Sword and Illusion

by Nancy S. Brandt

  Moonrazer barely heard Raphael's sigh as her own angry gaze swept to the stage.

  Raphael tried again. "I heard about the risks you took at Morovan to save the children of the Navin, your enemies. It is refreshing to hear that somewhere in the Known Worlds, someone cares about those trapped in unfortunate situations." He touched her arm to bring her attention back to him.

  She looked at him. "It is equally refreshing to hear a man who is more interested in justice than in his own estate or kingdom. I've heard both stories and songs about your battles against Clyde Corvidus, and the things your world has suffered at his hands."

  A flash of a painful emotion flitted across his face before he composed himself and bowed his head slightly. "Thank you, Warrior. I do believe…"

  It was difficult to hear his response, however, as Bearseeker's dying screams seemed to be longer and louder than was necessary. The actress was taking advantage of her time in the spotlight.

  Moonrazer leaned toward her sister. "Is it your desire to have all Exalted Warriors portrayed as incapable of making wise decisions without a Mother Prioress's advice?"

  Whiteshadow looked at her innocently. "I do not think that is what anyone would get from this pageant. Why are you so sensitive?" The Mother Prioress stood up. "Are you prepared for the next Candidate?"

  Moonrazer rubbed her shoulder. "I suppose."

  Prince Raphael stood, but before he left he marched a pace toward Mother Whiteshadow and said, "I must compliment you on this excellent history of the Mother Prioresses."

  Mother Whiteshadow gasped, then replied with great indignation, "This is a history of all the Sarl. The Mother Prioresses play but a small role in the story of our people. If you had paid as much attention to that as you did to touching the Exalted Warrior, you might realize that."

  Raphael turned smartly on his heel, gave Moonrazer a wink, and walked away. Moonrazer tried to keep her expression even. "Shall we continue with the history of the Mother Prioresses?"

  Whiteshadow glared at her but called the next Candidate.

  For the next two candlemarks, Moonrazer alternated between being bored by what she saw on stage or by her companion. Whiteshadow always seemed to pair her with men who had great interest in some obscure thing like tree fungus or the length of bird feathers at the same time that the actors were highlighting an Exalted Warrior who did little more than warm the throne for her successor.

  Whenever the story being told was full of action and brave deeds, and Moonrazer was sitting next to an attractive, strong Candidate, the Mother Prioress of the time seemed to have a greater effect on the outcome of events than the Exalted Warrior, who was generally portrayed as little more than a living weapon with no strategic skill of her own.

  Finally, after this pattern had been repeated a number of times, the performers had come to the stories of how Whiteshadow found the Sword of Mercy and Moonrazer found the Sword of Justice.

  Varian was chosen to sit next to Moonrazer for this part.

  As her sister took her seat, Moonrazer wondered if Whiteshadow wished that Moonrazer not speak to this man. Clearly, she would be interested in seeing how these tales were told and wouldn't be inclined to chat.

  This was not the first sign Whiteshadow had given that she disapproved of the Prince. What was it about him that bothered her?

  At the start, the darkened stage showed Mother Whiteshadow kneeling in a chapel, praying for wisdom in leading the Sarl when they were away from their home world. "Oh, Great Holy One, please show me the way to best serve your people and lead them closer to you."

  A young sister dressed as the Blessed Lorelii entered the stage area, and the room brightened. "The Holy One has great plans for you, my daughter. You will be a leader of the Sarl. You will lead them in ways no one has ever seen before. You will change expectations and be revered."

  "Did the Blessed Lorelii actually appear to Whiteshadow?" Varian asked.

  "She never mentioned it to me." Moonrazer kept her eyes on the stage.

  Lorelii handed the actress playing Whiteshadow a mug. "Drink this and you will receive the wisdom you seek."

  The lights were dimmed and the Blessed Lorelii vanished. Then Whiteshadow got off her knees and summoned the Sisters of the Flame. "We will travel to Carrick."

  "But, Mother," one of the Sisters said, "the Navin will never let any Sarl step foot back on our home world."

  "Do not worry," Whiteshadow said. "The Holy One will guide us and help us. We will be doing His will."

  The entire party traveled, on the stage, to the other side, which symbolized Carrick. As they came through the Portal two Navin guards stopped them.

  "You must let us pass," Whiteshadow said to them very calmly. "We are here to do the Holy One's will." She gently touched both guards on their shoulders.

  "Our people don't recognize the Holy One as a deity," the first guard said, "but we can see that you are holy women. We will let you pass, and we will leave our posts to seek out more information about this Holy One. He must be great indeed if he deserves your devotion."

  Moonrazer rolled her eyes. "Are you telling us that these guards were converted to the worship of the Holy One because you touched and spoke to them?"

  Whiteshadow's mouth turned up slightly. "I cannot explain how the Holy One works. He chooses whom He wills."

  Varian chuckled, and Moonrazer looked at him. "My experience with these sisters has been a little different."

  "In what way?"

  "These Navin are impressed by her faith, somehow, and want to be like her. I have found the Sisters I've had contact with to be consistently rude and pushy. To be honest, I'd stay to the end of this contest even if I thought I had no chance, just for the pleasure of seeing you triumph over Mother Whiteshadow at the end of it."

  Moonrazer stared at him, trying to maintain the proper attitude. "What you say is very disrespectful. The Mother Prioress is an honored person for the Sarl."

  "But no more so than the Exalted Warrior, I assume." He jerked his chin toward the stage. "This performance does not show proper respect toward you, I think."

  On stage, the actor portraying Whiteshadow now stood alone on the side of a glacier. Her hands were raised in supplication.

  "I am alone, dear Holy One. I am lost and afraid. Help me."

  Moonrazer glanced over at Varian, and saw that he was now enraptured. Emotions of concern, anger, other things she was not certain about played across his face. She wondered what he was thinking.

  Suddenly, light filled the room and Sisters dressed like the Avenging Angels of Paradise surrounded Whiteshadow.

  "Follow us," one of the angels said. "We will lead you to your destiny."

  They took Whiteshadow to the top of the glacier and showed her a large boulder.

  "A cave with a great treasure lies beyond that rock," one of the angels said. "You must find the treasure to fulfill the plans the Holy One has for you."

  "How am I to move the stone?" Whiteshadow asked. "I do not have strong muscles like my sister."

  "Muscles are not necessary to do the Holy One's will. You have been given wisdom and that is what the Sarl need. You need only ask for His help, and Janico will move the rock for you."

  Varian seemed a little less focused on the action right now, and Moonrazer wanted to ask him what he had been thinking earlier. Once again, however, the pageant distracted her.

  Whiteshadow dropped to her knees and raised her eyes to the sky. "Please help me do Your will," she prayed. "I am Your humble servant, and I give my life for You."

  Moonrazer heard someone sniffling and she looked around. Several of the Sisters of the Flame who were not part of this episode sat nearby and at least one of them was crying as they watched the action on stage.

  Amazed and baffled, Moonrazer turned to her sister, but Whiteshadow's eyes were filled with tears also.

  Shaking her head, the Exalted Warrior returned her attention to the performance.

  The Mother Prioress on stage bowe
d her head as though awaiting judgment, and while she wasn't looking the stone moved away from the cave entrance.

  Something gleamed with a myriad of colors from inside the darkened hole. Whiteshadow got off her knees and carefully crept inside.

  Another Sister of the Flame stepped to the front of the stage and addressed the audience. "Through prayer and obedience, Mother Prioress Whiteshadow found the Sword of Mercy and restored the Sisters of the Flame to their rightful place as Spiritual Guides in the Known Worlds."

  The actor playing Whiteshadow stepped out of the cave holding the real Sword of Mercy over her head.

  The narrator continued, "Her wisdom and self-sacrifice were honored by the Holy One, and she has done much to give Him glory. All hail and praise Mother Prioress Whiteshadow of the Sisters of the Flame."

  Her voice rose to a crescendo as she spoke, and when she finished, all the Sisters in the Throne Room rose to their feet and clapped and cheered. Many of the other spectators were caught up in this frenzy and jumped to their feet as well.

  Whiteshadow looked at Moonrazer as though she'd beaten the Exalted Warrior in some important contest. She stood to acknowledge the accolades and climbed to the stage.

  "Thank you, my children," she said, raising her hands to calm the crowd. "I am your humble servant, and I take your love as that of the Holy One himself. I live only to serve Him and the Sarl."

  The applause began again, and as Moonrazer sat marveling at her sister's ability to call herself humble after writing such a performance obviously designed to praise herself. Whiteshadow's eyes seemed to dare her to protest.

  The Exalted Warrior joined the applause but not as enthusiastically as those around her. She couldn't keep a smile off her face when she saw that Varian was not clapping at all.

  When the sound died a second time, Whiteshadow spoke. "Of course, that is not the end of the history of the Sarl. Now we will see how Moonrazer found the Sword of Justice and Ruby Medallion." She stepped off the stage and retook her place.

  "You will enjoy this," she told Moonrazer.

  "I am sure I will."

  The set stayed unchanged as the Sword and Medallion were also found on a glacier. The narrator called out, "The tale of Moonrazer the First, daughter of Moonshadow and Lullo."

  Moonshadow had told her daughter about Lullo, of course, but that part of her parentage was never public knowledge.

  "What is the meaning of this, sister?" Moonrazer asked, turning to face Whiteshadow. "Tygre was my father, as much as he was yours. He was the one who supported and raised us. Lullo means nothing to me."

  "I wanted to make this presentation historically accurate," Whiteshadow replied, serenely smiling.

  Moonrazer had barely given Lullo a thought in three decades, and now she was suddenly confronted by the name. It angered her to think that a man who had no part of her life was being given credit for anything.

  She watched as one of the Sisters, dressed as herself, tromped out on to the stage and crawled across the set as though climbing the ice mountain. She paused on a rock and panted from her obvious struggle to get to where she was.

  The Exalted Warrior narrowed her eyes. What was going on here? Yes, she had climbed the glacier, but she hadn't been under such a physical strain. Younger then, she had been in excellent condition.

  "What happened to your concern for accuracy? Much happened before I got to the mountain," Moonrazer said to her sister. "What about the children of Morovan?"

  Whiteshadow waved her hand. "I could not put your entire life story in this. Would that be fair to the other Exalted Warriors?"

  "The ones who are dead?" Moonrazer asked. "I do not believe they would feel slighted if you had included how I saved the stolen children."

  "Please continue to watch."

  "What did happen with the children?" Varian asked.

  "The children were stolen from their families by slave traders. I tracked the kidnappers to that mountain and followed the trail to the summit."

  He nodded. "I am sure the legendary Sword of Justice would not have been given to anyone who was unworthy. I am also certain that the one who wields it would do all in her power to right a wrong. In fact—"

  Suddenly, the actor portraying Moonrazer looked around as though unsure of her location. She jumped up, clearly in a panic.

  "Oh, Holy One," she said. "Where am I? How did I get here? I should never have come here. Our people left Carrick generations ago, and the Navin will kill me if they find me. Why, oh why, did I leave my family?"

  No angels came to help her, and she began climbing over rocks and ridges. At the top of one particularly sharp outcropping, she tripped and fell through the top of what had represented the cave in the previous story.

  "Oh, no," she said, trying to stand. "My ankle has been injured. Oh, what shall I do?"

  "This is not what happened," Moonrazer whispered to Whiteshadow. "I did not fall."

  "The story is not finished."

  The actor pulled herself to her feet, leaning on the wall of the cave, and gasped as she saw a Dragon, the size of a horse, approach. It was an elaborate costume, and took two Sisters of the Flame to operate it.

  "A Dragon," the Moonrazer in the play said, her eyes widening. "I will surely die."

  Growling, the beast continued its approach.

  Finally, the Moonrazer actor pulled a small sword from her belt and held it out to defend herself. The Dragon roared and she tried to run away, but instead, fell as her injured ankle gave out.

  As the actress fell, her sword flew from her hand and embedded itself in the side of the creature. With a particularly piercing scream and much drama, the Dragon finally died.

  When he collapsed, the cave shook and a sword and medallion fell from the ceiling.

  "Sister!" Moonrazer whispered fiercely. "What is the meaning of this? There is only one Dragon, and you made it appear that I defeated him by accident."

  "Please," Whiteshadow said. "I'm supposed to believe that you defeated all those Dragons by yourself and without a magic weapon? No one can do that. I have no intention of dramatizing your embellishments."

  "What really happened here?" Varian asked.

  "I found the cave just after rescuing the children. I needed to hide, as Navin soldiers were hunting me. When I did find shelter, I found something worse than Navin—a nest of Dragons. They were small, but there were twelve of them. I defeated the largest of them. It was apparently their leader, because the rest of them fled."

  She rubbed her shoulder. "Then the Dragons singed the hair off my head and burned my left leg to the point where I thought I'd never walk again. I still have teeth marks in my upper shoulder where one of them tried to take my arm off. It still pains me at times."

  "What is this?" the actor said, picking up the Sword and Medallion and looking perplexed.

  The narrator from the previous section returned. "And thus, by the grace of the Holy One's protection and assistance, Moonrazer of the Sarl found the Sword of Justice and Ruby Medallion, for which she was proclaimed the first Exalted Warrior in seven generations."

  The actor portraying Moonrazer came out of the cave, looking as though she wasn't sure what had happened, and handed the fake Sword of Justice to the narrator who held it above her head.

  "Let us all acknowledge the graciousness of the Holy One for restoring an Exalted Warrior to us and making the Sarl a true nation again."

  Trumpets blared, and a choir of Sarl and Sisters sang of Moonrazer's great deed.

  Again, the Sisters of the Flame began to applaud, and the rest of the audience joined them. No one jumped to their feet this time, Moonrazer noticed.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Varian saw the look on Moonrazer's face, and anger welled up inside him. How could her own sister and the spiritual leader of their people try to make her seem like a fool who had accidentally found the most precious possessions the Sarl had?

  What was going through the Mother Prioress's mind?

  Anthelm
e could sense feelings and was sometimes able to work out the thoughts behind them, but the valet was in the back of the Throne Room sitting next to some Sarl servant girl.

  Seeing the disappointment and bravery on Moonrazer's face, he decided he had to do something. This travesty couldn't be left as it was.

  He might just have to turn this situation into something that made the Exalted Warrior look more noble than Mother Whiteshadow had intended.