7: Enemies and Shadows by Ginn Hale Read Free Book Online Page B

admitted that he had suspected something like the truth but had never known how it could be possible.
    “Your face was always familiar,” Alidas remarked. “And so were your skills. I remembered them from Amura’taye, when the ushman’im and ushiri’im opened the God’s Razor on the Harvest Fair. You were too young, but you looked so much like Ushiri Ravishan.”
    “I am Ravishan,” Kahlil said, “but not exactly the one you knew. I changed Basawar’s history when I sent John back from Nayeshi to Rathal’pesha. He arrived years before I even became Kahlil. You knew him as Jahn.”
    “Yes, until he took the name Jath’ibaye.” Alidas’ expression darkened. “And destroyed the entire Payshmura faith.”
    “If it was anyone’s right, it was his,” Kahlil replied evenly. “He is the Rifter.”
    Alidas stared at Kahlil in silence. Kahlil could see Alidas’ resistance to the idea and then the slow spread of realization as he considered Jath’ibaye’s power and history. Jath’ibaye had walked out of the ruins of Rathal’pesha unscathed. He had held Vundomu against all seven of the gaun’im’s armies. Rivers rose against his enemies and the earth trembled with his rage. What could he be but the Rifter? Alidas pressed his eyes shut. Troubled creases flickered through his expression like small shocks of pain.
    “The Rifter…” Alidas said softly. “All this time he’s been here. It’s no wonder no one can defeat him. But why didn’t he reveal himself?”
    It was a good question and one that Kahlil had often contemplated himself. His only answer was a guess, but he gave it to Alidas anyway.
    “He doesn’t want to be worshiped,” Kahlil said. “It makes him uncomfortable to think that people would obey him thoughtlessly. It’s odd, but if he weren’t the Rifter himself, I don’t think he would believe in Parfir. He’s not quite what one expects.”
    “Not quite?” Alidas said.
    “When you know him well it makes more sense,” Kahlil said. “The man he was on Nayeshi never had faith in religions or churches. I think he only felt reverence for the natural world. So now, even as a god, he doesn’t want temples full of worshipers or devotees bowing before him. It’s the living world that he feels is sacred and that’s what he would have people pay homage to. Not to just one man.”
    “I knew him but I never even suspected.” Alidas picked up a small book that lay on his desk but didn’t open it. “How can a devotee be so near his god and never feel his presence?”
    “He didn’t want to be known,” Kahlil replied. “I was his Kahlil and even I wasn’t sure until he took Vundomu. After that there could be no doubt.”
    Alidas looked almost sick. Kahlil had known that learning the truth would be a terrible exertion for Alidas. But there was a resignation in Alidas’ expression that told Kahlil that he was prepared to go on. Kahlil felt suddenly proud of Alidas for this. The foundations of his faith had just been crushed beneath him and yet he was willing to accept the truth and even face further revelations.
    “He changed the entire world,” Alidas said.
    “Yes,” Kahlil said. He explained the way John’s presence had altered their history. How Fikiri had been destined to die but had not because John had saved him.
    “Then I should have died with Fikiri as well,” Alidas said quietly.
    “You were saved by Parfir’s own incarnation. If anything, that means you were destined to live,” Kahlil replied.
    “And all the men of Rathal’pesha were destined to die, then?” Alidas asked.
    “They brought the Rifter down upon themselves.” Kahlil heard his own voice echoing Wah’roa’s flat condemnation.
    “Not all of them deserved to die,” Alidas countered. “Many were filled with faith.”
    “Innocent people die,” Kahlil said. “You know that. We both do.”
    “Yes, but you want to believe that it’s different in the realm of the divine.” Alidas gazed at the book in