Rook

by Robin Roseau

  I nodded then stepped forward and steadied Zana. “We’ll walk,” I said. The Goddess climbed down. As soon as she was free of the weight, Zana tossed her head, pulling the reins from my hand. She reared, and I stepped away from her, out of her path.

  And then she flew past me, making one giant leap before dashing across the bridge in a full gallop. Hamper whickered, spun, and chased after her.

  I watched them go, not attempting to call them back. They’d come to me when they calmed down.

  “Yalla.”

  I turned to the Goddess, who was staring after the horses. “Did I hurt her?”

  “She’s fine,” I said. “She’ll wait for us somewhere.” I moved to the Goddess and pulled her into a hug. “Are you all right?”

  “Of course. I am a goddess.”

  I pulled away and looked around. Everyone had stopped to watch us. My eyes found Alta, our Framaran guard captain beside her. “Can you get them across?” I said. “We’ll follow.”

  Alta nodded, and then the Goddess and I stepped to the side, clearing the path for everyone else. We stood, my arm about her waist and hers around my shoulders. The guard split into two, half escorting my daughters but the second half clearly remaining behind for me. I thought it was ridiculous, but I wasn’t going to fight with them.

  Alta got everyone cross, but I could see her waiting on the other side, sitting high in her saddle and watching us.

  “Well, Yahamala,” I said. “Shall we take a little walk?”

  “I think we shall,” she said. And then, tentatively, she reached out with a foot. But then she drew it back.

  “You can do it.”

  She tried again. And a third time. That was when I slipped around in front of her, taking her hands, and I began to pull.

  We made it three steps onto the bridge, but by the fourth, it was like she was fighting me, and by the sixth, I couldn’t draw her any further.

  “Yalla,” she said. “I can’t.”

  “Prestainamatta.” I didn’t have words.

  “Perhaps with help,” she added. “Your daughters.”

  “Captain,” I called out. “Could you send someone to retrieve my daughters, please?”

  Then we waited, the Goddess slowly pulling both of us back towards Alteara. We lost half our gains on the bridge, but then I was able to arrest our retreat, holding tightly to her hands.

  “You could cooperate, you know.”

  “I’m trying, Yalla.” I could hear the pain in her voice. “Yalla, if I don’t cross this bridge, I don’t know what’s going to happen.”

  “I’ll just turn around and get you from the Heart.”

  “That’s not what I mean. If I can’t cross this bridge, I think we’re going to lose the war.”

  She once told me about a war, one that was simmering, one that required me, one that required her to be Goddess of not only Alteara, but Framara as well.

  “I have to cross. I have to, Yalla. Or both lands will burn.”

  The guard returned, leading Mandi and Nissi. I looked over my shoulder. “Girls, climb down. Hand your mounts off. Then come help me.”

  They were good girls. They climbed down dutifully and approached.

  “What’s wrong, Mama Yalla?”

  “Our Prestainamatta is Goddess of Alteara, and she needs us to help her become Goddess in Framara as well. Queen Ralalta has invited her to visit, but she needs our help to cross the bridge.”

  “Is she afraid, Mama?”

  “No, Nissi. But even gods and goddesses have rules. I want you to take her hands like this.”

  They stepped forward, and I passed her hands into those of my daughters. And then I moved behind her, pressing against her back. “Now, Mandi, I’m going to teach you some new words.”

  Then I taught her to say, “Prestainamatta, welcome to Framara.” With the Goddess helping, she learned the phrase. Nissi we taught, “Please join us, Prestainamatta.” The Goddess coached her a little, too.

  “Now, I want you to take turns. Mandi, then Nissi. And say it like you’re coaxing a skittish horse, just the way I’ve taught you in the past.”

  We got moving, and something about having three High Priestesses seemed to help. Progress was slow, and it took several minutes before we reached the center of the bridge. The official border was clearly marked, Alteara on the north, and two steps later, Framara. And it was there we came to a stop, the Goddess unable to set a single toe over the line.

  She began quivering with the effort. Mandi and Nissi doubled their efforts, and I pushed as hard as I could.

  It was like we were moving a mountain, a quivering mountain, but a mountain nevertheless.

  “Yalla,” whispered the Goddess.

  “You have an invitation!” I said. “Given to you by Queen Ralalta herself. You are welcome in these lands, Prestainamatta. You are welcome with open arms.” I went on and on.

  But we made not one more step.

  But then I looked up, and striding towards us was my wife, Crown Princess Juleena of Framara. She came to a stop and huffed. “Well, isn’t this a sight?”

  She was dressed to the nines, as if she were attending court. She looked amazing, of course. In her hand she carried a rolled parchment.

  “Juleena,” I said, pain filling my voice and, I was sure, my eyes.

  Our daughters turned and saw their mother.

  “Don’t let go!” I screamed. “Mandi! Nissi! Don’t let go of our Prestainamatta!” I wasn’t sure what would happen, and I didn’t want to find out.

  They held tight, but I thought it was a close thing.

  “We will share proper greetings in a moment, my lovelies,” Juleena said to the girls. Her eyes lifted to mine. “You have been gone overlong, my wife.”

  “I know. Juleena, she can’t step across.”

  “I gathered. I’ve been watching. Mother sent me.”

  Then her eyes shifted, and she couldn’t see where she was looking, but she met the eyes of the Goddess, or close enough. “Yahamala,” she said. “Greetings.”

  And then she did something I’ve never seen her do before. She dropped into a curtsey at least as deep as any she’d ever given her mother, and she held it besides.

  the Goddess stared for a moment then looked over her shoulder into my eyes. I could read pain, it looked like real pain, but she offered a tentative smile. “Please translate.”

  “Of course.”

  She turned back. “Princess Juleena, please rise. That is not necessary.”

  Juleena stood then said, “Maybe it isn’t. But maybe it will help.” Then she straightened fully and put on a formal tone. “I am Juleena, daughter of Ralalta.” She ran through Ralalta’s lengthy list of titles, pausing as I translated each one. Then she ran through her own list of titles, ending with, “Crown Princess of Framara.”

  “My mother The Queen has sent me here to welcome you to Framara,” Juleena explained. And then she unrolled the parchment, wrapped around two rods of gold, with gold and purple tassels on the ends. “The Goddess Yahamala,” she read. “My Prestainamatta. Greetings. In light of our close relations and personal friendship, I hereby invite you to travel freely throughout Framara and welcome you to my home in Marport.”

  I stared at my wife. She’d read it in the Language of the Goddess, and she’d done a good job. I thought perhaps I wasn’t the only one to be surprised.

  Juleena looked up, meeting Yahamala’s gaze and switched back to Framaran. “It is signed by my mother, Queen Ralalta.” But then she turned it around. “As well as me and every minister available in Marport at the time.”

  The list of signatures was lengthy, but Ralalta’s and Juleena’s were clear, centered at the bottom, with no other signatures crowding their names.

  She waited another moment to let us read, if we wished, and then she rolled it back up, tied it off, and stepped forward, offering the proclamation to the Goddess.

  “Girls, don’t let go.”

  They adjusted their grip, and the Godd
ess took the proclamation. But Juleena didn’t release it. Instead, she held her end, and the Goddess held hers.

  “Did your mother draft this herself?” the Goddess asked.

  “It is written in her hand, but of course,” Juleena responded. “Hallámierté helped to compose it. And, of course, she taught me to read it.”

  “Well,” said the Goddess. “Yallameenara, gently, please.”

  “Girls,” I translated. “Pull gently.”

  I pushed. They pulled. And Juleena held to her end of the parchment, and I could see she tugged lightly as well.

  And the Goddess stepped across the border. She shuddered as she passed the invisible barrier, but two steps later, and she was fully across.

  No one said a word, but the four of us continued to lead the Goddess along the bridge, further and further from the middle. The closer we drew to dry land, the easier it became, and as we stepped from the bridge and onto the road, the Goddess shuddered again, and breathed one word. “Yallameenara.”

  “Prestainamatta,” I replied, and tears were streaming down my cheeks.

  “Oh, Yalla,” she said. “We did it.” Then she looked back to Juleena. “Princess Juleena, thank you.”

  I translated, and Juleena smiled. “Prestainamatta,” she said. “Welcome to Framara.”

  They were only a few words, said haltingly, but they were said in the Language of the Goddess.

  “She called me Prestainamatta.”

  “Juleena,” I asked. “You know what that word means.”

  “Mother and I stayed up talking for hours,” she replied, pausing for the translation. “I spent more hours with Hallámierté. And more with Mother.” She paused. “My heart is not filled by the Goddess, but there is a place for her. It took Mother to help me realize it was time to acknowledge it.”

  “And there is a place for you in mine,” replied the Goddess once I translated. “And in My Heart as well.”

  I translated that and then explained she meant in The Heart of the Goddess.

  “I look forward to that,” Juleena replied. “Well. Do you believe we can all release you?”

  The Goddess cocked her head, and then she looked over her shoulder again, not at me, but at the bridge leading back to Alteara. “The girls first.”

  “Mandi, hold tight for a moment. Nissi, hug your mother, but gently.”

  Nissi carefully released her hold on an arm then turned to Juleena and wrapped around her. It wasn’t necessarily gently, as I thought she was hugging with all her strength, but she didn’t jostle Juleena’s grip on the proclamation, still held between her and the Goddess.

  The two murmured to each other and then Nissi pulled back. “We had an adventure, Mama Juleena!”

  “You certainly did,” Juleena agreed.

  “Prestainamatta?”

  “Yes,” she said. “Now Whitarmandi.”

  “Mandi, carefully, you may hug your mother.”

  She released the Goddess slowly, watching carefully, and then turned and hugged Juleena at least as tightly as Nissi had.

  “Prestainamatta?” I asked. “Are you here to stay?”

  “I don’t know,” she said. “That is an uncomfortable feeling. I can feel myself being pulled back to Alteara, back to my Heart. If I disappear, do not fret. We will see each other soon enough, if that happens.”

  “Do you think you’re going to disappear?”

  “I think if you and Juleena both release me, I won’t linger long enough to say goodbye. Maybe with time or distance, this will grow easier.”

  I repeated that for Juleena.

  “Not a problem,” she said. “We have a carriage waiting.”

  “Zana and Hamper?”

  “Two of the grooms are handling them. They’re fine, Yalla. Prestainamatta, dare we try a less awkward arrangement?”

  “Let us try,” she agreed.

  * * * *

  We didn’t ride but instead walked through the streets, our now greatly enhanced group falling in with us. Juleena walked to Yahamala’s left, both of them holding the proclamation between them. I held onto her right arm, and together we were able to walk normally.

  But from time to time, I felt a tug back towards Alteara, and I tightened my grip each time.

  We didn’t try to explain the Goddess to the people crowding the sides of the street. I thought perhaps they were curious, and a few times I heard, “I don’t see any goddess!” But I couldn’t do more than I was doing.

  We reached the inn where Juleena had been staying while she waited for us. The queen’s coach was there, a team of four gleaming black horses hitched in place. A coachman and footman stood by.

  “How grand,” declared the Goddess. “Princess Juleena, we must travel slowly at first.”

  Juleena gestured, and Captain Wellna stepped closer. The two whispered for a moment, and then Juleena led us to the coach.

  It was a little awkward climbing in, but we got settled, and then Alta slipped in as well. There was a delay as we waited for everyone else to climb aboard their mounts, and I looked out the window to ensure Zana and Hamper had been found.

  And then we were rolling, deeper into Framara.

  * * * *

  We traveled perhaps an hour. Beside me, the Goddess trembled the entire time, and finally she said, “Yalla, I am so sorry. Please ask them to stop the coach.”

  “Prestainamatta?”

  “It hurts, Yalla. It really hurts. I’m sorry.”

  “But-“

  “Please, ask them to stop.”

  I relayed this to Juleena, who nodded and then rapped on the top of the coach. We slowed and stopped.

  “Princess Juleena,” said the Goddess. “Thank you so much for your kind welcome.”

  I started crying, holding tightly to her.

  “No, Yalla,” she said. “It is like a great weight. Our people in Alteara see me as their goddess, and only theirs. They are not yet ready to share me with Framara. And our people here are so few. Almost no one knows of me. Now kiss me and have heart.”

  “Oh, Prestainamatta,” I said, throwing myself into her arms. We hugged and kissed, then hugged some more.

  “I have surprises for you, and new tasks. We have not lost the war. We haven’t even lost a battle. We have tested and stretched our limits, stretched them much further than I ever thought possible. Now you must continue to do what you are doing. Train our new acolytes. For any who will learn, teach them about me. For any who will come, bring them to me.”

  “Teach more to call you Prestainamatta.”

  “Yes, exactly. Let us climb from the carriage now. I wish to hug Whitarmandi and Darnisom once more.”

  Climbing out was as awkward as climbing in had been. We stood beside the carriage while Alta collected our daughters. The Goddess gave them both long, tight hugs, whispering to them. If they understood, I didn’t know, but she didn’t speak loudly enough for me to translate.

  Then they stepped away, Alta holding one hand of each.

  With Juleena and I still maintaining our contact, the Goddess caressed Alta, but she didn’t have words. Then she turned to Juleena. “Only a moment longer, Princess.”

  “Take all the time you need,” she replied. “We are in no hurry.”

  The Goddess pulled me back into her arms. “There will be a surprise or two for you in Marport.”

  “How did you arrange that?”

  “Oh, I have my ways,” she replied. Then she caressed my cheek and kissed me. “Thank you, oh so much, my High Priestess. I will see you soon enough. Now, I do not know if I will depart suddenly or under some amount of control. I would like to keep the scroll, so you and your wife should release me together.”

  “I’ll miss you.”

  “And I, you.” She smiled. It was weak, but it was a smile. And then she nodded.

  “Juleena, I’ll release when you do.” And then I watched her fingers.

  “Ready,” she said. “Here we go.”

  The moment her fingers relaxed, I re
leased my own grip upon the Goddess. She remained for a moment, but then she slowly faded away. I stared for a moment and then slumped.

  “She’s gone, Mama,” Mandi said.

  I didn’t say anything. Instead, I stepped into Juleena’s arms and held her as tightly as I could.

  Burgeoning

  Juleena was keeping a secret from me. We were at the inn, one more day out from Marport, when her patience with my questioning ran out.

  “Dire Consequences,” she said. “No more, or there will be Dire Consequences.”

  “First, you wouldn’t dare. Second, you don’t actually have a plan if I continue to ask. And third, you want to tell me.”

  “First,” she said. “I certainly would dare, and you know it. Second, I may not have a plan, but do you doubt my ability to envision one? And third, maybe I do, and maybe I don’t, but you have to wait. Mother wants to see your face.”

  “Oh. You could have told me that.”

  “Well, now I’ve confirmed I’m keeping secrets, which I was avoiding.” She sighed dramatically. “I will, however, tell you this. I hated staying home while everyone else was gone.”

  “Not everyone,” I said. “We left Ria and Dessa with you.”

  “And let me tell you, at three and two years old, they are quite the conversationalists.”

  I laughed. “Give me a hint.”

  “Alta, I require your assistance.”

  We both turned to our wife. She, in turn, looked back and forth between Juleena and me. “I’m listening,” she said finally.

  “No!” I screeched. “You are not teaming up against me.”

  “What do you think we should do so she stops pestering me?”

  “Oh, that’s easy,” Alta said.

  “No!” I screeched as both my wives advanced on me. They caught me easily, cornering me before grabbing my arms.

  “But what are we doing with her?” Juleena asked.

  “Distracting her. Hold her still while I get her clothes off her.”

  I struggled, mostly for form. Alta was quite thorough, separating me from every stitch of clothing. Finally I stood there, my back to Juleena, my hands clasped behind me, and I glared belligerently at Alta. “Now what are you going to do?”