Free Sanctuary (Dominion) by Kris Kramer

descended from the Huns in some way.” His annoyed stare was enough to make reconsider that guess. “The Goths, then?”
    He resorted to his normal trick of using silence to hinder me, only he added a new twist by pulling out his sword and polishing it next. I got the message, but that didn’t mean I was done with my search.
    "So if you won't tell me anything about you, how about telling me where we're going?" I leaned forward. "Where is it, for starters?"
    "North."
    "North? That's it? No name, or other direction?"
    "No."
    “Then why north? Why not south? Or east? Or west even? Why not just stay right here in this cave for a while, provided the Mithraists don't want it back?”
    He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
    “I go where my oath takes me.”
    “What oath?” I asked, hoping he would at least tell me that. An oath would provide a lot of valuable information, if I could pry it out of him. He gave me a disapproving harrumph, though, and kept quiet. But I was tired of quiet. It was time to poke and to prod until I learned something this night. “Does your oath require you to battle demons?”
    Arkael stopped polishing his sword and he looked up at me as if considering whether or not to pierce my heart with it.
    “No,” he said, finally.
    “You came to kill Caenwyld. Why?”
    “Because he was a dangerous man. I’d have thought you could answer that question on your own.”
    “Now you’re playing with your words. When I asked you last night if he was a demon, you said it wasn’t that simple. But something made him a target for your blade. He was more than just a dangerous man.”
    “Your discerning eye astounds me,” he said in a flat tone. I frowned.
    “Is your oath to God?”
    “My oath is my own business.”
    “How did you come to Rogwallow, then? Did God send you?”
    “Did He?”
    “He must have. I prayed for Him to help us. I prayed for a sign, for anything. And then you walked through that door. God answered my prayer. I’m sure of it.”
    Arkael laughed then, which startled me. I’d never heard such a deliberate sound from him. “You think God has time for you? You think He’s up there in heaven, watching over some false little priest in a village, waiting for you to call to Him for help? And then when you cry, He just makes me appear at your doorstep?”
    “However it happened, you came. You saved me, and you saved Aedre.”
    Arkael shook his head, his sarcasm disappearing.
    “As much as you’d like it to be, that wasn’t divine providence. You were lucky. That’s it.”
    I glared right back at him. “Luck is a few good rolls at dice. What happened to me is nothing short of a miracle.”
    “A miracle?” Arkael snorted. “So the priest calls to God and his wish is fulfilled. Tell me, have you ever prayed to God for the rain to stop? Or for a full harvest, or fat cows, or whatever a fake priest wishes for? And then you find that you’ve received those blessings?”
    “Of course.”
    “So you think God heeded your call?”
    “Perhaps," I said cautiously. "But I’m not so simple as to think He’s lording only over me. God is all-powerful, is He not?"
    Arkael cocked an eyebrow at that. “If He's all-powerful, then what about the times you prayed for something and got nothing? Was He just not listening, or was He considering your sins and deciding that you needed to be put back in your place?”
    “None of us presume to understand how or why God does what He does. But that doesn’t mean He cares not for His children.”
    Arkael shrugged and returned to polishing his sword. “Tell that to everyone from your village who died.”
    His words hit like a stone to my face, and I nearly laughed at the irony. Just a few minutes ago I'd told him how I fretted about the chaos of life, and how random it seemed to be. I was used to being the cynic, and suddenly the roles had become reversed.
    "So," I began, not even sure I wanted an answer, "I guess the more important question is,