Three (The Godslayer Cycle Book 3) by Ron Glick Read Free Book Online Page B

always a story , thought Nathaniel, regardless of how much of the story was actually true.
    The story went that the Goddess Imery had cruelly sought out and had an innocent woman struck down because she stood in the way of her own priestess' desires to possess the woman's husband.  But the Old Gods, looking down upon the world from their long exile, took umbrage against the cruelty of the New Order's Goddess.  Pitying the woman, they swore to forever preserve her body as a promise to the mortals of Na'Ril that never again would such cruelty be permitted to stand.  The Old Gods had returned, and they had taken their revenge against Imery, who had fled from the mortal realms out of fear of retribution.
    If any doubted the words of the story, they had only to ask any priest of Imery - their Goddess was gone.  Simply gone.  And what's more, the woman's body had been displayed for all to see - at the very site of her murder - sustained as pristinely as if her body still drew breath,
    Nathaniel rubbed at his eyes, doing his best to hold in his tears.  The Old Gods had kept their word. They had preserved Mariabelle's body - but had displayed it in a crystal coffin rimmed with gold, silver and precious gems.  They had sanctified the site of her death and used her body as a monument of their power.  Any could come and see her, resting peacefully below a clear shell, indestructible and immovable.  It had become proof impossible to ignore - and a holy site of pilgrimage for countless people seeking proof of the Old Gods' continued existence.  For hundreds of years, the New Order had sought to quash the Old Gods' religion, and in one act, they had forever reaffirmed their true power for all the world to see, all focused around the eternally pale body of Nathaniel's wife.
    But what the Old Gods had done forever prevented Nathaniel from ever having the chance to grieve over his wife's grave.  Everyone knew who Mariabelle was - she was the wife of Nathaniel Goodsmith. Though he was known to some as the Godslayer, here he was only the surviving widower of the divinely pure Mariabelle.  Many had come to believe that Nathaniel himself was blessed in some way, or could impart some blessing upon them by virtue of his association to the divinely blessed mortal woman.  None of it was true, of course, and many more still simply saw him in awe for the honor of being the grieving widower, but it made it impossible for Nathaniel to even approach any of the masses of pilgrims clustered around his own home or Oaken Wood itself.
    Unable to be alone with his wife, how could any man possibly grieve?
    Nathaniel and Bracken had traveled to the Goodsmiths' property almost immediately upon hearing of this debacle.  Even then, dozens of tents and camps had been set up around the boundaries of his property - though thankfully some unspoken agreement had kept any from disturbing the ground of Nathaniel's property itself.  Nathaniel had been able to approach Mariabelle's body, look upon her and lightly run his hand upon the cool surface that separated him from her body.  But that was the last peace he would ever know in Mariabelle's presence. 
    It started with a simple question: did he know her story?  It had been an innocent enough question from a young girl, certainly no more than fifteen summers.  There had been no malice in her words - if anything, they were words of reverence and respect.  But it had prompted a heart-worn growl from Nathaniel all the same.
    She was my wife , he had snapped.
    And from that moment on, all knew who he was.  And none would let him be.  All wanted stories of Mariabelle's life before she had been divinely blessed, to somehow live vicariously through Nathaniel's private memories.  He had been swarmed within moments, and he had been forced to retreat.  He had never again been able to approach Mariabelle for fear of receiving the same treatment.
    The widower had journeyed to his homestead many times in the