Yet another installment of the Lem Ewinks tale. Earlier parts are here at the top for those who want to catch up.
The abbot looked over Lem as he lay panting on the floor. “Very good, Lem. You seem to be unaffected by your accident at all. Let us continue,” said the abbot as he walked over to take a seat. He invited Lem to follow suit.
“Who ordained our people to settle The Sacred Terrace?”
Lem gave the abbot a puzzled look “...I don't know.”
“Think Lem.”
“I cannot recall abbot. Nothing is coming to mind.”
“Curious. We'll come back to that. Why did Silvanus gift us with an unproductive oak tree?”
“Silvanus?” Lem asked. “What are you talking about abbot?”
“This is rather strange. What do you know of our gods?”
“Nothing, Father Abbot. Your questions make no sense to me.”
“Please be excused Lem, we must discuss this situation in private.”
Lem stood up and walked to the door, unsure of what was to come. Lost in his own thoughts he barely noticed Pimner waiting for him at the bottom.
“How'd it go, Lem?” Pimner asked excitedly. “They really don't go easy on you, huh?”
“Yeah, I'll be feeling it tomorrow for sure,” Lem said in exasperation. The two continued walking towards the living quarters.
“They'll give you a few days to rest before you start your apprenticeship. I assume you passed, right? You're their star pupil.”
Lem paused mid step “I don't remember our gods.”
Pimner stopped half a step in front and turned around mouth slightly agape in surprise. “You what? How? You've spent so long devoting yourself tirelessly to them.”
“I don't know. Father Abbot started questioning me about them and I couldn't recall a thing. They asked for privacy to discuss the matter. I'm not sure what will happen.”
“I believe the gods and elders will take mercy. It's you after all. Let's go get some dinner and forget about it for a while,” Pimner said as he started up his walk.
The two continued home putting the events behind them for the time being.
The next morning Lem awoke to the sound of rapping on his door. Puzzled at where his family was he clambered out of bed and threw on his clothes from the day before. He opened the door to find the apprentice monk from yesterday at his door.
“The elders would like to see you. Come with me.”
They walked to the monastery and Lem was ushered into the elder's chambers. The familiar sight flooded Lem with a sense of unease as he tried to prepare for what the elders had discussed. A stern look cemented the face of each elder. Lem felt the sublte push of his escort ushering him into the room. He took a seat in front of the elders.
“Lem,” the abbot said unemotionally. “You're trials yesterday were astonishing. You didn't break concentration once for the meditative trial. You far exceeded expectations for physical acuity. The results of both were serendipitous to say the least, considering your predicament.”
Lem perked up a little upon hearing this news.
“However, as you may have suspected, there is the matter of your devotion to the gods. Have you made any progress in your memory of them?” the abbot questioned.
Lem sat for a moment as his heart quickly sank. He took a glance down. “No, Father Abbot, I'm afraid not.”
“That was my fear. We discussed this at length after your trials concluded. As you may know, you had excelled in all aspects of your training, most of which showed yesterday. But,” the abbot said emphatically, “you should know devotion to our gods is of the utmost importance. The tenets of our people were written as such. This is why we've been able to live and prosper in peace and why everybody living here must abide by these tenets. Failure to do so signifies doubt. This doubt leads to fear. That fear leads to corruption and corruption leads to failure. You're a great student, Lem. But we must ask that you leave.”
Lem sighed and looked up at the abbot. “I understand,” he said with tears slightly welling up in his eyes.
“Do no lose hope, Lem. Our laws require us to do this. If you are able to regain your faith and memory of the gods we will accept you back to our way of life. As for now, this is how it must be. Fair well.”
Lem rose to his feet, a slight glimmer of hope filling him. He knew chances were slim that he would reconnect with the gods, but the abbot had instilled in him a the hope that one day he might be able to return. He walked down the steps one last time and headed back home to wait for his family to tell them the news.
Getting near the end of the backstory here. As always constructive criticism is always welcomed because I truly want to improve my writing quality. Let me know what you think!
Images sourced from maxlkt and smokefish, respectively, at Pixabay. Thank you!
