Chapter Nine: The Crisis’ Unresolved Resolution
“Your highness, wake up,” urged RK6.
From behind her bed’s curtains Princess Anlei barely heard RK6’s incessant and worried banter. She opened her eyes to find Corann was gone from their bed, unusual of him. Pulling back the curtains, Anlei found she could barely move, but answered, “What is it, RK6?”
“It is shir-or 6.00, Your Highness.”
“Shir-or 6.00, impossible. I never sleep past shir-or 4.00, even when I am sick,” she asserted. “Where is Lord Prince Corann?”
“He rose from bed and joined your family for breakfast over three shir-ors ago, Your Highness,” replied RK6 simply.
“What? What? Impossible. What is going on? What beinor is it?”
“Beinor 116, Your Highness.”
“What? Can’t be. It was beinor 112 last beinor.”
“Your highness has been asleep for over three beinors,” hovered RK6, changing colour from blue to violet. Concerned, RK6 hovered closer to the princess, noting her pallor had changed to an almost deathly white.
Anlei started to panic inside, yet felt too tired to move, “Three beinors? What is happening, RK6?”
“Perhaps I should summon a healer for you?” inquired the droid.
Anlei lay back on her pillows exhaustedly, “Yes. Yes please, RK6.”
Lady Cara bowed and knelt at the princess’s bedside, her medical instruments whirring around her. After 0.15 shir-ors, she rose and smiled.
Anlei looked at Lady Cara anxiously, “What-what is it, Lady Cara?”
“Congratulations are in order, Your Highness. You are not ill at all. But you are far from your previous normal self. Your body merely responded to the shock on its systems appropriately. You are perfectly healthy for a lady in your condition,” beamed Cara.
“Condition? Condition? What condition? What are you talking about?”
“Your highness is expecting a son. Didn’t you know? You have conceived, milady. Your body has accepted the baby and he’s growing strong inside you,” explained Lady Cara.
“Does Corann know?” asked the princess.
“Know with absolute certainly…not exactly. But I would say he has long suspected.”
“You knew before?”
“Your…political position is well understood at court, milady,” alluded Lady Cara.
Princess Anlei sighed. Of course everyone knew. They must have been talking about it for over a yen-ar. It embarrassed the princess, yet she knew the inevitability of her situation. This was her duty, all of it. She had little choice but to abide by the logical consequences of her royal blood.
“Now my daughter, PUSH. Push with all the strength you have,” cried Isabelle. Princess Anlei lay on her soft birthing bed, tired, sweaty, and in agony. Trained well by her priestess mother, the queen coached her through this most difficult moment of her life.
Pregnancy and childbirth had not come easily for the young princess, still an adolescent by Beinarian standards. But through the many beinors, Anlei had barely complained of her many discomforts.
For her part, Queen Isabelle wished beyond hope that the Great Succession Crisis had not forced marriage and childbearing so soon upon her daughter. Yet the memory of Lord Janus—and his threats—clung like a pall over the court and over Anlei in particular, creating fits of melancholy and fear in even brave Lord Corann’s eyes.
But politics was hardly the worry of this moment. For three beinors, Anlei laboured her body too young to handle the stresses put upon it.
Anlei pushed with the next contraction, screaming. From outside the birthing chamber, Corann watched, waited, and prayed to the triple goddesses for her safety, begging divinity to help both of them…and begging them to spare the life of his beloved wife.
Finally, with a blood curdling scream, the sounds inside stopped. Lady Cara stepped into the waiting room, a small bundle in her arms, “Congratulations. You have a son.”
Reaching for his son and clutching him protectively, Corann’s terror stayed in his eyes, “Anlei…”
“Her Highness is alive, but badly torn by her labour. I’ve put her under heavy sedation to improve her chances. Sleep is the best medicine for her under the circumstances,” described Lady Cara.
Corann fumbled for words, “Umm – umm – ummm – of course. Whatever you think is best, Lady Cara. As long as she recovers.… You know I cannot bear to lose her.”
“I know, Corann, nephew; she WILL recover. Nature has its ways of dealing with these things. She just needs time.”
Corann looked down at the floor, then the ceiling, then Lady Cara, “…I know. Just tell me you will do everything to make sure she fully recovers.”
“I give my word,” promised Lady Cara.
Ten beinors later, Anlei woke to find herself back in her bed, the curtains drawn to provide her security and solitude as she recovered from childbed. RK6 sat attentively next to her bed, her sensors ever monitoring the princess. As Anlei stirred, RK6 detected her first movements and signalled internally to a Beinarian form of pager. From the grand court filled with people, Corann saw the paging light on his belt. Bowing graciously to those near him, he excused himself, “Excuse me, Lord Jeffery.”
Lord Jeffery bowed in reply, “Of course, Your Highness.”
Once out of sight from most of the court, Corann rushed through the palace corridors and to the royal apartment where Anlei lay. She was barely awake when she saw him come to her and embrace her. “Oh darling! You are awake at last,” cried Corann in relief.
“I don’t understand.”
Corann kissed her warmly, “You’ve been asleep for ten beinors, my love.”
“T-ten beinors – wh-what – I don’t understand.”
“Your childbed was hard on you; the healers put you into a deep, healing sleep to help you recover. I was so worried I had lost you.”
“So that wasn’t a dream? I really did give birth?” asked Anlei.
“Not only did you give birth, my love, but he is strong and healthy. I named him ‘Lyr’…if you don’t mind?” asked Corann, picking up the infant from his nearby cradle and handing him to Anlei. The prince yawned and cooed at his parents.
Anlei looked at her son, “Didn’t I have an ancestor by that name?”
Corann smiled, “Yes. Three Gurun kings have held that name, including King Ejen’s own paternal grandfather, King Lyr III whose sudden death I fear to remind you of.”
“Remind me the story, Corann.”
“He was murdered in the throne room, pierced by cross bow quarrels.”
“But the security systems scan for laser weapons; they are contraband except in the hands of the knights assigned to protect the palace….”
“He was not killed by a laser crossbow, Anlei, but a heritage one made of wood. Our security system is not designed to detect such a weapon, which is exactly why that weapon was chosen.
“But that is the past, a sorrowful part of our past. This beinor we have a healthy and strong son, a baby boy the Great Council is certain to accept. An unbroken line sits between the Gurun kings and queens of old and our child. This is cause for celebration,” proclaimed Corann.
Anlei nodded, cuddling Prince Lyr, “Yes! This boy will be king, one way or another….”
“Make way, make way for Isabelle, Queen of Beinan,” cried the herald as Lord Prince Bevin, Lord Prince Corann, and Princess Anlei, holding her son, processed into the Great Hall of the Assembly, seat of the Great Council of Beinan. The entire Great Council assembled for this meeting with the royal family. Cameras covered the long foyer to the main chambers, many of them broadcasting the proceedings through numerous news channels. While not allowed inside the chambers personally, journalists operated remote cameras covering the public and assembly spaces of the building which were connected to portable planetary and regional news broadcasting stations located mere li from the building.
As th
e royal family reached the heavy double doors that divided the foyer from the main assembly hall, each of them paused for a deep breath, looking at one another. Here the Secession Crisis would finally end—one way or another.
With regal grandeur and drama, Isabelle stepped onto the familiar floor. The normal chatter associated with the shir-or or so before a meeting of the council stopped to dead silence with the queen’s first footfall. In silence, Queen Isabelle and her family followed the herald to the center of the hall filled with council members representing every corner of Beinan and every house. Huge black pillars lined the circular walls as pastel stained glass windows encircled them, their geometric shapes creating a dance of brilliance on the marble-like floor with its mosaics telling the story of the Great Migration and of the first kings of their civilization. Classical and beautiful, it filled Anlei with awe and wonder. What a grand place to debate the planet’s most important issues.
Scanning the costumes of the many council members, Anlei noticed the heraldry worn as jewellery or embroidery on each council member. The stars of Xing-li, the swords of Ten-ar, the triple moons of Miyoo, the sailing ships of Cashmarie, the books of Shem, the bows of Balister, even the palmed hands of Ana filled her sight as she strove to recognize any of the faces in the crowd. This place was Beinan.
As the royal family reached the central podium where those recognized by the council’s chair-person debated and proposed legislation, Lady Kalar, the current head of House Cashmarie, stepped forward to great them, her long, blue-lavender kirtle twinkling with iridescence and the midriff of her ruched bodice embroidered in a silver sailing ship. Queen Isabelle bowed formally to her, “Lady Kalar, it is good to see you again. I hear you were re-elected as chair of this august body.”
Lady Kalar returned the queen’s polite bow, “Your Majesty, as ever, it is good to discuss the well-being of Beinan with you, though I do not believe you have ever brought any from your house with you – besides your gracious consort, of course,” Lady Kalar motioned towards Lord Prince Bevin, acknowledging him.
“Indeed, Your Honour, there has never been a need before now to bring them to chambers. But, no doubt, you are aware of the challenges the conflict between the law and the better interests of Beinan has created. My daughter is prepared to rule when I can no longer do so. Yet the law forbids a daughter from succeeding her mother on the throne,” replied Isabelle.
“Indeed. I do see the problem. Our laws are clear on this matter, Your Majesty. Either your son, Anwell, rescind his abdication or we choose a new ruler from another house,” declared Lady Kalar. Though only 100 yen-ars old, and the youngest council chair since inception of the Great Council in OW 45000, Lady Kalar remained unusually politically astute. Across five terms as chair of the Great Council, she ruled wisely and well. Debating Lady Kalar was no simple matter, a fact known to all who worked with her, including Queen Isabelle.
“Honourable Lady Kalar, House Gurun contests the law on the grounds that it is antiquated and forbears skilled leadership in the form of choosing the best and wisest of Beinarian nobles to lead our world,” contested Queen Isabelle.
“Your charge is a seriously one, Your Majesty. Have you forgotten that it is not your place to set or challenge our legislation? You are our chief executive in continuation of our many yen-ars of separating legislative from executive and judicial applications of our laws. You do not instruct this Council; you rule to obey our decrees,” asserted Lady Kalar.
“With respect, Honourable Lady Kalar, this law was not directly passed by the Great Council, but by Houses Xing-li, Ten-ar, Ana, Balister, Cashmarie, and House Shem on A672E92 Quintus over the course of many yen-ars between the yen-ars OW 30,000 and OW 33,000. When the Great Council of Clans formed in OW 38215, they grand-fathered the statute, despite its sexism,” countered Queen Isabelle.
“Many of our laws were grand-fathered in our legal and political system as the traditional laws of our society. One of these traditional requires service in the Great Council by each head of each noble house. If not for that tradition, Your Majesty, you would sit on this body,” reminded Lady Kalar.
“I yield to the veracity of your history, Honourable Lady Kalar, but it does not change the merits of my argument. House Gurun never ruled against the ascent of any woman to power except by virtue of personal defect. My daughter holds no such defect. She is intelligent and well trained, knowledgeable about our laws, traditions, and history, despite her youth,” asserted Queen Isabelle.
“The wisdom of young Princess Anlei has been called into question,” reminded Lord Arthur of House Xing-li. “Has she not rejected her own Miyoo heritage, despite being regarded by Miyoo as eligible for election to this Council on behalf of that house? Or has Miyoo rescinded its matriarchy?”
“Miyoo rescinds nothing,” asserted High Priestess Wehe. “As High Priestess, I remain head of that house, as are my daughter and granddaughter so regarded in my stead. I grant that Princess Anlei has often questioned matters of religion; she is a gifted scientist, after all, despite this crisis diverting her attention from her passion for physics. Do not hold Anlei in contempt for pursuing her own spiritual journey of reconciliation between the physical and spiritual realms. All of us take that journey. At 45 yen-ars old, the age of decision is not yet hers.” High Priestess Wehe’s eyes flashed with power as she spoke. Few in chambers could maintain her gaze.
“That still does not change the matter at hand. Whether or not Princess Anlei is fit to rule as sovereign queen is not the center of this debate. I see little evidence to the contrary. But our laws are clear: it is illegal for the daughter of a female sovereign to ascend the throne. By law, it is no different than if you had no heirs at all,” voiced Lady Khyber of House Balister.
Queen Isabelle inhaled; this debate was not supposed to be easy. She simply did not expect it to be quite so draining either, “Will this Council change the law to permit Princess Anlei to become sovereign queen?”
“No,” asserted Lord Esreile of House Shem, “we will not.”
Lady Kalar smiled, “House Xing-li, do you have one among you fit to rule when Queen Isabelle steps down?”
“Honourable Lady Kalar, House Xing-li remembers BE 1301 when power was removed from Xing-li King Caranden in favour of House Gurun’s first king, Balar. Caranden forged an alliance against Balar, plunging Beinan into its last great civil war. As a matter of principal and perhaps karma, we wish to avoid a new civil war. Do not forget the power and tenacity of House Gurun. Since establishment of the monarchy on A672E92 Quintus, they have endured the longest,” reminded Lord Arthur.
“Does this mean House Xing-li yields the throne?” queried Lady Kalar.
“No. We accept but propose a compromise on this matter, the same compromise that ended the civil war on BE 1301, beinor 118. We propose marriage between the young heiress to clan leadership for House Xing-li to the House Gurun heir, Princess Anlei’s son here present in her arms,” affirmed Lord Arthur.
Lord Esreile rose, “Who is this child and under what terms do you propose, Lord Arthur?”
Princess Anlei stepped forward, rocking her son back and forth to keep him calm and sleeping, “This is my son, Prince Lyr, born BE 6328, beinor 56. Our line is unbroken from King Balar through the yen-ars to King Ejen, Queen Isabelle to myself, and now to him.”
Lord Arthur approached Anlei, “May I hold him, Your Highness?” Anlei nodded and handed her son to the Xing-li head. “Strong is this child’s blood, ancient and powerful, the heir to many houses and great power. Your highness, I offer your son my own daughter, heiress of House Xing-li in memory of Princess Cirwen whose blood flows through yours. In BE 1301, she wed your Lord Balar as the price for peace. Balar and Cirwen shared sovereignty until Cirwen, moved by her devotion to raising her own children instead of putting their care in the hands of others, chose to resign her power in favour of her husband.
“Now I present as formal resolution that Princ
e Lyr wed Lady Eleanor of House Xing-li by BE 6380, beinor 1 and that a formal betrothal be offered in the presence of this Council on beinor 1 of the coming yen-ar. Should Prince Lyr fail to wed my daughter, power shall be hers and hers alone upon the completion of Queen Isabelle’s reign. Yet should all be done as I propose, let both of them reign as joint sovereigns as Balar and Cirwen reigned together,” proposed Lord Arthur.
“Your terms are logical and reasonable, Lord Arthur. Yet they still transfer power to House Xing-li. The Gurun dynasty ends with Queen Isabelle,” responded Lord Knight Corann.
“It could end now,” threatened Lady Kalar.
“Queen Isabelle is strong and fit ruler. On judicial matters, she’s proven herself willing to take the hard road in favour of justice for all, even and especially when it would be politically advantageous for her to do otherwise,” asserted Lord Arthur. “Perhaps a compromise would suit House Gurun. In exchange for the terms I just outlined regarding Prince Lyr and Lady Eleanor, I am willing to regard all their descendants as House Gurun. I ask only one further condition....”
“Name it,” commanded King Ejen.
“Both the successor of Lyr and Eleanor and their successor must choose a queen or prince consort from house Xing-li. This will strengthen our position in the royal court and permit us to influence policy in our favour for the next two hundred yen-ars,” demanded Lord Arthur.
“We accept your terms, Lord Arthur, all of them. But we warned: this new condition will shape our history far longer than two hundred yen-ars. Posterity may never forgive what is forged this shir-or,” warned Queen Isabelle.
“The resolution has been offered and accepted by the Houses involved,” summarized Lady Kalar. “How votes this council? House Ana?”
“Yeah.”
“House Shem?”
“Yeah.”
“House Cashmarie?”
“Yeah.”
“House Balister?”
“Yeah.”
“House Ten-ar?”
“Yeah.”
“House Xing-li?”
“Yeah,” answered Lord Arthur.
“House Gurun?”
“Yeah,” answered Queen Isabelle.
“House Miyoo?”
“Yeah,” answered High Priestess Wehe
“House Slabi?”
“Yeah.”
“Resolution carried. Betrothal ceremony to be held in this chamber on beinor 1. High Priestess Wehe, as high priestess of Beinan, we request you to conduct the ceremony,” commanded Lady Kalar. Wehe nodded in response. “This session is adjourned. Long live Beinan.”
Epilogue
“For all appearances, the Great Succession Crisis was, indeed, resolved on BE 6328, beinor 129. But appearances can be deceiving. Lord Knight Corann and Princess Anlei’s son, Prince Lyr ascended to the throne on BE 6400, beinor 2 as all in House Gurun hoped -- but at a terrible price for all of Beinan. High Priestess Wehe, Princess Anlei, Lord Knight Corann they all hoped in BE 6328 that the future King Lyr would be able to put the tumult of the crisis behind all of them. But their hopes failed. As Corann long suspected, Lord Janus would have his revenge, even from the grave. Hate filled Janus’ descendants, triggering the violence that was to come, violence that would grow until it consumed Beinan. What began with a few terrorist bombings grew to civil war with countless innocents murdered. For my own protection my parents sent me to D425E25 Tertius, as most of you know so well. But that, dear friends, is another story that I will tell in my next transmission. The shir-or is late right now. Time for some rest. Watch for my next transmission for in it I will tell you how the violence began and grew, how the ghosts of the past came to haunt us all....” finished Queen Anyu.
Long Live the King
“My lady, it’s time,” alerted RK6 as she circled the kneeling Princess Anlei in front of her devotional altar in her private sanctum, a small, window-filled half-round tower extension to her third floor apartment in the Temple of Abka Biya in Bira Hecen. On the princess’s head she wore the triple moon circlet of the high priestess of Beinan, her eyes filled with an air of solemnity, its previous fire diminished somewhat with sadness, maturity, and responsibility. On Anlei’s crimson gown was embroidered the triple moon heraldry of house Miyoo, its silver white threads sparkling against its golden field.
Rising with careful ceremonial practice, Anlei eyed her devoted droid, “Thank you, RK6. Will you please ask his grace to join me in the main audience chamber?”
“Of course, Your Grace,” acknowledged RK6, speeding out of Anlei’s sanctum.
Without the customary attendants, Anlei strode through the labyrinth of corridors of the great temple, its many towers and spires branching from the foundational trapezoid like tree branches. Reaching the rotunda that was the main audience chamber, High Priestess Anlei ascended ten stair steps to her throne as four hundred nobles and clergy already assembled in the sanctuary rose respectfully. As Anlei sat down reverentially, Lord Knight Corann ascended the dais, taking his seat next to her with a respectful bow.
With a nod from Princess Anlei to RK6 for the ceremony to begin, a retinue of honour attendants filed into the rotunda ahead of gilded white wood casket carried by three knights of Gurun and three priests of Miyoo. Carefully the pall bearers guided the casket onto the stone altar six zhang from Anlei and Corann’s thrones as Beinarian harps and flutes played a mournful lament. Prince Lyr and Princess Eleanor promenaded to the altar, both kneeling as they reached the casket.
High Priestess Anlei rose, “Sudden is the death of our most beloved Queen Isabelle, daughter of King Ejen and High Priestess Wehe. Though her reign was short, Queen Isabelle taught us the very meaning of dignity and honour, dedicating her life to peace and prosperity for all Beinarians during the 78.9644 yen-ars of her reign. She took on this responsibility pulled by the powerful political forces of her Miyoo and Gurun blood. As my mother, she taught me the true meaning of royalty, honour, and dignity.
“Prince Lyr, you are more than simply the heir to our beloved queen’s throne. You are both my son and her foster son. As we pray for the strength to continue in the difficult beinors of mourning before we celebrate your assent, beinors made more difficult by the disappearance of our beloved father, grandfather, and prince consort, Lord Knight Bevin of house Ten-ar, I charge you, Lyr of house Gurun, to meditate on all the lessons taught to you across the seventy-one yen-ars of your life that you, as King Lyr IV, may rule with equal wisdom as our beloved Queen Isabelle, guided in judgment by your queen, Eleanor.”
With a signal from High Priestess Anlei, Prince Lyr and Princess Eleanor rose. Prince Lyr raised his eyes to his mother, “Your Grace, I am ever mindful of the meaning of our loss and the loss you, noble one, feel with me. It is perhaps a great bitterness that I stand before you as crown prince without first seeing the Gurun crown upon your head, noble one, for you truly deserve to wear it far more than I.”
“Your words are kind, my prince,” bowed High Priestess Anlei. “You do me greater honour than I deserve.”
“No, Your Grace, I understate your value to Beinan. Not just as my mother, but as the successor to High Priestess Wehe. The crown that must be passed through the loss of our beloved queen truly belongs to you, not I. You are Queen Isabelle’s one and only daughter, her true heir.”
“It is for the Great Council to decide who bears the burden of king or queen of Beinan. The law is clear and their ruling is just. Long live King Lyr and Queen Eleanor!” proclaimed Anlei.
“Long live the king and queen,” shouted the assembly in reply.
Princess Eleanor blushed at the shouts, her right hand playing with the fabric of her delicate saffron overdress nervously, “Our queen is dead, our prince consort Bevin is missing. Now is not the time to shout compliments towards either the crown prince or myself. This shir-or we are merely the successors of her majesty as decided by the Great Council in BE 6328. Do not think my heart is not troubled by the s
udden death of her majesty and the odd disappearance of his highness so close to her death. Hear me, Beinan, as your future co-sovereign: we not yet your leaders. Defer to Her Grace, Dowager Princess Anlei, our high priestess and successor to the High Priestess Wehe, one of our greatest religious leaders since our people arrived here on Beinan after the Great Migration. I charge you all to defer to her grace and his grace, High Priest Corann. For their wisdom and experience is the greater. Theirs is a place of true merit, chosen by our wisest leaders among house Miyoo for their spiritual insight, wisdom, and intelligence. My husband and I rule at the pleasure of the Great Council of Beinan. But High Priestess Anlei and High Priest Corann rule at the pleasure of the divine. As for me and my husband, we shall follow where they lead, ever mindful of their greater counsel.”
Shocked and pleased by her daughter-in-law’s proclamation, Anlei stepped down the staircase separating her from her eldest son and daughter-in-law. Eleanor and Lyr kneeled before her. Anlei kissed their foreheads as Corann followed her down the steps, placing his left hand on his eldest son’s right shoulder affectionately. Lyr looked up into his father’s eyes for approval.
Corann smiled back at Eleanor, “You were not chosen by Lyr or even any of his blood, Your Highness. Yet your words touch me as his father. May this terrible loss for our family bring us all together that you may be the wife of his heart, not just out of the Great Council’s bidding, a true member of our family.”
A tear fell from Eleanor’s eye, “Ever shall I strive to be so, Your Grace. For before our wedding, which you and her graced presided over, the queen told us the story of how all this came to be – all of it – even the pain and treachery that night of the Great Masquerade. Ever do I aspire to have what you have in love, life, and family.”
“So mote it be,” nodded Corann.
Suddenly a knight of Gurun burst into the assembly from a side door, “Your Highnesses, Your Grace, his highness has been found!”
Princess Eleanor stared at the knight in shock, “Who, lord knight?”
“Lord Knight Bevin, husband to her majesty and father to her grace,” cried the knight.
Shock and bewilderment filled Anlei’s eyes. Sensing Anlei’s mind as well as during their courtship, Corann took the lead, “Where is he? Why does he not come here and now if he has been found?”
The knight’s gaze darted around the room, “Your Grace misunderstands. He has not been found injured, but dead, Your Grace. The prince consort was brutally murdered and dumped into the Amur River.” Against her will, Anlei fell to her knees, suddenly sick.
“WHERE?” shouted Prince Lyr assertively.
“N-n-near the palace…forty two point six eight zhang from the court yard where royals and the most noble of Beinarians are cremated,” stammered the knight.
“Call forth an honour guard to prepare his highness. As her majesty makes her final journey, let her prince and dearest companion journey with her in death as they were in life,” commanded Prince Lyr, squeezing Princess Eleanor’s hand for moral support. Turning to his mother he offered, “With your permission, Your Grace?”
Anlei tried to re-collect her breath, standing once more, “Granted, Prince Lyr. Our grief is doubled, yet in this at least our souls may be comforted: that in death our prince consort was no less devoted to she who stole his heart than while both lived.”
With the sudden discovery of Bevin’s body, the smoothness of the royal funeral derailed for two hundred xiao-shirs while knights, healers, and mourners regrouped to adapt to the sudden addition of Bevin to the royal cremation. At length, all was re-readied. In ceremonial silence, Lord Priest Corann lit a ceremonial torch which he passed to Lady Priestess Anlei, her face red with tears and grief, her body shaking perceptively. Corann touched her shoulders, projecting a measure of calm into her mind to buttress hers. With three deep breaths, Anlei stepped to the widened wooden platform upon which Queen Isabelle’s casket had been placed. A wooden screen surrounded Bevin’s body next to her, concealing the gruesome disfigurements Bevin suffered in his final xiao-shirs. Evidence of torture – and Bevin’s own resistance – covered the body.
Touching the torch first to the queen’s casket, then to the screen, Anlei watched the flames envelop her parents like a solar flare washing around a planet. Still in shock and feeling overwhelmed with grief, Anlei stumbled as she tried to step back to a safe distance from the raging flames already starting to send out embers and ashes as Isabelle and Bevin’s bodies succumbed to the heat. Against protocol, Anlei wept openly, unable to meet anyone’s gaze, completely consumed by grief, her hands still clutching the torch. Observing the unsteadiness of her grip, Corann gently took hold of the torch, passing it to Prince Lyr who gave it in turn to a knight of Gurun to extinguish.
Prince Lyr addressed the assembled gathering, “Citizens of Hejing, peers and nobles of Beinan. This shir-or we say farewell to our queen, the noble and mighty Isabelle of house Gurun, and to her consort, my grandfather, Lord Knight Bevin of house Ten-ar. May the goddesses bless and keep us in these coming beinors of grief and mourning. Mourn we must. Remember we must. For these, our best leaders were true examples all of us must strive to emulate. Our wounds will heal, our sorrow will ebb. As the new yen-ar dawns, we will step forward into the future that is ours to live. But not this shir-or. For loss is something we must all feel, acknowledge, and rise through.
“Soon enough, I shall ascend the throne and take my place as your king, along with Eleanor of house Xing-li, the chosen co-sovereign queen of Beinan. Yet think not that either of us have designs to do this alone. The wisdom of our high priestess and high priest is proven. Ours is yet to be tested. As for me and my queen, we shall defer to them in matters personal and public. If the Great Council is wise, they shall respect our humility in this and honour these, the greatest religious leaders of our time, with the respect duly owed to them both.” Lyr turned to High Priestess Anlei, struggling to hold back his tears, “Your Grace, will you lead us now in prayer?”
Anlei stepped forward, her mind calmed in part by Corann’s ever present steadiness in her psyche, “Divine of many names unknown whose three faces are known to we limited Beinarians as Abka Biya, Banumu Hehe, and Abka Gahun, we call to thee in our beinor of grief and sorrow. We who are mere mortals do not understand that which is beyond our flesh. Even the wisest of us can only guess, not truly know. We bow to your mercy and everlasting blessings too often forgotten or ignored but always in our short lives. Our hearts are filled with sorrow at the loss of our beloved Queen Isabelle and Prince Consort Bevin. Ripped from us by violence and inexplicable malice, our wisdom fails to comprehend the purpose that surely must exist behind their deaths.
“Holy one that is three, we beg for your strength and understanding for the beinors that are to come, even as we prepare to welcome the new yen-ar and with it, new leadership for Beinan in Lyr and Eleanor. Guide us, Great Mother, and help us feel your presence in our lives. Forbid us forgetfulness that the lessons they taught us may never fail in our collective memory. So mote it be.”
“So mote it be,” echoed the assembled gathering watching the state funeral.
As if in answer to the prayer, an unexpected wind suddenly descended into Hejing from the upper atmosphere, a fierce gale sweeping through the inner city. The upper clouds broke, revealing a conjunction of Beinan’s three moons. The Amur River surged upward in response to the pull of all three moons converging over the city. With a burst of intense wind that blew the gathering away from the cremation, the river swelled beyond its banks and into the already waning pyre, washing the ashes and bits of bone into the river. When at last the Amur returned to its banks and the wind subsided, Anlei’s eyes widened. Not one trace remained of the bodies, not even a speck of ash. It was as if divinity had claimed Isabelle and Bevin, returning their remains to greater planet faster than they could have otherwise. In her heart, Anlei heard an unexpected voice, “I am here, dau
ghter of light. Fear not. All is as it should be.”
Seven beinors later, Hejing glittered with anticipation. Across the city, heraldic banners for houses Gurun and Xing-li flew from every window and building. After seven beinors of official morning, the city was ready to welcome the new yen-ar and celebrate it to the fullest. Inside the palace, Prince Lyr paced in the same garden gazebo where Corann had first attempted to propose to Anlei, mere fifteen zhang from where he was conceived, a fact carefully concealed to him out of its awkward nature. At last Anlei and Corann arrived. Lyr greeted them nervously, “Mother! Father! I am so glad to see you. How are my little brother and sister?”
“Londthol is sleeping like a good baby,” smiled Anlei. “Abigail is at her studies right now…at least she WAS at her studies. Her tutor has a math test in mind for her this beinor…unless she finds some way to use her brother’s coronation as an excuse to get out of it. She has been known to do that sometimes.”
Lyr laughed, “I recall pulling that trick on you from time to time when you tutored me. If I recall, grandmother and great-grandmother used to get especially vexed at me for it.”
Corann rolled his eyes, “Your great-grandmother was a firm believer that royalty should possess the highest possible education and devotion towards learning. It was one reason I think she was so aggressive in her seduction of then crown prince Ejen. She knew she could rule wiser and better than he could and had no trepidation about using her sexual charms to gain power through his bed. If I recall, she had herself declared queen against custom by using her superior power as high priestess to pressure the Great Council into awarding her that title.”
Lyr shook his head in disbelief, “I-I never knew that about her. What I remember most about great-grandmother was the way she always seemed so…wise, so in control – unless I was intentionally vexing her.”
Acknowledging Lyr’s impressions, High Priestess Anlei refocused the conversation, “Is this a purely social visit, Lyr, or is there another reason you asked us to come here?”
“No…no, actually there is something I want to ask you.”
“Name it.”
“The staff wants to move my belongings out of this room and into the official sovereign’s apartment. Though the Great Council regards my rule as equal to Eleanor’s, the fact they chose our joint reign to fall under the Gurun dynasty means that my new apartment is to be the one held by grandmother; Eleanor will occupy the consort’s apartment. But I…have some trepidation about this…at least about consenting to the move yet.”
“What can your father and I do to help?”
“I…want both of you to stay in the official royal apartment tonight…and for the next seven beinors,” requested Lyr.
“Does Eleanor know this?” asked Corann.
Lyr smirked, “She was actually the one who first suggested it to me after our wedding. She agrees with me that this whole ascension thing to king and queen is completely messed up. This is your throne, Mother, not ours.”
“Long ago your uncle Anwell gave up his birth right; strictly speaking by law he should be taking the throne instead of either of us. But he did not want the throne, even knowing as children that rejecting it would certainly put us through the Great Succession Crisis we all had to work through. Anwell felt that it would make him a target for those who oppose our system of government. He was right.”
“What happened to Uncle Anwell, Mother?”
‘We don’t know. The last anyone heard of him, he launched a star craft out of Olos-Mir, headquarters to house Xing-li. The last that was ever seen of him was on a tracking scanner as he reached the upper atmosphere. Then…his star craft disappeared from our sensors. He’s not been seen or heard from since. If he travelled to another world, we have no clue to which one, not even the general region of space he headed for,” described Anlei.
“Forgive me, Mother…I did not know.”
“That information is classified. My mother disagreed with the ruling of the Great Council, as we all seemed to apparently. She could not openly oppose them – or lose not only her throne but the entire dynasty. But she could do small things like giving me security clearance and access to information generally reserved for the sovereign, consort, and heir to the throne. She did not transfer any such real information access to you until…let me see…three yen-ars ago, I think.”
“It pleases me to learn that, Mother, and of the quiet resistance she showed. Now, please, allow us to demonstrate our own quiet resistance to this whole ascension matter. I would like you and father to enjoy the sovereign’s bed for these next seven beinors.”
Anlei embraced her son, “As you wish…just for seven beinors so you can micro-manage your own move to the big scary room….”
Lyr kissed his mother’s cheek affectionately, “Thanks, Mom.”
The coronation ceremony sparkled like a Beinarian ruby in the palace throne room filled with courtiers, nobles, friends, and family. On the raised dais stood the four thrones that felt somehow empty without Queen Isabelle. Before them stood Anlei and Corann, watching and waiting for the grand processional of shawms, flutes, harps, and horns. With a fanfare Lyr and Eleanor glided through the throne room with stately grace, their fingers intertwined happily. In the front row stood Eleanor’s parents, Lord Councillor Arthur and Lady Viviane of house Xing-li. They bowed at the waist. Eleanor nodded her head in acknowledgement, and then quickly focused on High Priestess Anlei and High Priest Corann. Lyr and Eleanor kneeled before them.
Anlei addressed the gathering, “Peers of Beinan, lords, ladies, and laity, we are gathered this shir-or to bless the successors of Queen Isabelle as they jointly ascend to her throne as king and queen of Beinan. In this, we are reminded of responsibility they are about to assume, a responsibility that transcends whatever material benefits come with their duties. For here, now, they are charged with two important jobs. The first is to enforce the laws of our people. The second is to interpret them as the final legal authority on our world, responsible to our people as represented in the Great Council of Beinan. This authority was first exercised by King Malvyn and his queen, Brigid, high priestess to our people. This shir-or, we bestow the same power upon Lyr and Eleanor with reverence and respect for their office.”
Anlei took Lyr’s dominate left hand and placed it on her heart, “Lyr, son of Princess Anlei of house Gurun and Lord Knight Corann of house Ten-ar, do you swear to uphold the office of king of Beinan? Do you promise to rule with mercy, wisdom, and compassion, putting aside the interests of any single house and committing yourself to service to all – rich or poor, healthy or infirm, powerful or weak, urban or rural? Will you swear to protect the innocent while punishing the guilty through justice, not vengeance, ever humble before that which is greater than all of us?”
“By my life or death, I so swear, forfeiting all I possess should I fail to uphold this vow,” swore Lyr.
“So mote it be,” proclaimed Anlei, moving their joined hands from her heart to his. Lyr kissed her hand humbly with a bow as Anlei put his hand into Eleanor’s which she placed onto Lyr’s heart, “Eleanor, daughter of Lord Councillor Arthur and Lady Viviane of house Xing-li, do you swear to uphold the office of queen of Beinan? Do you promise to rule with mercy, wisdom, and compassion, putting aside the interests of any single house and committing yourself to service to all – rich or poor, healthy or infirm, powerful or weak, urban or rural? Will you swear to protect the innocent while punishing the guilty through justice, not vengeance, ever humble before that which is greater than all of us?”
“By my life or death, I so swear, forfeiting all I possess should I fail to uphold this vow,” swore Eleanor. Anlei released Eleanor’s hand.
High Priest Corann held aloft the Beinarian diamond and ruby coronet of the Gurun queens of Beinan so all could see it, “Eleanor of house Xing-li, I crown you Queen Eleanor the First.” Gently, Corann lowered the coronet onto Eleanor’s head.
Anlei took
the king’s coronet of house Gurun into her hands, raising it so all could see its Beinarian diamonds and rubies, “Lyr of house Gurun, I crown you King Lyr the Fourth.” As Anlei lowered the crown onto her son’s head, she felt a wave of pain and sorrow from his mind. Lyr tried to conceal his emotions…yet his mother knew him too well for that. In his eyes she felt his grief and frustration, even if no one else in the throne room, save his father perhaps, sensed it. In response, Corann took Anlei’s hand, signally for her to rise Lyr up as he brought Eleanor to her feet. King Lyr IV and Queen Eleanor I faced the gathering as Anlei declared, “My people, it is my pleasure to introduce you to King Lyr IV and Queen Eleanor I. Long live the king!”
“Long live the king,” echoed the gathered populace.
“Long live the queen,” shouted Corann.
“Long live the queen.”
“Long live the Gurun dynasty,” shouted Corann and Anlei together.
“Long live the Gurun dynasty.”
The grand ballroom shined with all the radiance and glamour expected at a coronation reception. The best and most formal dinnerware covered the dining tables in the dining room adjacent to the ballroom, leaving the main space open for dancing. Gilded carafes poured what seemed like an endless bounty of kelan and nanla wines in a six course luncheon displaying the talents of the palace’s many chefs.
There was even hot cocoa, despite the drink’s association with weddings and bridal blessings, which flowed out of an ornate fountain luxuriously. Porcelain cups gilded in Beinarian platinum waited in a carefully built pyramid 0.85 zhang away from the fountain for the convenience of those indulging in the cocoa which has a slightly minty taste compared to chocolates consumed elsewhere in the universe with a mellower finish than most other chocolates.
On a special dessert table, guests were treated to delicate layered pastries, custards, cakes, even a tube-like pastry called a “slatko.” Resembling Italian-American cannoli, the slatkos had baked pastry tube shells filled with a fruit filling. On the table sat six different types of slatkos. Some had icing on the tube edges. Others were dusted with sprinkles. Each had a different fruit filling to tempt guests. It was a lovely spread designed to please many different tastes.
As guests nibbled at the delicious food, Dowager Princess Anlei and Lord Knight Corann meandered around the dining room and ball room, checking people’s reactions to the celebration and towards their new king and queen. In many ways, it reminded both of them of their own wedding reception held in the same ball room. As both turned towards the cocoa fountain, they noticed a familiar face waiting to fill her cup. Smiling, Corann embraced the green-gowned priestess, “Mother…so good to see you. I did not know you planned on attending.”
Lady Priestess Cordelia turned to her son and kissed his cheek with a hug, “Corann…how is my beloved son?”
Corann thought for a xiao-shir about his response, “…proud, happy, relieved…sad, disappointed, frustrated. This should have been Anlei’s coronation and for that my heart is heavy…but Lyr is a fine young man…he turned out perhaps better than either of us could have imagined. He’s more humble than you would think, mindful of the awkward position the Great Council put him in and, I think, equally frustrated about the circumstances of his coronation. But we have one thing at least…now, no matter what anyone else says, our great succession crisis is finally, unequivocally, over.”
“Yes, it is. How do you find our new queen? Do you know her well?” asked Cordelia.
“Not well enough,” answered Anlei, “but then, nor does Lyr, I think. I can tell by the way he looks at her…I recognize that same look on my own face when I was growing up…before I realized just how much Corann loves me. It’s hard to believe now how focused I was on duty, how ambivalent I was towards the idea of marriage or the prospect of spending my life tolerating an unwanted consort’s lust or dutiful attempts to get me with child. How odd that at an age when most adolescents are filled with romantic dreams that I was all business…. Your son changed that about me; let me dare to dream of something better…so strange the way things have worked out.”
“Strange indeed,” agreed Cordelia. “Has Lyr met his little brother yet?”
“Londthol is only two yen-ars old…not old enough to be out in public. I only finished weaning him forty beinors ago.”
“Are you going to try for another? How many grandchildren will you give me, Your Graces?” teased Cordelia.
Anlei smirked at her mother-in-law, “One at a time…Londthol is still an infant, after all. Once he’s more independent…who knows?”
“Understood,” acknowledged Cordelia, brushing back a stray lock of her hair back towards the elaborate braids pinned up with silver and pearl-tipped hair pins. Cordelia raised her eyes towards the faces of those around her, searching for someone, “Have you seen Lady Priestess Ecter yet?”
“No…is she here? Forgive me, but with everything happening with mother’s death…I just have not had the time to study the reports on my desk. I thought Lady Ecter was off in Xi-Nan Fang visiting her family….” remarked Anlei.
“What family, Your Grace? Do you think she’s forgotten what her brother did to her –and tried to do to you?” referred Cordelia.
“I do not think any of us involved with Janus’ attempted coup can forget about it. He did, after all, threaten to destroy the Gurun dynasty. I have no doubt he will find a way to do exactly that…if only through others,” added Corann.
“I can hardly argue with that,” interjected Lady Priestess Ecter from behind Cordelia’s back. Cordelia turned suddenly to see the daughter of Cariadoc a blossoming and rather beautiful young woman 114.061 yen-ars old. “But do not delude yourselves into thinking that everything my brother did was entirely of his own mind and motivation. Unlike our faith which encourages individual initiative and thought, clerics of The Shemai teach absolute obedience to authority, starting with one’s father.”
High Priest Corann bowed to Lady Priestess Ecter, “Your expertise in this matter is valued, Lady Priestess Ecter, for its uniqueness. Only you possess such insight and understanding into the minds and hearts of house Shem and worship of The Shemai.”
“Let’s be clear, everyone: they are not bad people. But religion has a way of polarizing people and motivating them towards thoughts and actions that would be inconceivable coming from another context. People will fight and die for their immortal soul as they will not for anything else. It is the politics of the clerics in Shemai temples, not the teachings of The Shemai himself that motivate hatred and violence in anyone. If anything, the Shemai is a god of peace, charity, and love!” explained Lady Ecter.
“If you do not mind me asking you…if you uphold what you were taught in Shemai temples, how and why would you choose to convert, to reject your god in favour of the goddesses?” asked Corann.
“I did not reject The Shemai, Your Grace, but I do reject the organized worship of him. For me, the faith of my family does not stand in contradiction to the faith I vowed to uphold as a priestess of Miyoo. We do not know the real name of that which we call the triple goddess. We do not presume to understand who and what that being or beings are really about. In my heart, there is room for both ways of understanding that which is beyond all of us. It really amounts to how you look at the greater universe; complete objective reality is beyond our abilities as human beings.”
“Your wisdom is great, Lady Ecter, perhaps greater than mine. One must wonder why you were not chosen high priestess instead of me,” observed Anlei.
“You do me honour, Your Grace. But I would not accept power if everyone in house Miyoo wished it. I was not born to wield it as you were nor do I have your nobility in blood. I serve because I know my brother and want to do my part to prevent him from hurting anyone else,” explained Lady Ecter.
Suddenly everyone at the reception bowed as the herald cried, “Make way! Make way for his most royal of majesties, Lyr, king of Beinan and Eleanor, q
ueen of Beinan.”
King Lyr smiled as he strode through the parting crowd towards his parents, Queen Eleanor on his arm regally. As he neared his parents and grandmother, Princess Abigail ambled through the crowd and starred into her brother’s eyes, “Are you really the king now?”
King Lyr swooped the ten yen-ar old princess into his arms playfully and kissed his sister’s cheek, “What do you think, Abigail?”
Abigail shrugged, “I don’t know.”
Lyr hugged his sister affectionately, “Well, the law says I’m king, but you know what? I think I am still your big brother so you know what? If you need anything, you tell me. You don’t have to bow or anything – not for at least five more yen-ars, okay? Do we have a deal?” Abigail nodded vigorously. Lyr squeezed her tight, and then put her down. Abigail wandered over to her mother and took her hand. Eleanor smiled proudly at Lyr as he addressed those in attendance, “Peers of Beinan, honoured guests, I thank you for coming celebrate the new yen-ar with Queen Eleanor and myself. Though our sorrows will remain for a time, I pledge to serve you with wisdom, humility, and respect for all Beinarians, guided by the wisest among our many houses. To that end, I appoint our high priest and high priestess to my privy council. Not only are High Priest Corann and High Priestess Anlei some of the wisest among us, but I have the honour of being their first born son. And so I ask all of you to charge your glasses and salute them with me. Long live Corann and Anlei, High Priest and High Priestess of Beinan!”
As the crowds echoed the king’s toast, Anlei felt an odd sensation in her heart, a tranquillity that transcended circumstance and her grief over losing her parents. In that xiao-shir she grasped the future. Lyr and Eleanor were going to succeed where she and Corann could not, guided by the wisdom of house Miyoo, the strength of house Ten-ar, and the passion for exploration of house Xing-li. In the yen-ars that followed, King Lyr IV and Queen Eleanor were true to their word. As part of the king and queen’s Privy Council, they partnered with their son who never lost his humility towards them.
On BE 6458, beinor 33, Queen Eleanor gave birth to their first child, a daughter they named Elaine. Six point eight five two seven yen-ars later, on BE 6465, beinor 4, Prince Pellinore followed. On BE 6470, beinor 49 Eleanor gave birth to their son Gareth who ascended the throne himself in BE 6500. King Gareth II wed his cousin, Lady Lynessa of house Xing-li on BE 6526, beinor 46, despite Lynessa’s sealed betrothal to his older brother Prince Pellinore.
On BE 6589, beinor 8, Princess Consort Lynessa gave birth to Gareth’s only heir, Princess Darla. Princess Darla wed Lord Healer Torr of house Xing-li, one of house Xing-li’s most skilled mind healers. Darla ascended the throne on BE 6749, beinor 185, giving birth to twins Kendric and Cathryn on BE 6750, beinor 22. Prince Kendric became childhood friends with his distant cousin Elendir, son of Lord Healer Devon and Lady Healer Keelia of house Ten-ar, sweeping the entire royal family into the tumult that followed all the descendants of Anlei and Corann. For Cariadoc, and his children by Lady Jebez could not forget the disgrace of Janus, a name that would haunt Beinan for hundreds of yen-ars to come, a ghost from the past not readily dismissed.
Behind the Scenes
Research and supporting data behind the Great Succession Crisis.
A Matter of Faith: Religion on Planet Beinan
Laudate domina luna. (Praise Lady Moon.)
Laudate deam terra. (Praise the goddess of the earth.)
Laudate deam albus falcones. (Praise the goddess of white falcons.)
De hac benedixit matutinus. (On this blessed morning)
Sea, beidh mé ag onóir an bandia anseo. (Yes, I will honour the goddess here.)
I fheiceann tú mé a aghaidh naofa. (I see your holy face.)
A bheith beannaithe an lá seo ag teacht. (Be blessed this day coming.)
Lig dúinn teacht ar gach ghrá. (Let us all find love.)
In this song from a wedding scene in book two, “Ghosts of the Past” we gain a glimpse into the dominate Beinarian religion, a goddess religion focusing on their three goddesses Abka Biya, Banumu Hehe, and Abka Gahun.
Religion is a huge part of the human experience, particularly in our so-called “middle ages” spanning from around the 6th century of the Common Era through the 15th century “Renaissance” (which means “rebirth”) and 15th through 17th century “Reformation.” Religion is part of who we are as societies of our planet. To create a truly comprehensive feudal society without religion would be to neglect its place in our cultures, our values, and our imagination.
Religion on planet Beinan follows two major religious currents in our societies: polytheism and monotheism. Across our history, polytheism has dominated; the idea of a single deity is brand new when put in the scope of human history and evolution. Archaeology shows us that our earliest human ancestors tended to believe in one or more goddesses who sometimes, but not always, had male consorts. In antiquity (some might call it “pre-historic”), the goddess or goddesses ruled our spiritual life. Time has erased the names of countless goddesses worshipped in our distant past. Yet the iconography and artwork do survive in burials and discovered ancient buildings, even if we have forgotten how to understand the physical evidence in front of us.
This known trend in human religious evolution is reflected in my decision to make the dominate religion on Beinan a triple goddess religion. Why a triple goddess? Why not a single male god or a large pantheon of goddesses and gods such as most of us are familiar with when learning about ancient Greek culture?
Perhaps the best answer to that is my own inner perception of the prevalence of trinity goddesses in ancient European beliefs. Indeed, that hypothesis seems largely validated by Jona Lendering’s article, “Matres, Matronae, or Mothers” which describes a wide spread pattern of trinity goddesses across ancient Europe:
“The most remarkable aspect of this cult is the endless variety of (Celtic, Latin and Germanic) names. For example, we know that there were Alaferhuic mothers, Cartovallensic, Rumaneheic and Vatviaic-Nersihenic mothers. These names are believed to be topographical and may refer to springs, but this is an invalid argument, because the ancient topographical names are almost all unknown. Other names describe qualities of the mothers, like the Matres Paternae ('fatherly mothers' or 'ancestral mothers'). Some triplets seem to have limited their activities to one single ethnic unit, like the Hamavehic and the Hiannanefatic mothers of the Chamavi and Cananefates -- both living in the country that is now called The Netherlands. The shrine of the Aufanian mothers was at Bonn.
“It is a colorful set of names, but it is hard to give an interpretation of this cult. The first one to do so was the Roman general Julius Caesar, who wrote in the sixth book of his famous Commentaries on the War in Gaul that the Gauls venerated Minerva. Several modern scholars have taken this as a reference to the mothers. We know that in the continental Celtic religion triplism played a role. From Medieval Irish sources we know that the great goddess, queen Morrígan, resolved into three Morrígna: Morrígan, Badb, and Nemain. This would explain why Caesar could describe the triple goddess with one name.”
While I have yet to establish a singular name for the Beinarian trinity goddess, you do see this trinity concept reflected in that sometimes I use the singular and sometimes the plural when referencing this trinity.
In Wicca, the trinity is also ever-present. Wiccans talk about “the Goddess” and “the God” not so much as a single being, but a trinity. The goddess is “mother, maiden, and crone” while the god is the male analogous “youth, father, and sage.”
History and archaeology also point to the antiquity of the goddess or goddess and god belief compared to patriarchal monotheism. Archaeology tells us that the first known experiment with patriarchal monotheism was in Egypt under the 18th century BCE pharaoh Akhenaten. Akhenaten’s religious revolution was very short lived. Centuries later, Judaism would slowly evolve into a patriarchal monotheistic religion, though perhaps not as e
arly as most people believe. Artefacts found and interpreted by archaeologist William Dever point to a strong goddess-centric current (particularly among women) in ancient Israel that either pre-dated or co-existed (perhaps in conflict as suggested by Biblical accounts) with emerging monotheism. By the 1st or 2nd century of the Common Era, whatever currents of goddess-centrism mostly melted away, yet retained in certain cultural features of Jewish life such as counting Jewish blood matrilineally.
Perhaps the most surprising residual of ancient Hebrew goddess worship rests in one of the most iconic symbols of Judaism: the menorah. The first menorah is described in Exodus chapter 25, verses 31-37,
“Make a lampstand of pure gold. Hammer out its base and shaft, and make its flowerlike cups, buds and blossoms of one piece with them. Six branches are to extend from the sides of the lampstand—three on one side and three on the other. Three cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms are to be on one branch, three on the next branch, and the same for all six branches extending from the lampstand. And on the lampstand there are to be four cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms. One bud shall be under the first pair of branches extending from the lampstand, a second bud under the second pair, and a third bud under the third pair—six branches in all. The buds and branches shall all be of one piece with the lampstand, hammered out of pure gold. Then make its seven lamps and set them up on it so that they light the space in front of it.”
In “The First Couple: Yahweh and Asherah,” librarian Vorjack cites Margaret Barker in describing this almond tree and floral design as symbolic of the Hebrew/Canaanite goddess Asherah. Most modern menorahs, of course, omit this floral motif in their design. But it is telling that the original menorah as mandated by Moses in the Torah was supposed to be fashioned in this almond tree design.
Menorahs, that most Jewish of symbols, reflects the Hebrew goddess and the many ancient and long forgotten cultural traditions that nevertheless ground this beinor’s Jewish identity.
Judaism influences Beinarian society through the choice of the name “Shem” for my monotheistic noble house. A sort of counterpart to the goddess-centric house Miyoo, house Shem exists to provide a balance and sometimes dramatic tension against house Miyoo. Worship of “The Shemai” (if that name for Beinan’s god directly means anything in any language, it is purely unintentional) gives a sort of nod to the Abrahamic religions of this planet: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Yet the religion itself does not represent any or all of them except in its most basic idea of worshipping a single, male god. Like J.R.R. Tolkien, I abhor allegory and its one-to-one symbolic relationship between the fiction and non-fiction.
Individuals in house Shem are like individuals in any of the other houses. Worship of The Shemai is not confined to house Shem, though it is not unusual for a convert to the religion to choose initiation in house Shem, just as the same person might choose initiation in house Miyoo or earn a place in house Ten-ar (a feat achieved by Prince Consort Bevin, a knight of Ten-ar born to house Balister).
As with any religion or religious identification, followers of The Shemai fall within a broad gambit of religious devotion and political viewpoints with fewer individuals at the extremes and most individuals possessing moderate views. These extreme positions create drama for the story, but in no way are intended to express judgment towards any religion or house affiliation.
In the story of Lord Knight Cariadoc (see data file one), Cariadoc is initially a middle of the road Beinarian when it comes to religion, not particularly caring one way or another. After Lady Priestess Cordelia uses her training to seduce Cariadoc into impregnating her, Cariadoc responds violently against what he feels is a violation of his free will. This leads him to the arms of Lady Jabez, a moderately devout woman from house Shem. Partially out of love and partially out of spite against Lady Cordelia, Cariadoc weds Lady Jabez in hopes of putting himself as far away as possible from house Miyoo in an act of open rebellion and spite towards Cordelia and the son Cariadoc never intended to sire.
This radicalizes Cariadoc, influencing all his children and spurring the fateful choices of his sons by Jabez. It is not religion that truly compels these men to do what they do so much as it is a hatred for what is perceived as an abuse of power by house Miyoo and a personal vendetta against Cordelia and her son Corann.
After Janus rapes and impregnates his sister Lady Ecter, Janus discovers that religion, at least in name, serves his quest for power and revenge better than any other socio-political tool available to him.
In his heart, Janus himself is not particularly religious – but he is willing to use religious rhetoric for political gain when expedient, as do those of his descendants willing to fulfil his promise of vengeance upon Corann, Anlei, and their descendants. Religion is a convenient excuse for Janus and his family. It is not the actual reason behind their actions.
Whatever your religion, it is my intent for the religious aspects of Beinarian culture to produce a level of realism to the story, reflecting our own human history here on Earth and reflecting our collective imagination. As divisive as religion can be, its presence in our consciousness and unconscious realties make it worth acknowledging as part of what makes us human – no matter what planet we belong to.
The Great Succession Crisis Page 11
