by B. Roman
Saliana's voice trembles as she makes a brave attempt to stand up to Jaycina. “And what if he is? Will you keep him a prisoner just like me?”
“There is no need. David Nickerson is free to go any time he so desires. I, in fact, offered him his freedom, and yours, but he rejected it.”
Saliana considers the High Priestess carefully. Jaycina is a master at switching her remarks from caustic to rueful, a technique Saliana has been subjected to countless times. Nonetheless, vulnerability clouds her thinking even as she asserts, “I don't believe you.”
“As you wish,” Jaycina says with a shrug, then inserts the knife of doubt a little deeper. “But did he tell you his real reason for coming to the Palace?”
“His real reason?”
“Did he not mention the plight of his young sister, Sally?” Jaycina clucks her tongue meaning to chastise David's deception. “How cruel of him. She is really the one he has come to rescue, not you. That is why he rejected my offer to let both of you leave the Palace. He believes Sally is here within these walls and he will not leave without her, even if it means he must stay here forever - with me.”
Stiffening her spine with her last vestige of courage, Saliana rejects this information. “David wouldn't deceive me, but you would. You lied to my father about everything, now you're lying to me, aren't you? Aren't you!”
But Saliana is fragile from months of captivity and the mind games the High Priestess plays relentlessly. Tears begin to fall down her cheeks and she cries softly. “Oh, Jaycina, why are you doing this. Please let me go. I want to see Father. Please.”
“Then grant me a small request,” Jaycina says, a spider enticing a fly into its web. “Sing tonight and I will arrange a visit with your father.”
“Do you mean it? Or is this another trick?” Saliana is afraid to believe her, and afraid not to. “Oh, please don't lie to me about this. Please, Jaycina.”
“You have my word,” Jaycina says curtly. “Sing tonight and first thing tomorrow I will hold a special reunion for the two of you.”
Saliana's shoulders slump and breath streams out of her as she yields. “All right. I will sing tonight. But if I don't see my father tomorrow, I truly will never sing again.”
“Fair enough,” Jaycina says, victorious.
Saliana sits down in front of the tower window and picks up her harp. Through the choking tears of despair she sings:
“Moon Singer - Moon Singer - take to the sea -
Fly on the wind where the sky used to be -”
* * *
Costumed in vibrant gossamer gowns, twenty royal dancing girls twirl alluringly to the exotic music of the Palace musicians. A sumptuous feast is spread out on the banquet tables, and wine flows in abundance from jug to goblet.
Jaycina is seated on the dais in her Imperial throne, and David sits next to her. He stares straight ahead, his eyes glazed over in a hypnotic trance.
On a pedestal in front of the dais is Judiah, whose expression of terror and dilated pupils betray his gay laughter. Jaycina, he has learned, is not above a cruel joke and a whimsical change of heart. Many a celebration has turned into a last supper.
Jaycina stands, the crowd is hushed. “Loyal subjects,” she says, gesturing as a benevolent host. “We are here to honor one of your friends. A man who, until now, has chosen to remain anonymous while performing countless acts of fidelity for our Great Serpent Ruler. To demonstrate our gratitude, the Princess Saliana will now sing for him. This honor, until today, has been reserved only for the Glass Snake.”
Judiah chokes on his drink and the wine spurts from his nose. All eyes turn as an entourage carries Saliana on a sedan chair to the center of the dais. Her entire posture speaks resignation as she holds her harp securely in her arms. But when she sees David seated next to Jaycina, she bolts upright, her harp falling helplessly to the floor.
“David. David?” Saliana beseeches him, but he doesn't respond. She studies his face, the deadly blank stare, and a wave of knowing comes over her. “Oh, David, no.”
Swiftly, Jaycina points her scepter at David and a stunning flash of light spirals around him. When it dissipates, Ishtar is standing there instead. Murmurs of astonishment spread rapidly through the crowd.
Saliana's eyes stare, unbelieving. She finds her voice but it is filled with confusion, fear and hopefulness all at once. “Father? Father…is it you? Is it really you?”
“Yes, daughter. Just as Jaycina promised. Now you must sing. It is your duty to share your gift.” Ishtar is stoic and his eyes do not meet his daughter's.
Judiah clasps his hands together and bites on his knuckles. Under his breath he pleads, “Don't sing, Saliana. Oh, please don't sing. Oh, I'm doomed.”
“But Father, not for the Glass Snake. This is not what my gift is for.”
“Its purpose is not for you to question. Sing, Saliana, so that everyone, including the Glass Snake, can revel in the infinite beauty and divine power of your music.”
Ishtar's stance, like petrified wood, is not the Ishtar Saliana knows and loves. “Father why are you saying these things? Oh, Father, what have they done to you?”
Unable to control the impulse, Judiah cries out, “Don't do it, Saliana! Don't sing. It's a trick. Ishtar is dead! It was his dying wish. Don't sing!”
Saliana screams, then sobs uncontrollably, sinking pitifully back onto the chair. Jaycina gestures and her attendants immediately rush to Saliana's side. “Take her back to the Tower,” she commands with disgust. When Saliana is removed, Jaycina brandishes her scepter and Ishtar is transformed back into David Nickerson.
Judiah cowers with his face in his hands, crouched down on the pedestal. He rants madly, “David is Ishtar. Ishtar is dead. Don't sing, Saliana. Don't.” He peeks through his fingers only to see no sign of her. “Where is she? Where is Saliana? She was just here. Wasn't she?”
Jaycina saunters over to the babbling Judiah. “Too much wine has stimulated your idiotic imagination,” she belittles him. “Saliana is secured in the Royal Tower.”
“But I saw her. I did - didn't I? You told everyone she was going to sing. I could have sworn you did, didn't you?”
Jaycina angles her head and gives Judiah a sidelong glance of pouty indignation. “And spoil your celebration? Why, you insult me. But, I forgive you.” She snaps back to a festive air. “I promised you a reward for your loyalty and you shall have it. Tonight. And now,” she addresses the crowd with ostentation, “let the celebration continue.”
On cue, the madness of music and revelry resumes.
Twenty-one
At the base of each magnificent crystal mast of the Moon Singer is a band of solid gold rings that encircles it, much like a necklace. Using a unique cutting tool that he himself designed, Ishtar cuts through a ring on each of the three masts, freeing them at the ends. He then links the three necklaces together to make one continuous chain.
Tentatively, as he has not been aboard any sailing ship in years, he climbs the perilous 15-story rope ladder to the crow's nest with one end of the lengthy chain firmly in his grip. Because the chain is pure gold, it is light enough for Ishtar to hoist as he climbs. With each sway of the ship Ishtar halts his step and grabs onto the rope ladder for balance, repeating a mantra of faith and determination to shore up his courage.
Finally Ishtar stands in the crow's nest, overlooking the vast black ocean, and fastens the end ring of the chain to another gold band surrounding the top of the mizzenmast. He then climbs the long, precarious rope stairs down to the deck. Gripping the bottom end of the gold chain, Ishtar carries it to the railing at the ship's bow. He pulls it taut and fastens it there. Stepping back to examine his handiwork, Ishtar's face registers satisfaction. The rest will be up to David.
* * *
David stirs restlessly on the stiff cot in his sleep chamber. Awakening, he tries to sit up, but his head feels as though it's been pummeled from the inside out.
“God. What a nightmare.” Is his speech slurred from the gro
g of sleep, or has he been drugged? He isn't sure.
He tries to rise quickly, but the room whirls around him and he slumps back down onto the cot. Looking around the room, examining his strange clothes, a grim realization comes over him that he truly is in some dark and evil place, that he may never go home again, that he has failed in his mission to find Sally. He has failed himself, his family, everyone who ever believed in him. He hasn't a clue where he is, or how or why he is enmeshed in this weird scenario.
“What's happening to me? I can't believe any of this. I've made a mess of it,” he ruminates sorrowfully. “I'm sorry, Dad. Oh, Sally, Sally, I'm so sorry. God, I wish Mom was here.” David covers his eyes with trembling hands balled into frightened fists, and begins to cry. He is just a boy, after all, ill equipped to understand let alone prevail in this harrowing adventure.
“Don't give up now, David.” A voice, reassuring, encouraging, kind. David moves his hands from his eyes and looks up to see the hologram appear. Eagerly, he sits upright on the cot.
“Dorinda! Oh, God, I was never so happy to see anyone in my life.”
“And I, you. But you mustn't let Jaycina distort your reality, or make you believe you cannot accomplish what you set out to do.”
“But I can't!” he rails, angry mostly at himself. “I can't do it. Ishtar was right. I didn't know what I was doing. I should never have messed with that gridwork stuff.”
“Your instincts are flawless even if your knowledge is limited. You must believe that through the crystals you have the power to succeed.”
“What power? The Moldavite is gone and I can't communicate with Ishtar. I'm definitely no match for Jaycina,” David denigrates himself. “And I'll never find Sally, not here in this madhouse.” He shakes his head ruefully. “Why did I ever let you talk me into this?”
Dorinda is sincerely contrite. “I confess, I deceived you in the beginning, David. All I wanted was Saliana's freedom and I would have done anything, used anyone, to achieve that end.”
“Everybody wants something from me, but I just want to find Sally and go home.”
“But things are different now, David. We are all connected - you, me, Ishtar, Saliana, and your Sally. We are one, eternally linked together.”
David feels a familiarity, an awesome recognition of some unfathomable truth. “That's what Ishtar said.” He holds up his hand as though to dismiss what he cannot figure out. “But I still don't know how my being here is going to help my dad get his job back, or get Sally out of her wheel chair.” He winces at the irony, realizing that Sally is, at least in this bizarre nightmare, out of her wheel chair. But where?
“You have started a chain reaction and you cannot stop it now,” Dorinda implores him. “You must be more clever than Jaycina, stronger than the Glass Snake -”
“I can't do that if you're not telling me the truth,” David suddenly snaps, “especially about Saliana. Jaycina says her music can't make anyone immortal, that she's only a channel for a higher source.”
Noticeably unsettled by this, Dorinda asks quickly, “Did she - did she say what the source was, David?”
“No. She didn't know. But she said whoever could discover it would be immortal. What did she mean? What is it?”
“I must go now, David,” Dorinda says hastily, her image already beginning to fade. “You shan't hear from me again. Now, you must let the magic of your gleaming crystal clipper work through you.”
David moves toward her desperately. “Dorinda, no! Wait. I don't understand.”
“Hold the Singer in your hand, David. Listen to its song. Listen to what it's trying to tell you…” Then, she is gone.
Nearly shattered by Dorinda's disappearance, feeling more deserted than ever, David retrieves the Singer crystal from the pocket of his tunic. He holds it tightly in his hand, willing it to speak to him, to sing to him.
“Say something, please. Let me hear it. I don't know what I'm listening for. But let me be worthy to hear the mysteries you hold.” With a deep sigh and a silent prayer, he listens, and listens…and listens…
* * *
Jaycina stands watch as the palace guards drag a writhing resistant Judiah to the pedestal at the mouth of the Glass Volcano. He has been dressed in a white sacrificial garment and ornamental breastplate of precious metals and gemstones. The guards stand at either side of him, each holding one of Judiah's arms to keep him from bolting free.
“Don't do this, Jaycina, please,” Judiah cries, struggling fiercely. “Send me to the mines. Anything but this!”
“The mines are for peasants, Judiah.” Jaycina's smile is a flash of white teeth and ruby lips. “For you, the end must be glorious.”
At the far side of the Glass Volcano, the huge lodestone is moved into place. The powerful energy of the Volcano is activated, creating an arc of electrical current. Swiftly, Judiah is pulled into the air by the magnetic force of the lodestone. He hovers, screaming, over the center of the Volcano's hungry mouth.
“Jaycina, I beg of you. Can you forget how well I have served you? Will you let one minor transgression taint my record? I don't deserve to die. Think about it!”
Dragging out Judiah's agony a bit longer, Jaycina recants. “Hmm. Perhaps you are right, Judiah. I have been hasty in deciding your fate. I will, indeed, think about it.” She turns to leave, but turns back a moment to hear yet another plea from Judiah.
“No! You can't leave me here. JAYCINA –” his terrified voice echoes across the valley.
Flamboyantly, the High Priestess twirls her cape closed around her and walks away, leaving Judiah dangling like a marionette in mid-air between life and death.
* * *
Feelings of peace and calm flow gently inside David. Although no great revelation has occurred, no sounding brass or flashes of insight, an inner strength shores him up and he decides to make one last valiant effort to rescue Saliana. As he slips quietly from his sleep chamber, he is amazed that no guard stands at the door. And as he retraces his steps up the spiraling staircase, no one appears to stop him.
Warily, David moves through the Palace to Saliana's chamber in the Tower, grateful that he hears no sounds indicating the Glass Snake is near. He hesitates for a moment outside Saliana's door and listens, completely enchanted by the exquisite purity of her voice. Is this the song his crystal sings? The one his heart sings? Both, he knows. Both. And each has brought him here to this place.
Remembering the urgency of the moment, he snaps alert then strides quickly through the door. Saliana turns with a start and gasps at the sight of him.
“Oh - David. I'm so glad to see you.” She rushes to his side and grasps his hands, pulling them gratefully to her tear-stained face.
“Don't sing anymore, Saliana.”
“But, Father said -”
“It was just a trick. That wasn't your father.”
Saliana's lips quiver. “Then it's true. Father is dead.”
“No. It's not true. Believe me.”
Saliana swoons with relief and David's arms sweep around her to steady her. She feels strangely comfortable to him, someone he embraced long ago, or dreamed he did, hoped someday he would. In turn, she slips her arms around him, silently holding him for a moment. She steps back slightly, head tilted expectantly. Their eyes search each other's with longing, yearning, questioning. David moves closer to her waiting lips, but suddenly Saliana's eyes reflect uncertainty.
“David. You are David now, aren't you? Not under Jaycina's spell?”
David shakes his head, also feeling doubtful about his state of mind. “No. I think I've come to my senses. But I don't know what will happen if I encounter Jaycina again.” He takes a firm hold of Saliana's hand. “Come on,” he says, leading her to the door. “We don't have much time.”
“Where are we going?”
“Home.”
Twenty-two
Following the blue mirrors as Ishtar had told him to do, David leads Saliana through the winding, seemingly endless Palace corridors. The s
onorous chanting, that so intrigued David earlier, again resounds through the walls, the mantras enveloping him with their primitive urgings. With an overwhelming desire to succumb to their enticements, David halts his step. Yearning fills him, and a yielding expression crosses his face. He lets Saliana's hand slip from his and makes a slow move away from her.
Alarmed, Saliana cries out. “Come back, David. Come back!” The strong tone of her voice strikes a protective nerve and David tenses his body, fighting the impulse to follow the chanting and to be drawn into its womb of mystery and magic.
David summons his inner strength and orders her sharply, “Just keep moving.” Saliana grasps David's hand with both of hers as they proceed further along. Nearing Jaycina's chamber, an eerie shimmering presence dances in front of them. Saliana lets out a small cry and shields herself behind David's shoulder.
“What is that, David? It's like a mirage or something.”
“That's just what it is. Hurry past,” David urges her as beads of perspiration dot his face. “Where is that damn staircase?”
They scurry along as a haunting, lilting voice echoes David's name. David grits his teeth and clenches his fist resisting, resisting, shutting out the enticement.
“David,” the voice intones seductively. “It's Jaycina. You hear me, don't you?” “No! I won't listen!” Why can't I be deaf now? David wonders desperately.
Jaycina's voice reverberates from high and low, from far and near, from every nook and cranny, but David presses on valiantly until he finds the hidden staircase.
“We're here.” David's voice breaks under the stress. “It's the hidden stairs your father told me about. Come on.”
But Saliana hesitates a moment and looks back up the corridor. She freezes when she sees the High Priestess standing but a few feet away. Suddenly, a door slides across their path, closing off the staircase to freedom. David pushes on it with all his might, but it doesn't budge.
“No, Jaycina,” David hisses vehemently through clenched teeth, “not this time. We're leaving and you can't stop us.”
