Ceros lands were crisscrossed with roads. The soldiers of Allor moved to the intersections of these arteries. Control the flow, control the land. The few night travelers scattered from the road upon seeing the charging soldiers in the light of the moons. But they were not chased as they expected. They were not robbed as expected. They did not die. Instead, the soldiers rode past them.
In the cities and towns, Allor’s agents used oil bombs to ignite the barracks of the religious police. As men ran from the buildings they were met with a line of archers that ended their escape. This happened simultaneously throughout the land. To observers and victims, it appeared to be chaos. But to the military mind, the madness that descended was precise, orderly, and focused. And across the Ceros lands Allor’s men and women shouted the same message in the streets.
“Devotees of Ceros, Ceros is dead. The High Priest Duvi is dead. The Grand Temple at Pyramos has been destroyed. You are free from the religious police. You are free from high tithing. Tomorrow at noon come to the center and learn of new ways, better ways.”
Most people are afraid of radical change. Some people are vested in the old ways. Some people are victims of the old ways but their victim’s role is well understood and predictable and they are experienced in the role. These were some of those that picked up their swords to fight the advancing troops of Allor. Some died that night defending something that deep down they hated.
There was no large battle with opposing armies. Ceros did not have a standing army. The religious police force was large and worked as an oppressor and soldier. As the barracks burned, as the archers dropped their foes with their arrows, the possibility of a counterattack faded.
By sunrise, Allor’s troops were at the intersection of all the roads on the western and southern side of Ceros. At the intersections of the roads, the soldiers stopped travelers and asked their name, their destination, and their occupation.
It was not long before the first Ceros priest arrived and demanded uninterrupted passage. He was taken into custody and held for Tal and The Expected.
Tal came over the border on horse, leading The Expected. The fanatics of her column talked to each other like nattering newlyweds. The conversation was much the same. How many priests would they get? Would they be injured? Would they die? Would they torture the priests before killing them? What good was being merciful with a Ceros given their history? Tal listened to the conversation behind her. She was pleased. She hoped they would still be as enthusiastic once they were ankle deep in gore.
Tal’s contingent began as hundreds on horseback. At every intersection they would grow smaller as The Expected fanned out across the land. The larger group was coming on foot. They carried the wagons of supplies, thousands of arrows with arrow makers being dropped at strategic locations along their route. And they carried wagons for the heads.
Tal had learned from Ceros the value of terror. It was a long-used strategy with its roots tracing back to Primus Earth to the times of the Brahn dynasty. For Tal, it was all about power and how to use it. But for Canto, riding beside her, it was the thrill of the kill. She was like a sport hunter in the woods, her prey was about to be flushed out into the open. But she used different means than animal calls and men with drums. Her prey would be handed over by their own, willingly in exchange for influence and power.
By noon, some of the towns began to be subdued. People stayed in their homes with their doors bolted. Crops in the bright midday sun were left unattended.
Canto left Tal at the first large city, Ulutor. The young woman with long black hair rode with her smaller team towards the city. She would meet Demos’s local commander at the still-standing temple. It was one of the temples determined to be of value and worth saving from the torch. She thought about the floors of the temple. Would the blood of the priests stain the stone? She hoped so.
As she rode, a young woman almost her age rode beside her.
“What do you wish for today?” asked Arkla with the curly hair.
“I wish for ten heads,” replied Canto with a laugh.
“What will you do with them?” Arkla asked.
“I will put them in special glass jars given to me by Allor’s scientist. And I will fill them with a special liquid that will keep them from rotting. And I will put then on the shelf near the entrance to my quarters so that every time I enter or leave I will be reminded of the wonderful feeling I felt today.”
“I have never taken a head. I look forward to it,” said Arkla.
“The first one is special, like your first time with a man. But don’t let the excitement cause you to make mistakes. Else you become pregnant with death,” Canto said with a laugh. “Always look around you before you take a head. Know how far to anyone with a sword or an arrow.”
“It will be good to get our network in place,” said Arkla as she bounced up and down, not used to riding a horse.
“My brother gave me a book. A book that taught me to read,” said Canto.
“But you already know how to read,” replied a chuckling Arkla.
“But I didn’t know the language of the book. That is what it taught me.”
“Was it a good book? Was it worth learning the language?”
“It is the most important book in history. It contains the knowledge from people that live out in the stars.”
“How did you get it?”
“One of their chariots crashed here. But let me tell you what I found in the book. It was filled with stories from other places like Earth 7. There was even one called Primus Earth. And on Primus Earth there were people that believed they had developed a way of living that was fair and just. And as a destination, the place, the society they wanted, reading about it did seem fair. No hungry people, everyone with something to do.”
“That sounds like a wonderful place,” said Arkla.
“It does,” replied Canto. “But each time these people or other people in a different place tried to put the plan into place, it failed. And I don’t mean it failed a little, but a lot. And they spent significant effort convincing their own people that it had been a success. But their people were not fooled for long and eventually they understood the truth of it.”
“That sounds horrible. What went wrong?”
“Each time they replaced old rulers with a new ruler, and each time the new rulers became as corrupt as the old leaders, just in a different way.”
“What a shame. But that won’t happen to us,” said Arkla confidently.
“And when the government realized that no one was fooled except the foolish, they did the only thing they could do to remain in power,” said Canto.
“What?”
“Abuse their own people.”
“Like the Ceros police?”
“Yes. But they had better organization than the Ceros police. They are just the corn on the toe, the burr in the saddle. But on Primus Earth they organized their abuse on a very small level. For every fifty people they had one that was part of their group. That one would be given better housing and other benefits in exchange for watching their neighbors closely and reporting those that did not recite the propaganda as their own opinion.”
“What happened to them in the end?”
“In the end people got tired of that system and the system of the old bosses too. They moved to something much better.”
“What is that?”
“Direct democracy.”
“Why is that better?”
“It abolishes the ruling class.”
“Do they still use it?”
“Yes, everyone carries a small device that lets them vote, and do many other things,” replied Canto.
“And this is better?”
“Yes, out among the stars this is how things are decided.”