his father as well, Paxon always dreamed of one day making his way there, but there was no way for him to ever make that journey.

Since he was raised by his strongly religious father to worship Nazir, just as his ancestors did, he eventually joined the family business. He became a priest, helping other people receive the teachings of Nazir.

Today, he was considering if he should have his daughter join a party that was soon planning on leaving the Blood Kingdom. The sudden disappearance of thousands of people scared him, and he didn’t know if the kingdom was becoming more peaceful or dangerous.

Either way, he saw no hope for his only child if she was to remain here, so he was finally considering breaking the family tradition and having her leave the Blood Kingdom, which only brought him misery and pain.

As he doubted which was the right choice, praying to Nazir for an answer, a young man appeared out of nowhere in front of him. Priest Paxon’s eyes grew as round as saucers, and he fell to his knees, his head lowered.

‘What kind of being could appear out of nowhere like that?’ he asked himself, the only answer he found to his question being a god. ‘Has God Nazir finally answered my prayers?’

Seth looked at the kneeling old man, figuring out most of everything going through his mind, and he sighed while extending a hand toward him. “Stand up, old man. I’m not who you think you are.”

Paxon looked up, his face contorted in a frown as his eyes looked between Seth and his extended hand, unable to understand his words.

“Are you… not god?” his heart quivered slightly as he asked his question, not knowing what answer he wanted to hear.

Seth shook his head: “I am not your god. I am just an ascended from the Oath Kingdom.”

The words ‘ascended from the Oath Kingdom’ raised a new wave of turmoil inside his soul. He knew full well that the new mysterious King of Blood had many ascended from Oath in his entourage.

‘Is he one of the new king’s people?’ he asked himself, wondering if this was to be the end of him, but after noticing the calm expression on Seth’s face and the still outstretched hand, he managed to calm down somewhat.

‘That’s right. What would an ascended have to gain from killing an old man like me?’ with this thought in mind, he accepted Seth’s hand and slowly sat up, but as he did, more questions appeared in his mind.

‘But, if not to kill me, what would he want from me?’

Deciding that he was going nowhere like this, old man Paxon didn’t ask anything and just waited for Seth to speak while he dusted off his robes.

Seth ignored the old man for now and looked towards the church behind him. It was indeed quite a lot larger than the other huts around, but it could still, at most, contain about twenty or so people inside. Its foundation was also completely missing, making him wonder how often the building has been broken apart by just a slightly strong wind.

With a sigh, he fixed his eyes on the distressed old man and said: “Don’t worry. I didn’t come here to harm you. I would like to ask for your help with something. I wonder if you would be willing to listen to me for a few minutes?”

Paxon looked again into Seth’s eyes, but not finding any trace of deceit or ill will inside them, he nodded and said: “I don’t know what someone as powerful as you, sir, would want from me, but if I can be of help, I will.”

Paxon’s entire life lived inside the Blood Kingdom has taught him one thing: once someone stronger than you appears to request something, do your best to humble yourself and never disagree with anything they say.

“Thank you.”, said Seth before creating a table between them and a chair for him to sit down. He also pulled out two cups of hot tea from his storage space.

The old man was stunned, but Seth was already on one of the chairs before he could even ask where the furniture came from.

“Sit down so we can speak.”

The old man hesitantly sat down. Not knowing what to do with his hands, he put them in his lap and didn’t dare to try and touch the nice-smelling drink in front of him.

Seth chuckled at his behavior and said: “That is for you. If you’re worried about poison, just ask yourself, do I really need to poison you if I wanted you dead?”

Since his nose was pushing to taste the tea and Seth’s words made sense, the old man finally extended his hand and picked up the warm cup of tea. After taking just a sip, a blissful expression appeared on the old man’s face, having not drunk something so tasty and sweet in his whole life.

He even forgot about his doubts and worries, downing the whole cup in one go and then savoring the taste that lingered in his mouth.

Another chuckle from Seth broke his reverie, and the old man’s cheeks turned red as he said: “I apologize about that, sir. What is this miraculous drink?”

“It’s tea. I know that the Blood Kingdom’s situation is not the best one, but you must have at least heard about tea, haven’t you?”

Paxon nodded and looked at the empty cup, muttering somewhat absentmindedly: “I did. Some merchants came from time to time, selling tea, but we could never afford the high cost. Truly a godly taste…”

Seth didn’t expect that a simple cup of tea would gain him so much positive perception, so he filled the man’s cup again as he said: “You can drink some more. I have enough.”

The old man excitedly went to grab the cup, but then he hesitated and asked: “Do you mind, sir, if I save it for someone? I have a son who has never had tea before, and I want him to have a taste as well.”

Seth chuckled and shook his head: “No need to abstain just for that. I can leave you some if you want some for your daughter once we’re done speaking.”

Paxon’s hand shook at the word ‘daughter,’ and he lifted his eyes to look a Seth, a wary look inside them. He had been dressing his daughter as a man and hiding her sex ever since she was a little girl, knowing that life was much more challenging for a woman than a man.

Seth smiled and added: “As you will soon learn, there are few things I do not know. Don’t worry; I didn’t come here to talk about your daughter.”

“Then, if sir wouldn’t mind me asking, why did you come?” asked the old man, his suspicion apparently not easing in the last.

“Because I am indeed in need of your help. As all the other kings before me can attest to, taking over Blood Kingdom is not a hard endeavor.”

The old man froze, finally realizing the one standing before him was the actual king, but Seth didn’t stop and continued: “And keeping the throne shouldn’t be an issue, but I didn’t come here to simply rule over this dump of a place. I want to change and build it into a true kingdom that could easily rival even the strong kingdoms in the north.”

“But to do that, I first need to find a way to gain the people’s trust. Getting rid of all the criminals here was easy since I can do it with force, but convincing the people to trust me can’t be accomplished that way.”

Paxon was not stupid and quickly understood what Seth was trying to say, but he wasn’t quite sure how he could help with that.

“Your majesty -“

“Seth. No need for honorifics since I don’t consider myself a king yet. Just call me by my name, Seth.”

“Ah, I think sir Seth is severely overestimating my capabilities. This small church brings a few people over once in a while, but as far as convincing the people of anything goes…”

“I understand, and I already know that, but I also know that more and more people have been visiting lately, seeking comfort in your god in these uncertain times.” Added Seth.

“I already have the timber to add to the fire, but I first need a spark to ignite it. That’s where you come in. I want you to be the spark that would ignite the fire that would soon burn down all that the Blood kingdom portrayed.”

Paxon once more fell into thought, pondering for a good minute before asking: “Can I ask what sir Seth’s goal is? A man of your power could easily force the people to follow your will. No one here would oppose a word from you after the recent display.”

Seth nodded and said: “I can do that, indeed, but that would only gain me an empty throne. I already told you, I want to rebuild this kingdom into one worthy of the word, not some dump other kingdoms feel disgusted to even look at.”

Seth’s eyes gained a deep look as he continued. “I will rebuild the Blood Kingdom; I will provide people a way to feed themselves and houses to live in. We’ll create a strong kingdom together and move on to show the entire continent our strength. The people here are strong already, but they never had a way to show it to others. I can already see how the other kings would tremble only at the mention of our kingdom’s armies.”

“Together, we’ll take over the entire continent, and no one will be able to stop us.”

Paxon was stunned by the conviction in Seth’s eyes, but his heart started beating quicker, imagining the kingdom Seth spoke about.

He imagined a world where his daughter wouldn’t have to starve for days in a row, a world where she wouldn’t have to dress as a man just to not get raped when she walked around the streets.

His dream of visiting his family’s homeland might not get fulfilled in this life of his, but maybe his daughter could accomplish this feat in his stead.

His thoughts reaching here, the old man’s hand stopped shaking as he grabbed the cup of tea and downed it again.

“I’m listening.”