The Pagh of the Will

Posted on Sun Aug 4th, 2019 @ 3:12am by Councilor Jahra Naron of Bajor
Edited on on Thu Jan 2nd, 2020 @ 5:52pm

812 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Atlantis
Location: Bajor, Eastern Province
Timeline: 2429-05-01

[Eastern Province]

Naron let out his breath as he closed the cabinet doors, the warm green light bathing his face and upper body shut away by the jahlanda wood studded with glimmerstones. The stones continued to glow green, infused by the light from the Orb contained inside.

Naron sat back, letting his eyes adjust to the dim room around him, lit by only a few candles. Smoke filled the room with a gentle spice. Naron took in the scent with each breath. Finally, as if waking from a deep sleep he came back to himself and squeezed his eyes shut as his hands fell to his thighs.

There was the slight rustle of the hems of robes was very slight but, after the closing of the cabinet and locking away the rays of the Orb, Naron heard even the sound of his own slight movements, much less that of the ranjen aide.

"We should prepare," Naron said, quietly, his voice tightly controlled. "I am about to be summoned by the Kai."

"Vedek," the ranjen said, the message from the Kai's office already transmitted just a few minutes earlier. He bowed and backed out of the room, understanding from his own few times he experienced a Tear of the Prophet how it took some time to come back. Especially if one is given over directly to the will of the Prophets.

[Outside the Office of the Kai]

Naron moved to the side of the antechamber to the stone bench against the wall. Above the reverential whispering of Temple staff and pilgrims was the cascading of water from a circular fountain in the middle of the room. Naron heard the tales of how, in the long ago decades while Bajor was enslaved by Cardassia, the fountain hid a secret passage that led to another Temple below the one in which he now sat. It was where the legendary Kai Opaka was able to save a sole Tear of the Prophet from Cardassian hands.

He leaned back, allowing his head to rest against the cool stone wall. Kai Opaka. Her presence continued to loom over Bajor even to this day. Kai Affa, the spiritual leader of the Bajorra and the man to whom he had spent the last hour speaking, was the closest to come out of Opaka's shadow.

Of course, to have Opaka followed by the Mad Kai Wynn set a certain tone. But Affa, as the spiritual leader of Bajor, was a man that Naron believed Bajor needed to help bring them further from the past and secure their rightful place in the galaxy as a whole.

Bajor was a Federation member for decades, they were in possession of the only stable gateway to cross the galaxy - and blessed in this by the Prophets - yet many still felt the Federation cared nothing for Bajor but the wormhole. Should the Prophets take back this gift, then many believed, the Federation would turn as blind and ignorant of Bajor as they did when Cardassia first invaded and enslaved the planet decades ago.

Which made it more imperative that Bajor be a bigger player in the galaxy. It meant that the Federation had to come to recognize the intrinsic value of Bajor without the Celestial Temple.

Naron sighed as he looked around the chamber, seeing vedeks and prylars, ranjens and pilgrims all acting the same. As they entered this sanctified space their voices dropped to a whisper, if they spoke at all, their footsteps slowed and softened as well. They took more time to cross the chambers, looking about with reverence.

For Naron, who grew up in the paradise that is the Eastern Province, this chamber, more than any other place on Bajor was the most sanctified space outside of the Celestial Temple itself.

He took several more minutes, allowing the words of the Kai to settle inside his mind and heart. After viewing the Orb what the Kai had to say to him was not unexpected. But to hear the words spoken and not merely as part of a vision granted by the Prophets was another thing entirely.

He stood, smoothing his robes as he began to contemplate what was asked of him - nay, required of him - by the Prophets.

Bajoran Representative to the Federation Council.

It was only when he left the antechamber that he smiled, realizing that he - like the staff and pilgrims - had also kept his steps slow and quiet through the chamber.

But now that he was free of the sanctuary, his steps quickened as his thoughts raced toward the preparations that needed to be made before his departure.

The new Session of the Council was set to begin in a few months and, with transit time from Bajor to Terra, he was already behind in what he needed to know.

 

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