The Rektor was fielding an international emergency in the Dohla capital Rasima over the death of a son from the house of Esarotarahis. The Sayid and Ashiha of that house insisted that a secretary and dignitary were to blame. The Rektor had called for their immediate removal back to Fond and sent another Manskliga delegation to investigate. The Rektor didn't need the added domestic emergency that was unfolding at his own dinner table.
Gudina, the Goddess of the Manskliga was worshiped not only in Rike but in most of Varlid. Fina, his wife, was a devotee almost to the point of obsession. Rektor believed in part because of three failed births. But then Furstinna was born. Tall, shapely, perfect features like her mother. Rektor thought Fina's devotion would switch to their daughter.
Instead Fina pulled Furstinna into her worship of the Goddess. All still seemed well while the child was young. Now, at dinner, Rektor realized how futile his hope for normalcy had been.
"I won't," said Furstinna.
"What do you mean you won't?" cried Fina, fanning herself as if she'd faint.
"Now, now, dear, she has a right to not be involved as much in the worship rituals as you," said Rektor.
"But she's not saying that at all!"
"Furstinna, please tell your mother."
"I have and I will not. Worshiping any Goddess is a waste of time. Fearing the Jakel is an even worse waste of time."
"Blasphemy! How could this happen? You read the first holy book I gave you until it fell apart. You went with me every Gudina Dag to the cathedral. Helping those in need through our charities? Did you not feel the Goddess's spirit running through it all? It was with the blessing of Gudina you were even born!"
"I feel the spirit of community with my fellow beings in Varlid and it has nothing to do with the Goddess. As for the rest I've come to a logical conclusion."
Fina snorted, "Logical? Rektor it's all your fault for not being more involved in her life."
Rektor stared into his drink so as not to make a biting reply.
Furstinna looked from her mother to her father as if they were two strangers she'd never laid eyes on before. "You needn't worry. I want to be a good Manskliga but I don't believe I need to worship a Goddess for rewards, or worse, fear a Jakel for punishment in order to do that. Instead I consciously choose to be good and to do good."
"The only reason you have any idea of what that means is because of Gudina, the Prast and my guidance all these years."
"No, mother, because my idea of what constitutes a good person can and will change over time. What I decide is the right thing to do now may change in the future."
Now Rektor saw the problem with his daughter's 'logic'. "Enough! We were supposed to enjoy a rare family dinner together. We can discuss this another time."
"Meanwhile, you will continue your studies with the Prast," Fina added.
"That's what I've been trying to explain to you mother, I'm done."
"Rektor, do something!"
"Fine and then this discussion is over. Furstinna will not continue her studies or worship with the Prast. I've thought it high time she went to study with the Forskare. However, she will continue helping with the charities. Surely, Furstinna, your definition of good includes doing good works for those less fortunate?"
"Of course, but I've been thinking Father, shouldn't the government be doing more to lesson the reliance on charity?"
Fina gave the Rektor a look saying, "See?!"
Furstinna held Rektor's gaze longer than he would have liked for a pacific daughter. Instead of answering he stabbed the food on his plate and shoved a mouthful in and forced himself to chew.
***
After signing up for classes with the Forskare, Furstinna took every opportunity to be out of the house. Today she wandered the market with the excuse of buying fresh vegetables for the food pantry charity. A half hour later her basket was still empty.
Furstinna felt a jab at her ribs and turned around to see her best friend Ganska.
"How'd it go?" Ganska asked.
"As well as can be expected."
"And... ."
"I start with the Forskare the first of the week!"
Ganska and Furstinna squealed and linked arms. "So what are you doing at the market?"
"Other than hoping to run into you, to pick up vegetables for charity food pantry and spend as little time as possible at home."
"Save some kindness for your mother, there has to be a reason she leans so heavily on the Goddess." Ganska slipped a note into Furstinna's basket. "You must get into Kunskap's class, here's the information."
Furstinna looked at the note and handed it back. "I tried but they said the class was closed. It's the only class I couldn't get with you."
"That's odd. Kunskap knew I was inviting you." Ganska's face tightened with concern.
Furstinna didn't notice and exclaimed, "Ask if I can spend the night at your house. Please! The whole weekend. My mother is going to be intolerable until I finally start classes."
"I'll ask. I'm sure it'll be fine. Wait by the fountain for me."
Furstinna threw a coin in the fountain and circled it several times dipping her fingers in the water. The statue in the middle of the fountain was one of Goddess Gudina standing tall and serene looking out over the market and Fond in general. The statue did not move her as it used to only a few years ago. It wasn't any particular teaching of the Prast that she disliked, but rather the unwavering attention demanded from supplicants. At no point did the Prast ask Manskliga to contemplate or look inward, search themselves. All attention was focused on the battle between Gudina and Jakel. It was a perpetual, albeit, spiritual war. Even though Gudina was the official deity of Varlid, a holdover from when the Manskliga ruled all of Varlid, the Prast no longer sought inclusion of all who lived in Varlid. It was now strictly a Manskliga Goddess. The Elyun had brought their God Gala and he held an equal place alongside Gudina in Varlid. The Prast hinted Gala was really just an extension of Jakel. That had been the last straw for Furstinna and she'd been slowly severing ties with the church. Her declaration to her mother had been the final tie to break.
Ganska skipped toward Furstinna. A good sign that Furstinna would be welcome in Ganska's home over the weekend. "Yes! Lets get your vegetables delivered and then pack a bag for the weekend."
Finna didn't put up a fuss over Furstinna's wish to spend the weekend away from home. She seemed relieved. "That will be fine. Rektor is busy with some current crisis so I can take time to attend church."
Within minutes Furstinna had packed a bag and called a quick goodbye as she fled the house.
Ganska's house was alive with siblings jostling for position around the dinner table, to use the bathroom, and the new communication device, Skal. Her parents watched on patiently, teasing when necessary to stop any escalation to outright fights between their children over who could do what when.
"You'll get access when you start school," Ganska showed Furstinna a small ear piece that hugged her ear.
"Who can you speak to?"
"The Skal network is open to anyone but you have to belong to a Lanka. Here I'll add you to mine but we don't own two of them so we can't talk yet. Do you think Finna will allow you to use it in the house?"
"If it's assigned through school I don't see why not. Plus, I can just say my studies depend on being able to use it after school."
"Just so you can see how it works I'll call my school Lanka and hopefully someone will answer," Ganska put the ear piece in Furstinna's ear. There was a soft sound of ocean waves before a chime.
"Ganska?" a male voice asked. "It's urgent. We need an emergency meeting tonight."
Furstinna's face puckered. "Ganska someone is saying it's urgent."
Ganska took the earpiece from Furstinna. "Hello?"
"Ganska! I've been calling all day. Kunskap is gone."
"What do you mean gone?" Ganska's voice dropped to a whisper.
"His classes have been canceled. I've been trying to get in touch with h
im all day but there's been no answer. I think we should meet tonight."
"Can you put the signal up?"
"Not now, I can't get away. Will you do it in front of your shop?"
"Yes." Ganska removed the Skal from her ear.
"Who was that?" At Ganska's silence Furstinna said, "I realize you've had a new circle of friends for a while now since we've been going to different schools. I was hoping now I'd get to meet them. I'd love to tag along tonight." Furstinna asked.
"Follow me." Ganska tossed the Skal to one of her brothers in the hall who disappeared into a bedroom trailed by two more siblings anxiously waiting their turn to use the device.
Furstinna followed Ganska outside. Ganska took a flower pot and moved it from the left side of the door to the right side. "I'm going to ask you to trust me. I'd hoped to wait until Kunskap could talk to you personally. So the answer is yes, you're going to meet my other friends from school."
"Great!" Furstinna grabbed Ganska's hands. "I've missed you and none of my other friends will talk to me anymore since I broke with the Prast. Oh, I knew this would work out." Furstinna pulled Ganska into a hug.
"Furstinna, it's a little more complicated then that. We're going to have to sneak out of the house tonight."
"Tonight? We're not going to meet them now?"
Ganska pulled away. "No. Promise me whatever you hear or see tonight you share with no one, especially your family."
"Okay. But Ganska what are you up to? I mean are we're not going drinking are we I'm not into drinking it just makes me fall asleep."
Ganska shook her head.
"Not smoking! Please not smoking it makes me want to itch my face off."
Ganska shook her head and smiled. "No, not that. We'll be just talking."
"Talking. Oh, like a secret discussion group? Some banned book or something?" Furstinna dropped her voice to whisper. "Something that goes against the Prast?"
"Yes! It's a bit like that. These are subjects Kunskap Forskare brought to the attention of a couple of his students. We've been meeting to discuss his findings."
"Oh, you discuss school outside of school?"
"This is new material that cannot be discussed in public. I just need you to keep a secret."
"You know I'm good at keeping secrets. Remember when you told me never to tell who broke the—"
"Yes, and you never did. Thank you!"
Ganska and Furstinna returned to Ganska's house only to sneak out a few hours later after everyone else had gone to bed. The moon was high and bright but the tall stone buildings and walls of Fond cast long shadows. Ganska kept to the shadows as she led Furstinna through the alleys. Furstinna's pulse raced. She'd never done anything like this before.
After passing an alcove several streets away from Ganska's home a hand shot out, grabbed her arm and pulled her in. Another hand clamped over her mouth. She struggled briefly until Ganska's face appeared in front of her own whispering, "It's all right. We're making sure we weren't followed."
"You scared me," she said in a harsh whisper after the hand was removed.
An unidentified female voice behind her said, "Better to be scared for a second than dead forever."
Furstinna shook off the hold of the person behind her. A hooded figure stood back and introduced herself. "I'm Kvinna Speja."
"Well, were we followed?"
"Doesn't look like it. This way."
They followed Kvinna through narrow alleyways Furstinna never knew existed. She guessed they were traveling into the farthest outskirts of Fond. The moon shone unobstructed on a tiny courtyard encircled with waist high flowers.
"Moonflowers? I've never seen so many. Where are we?" Furstinna asked.
"Not much further, this way," said Kvinna.
A dark patch across the courtyard led to another short alleyway. Kvinna turned to the right and the darkness gave way to the feeble light of an opened door. Furstinna couldn't see who was holding the door open as they entered single file. No words were exchanged as the door closed behind them. The one room house was a combination kitchen, living room, sleeping room. From Ganska's description she thought the group would be bigger. There were a total of five people.
They squeezed together so the door could be closed. Furstinna tried to meet Ganska's eyes but Kvinna and the other figures blocked her view as they maneuvered around the small space. A table scraped the floor as it was moved back a few feet. In the floor hiding under the table and a rug was a hatch. Kvinna pulled it open and motioned for them to descend. Ganska took the lead and disappeared from view.
"Be careful. We don't have a light down here," Kvinna said as Furstinna started to descend.
"Anywhere?" Furstinna asked.
"These are the catacombs that run under Fond."
"They've been sealed up for years."
"You'll soon learn the official version from the Stark Harskare government is rarely the truth. In fact, none of them have been sealed up. The catacombs have been in use and very busy for years."
Furstinna landed at the bottom and traveled between Ganska and Kvinna while the other members not yet introduced brought up the rear. They wound through the catacombs until Furstinna had no idea which direction was up. Abruptly a sharp right led to a door. A Manskliga from the back came forward with a key and opened it. Everyone filed into the spacious room with a vaulted ceiling. There were shelves with books and papers and chairs scattered around the room.
Ganska turned to Furstinna and motioned her to sit in a chair. "This is it."
"This is what?"
Everyone lowered their hoods so Furstinna could finally see Kvinna's features. She was beautiful with blue-black hair. A rare color among Manskliga. "You already know me."
A male Manskliga with a long braid of red hair stepped forward. "I'm Befrielse."
The other male with short brown hair stepped forward. "I'm Hem."
"Hello."
"Please excuse us we need to talk in private for a minute," Befrielse said. Furstinna could tell by the tone the conversation was tense but when the four faced her again they appeared calm.
"There's no way we can bring you up to speed by just talking to you. There are some things by Kunskap you can read here but it would take time."
"Get me up to speed on what?"
Ganska sat down on the other side of Furstinna. "I'm afraid the Manskliga have made some dark bargains with the Asistan Ti. Kunskap found the evidence of this plus other issues happening across Varlid."
"Only Kunskap has disappeared. The school is saying he's fallen ill and taken a sudden trip to Trask Galen to recuperate. The son of an Elyun family he was corresponding with died recently," Befrielse explained. "Kvinna were you able to meet with him?"
"I was able to drop off the papers but we didn't have time to discuss them. He had found some business anomalies that mirrored those Kunskap found in Rike. Before he passed he talked about making a trip to Fond," Kvinna said.
"Do you think he was killed?"
"I just heard today from the Rektor the death was by natural causes. It could be a coincidence."
The mood of the group darkened.
"None of this makes any sense to you," Hem said.
Furstinna shook her head. "Not a clue."
"We'll just have to show her," Ganska took her hand.
The others nodded in agreement and Kvinna led the way back into the catacombs.
"It's pitch black down here, how can you tell where you're going?" Furstinna asked.
"Just follow for right now. We'll tell you what you need to know when."
The warm palm of Ganska's hand enclosed hers as she shuffled forward in the darkness. Her other hand brushed ice cold stone walls. She squeezed Ganska's hand and her friend squeezed back. It seemed like an hour in the darkness when Furstinna smelled the hills of Rike. She was about to ask when the silent group came to a halt.
Ganska was pushed back as Befrielse and Kvinna moved Furstinna forward. They formed a triangle while both held on
to her arms. Furstinna wasn't sure if they meant to steady her or stop her should she decide to bolt. She was about to protest when she heard a mewling sound coming from the entrance up ahead. They pushed her forward up an incline with firm hands until she could just see over the top. The exit from the catacombs to Rike was cut into the side of a hill. In the dark Furstinna couldn't tell exactly what part of Rike she was looking at. On the ledge, exposed to the elements lay a row of babies. Not Manskliga, their bodies and limbs where shorter and thicker. Their heads were like misshapen onion bulbs with smaller bulbs for eyes, ears and nose.
As they began to wave their arms and kick their small heels into the ground in frustration, Furstinna pushed against Befrielse and Kvinna realizing what these babies were, Grampus.
***
Although Befrielse yanked on her arm several times to try and slow Furstinna, she stumbled blindly on. Befrielse relented and urged the whole group to move faster and gave up any hope of keeping them silent. They reached the chamber and Furstinna moved to the far wall, her face away from the group. Ganska stood by her side. "I know it's a shock."
Everyone in the chamber waited patiently until Furstinna was ready to face them. "How do you know they are descended from us? Maybe we're kidnapping Grampus to use in some bizarre Asistan Ti sponsored experiments. These rumors surfaced when large numbers of the Mikachiari disappeared from Rike. Maybe we're simply looking for a way to defeat them, they raid and kill with impunity in Rike all the time."
The group looked to Ganska to respond. Ganska took a step toward Furstinna. "Kunskap put the pieces together. He has the evidence and we have anecdotal evidence from nurses who reported a high number of Manskliga miscarriages. It may take you a while to grasp this but the Grampus are Manskliga. We're the same."
Crowning Fantasy Book 1 Page 7
