. . .
They reached Jhis late the next evening. It was the eve of the Day of Glorious Fires. The air in the city carried with it the powerful scent of burning flesh and the streets crowded with masked people. The celebrations had gone on for six days and though above this deep and heady mixture the night was clear, the air of the city was murky with sacrificial smoke and incense. Ilim, with Anet following, approached the guards at the gate who seemed to recognize them instantly. And they were not glad to see them.
"What is your business here? No word is to be spoken against the king or his blood on pain of death old man!"
"What a far cry from the guards who used to be here years ago. No respect!" Ilim snapped.
"I asked you what is your business here?" Demanded the guard.
"I am here to see the king."
"The king is-"
"I am here to see His Greatness the king. He knows I am here. He requested it," said Ilim. Anet remained silent. The guard looked from him to Anet.
"And why is she here?"
"She too has been requested by royal order." Then Ilim took out the rich parchment letter in metal ink sent to them and waved it in the guard's face. The other officer shook his head at both of them in disgust. They called a gaoler and he had them both locked into a cell and he took the letter from them. There were others incarcerated. These jeered at them both and made lewd remarks at Anet.
"Where is your power, old man? Why do you let them clap you up in here?" Both remained silent at the hoots and insults. One man spat on the bars of their cell. And other, more vile refuse was thrown at their cell door. An hour later a group of guards finally escorted them to the Red Palace. The stars were starting to peer in from the horizon. Anet had covered the lower part of her face with a black veil so that only her eyes could be seen. She stayed close by Ilim as they made their way behind the escort up the steps and into the grand halls of the Red Palace.
It had been years since he had seen the inside of the Red Palace. It made him grieve inwardly for Khalit and Diti. He was now one hundred years and he walked slower, his shoulders were more stooped but he was still in fearless service to his god and just as he did not hold back from prophesying to his former brethren of the Ainash priesthood, to Khalit or to Taliat, he would not hold back now. They reached the vast hall that led to the throne room and the banquet rooms behind it. It was announced that Ilim, the Aishanna-La prophet had come. Ilim could hear the merriment of hundreds of voices as they were feasting, the king with some of his counselors, the princes, his favorites at court and many government officials, his queen and concubines and their ladies. The king had several men sitting around him. All dressed in black. The king commanded they allow them entry.
"You may go, prophet," said one of the guards, an Egian by his look and dress. He and most of the palace wore the latest fashion of kilts and a golden harness with a bronze and cloth sash over the left arm. The palace guard did not even acknowledge Anet. He spat the last word out as if it were distasteful. Ilim nodded curtly even though they sneered at him and went in, Anet at his side. The laughter fell off gradually as the two approached the center of the hall and stood in front of the king's banquet table. Ilim got a good look at his closest grandees and it did not escape his notice that not only were his astrologers in their fancy black satin robes with golden patterns sitting around him but another man, also dressed in all black, was there. This man wore a tall, black, cone-shaped hat as well as the symbol of the alchemist; two half moons on either side of a golden sun around his neck. While all the others, including the king, were richly arrayed, this man, though his clothes looked well made, stood out in his austere attire. Another one Ilim saw and recognized was Lord Igun Tybbl-Awat, the father of the High Priest of the Golden Temple. This old goat was so arrayed in costly attire and fabulous jewels that Ilim wondered that the king did not have him whipped for daring to rival him at his own banquet. Ilim shook his head inwardly at how far they had degraded themselves. Lord Tybble-Awat, even in his ancient, decrepit state still managed to throw a mighty look of contempt at Ilim. He was sitting next to Erol and he whispered something to him. They both laughed, Lord Tybble-Awat's face squeezed and creased like a Qutanese dulal court dog. Ilim instantly knew after laying eyes upon the alchemist that this was the man who had tried to kill them. Ilim had heard of this man hanging around the royal court of the Egian king. A man by the name of Erol. The alchemist held his gaze, his eyes glittering, hard and soulless. To Ilim, his essence was like a black hole, a darkness that loomed over the entire room, no the whole palace. The king himself was a ruthless, cold man but this one was even more dangerous. Ilim glanced at Anet from the corner of his eye, whose expression seemed unreadable. Wise choice, my daughter. he thought. Alchemists such as Erol were subtle in their machinations. Anything, even a stray betrayal of emotion, might be used for their purposes. The king held up his hand and the room finally fell silent. Both Ilim and Anet bowed before him.
"Your Greatness, you requested. We have come."
"I have had an unusual dream, Ilim. One that my astrologers here could not interpret. You are reported to be very powerful. I wonder if you have those same powers of perception to reveal to me my dream. It was said that you prophesied in dreams to Queen Taliat. Is this not true?"
"It is most true, Your Greatness."
"Ah! Then tell me the meaning of my dream, Oh Ilim the Wise. Tell me what I dreamt these last few weeks and then tell me the meaning of it." The king took a generous drink of wine and sat back expectantly. There was a vast host of emotions rolling through the hall. Ilim focused on just a few, the king's being paramount. The king truly wanted to know what his dreams meant. This was no game. Ilim could sense fear in him, though he masked his eagerness and fear adroitly with pretended amusement and contempt. Ilim had to be careful. If he did not interpret the dream or its meaning they could be put to death immediately. Yet, there was the alchemist, whose very essence was an oily, envious presence. Seeing the prophet as his rival, he would seek Ilim's death, no matter the interpretation. The astrologers also wanted his soul. There was fear in all of these men. The princes seemed focused on Anet and they were not Ilim's concern at the moment. One of the princes whispered something to a courtier and pointed at her. Anet stood stone-faced, emotionless. Erol's glittering stare was unsettling to him. Just as he worked with Airend-Ur, this one worked with another force. Erol whispered something to one of the astrologers, who stroked his luxurious beard and nodded, frowning, and then he whispered something to the king. The king commanded and a servant brought out a small wooden table and silver plate of bull entrails, setting it upon a table before Ilim and Anet.
"You keep the king waiting. You are bold, prophet." Said Lord Erol softly. His words slid and cut into Ilim's soul like a thin dagger. It physically hurt to hear that one even speak. His ears popped painfully. Ilim shook his head vigorously and refused the entrails.
"Do you refuse the king's request?" Asked Lord Erol, his eyes had a weird light in them as he glanced from Ilim to Anet.
"I need no entrails to tell what I know. I have never needed the insides of an animal to prophesy." He said. Ilim looked away from Erol and back to the king. He stared into the king's eyes intensely and then he closed his eyes as a flood of images came over him and he saw what the king had seen.
"Oh king, may the dream apply to those hating you, it's interpretation to your enemies. I will now tell you the dream and its interpretation:
"It was a black tower, it was a strong tower that you beheld, tall, and reaching to the heavens among the clouds, taller than the mountain tops. It was visible upon all the world, so great was it and its base was rooted in the ruins of many cities and palaces and fallen towers that came before. You, O king are that tower, great and fearsome because you have grown mighty and your rulership extends through the Middle World. Your grandeur has grown great and it has reached the very heavens. You beheld a messenger coming down from the heavens with wings and eyes of fire and he
was saying: "Bring down this tower and ruin it but leave the foundation, for from it a new tower shall be built, stronger and mightier and greater than this one for this one has offended the First One and He shall bring it down." And a mighty, fiery stone came down from the heavens and it crushed the tower so that it came down, crashing in fiery and smoking ruins, except the foundation remained. This means the line of kingship in Hybron will be destroyed as they has offended the First One in the heavens in their badness, king after king, ruler after ruler. You, O king are the strong black tower and Airend-Ur has said your line and kingship shall come to an end. If you remain in Jhis, it will be burned with fire and sulfur and you and your line will die with it. That is the interpretation, and it is true." The king's face grew pale.
"Was that the dream? Or was it some sort of sorcery he employed? For he has brought the witch of Shima with him." Said Lord Erol slyly. He pointed at her. "Why does the woman cover her face? I have not heard that she has a husband that she must cover herself. Has she something to hide?"
"Baseless and foul lies have been used to shame and tarnish the reputation of a holy woman. Unlike the lies told by those who hate her, she is modest and virtuous. That is why her face is covered. Is that only reserved for married women?" Said Ilim. Ilim felt her tremble ever so slightly beside him at the alchemist's words. He detected Anet lowering her eyes to the floor.
"That witch has brought nothing but her black curses and ill fortune to many good men!" Crowed Lord Tybble-Awat. But the king was not interested in Anet.
"Silence!" Shouted the king. "Let the woman remain covered! My priests and astrologers could not tell me a single thing about my dream, what it was or what it meant! Do you, prophet, mean to say that my line will be destroyed by your god? My own sons?"
"I say it. I do not lie." Said Ilim quietly.
"I cannot believe that!"
"Do you say that the prophet Ilim lies, my lord king?" Said Anet suddenly. Her voice sounded uncharacteristically deep. "For if you believe that he is from the First Pillar, how can you not believe that he has interpreted the dream right?"
"I believe that it is for a foul thing that he has said this thing to me and in bringing you here among us! Nor did I give you leave to speak, woman!"
"He is from the First Pillar as am I, the one who created all other gods, even your god. If you dispute him, you dispute the First One."
"Be silent, woman!" Demanded the king. "You cover your face, now cover your tongue or I will have it cut out!" The two princes gazed carefully at them. One of them, cold and detached, had light brown eyes with tiny flecks of light in them like his father and sat with a look of rehearsed disdain. The other, darker of eye, seemed to welcome the challenge and the danger they had brought to the court. His eyes were filled with an unnatural lust and he focused especially upon Anet.
"We will see. And who is this fiery rock to topple me and my sons? Why leave the foundation? To sit another king upon the throne? Egi sat upon the Hybronian throne centuries ago and I have taken it back. It is mine! Hybron is mine as Egi is mine! It will not be taken from me! You will not supplant me or my sons with some desert king!"
"He is a false prophet, Your Greatness! They will try to usurp the throne and they have a man in mind to do it!" Said Lord Tybbl-Awat.
"Then he must be found and put to death. Take them to the dungeon. I will find out who this new would-be usurper is!" Suddenly, the king grabbed his chest in pain and fell over, his goblet clattering to the floor.
"Help me!" He shouted. "Help me! Witchcraft! Treachery!" The hall was thrown into confusion.
"What is happening?" Asked Anet, turning to Ilim.
"The king is afraid but does not want to show it and now wants to save face. He has the answer he has been seeking," he said. Servants and court officials rushed to the king's aid. Lord Tybble-Awat drew himself up, stood and pointed a shaking finger at Ilim and Anet.
"These two have sown distrust and evil in the realm long enough! For nearly twenty years this Ilim has hounded the kingdom with his wicked mutterings, bringing down evil upon the people. The honorable priesthood of the Golden Temple should have had you executed! I say it now, do what should have been done long ago. What do you say, O king? O princes? Should we allow this wicked man and his witch to continue to live? They have tried to put a curse upon you! Execute them!" He accused.
"Yes, my lord king. What the Golden Temple failed to do the throne should do. Why, this man has even dared to bring down evil upon your own sons! He has committed a grave offense against your supernal person and your offspring. If he continues to live he will usurp your authority as king in the land." Said Lord Erol. Others, especially the astrologers and Lord Igun Tybble-Awat began calling for their execution and the merriment and feasting soon turned into wild baying for blood.
"I have a wonderful use for more men in my laboratory. Especially a female body. I have not worked with female bodies in quite some time and I have new experiments to perform that require fresh hosts." He said.
"It will not be either of us." Said Ilim.
"They must be executed!" Lord Tybble-Awat was now barking like a toothless old dog.
"No, but bring the woman to me," said the elder of the king's sons. "I will make use of her." He licked his lips.
"That woman is powerful and you would find nothing but the kiss of death from her. Give them both to me, my lord king and I will put them to good use." Said the alchemist, the bare hint of eagerness in his voice did not escape Ilim's notice.
"Enough! Will a king's own men tell him what to do to his very face? You men, watch yourselves! Seize them and take them to the dungeon to await my orders!" He demanded. Spear men and the palace guard moved to capture them when the entrails suddenly blew up in smoke and fire. The plumes of smoke grew and grew and became thicker until they filled the banquet hall. People began screaming, the queen and the concubines wailed.
"It is an evil spirit!"
"Nisrok is offended!"
"The unnamed one has come to claim us! They have brought him here upon us!" Cried Lord Tybbl-Awat. Smoke and fire suddenly roared from the edge of the room.
"Did you. . ." Anet looked at him. Ilim shook his head. Panic and mayhem was rising in the room and the king was shouting. Ilim pointed his finger at Lord Igun Tybble-Awat.
"You! You have mislead the people of God and mislead the people of other gods and you have fouled the temple! You have no business interfering with the running of the kingdom , you or the rest of the corrupted priesthood, yet here you are, out of your place! You have forsaken Him and He has forsaken you. May you speak no more. I leave you to your fate, Lord Igun Tybble-Awat." Lord Tybbl-Awat's face shriveled into a gruesome mask of death. He began choking and then fell over with a dull thud and expired, his nearly colorless amber eyes turning white, a thin stream of blood trickling from his mouth. The hall went into a tumultuous uproar. Ilim took up his staff and grabbed Anet's arm.
"Seize them!" Cried the king as he frantically fished for a dagger from his side.
"Anet, it is finally time for us to go!" Ilim said a Khuliom prayer and a wind grew and whirled around them and they both disappeared from the banquet hall but not before he felt a sharp pain. The king's dagger caught him in his side. Anet caught him before he fell to the ground.
"I swear, father! You truly are a thaumaturgist come back from the past! Such a wondrous thing to do! I surely cannot do it!" Anet cried in relief.
"Yes, but it is not my doing, as you know. You, my child, must flee far from here. And I lay this upon you again: you must protect the true king when he comes back into the land. We must all be on the ready to receive him. You will know when he comes back and you must gather the tribes while I go to finished gathering the rest of the faithful people in the land. City-dweller, mountain-dweller and tribesmen alike must be gathered. Be on the watch for they will seek our souls like never before. The end is near for this king and for Jhis. Never again shall we go into Jhis for its judgment has passed. It h
as been found fit for destruction."
"And where will you go?"
"I must go south to visit the faithful and to upbuild them. They desire to see me. In a way, I am the father of many and I worry for all the people." It was a blessed darkness, outside under a sky full of stars. The first moon was a waning gibbous. They were a league outside Jhis.
"I wonder, Anet. Why did you put the veil over your face? I have never seen you do so before."
"I perceived that it was in my own interest in that court, after our trial in the desert. Too many men there I fear are involved with the dark arts of Egi. And one of the princes I have heard is especially dissolute. Now that I have been at the king's court, my fears were well founded. I thought it better to hide my face." She slipped the veil away. He had not noticed before that her eyes and lips were heavily made up with khol. She looked like an entirely different woman and at the palace her voice had sounded different.
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