This noble, whose name was
Yorzuk, knew a miracle when he saw one, and believed in being on the
side of the god with the heaviest artillery. As soon as he had seen
Yat-Zar coming through the gate without visible means of support, he
had hastened to the dungeons with half a dozen of his personal
retainers and ordered the release of the six captives. He was now
escorting them onto the platform, assuring them that he had always
been a faithful servant of Yat-Zar and had been deeply grieved at his
sovereign's apostasy.
"_Hear my word, Kurchuk_," Stranor Sleth continued through the
loud-speaker in the idol. "_You have sinned most vilely against me,
and were I a cruel god, your fate would be such as no man has ever
before suffered. But I am a merciful god; behold, you may gain
forgiveness in my sight. For thirty days, you shall neither eat meat
nor drink wine, nor shall you wear gold nor fine raiment, and each day
shall you go to my temple and beseech me for my forgiveness. And on
the thirty-first day, you shall set out, barefoot and clad in the garb
of a slave, and journey to my temple that is in the mountains over
above Yoldav, and there will I forgive you, after you have made
sacrifice to me. I, Yat-Zar, have spoken!_"
The king started to rise, babbling thanks.
"_Rise not before me until I have forgiven you!_" Yat-Zar thundered.
"_Creep out of my sight upon your belly, wretch!_"
* * * * *
The procession back to the temple was made quietly and sedately along
an empty roadway.
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