"I would bring back knowledge and a desire for it according to the will of Airend-Ur, Ephron. Not according to the Ainash. Besides, we are in their house as guests and remain here on their sufferance. We would do well to be careful how we speak. These men have been good to us and we, foreigners in their land, no less." Ephron was not happy with this answer and scowled but said no more. Shukala was also unhappy about staying with alchemists but he did not complain so loudly. Yet, he voiced his own misgivings.
"It has been banned for centuries because they were abused by the people for evil ends and now we hear that even here Black Alchemists are trying to overturn the prevailing order for their own purposes. The same thing will happen back in our homeland again, Rapheth."
"No it will not, because this time God's will in the matter will be upheld. It was not His will to ban progress. Only the Ainash banned it and the Ainash are corrupt. They do not follow the will of God and never did since their beginning, Shukala. Why should we continue to follow the rules and laws of a corrupt priesthood? I will not follow the rules of the Ainash. Should we also continue to keep women from knowing how to read and write? From the very mysteries of knowledge?"
"Well. . ."
"Oh come now! You cannot be serious! Your own mother served in the Jurite court as a respected healer, Shukala!"
"But that is different! She is my mother!"
"Every woman is someone's mother. We always see those closest to us as different and disregard everyone else. That is not fair."
"That is life."
"When I am king I shall make it fair. So there!" He flared in irritation. They both glared at him.
"All besides," said Rhajit who was listening. He came in from sunning himself on the balcony. "the Ainash say one thing to the people and do another. I was captured by an Ainash priest named Shishak, kidnapped in broad daylight off the streets of Rhuctium and forced to work for him. He had Injol in his employ. He himself went to Egi and inquired of a Black Alchemist to have a strongman created specifically for his purposes. Injol happened to be the unlucky one chosen and grabbed from the streets in Yilphaeus. So you see, they do not follow their own laws. Why should anyone else?" He said.
"See?" Said Rapheth, feeling vindicated. But Shukala was determined to stick to his point.
"But if we do not have laws, imperfect as they are, we have chaos, even if the ones who make them do not follow them. If no one follows them what else do we have?"
"Principles." Both Rapheth and Rhajit said together. "Law is important, as you say. I recognize that but not all men have regard for law and some laws are unfair, or even outdated. Principles remain forever."
"So what principle justifies the practice of Alchemy?" Asked Ephron.
"Well, who first allowed it to be instituted? The first Red King, blessed by God himself. If it were wrong God would not have allowed for it at all in Assenna. Why would He create a world so intricate and a universe so grand and then create men and women with minds to see and explore and study these things and then tell them that to understand His creation is wrong? For that is all alchemy is. The study and application of the world and the universe and its principles. What we do with the knowledge is what matters Shukala, not the study in and of itself."
"I have not heard of it put like that before and I still do not trust it." He said but he did not continue the argument. He and Ephron, who was shaking his head the whole time, left the room and Rapheth and Rhajit went out to the balcony. Rhajit was sipping on a small cup of clear liquor made with orange bitters. They could smell a luncheon of grilled fish wafting from a kitchen somewhere in the neighborhood below.
"You know, sometimes I wonder if I am ready for this at all. Whether I will ever make decisions that are right." Said Rapheth.
"Do you mean whether you will make decisions that are not challenged by others?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I agree with you on alchemy at this point. I did not always think that alchemy was right or good. But our long voyage across the sea gave me some time to think on many things. And my own life. I did not always have regard for any law or rule. I am a tribesman by birth but I left the ways of my people. I look at how my life has turned out and while not everything was bad it did not turn out to be what I had dreamed. Many things rose up to challenge my ideas, Rapheth. They still challenge them. I am not in love with the practice of this alchemy but I can see the practical good in it. As a ruler, people will always challenge you. People like me, or other men who may not agree or do not want to follow rules unless they themselves made them. All kings have to deal with that. It comes with rulership. I always challenged my elders when I lived as a Karig tribesman. They had to deal with me and sometimes it was harsh. I did not give in and I had to leave. It may be that way with you. Look, even the First Pillar was challenged by His own sons and daughters. If he was challenged and fought do you think that you will not be? It may be that this is what will build your mettle. Challenge and hardship makes a man better." Said Rhajit and then he downed his drink.
"Or it can break him." Said Rapheth. Remembering his mother's and father's words.
"That too. Let us hope this is not true of you. Or we have followed you out here for nothing. But I am sure that is not the case. I have seen too many signs."
Rapheth watched the scene below the balcony with interest. Baudolino Polo II, while not exactly wealthy was well to do and his house was situated right on the town plaza, a huge square where most of the important public festivals and town business was held. Right now it was open to the market as this day was a busy market day and it was filled with thousands of people, bustling with a mixture of farmers and peasants in gray or drab brown garb and the white and cream and colored loin skirts or tunics with their tebennas or lacerna and short cloaks of the monied and titled classes. Those of high rank wore a colored stripe with their tebennas. The women wore elaborately colored and patterned stolas and chitons under their shawls, the more well heeled also wore jewelry. Many women here, instead of beads or jewelry in their hair like women did back home, wore flowers in their hair and throughout their elaborate, dark braids. Rapheth noticed even from the balcony that some wore jeweled sandals.
"I wonder what it would be like to go wandering through the market. We stay cooped up in here like pigeons, Rhajit. Let us go and explore the place!" Rhajit grinned.
"Sounds good to me." They convinced Shukala, Ephron and Oratio to come along on their little venture. Parso was in the lab with one of Baudolino's brothers while Master Baudolino was working on a new medicinal potion in his private lab (there were several labs in the house). The mistress of the house, Enira, had come in from the market early that morning and was walking in the door with Fredriko's wife Luna, both with baskets full of fish fresh from the river, some squabs and produce.
"I think we shall have fish and spices!" She announced.
"I think Mariamne is cooking what her husband caught yesterday in the river." Said Luna.
"That is already gone! I hope one of you two brought more fish from the market!" Called Mariamne from the kitchen.
"Oh, we have brought fish. But we have even more men in the house now and you know how men eat. Just you send him back to the river." Scolded Enira mockingly. Luna laughed.
"I'll send Marco back to the river to catch more tomorrow," said Mariamne.
"And where are you young men off to?" Asked Enira.
"We want to see the, ur, how do you say-"
"P-i-a-z-z-e." She pronounced slowly.
"Yes!" Said Rapheth.
"Be careful then, and do not get lost." She said and they disappeared in the kitchen.
"How can they get lost? The square is right there!" Fussed Luna, following her. Oratio decided to come with them after hearing they were off. They slipped on their cloaks and went down to the square. The stones of the market square were just as colorful as the clothing the people wore.
"This reminds me of Jura. All the colors!" Said Shukala. One thing Raphet
h noticed about this market was the vast variety produce. There were things here he'd never seen and of shades and tints of colors he had never experienced before. There was great variety in the markets of home but not like this. What came close to it were the varieties of spices in Hybron one could get. He also did not see much in the way of tea but there was coffee, something the Polo family was very fond of drinking. There were dark brown coffee beans and green ones and red ones. And there was quite a large influence of Nalian foodways in the marketplace thermopolia. He also noticed that those who walked freely among the people were men in black garb. There were not many of them. Even so, they seemed to him a rebuke of his earlier argument.
"Oratio, do people really accept them, those that wear the black?" Rapheth lowered his voice.
"Well," he looked around furtively, "people co-exist with them. That is all one can say. They are powerful, Rapheth."
"They look dangerous." Murmured Ephron.
"These men mostly are seen out at night if you see them. Like Master Polo says, people are starting to disappear but if you go to the authorities about the matter no one will acknowledge it. In fact, they will say that those who report such things are crazy or imagining things. So no one reports them anymore. My great uncle used to be foremost in reporting these occurrences. He and my great-aunt had once organized a group to report those that go missing. At first everyone in the town was supportive of it. But some months later the city council moved to dismantle the group saying that he was causing a disturbance to the peace. A man, a long time rival of my uncles, his name is Tertullus, and a Black Alchemist, he somehow gained influence with the counsel." Ephron gave Rapheth a meaningful look.
"No one will admit what is happening now. People fear them."
They wandered through the square that afternoon sampling and tasting foods with Oratio keeping them together. That evening they had a fish supper.
They went this way for nearly a year in the house of Master Baudolino Polo II and all the while the chilyabe construction was making progress.
"I cannot believe it, Parso!" Said Rapheth one day. "It is coming together! Think of what we can do with it!"
"It is powerful but extremely dangerous to use, though." Said Baudolino. He sat examining a wire as his brothers were reconstructing some rods and firing them in order to put them together.
"Normally I would not allow anyone who is not of the brotherhood to watch or even come to the lab but as this chilyabe belongs to you, your essence is an important part of the process." He said. Fredriko nodded.
"You see, even though there are other chilyabes that exist, there are very few Masters who can fix or even operate them. Most knowledge of these devices has gone out of the world. My brother Fredriko has some knowledge and one other Gold Alchemist who lives in another town. But there are not many left."
"Are there any Black Alchemists who can fix them?"
"I doubt it. This is a product of Golden Alchemy and we have guarded their secrets fiercely for many generations. Long ago, chilyabiums were used to traverse the world in a short time. One could turn the globe of the then known world of lands, which is being revealed to us all the time, and with the device turned on, heated internally, with a gold or silver pin you would pinpoint your desired location on the map of the globe and with a travelobe, such as a mechanical bird or insect-"
"You mean a tinmak!" Said Rapheth excitedly.
"Yes, yes, a tinmak, I suppose it is called in Alhar. See? Like one of those you also have there. Well, you would afix the travelobe to either the north pole or the south pole, depending on where above or below the equator you are going and wind up the travelobe, put your hand atop the travelobe and you could travel to that place. Back then, there were more of these. The disadvantage is that unless you were traveling to another land where you could find another chilayabium you would have to travel back the old fashioned way, on foot or by horse. So the wealthiest men and the Golden Alchemists could use them back then, as they knew where they could be found in order to come back just as quickly to the place as they went."
"Marvelous." Said Parso, clasping his hands and sitting back.
"So, if more than one person wanted to travel, then what?" Asked Rapheth.
"That was rather simple. All would be touching skin, or holding hands in order to travel together. The machines work not only mechanically but from life essence. You see, when a chilyabium is working properly it is the quintessence or the purest expression of Golden Alchemy. The essence of the earth and the metals used in it when they are gathered carefully, molded, smelted, fired and worked correctly and approached in reverence in the making of a chilyabium come together in synergy and that is what makes it come alive. Clouds of vapor, landmasses that move, seas of water that sway across the map. It is a tiny model of the Red World itself, an expression in paper, metal and other physical elements of the world of Chialis. That is why only an alchemist who has pure motives can actually "create one from scratch", as they say. One who has wicked ulterior motives cannot make one. He may be able to fix it, or make an approximation but he cannot make a true chilyabium that works. But a Golden Alchemist who has both the great skill to make one of these and the pure and reverential heart and mind, reverencing not only his place in the universe but also the creative force that but him here and the precious elements he is about to mold, that man can create one. Once a man achieves this higher state in his mind and heart he can began the Great Golden Work and from it, from this essence of such a spiritual man the chilyabium comes alive and works. Quintessence of what a man is inside himself, that is everything. Otherwise, one can ape a replica, but it will not travel." Rapheth was awed. Delight lit up Parso's face.
"So reverence and spirituality is key." Said Rapheth.
"Oh yes."
"I would assume that each discipline has its great expression?" Asked Parso.
"Yes. The great expression, the quintessence of White Alchemy is an elixir that can cure any disease, no matter what it is. Even overcome death. I have come close, but alas, not quite." Baudolino sighed wistfully.
"Is that. . .quintessence. . .related to the star maps?" Asked Rapheth.
"The star maps! They are a different thing altogether. But the same underlying spiritual principles apply. The first star maps were given to us, it is said, by a holy messenger. They once used to map the way through the heavens. For some, they still can. Because of this, on many of the older maps one can find a prayer written somewhere upon them. Sometimes in invisible ink."
"Such wondrous things we have among us. And so many people spurn them." Said Parso sadly.
"And those that are interested have ill intentions." Remarked Fredriko.
"I perceive that supper is ready. I can smell it. All this talk is making me ravenous. Let us go and eat." Said Sejano.
"I will be down shortly." Said Fredriko, still preoccupied with the chilyabe. The rest eventually went down to supper.
. . .
Having spent nine months in Tidua they became accustomed to the food and the town and mostly kept to themselves. But as winter was approaching so too were the snatchings of people in the night. Some knew that the Polo household had foreigners staying there and they were curious.
Rapheth, Oratio, Ephron, Shukala, Injol and Rhajit and Luz had gone for a late evening walk. They were coming from their favorite thermopolium. The air was cool and smelled of a mysterious incense none of them could place.
"I was talking with one of the brothers. Sejano, I think. He said that Pallinona remains an island throughout most of the year except on some years during the winter. Every seventh year an isthmus, the Bridge of Paola, rises from the sea and creates a walkway to the northern continent, to the Hidden Kingdoms." Said Parso. "Is this true?"
"Tell us more." Said Rapheth. Oratio continued.
"It is called thusly because a holy woman called Paola caused it to be buried in the sea by a song she sang. She sang nonstop for seven seasons."
"Why?"
&nbs
p; "Let me see if I can remember what he said. . .Ah,yes! Ages ago the High Magistrus of one of the towns begged her to help him with keeping the wild men from coming down and raiding and pillaging Pallinona. She consented and told him that in order to keep them away from the land that he must keep a fast and pray every seventh day, all day, to show penitence and respect for the old ways. The man kept this promise but only for seven months. One day he was tricked. A beautiful woman came on the seventh day of the week and tempted him with all the delicacies she could send to him. The first three times he rebuffed these temptations. But the third time she came to him on the seventh day of that week, naked in the moonlight and he succumbed to the flesh and lay with her. The next morning Paola came to him and passed judgment against him. The woman, sent by the wicked one, rose up to kill Paola but Paola, in a great spirit conferred upon her from the First One, slew the evil woman.
' "Because you did not listen to my voice to do all that I have instructed you, the wild men of the north shall only be prevented from coming down to this land for seven years at a time. So seven years you shall have peace. But every eighth year they shall be able to come through and there will be nothing I can do to stop them. I shall sing and the land bridge shall go down into the sea and retreat into the deep fog. But because you disobeyed and did not keep all the words I commanded you, every eighth year you must deal with the northmen." ' They would come through here raiding and pillaging and killing on those years. Eventually Pallinona pulled together and every village and town built great fortified walls and secret underground tunnels so that people could move supplies like food and weapons and medical materia from place to place. We were able to wait out their sieges and so they tried to set the cities on fire. Instead, the alchemists, White, Gold and Black, all worked together and created something terrible called sea fire. It burns relentlessly and is unlike regular fire in that it is more treacherous and not even water can put it out. It demolished the wild men of the north from across the isthmus and they feared it and they stopped coming. Then, their giants from the northern hidden places had come up and everyone in the land was in great fear but the sea fire defeated them too and they came no more. I mention this because this is the year when that throughway will appear."
Red World Trilogy Page 82
