Tears of blood by C S Goto

Author:C S Goto [Goto, C S]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: The Black Library
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

‘You are not the first to fall victim to the arbitrary whims of this false god,’ said the orator, leaning forward over the shattered font at the front of the basilica of the Rapture of Tyrine, as though imparting a secret. Responding to the change in his tone, the congregation fell into a hushed silence.

‘You are not alone in this, although you may feel the isolation deep within your souls.’

Murmurs of affirmation whisked around the nave, like a breeze being pushed ahead of a great storm.

‘I too have laboured under the false promises of this self-interested Emperor of Man. I once drove his light across the galaxy in the righteous fury of the Great Crusade. I knelt at his feet, exposing my very soul to his words, bowing my head to await the touch from his golden hand. But, like you, I waited in vain. The touch of his duplicitous fingers was never bestowed on me, nor on any of his most devoted servants. Instead of honour and salvation, he rewarded us with ridicule and insult - calling our labours faulty and misguided.

‘And even then, like you, we did not lose our faith. Instead, we sank into despair, struggling to comprehend what grave offences we must have enacted on our god for him to treat us in this way. “It must be our fault! We must have failed in our devotions! The Emperor is just and would not treat us thus without just cause!” We fell into prayer for weeks without end.’

Muttered voices rippled around the basilica as the people of Tyrine recognised their own plight and reactions in the orator’s grand story. A few yelled their agreement, breaking the wash of noise like crested waves.

‘But,’ continued the orator, before pausing dramatically, letting the power of silence descend over the congregation, making every face in the basilica strain to catch his next words.

‘But the fault was not with us,’ he whispered, watching the eagerness of the Tyrinites before him as they strained to hear him.

‘The fault was not with us!’ he shouted, letting his voice boom and resonate around the cathedral. ‘It was the Emperor himself that erred. He did not listen to us. He did not care for us. He did not raise a finger to grant us even the smallest favour. He left us adrift and alone with our faith!

‘But you are not alone!’

The congregation exploded into rapture.

‘We stand here together, united in our realisation of truth! We give our devotion to those who will hear us - to those worthy of our blood and toil.’

A rhythmic chanting struck up out of the assembly, calling out the name of the great orator, even as they stamped their feet in devotion, making the basilica rock with their passion.

‘We offer our praise to those who listen, that they might turn their gaze our way and lift us with the boon of pain,’ said the orator, turning the frenzy of the congregation towards the litany, and smiling as he heard every voice in the cavernous cathedral take up his call.

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