Prologue

Prologue
The trio had a certain look to them that was atypical of the many other heretics that she had encountered in recent years. It was a look that disgusted her. Seeing them in the clothing and uniforms of Athenian officials and military was an alarming sight to be certain. It meant that the Broken Book Heresy had more influence than she had yet realized. This would be a matter that she would bring before the Divinity soon enough, but for now her attention had to be in the present.

“So as you can see, Republicans,” the Elysian prosecutor said as he strolled across the courtroom floor in his machine-sewn suit, his eyes gazing into those of the gathered assembly about him, only giving the judge fleeting glimpses and doing his best to ignore the presence of the goddess studying him. “These heretics conspired to undermine the authority of our government, sabotage our military efforts, and spread their blasphemous rhetoric in defiance of our benefactor’s generosity. There can be only one punishment… and that is what we are here to decide,” the prosecutor said, his voice becoming more intense. “I do not need to remind you that their guilt has already been determined. This hearing is simply to discern their punishment in order to reset the scales of order and see that justice had been done. But I say to you now, that justice can only be met with a single price: their heads!”

Athena smiled as the crowd erupted into polite clapping, verbal acknowledges, and light chatter amongst themselves. Capital punishment was rarely used in the New Republic of Athens and she normally would advise against its use, but she had no taste for heretics. No part of her heart could abide their existence in Elysium. Their presence was a danger to not only her, but her entire family, not to mention her entire species. There was also the matter of what chaos would fall upon Elysium should the gods fall or simply defied en masse. There would be anarchy, war, thousands dead.

It was better this way, Athena told herself. I’m not being self-serving or prideful. Mortals need gods to lead and guide them. It is our purpose. This is the natural order.

Justifying her actions had always come easy to Athena, Goddess of Justice (among other things).

The prosecutor bowed his head as the judge’s gavel sounded three quick strikes. “Order,” the judge reminded the assembly after a minute had passed. “Prosecutor, are you finished?”

“I am, your honor,” said the prosecutor, leaving the floor to return to his chair.

“And the defense, do you have any closing statements?” the judge asked, looking over to the three guilty persons that stood to the side of the courtroom in enclosed platform across the floor from the assembly, allowing them to be seen by all in the courtroom, including the prosecutor and judge who sat on the two sides of the courtroom.

“May you come to realize your ignorant mistakes before this false god leads you all to ruin,” said the shortest of the three, standing in the middle of the platform, wearing a soiled gray military officer’s uniform.

“Order,” the judge warned, pointing her gavel to the convicted heretic. “One more outburst like that and I will assume sentencing authority.”

“Merely a formality, don’t you think?” asked the tallest of the heretics, a dark-skinned man in what was once a fine tailor made wool suit, but had now been tattered and torn from having spent the last three days incarcerated and not afforded a change of clothing. “We all know what the sentence will be.”

“Aye!” said the woman in the pilot’s uniform, standing with the heretics. She had an exotic look to her eyes, Theban by the looks of it, though her accent was more Corinthian. “Get it o’er with, why don’t you? Why waste our time?”

The judge’s gavel struck down hard. “I will not have you dictate terms in my courtroom. You are entitled to a fair trial and you shall-"

“As long as she is here, nothing is fair!” the shortest heretic called out, pointing both of his shackled hands toward where Athena sat in the assembly. “You hear that, false god? I defy your laws! I defy your lies! I defy you!” he said vehemently, with spittle escaping his mouth.

This did not faze the goddess who kept her composure like a true member of the divinity should. From the corner of her eyes, Athena saw the judge looking at her to assess her reaction, waiting for an indication on how she should proceed. Letting a slow sigh parted her lips, Athena shifted her eyes from the heretic trio to the judge. “Very well,” said the goddess, breaking her silence for the first time since the trial had begun, as she raised herself from her seated position on the bench.

Athena was wearing the trapping of a scholar or librarian, but she had made no effort to conceal her divine form during this trial. In fact, she rarely put on any glamour trappings while in Athens. She prided herself on being available to her people. So, as she stood upright, she felt all the attention of everyone in the courtroom focus on her.

Strolling to the aisle and then navigating her way past the small gate that kept the assembly from the floor of the court, Athena let her eyes flit between prosecutor, to heretics, and to the judge. All of them were wondering what she might do. With a smile, she stopped in the middle of the court and let her eyes finally rest on the heretics. “So be it. Defy me. Call me a liar. Call this court a mockery of justice. See how far it gets you. I’d wager you get no further than the end of the hangman’s noose.”

There was some light laughter at this comment. Athena didn’t linger on that moment very long, pressing forward.

“We have afforded you every opportunity to spare your lives,” she reminded them. “We asked for cooperation; you gave us nonsensical fervor. We offered mercy; you repaid it with crude gestures. We asked you to confess your crimes; you spit at us. Your fate is of your own choosing. We are simply here to do as you please.”

There was some light applause, even from the judge.

“As Goddess of Justice, appointed by the Six, and upheld by unanimous decision of the Divinity, it is within my full power to pardon you three… and you defy me?” she asked with a scoff. “Not wise. Not wise at all.”

The three were quiet, no doubt unsure of how to speak when directly confronted by a divine being.

“Judge Ariadne?” asked Athena, immediately catching the arbitrator’s full attention. “Proceed as you wish. I was here to see if these three were deserving of my favor, but I see it not desired. I shall be leaving now.”

As Athena turned her back to the heretics, she saw the pale look on the assembled crowd’s face. Athena did not smirk or emote in any fashion. She simply walked out of the courtroom.

With the closing of the doors, Athena heard the judge call for a vote. “It will be their death,” Athena said to the waiting attendant in the hallway, a young temple pledge that Athena had taken a liking to and decided to groom her for public service and leadership once she was of age to qualify for an election. Eleca was her name.

“A deserving fate, your grace,” said Eleca as she gathered up the books she had been studying while awaiting the hearing’s end.

“What is next on my agenda?” Athena asked despite knowing the answer. Her inquiry was a test of her attendant’s schedule keeping skills.

“Upstairs. Your presence has been requested in the War Minister’s chambers.”

Well, Athena had thought she knew what was next. “Wait... Pardon me? I thought that there was a festival pl-“

“Your grace, something was discovered while you in the hearing that requires your attention,” Eleca said, then realized she had interrupted the goddess and color drained from her face. “Your grace, my apology, I spoke out of turn.”

Athena smiled and shook her head. “No matter, my dear, if this matter is as urgent as you seem to suggest, then you have save me some time. Lead on.”

“If it pleases you,” said Eleca, before doing as instructed, walking a few steps ahead of Athena through the marble floored government building and to the stairs located down the corridor. Together, they ascended several floors to the Ministry offices.

There were several uniformed Elysians, men and women alike, standing near the door of their destination. They all took notice of the goddess at once and parted a way for her passage. Just before the door, Eleca excused herself and allowed the goddess to enter first.

Athena did not knock or announce her presence, simply strolling in. The minister was in the middle of a meeting with two uniformed officers, one in the Aerial Fleet and another from the Strategy Corps. The minister herself was dressed in a woman’s suit with a ribbon tie and a jeweled owl shaped brooch on her lapel.

“Do not bother with formalities,” said Athena as she bypassed their meeting around the minister’s desk and perched herself in the distant window sill, eyeing the courtyard below, specifically focused on the gallows. There was a crowd gathered around the platform, but no bodies yet swung from the nooses. Sighing, Athena sat herself on the cushioned bench below the window and turned her attention to the minister, general, and admiral. “Now what requires my attention?”

Eleca shut the door, excusing herself from the room as she was not ready to be privy to ministry level of discussion. With the close of the door, the minister stood from her chair, resting one hand on her desk to offset her war-wounded leg’s limp.

“Your grace, we have received word that one of our airships was shot down over Sparta.”

“Sparta?” asked Athena. “What were they doing over Sparta?”

“We don’t know,” said the admiral. “Nothing sanctioned by the Fleet Command, I assure you.”

“Likely a navigational error,” said the general. “There was storm two nights ago that may have blown them off-course more than they realized.”

“Possible,” agreed the admiral.

“Are there survivors?” asked Athena.

“Unknown,” said the general when both the minister and admiral turned their focus to him. “We only today learned the ship was shot down.”

“When was it shot down?” asked Athena.

“Most likely yesterday,” said the admiral. “We lost pulse-click contact with them shortly after that storm. We assumed there was some damage caused to their communications array by the storm at the time, so we were not concerned.”

“Has there been contact with Sparta concerning the matter yet?” asked the goddess.

“They are denying that any such ship was shot down,” said the minister.

“Then how are we certain this happened if Sparta hasn’t confirmed it?”

“Spies,” said the general. “We first heard word of it through our intelligence network. We sent a small scouting team to confirm and we just received their pulse transmission. They found the wreckage and a Spartan battalion picking through it like Thracian vultures.”

Athena did not like this. Her half-brother, Ares, held Sparta in the same regard she held Athens. A conflict with Sparta meant a personal conflict with Ares for her. Three times out of five, she could find a way to avoid violence with her brother, but she did not like those odds as the alternative meant thousands dead. With a heavy, sigh, Athena nodded. “I will need to speak with my father concerning this matter.”

“Your father?” asked the minister. “Certainly, this doesn’t need to alarm the Divine Monarch himself, does it?”

“If Ares is involved in this, then that means Hera will be involved. She will sink her claws into my father and manipulate him to Sparta’s favor, lest I get to him first."

The mortals were not prepared to hear Athena speak of other divine beings in such a manner. Regardless of how often Athena had shown such candor in their presence before, mortals such as these were still uneasy to hear such words from the mouth of a divine.

Athena stood up and glanced over her shoulder to see the heretics from before being led up the stairs of the gallows. A soft smile crossed her lips as she straightened her skirt. Seeing that her assessment in the verdict was correct, Athena had no need to settle near the window and now crossed the room to stand at the end of the desk. “Write me a report of all known details and rumors. Make it brief, but thorough. When it is prepared I will take it before my father and we shall have words concerning the matter.”

“As you wish,” said the minister with a nod. “But how would you like us to proceed with Sparta, your grace?”

“With caution,” she said and left it at that, walking with purpose to chamber’s doorway. “Prepare for war but make no hostile actions until you hear from me,” she said as she gripped the door’s handle and saw herself out.

Gods

 * Athena - Goddess of Wisdom

Mortals

 * Judge Ariadne - Athenian Judge
 * Eleca - Apprentice of Athena
 * The Broken Book - Heretics

Notes and Trivia

 * This is the first appearance of Gods.
 * This chapter marks the first appearance of Athena, Ariadne, Eleca and Broken Book Heretics.