“This pleases me,” she said in Dullov. From then on, our conversation was in this language. “You are a virtuous young woman.”
Again, I did not know what to say, but I thought I should answer—in Dullov.
“Thank you, Lady Goddess. My parents and my teachers showed me the path to virtue.”
“But you chose to walk it. Your soul, when I passed through it, was pure. I sensed love, consideration for others, willingness to give, kindness and discipline—a far cry from my previous experience. Deception, duplicity, self-indulgence, and darkness dwelt in Clarissa’s soul. It weakened me. I was able to create the barrier between your kingdom and Ottava, but my strength diminished so much from what had formed my body—namely, Clarissa’s soul—that the magicians from Louruth drove me back to the nether reaches of space, where I have dwelt these six years—not happily, I might add. They won't be able to do that this time. The girl, Clarissa, died, I’m sorry to say. Someone probably told you as much.”
“Yes, Lady Goddess.”
“I would not have wished that. Passing through her soul and forming substance from it hampered me. It was like swimming in a fetid swamp full of contagion. You can’t do that and not pick up something that will weaken you. Your soul, Aletha, was like a clear, beautiful pond, pure and clean. But like a pond that is so pure and lovely one feels like a criminal for clouding its water. At any rate, I am strong as a result. I am also thankful.”
“I can only sound your praise, Lady Goddess.”
“Is there anything you desire?”
“No, my Lady.”
She smiled. “I believe you.”
Then she was gone.
I waited for a time. When she did not return, I left the room. The mother and Thelka stood there; the guards stood at a proper distance from them. They escorted me back to the convent. Neither of them asked what the Fire Witch had said.
That night, I lay in bed and pondered. It was too real to have been a dream. Suelta’s behavior had been baffling. She acted a little like me. Maybe she even looked a little like me. But, I thought, rolling over to one side, sleep beginning to take me, why should she not? To a certain extent, we were one and the same.
Chapter 5
The next day, something once again interrupted the daily routine I liked so much. After lunch, the queen came to see me. I met her in the small reception room toward the front of the convent. This time I was able to kneel and prostrate myself before her, which is the proper thing for a woman of my age and station to do. She bade me stand.
“Alethea,” she said, “I am pleased you have recovered so well.”
“Thank you, my Queen.”
“You have served admirably. What we asked you to do was odious—and all the more in that you are a virgin. To have your body invaded and possessed, even if only momentarily, is a violation, though we saw no other way to what we need to do. As I told you before, we are granting you a boon. Ask whatever you wish, and it will be given to you. Do not hold back. Do not think what you ask will be greeted with disapproval. Ask anything, up to the half of our kingdom. We will give it you. Have you been thinking about this, child?”
“Yes, my Queen.”
“Then state your desire. It will be yours.”
As she looked at me, I detected a glint of evil in her eyes, as if my reply would amuse her and as if there were some dark purpose behind it. I first thought I might have just imagined this. Later, I found out I had read her expression correctly.
“I ask that my friend Janessa be released from her vows, that she be allowed to return to her family and marry, and supplied with a generous dowry, as is proper in this matter.”
When I said this, an astonished expression came to the queen’s face. Royals make it a point to never look surprised. To look surprised implies they are not in control, and this is not kingly or queenly. But Linise gaped, astonished, for a long moment before regaining her decorum.
“It shall be as you wish.” She paused, pondered, and said, “Surely you love this young woman a great deal.”
“She is a friend from childhood. She is as a sister to me.” Tears choked my voice at that point. I had to fight not to cry.
“You do not have to justify a boon,” the queen said. “It will be so.” I bowed. She called the Venerable Mother into the room and the two of them departed. As she left, I heard her tell Nemara to expedite Janessa’s release and return her to her parents’ house as soon as it could be done.
The rest of the day went by as days always did. It felt good to be up and around. Lying in bed for a week had made me sluggish and sore. I liked having tasks to occupy my time and I felt happy for what I had asked as a boon.
The next day I woke refreshed, enjoyed breakfast and talk, grooming, and worship. It felt wonderful to dance and do movement. The midday meal tasted good and we had wine with it. I stood witness on a small matter that had come before the courts, read poetry during free time, and then went to worship and meditation. As I got ready for bed, a tap came at my door. It was Janessa.
I had not seen her all day. I suppose the Venerable Mother told her what had happened and she had spent the time notifying her family through sending out messengers and dealing with the legality of having one’s vows cancelled. I noticed she did not wear her habit. She had on a dark blue dress, though she did wear a head covering so her shorn hair would not be visible. And she looked grave. I always liked Janessa’s merry, buoyant spirit. I am given to fits of melancholia. She always cheered me up on those occasions and, being around her, I learned to live more on the cheerful side of life, a lesson I very much needed. Now she looked solemn. Tears ringed her eyes.
“Alethea, what have you done?” she began.
“No,” I stopped her. “I want you to go back and marry Andrew.” Then a sardonic smile came to my lips. “Besides that, you’re still under vow and have to do what you’re told. So you don’t have any choice, now do you?”
She smiled sadly. “I guess I don’t. I’m sorry, Alethea.”
“For what?”
“For all this.”
“You had nothing to do with it.”
“If I hadn’t been such a damned crybaby you might have taken the boon for yourself and left this goddess-cursed place.”
“I don’t mind being here. Maybe it’s not exactly what I wanted out of life, but I can live here and be happy.”
“I will never forget this. Every moment of every day of my life I’ll think on this kindness you have done for me.”
I put out my arms. We embraced. I asked her when she would leave.
“Tomorrow afternoon. I’m already officially free, so you were wrong about my having no choice. My vows are cancelled and I am considered a guest now. They let me send a messenger to my family and to Andrew. They’re all coming to meet me, he and his family and my family. We’re going to get married in Willowbrook, just beyond the royal boundaries. I was afraid Andrew might have found someone else in the year I spent here, but he didn’t.
“I can see you’re excited. That shows me I did the right thing.”
When I said that, the dam broke. Janessa sobbed and cried, letting out all the pain and frustration she had held in her soul. She cried so loudly Sisters Anna and Felicity hurried into my room to make sure everything was all right.
We dined together that evening. Janessa had not been a particularly “good” nun, but the other sisters liked her and said they were happy for her and she would be missed. I hoped to say a final goodbye, but when I came into the dining hall for breakfast the next day, Katerine told me Janessa’s family had arrived early and she had already left.
Chapter 6
As the month rolled on, the court buzzed with preparations for war. Officials ran about. I stood witness as commanders for the army were sworn in and took oaths of loyalty. Several times I sat through tedious readings of supply requisitions and, more seriously, the counting of monies taken as special taxation from the people of our l
and. Walking through the corridors, seeing people hurrying about with anxious looks on their faces made me happy to return to the quiet and order of the convent. Courtiers whispered that the army of Ottava had made an all-night march, surprised our defenders, and taken three forts that guarded the main approach to the palace. Additional troops were marching overland and through the fenlands that bounded our nation on the east to strengthen their strike force.
In the midst of these things, the Venerable Mother told me the Fire Witch wished to speak with me once more. The mother herself and two other ranking sisters, Anna and Felicity, accompanied me. I felt a bit of trepidation, but I remembered that Suelta had expressed her admiration for my virtue and apologized for violating my body and soul. I could not think of anything I might have done to displease her. She was not an evil woman.
Queen Linise was waiting by the doors to where the Fire Witch stayed. She gave me a cold look and asked why I had not dressed up more. The mother reminded her of my vow: chastity, obedience, and simplicity, so I wore the simply grey garments my order required me to wear, the plain black shoes, the white head covering—what I and all the other nuns wore every day. The queen listened, quiet, and maybe even a little suspicious of me. Why did the Fire Witch display such an interest in me? Rulers are always wary. They fear anyone who might challenge their authority. I knew people at the palace disappeared and were not heard of again. I wondered if this might be my fate as well. But the Fire Witch liked me for some reason, and the queen would refrain from harming me so as not to incur her disfavor. I began to see the intricacies of court politics.
The queen left one of her serving women there to “attend” us. She stood at a distance listening. I made a bow. Suelta told me to sit. As I did, I glanced back. The serving woman was on the floor asleep.
“She’ll wake up more refreshed than she has ever been,” Suelta said. I nodded. She smiled. And she answered the question in my mind before I asked.
“Two reasons I summoned you. First of all, I want you to know that the queen was planning to have you killed the moment the convent released you from your vows.”
I gaped, eyes wide, mouth open. Then it seemed I was not there but in another place, a place unlike any I had ever imagined for its vastness and beauty. Multicolored stars glowed in the sky. Large, unblinking planets hovered among them. Suelta, wearing a garment made of fire—it did not just look like fire, I could see it was made of that element—knelt by my side.
“Don’t fear, Althea.”
“Why did she want to kill me?” I managed to say. Fear had constricted my throat.
“She was going to have her men strangle you because you offended her cousin. He has aspirations to the court. Your giving him a censorious look made him lose face in front of the other courtiers. He and Linise are close and she wants to see the position of her family strengthened at the palace, so she took great umbrage at your action.”
I wanted to say I meant no offense but only looked up at the goddess.
“Why should I not take offense to see a lovely woman and a mother humiliated and tortured in a manner of which it is a shame even to speak?”
“I agree with you, maiden,” she said. She used a word from Dullov that is hard to translate. It is used to address an unmarried woman but, at the same time, to honor her. Maidens became women when they married and entered the realm of experience. But a girl who remained unmarried achieves womanhood through a life of devotion and through kindness, good works, exemplary character, and selflessness. The closest I can come to its meaning is virgin-woman, but that does not express the import of the word, its connotation, and the manner in which it is heavy with respect, reverence, and thankfulness.
“I agree with you. It was an obscenity. My short time living in the court tells me this sort of thing is the daily stock and trade of life there.
“If the queen wishes to kill me, there is nothing I can do to stop her.”
“She would not be so foolish as to harm a Maiden of the Court. The people look upon you as sacred. She would put herself in great jeopardy if she raised her hand against you. She might have succeeded in her treachery if you had been released from your vows, but you are still under them and still under their protection.”
My eyes grew wide. “Merciful Tuoneta,” I said. “She didn’t harm Janessa, did she?”
“No. Linise is pragmatic. She wants to kill you. She did think of killing Janessa as a way of hurting you, but that would have looked petty and useless to the people in the court. Janessa is at Willowbrook, in her womanhood now, already married, enjoying the company of Andrew. She didn't even wait for her hair to grow long. I’ve put her under my protection. Your act of kindness and selflessness to your friend preserved your life.”
“Thank you, Lady Goddess.” The weight of all of this bore down on me with such oppression I did not want to think on it anymore. I raised my head and looked about. I saw blue and purple darkness. Darkness can be oppressive, but I’ve more often found it soothing. I love night and its peace, the starry welkin, the chaste moon amid silver clouds, the quiet of my cell at the convent. This night, wherever it had fallen, soothed me. I needed soothing just then. “Where am I?” I asked.
“In a world I know, far from your world, and where I go to rest.”
“It’s beautiful.”
“I favor it. After I was free from exile and lodged in a body, I came here. It is a healing place.”
We sat in silence. I decided I would respect her rank as a goddess and let her speak first. We sat a long time. The fear seemed to bleed out of my soul. I didn’t feel any more courage or resolve than I usually did, but I knew I could resist Linise and resist the power of evil that exuded such strength at the palace. After what might have been ten minutes or ten years, Suelta spoke.
“I can’t do what your king has brought me here to do.”
Amazement seized me but I fought down the urge to reply. I knew it was my time to listen and her time to speak.
“The Ottava know the ways of justice. I noted that even the first time I was here.”
“But you helped our forces.”
“I sent the rivers of hot rock to seal off the territory you captured, it is true. But it was also to prevent your king from extending his conquest. It was a barrier against him.”
Silence came again.
“You will hear the alarms soon. I asked my consort—my lover, Notos—to send a rainstorm on the king’s army. I’ve also sealed up the rivers of lava. They no longer flow and will harden and cool in the rain. Notos has spoken to the Ottava through the priests and prophetesses of their land. They plan to attack.”
“Will our army fight them? Or will you disable our army?”
“I am limited in what I can do. But the Ottava are brave. What is more, they are good. Wisdom tells me your army, much of which consists of conscripts forced into service, mistreated and bullied, will revolt. Again, I will not cause this, nor will Notos. But I have a good idea it will happen.”
I looked up at her. I had thought she resembled me, but then I realized she looked like my sister. People said my sister, Tarafa and I, looked a lot alike. I had always thought her the more beautiful. Suelta had made her body from mine. It would follow that she might look like me or one of my kin.
“You need to be careful. As I told you, Linise wants to kill you and will use this time of disorder to do so. I must go now. Stay in the convent. I’ll be away but will return as soon as I can to protect you.”
She stood. I scrambled to my feet. She leaned forward, kissed me, and then vanished.
I returned to the convent. Just after supper and worship, a terrible thunderstorm struck the palace. The sky exploded with noise. The supports of the castle shook. We heard rain pound the roof. I am not frightened of storms. I’ve never been afraid of weather. But I had not known such fury from the skies in all my life. Thelka came by and said we were going to the chapel to pray for safety. When we got there, we were told to
pray to Suelta.
“She is the goddess of fire, but she is also consort to Notos, the rain god. Perhaps she will intercede for us.”
We knelt and began to pray. The storm continued. We prayed a long time, perhaps three hours, and then returned to our rooms. Of course, there were no calls for witness. We could hear soldiers marching to take up positions on the walls and at strategic points around the citadel. We ate breakfast. Rain continued to pour outside. By the time we had finished worship, the storm seemed to have stopped. By noon, the alarm bells sounded to announce the army of Ottava had been sighted.
News trickled into the convent. The other nuns were astonished. I wasn’t. A huge rainstorm, our informers told us had poured down on the lava rivers in Ebracht and cooled them so the Ottava were able to attack our forces and overwhelm them. Further, they whispered, our army revolted and joined the enemy. The Army of the Borders had broken up. Thousands of rebels had joined Ottava and were marching with them on the palace. Only one province had remained loyal to the king, but the Ottava and the northern rebels, of whom Elizet had been a commander, had hemmed them in and they could not ride to bring relief.
Even as they packed up and left, we heard the noise of the approaching force.
We were scared. And, of course, we realized that should the palace fall, all of us were obligated to remain true to our vows. This meant we would take our lives rather than fall into the hands of an enemy who would violate us. The poison, kept in the Venerable Mother’s quarters, was said to be painless and quick and to die by it would be like falling into a gentle sleep. But no one wants to die. As the battle progressed, things did not look good.
An hour or so after the alarms sounded, the Ottava began a furious bombardment of the royal compound. Catapults and trebuchet sent hails of stones at our walls and the buildings within them. Giant ballista battered the walls and gates. The area where our convent was located shook with the thunder of projectiles. The walls buckled. I fell to my knees. The sisters began to scream in terror. The older nuns tried to calm us, but the noise, the shaking, then the cracking of walls, the dust, the ceaseless impact so terrified us several sisters bolted for the main door. The Venerable Mother told them to halt, but the door had been knocked from its hinges and several fled. Most, I will testify, remained. The ones who fled were intercepted and returned to the convent. The mother told them to return to their rooms and admonished them to behave with decorum. “No harm will come to any of us,” she said. We knew it meant she would soon decide to give out poison. We immediately went to our rooms.
The Court of the Sovereign King Page 4
