When some in the community came to sit down and mourn over his death she invited them in to eat the bread of mourning with her; many who had defamed and shunned her before now came in to her. She observed the custom and was glad for a reprieve of their former contempt but inwardly it galled her. Yisal had been banished from the presence of others and quarantined because of the bloody flux. Yisal complained to her, wailing in a great flow of tears one night: "You would leave me to my fate! Here, my mother is dying of the bloody flux and I too must care for her and see about her and may die of it! Have you no pity for me in my distress? First, my brother is gone and now my mother, who is my whole world!" Her face was wrenched and stained with tears and her hair a wild and unkempt mess. Kaisha was unmoved.
"I cried many nights and no one cared for my pain and tears, least of all you and your mother. It was you and she that drove a wedge between my husband and me so that we could never mend the wounds between us. Be glad I do not have you driven out and stripped naked, Yisal. You may keep the house. I have no use for it. Do not ask me for anything more, or even the house, which I do not have to give, will be taken from you."
"But you have taken my family fortune, what belongs to me and my mother! You have no children to help you to claim it!"
"Be that as it may, it is mine now and you will not take it from me. Your mother will not need it where she is going and you are an unmarried sister. You have no claim. I control the money boxes. I will not allow you your freedom until your mother is dead, and then I will hear no more of your supposed claims."
And so it was, Lord Hasor's body was anointed with oils and wrapped and he was set upon a funerary bed on the family grounds while Kaisha and Yisal mourned him in black veils. They wore no finery. She had the mourners come to mourn with her and many came out. His body was surrounded by candles and burning incense as many, including some officials of the city, came to help carry the body to the family crypt. Kaisha brought some of her husband's favorite things to bury with him there. She laid the charms from the witch-doctor in with him. She had no use for them. All the while, Kaisha gifted gifts to neighbors who came to mourn and they, in turn, brought food for the household. Kaisha buried another sword with her husband's body and took his favorite one for herself.
Lady Ketmal lay dying in her bedroom and in her last hours she wept bitterly until her soul gave out. Kaisha mourned her husband for the customary time, seven days, and she commanded the household to fast for three days and they ate nothing but bread and oil and no one drank any wine, only water. When Lady Ketmal died five days later, the same thing was observed for her.
And then Kaisha's mourning period had ended, though Yisal's had only just begun. When her mother died she wailed in terrible grief. Kaisha was finally moved to be merciful and left Yisal ladre to care for her needs and for the house, a small bag of silver coins and all of her mother's jewels. Yisal, left with no spirit or legal recourse, did not try to harass or impede her any longer.
Kaisha's trial had ended. She spent the last nights in her husband's family home wandering the main courtyard. This night she saw an unusual amount of firebugs. She rarely saw them in the city for they were desert creatures, but there they were, flitting from tree to tree. It was a magical sight and it lightened her heart. She'd had time to think long and hard during all the funerary rites and customary mourning. She felt pulled towards Egium. She had heard many things about the place and she was now an independently wealthy woman. She would not stay here beyond the week, less she have to endure suitors. One had come this day and she had turned him away, still wearing her veils and black mantel of morning. She would go to Egi, even if there was war. It was only Jhis, it seemed, that would suffer a dire fate. It seemed right to her. She would finally go and see this mysterious Egium. She was no longer hurting. Her bruises, some of them from long ago were finally healing but she feared any man who approached her offering himself in marriage. She was still bleeding invisibly from her disastrous marriage. Perhaps she would experience life and then give everything up and go back to Gamina, shamed but wiser. Or maybe something in the world was out there waiting for her to find it. She had no idea what to do. Her spiritual sisters were not here to guide her. It was the first time in her life that no one was here to tell her what to do. She was both exhilarated by this prospect and frightened, but more frightened of suitors. She could not stay here and find peace.
Early the next morning she commanded to have a small caravan gathered, sending the word among her servants, who procured mules and camels and guarding men to travel with them, mercenaries. She asked which servants wanted their freedom and she set them free. Most of them went with their gifts she had given them. Two loyally stayed behind with Yisal. A few decided to make the trek with her. Including Lili and her little son, whom Kaisha took under her wing.
And in seven days' time when all her things were packed, she and her household left Galieh for Egium. The rancor and persecution of the House of Hazad had ended. She was finally free.
Chapter Thirty-Five
She called upon the elder shaikhs of the Karig to tell them what was told to her in dream and by messenger; that she must finally go to the mysterious ruins of Assenna. The tribe was now camped in the desert in the soft, flour sands, on the edge between the high desert and the deep desert. A sudden wind storm had formed and raged over the land, bringing with it a wall of dust and sand, blackening the sky and hindering them for several days. It surprised even the tribesmen, for one had not occurred for over twenty years. Cleaning and sweeping out the sand from their tents, pots and clothes, they put this, along with all the other occurrences, with their long-memoried string of portents and omens from the heavens. The storm winds, which had blown sand into every crevice for days, finally abated after the third day.
"Are you sure of this?" They were sitting around the fire. Khaleb, Dalem and all the eldest of their brothers and sisters were gathered with Anet to discuss the journey.
"I am as sure as the sun. I know you have had many troubles. If you help me, there may be a way that you can get what you have been seeking for years."
"How will this help us get our brother's bones back?"
"I am not yet sure. What I do know, the last I heard from the prophet, is that Khalit's bones have been dug up and taken back to Jhis."
"By the usurper! Dak Rullak!" Cursed Dalem. Anet gestured towards Dalem in agreement.
"Do not forget Dalem, Khalit himself usurped the kingship. We would not be in this mess had he not been so prideful and ambitious." Said Khadija.
"Why must you bring that up?"
"It is truth!" She said stubbornly. "I would not be a widow if he had not sought something that was not his to seek and then to make matters worse, marry that Egian woman. There are other women of the blood of Reshaim, surely." She looked imploringly at Anet.
"Surely, there are. However, God sees fit to work with and through what is, not what might be according to men." Said Anet. "So, we find ourselves here. If anyone will not go with me I will understand, for you have all been through tragedy and conflict. But if any can lend me a camel, I shall continue on the way." A young man burst through the crowd of elders, nearly tripping and falling into the fire.
"You will not go alone, little mother! I will go with you!" Everyone turned and looked at him.
"Did we say she would go alone?" Said Khaleb in irritation. "If this is from God, as you say, give us a sign that this is so." Anet went to one of her rough leather pouches bound upon her hip and pulled out the wondrous thing. It was tiny, a tiny grain of sand but from it emanated a luminous ball of light all around that shined like a white sun, a star that fit in her hand. Its light was soft and she held it up and let it go. It floated from her hand and enlarged until it was shaped like a life-sized scepter. A shout arose from the crowd.
"It is the star scepter of the throne of ancient Hybron when its capital was in Assenna. I have been tasked to go there to find it. Then I must march from there around the land unt
il I reach Jhis. There, I must give it to an appointed man for safe-keeping. Until the king comes."
"But I have heard that Jhis will soon be under siege." Said Dalem.
"It will. However, those who travel under the light of the scepter will be protected. Do not fear. We are too close to deliverance for that now."
"Like the young one says, you will not go alone. I myself shall go with you and guard you while you do this." Said Khaleb. "Who else will go with me besides young Rhaja there?" Many clamored to go on the journey with Anet until the old shaikh had to decide who would not go, to the disappointment of many. It was decided that fifty men would go and included among them was the eldest tribal mother Kela, who had been one of the youngest who had attended the Great Gathering. She was one hundred and eighteen years, still strong and Anet relied upon her practical wisdom when she stayed with the Karig. They then got up and sang and rejoiced and the young people did circle dances with drums and tambourines and the oud. Anet herself watched the merriment, happy that things were going forward. She thought of all the strong and handsome young men here in the camp. Powerful warriors. She thought of love and passion and marriage. She had passion. It had mostly been channeled into zeal for the work. Still, at times, she was wistful. Like now.
The little children gathered dung for the cooking fires for the journey. They set out a feast, for the occasion would be momentous and would mark the beginning of hope for the land. Anet covered her head.
"Let this be a remembrance for us and let this day mark the start of hope and a new age. Ellah Kaifah."
"Let it be known. Ellah Kaifah." Said the shaikhs. They sat down to eat and they feasted upon pufok and there were pyrrh eggs and milk wine and goat-kids that had been slaughtered earlier in the day. They roasted and ate them with herbs. Anet herself only took milk with the roasted goat and pufok but no wine. In the morning those that were going with her all cleansed themselves along with Anet and prepared to leave on the trek and they all came together and prayed with her. The eldest shaikh of the tribe led the prayer. They then set off to the north and made their trek through the deep desert toward the Habad.
. . .
It took them fifteen days to reach Nirpa-Jatu Plain, near the foot of the mountains. There was a small lake here and so they decided to set up camp. In the far northern distance they could see the Holy Mountain. To which they all then bowed down and prayed. They had seen in the distance the bright shimmer of the yaryebu bones of the Plain of the White Bones and had turned west from there. Now that they had reached Nirpa-Jatu Plain it would only be a few hours travel before they reached the dreaded place. Shaikh Khaleb called for all to break camp.
"Perhaps you should rest first before you go there." He said, deep worry wrinkles creased the sun-leathered skin around his eyes.
"A good idea." She said. She was nervous and excited. What else would she find there? Were the old stories true? Was it a place full of lurking shades and demons? Thieves and robbers and outlaws with no place to go? She would eventually know. As they settled in for the evening some of the younger men went to water the animals. Kela chopped off a few cactus plants and juiced and ground them down in a large mortar with pestle and gave some of it to Anet.
"Here, eat, little mother, and rub it on your skin. Refresh yourself." She squeezed out the juice from the pulp and poured the cactus juice in a skin half filled with water. Anet drank it down and felt it refresh her greatly. The old woman gave her a pinch of salt.
"To bring you to life again," she said, winking.
"You have always taken good care of me whenever I come back to the tribal camp. I thank you, my mother."
"You are a blessing to us and to the land. It is my privilege. You look very much like one of my grand-daughters, in particular. Yoshawa. She married an Elapu man and it has been many years since I have seen her, but her face I still remember. I never forget a face. Have you ever thought of marriage?"
"Sometimes. More often now than in the past. I do not think it is for me, though."
"Perhaps not. You have your own path. But I wonder sometimes how the land would fare with a queen who is also a prophetess? There is a woman who would keep a man on the good path."
"Interesting thought, but I am too old, Kela."
"According to some men, who only look at a woman as if she were a cow or an ass. But you are young enough to attract a man and I see no rule from God against you marrying at your age. Some of the prophets were married you know. Not many of them but some of them. It is not against the rules. Unless, of course, you have received a special instruction from above not to. . ."
"I have not." She had not thought of that. She had not received any such command not to. Was she what men considered beautiful? She never had time to think of it. The idea of beauty and trying to attract male attention through clothing, jewels and beautification rituals rarely crossed her mind and she often thought such things foolish. When she was growing up, her friend Kaisha had always been considered very pretty. Anet had always been considered smart, or mischievous. Not particularly pretty. And besides, marriage would divide her attention. Marriage and certainly children. But she'd thought of it more and more now and she was not sure she wanted to go through her entire life with no husband or child.
"It is something to think about." Kela said, smiling and sitting back on her rug.
"Ho! Oho!" A warrior called. Everyone came running out of the tents.
"What is it?"
"Men come. Strangers. Who are they?" They turned to Anet. She shielded her eyes with her hand as she watched, their figures seemingly swaying in the waves of blistering heat.
"They look like the Sons of the Mountain." She volunteered. "I shall go and meet with them. I have not seen this in my dream. I do not know what this means, but surely it cannot be a bad thing." She grabbed her staff and went striding to meet them outside the camp. Five warriors came with her.
"There looks to be about twenty of them" Said one of the warriors, sizing up what he thought might be a confrontation.
"Please, do not be alarmed. Men like them have saved my life in the past." She said. The men approached cautiously. They were dressed in wild skins and rough coats of fur, loin clothes and leather and fur sandals with many straps. They wore their hair long and braided with the braids wound around their necks They held large packs and broad, spiky stone swords at their sides. One of them wore a crude necklace of animal bones around his neck. He spoke first.
"I am Achin. These are my blood brothers." He motioned to the men behind him. "We are seeking the one to whom the star scepter shall be borne along." At this, Anet drew in a sharp breath. Saujiah said that others along the way might help.
"Who sent you?" She asked.
"One of the sky sons." He pointed upwards. "He makes his place in the sand ocean and roams the land at times. He is burnt like coals but with eyes of fire."
"Saujiah! You have been sent by Saujiah!" She said excitedly.
"We do not know his name. He has not given it to us for we are not of your people."
"How do we know that you are not here to trouble us?" Asked one of the Karig warriors.
"We have been sent to seek the desert prophetess. " Said Achin proudly. He turned back to Anet "Are you the one? The one who will hold the star scepter?"
"Yes, I am. My name is Anetaliat. I am the one who will find the star scepter and pass through the land with it. Why do you seek me?"
"We have been sent by this. . .you say, Saujiah, to help you. The land has become dark and dangerous. You will need our help. We are the Sons of the Mountain."
"You men are Ostrites?" Asked one of the other warriors.
"Our forefather was an Ostrite. He broke with them and we descend from him."
"When I escaped from Galieh, some from another family tribe of you men rescued me from death."
"Then you must know the men from the cities have tried to wipe out the Raea and they have killed some of our own people. They have slaughtered all in the to
wn of Rhe. You will need help in numbers coming through this way."
"Come with us, then! I am sure Shaikh Khaleb would not mind, for this is a felicitous meeting!" Anet said. Achin made a call like a wild bird and then all of a sudden from under what looked like rocks that turned out to be tents that had blended in perfectly with the ground came twenty others from all around them and then they all approached the Karig camp with Anet.
"This is Achin. These men are the Sons of the Mountain. They are coming with us." She said to the old shaikh.
"Why do they come with us?" Asked Khaleb.
"Because we have been sent by Saujiah to help you, for there are only a few of you, we were told. We have brought food and drink as well."
"If God's messenger has sent you, then you men are welcomed into our camp. Come and sit down and eat with us and tell me of your journey here." He welcomed them. So they entered the camp and the two camps became one and the next day they all got up and trekked again until they reached the ruins.
It was a fearsome place and in the early morning it was sheathed in a light fog which gave it a dream-like, other-worldly appearance. Anet turned to the others.
"You cannot enter. Only I can go."
"May your journey through the ruins be successful. May He watch over you." Said Khaleb.
"I pray for you, Anet. May you have certain success." Said Kela. She embraced them and then went forward, alone.
. . .
From a distance the ruins had the look of something majestic but not particularly forbidding. From afar the surrounding rock jutting out from the ground, the ancient walls and buildings all seemed to look as if they were made from the same hand. Either all were buildings or all were rock formations. Time had given the man-made structures and the natural structures the same treatment. She was awestruck by the tall, sharp rock formations with jagged spires carved by wind and sand over millennia. Closer, one could tell a grand city had once been here - the greatest city the world had ever known. Buried beneath old bitumen pits and the engulfing sands. A very small part of the city wall still remained and from far off was a dazzling site; the ancient aqueducts outside of the wall to the north. Hardy, thorny plants had grown over and choked the bricks that had rounded out to mere stones over time. Pools of bitumen bubbled around some of the larger rock formations. As she continued it seemed to become mistier, cooler. She wrapped her robes around her tightly and clutched her staff close.
Red World Trilogy Page 64
