Rhuna reluctantly responded to their eager question, but curiosity about their expectations moved her to step forward and announce that she was Rhuna, Keeper of Wisdom.
“And you have an adult yellow-haired daughter, and a small daughter with the colour of your own skin,” said the Ling-Yu trader in well-articulated Atlan language.
“How do you know that?” Rhuna wanted to know.
“It is written,” the man answered with a broad grin as he stepped up to Rhuna and then bowed deeply before her. “Sula-tana! Sula-tana!”
Rhuna was startled when his seven companions, three of them women, also stepped forward and then began to bow as they chanted the word Sula-tana.
“Where is it written? Can we see this written text?” Aradin asked.
“You are the husband,” said the leader of the Ling-Yu traders as he looked at Aradin. “And there is a grey-haired older man with white skin who is your father. You come from Chinza, your husband from Varappa, and you met him when you were living in Safu! Right?”
Rhuna was astonished and merely nodded in reply.
“Where is this written text about me and my family?” Rhuna repeated Aradin’s question.
“Sula-tana! The text has been carefully preserved by your loyal servants for many generations!” The Ling-Yu traders bowed once again.
“Your loyal servants?” Aradin whispered.
“What do you expect me to do?” Rhuna asked them.
“It is written that Sula-tana will do what she must do, and we will serve her,” replied the leader.
“We serve you, Sula-tana!” chanted the entire Ling-Yu group in unison as they bowed several times.
“What is the meaning of this bowing?” Mohandu asked.
“Reverence, respect, regard,” the Ling-Yu group answered. “We are your servants – direct us, Sula-tana!”
“I…I don’t know what to direct you to do at this time,” Rhuna said. “For now, continue with your business and let us provide food and accommodation.”
“Yes, Sula-tana!” the group answered in unison as they bowed once more, then smiled joyfully to each other as they ushered their camels into the holding pen.
Rhuna decided to return to the main house while Aradin and the others negotiated the terms of trade for meals and accommodation. She stepped in from the terrace and saw the Atlan representatives seated at the back of the main room.
“They came asking immediately for the Sula-tana,” she told them.
The representatives sat up straight and listened intently as Rhuna relayed the exact words spoken by the Ling-Yu traders.
“They said all these things about me were written and preserved by their people for many generations, and then they kept bowing, like this.” Rhuna imitated the Ling-Yu traders’ deep bow. “It means reverence, respect and regard.”
“The Dark One has purposely given very precise descriptions of you and your family,” Stillness of the Lake surmised. “Yet what would compel these people to preserve those writings and then wait and search for that person?”
“Perhaps the significance of what a Sula-tana - a peacemaker – represents for them fills them with such obeisance and awe,” suggested Protector of Remembrance.
“Or what the peacemaker shall do,” added Preserver of Faith.
In that moment Goll entered the main building, scurrying towards the low table on which he had placed parchment, a quill and a small bottle of ink.
“They have made a generous offer of silk and wool textiles, metal implements, various grain foods and other sundry items,” Goll prattled as he reached for his writing equipment.
“Are you recording the trade transactions?” Rhuna asked. “I’m already keeping such a record.”
“No,” Goll answered turning towards Rhuna and the representatives. “I wish to record the exact words spoken by the Ling-Yu about the Sula-tana. This is a most extraordinary revelation, and no doubt it is connected to the Black City phenomenon which I am recording in fine detail,” he gushed.
Rhuna watched the excited scribe kneel at the small table and begin to write with short, fast strokes of his writing utensil. The sound it made reminded Rhuna of birds’ feet scratching the hard ground.
“Maybe we should get some fowl,” Rhuna mused, and walked out towards the garden behind the inn.
The warm sunshine caressed Rhuna’s skin as she helped her mother tidy the garden area and prepare the vegetable patch. Kiana had removed all the weeds and dead vegetable plants, and Rhuna used a small tilling tool in the soft, sandy soil.
“We have some seeds we should sow now,” Rhuna said as she stood up and entered the main building. As she passed one of the storage rooms, she glimpsed Lozira’s golden hair and stopped to see what her daughter was doing. Lozira was bending down, rummaging through wrapped parcels of dried herbs which Rhuna had arranged for the treatment of various ailments.
“What are you looking for?” she asked, stepping into the storage room.
Lozira jumped and spun around in alarm.
“Is something wrong? What do you need?” Rhuna asked, puzzled by Lozira’s nervous demeanour.
“I…I am looking for…” Lozira’s face flushed. “D-did Duga give you any parcel of herbs especially for me?” she finally stammered.
Rhuna instantly understood Lozira’s discomfort, and quickly evaluated the best approach to her daughter’s dilemma.
“You mean the herbal combination to terminate a pregnancy?” Rhuna asked carefully.
Lozira turned her face away and simply nodded.
“It’s over here,” Rhuna said, reaching behind the small vials of herbal tinctures she had prepared before they left the Land at the Top of the World. “You shouldn’t take them too often,” she cautioned as she handed the package to Lozira.
Lozira took the package and quickly glanced at Rhuna.
“I know you took them before already,” Rhuna said. “Duga told me.”
“Oh,” Lozira said, turning her face away again.
“We should talk about this,” Rhuna said gently, placing her hand on Lozira’s arm. “I’m a Healer as well as your mother.”
“I did not want to bother you,” Lozira answered, still avoiding eye contact with Rhuna.
“Your emotional well-being would always be more important to me than anything else,” Rhuna stated firmly.
Lozira nodded and began to run her fingers through her long hair. Rhuna recognized the nervous habit and tried to approach the subject from a different angle.
“Did Goram want you to keep the first pregnancy and Duga’s herbs secret from me?”
“Oh no!” Lozira instantly responded, wide-eyed and pink-cheeked with outrage. “He did not even know!”
“I see,” Rhuna said, not surprised by Lozira’s defensive reaction. “You made the decision all by yourself? I wish you had talked to me first. That would have made it easier.”
Lozira sighed deeply. “I was afraid you would say that you were right,” she admitted reluctantly. “When you tried to end my relationship with Goram because of who he is…how he is.”
“But that was in the beginning,” Rhuna replied. “Since then I no longer think that he’s bad or wrong for you.”
Lozira managed a faint smile. “He is special. His knowledge and power are more important,” she said weakly.
“Did he say that?”
“No. It does not need to be said,” Lozira answered with another sigh. “A child, a family, would only distract him from his goals and greater purpose.”
Rhuna thought about the Great Secrets she was learning from Goram, and then about his fiery ambition to equal or best the Dark Master in knowledge and power.
“I understand why you think that way,” Rhuna said gently. “But he is still a man who chose you to be his wife…”
“You think I should tell him?” Lozira asked, almost with despair. “And if he agrees to terminate the pregnancy…”
“You’re so afraid that he will respond that way, that you go ah
ead on your own to avoid being hurt by his reaction,” Rhuna concluded.
Lozira looked down at the floor and nodded.
“And now it is even more critical that he is not distracted,” Lozira said in a shaky voice. “Now that he wants to go into the past time period to stop the Dark Master.”
“We don’t know yet if his special chamber will work,” Rhuna reasoned. “And we have yet to reason with him about the foolishness of his plan. He might not go anywhere.”
“He is very determined,” Lozira said gravely. “He might accomplish the step into a past time and then be killed, or not be able to return to this present time.”
Rhuna admired her daughter’s fortitude as she described a very painful prospect without tears or emotional outburst.
“Yes, maybe,” Rhuna whispered. “All the more reason to consider everything carefully before you take these herbs,” she added.
Lozira stopped fiddling with her hair and looked at Rhuna.
“If he goes away and can’t come back,” Rhuna said carefully, “…then you will still have his child. And we are here to help you.”
Lozira quickly wiped a tear that escaped from her eye.
“But if I tell him now, he might think I allowed the pregnancy intentionally, in an attempt to keep him here. He knows I have tried everything to persuade him not to do this!”
Rhuna thought for a brief moment before responding.
“And if he were to say that, what prevents you from having the child?”
Lozira looked at the floor again as she tugged at her long hair.
“If you want the child, you shouldn’t let fear of what Goram will do or say change that,” Rhuna reasoned. “Even though Goram has special responsibilities, it’s no reason to put his wishes above your own. You have the right to be happy, and if a child will give you those things…”
Lozira nodded slowly and then stopped running her fingers through her hair as she handed the parcel of herbs back to Rhuna.
“You can put it back,” Lozira said. “I know where it is, should I need to take them.”
Rhuna watched her daughter walk out of the storage room, and then returned to the task of getting the seeds to plant in the garden.
Rhuna felt nervous when she stepped onto the terrace in the evening to serve the evening meal to their new guests. The Ling-Yu traders had bathed and dressed in good, clean clothes, and Rhuna felt their eyes watching her constantly as she brought the bowls and plates of food.
“What is your destination?” Mohandu asked in an attempt to start a general conversation as they ate.
“A region in Varappa,” answered the leader of the group without taking his eyes from Rhuna.
Aradin also asked a question and made general conversational comments, but the Ling-Yu’s attention was fixated on their foretold peacemaker.
“When you come, we will be ready to serve you in any way!” said the group’s leader. He smiled frequently, and Rhuna noticed that each time his eyes almost disappeared in folds of his slanted eyelids.
“How many of you are there?” Aradin asked spontaneously. “Those of you who are waiting for the Sula-tana?”
The Ling-Yu group stopped chewing their food and quickly looked up and then at each other. Two of them spoke quickly to each other in their native language which Rhuna found high-pitched and very melodic.
“In our village, about a hundred people,” answered the leader. “But we don’t know how many in all the other towns, cities and regions.” His tone sounded apologetic as he hung his head.
“But we know each group meets regularly to discuss what is written about the Sula-tana!” the leader of the group quickly added in a brighter tone, hopeful of Rhuna’s approval.
Rhuna smiled and nodded, then watched as the man’s expression turned to happiness again.
“What kind of things do you discuss?” Aradin asked.
“How to obey the Sula-tana, of course!” the ardent follower of the peacemaker said. “When you come, you will see!”
“You expect me to come to your village one day?” Rhuna asked.
“It is written! It is written that you will come!” the man said excitedly as his companions nodded fervently.
Rhuna smiled to hide her uneasiness over the Ling-Yu’s eagerness and insistence that she would visit their land one day. They finished eating the evening meal, and the guests retired early, bowing several times to Rhuna as they left the terrace.
“Such strange behaviour!” Mohandu remarked as they returned to the main building.
Rhuna was relieved when the latest Ling-Yu traders departed early the next morning on their long journey to Varappa. She helped Yarqi, Kiana and Greeter of Friends to clean the lodging house and holding pen, and then replenish supplies in the washroom for the next guests. After these general chores, Rhuna looked forward to meeting Goram in the small upper-level room to receive another transference of special knowledge.
“Did he follow you here?” Goram whispered as he peered down the narrow staircase of the smaller inn building.
“Who?”
“Goll, of course!” Goram hissed. “He has been slinking around the garden all morning.”
“I think he admires you,” Rhuna remarked.
Goram grunted and then took his usual seat opposite Rhuna. She waited impatiently for Goram to begin.
“This planet is like a living human being,” Goram stated in his introduction. “We have blood coursing through our veins, energy flowing along our meridians, and an exchange of air through our lungs. The planet has breathing plants, flowing water and currents of earth energies across its surface in a complex network like our blood circulation and energy meridians.”
Rhuna nodded her understanding and waited for the appropriate time to repeat the information.
“Our body requires movement and breath to aerate the circulating blood in order to live,” Goram continued. “The planet also requires smooth and regular movement of its energy currents, and the exchange of air and water to live. This is achieved by accessing the energy current confluences by means of stone structures such as pyramids which tap into the current and utilize the energy.
“Pyramids are collectors and amplifiers of earth energies, and can be constructed in various ways to produce different types of usable energy: magnetic, electric, sonic and dynamic."
Rhuna repeated the words she had heard and understood, then waited eagerly for further explanations.
“This serves us as well as the planet because the physical connection between elements on the earth’s surface and the underlying energy currents revitalizes the earth’s overall energy.”
“I did not know that,” Rhuna interjected. “I thought we built pyramids solely for our own benefit, not the planet’s as well.”
“This is the reason the First Atlans journeyed across the entire planet, seeking out the most important energy current lines and confluences on which to construct pyramids or single standing stones. Other important devices to maintain a healthy earth current include fresh flowing water in combination with leafy plants.”
“Just like this inn,” Rhuna remarked.
Goram nodded. “It is a fine example of water, vegetation and stone structures accessing the energy current confluence.” He paused and then continued in a different tone. “Yet the growing population of mankind shall misuse the earth energy collected by the pyramids, hence it was deemed necessary to suppress the knowledge of the functions of pyramids and standing stones.”
“Just like other Atlan powers would be used for selfish purposes,” Rhuna commented sadly.
Goram nodded and continued the knowledge transference.
“The First Atlans foresaw an ailing planet due to improper maintenance of the energy current confluences. For this reason, pyramids and standing stones were constructed with large and dense rock that they may endure indefinitely and thus sustain at least the most necessary earth energy currents.”
“What happens to the planet when mankind stops mai
ntaining it properly?” Rhuna wondered, comparing the earth to the human body and recalling her experiences as a Healer. “A human body can develop such energy blocks and become quite ill,” she added.
“The accumulation of energies at the confluences shall create blockages, which will cause a gradual heating, above and below the surface,” Goram answered.
“Like the pyramid in the northern land of Atlán which was not constructed properly to tap into the earth energy currents, but caused a blockage instead and then exploded from extreme heat!” Rhuna remarked as she recalled hearing of the incident in her youth.
“Exactly so,” Goram answered.
“So…the future is bleak not just for humankind but also for the planet?” Rhuna summarized.
“Bleak perhaps, yet it would be far worse if this knowledge, this Great Secret, were known to all of mankind…”
“Because it would be misused,” Rhuna continued.
“It would take only a small number of such people to misuse the power,” Goram added.
“Just like one individual, the Dark Master, has already threatened the world as we know it now,” Rhuna concluded.
“That shall soon change!” Goram announced emphatically. “Continue to transform the crystal blocks with me, and then finish the capstone for the pyramid so that it shall be functional in another lunar cycle.”
Rhuna hesitated and thought of Lozira’s dilemma.
“I believe now, more than ever, that you can succeed in finding the past time period to confront the Dark Master, but we are worried that you can’t defeat him by yourself,” Rhuna said.
“When everyone is gathered for the daytime meal today, I shall demonstrate my capability to defeat the Dark One.”
A short time later, Rhuna helped Kiana and Damell in serving the light daytime meal which consisted of a bowl of the new white grains from the land of Ling-Yu, and some fresh vegetables they had acquired from a recent trade with guests. Rhuna savoured every meal that was different from the fare they had eaten in the snowbound Land at the Top of the World. When they had finished and were sitting idly in the warm sun on the terrace, Rhuna saw Goram leave and return with two large earthenware vessels. She watched him place them on the paving stones at the edge of the terrace, and then waited with growing anticipation for Goram to make his demonstration.
Rhuna- Black City Page 19
