Riverworld, Day 47, Morning


After the Priestess' question, Ehrich whispered to Jeanne.  "Would you
accept the title of 'Priestess', for purposes of diplomacy?  You are a
Saint you know, and thus well qualified."

Jeanne frowned slightly.  "I confess I am not entirely comfortable
with either title: Saint or Priestess. Surely you know the Church has
only male priests."

"But you are a Bishop on the Chessboard, after all," Benjamin
suggested.

Jeanne nodded.  "That is true, and I do see the ruse is needed. If
this woman will speak only to women," she paused and smiled.  "An
interesting inversion of our society, is it not? If this woman will
speak only to women, then I will play that role if needed."

She looked to Josephine, and added grudgingly, "Josephine, however,
may be the better choice, as she seems to share a language with the
priestess."

Louis nodded to Josephine.  "Perhaps, Mademoiselle, you should speak
for us.  Vogue la galere, non?"  Charles stepped back, leaving
Josephine and Jeanne together to parlay with the Priestess. Robbie
stood nearby and helped with the translations.

"We are Priestesses for these people," Josephine said. "And their word
is good. We can help each other." Diana nodded, pleased to hear
Josephine's words and see Jeanne's nodding assent.

"Very well," Diana said, speaking loudly enough for the other Celts to
hear her, and repeating herself in English, duly translated by the
lazari so they could all understand. "I accept you as Priestess.
Produce a man among you to be my consort, and I shall produce one from
among us to be yours," she indicated Josephine, "and we shall decide
between them which is to be our chief, and we shall be one tribe."

Shaka, meanwhile, looked down at the Pala's body, and spat on it. He
began searching through the battlefield. To Louis, he said, "I care
not.  He sided with dogs and is better dead.  He is lucky I did not
kill him myself." Turning to Charles, he added, angrily, "What does
the Lion God say?  What does he say?  He says nothing, for here we
are, at the site of the iron, that which he foretold.

"I know not what... what... these imposters were, for they were not
Zulu.  They could not have been.  There were Zulu before me, that is
true, and they would not know me, but no Zulu would have acted so
cowardly.  No Zulu would have done what Pala and these dogs did.

Shaka's eyes grew a little wild.  "No, these must have been placed
here by the gods of this place.  They were a trial, either put here by
the enemies of the Lion God, or the Lion God himself, to make us
stronger!  But we have won!  We have the iron within our grasp, and
with it, we shall make assegai of iron walls that NO man shall breech!
We shall forge a kingdom greater than any on earth, and I shall be
your King, as the Lion God decreed!"

Shaka looked around more, as if trying to find something, then he
shouted, "The scythe!  The scythe!  Where is the blade of metal won at
my hand from Temuchin!  It was treacherously taken from me and I
demand its return!"

The Celts frowned at Shaka's raving, but Toyoda stepped forward, and
pointed to the huts encircling the iron mine. "Perhaps you should seek
it in the head-man's hut," he suggested. Shaka quickly grasped onto
the idea and rushed from hut to hut, until he emerged triumphantly,
holding the scythe over his head with a wild and fearsome grin across
his face. "It is mine again!" he shouted. "Now I shall be King!"