Mod

Zebulun and Quinn went to Mod, a village of one hundred sixty in the far northeast of the kingdom. Squat buildings of wrought stone surrounded a square with a common well.

They found an old woman drawing water. She had the brown skin and black hair typical of the farm folk. She looked up at them with narrow eyes.

"Hello," said Zebulun. "I’m Zebulun Koh. This is my companion, Quinn."

"Hi!" said Quinn, waving his hand.

"Hello," said the woman. "I’m Rose." She looked at Zebulun, then at Quinn, then back at Zebulun. "What brings you to our village?"

"We’ve come to help," said Zebulun. "Do you have any sick or injured?"

Rose looked at him with suspicion. "Abe hurt his leg recently. He hasn’t been able to work."

"I can help, if he is willing," said Zebulun.

"What do you want for this help?"

"Nothing," said Zebulun. "It’s my duty to heal."

Rose retained her skeptical look, but took the two of them into the courtyard of one of the two-story stone houses. There, on a bench, lay a man in obvious distress. His left leg had a nasty gash. It smelled foul.

"May I have a look?" asked Zebulun.

Abe gave him a pained glance. He looked at Rose, who shrugged. "Says he’s a healer," she said.

He looked at Zebulun, sighed, and said, "Sure. You can’t make it any worse."

Zebulun examined the wound. "It’s corrupted," he said. "A man can easily die from such a wound, but I can fix it."

Zebulun held his hands over Abe’s gangrenous leg. He felt the power flow through him and into the wounded man. Rose stared, eyes wide, as Abe’s wound cleansed itself of infection and sealed itself up with a jagged scar.

Abe’s look of pain turned to one of amazement. He stood, gingerly, and put weight on his leg. He looked at Zebulun and said, "It’s all better!"

Zebulun clasped his hands before him and bowed slightly.

Rose’s eyes had grown softer. "You know," she said, "I have terrible pain in my hands."

"Let me see," said Zebulun.

He held her hands in his. Power flowed through him to her. She marveled at him. "I could feel that!" She flexed her fingers a few times and looked at him. "No pain," she said.

Zebulun nodded. "It won’t last," he said. "Abe’s leg is good as new, but your hand trouble is from age. It will return, in time."

"I’m happy for any rest from it," said Rose, and hugged him.

The women of the village were already alight with chatter when the men returned from the fields and heard what Zebulun had done. He healed many minor scrapes and injuries. The people happily shared their evening meal with he and Quinn. Zebulun ate modestly, for his size. Quinn devoured everything placed in front of him.

"How do you have this power?" asked an old man.

"I am prophet of Ur," said Zebulun, "Creator of this world."

"Can’t say I’ve ever heard of that god," said the old man.

"Neither had I," said Zebulun, "until I met him in a vision. He gave me this power and told me to go forth, heal the sick and injured, and tell people The Law."

"And what is Ur’s Law?"

"Love others as yourself," said Zebulun.

The old man waited a moment, as if expecting Zebulun to continue. He blinked and said, "That’s it?"

"That’s it," said Zebulun.

"No rules or commandments? No prayers to say or rituals to conduct?"

"Ur didn’t mention any," said Zebulun.

The old man looked thoughtful.

"But," said a younger man, "what does Ur want us to do? Loving people is one thing — we already tend to care for each other here, in our town — but how are we to act or not act?"

"Act as if you love everyone," said Zebulun. "If you love another, you won’t lie to them, steal from them, or do violence to them. You won’t covet their wives or herds or lands. You will even help them, when you can."

"Ur wants us to extend that same courtesy beyond our own small village or tribe. Even strangers deserve consideration."

"But a man can’t be expected to love strangers as much as his family?" asked the younger. "Foreigners as much as his countrymen?"

"A man may not feel that way, by nature," said Zebulun, "but he can still act that way. If you were traveling in a foreign land and got into trouble, wouldn’t you wish for someone to aid you?"

"I guess I would," said the younger.

"When it comes to strangers," said Zebulun, "it is best to be wary and kind."

"What about our enemies?" asked a brash youth. "We just won a war."

"Ur made no exceptions for geography," said Zebulun. "I don’t think we should be making war on one another."

"But we have to defend our homeland!"

"True," said Zebulun, "but those who love war will often claim to be defending the homeland while invading another people’s. I saw it for twenty-three years in the army. We must stop believing the endless lies of our rulers."

"The Kingdom of Ur," said Zebulun, "will have an army and navy strong enough to repel invaders and pirates, but not strong enough to invade other lands."

"Kingdom?" asked Rose.

"It’s being forged as we speak," said Zebulun.