by D. L. Jordan
“Cacellon, what are those animals below us?” Dean asked.
“Those animals are called Tigrises. They are the Yailonian’s mode of transportation around the city besides walking. The most sacred and precious of all these Tigrises is known as Pollima. She is an ancient Tigris who originated in a country called Babefemi. She has purple eyes, large feathery wings, and is said to be the mother of all Tigrises. She lives in a chamber within The Marble Palace.”
When they reached the palace, Dean realized what the wide wall he had seen earlier was.
Made entirely of sanded rock, it securely guarded the palace. After letting go of the handled collar, Dean dismounted Cacellon’s feathery back. Cacellon then returned to his human form.
Leading to the wall that guarded the palace was a tall flight of broad steps made of stone. Water that jetted upwards and quickly fell down to the ground sprouted from tiny holes on either side of each step. Dean heard the rushing sound of the water on both of his sides as he ascended the steps toward the guards. He and Cacellon continued the ascent, only to face two guards. The front doors, which were over sixteen-feet tall and made of mahogany, were guarded by two men
wearing suits of golden armor. Each soldier held a spear that was at least three feet taller than Cacellon.
The guards noticed Cacellon and allowed them both inside the walls, giving Dean strange looks all the while. The mahogany doors opened to reveal the front of the palace.
When they reached the other side of the wall, there was a long narrow path. Nestled in a garden of trees and reflecting ponds was The Marble Palace.
“Why is this place here? Why are all these people here?” Dean asked inquisitively. “Well,” began Cacellon with hesitation, “I believe those questions should be answered
when you’re older. Children often understand and appreciate things more when they are older. Trust me, little Dean, that is the best way!”
Dean was beginning to despise being told that he was too young to understand the things that went on around him. He was reminded once again of his mother and father’s ‘you’re just too young right now’ statements that made him feel smaller than he already was. Even if he didn’t understand it, he thought it still would have been nice to at least be told what was going on. Dean was reminded of the family that he had slipped from only hours before. The thought alone made him feel sorrowful as he wondered where they were and what happened to them.
When Dean and Cacellon reached the front of The Marble Palace doors (which were also made of mahogany and sixteen-feet tall), Cacellon opened one of the doors and led Dean inside. The inside of the palace revealed a great entrance hall made of shining, violet marble. Near the ceiling was a circular window that allowed a great deal of light to shine through.
In the midst of the entrance hall floor was a symbol that had the design of the island within letters that did not make any sense to Dean whatsoever. Between two corridors in front of him were large columns neatly spaced in front of a grand violet marble staircase. A large, red
stair-rug was placed on top of it. Behind this flight of stairs was another marble staircase where another massive red rug with intricate gold designs lay.
This staircase led to more and more corridors. Another staircase was above that until Dean noticed that there seemed to be an infinite amount of staircases that led to more places throughout the palace.
A large stone statue was situated above the first flight of stairs. The statue was a replica of the palace itself, depicting a group of people holding hands around it in a perfect union.
His interest suddenly overwhelmed him. Dean ran from beside Cacellon, past the row of columns, and up the staircase to gain a better view of the statue and saw that there were ten people--five women and five men. The first man Dean saw was wearing long robes and a flat- topped hat that had what looked like long beads hanging down on the front and back of it.
This man had a very serious-looking face with piercing eyes, a furrowed brow, and frowning mouth. He was standing beside a woman with a smiling face whose length of her robes (especially her sleeves) were equal to those of her male counterpart but were more formal.
The next pair of people Dean saw was a man and a woman. The man’s clothes looked as if they were covered in rubies and jewels in the form of a belted shift with long pants. His shoes were flat but curved inward at the tip of the toes. He also had a curving beard and a sharp nose. A large cloth was wrapped tightly around the top of his head with a jewel below a feather that seemed to clasp the wrap together above his forehead. Beside him was a woman whose arms and fingers were decorated with bracelets and rings. Her hair was long and braided and covered by a piece of cloth that barely covered the length of her braid.
As Dean circled around the statue to look at the next pair of stone figures, he could not help but feel that the eyes of the woman he had just seen were following him.
Dean turned to escape the slight eeriness of the figure of the woman to view the next group of individuals who were quite husky and valiant looking. The next man he saw had shaggy hair that was under a helmet encrusted with what looked like rocks of stone or granite. His clothes were made of what appeared to be leather and cloth, hoisted together with straps, and he wore a pair of large boots.
The woman beside him was a bit shorter than her male counterpart, and her hair hung to the middle of her back. To Dean, her clothes looked as though they were made of a long dress with a belt clasped around her waist. A helmet, similar to that of the man standing beside her, was placed on her head.
The next figure Dean saw was a woman whose hair was in a tied style that was new to Dean. Her nose was sharp, her lips were full, and her hairstyle made her face very round. Her body was draped in a tiered, ceremonial garment that reached all the way to her feet.
A plump man with a wide nose and sharp looking eyes stood beside her. His body was covered in a long ceremonial garment. His neck was decorated with a necklace that was made up of mainly squares and circles.
Finally, Dean had almost finished circling around the statue completely until he came upon the sight of two last figures. He first saw a woman with full lips and a graceful neck. Her hair was concealed and she was dressed in a long, patterned garment that seemed to reach right below her ankles.
Dean felt a simple familiarity with this woman, as if she was a distant family member that he had never known but only heard of. He looked at the final stone figure of the man beside her. The man wore a pleated garment made of linen. On his head was a long crown that had the head of a cobra and a bird on its front.
Dean came to the spot at the top of the stairs where he got an even closer look at these men and women. His heart filled with a sense of longing… that within this strange place he could truly find a home. And even though the memory of his parents, Timothy, Granddad, his aunt and uncle, and his infant cousin had not yet scurried from the floors and ceilings of his mind, Dean knew that another life was about to begin for him in this mysterious new place.
THE MARBLE PALACE OF AVESIA
Cacellon came to the top of the stairs where Dean stood. “Who are these people, Cacellon?” Dean asked.
“They are the Rulers of Avesia. What you are looking at is the piece of artwork known as the Statue of the Rulers.”
Cacellon then took Dean by the hand and said, “Come with me! There are some friends of mine who are waiting to see you.”
Cacellon then led Dean down a twisting corridor on the right side of the statue. As they were walking down the corridor, they finally reached a set of tall doors. Cacellon opened the doors and inside was another incredibly-sized hall, made of shining blue marble. It was as big as a ballroom (even large enough for Cacellon to fly around in while in his phoenix form), and much larger than the entrance hall.
The large room held many tall windows, which let the light of the sun shine brightly onto its marble floor. A large rug was in front of Cacellon and Dean that led to ten thrones. Cacellon bent down to whisper to
him saying, “Welcome to the throne room, little one.”
From the door, Cacellon and Dean walked towards the thrones and around a wide sundial at the center of the room as they came closer to the thrones. Dean felt the excitement of being in this strange world. It increased as his eyes gazed upon the magnificent individuals who sat in the thrones before him. Together, sitting rather dignified, were the men and women who were all depicted in the statue that Dean had seen just moments before in the entrance hall.
Each individual had a look of suspicion on their faces that made Dean tremble nervously. Dean looked amongst the faces at the searching eyes of the people sitting on the thrones. He tried to find the woman with full lips and a graceful neck and the man with the long crown that had the head of a cobra and a bird on its front that he had seen while gazing at the statue and realized that they were nowhere in sight. He noticed that there was a man who was not in the statue sitting amongst them. The man had gleaming eyes and a very short beard on his chin. He was very thin and looked nothing like the man Dean had seen in the statue. He wore a horizontal striped headdress with the head of a cobra on its front and a white garment that did not fit him.
Cacellon kneeled and laid his head and hands on the floor to show his respect for the individuals sitting in the thrones. Dean was still caught up in the disappointment of not seeing the man and woman. He did not pay any attention whatsoever and became slightly afraid when seeing that the people in front of him were smiling. He looked to the floor and saw Cacellon bowing there before them and, in a desperate attempt to get it right, did the same thing. Cacellon then raised his head from the floor to speak.
“My Rulers,” he said “I have brought someone with me to our city. His name is Dean, and he was captured from the other world by the brutal cunning of the Zaives.”
The man Dean had seen in the statue, with the clothing of rubies, and the woman sitting beside him stood up from their thrones. The man spoke to the two of them who were kneeling
respectfully, “Cacellon and Dean, please stand!” They both stood to their feet as the man had commanded before he spoke again. His skin was brown and the rubies and jewels on his clothes shined magnificently in the sunlight of the room.
“Welcome to Avesia, little one. My name is King Salim of the country of Kosala, and this lovely woman beside me,” King Salim acknowledged her as she stroked her jet black hair that draped on her amber colored sari, “is my wife Queen Anarkali.”
“We are both glad to have you here on this island and hope that your stay here is very pleasant.” Dean looked at Queen Anarkali as she spoke, amazed by her graceful and kind voice. The deepness and beauty of her eyes held a shadow of mystery behind them. King Salim and Queen Anarkali then took their seats.
The man and woman Dean had seen wearing long robes in the statue stood in front of their seats as Salim and Anarkali once did.
“Hello Dean,” said the woman, “I must say that it is indeed a pleasure to meet you. My name is Empress Xian, wife of the aggravating Emperor Yang who stands beside me.” Empress Xian gave out a playful chuckle. “We are from the vast land of Chang’an. Words cannot express how very grateful we are to have a small one like you here on our island. I hope that your life will bring only good fortune to you after such a horrible incident.”
Her voice was as polite and cheerful as her face. She gave a slight bow to Dean as she spoke humorously of her husband. Emperor Yang furrowed his brows while smiling and looking through the dangling front beads of his flat-topped hat as she sat down in her throne.
As the empress took her seat, a smile appeared on her husband’s face. He grabbed her hand and delicately kissed the top of it, starting to laugh. He then gave Dean a military-like bow and said, “We are honored to have you on our island.”
Next, the man with a helmet crown encrusted with rocks and granite and dressed in a suit of leather and straps, and a woman with long blonde hair and a white, flowing garment stood from their seats.
“My name is King Berthold of Gisilbertha,” he began with a smile. “We know your stay here in our city will be worthwhile.” He then glanced at the woman beside him and said, “This lovely woman is my wife Queen Clotilda.”
King Berthold placed a balled fist on the place of his heart to express his sympathy for Dean as his valiant voice echoed throughout the room.
“We will always be there to help you, little one, in your times of trouble,” added Queen Clotilda.” Her voice was as valiant as the man beside her, but gentler. Dean was welcomed next by the man and woman who were dressed in long, ceremonial garments. They were both wearing jade jewelry in the shape of squares and circles.
“The good times are here! Let us cherish them!” They shouted together in perfect unison. The Rulers seated in their thrones shook their heads in a delighted agreement as the two finished. “Little Dean, my name is Emperor Hanab Pakal of the great land of Teotihuacan and this
woman who stands beside me is my wife Empress Ix Chel.” Empress Ix Chel made a slight bow to Dean and informed him that, “It is in your best interest, little one, to learn all you can about our land so that you will know the ways of the city and to respect the union of every culture that dwells within it.”
The emperor and empress both sat down in their seats. The one Ruler that had not given his gracious welcome to Dean was the one sitting in one of the two middle thrones between the other Rulers.
“Madu…isn’t there something you would like to say to our small guest?” said Queen Anarkali fiercely. Madu, who wore the white, linen garments Dean had seen on the man in the statue, didn’t say or do anything. He only looked at Dean with a repulsive glare that made Dean feel very uncomfortable towards him, as if he strongly hoped some dreadful thing would happen to Dean at any given moment.
“Very well, then.” said Cacellon in a settled tone, breaking the silence.
“Until we settle a rightful date for the adoption of Dean,” began Empress Xian, “he will stay here in The Marble Palace and enjoy everything that we as his hosts have to offer. Cacellon, please lead our new guest to his room.” Cacellon gave a slight bow to the Empress and the rest of the Rulers. Dean did the same and they soon exited the throne room.
As he and Cacellon walked out of the twisting corridor and back to the Statue of the Rulers, Dean’s mind turned into a kaleidoscope of questions such as Why were the Rulers there?, and Why did they want to put me into adoption so some strange family could take me?, and most importantly, Why weren’t the man and woman there? All these questions seemed to roll through Dean’s mind at once and, as they were at the Statue of the Rulers at the top of the stairs in the entrance hall, Cacellon lead Dean up the third flight of stairs. They made a left into a marble corridor that had many doors and wide windows.
At the end of the corridor was a door that was decorated with a golden tree on its front. Cacellon opened the door and led Dean inside so he could have a look at the bedroom in which he would be staying until a family adopted him.
Behind the door was a large bedroom with blue sofas and armchairs. A large bed was at the center of the room along with a bookcase that was beside the sofas and armchairs. A lit
fireplace made the room warm. A uniquely designed rug with a golden tree that had many leaves covered the entire surface of the floor of the room.
“Dinner will be served in an hour, so I’ll be around until then if you need anything,” Cacellon informed him with a smile.
Dean nodded his head assuredly as Cacellon closed the door behind him. As soon as the door was closed Dean happily jumped on the large bed, enjoying his new palatial environment. When he became tired of jumping, the memory of his family entered his mind. At that moment, Dean desperately wanted to escape all the new and wonderful things he had seen and return to his old life in New York.
Tears burned and welled in Dean’s eyes as thoughts of being close to his family once more came to his mind. After an hour had passed, a knock sounded from the other side of the door and the door
opened. A maid wearing very colorful robes similar, but less elegant, to Empress Xian’s had entered the room to escort Dean to the dining hall to eat dinner with Cacellon and the Rulers.
***
As he lay in bed that night after a scrumptious dinner, it seemed that Dean’s world became newer with each moment. Every minute demanded that he live for then and not dwell on the past. Yet he wanted to rebel against the ‘now’ and live in the past just one more time.
Something began pestering Dean’s right side. He reached inside his pocket and found a familiar necklace that Granddad had given him years ago when he was born. It was a necklace of a lion. He assumed that he must have placed it in the pocket of those pants one day and had forgotten to take it out. He placed the necklace around his neck.
While holding the lion necklace, Dean’s eyes were becoming weaker with the weight of his own thoughts. He began to fall asleep as the warmth of the burning fireplace filled the room.
***
The next morning, Dean was urgently awakened by Cacellon. A family had come to The Marble Palace to adopt him. Dean dressed in a garment and hat that resembled Cacellon’s and packed the clothes he had worn the night before in a suitcase. He took one last look around his palatial bedroom before Cacellon led him to the front doors of the entrance hall. When they arrived, a stout couple and their son, who appeared to be at least three years younger than he was, were all standing in front of the double mahogany doors.
Dean held the lion necklace that hung around his neck while looking up at the couple in front of him as they introduced themselves and their son. Dean looked at the boy and gave him a brief smile. He knew that he would now play the role of big brother to this child who had just at that moment given him a distrusting look.
