Chronicles of Logos Quest For the Kingdom Parts IV, V, VI, and VII Revised With Index (Quest For the Kingdom Set)

by L. M. Roth

  Lis looked wistfully at her daughter’s shining face and could not deny her the desire of her heart. If she left Trekur Lende with Cort, it was probable they might never meet again. She exchanged a look with Stig, who after all, would be the one to make the final decision regarding their daughter’s fate.

  Stig also looked at the radiant Siv, then at his wife Lis with whom he seemed to share a secret understanding.

  “Yes,” he nodded his head in a slow and deliberate manner. “You may wed Siv. For I can see that she shall not rest until you do.”

  Siv flew to hug her parents and danced around the room in sheer elation. She grabbed Cort’s hands and swung him around in a circle with her. Cort laughed from pure happiness and danced around the room with her.

  He could not believe his good fortune. For having left Eirinia with a heavy heart, leaving the only man he felt he could call family, Dominio had led him to the only place that he could at last call home.

  Chapter XX

  The Seer

  Felicia lifted her face thankfully to the warming sun and let it bathe her in its caress. It was only March, but here in Solone spring came earlier than in Valerium. How good it was to be able to walk along the shore again, to hear the waves lapping the shore, the gulls screeching in their flight, and to feel the refreshing ocean breezes caress her cheek.

  In Solone she experienced a freedom that was lacking in Valerium, where she must always be mindful that she was a young lady of the house of Maximus, and must perpetually be on her dignity. There she had been under the watchful eye of Tullia and admonished to walk at a slow and dignified pace in the marketplace, and dressed in the garments of an aristocrat, that all might recognize her station by her attire. Here she could gather up the hem of the coarser garments she had acquired and run along the coast, or kick off her sandals and wade into the shallows, luxuriating in the gentle warmth of the salt water lapping against her ankles.

  The letter from her mother had arrived that morning. They had passed the winter in Lycenium and been reunited with Lucius, Tullia said. For now they were content to remain there and stay with her grandmother. But when summer came it would be time for Felicia to come home and begin her year in Lycenium, her mother reminded her. This being the case, she should expect her mother’s arrival in July, when she would collect her and take her to Lycenium.

  Felicia groaned at the thought of going to Lycenium. She had promised her mother that she would spend a year at Aunt Kyrene’s school in Solone, then journey to Lycenium to begin a season in that city of culture and elegance. Yet, the year in Solone had confirmed to Felicia what she had already known in her heart: she belonged here, being mentored in her gift. She certainly did not belong in the society that her mother and grandmother enjoyed so much. Felicia did not desire an aristocratic marriage and could not picture herself as the mistress of a great house.

  As she strolled along the beach she pondered on the difference between herself and her brother Lucius. She often thought that he should have been the girl and she the boy. For he savored the glories of the social calendar and spending his days with the same dreary group of people going to the same dull events, both the people and events Felicia found tedious and unbearable.

  Truth to tell, Lucius was more like her mother and she favored her father. On occasion she had been able to wheedle out of Marcus tales of the adventures of his youth before he and Mother wed. And what adventures he had had! In her heart she longed for the same, to be swept away on the River of Life and to trust Dominio to deliver her from one danger after another.

  For surely life was to be lived and not merely endured in the monotony of the future that her mother planned for her, was it not? If a society marriage was all she had to look forward to, what was the purpose of living?

  That afternoon after they had completed their classes for the day, Felicia joined her friend Xanthe for a walk around the rocky basin surrounding Kyrene’s house. The acacia trees were budding and birdsong filled the air once more. The two girls linked arms companionably and chatted with the animation of confidantes who trust one another without reservation.

  “You have lost some weight over the winter, my friend,” Xanthe remarked thoughtfully. “It will not be long before your mother will be ready to present you to all of the eligible young men of Lycenium!”

  Felicia gave her friend a rueful smile.

  “How can you be so cruel as to remind me! For I had a letter only this morning on that very subject. How I dread the very prospect of falling in with my mother’s wishes. I belong here; you know I do, Xanthe.

  “As for losing weight, I do not have the desire to gorge on food here in Solone as I did at home. I do not know why this should be so, but there it is. Perhaps it is because I feel calmer here, and accepted. At home I always felt that I was being compared to my mother. She is so beautiful and poised, and I am clumsy and awkward. I shall never look as she does.”

  And Felicia sighed wistfully, and shook back the lock that always fell onto her forehead, ruining the perfect symmetry of her coiffure.

  Xanthe laughed and put an encouraging arm around Felicia.

  “No one shall ever look as your mother does, for she is indeed a great beauty. Few of us are as blessed as she is. My cousin Kyrene said once that she was the most sought after maiden in Lycenium and Valerium and how many can lay claim to a title such as that one? No, most of us will be merely presentable and reasonably attractive. Do not fret; it is the way life is.”

  Felicia chuckled and impulsively kissed Xanthe’s cheek in a sudden rush of affection.

  “You are right; I shall have to pray that Dominio sends me a man who will love me as I am and not desire a paragon of perfection. For if he desires that he shall be sorely disappointed!”

  The two girls laughed together and continued their promenade, pausing to admire the vista and enjoy the return of spring.

  Kyrene also pondered Felicia’s fate, but not in the same sense that Tullia did. It was not long after her arrival that she sensed in the young girl the potential for a powerful prophet. But it was a calling that would require much sacrifice to attain, and the future that her mother mapped out for her would not bring the fulfillment of that promise.

  Kyrene found the daughter of her old friend Marcus a constant source of amusement and delight. And she privately wondered how a woman like Tullia Maximus had ever borne such a daughter, as unlike her as spring and autumn vary in the beauty of their seasons. For Tullia reveled in the gaiety of banquets and dancing, and her loveliness still retained the freshness of a spring blossom. But Felicia favored the solitude of self to the company of others, and even as the woods drop their leaves to reveal the stark beauty of the trees in their natural form, so also did Felicia’s inner beauty radiate from within, occasionally flashing out for all to see and gasp at the unexpected appeal. In such moments, the young girl was breathtaking, but it was fleeting, and the next moment she appeared ordinary and not particularly attractive.

  It was true that she had slimmed down since her arrival last summer. Kyrene had noted during the first few days that Felicia had a tendency to eat two servings of everything offered to her, yet did not seem to enjoy her food in the manner of a glutton. She simply stuffed herself, and did not even appear to taste her food. Kyrene frowned at her whenever she caught her taking a second portion, and Felicia dropped her head and left the extra food on her plate untouched.

  It was not long before Felicia’s behavior changed completely. Kyrene emphasized a lifestyle of regular fasting with prayer in order to subdue the cravings of the flesh, and Felicia adapted quickly to her new regimen. One of the benefits of fasting was an increased ability to hear from the Spirit with accuracy, and once she discovered this Felicia adhered to a schedule of two fast days a week in which she took no food at all. Kyrene did not know if the discipline of fasting helped to subdue Felicia’s appetite in general, or if the absence of her mother and the constant comparison to her removed the pressure from her that compelled h
er to eat more than was necessary.

  Felicia eventually began to overcome her tendency for clumsiness as well. In her first few weeks at the school, it became a joke among the students that Felicia’s arrival into a room was usually accompanied by the sound of things breaking or falling over. She was invariably late and rushed to arrive where she was supposed to be, and small objects had a tendency to get knocked over or broken as a result. Such was the fate of one of Kyrene’s favorite vases, a gift that had been handed down from her grandmother to her mother, and from her mother to herself.

  On Felicia’s first day of class, the other girls had already assembled and waited with eagerness to greet the new student. Kyrene had stressed to Felicia the night before the time of the first class, and she now waited with her arms folded in front of her, tapping her foot. This would not do, she thought. The other pupils were from humbler families and she could not permit Felicia to take liberties that would be frowned on as the prerogative of a rich man’s daughter.

  They heard the sound of rustling and thumping in the hallway over their heads, and then the sound of something breaking. A rueful Felicia soon presented herself before them, holding out some fragments of pottery in her hand.

  “Oh, I am so sorry I am late!” she exclaimed. “And I am even sorrier about this vase. I tripped on my robe as I ran down the hall and I brushed against this on the table and knocked it over.”

  She held out the fragments of blue to Kyrene, who recognized it with a sinking heart. It might turn out to be a longer year than she anticipated, she thought wryly.

  But to the young girl she said nothing of the vase’s history.

  “It is alright, my dear,” she soothed Felicia. “It was old anyway.”

  Now Kyrene thought of the progress that Felicia had made over the last months. She not only could prophesy now at any given moment, she had dreams and visions that she could interpret with a high degree of accuracy. And they frequently came to pass, and were not merely symbolic. The mark of the seer, Kyrene noted, those who could see into the future and not merely prophesy a word of encouragement for the present. She had the gift herself and was quick to recognize it in others.

  It was a gift that was absolutely essential to the Alexandrians, especially in times such as these with the persecution in Valerium and the uncertainty of their future. But to excel in such a gift required much solitude and discipline in order to develop a deeper relationship with Dominio than the average believer enjoyed. For only in solitude and meditation could one wait upon Him to speak.

  And how could such a gift develop in the social whirl of Lycenium, where Felicia’s mother wanted her to have a season before settling down to the life of an aristocrat?

  Chapter XXI

  Felicia Seeks Her Fate

  She must obey the calling which Dominio had placed on her heart. Of that she was sure, Felicia said to herself. But how to make her mother see that also? And was that possible at all?

  The more she considered the matter, the more determined she became to follow the cry of her heart. Not for her the empty social round of the wealthy matrons of Valerium and Lycenium. True, her father gave a great deal of money to the poor and relieved their suffering somewhat, but the typical lifestyle of the rich was one that Felicia rebelled against more and more. She simply could not see herself filling her days in the manner in which her mother did: picking flowers to decorate the rooms of the villa with, issuing orders to servants to ensure the efficient running of the estate, calling on friends and whiling away the idle hours in empty talk, then spending the evening with friends and acquaintances at the night’s banquet or dance.

  Not for her! Never for her! She must find a way to escape such a fate, but how?

  As the spring days grew longer and warmer, it became a problem that Felicia gnawed on more and more in her effort to find a solution. It was now April; in three months her mother would arrive to take her to Lycenium. And from there it would be impossible to escape the net that would be thrown around her to imprison her forever in a life of gilded futility. Escape…

  An idea came to her mind. No, it was not possible. But, if she could find a way to make it possible…what then?

  Kyrene stood before her pupils and studied them intently. Felicia no longer stood out among them like a cuckoo in the nest. She had packed away her robes of fine linen and acquired some simpler attire in the marketplace and had adopted the kerchief that the other girls wore to wind around their heads, permitting their curls and waves to cascade down their backs in a demure fashion. No longer did she wear the jeweled combs and silk bandeaus that her mother had considered proper adornment for a young lady of her social station. Felicia now looked like a native of Solone, and even more, attempted to blend in and act like one.

  It was a matter that both pleased and concerned Kyrene. She was glad that there was no snobbery in Felicia, but how would Tullia react when she saw the transformation in her daughter when she came to collect her and take her to Lycenium? She might well think that the year in Solone would only make her task in Lycenium all the harder, for Felicia no longer looked like a fine young lady from a family of good quality. And that would never do in Tullia’s eyes…

  Kyrene also became aware of a new sense of furtiveness in Felicia. Always the girl had been open and honest, with no secrets to hide. But lately she surprised the girl looking off into space as though daydreaming, and blushing when Kyrene called her back to reality. The fact that she seemed flustered caused Kyrene to wonder if her daydreams were entirely innocent. What did she think about, she wondered, when her mind wandered like that? And was it something that she should concern herself with as her temporary guardian?

  “Alright class,” Kyrene said as she focused her attention back on her pupils. “Who would like to prophesy first?”

  “I will,” Xanthe raised her hand.

  She came forward to stand next to Kyrene, and one of the girls, named Phoebe, came up to her. Xanthe turned to face her, and closed her eyes for a moment in prayer. At last she was ready.

  “Phoebe, the winter was long for you and full of confusion; you felt as if you were walking in the darkness. But now as the spring days lengthen, you will become aware of a new path you are to take. Dominio will make it clear to you, only trust and believe.”

  Phoebe smiled gratefully at Xanthe and gave her a warm hug. Both of the girls returned to their seats, and Felicia came forward. A girl named Hypatia came forward to be prophesied over by Felicia.

  Felicia closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. Hypatia waited patiently as Felicia took longer than Xanthe had before speaking. Felicia’s brow furrowed, and she shook her head as if clearing it of cobwebs. She opened her eyes and looked at Hypatia as though seeing right through her. It was a long moment before she spoke.

  “Hypatia,” she said in a voice barely above a whisper, “a time of testing is coming on you. There are other forces at war for your heart, and you do not always choose wisely. Do not fear when the fire falls, do not look around and ask why, why? But look to Dominio, allow Him to guide you and lead you. Do not choose the easy solution, but look to Him for His will. If you trust Him to take care of you, He shall do so. If you do not, but choose another way, you shall stray from the path of life and your life shall be hard.”

  Hypatia did not embrace Felicia as Phoebe had hugged Xanthe. This was not a comforting word. There was utter silence in the room. Even Kyrene paused to think before speaking.

  “What Felicia said was a hard word, but remember, every word is to be tested. If it is not a true word, it shall not come to pass. If it comes to pass, then you Hypatia must remember to choose wisely, even as was said in the prophecy.”

  No one else came forward so she dismissed the class for the day. She had to admit that the word given by Felicia was akin to throwing a cold bucket of water over a blazing fire: no one wanted her to speak over them after a prophecy like that one!

  The next morning when the girls returned to school Hypatia was missing. Kyrene
feared for a moment that she had been so offended by Felicia’s prophecy that she decided not to come back. What the other pupils told her, however, was even worse than she feared.

  “Well,” Phoebe drawled as if unsure how to proceed, “last night Hypatia’s house burned to the ground. According to her sister Timo, their mother forgot to put out the brazier and their cat knocked it over and scattered the flaming coals everywhere. A tapestry was hanging close by and went up in a blaze that swept through the house. Both Hypatia’s father and mother perished. Hypatia was not at home when it happened and returned to find it afire with the neighbors attempting to put it out. She was not at home because she was out walking with Simonides, that worthless, shiftless, lazy creature! And what do you think? We discovered this morning from Timo that she has run away with him!”

  Kyrene turned her attention away from Phoebe, and glanced to the back of the room where Felicia was seated attentively on her stool. As if pulled by one string the other students turned also to stare at her with wide eyes and mouths opened in awe.

  But Felicia merely bowed her head and cupped her face between her hands, and wept bitterly.

  Chapter XXII

  The Return

  It was Siv’s idea to return. Cort thought he would never see Eirinia again, but his wife insisted that he go back.

  “Do you mean to say that you will let your brother determine what you do?” she asked incredulously. “Is not Eirinia just as much your home as his? And is it not you that helps your father with the work, rather than Brenus? And from what you have told me, it would seem that neither Dag nor Judoc are very fond of his wife. Perhaps it would be best for them to leave, if she is not welcome!”