"But they went through so much. And we failed."
"We did. And I failed to get my revenge on Shishak the dog. But none of this was our fault. It would seem that we have a new path to follow now, instead of just wandering aimlessly." Said Rhajit.
"We leap from one mess into another. We lost a good man at Nimnet's temple." Said Luz. "He was my friend. Or a good associate anyway. Ochorus did not deserve that fate. Even if he was not an upstanding subject of the kingdom."
"Which one of us are good men, really? But we saved his daughter from a horrible fate and we can live up to his memory by trying to be good men ourselves. Let us go to Yeleb and cast our lot with the boy-king. I, for one, hope to see his rule, if it ever happens and I hope he does not turn out to be a monster. I am tired of usurpers. I am tired of the Ainash. I am tired of being an outsider and a wanderer. I want something different. Something better." Said Rhajit. Luz nodded in agreement and they set off for the nearest river town on the western border. From there they would make their way to Haiga and from Haiga find a swift ship to take them north and then west to Yeleb. All the while Rhajit wondered if Anet's and Luz's faith were misplaced. He wondered if he was fooling himself. Trying to be good men ourselves. He thought solemnly one night as they sailed towards an unknown destiny. What is a good man?
Chapter Forty-Three
It was high night, her favorite time of night. But Vala sensed things were terribly awry. The day of the dead sun was still a few days away and things had not gone precisely as planned. The queen had urged her servants on to speed up her ascension. But now there had been no sign of the queen. Had she left without her favorite pet? Was she not supposed to come back and rule as a goddess? Vala, meanwhile had full run of the palace but it was nothing but refuse to her without the proper source of power there.
Mistress had become careless the closer the day came. Yadua, the filthy mute for instance, had been skulking around and managed to avoid Vala more often than she cared to admit to herself. She had not realized how crafty this servant was but she knew Yadua of old, often watching Vala as much as Vala watched her. At least the cursed snake had met his well deserved end. Vala was now free and when mistress re-emerged from the bowels of the temple she would be more powerful than any ruler the world had ever seen. She licked her paw and climbed upon the parapet tower. Far down she could see everything and this is how it would be, once the queen emerged. She, her favorite pet, would be on top of the wide red world and they would rule everything. Mistress, the people, and she, all the beasts. All she had to do was wait a few more days. Vala's ears flicked at the distant roaring of human voices engaged in the siege. It was useless. No siege or take-over would affect a goddess, once in her wrath. They will be fodder for her feasts. That was all that siege would accomplish. Mistress had said it herself a few days ago. Since she was a child, mistress had always set out to accomplish her will and she always did. She never failed and Vala reaped the rewards. She herself was the queen of cats. While they were highly revered in Egi, soon they would be revered here as well. Worshiped, even. She felt herself a goddess sitting high above the city from the tower of the grand Red Palace. Waiting for her mistress to emerge from the temple, victorious.
She did not notice the silent bird of prey, a great eagle spying her in the twin moons' light. She did not notice as she dropped down in deathly silence until she heard the faint whisper of great wings outspread behind her. The eagle swooped down with sharp, curved talons outstretched and seized the cat, carrying her off to her nest where her hungry young awaited a meal.
. . .
In the following days, the transfer of rulership was just as swift and unexpected as it was in the year 1685 A. T. V. when Queen Taliat took power. One thing had not changed. An Egian was still on the Hybronian throne. And the Ainash, once again, had found the levers that kept them in power - indeed they'd never lost them but had smoothly accepted and began thriving in this new arrangement as in the previous one. The late queen's great images of her likeness that she had erected all over Jhis were torn down, the great head of silver of the queen was struck off the grand archway before the palace, her shrines defaced and torn down by order of the king. After her execution her head was taken down after one month. It was not given the customary preservation and burial, no, it was not laid in the royal tombs. It was said among the people in Egi that she had not respected the gods in that she tried to become one and received a just fate for her impudence. All the treasures in her tomb were confiscated and given to the king's first and second wives. The queen's body was burned away, flesh and bones burned to ash. The ashes were laid in a modest limestone ossuary deep in the palace crypt with the inscription: Taliat the daughter of Tenan, House of Seht, who belonged to the tribe of the Strabs.
He took down all the impaled, rotting corpses along the Processional Way and sent for his harem and his household and made the Red Palace his summer residence. His sons he sent out, the younger twin to Rhuctium and he set him up as lord and prince of Rhuctium and the other son became prince of Galieh, second only to the king himself in power. He then commanded and made an edict and had it sent throughout the land and through Egi that the power of the moon-queens had set on Hybron and Egi and that the sun king had risen. All temples and official buildings were to have a symbol of his divinity and that all subjects must acknowledge his divinity. He gave great sacrifices of bulls and rams and rice and grain and oils and treasures to the temple of Hec and to the sun god's queen, wives and brothers and bade all officials in the land to do the same. He then set to work building a temple to his god Nisrok, the crocodile god of Yilphaeus. He then sent garrisons to the major cities of Hybron; Jhis, Haiga, Galieh, Lirumsha, Beth-Ayin (for now Beth-Ayn had become a large town and more of a marshal, small city in these days, being built up by the queen and her generals years ago) and through these he impelled every man in town and city to obey this edict and he impelled city and town officials to make note of those who did not give allegiance to the sun-king. He styled himself His Divine Majesty and he began to focus on marriage alliances with Zapulia, for himself and for his sons to cement an alliance.
In this new reign the Ainash were allowed to retain their power over their own community and to keep their protection rackets as along as ten percent of their gains continued to flow to the throne. They quickly acquiesced. He also ordered them to search out all those of their people who do not give allegiance to other gods. Yet the schisms in the community had long ago drawn lines and those that no longer supported the Golden Temple had long left Jhis for Hevan, Gamina or other outlying places where they had a measure of safety. Those left in the larger cities were either supporters of the Ainash and the current tradition or had waxed and waned too long on where they stood and now found themselves at the mercy of the temple and the new king and so they bowed and supported the Ainash out of fear for their lives. The faithful had fled Jhis long ago. And with them were the last remnants of protection in the city for the Aishanna-La.
One thing the king put between himself and the Ainash priesthood, was that though he intended to eclipse the worship of the moon queens he did not intend to suppress it at all, for he was still Egian and all Egians had an affinity for the dark and the night and the moons. The temple of Nimnet remained and a new high priestess was appointed, who had eagerly positioned herself right after the queen's execution. She came to the palace on hearing about the chaos from one of her spies. When she found the priestesses and the high priestess dead, she took the high priestess's clothing and robes and her ring and keys, she who secretly studied the ways of Nimnet and Elyshe for years while in the temple of the sun goddess, now she was appointed as High Priestess of Nimnet's temple in Jhis, as the king had no surviving sisters. She, he lifted over the Ainash in influence at court for her religion was out of Egi and he was partial to his own culture and people. This infuriated the Ainash and she further and willfully exacerbated the issue to elevate her power over them when the king had a royal feast just weeks after his victory. All the
gods of Egi and Hybron at this feast had a shrine and all the officials and princes of the land were invited, as well as the Ainash, and she bade the Ainash priesthood to do obeisance to the mother-daughter goddesses to which they did, grudgingly. All gods except the First One were worshiped. For this, SilamTybbl-Awat was given a position as one of the king's advisers to which they gloried in this sudden new found influence - what they had been after for a long time. Yet, the high priestess had made her point; that they had no real allegiance to the First One as they claimed if they did obeisance to anything or anyone for power and wealth. This was lost on most of the Ainash but not on the high priest. He knew from the start that a game of politics was afoot and he would gladly play it and see who came out the victor.
While they were feasting and having a good time the messenger Saujiah appeared. He appeared before the king and all his concubines and advisers and princes and officials and he denounced the Ainash and he foretold their doom and the doom of Jhis, including the king's. He put great fear into the king and bade him turn back and go back to his place in Egi or he will die and his house with him. He warned the king that he need not have any part in the doom of Jhis. Saujiah then disappeared in white flames and the king then called his astrologers, the wisemen, to tell him what this meant.
"Do I not have the star sword of the First One? The Holy Relic of old? Why should I fear?" He said, but the king, deep in his heart, felt fear at this visitation and since then he kept close council with his wisemen concerning the issue of the Red King and who this future king was, where he was to be found and who might know of the matter. His wisemen persuaded him to turn his attention to the Aishanna-La. The Ainash, through their high-priest, assured him that it was an evil visitation and that he was indeed the Red King and he had nothing to fear, for he had the star sword. Yet, they began seeking a way along with the king to divine where this man could be found and they employed many dark and unmentionable arts to that aim.
Chapter Forty-Four
Some call it Divine Purpose, others call it Destiny. Who is mortal man that he can know it? That he can know the deep workings of it? When it comes in our time there are only three things left to us; we get in front and ride upon the crest of the wave, follow in its wake, or be cast aside.
- Ranna 7:49, Translations of the Holy Aishanna (The Book of the Women)
Rhajit was standing upon the pier. It was late evening, the heat of the murderously hot day was just beginning to cool. His companions were taking their ease at an inn but he could not sleep. Sleep fled from him. They were going to eventually leave this town on the small merchant ship headed north. He wondered if he would ever catch up, if this was a fool's errand, if he were better off once again going his own way. He could hear the call of the early shift of the night watch in the distance and the lapping waves of water under the pier. The last delicate streaks of the sun's russet mantle were beginning to disappear. He closed his eyes to try and clear his mind and fathom this strange and dangerous undertaking. It still seemed as if he walked and traveled in dream, ever since their harrowing escape from the temple of Nimnet. It all seemed unreal, still. What would his family have thought if they saw him now? "Always getting into trouble, always failing to do what is right or sensible!" He could hear his father's and grandfather's voices in his head. The sound, a soft, subtle sound of fluttering delicate wings beating the air grew around him. He opened his eyes and turned. It was a swarm of firebugs. There was a variety of soft orange and red colors but a few were green or blue. Unusual. Firebugs did not usually come near water but preferred the dry, wicked heat of the deep desert and the ocean of sands. They flew past him in a dance of light and whirled around him and then back away from the pier and toward land. One alighted upon his hand. He felt the heat emanating from its tiny body as it cleaned its legs and furled its glowing wings. He caught movement from the side of his eye and turned to see a tall figure approaching him. He stopped leaning against the wooden pier fence and put his hand on the hilt of his sword. His other hand he slipped inside his vest and touched his knife. The cloaked and hooded figure emitted a deep, rumbling laugh, not unfriendly.
"Put away your weapons, Rhajit. I am come to you on a holy mission. I mean you no harm." He said.
"Stand there, man! Who are you? What do you want from me?" The man threw off his hood. He was a dark-skinned black man, tall and slim but well-muscled with fine bone structure.
"My name is Saujiah. I am a messenger of God." He held out his hands to the little firebug and it lifted itself from Rhajit's hand and came to settle within Saujiah's cupped hands. It changed color from orange to white and then it flew away as Saujiah lifted his hands gently into the air.
"I sought you out because I have a message for you. I am sure Anet the prophetess has spoken to you already about the mission?"
"You know her?"
"I do."
"She has spoken to me."
"Good. I see you have taken it upon yourself to seek the youth out."
"I have. But what is this really about? Why do you seek me when she already has?"
"Is your interest sincere? Do you really want to do this?"
"I have resolved so already. I have come this far." Rhajit said, almost to himself. He thought of all the dangerous things he had already done which brought him to this point. Then he looked at Saujiah again. "Yes. I want to do this. The boy will need more training on knowing how to fight, after all."
"No doubt. So then, I will give you my message. I lay an oath upon you from the First Pillar Himself. And He says that you must keep the future king and serve him and be his shield and his arm until he becomes strong enough. This I lay upon you from God. As fire that burns the dross and purifies the gold, this travail and the coming days will separate the good men from the wicked. Fire itself burns, Rhajit. It burns bright and hot, whether the eternal and celestial fire within God that he imparts to all his servants to strengthen them or the worldly fires; the unbridled passions that destroy the mind and the elementary fires that destroy all in their path. Once, the eternal fires represented what was holy. Now they represent the destruction of the corrupted." He came close to Rhajit and stared at him intensely, unblinking, his eyes suddenly turning from coal black to lights like white flame. Rhajit shifted uncomfortably under his stare and looked away at the mention of the eternal fires. Saujiah then turned and pointed toward the western horizon.
"Look," he said, "the Sea Star, Elitaph, in its double aspect. The morning and evening star, Man and Woman, Masculine and Feminine, Dawn and Dusk, Reason and Intuition. Iron and Silver. It represents the Red King and his Queen that are coming." Rhajit frowned at him, perplexed. Saujiah continued.
"One day you will see these aspects united and joined with the Divine in perfection, for that is the whole of the Divine Purpose: Unity. When the king comes into his own, for an instance Elitaph will become red in the dawn and red in the dusk. I give you that sign, Rhajit, to know when your work is complete on this mission and when your heart is no longer clouded in darkness. Where you are going there will be cloud at times to obscure the way and there will be others, evil and unseen whom I have battled, who will try to obscure signs and portents and mislead you and your charge. It will be to you as well as to Parso to keep things upon the proper course. This is a test for you, Rhajit. Also, you will meet another man in Yeleb who will become valuable in your mission. You already know this man." Saujiah drew from the air a tiny flare of light and he pressed it to Rhajit's chest. Rhajit was rooted and intensely focused on Saujiah's words and did not move when Saujiah did this. He felt something like a pulse of fire flash through him and then his heart began to beat faster and then. . . he felt as at the first. He felt calm. Saujiah nodded his head as if answering an unasked question.
"Yes. You have darkness in you, Rhajit but there is light too, besides the light of celestial direction I have just given you. Only you can decide which way you will walk. I must go now. May God go with you and may He keep you and the king." He said
. Then he pulled his hood over his head and turned and left. Rhajit had not felt any desire as strong as he did now, to find Rapheth and wind his own destiny up with that of the young future king's.
Of this meeting he did not tell a soul.
. . .
They arrived in the city of Yeleb in a few days' time. Yeleb was a newer city than most in Egi, only built two hundred years ago. It had the distinction of being a gateway for seafarers to the North Lands and the lands of the West. It also had the distinction of being the first place in the world known for discovering the metal niello, or Black Silver, for which it was famous. Its roofs of modest pyramids and temples and even most of the houses were of yellow stone, thus it was nick-named The Golden Jewel Box. A great archway made of massive yellow stone columns on either side with giant torches on each side of the arch sat a half league from the city gate - the gateway to the West. This arch strode both sides of the Mowret.
They had sailed and passed the intersection of the two rivers. They rested for two days and went to the small night market to buy a few supplies. There they found Injol and were overjoyed. The next morning, after asking along the docks about the boy and the crew he was with they found him with Parso, Shukala and Ephron. The boys, especially Rapheth, were overjoyed to see him. Parso was surprised.
"How did you know we were here, Rhajit?" Asked Rapheth. Rhajit could no longer hold it in.
"Let us just say I had a visitation from above who helped me find you. He was a man of regal bearing and strong spirit. He was not truly one of us. In fact, I know he wasn't." Rhajit was still in awe of the encounter. Never had he expected such a direct encounter from those Above.
"He has been saying odd things like this the entire trip!" Said Luz, perplexed.
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