“Oh, stop it, Dear.” Ma-we gently scolded, “I do not live in a cave. Few are the things that escape my attention.”
A butterfly settled down on Ma-we’s hand. She paused to examine it, stroking it with her finger. Eventually she returned to giving Mihai advice. “Learn from disaster.
At times a person must make a decision, the outcome being insignificant. At Memphis, you had to attack. I knew it and put it in my children’s hearts to do so. If you had refused to order that, I would have found another to do it. My tool, remember? My will...”
With a poof! Ma-we tossed the butterfly into the air, watching it spread its wings onto the breeze and drifting into the sky. She smiled, “There! I have given it freedom. If my little friend lives to plant its eggs under a leaf or if it becomes a meal for a hungry bird, little is the matter. Freedom does not guarantee success. It only guarantees freedom!”
“And there is the difference between my children and the positions of power they attain to.” Ma-we pulled her chair close so she could touch her daughter. After reaching out and taking Mihai’s hand, she continued, “I have given to all my children freedom…
freedom to choose good and bad… freedom to be wise or foolish… freedom to disagree, even with me. That is what freedom is all about.”
She shook her head. “Even your brother I refuse to bring to nothing. Freedom means that I…even I…will not bring the wicked to eternal emptiness. No. Does this mean they will not come to their end? Not at all!” She pointed toward the distant butterfly. “Remember, when one refuses to act shrewdly, a hungry bird will devour it.
The wicked no longer act shrewdly. They have entered a world filled with righteous birds who hunger to bring wickedness to nothing.
“Now, if your Mother will not bring down the wicked because of the freedom I have endowed them with, do you think I will force my loyal children to bend to my will?” She shook her head. “With my servants, I demand they do my will, as I demand with my field marshal. The field marshal shall accomplish whatever I wish. But my children…
well…” Ma-we played with Mihai’s fingers, her voice becoming chatty. “My children have freedom to choose what they wish to do. I never force them to do my will… never.
You must understand. To take away a person’s freedom is the greatest of all thefts. Far better it is to send the universe to damnation than to steal freedom from the least of my children.”
She stared up into Mihai’s eyes. “And you are far from the least...” then shrugging, added, “Besides, if I did steal that freedom, directly or indirectly, the universe might fall into damnation eventually anyway, for I could not live with myself over such a theft. I very might well bring the universe to nothing because of my own grief!”
Curious, Mihai asked, “How, then, does one tell the difference between selfishness of the heart, the desire to satisfy one’s flesh, and honest freedom, the need to do what is right for the soul?”
Ma-we grinned. “Need I remind you of your education? I will not waste our day explaining the basics of your EbenCeruboam, for you have studied it well. What I will say is this…” She began waving her hand as she went on. “Having all knowledge of something is not necessary when reasoning is added. The reasoning person will close up the barn, considering a storm might arrive late in the night. And a wise person will reason that a sword’s blade is as sharp as a knife’s. It is the principle of the matter.
Principle is based on the harmonic law ‘If the falling boulder will crush you, a crashing meteor will do no less’.”
“So, if you reach out to the harmonics using a little reasoning, you will comprehend what is selfishness of the heart or flesh and what is necessary food for the soul. It is not the mind dictating through its logic, and it is not the heart, alone, feeling its way along. It is the balance of mind and heart. If you carefully use them both, you will gain success.
Even if the decision should cause you pain, it will not bring you doom.”
She slapped Mihai’s hand. “My dear one, if you listen to the harmonic music surrounding you… and, may I add, enhanced by the ring you wear yet despise, you will not falter…ever!”
Mihai’s face belied her confusion.
Ma-we sputtered, “I do not have all day to put a fire in your brain. Child, have you ever told me an untruth?”
Mihai groaned. “Yes, once long ago when I was little more than a babe. I tried to hide from you the beautiful stone I stole from your garden.”
Ma-we peered into Mihai’s eyes. “But you confessed your bad deed to me, without my asking. Why?”
“Because…” Mihai thought a moment, “because it felt wrong . Something inside me said I had acted inappropriately. I was a bad girl.”
Ma-we smiled again. “There! Enough said. When you listen to the harmonics, you will never falter. Never!”
( Author’s note: I feel it necessary to insert what was held in common knowledge by all of Ma-we’s children of that day: the relationship between that of the fabric of the minds, the harmonics, and the living soul. The following excerpt is taken from a lecture given me by the Maker of Worlds on a sojourn with her into the secret lands of the North.
“Every living cell has a minute amount of this fabric sticking to the tiny ladder-like structures found within it. When two reproductive cells come together, the fabric of the two bonds as one, but yet each remembers its own individuality. As the cells grow and divide, a little part of this bonded fabric is transferred to the new cells because the cells form around part of the tiny ladders to which the fabric is clinging. As the new cells grow, this fabric attracts random pieces of the same fabric to it, and then changes them into exact copies of itself. The gathering continues until it has regained its full size again. This process of replication ensures that every fiber of the living organism will have a copy of the original fabric within it.
“Now, because cells from two parents produce one cell, the fabrics of the two parents mix together. As with the rest of the body, the offspring now has parts of both personalities or minds of the parents.
The best part is yet to come! At a certain stage of growth, super-collector cells start to develop. The fabric within them gathers a much greater amount of the random pieces around itself. The tiny ladders become coated with this fabric. The concentration becomes so great that the cells start to take on independent thought. As the number of these cells multiplies, they start to cooperate and communicate with each other, forming separate communities within the growing body. Eventually, a brain and nervous system come into existence.
“All living things, regardless of which universe they are in, possess the same fabric and it reacts the same way with them. All I needed to do was transfer your fabric from one body to the next, even if it was just one cell. In that way, your personality was transferred from one realm to another. Your mind is a slightly different story.
“For now I will add only this: The fabric in the cells is all woven in with the music of the universe. That is how you are able to feel the harmonics. Those trained to listen to the interrelationship between the music and the other fabric can often discern if a decision made is in harmony with the music. If it is not, a feeling of discord flows through them.”)
Who of Ma-we’s children could not recite verbatim all of Mother’s words concerning life and harmonics? Why, the essence of harmonic life and conscience were the first major lessons taught to the children, beginning from infancy. Any child instructed at the feet of this wisest of all people knows far more concerning this science
than those of you schooled in the greatest of institutions and taught by the ablest of educators. Mihai understood full well the real meaning of Mother’s teaching.
What Mihai could not comprehend was the gravity of her soon to be made choices.
For a person of humble heart, as was Mihai, it would be difficult to believe that one person could affect the future of the universe. Oh, yes, Ma-we knew, and all too well.
Her little butterfly had been given its freedom, and how it chose to use that freedom might well judge for all living things the past, present and future. How very well Ma-we knew this.
This was not to say that Mihai did not understand she was to make important decisions this day. Ma-we did not waste words at times like this. With this in mind, she asked with all seriousness, “Mother, Maker of Worlds, the one who knows what good exists in dark places and can see the finish before something is begun, what must your child do to clear her mind and heart of empty matters so that she is able to hear clearly the music of harmonious songs?”
Ma-we reached out, firmly gripping Mihai’s hands in hers, lowering her head as she pondered such a question. At length, she lifted her eyes and smiled, asking, “Does one smell the storm with their mind or heart? And if it is with the mind, how does the heart affect the decision one makes concerning that storm?”
Mihai puzzled, saying not a word.
Answering it herself, Ma-we replied, “It is the heart that considers the storm’s potential, stirring with memories past of tempests endured. The heart recommends the mind to prepare for whatever may be delivered upon person and property.”
She let go a hand, waving it. “The beast does not recall a thing with its heart. It waits until thunder rolls across the plain or a downpour brings the raging flood. Then its heart sends it into a panic or drives it into deep forgetfulness. Either way, the beast does not warn its mind to prepare, so invites the Fates to choose for it life or death.
“Do you not see the cattle flee for the trees when lightning rules the sky, and the bison rush madly toward the cliffs at the crashing of thunder? Why, even the horse will abandon all common sense and return to a burning barn for safety. You see, the heart of a beast recalls no past and cannot discern the future. It does only what impassions it at the moment. It attempts no conference nor seeks any council with the mind.”
She patted Mihai’s hand. “My darling daughter, born of my flesh, created in my very image, you must not allow your mind to suppress your heart. Your kind have invented many machines with minds that can think and even reason. But they must have their power harnessed by the hearts of men, for they care not for friend or foe and feel no shame in crushing the innocent along with the guilty.”
“Also,” She shook her finger, “you must not allow your heart to rule your mind.
Many are the wise who have fallen into darkness because they listened to wicked reasonings and prattle that soothed and comforted the heart when, at the very same moment, their minds could see the utter folly of such reasonings.
“Do not forget my prophet and seer, AsreHalom! He stood among the greatest of my chief counselors, dispensing wisdom that even I marveled at. Like the Cherubs in understanding he was, showing greater insight than PalaHar, Tolohe, and even Ardon.
Yet he fell away to the dark persuasions of Legion and Godenn, becoming worse than either in cruelty and evil.”
Ma-we looked into the sky, speaking as though to herself, “He was not deceived like so many others were, for he, through his own insight, saw from afar the calamity of rebellion and the eternal ruin it could bring.” She looked back at Mihai. “It was AsreHalom who penned the words of the book, “PolutelesHuperephania: the Great Price of Pride” . He knew from his own self-induced visions the future, but surrendered it all up to a fickle heart.”
Wiping a tear from her eye, Ma-we went on, “So, my dear one, you can see that both the mind and the heart will think and reason on matters. Each will produce its own counsel. What you must do is force them to sit down together as allies, not opponents, and work out a battle strategy that will bring you, their ward, safely through whatever storm that may crash upon your shore.”
She warned, “AsreHalom fell victim to his own unrestrained emotions, those same emotions given to my children for the dream share. Such emotions move two lovers to share an ecstasy that only immortals can enjoy in reality. This ecstasy is so great, I had to design my children’s minds to make a disconnect from their bodies of flesh when experiencing this dream share in order to preserve their flesh alive. But that you already know.
“The point is this: unrestrained emotion was a gift given by me to my children when the world was innocent and carefree. In these troubled times, one must carefully control it” she lowered her voice, “or it can gain rulership over the thinking of the heart and even the mind and bring the soul and all that belongs to it to ruin.
“Please, my dear, understand this.” Ma-we’s voice fell to little more than a hush.
“You must never allow this form of emotion to gain mastery over your mind and heart. It ever seeks its own selfish reward, lying to your soul the reasons for its deceptive passions, haunting your thoughts and flooding them with doubt concerning future rewards and hopes… telling your heart, ‘never will you see such joy unless you satisfy my desires’.
“Child, it cries out to your soul, confessing a lasting loneliness if it sees not its wishes fulfilled. Lost love, bad times, hope delayed, postponed dreams, anything that can make your heart ache, this monster will use to induce you to do its will. It listens not to the music… not now… not anymore.” Ma-we bowed her head in sadness. “Its songs of love have stolen so many of my children away and journeyed them into the darkness beyond all hope. There it slowly eats away any goodness remaining until only its evil passions remain.”
She shook her head. “Until this age of evil passes far from view, I fear the gift of the dream share will remain a two-edged sword. Until your Shiloh can fully effect the cure…and that will be far into the next age…some of my children shall remain slaves to their own emotional demons.”
Ma-we’s sadness showed clearly in her eyes as she peered into Mihai’s face. “One so precious to my flesh, you opened your heart up to a man you trusted beyond trust. He, for his part, murdered you that day so long ago, overloading an opened, innocent mind yearning the gift of the dream share with a malice which had never been experienced before or since in our universe.”
“I returned your power and strength to mind and flesh, but I could not repair your torn and tortured heart. My child, do not trust it for it has not yet fully healed. If you are
not careful, it will gladly listen to your emotions, believing a cure is imminent or that you have the power to restrain all feeling.”
Patting Mihai’s leg, Ma-we concluded her counsel. “Anger, hatred, lust, greed and jealousy and other such feelings are the progeny of the dream share emotion run amok.
They are the warped and twisted siblings of love, joy, peace, and contentment. They resist the harmony found in the universe, even creating a distorted music which produces the discord that threatens the very fabric of all living things.”
She warned, “No matter how troubling or complex your journey is, no matter the turmoil and disquiet your heart and mind must endure, if you can feel the sweet harmony of peace, love, or contentment, well…” She nodded her head. “Then you have found the music. It will never betray you in the end. Your journey will always find success.”
Mihai leaned forward, asking, “Mother…the music…does sadness or fear create the wrong music, too?”
Ma-we slowly shook her head. “No, my child, but either can distract your reasoning abilities to the point of blinding your senses to the musical harmonics. If you should become distracted by such things, you may misread the music, which may prove as dangerous as ignoring it.”
Seeing a growing concern on Mihai’s face, Ma-we quickly added, “A smart woman like you need not always depend on the sweet music, for it is only one of your many powers. Do not forget that your own mind has the ability to see the resulting future from acts committed. It is a very capable tool, full of reasoning and logic. A wise child learns to depend on all her gifts possessed - even an old stodgy ring that she might despise. You must become skilled with all your weaponry.”
Ma-we so much wanted to warn her daughter of her greatest weakness, but feared it would compromise the child’s freedom of choice. She knew that Mihai’s fathomless love for and devotion to her mother fueled her overpowering desire to please Ma-we as well.
This devotion could easily blind the girl of the need to have her own heart satisfied. Still, Ma-we remained silent. ‘The child must choose for herself.’
Sitting back, Ma-we slapped her knees, exclaiming, “Enough of that! On with business!” Relaxing, with folded hands in her lap, she continued, “This morning you requested to be relieved of your command as field marshal.” She squinted, asking, “Is that still how you feel?”
Taken aback, Mihai hesitated before replying. “Why…why, why, yes, I believe it will be best for all parties. I…”
Ma-we jauntily interrupted, “I accept your resignation! Long before you entered my domain, I perceived this moment and have given consideration to this matter, having already chosen your replacement!”
To say that Mihai was shocked would be an understatement. Not allowing time for her reply, Ma-we quickly moved to assuage any possible hurt feelings. “Michael, god of the armies and all the northern mountains, there has never been nor will there ever be a better commander and chief over the armies than you have been. Yet I have seen the stress in your soul for many long days and some time ago set the wheels of fate in motion to relieve you of this most worrisome of responsibilities.”
Mihai felt herself slow of wit on occasion, but she could clearly see that the timing of her return to EdenEsonbar had been well orchestrated to coincide with this very minute.
This was no random meeting, nor was it contrived by Mihai. She had been set up big-
time, and by her own mother! Her accusative question reflected her sense of betrayal.
“Soooo…who did my innocent mother happen upon so quickly to fill such an important position in her government?”
A dancing, winged beetle suddenly caught Ma-we’s undivided attention. For the longest time, she chatted on about its strange and wonderful qualities.
At length, Mihai put an end to her mother’s charade. “Mother! It is not an uncommon insect and you know it full well! Why do you play with me?! You have chosen my successor. That’s enough. Just tell me who it is...er…please...”
Sweet innocence reflected on Ma-we’s face as her lilting voice softly answered, “My dear one, I intended to seek your permission.” She nodded. “Yes, I did. But… er…
well, you know… things came up… intruded, you might say. By the time you arrived…
late, as I had predicted… the choice had been made, with the council’s approval, of course.”
“Who, Mother? Who?!” Mihai’s patience was wearing thin.
As Ma-we became absorbed in the antics of another of her little creatures, she so casually replied, “TrishaQaShaibJal...”
Mihai almost jumped from her seat, her face reddening in anger and astonishment.
“Trisha from the lost city of nowhere?! A land forgotten in the mist of time?! Why an urchin of an unknown sire whose bloodline is unsure and strength unproven? My own people do not know this creature. How could you allow them to trust to her kind and of such untested nature? At least we have a record of life for others like AlbaMagadan, Tabitha Copeland, or… or even Symeon, but not for her!”
Ma-we did not take her eyes off the little bug as she calmly commanded, “Sit down, Peter. Hurrying feet in the darkness see not the tree roots that will cause calamity.
Please sit down.”
Grumbling, Mihai sat, staring into her lap.
Allowing moments to pass, Ma-we studied her daughter, finally asking, “Why do you hate the one who gave you breath this very day, the one I sent to you as comforter? I watched to see your love and passion rise for her on this very morn, and your parting words revealed only endearment. How has this woman suddenly become an abomination in your eyes? Tell me, please, why have you accosted an innocent heart?”
Feeling shame for her outburst against a close friend, but still showing resentment for her mother’s decision, Mihai quietly answered, “It is true, I love this woman, but as a companion dear, not some warrior to lead my…er…your people. She is untested in so many ways and…and I have not found her that impressive in her leadership role which you requested of me to give.”
Finally, Mihai’s real reason was revealed. “Mother, there are many warriors from this world who have proven themselves valiant beyond valiant. They deserve such a great gift be granted them. They deserve to be recognized for their whole-souled devotion to our cause.”
Stopping her daughter, Ma-we asked, “If this position of field marshal is such a grand gift, why have you thrown it into the dirt, counting your years of wearing its crest as evil and forlorn? Why do you wish this upon your closest companions when you abhor it, yourself?”
Wagging a finger, Ma-we offered her kindly chastisement. “Unproved and untested in your eyes, maybe, and unknown, yes, but not only to you. Your enemy knows not of
the tempest rising in the east. My Daughters of the Blade do live, some even walking among us as I speak! Tonight you shall confess my Swords, and one you will reveal as master over my people.”
Mihai gasped, “Trisha is...?!”
“Yes!” Ma-we snapped. “And as for untrained, let me tell you, my Swords did not sleep while in the Field of the Minds! There were other forces working with them that have not yet touched your mind, teaching and training them in all the arts of war. Why, even Gabrielle cannot match them for knowledge gained. Now they walk among us, honing their skills for later days. Your soul shall one day bless this lost creature , for she will deliver it and many others from a calamity you, yourself, will have created.” She poked her finger in Mihai’s face. “Now tell me, why do you chafe at me giving to one from the Realms Below this gift of field marshal, instead of blessing one of your kind with it?”
Mihai lowered her head in thought. Her answer came with some effort. “I felt no discord, Mother, but my heart felt jealousy for long-time companions. It deceived me into thinking they were being slighted over honor given. Trisha is my friend and I do love and trust her, but…but my heart feels her a threat to our world like this gift bestowed upon her is a form of usurpation of my people’s glory.”
Ma-we shook her head, again wagging her finger. “The glory of your kind must fade. You, yourself, prophesied this very day long ago, reinforcing it through visions given to your trusted companion, John. You must take the lead in passing it along to these strangers from distant worlds if you wish to see victory in the end. Already I detect subtle jealousy growing among the children. You must put an end to it tonight!”
Mihai’s face lit up with surprise. “How am I to do such a thing?! Tonight belongs to you and your new field marshal. I shall be standing in the shadows as one of the observers.”
A sly twinkle grew in Ma-we’s eyes. “The breeze does not always drift in from the west. Flowers do not always open in the morning. We must not conclude our fate based upon the past, nor should we discount the sun when the rains shower upon us.” She sat back. “Tonight has not yet been decided. Whether you hide in the shadows or stand above the others is yet to be determined. Do not hurry the future, but learn that your heart is treacherous and deceitful. Wait upon the moment, seeing not to a distant hour.”
“Now, I again ask you...” Ma-we stood, walking around her chair and resting her hands on its back. “respectfully I ask you, do you approve of my choice of Trisha as our new field marshal?”
Mihai rose and walked to the balcony railing, staring into the jungle growth below.
At length, she sighed, “The news you bring to my ears is good, but surprising. Long have I yearned to see one of Shiloh’s living Swords, often wondering if they should come from these worlds. Had I not known that Trisha was one selected to be a Sword, I would still decline my acceptance of her in such a role, feeling her under-qualified for the position.”
With eyes seeking acceptance of her feelings, Mihai turned toward her mother.
“Please do not hate me for my lack of faith in your choices, but I still cannot see what shines so clearly in your mind. My training as a soldier warns me not to fully trust others’ suggestions and conclusions if I cannot discern matters myself.” She nodded approvingly. “You’re wise…so wise. I’m sure our Trisha will be a good commander.”
Grinning, Ma-we thanked her daughter for accepting her choice, adding, “Do not think your old soldiering out of line. More often than not it will preserve you and others alive. It is well that you have remembered it.”
Walking over to Mihai, Ma-we slipped an arm through hers. She could see the trouble hiding behind the woman’s eyes and sought to expunge it. “My Love, how I love you, and those who are like you. There are many truly great leaders among your siblings.
I can see in the coming maelstrom a grand crowd of them will surrender everything to accomplish the removal of evil from this land. From among your own kind, new and powerful leaders will rise, and shall become more renowned than those who have come before.
“Child, there is still to come a man-child who shall become greater in stature and power than even you have become. You will bend your knee to him before he even arrives, for you will see his future glory with your insight. My Love, this Trisha from forgotten lands is no less capable a leader than this coming Shiloh. That is why she is to take up the sword in his stead, so that my children will gain a glimpse of the Whirlwind.
“The hour is soon coming on which the history of the entire universe will hinge. It will not determine who is fit to rule. If it were only that, I would have surrendered the world to your brother long ago and left for unreachable places to begin anew a race of children to comfort me. But it is much more than that, so much more.”
“What, Mother?” Mihai quietly asked. “If we do not fight for you and what is righteous and good, what do my brothers and sisters die for?”
Ma-we patted her daughter’s arm. “You do fight and die for what is righteous and good, but that good is far grander than to decide who stands as chief over what is mere dust and stone. Your cause transcends the mundane and erstwhile things of this universe.
You fight for the very souls of all the living, dead, and those yet to come. My dear one, you fight for life itself.”
A dark cloud swept Ma-we’s face as she squeezed Mihai’s arm. “Please, dear, listen to me and let the prattle of a troubled soul fill your ears with long known words. Ages ago, when the worlds of men were little more than a dream, the wise of that day gathered to a great council, searching for answers to the question, ‘How shall the universe of material things be constructed?’ By the measurements of time, reckoned by your kind, a lifetime of star-systems came and passed again and again before the council was concluded. But for those present, it was as if only a moment.
“There was finally a consensus come among us as to the construction, it being primarily made of three strata. We called them ‘elements’, each independent of the other, but also combined in an amalgam so that the fate of one would become the fate of all.
The first stratum or element was what is commonly called the ‘Web of the Universe’.
Upon it, or into it, all the universes hang. Its power of artificial intelligence is what binds a universe together, never permitting its chaotic destruction.
“The second stratum has commonly come to be called ‘the Web of the Minds’. Into it all the essences of lasting life were placed. It is this web that is the actual reality of all living things, for it contains the true materials that make up the mind, made up of the pure, immortal essence of life. The material comprising this element can not be destroyed, for it is a singular form of energy, taken directly from the soul of the Giver of Life, not invented by her.”
Ma-we shook her head. “Although the fabric making up the Web of the Minds cannot be destroyed, it can dissipate. Indeed, it is part of its very design. You see, all living flesh gathers this fabric to itself, but without the interweaving effect created by the third element or strata, at the death of the flesh, the fabric scatters like the snow on a driving wind. Only to my manly, human creatures is the gift of eternal bonding between all the strata given. And by their very design, with knowledge, my children would one day gain the ability to tap into the power of this third element as some already have.”
“Allow me, please, to digress.” She swept her hand in a wide arc. “The council concluded that all life other than the children of my worlds needed to be temporary in order to produce the ultimate harmony and balance with the laws of the new universes.
Life, then, could be ever-changing, evolving, you might say, within a series of genetic laws implemented to rein in catastrophic diversity, something that could threaten life.
Ever-changing life would contribute to an ever-changing universe.” She gently poked her daughter’s arm. “Variety, ever-changing variety - it’s the spice of life, my Dear!
You never get bored when there’s always something new and unexpected to look forward to.”
Squeezing Mihai’s arm, Ma-we added, “The council decided that freedom such as I had in mind for my children could lead to their demise through possible accident, because their flesh would be made from the very dust of the universe, instead of my immortal being. I accepted the council’s recommendations, at least part of them, so that by giving each of my children an undying mind, I would never lose one to an accident brought on by my gift of freedom.”
Ma-we now returned to the explanation of the three strata. “As I have said, the third element upon which your worlds hang and survive is the most precious because it bonds all the parts of the universe together. Although all intelligence, real and artificial, depends on this element for its cohesive existence, its power resides only within my children here and in the Lower Realms. And they, alone, can tap into its energy or decide its fate.”
The way Ma-we was explaining the fabric of the universe was peculiarly strange and familiar all at the same time, especially this third constructive strata. The study of EbenCeruboam concerned itself primarily with the first two elements of the universal web, the third being explained by conflicting psychological theory and mathematical calculations relating to the actions of the harmonics, based upon the personal opinion of the individual educator.
Mihai excitedly interrupted, “You tell me of hidden secrets when you say we, alone, can tap into this strata and decide its fate. Still, what does it have to do with our long wars and the destiny of worlds?”
Ma-we slowed her daughter down with kindly counsel. “Now child, one can not make the wine before harvesting the grapes. Be patient and allow me to finish the harvest of information I have for you. Then you may make the wine to your liking.
“Hidden there are many secrets from you, but not all my children. There are those -
often not the wisest nor most renowned - who have deeper understanding than some of my greatest counselors. JabethHull, your one-time mentor, was such a man, but to himself he kept all things secret, as he should have.” She wagged her finger. “It was at my personal request that he allowed you passage with him, he being a recluse, finding
only Nhoset to his liking. You were so very blessed by his company. Recall your dream shares with him and wisdom will abound in your heart.”
“Mother?!”
Ma-we put a finger to Mihai’s lips, shushing her. “The day will ever march forward and tomorrow eternally remains an elusive dream. Catch the wind when it gathers from the west and waste not the hour before the calm. You and I have so little time. It is my turn to speak and your turn to listen.”
Mihai nodded, keeping silent.
“Good!” Ma-we grinned. “Now allow the breeze to catch your sails and I will tingle your ears with secrets that few have come to know and even fewer understand.” She reached up and cradled Mihai’s chin in her hand. “The hour has come for the revealing of hidden things. You must now begin to understand them.” Taking each other’s hand, the two started to slowly pace the long balcony. “The third element is a product of the ultimate formula of what you children call ‘mathematics’. It is the absolute equation, the very reason for the invention of your EbenCeruboam. Long have my children searched for this, believing it holds key to the secrets of the universe and beyond. Truth be said, it does, but not as my children think it should be.
“Child, dearest one of my flesh, there are others I love as much as you, but none I love more. You, child, you yourself are the closest living product in purity to this absolute equation. Its energy surrounds you in swaddling bands that bind you to its fate.
That is why just as it is with me, those filled with discord hate you, while the ones in harmony with the universe love you.
“Please do not misunderstand, my sweet lover, you are not made up of this element, but are bound up with it. There is a difference, which I will attempt to explain later.
Your birthing and early life were not noticeably different from that of my other children, other say, your fondness for snooping and inordinate need for reassurance of acceptance, the latter being most perplexing for me. Otherwise, you were only ordinary… sorry.
“Life went on, and after your coming of age, I got on to other matters more pressing, including the birthing of many more sons and daughters, among them your next sibling, Euroaquilo. It was not until your first sojourn beyond EdenEsonbar’s star system, and your returning…your sixtieth year, if I recall correctly…that I noticed a peculiar change within you. Indeed, it was after this time that Chrusion began to distance himself from you, as he later did with me.”
“You were not yet in your two-hundredth year, only beginning your formal education, when I handed you over to JabethHull. He, I decided, should tutor you in the ways of EbenCeruboam, the emerging study of universal law, because he had greater understanding of it than any of my other children. At his feet you were taught not theory but divine secrets I had shared with him. This also gave me opportunity to make a close study of you,” she grinned, “my captive specimen, to see just what was going on with you.
“Many were the things I discovered about my daughter. Oh, how intriguing you were, still are! This third element had entwined itself around your very being. Every fiber of every cell was alive with its energy, something I’d never seen to such an extent in any of my other children. Curiosity overwhelmed me, forcing me to search every part of your soul, seen and unseen, for a clue as to what made you so different.
“What I found was profound beyond my wildest imaginings, for it renewed a hope within me that I had all but abandoned. My joy soared to new heights, so much so, I ignored a growing gloom that was slowly creeping into your world.” Ma-we paused a moment in thought, asking herself, ‘Or was it that my daughter was now providing such a shining contrast, I could finally see what had always been there?’
She shrugged. “Whatever… I could find nothing physically, mentally or emotionally different between you and your fellow siblings. There was nothing about you that was special except… let me think, how do I explain this? Except the way your mind interacted with this third elemental building block. It was as if your mind – the invisible part made up of the Web of the Minds – the real you…it was as if your mind was calling out to the third element, drawing it in to itself.
“You, my child...you had become the living equation to the revealing of the very secrets of the universe! And what was so profound to me was that you… your heart and mind… had formulated its composition and structure, nurturing it until you had mastered it flawlessly. Somehow, you discovered then crafted the perfect harmonic music, creating a near true image of my heart within yourself.” Ma-we laughed. “And you never knew it! “This was most important! You see, not by my hand had my most precious creation come into existence, but by yours did it take place. What a gift to me, to have one of my own give back to me what I so much needed but could not create for myself!”
Mihai could no longer contain herself. “Tell me, please, Mother! Tell me, please, what this magic formula is that I created!”
Ma-we laughed. “Oh child, do you not understand?! On your own - in your heart and mind - you made the near perfect magic of harmonic music, tapping your soul into the wonders of universe, the foundation of which is made of my perfect essence. It is this essence that built the third element, strata, and it is what binds all things together. I made it that way. It is also what makes my heart rejoice the most.”
“What does, Ma-we…Lowenah…my sweet Mother, what does?!”
Again Ma-we laughed. “Why, the perfect equation, my Cherished One. It is what I have encourage all men to search for, but until you unlocked its coded secrets, it had remained a mystery to the others.” Loneliness grew in her voice. “And I was beginning to believe that no one ever would…or could...”
Ma-we perked up, squeezing Mihai’s hand and smiling. “Now I knew that the others, all the others could attain to the same level, evolve to new heights of awareness that have no bounds or hold any secrets. I also had a mentor to teach the others, if only by example, how to attain the near perfect concept, maybe even perfect concept of what you call ‘mathematics’.”
Placing her hand on her chest, Mihai gasped, “Me…a mentor?! How?! I knew nothing of what you were doing and I taught no one a thing other than how to speak at the wrong time and impute wrong understanding while doing it.”
Ma-we grinned. “Oh, yes, my impetuous chatterbox! So true it was that you tried the patience of many of the older children. But you were the key to their unlocking the secrets of EbenCeruboam, the secrets of the universe. I needed to pass you among them, no matter how painful and trying it was for them.” She winked. “You were their only hope.”
There was a twinkle of satisfaction in her eyes as she peered into Mihai’s. “Many were the ones you educated. Oh yes, most did not - still don’t realize what they were learning. You changed them, brought them closer to the pure music, which drew the essence of the third element in to them…their hearts. A few others like Tolohe grew to consciously understand it in their hearts and became silent mentors, themselves.”
“But it was you, child, that I gave my heart away to. Your music was sweetest of all.
Oh, how my heart sang in rapturous song over you!” She squinted, eyeing her daughter.
“Did you have no sense about you to wonder at my constant attention upon my treasure after your departure from Jabeth and Nhoset? Did you not see my fingers at work when, suddenly, so many of my older children began paying such a young, foolish, sibling so much undue attention?
“After you had mastered your education and been put through many trials to test your metal, and after you had reached an age acceptable to my other children, I brought you into my court along with Euroaquilo, your next younger sibling, thus keeping your heart humble. You became my emissary.” Ma-we shook her head. “All right, you were one of my messengers, but very much like an emissary. Anyway, my children got to know you.” She shook her finger. “And you did rub off on them, subtly, mind you, but rub off, nonetheless.”
Ma-we stopped her pacing. “You thought yourself so unimportant and insignificant, you could not see the effect you had on others. Oh, true, you were not honored like my princes and wise counselors, but you did not go unnoticed. Long before I lifted you up to grandeur by giving into your hand the Lower Realms of men, my caring children adored you and who you were.”
She stared at the floor. “Your brother grew angry with me when I gave you the Lower Realms. He did not understand, could not, for he had already grown beyond your kind, or should I say he had never grown up to it, but remained as a babe to selflessness, seeking only his own wanton desires.”
Now lifting her eyes to Mihai’s, she explained, “You see, my Lovely One, it was not you who my son came to hate and murder, but what was inside you. He realized that the world of Earthly men, being taught by you, would become like you in this quality. They would learn to sing this alluring song and draw the third element to themselves, thus singing their music to me and not to him. His objective was to destroy your music, ruin the key that unlocks the secret universe of the heart and twist it so that it could only produce unimagined ugliness.”
“You mean he intended not my death?!” Mihai cried. “He only wanted to hurt me?”
Ma-we stroked her daughter’s hand. “Your brother accomplished just what he desired and I, in my foolish innocence, did not see it until… until it was nearly too late…
and even then it was only by accident, as you know so well how Darla saved us all a most awful fate. Because of that discovery, we have been given time…time to perfect a healing while holding to the laws of the universe.
“Yes, to answer your question, your brother sought not your death, though making it appear to be such, so that his real purpose would remain hidden until it came to its fatal fruition. Then it would be too late to alter the Fates of history and then he, he supposed, could force me to abandon this universe to him, allowing him forever to satisfy his selfish desires to the limit.” She shook her head. “He is stupid…so selfish…stupid! Little does he know or wants to know the final results should he find success with his evil plans.”
Ma-we began anew, stroking Mihai’s arm. “And that is why you must know what is at stake here and that the music played into this third element can either bond all living things together or rent them asunder, turning the universe - if there still is one - into a lifeless mass of stone and dust.”
The two again took up strolling the balcony, Ma-we continuing, “There is so much I could explain, but the hours are not long enough in this age to tell you all I could. I will tell you this: Your brother understood that you were the key to my success for helping the others learn the secrets of this last element, both here and in the Realms Below. He also knew that once fully unlocked or understood, there would be nothing impossible for my children to do, so to speak. There would no longer be any need for his rulership, at least as a leader over the people.
“Chrusion feared his loss of glory, place among the people as ‘Chief Host, God Personified’, as he pictured himself. If he could warp the key so that it sang discord, it, better than all other children, could inflict damage to this third element, corrupting it to his liking or crushing forever its furtive power. Either way, he saw himself as the winner, becoming the Eternal Father over all the universe.
“Your brother also knew he must act quickly to stop your musical harmonics from infecting the world of men, something that would be so easy to do with young minds thirsting for knowledge. That is why he pushed the hour of your torment. I had unwittingly forced his hand the day I gave to you complete governance over the world of men. If permitted, you’d contaminate those creatures all too soon, they looking up to you as the god of Wisdom, and they would not consider him as of any worth.
“But he deceived himself into thinking you weak of mind, having little if any inner strength. The monster he planted in your mind was expected to overtake your soul long ago. What he could not understand was the inner strength you had and that, combined with the fibers your music gathered from the third element, made you nearly invincible from the demon’s attacks. Notice I said ‘nearly’ .. .”
She stopped strolling again. “Eventually, if you do not remove it from your mind, your brother will attain success in what he has attempted. If you are in your mortal self, then you will die. If you have become immortal, it will drive away your sanity, delivering you into a world of damnable abomination, never to regain your senses again.
Either way, it will lead to the eventual demise of everything mortal, my heart breaking, bringing an end to all that is held together by it.”
Taking hold of the hand of a very astonished Mihai, Ma-we opened it and began playing her finger across her palm. “The hope of your mortal cleansing has passed on.
Its hour ended this very morn. Now you must wait until your immortal flesh is delivered upon you. Until then, I will provide a helper to keep your demon in check. And, at an hour of need I will provide another, a man-child, who already sings the music that unlocks the elements. He will accomplish what I have not.”
Hushing Mihai, Ma-we explained, “I sent my child to the world of men for this very reason. To save men? Do your really think your sacrifice in death on some lonely desert mount could save men? By law it did, but it was the power of your music that saved men and you, yourself. For while you lived upon the land, all the time you sang your song into receptive hearts that to this day drives men to act in strange and wonderful ways.
“Indeed, the power your music played on the hearts of men was far greater than even I expected. So great it was and still is, that it bonds their world together with surpassing
strength, so much so that the discord of evil produced is almost negated, thus slowing down the destructive forces attempting to rip that world apart. But it cannot hold things together forever.
“Even now there are signs of discord’s destructive forces at work, like here. The increasingly strange weather conditions and mass die-off of certain species of flesh are sure signs that the Web of the Universe is beginning to fray faster than it can repair itself.
The hour soon comes when all men in the Realms Above and Below must be tested to fitness. You, my Love, bought us time, but not eternity.”
Mihai’s eyes belied her lack of understanding. What music had she played as she walked as a man among people filled with the discord given them by their wicked-minded father? So great was their lack of harmony, their bodies could not survive a hundred years before surrendering to the evil.
Seeing her bewilderment, Ma-we chided, “Must I explain everything to one so dense? Have my clues, so simple, not opened your thoughts up to what I have been talking about?” She shook her head in mock amazement. “So! I guess I must spell it out. Oh dear…oh dear…
“Many men and women listening to your song succumb to it, surrendering up all things to search for me. At least they think it is me and, in a way, they are right. It is really the power of the elements they search for and many find but, upon finding it, they cannot personify it or well-define it, it being something they have never felt so strongly before.
“One man in particular, the one your heart developed such a yearning for that you pulled him from the corrupted darkness of discord into your musical light by directly singing your song to him while you basked in angelic glory, he penned best what the power of this element really is, for he likened it to the only known feeling it held semblance to. He called it ‘love’.
“This man, by his own reasoning…for I allowed him to write his letters by his own volition…this man could see that the love he spoke of was no mere feeling like the romantic and brotherly love of his day. He saw that love - power he spoke of - bonded the universe together, giving life to all things. He influenced his friend, John, to later write that I don’t have love, but I am love.
“So eloquently did this same man explain the effective contrasts between your harmonic music and your brother’s discord, he summed it up thusly:
‘The works against the Spirit are evident to all men of insight as belonging to the lower nature of beastliness, they being wanton and set free of goodness and right.
Among them are envy, indecency, fits of rage, selfish ambitions, dissensions, evil intrigues and jealousies. I warn you as I did before, those who surrender to such filth shall never see the face of God.
‘Those who have harvested the Spirit live a life flowing with love, joy when the world is dark, kindness when the power is to do ill, patience toward the secret person of another, fidelity toward a sworn oath or promise, self-control over the evil that lurks in all men, goodness when wickedness stands at the door, and gentleness when the foolish hurt the heart.
‘For the Spirit is our life and breath and without it we are nothing but unreasoning beasts, fit for little more than Gehenna. But the fruitage of the Spirit holds no bounds upon men, nor can any law be set up against it.’
“This man could see the three elements of the universe with his heart and he attempted to live by the very harmonics you revealed to him through your love songs.
Why do you think your heart fell so deeply fond of him? And why do you think I so quickly granted your wish to have him stand beside you in this realm?
“The Spirit this man writes about is what I call the third element, ‘HaschoBinie’, from an ancient tongue meaning, ‘all that must return to me’.” Ma-we hugged her daughter. “And you fulfilled a prophecy I had given myself in the Beginning Hope, when your worlds were still little more than dust.”
Ma-we released Mihai, sighed, and continued, “You asked me, ‘What reasons are there for the long wars?’ There are many, but these are the ones related to EbenCeruboam: First, my children are the ones who must bring to a finish what has been started by the Evil One. They stand responsible because they knew long ago that the freedom I had granted them afforded me no avenue to use my powers to stop the Rebellion. They were free to choose who they would follow. From their hand, by their blood, would the die be cast. The one who ruled, they would decide.
Second, while it has been sad for me to see my children suffer and die for my cause, the very trials endured by my loyal ones have accelerated the infusion of this third element among my children. This has strengthened the fabric within the First Realm, buying time for me to accomplish my purpose and bring my genetic experiments in the Second Realm to a successful conclusion.
Third, men and women in the Second Realm have been very fast learners regarding this EbenCeruboam. Though they know not of its existence...so many, in fact...I will be able to bring a large host of them into this realm if need be, to strengthen the Web here.
They will also hurry the end of wickedness much faster than my older children can.”
Ma-we nodded, eyes twinkling. “Wait and see. What few hundred I have delivered here will make this universe shake in the nearing cataclysm coming upon your kind!
When you witness what they will do, your mind will reel, thinking what an army of countless thousands will accomplish. And,” Ma-we squeezed Mihai’s hand, “I think I have answered your other question as well about the destiny of worlds. We must not allow the elements to falter.”
“Now, child,” Ma-we began their pacing anew, “let us return to our new field marshal. As you are well aware, many of my children are faltering, either by surrendering to the privations of war or failing to heed the cry to it. While it is true I can foresee coming events that will re-energize them, I dare not chance a return to conditions as they exist now. Why, the army is in such a pitiable state, if Chrusion attacked this moment, his battle fleets would soon be on our doorstep.
“Ah, but for the children of the Lower Realms! They are so much like Darla and Zadar, the youngest of my children. They have no memory of peace and carefree days.
Death and war are their birthing rings, the toys of their youth. They are both callous and brutal in the way they wage war, especially your little sister, Darla. It sometimes disturbs others the way they revel in destruction, but their energy is so very, very contagious!
“Do you recall the Battle of the Tower Gate, where General DinChizki ordered a daring attack against Legion’s forces, pushing them back, enabling a large part of your army to escape his deadly trap?”
Mihai slowly nodded.
“But were you ever told of the heroic deeds of a lone cavalry officer and her remaining company?”
“No,” Mihai answered. “Please tell me.”
Ma-we shared the little-known tale. “To the northwest, above the plain of shadow and death, a junior officer gathered the remainder of her badly mauled company to the rocky outcroppings overlooking that plain. To her front advanced the vanguard of Legion’s best division, led by the most feared regiment in all his army. The officer did not waver, but held her banner high, calling out to any who would listen, ‘To me! To me! We shall bring the Dragon down!’
“With horn blasts and cursing shouts, the officer and her little band three times charged the advancing host, three times stalling their advance. In their final thrust, she personally struck down Colonel WsesTfoll, the regimental commander, felling him with a lance through his throat, his soldiers faltering in momentary confusion, giving time for General Din’s troops to gain the valley’s position and hold the gap.
“Your valiant officer was brought down by a missile as she drew her surviving soldiers back. It was only by chance that someone came upon her, still clutching a dead companion, and pulled the officer to safety.”
Mihai was amazed at hearing of such valor. “This woman should be lauded among the bravest of the heroes honored among my people! Why did this report not come to my ears before this day?”
Ma-we shrugged. “It is the fate of war. For so many deserving recognition, no honor is given. Your officer languished among the wounded for many months while your army sought to reconcile its losses and weep over the slain at Memphis. No one remembered the soldier who held a battle line against thousands with a ragtag cavalry of less than eighty, of which only ten lived to tell the tale.
“To honor this woman is not the reason I have told you her account, and truth be told, you will shame her if you attempt to laud her for it now. Let it go, but remember this...your officer has not rested from war these many long years. She has faithfully served from the beginning of the Megiddo Wars up through the Great War, and stands the bulwarks still, sending her steel against the Stasis Pirates in the Trizentine. She has not faltered to this day.
“My dear daughter, it is her hatred of the Evil One and all that he has created that has preserved this child’s sanity down to this day. Yes, your love has saved you, but her anger and contempt have saved her. And that is also the way with the children from the Realms Below.”
“You speak of Darla?!” Mihai cried. “Why has she kept this secret from her sister?!”
“Enough, Michael. Let it go.” Ma-we waved her hand. “Some think Darla insane, sick of mind, ‘cracked’ some say. My child does what she does to survive her demon.
She tells others only what she believes they need to know. In isolation, the girl grieves over loss and in secret places she searches for her soul. Her cure is not your concern. Do not attempt to effect it.”
“And…” Ma-we poked Mihai’s arm, “honor and glory will come to your sister in their due time. The Fates cannot hold back an unstoppable storm. Let me assure you, as wondrous as are the deeds your sister has done, they pale to nothingness compared to the ones she will foment before the winds of fury have swept the evil from this land.”
Looking again into Mihai’s eyes, Ma-we confided, “My child, who can capture Time and lead it about as a slave? Not even I have the authority to do such a thing. So it is with the coming hour. Already there rides upon restless skies a new guard, the coming kings and queens of majesty and glory. In my mind, it is as if their deeds have already been accomplished. There is nothing else for it. I cannot alter it any more than you.
What is to be shall come to be. It will not be changed.”
Gazing into the sky, Ma-we measured the hour as if searching for some coming moment. “My child, my lovely child,” She looked into Mihai’s face, smiling, “a secret I shall tell you, though your wisdom should have already revealed it to you. The anger and rage my daughter displays does not harm the elements of the universe. In fact, they are nourished and strengthened by it, in much the same way your love does. You see, righteous wrath sings to the harmonics a sweet and terrible song, making it tough and resistant to any discord, while your songs of gentle refrain heal and nurture the Web.
Together, they have held back the destructive forces of Darkness down to this day.
“Why, if all my children should fall in battle, driving themselves forward onto the spears of the enemy, I believe that by their very death they could bring to a finish all that is evil. I do think that their collective battle cry would bond the cords of the universe into a filament so strong the Immortals, themselves, could never rip it asunder.” She shuddered at the thought. “But I wish that only as a last resort. My hope still lies elsewhere, with a much less damnable battle plan. And that is why I have delivered into your hand certain men and women from the Realms Below. They have carried with them the desire to bring to a finish all that is wicked. They will be brutal, harsh, showing no concern for the enemy, but their wrath will be as holy as your love is. They, I do believe, will effect the cure that will save all mortal life.
“My child…oh, sweet, lovely child, please come to trust Trisha. You do not yet know her. She is not as she appears. The woman suppresses her feelings in order to maintain a clear mind. Really, she is a brilliant strategist. Few have I witnessed to be better, and she is a cold and calculating warrior. Feelings will never get in her way when making war. As you have taught my children to love, Trisha will instruct them in the ways of hatred and rage.”
Ma-we glanced toward the sky. Her sensitive ears could hear Gradian’s Clock chiming the third hour past the noon high. ‘It has almost come.’ she thought. She turned to Mihai. “My lover of innocence, I will permit you a question…one and only one.
Make it good, filled with the wisdom of this moment.”
‘How strange,’ Mihai thought. Why was she to ask a question of Lowenah now, at this very moment? Wisdom? What question would be showing wisdom? She had so many. Funny, there was a rumbling in her heart of a nagging question troubling her for so many years, but she had felt it none of her business to ask. Should that be the question? It was not even related to this day’s discussion. She thought a while, choosing to ask it anyway.
“Ma-we… Lowenah… Yehowah… who you are, I really do not yet know. So tell me, please. This one question has troubled my soul for many long days. Why do you still hold love for a man so wicked and corrupt? Your children no longer use his name of old, but call him ‘Asotos, the Wastepipe’. But you refuse, still holding him dear to your heart. Why?” Mihai half expected Ma-we to chastise her for asking such an inappropriate and private question. She was much surprised.
Ma-we rubbed her chin in thought, pondering the moment. She finally eyed Mihai, smiling. “Wisdom there is beyond your years, my darling. Why, even the oldest of my offspring have failed to probe me with such a request. And I see it is not at all foolish at this time. Indeed, you have listened to the music within, which music leads a person to greater wisdom than may be. You have chosen well, I will tell you that. My dear child of my dreams, I love your brother because I cannot help it.”
To say Mihai was shocked would be an understatement. She could only stare at her mother, mouth agape.
Ma-we took Mihai’s hands, squeezing them. “You must understand and believe, for what I say can mean life or death to any man. I still love Chrusion because my heart has not stopped loving him. I have no control over what my heart feels, nor do you over what your heart feels. I believe that one day your brother will do something so vile that my heart will become repulsed to the point of falling completely out of love with him. I have faith in it happening, so I have hope of a release from this constant ache I have. Why do you think I have permitted his wicked world such long life? Until he does such a thing, my heart will continue to yearn for his soul. I must wait for him to ruin that love completely. May it come soon...”
Her voice became ominous and chilling. “Learn from what I have revealed, for there are some things a heart can never heal from or forget, and will carry in it until the world’s ending. Unless love of and need for a certain thing is completely driven from it by some evil deed, the heart will continue to pine over the dream unfulfilled until all sanity it will force from your mind so as to forget the anguish living within it. Can you promise to forever lock your heart in a prison, suppressing its desires for all eternity? If not, then do not attempt such folly, for, in the end, it will not only destroy you, but all life that is dear to you as well.” Ma-we said no more of it, and allowed no more questions, looking into the sky. “It is time!” She took Mihai’s hand and departed the balcony.
The inner chambers were unnaturally dim. Or was it only the contrast between that and the bright daylight on the balcony? Mihai thought not. For sure, the worlds of Lowenah’s house had grown in darkness. Was it then an omen of sorts, or a warning?
Possibly… Mother was known to do such things. As Mihai walked further on, she searched for revealing clues.
It was not long before the woman stopped. The place where she and Ma-we earlier lunched was hidden in golden silk curtains. Strangely opaque, they allowed no light either in or, more importantly, out. Ma-we halted behind her daughter, saying not a word. She waited for her child to decide what move to make. Destiny rested with her daughter this day.
Drawing the curtains aside, Mihai entered what was now a tiny chamber nearly filled by the table and divan where she earlier dined. Following closely behind, Ma-we entered, letting the curtain fall closed behind her. Darkness quickly wrapped its arms around them.
Mihai began to sniff the air, as if someone or something was hiding itself within.
There was an energy secreted away here, different from any she ever felt before. Her senses warned her of a power lurking here the likes of which was unknown among her people. For good or ill, it anxiously waited its discovery, calling out a haunting refrain to Mihai’s ears, beseeching the girl to reveal it.
A glint of light caught Mihai’s eyes, soon growing into a glow that cast its golden radiance over the table and the objects upon it. As the woman watched, the hypnotizing light slowly descended, gradually surrendering its glory over to what rested there.
Mihai gasped in awe and wonder. “It is so magnificent and beautiful! Mother, what glory you have kept in shadows until this day!” The little girl in Mihai could not resist an urge to make a close examination of the prizes in front of her. She walked forward, reaching out for the treasures, picking each one up, studying them carefully.
The first to capture her attention was a golden scepter about two long cubits in length, tapering in width from Mihai’s two fingers in breadth to slightly less than that of one-and-a-half. Made of black organin mountain teak inlaid with acacia wood, ivoriun tusk ivory, carved crimson stature mollusk shell, rainbow jade and countless jewels, the scepter shone bright with majesty and dignity.
As her hands caressed the finely engraved staff, Mihai’s fingers slipped around and over its bulbous orb of gold, chrysolite and gemstones, sending a sensual wave of excitement through her body. Like a lover’s touch, it aroused her. “Oh! Oh, my! It sings songs of love to me.” She then puzzled, “It feels like the music of my sisters’ fingers playing upon my flesh.”
Suddenly the seven gemstones on the orb’s fillet ignited into flaming hues, each one a different color, sending a tingling sensation through Mihai. “My body fills with passion desired,” she frowned, bewildered, “but it is to satisfy my heart with my sisters’ love that it sings out to me.”
Ma-we stood back in the shadows, watching Mihai marveling at the gemstones as they began to pulse randomly, one at a time.
Drawing the scepter close to her face, Mihai began to distinguish written script above each of the seven glowing gemstones. She began to read aloud the words, slowly rotating the orb from left to right, reading the inscriptions in order.
“The flaming pink one reads, ‘ Varda, the flowers in my garden welcome the king.’
“The gem that glows copper reads, ‘ Uma, I shall make the king into mighty nations.’
“This one that shines golden, ‘ Nesya, the gift from God I am, to satisfy my king’s every delight. ’
“Here is one whose light is brilliant, glittering onyx black. ‘ Adaya, I shall haunt my king’s dreams with night’s love calls.’
“The one glowing scarlet reads, ‘ Sirion, I burn passion-red for my king.’
“And look! The one emerald blue reads ‘ Tzila, come to my shadows, my king, and refresh your spirit with my love.’
“Oh! This hurts my eyes for its brilliance of burning, forest green! It reads, ‘ Sharon, let my breasts excite you, oh my king, and find refreshment in their milk. ’”
Mihai swooned after naming the gemstones, feeling a sensuous passion slowly overwhelming her soul. She quickly put the scepter down, asking, “What do they mean, Ma-we? What do all the names and words really mean?”
Ma-we quietly answered, “Little I will tell you but this: the names are of ones and also many. The words are but one song, sung by my daughters all. I will say no more.”
After thanking her mother for the explanation, Mihai picked up the second object, a golden circlet crown with a raised, pointed, frontal crest embellished with an ivory-white sapphire resting over a green, glittering emerald. Twenty-four smaller points of chrysolite-gold circled the crown, each with a sapphire of a different hue. Light as a
feather it was, cool to the touch, but it made Mihai’s heart warm with desire for close companions. She became suspicious. “Mother, oh, Mother! My desire grows ever stronger to hold my sisters in the fashion a man does. Is the beauty I see in this coronet attempting my seduction? Does its fiery glow seek to entrap my heart with manly passion?”
Ma-we mildly replied, “What you hold was not made anew. It was crafted by mystic hands in secret places long ago, during the carefree days, to be given to the one person who would stand above all others. It knows not your touch or who you are, but only sings songs given it so many lifetimes of men ago.”
Curious, Mihai searched the crown for other clues. Suddenly, the green emerald began to glow bright, its flame revealing hidden words. The woman mouthed them aloud. “Ĕlah Hod Zakar-Geber Nasab.”
(Author’s note: The words, when translated into the common tongue of your day, are pronounced ‘Yehowahboam’, meaning 'the man who stands in the place of God’).
Mihai puzzled but a moment before her face paled. She read the words again, rereading over and over “Zakar-Geber, Zakar-Geber”. All too clearly did the woman understand the meaning of the two words, each representing the same identity and being placed together adding double emphasis. The words’ translation tumbled from her quivering lips. “The man…the man .. .” With shaking hands, Mihai returned the crown to the table, almost dropping it as she did. Turning toward her mother, her eyes burned with trepidation and fear, shouting out the pain tearing at Mihai’s heart.
Ma-we slowly shook her head, speaking in little more than a hush. “My lovely one, first of your kind, bringer of joy to my birthing pains, you have not been unknowing of this day. It was told to you millennia ago by your own sister, Gabrielle, as she spoke to the one who came to be your mother in the Realms Below. Time you have had to contemplate this moment, to consider its worth to you and the others among you.
“Sweet One of my heart, nursemaid to heroes and lords, the time has come to set things in place. My children cry out for a king. A king...for a king can govern in times of peace as well as times of war. The children tire for lack of knowledge. ‘Tell us please, oh Mighty One, who shall become our leader to bring us to the end of this wicked time?!’ What shall I say to them, to myself?”
Mihai’s knees shook and her legs wobbled. She barely managed to find the divan before collapsing to the floor. Her head spun with dread. The man! The man! The king must be a male, child of manliness, masculine divine. Spasms racked her body as she thought of the change she must have made to herself should the crown become hers.
Holding her head in her hands, with mournful cries, she pleaded, “What shall I do?! Oh, my belly burns with damnable fire and my breasts ache as if torn away!” She began to weep.
Ma-we settled down next to her daughter, but did not touch her, waiting until Mihai’s tears and outcries subsided before speaking. “My dearest daughter, one lovely like the gazelle and comely as the hind with its child, you know my law, and that it cannot be broken by my own hand, for treacherous I would be to do so. You are the one who has gained legal right to my throne. I must offer it to you.”
She became silent, waiting for Mihai to consider her words. Although her daughter’s outward emotions calmed, Ma-we could still see how distraught the woman was.
Reaching out, she stroked the child’s long hair. “Oh, my golden sunshine of lilting song, no more charming voice does the katchberry robin have when she sings to her lover. You must choose for yourself which road to take. Does my daughter accept this crown of glory or not?”
Leaning her head back against the divan, Mihai cried out in angry bewilderment,
“Mother! Is it with evil that you keep calling out to me, ‘Oh, my daughter’?!”
Ma-we said not a word. She kept still and waited.
As Mihai sat, eyes closed, she searched events of her earlier life, cursing her past love and loyalty. Never had she ached so! Even her torture at Asotos’ hands appeared distant and less tormenting. She had passed all the legal requirements for the crown - all, that is, except one - the one Ma-we had not yet spoken of. But there was no need for her to.
Long had Mihai, indeed, had all the children known the king sitting on Yehowah’s throne must be a man. A man! How those words burned into Mihai’s soul. So much she wanted to give Ma-we what she wanted, and she knew that as a man her mother would still love her… maybe even more than as she was now - a chatty, impetuous nuisance.
Another wave of hopeless anguish swept over her, as she began to weep anew.
Through her tears, the woman attempted to reason on her situation. Was it really so bad, to become a man? Why, for several decades she had walked the Lower Realms in the flesh of a man. To this day, she remembered the male strength and will, the feeling of might and leadership as a man felt it. It was not so bad, was it? Mihai suddenly doubled up in pain as her stomach churned in tumult.
After the nauseous storm subsided, Mihai sat back, forcing her mind to think past a pulsing headache steadily gaining in strength. What was really so disturbing about her becoming a man? After all, as king, she would have greater power than all others, mortal or immortal, other than Ma-we. Such immortal power should be more than great enough to suppress any feelings secreted in a fickle heart. But what if she did lose control? Not to worry, there would be many other immortals to hold any foolish actions in check.
Again the girl wretched in agony, but only a little bile reached her mouth.
Something was wrong…so wrong! Mihai’s heart was in full rebellion, seeking vengeance upon a confused mind. Each time the woman considered accepting the crown, her heart would throw her body into a near seizure, turning her stomach over and over while twisting her innards up in knots.
Leaning back, Mihai rolled her head from side to side in desperation, moaning in agony, “Mother of all living things, Witch of the dawning, why do you persecute me with your offers? Shall a mouse call out to the lion with bold enough words to chase it away?
My soul dies from its own distress. Save me the pain of this moment! Allow your child to pass away into nothingness!”
Ma-we did not move or speak.
As her headache reached blinding proportions, Mihai cried out, “What of the prophecy?! What of it?! Shall life go on if the mouse does not become the lion?! Do I doom the universe with wicked reasonings?!” Her mind reeled with a vision of seeing the worlds of all flesh dissolving into dust because the throne sat empty of its king. But she was rightful heir to the crown. What would happen if she declined it? Would all be
lost? ‘There is nothing else for it! It must be done!’ Mihai opened her mouth to take up the scepter and submit to the changes she would be required to make in accepting it. As she did, her heart forced one more convulsion, filling the woman’s mouth with vomit, gagging her into silence.
After a bout of coughing and hacking to keep from suffocating, an exhausted and distraught Mihai fell back on the divan, sweating profusely as she mumbled through the spittle, “Ma-we... Ma-we...”
What was it the heart was recalling that Mihai could not remember? Was there something of greater consequence from her younger life that held precedence over this moment in time in value and importance? Mihai thought about it. Only a vow or oath given by the Maker of Worlds could possibly be of greater worth…not to be negated by any later vow.
Struggling to recall times past for some memory of a promise given, Mihai repeatedly cried out as if in labor pains, but no answer came. Desperately she searched, clutching her head and straining to see the ages of her life when the world was innocent and free. Still nothing…
‘Remember AsreHalom, my child.’ What?! Why could remembering such an evil man at this moment assist Mihai in her hour of need? ‘Remember AsreHalom…’
Mother’s earlier words refused to abandon Mihai’s heart. ‘Remember AsreHalom, the sorcerer.’
Mihai’s eyes popped open. AsreHalom was a sorcerer of wonder, able to induce his own mystic dreams by inner chants and incantations. His visions were profound and insightful, as if he had tapped into a secret world of magic. Mihai remembered him doing it once. How she marveled at the wise knowledge he later revealed.
But, how?! AsreHalom was an ancient of Ancients, his power nearly that of Chrusion. She had to try, though! What else was she to do?! After all, the woman did have the ring of the Firstborn. Maybe it would give her the added power to reach beyond her consciousness and into forgotten places and days. ‘Focus on the ring! Focus on the ring and all that it has seen and heard since its making so very long ago!’
Lifting the ring before her eyes, Mihai began a quiet chant of the only words that formed in her mind. ‘Strange…’ she thought and began singing,
“Ma-we… Ma-we…
oh, my Mother, dear.
Ma-we… Ma-we…
your heart’s beat is all your daughter hears.
Ma-we… Ma-w…”
Mihai’s head slowly fell back as her hand dropped into her lap. While her lips continued to move, they produced no sound.
Down, down, down the girl was swept, falling back through time and space, to an earlier age, a dark vortex enveloping Mihai’s body with freezing chills, followed by almost unbearable heat. The wars of this age quickly whisked into the blurring future, rapidly followed by other personal events experienced through the woman’s eyes.
On and on she plummeted, twirling and twisting, every second revealing hundreds of millennia, so many forgotten memories re-burned into Mihai’s mind. JabethHull and
Nhoset suddenly flashed before her eyes and were as quickly gone, but it felt to the woman as if she had relived every moment with them again.
Instantly, she experienced her first night of loving when she came of age, then that day’s celebrating. She was just turned twelve. And then…and then Mihai heard a screeching in her ears just before being slammed into something rock-solid hard as all went dark and silent.
Gradually the world around Mihai regained its focus, as she stared into an afternoon sky, its blue, shimmering brilliance almost blinding. With effort, she sat and looked around, uncertain of what she would see. The woman was disappointed.
Standing, Mihai sputtered, “Must have walked in my vision. Ma-we?! Mother? Are you there? I’m out here on the balcony.” No reply came. “Whatever…” Mihai mumbled, disgusted that her vision had fizzled into little more than a mindless ambling, ending in a painful fall. She rubbed her hip, slowly stumbling back inside.
“Ma-w…?” Mihai stopped, gawking at the room.
Where were the curtains, the crown, the scepter? Where was Mother? The table and divan were empty, void of any treasures… and Ma-we? Where had she wandered off to?
“Anybody!?” Mihai started for the portico, feeling her mother may have had unexpected business in the reception hall.
Laughter followed by a child singing brought Mihai to an instant stop, crying, “What the…?!” staring off toward a distant doorway, waiting and wondering at what she was hearing. She was not kept waiting long.
A little blonde girl danced into the room. Mihai blurted out, “Who are you?!” The child ignored her, pretending she was not even there. Mihai raised her voice. “Little girl!
Who are you and where is Mother?” Paying no heed to the woman, the child continued on, prancing into the room, singing a silly song, bouncing a ball to the rhythm.
Growing frustrated, Mihai was about to shout at the child when the silly tune caught her attention, it being strangely familiar to her ears. She paused to listen.
The child’s eyes twinkled with delight as she began anew the merry refrain.
“Mother said we could go today,
Mother said we could do today,
Mother said we could see today,
Mother said we could have today.
Mother said we could have today,
Mother said we could get today,
Mother said we would be today,
Mother said we could play today.”
Twice more the child sang these verses, changing them ever so slightly.
“Mother said we could have,
Mother said we would be,
Mother said we would have,
Mother said we could be.
Mother said we should have,
Mother said we could have,
Mother said we will have,
Mother said we must have.”
Again the girl repeated the stanzas twice more, shortening them, speeding up the tune, increasing the speed of the bouncing ball.
“Mother said we should,
Mother said we could,
Mother said we must,
Mother said we will.”
She repeated the tune the same as the other times, but now, when she picked up the following verse, it became a chant of sorts.
“Mother said we,
Mother said we,
Mother said we,
Mother said we.”
The girl’s voice grew in excitement until the chant became a cry, like some beast calling out its coming feast.
“Mother we,
Mother we,
Mother we,
Mother we.”
Over and over she shouted the refrain, growing in intensity until Mihai thought the child would burst a vocal cord. About the time the words became little more than garbled sounds, the child stopped, clutching the ball. Then, with deliberate slowness in drawing out her words, the girl started a new verse, chanting it only once.
“Ma… we,
Ma… we,
Ma… we,
Ma… we.”
All fell suddenly silent. The little girl stared down at the floor, a huge smile beaming on her face. At length, she looked up and over at Mihai. With the tone of voice of a little girl filled with the smug joy of impossible wishes assured, the child announced, “She promised us today, didn’t she?! Didn’t she?! She said we would have one, today. Didn’t she?! Didn’t she?!”
Mihai slapped her head in astonishment as she cried, “This cannot be! You are me, or who I was so long ago!”
The little girl giggled, “I am not who you think I am. I live in a world of promises come true. I do not hope, for I do know it is so. Mother promised. My Ma-we promised.
She said that when he becomes a god, I would be given my wish.” The child bent forward, laughing, “I have never changed, but still live in mystic worlds where no pain can touch me. Ma-we promised… Yes! Yes she did!”
Mihai shook her head. “You’re not real! This is a vision gone wrong…a vision gone terribly wrong! Mother?!”
The child pouted, chiding Mihai, “You refuse to admit me alive, but I live! Always will! You cannot kill a dream! Never will I depart your soul, for I am who you still are!
You! You are returning to me, not I to you!”
Mihai’s anger erupted. “You’re a dream, a silly, foolish, dream of a vision! You do not exist in my world anymore! Anymore!”
Now the child’s anger was roused and she threatened, “You will never be rid of me!
I will haunt your waking dreams if you betray the promise Ma-we has given me. I will never let you rest! Never!” She then screamed, “Mother promised! ”
It was as if the girl’s last heated breath ignited a tempest. Mihai was swept from her feet and flung into the air as her world plunged into darkness in the raging storm. Soon all conscious thought faded away into nothingness.
Gradually, Mihai’s senses returned. Through a pounding headache, her eyes eventually came into focus in the curtained room from where her adventure had begun.
All was as it had been, Ma-we quietly sitting beside her on the divan, the table illuminated by the scepter and crown. The woman placed her hand to her forehead and moaned. Ma-we said not a word, her breathing quiet and controlled.
The vision still burned brightly inside the woman, spinning round and round.
Pushing it back in her mind, she again bent her attention to the issue at hand. Returning to the table, Mihai began reexamining the crown, studying the inscription once more.
‘Elah · Hod · Zakar-Geber · Nasab’… Something was strange about the word placement. Mihai puzzled. The proper wordage layout in the language of her people was out of order. Why would Mother have mixed them around? It wouldn’t have been an accident, not with Ma-we. And the first letter of each word was capitalized. How unusual… A riddle? Or possibly a hidden message? That was Ma-we, always playing games with her children, secrets hidden within secrets, the obvious hidden in the mist.
Mihai concentrated on the inscription. Suddenly her eyes opened in surprise. She read aloud the first letter of each word. “E – H – Z – G – N.” Putting them together, the woman spelled them out, ‘EHZGN’.
With a jolt, Mihai jumped back, gasping, “It’s a word!” In the language of Mihai’s people, as with some other languages, usually only the consonants of given words were written, vowels understood. Mihai’s quivering lips reluctantly spoke, “Ehazgeone…”
‘Ehazgeone’ was a word used when sealing a most solemn oath or promise. In all of Mihai’s life, the woman had only heard it used a few times, and most of those were by her mother. In fact, it was Ma-we’s use of the word in a confrontation with Asotos that she acquired the name 'Yehowah', the children giving their mother the name in reference to that promise. Now she saw it on the crown. ‘Shall worlds pass away before my promise fails.’
Mihai puzzled again. She squinted, seeing another riddle in the letters EHZGN.
Recalling her studies of ancient runes found in Palace City, Memphis, and other scattered
parts of the realm, she deduced that those letters were phonetic pronunciations given to certain rune words. These letters were to be found at the base of the throne in the Great Hall.
Thinking aloud, Mihai attempted to remember the literal translation of those letters, pondering, toying with the ring on her finger, giving no consideration to what she was doing. Suddenly, its meaning became clear. ‘This Man is man as shall is he be’.
There was another place Mihai remembered the word. It was in a little silly ditty, part of a very old tune the Ancients often sang to the younger children in her beginning days, before the old songs were forgotten, which went:
“EHZGN
Man by nature,
Man by flesh.
Alive forever,
With manly breath.”
Ma-we had said that the crown and scepter were made during the carefree days.
That being the case, Mihai reasoned, the crown and scepter were not designed to represent someone’s ruling authority, it never being an issue until after the Rebellion. So, what was the original purpose of the kingly position Mother had created?
The woman stood, curiosity overcoming any trepidation of the moment. She reached for the scepter, closely examining it for other clues. Mother said this was but one song…
every woman’s song. Studying each verse, Mihai came to realize that they were not in proper order, at least if considered by the custom of ancient day. This was not a maiden’s tale of love for her sweetheart. No… Two statements caught her eye that had no application to a maiden’s love.
First, only the adult women in her realm ever produced breast milk, it being many years after their coming of age and it usually began after being offered the opportunity to nurse one of Ma-we's infants. Second, this song spoke not just of loving, but the making of nations… children… so many children that the women would make nations of them for the king. None of the women in her world had ever birthed even one child.
Curiosity growing, Mihai studied the gems. They did not pulse randomly but in a sequential order. Where to start then? Mihai decided that Nesya, the most prominent of the names, having the most profound meaning, was the most provable starting point.
From there, she read the names in their pulsing sequence.
“Nesya…
‘The gift from God I am, to satisfy my king’s every delight.’
Adaya…
‘I shall haunt my king’s dreams with night’s love calls.’
Sirion…
‘I burn passion-red for my king.’
Tzila…
‘Come to my shadows my king and refresh your spirit with my love.’
Sharon…
‘Let my breasts excite you, oh my king, and find refreshment in their milk.’
Varda…
‘The flowers in my garden welcome the king.’
Uma…
‘I shall make the king into mighty nations.’”
As astonishing as these revelations were to her, it was the following understanding soon to be revealed that most affected Mihai. She began to reason, ‘If the letters on the crown are in fact hiding meanings in the runes of old, then is it possible the scepter does the same?’
Hoping that she had arranged the verses in order, Mihai read aloud the first letter of each word, ‘N – A – S – T – S – V – U’. Using the rule for the common tongue first, the woman deduced that the letters consisted of three words, the vowels indicating a word ending, but with only the use of the consonant before it. Doing this, made it easy to see the three words, ‘Na – Setousee – Vu’, translated into today’s common tongue, ‘The seed of life shall this man give’.
A chill ran down Mihai’s back. She wanted to receive the seed of life, not give it!
Calming herself, she searched now for the possible rune connection. NASTSVU…
NASTSVU? Where had she seen those letters? Where?! As she strained in thought, Mihai felt her ring tingle. She surrendered to its haunting call and closed her eyes to its music. In the distance, Gradian’s Clock chimed the half hour.
That was it! Gradian’s Clock! Inscribed upon each planet was its name in the runes of the Ones Who Came Before. ‘NASTSVU’ was the rune name for EdenEsonbar, the home planet, commonly called the ‘King’s Planet.’
Beads of sweat formed on Mihai’s forehead, beginning to drip down her face. She worked to concentrate on the music the ring was quietly playing in her head. Soon words were coming into focus before her eyes, revealing the meaning of the runes: ‘ I shall embrace the women forever. ’
A rush of excitement washed over Mihai as the real and original meaning of the kingship unveiled itself before her. It had never been about power or rulership. Ever since Ma-we’s birthing her first child, she had been hoping and planning to one day give the power of life to her own offspring. Finally, near the end of the Second Age, she was successful, choosing to first deliver that gift on her new creation in the Second Realm.
For all the ages of time before, from the conception of her first son, she had prepared for the day when her children would be parents, making her Firstborn the giver of that seed to her daughters, making him the father of all the first-born children in the universe.
He would continue to be the man from whom all the daughters born of womankind would receive the seed of life, thus making him father of many nations.
There were also other things the ring helped Mihai see regarding Ma-we’s future hopes. Now she understood so much more, the reasons for the festivals and why they were opened and closed with Chrusion and his royal consort, who stood as liege for
Lowenah. For all those ages, Ma-we was continually keeping before her children’s eyes the promise she tirelessly worked at to fulfill. The crown was to become Chrusion’s as soon as he had proved himself a man worthy of his sisters’ love. But he had failed…
Mihai slowly placed the scepter down. She understood all too well what she must do if she accepted it and the crown. But she did not want to hold her sisters in the way men did. Not only that, she wanted to be held by men, not forever be parted from such manly love. She wondered if she could survive an eternity. Even if her flesh and mind relinquished the feminine, could she hold in check her heart’s desires forever?
The war within was raging ever stronger, but Mihai could already see its final outcome. Should worlds fall because of her decision made this day, it would have to be.
Long ago her mother had given an oath to a little child who, as a girl yet without breasts or sexual passion, had requested the privilege to produce offspring from her own flesh. A will that strong could never be held in check. It would, one day, either see its desires satisfied or go mad, bringing itself and all with it to destruction.
Mihai stood upright, her muscles stiffening with resolve. She forced down fear of possible future repercussions from her rejection of the crown. Her mother’s heart might break from the loss of having the legal heir refuse the throne. Could Ma-we find a way to sit another? It was too late for the woman-child living in Mihai’s heart to contemplate the matter. What she was to do must be done.
But it was still no easy thing to do, to tell Mother. Grappling with an ever-growing despair over her decision, she turned to face Ma-we who still sat motionless on the divan, patiently awaiting her daughter’s reply. The look on her mother’s face was too much for Mihai’s heart. Her legs surrendered to her body’s pressing weight, forcing the woman to fall forward onto her knees, supporting herself by resting shaking hands on Ma-we’s lap.
“Mother! Oh, Mother,” she wailed, “should all the worlds fail because of me, remember please that your daughter has loved no one more than she does you! I am come to my end and there is no other hope for me but to do this wretched thing. Please forgive a child so crass and foolish so that she listens not to the wisdom of song, but to the beating of a stupid and selfish heart!”
With pleading eyes, Mihai searched Ma-we’s for some kind of reassurance or disapproval, but Mother’s emerald green oceans secreted all feelings. “Mother, ever have I longed to see this day arrive, a day when all my sisters could sing with the joy of receiving power of life.” She lowered her head in dismay. “But I cannot be the one to give that wonderful gift to them…”
A shudder wracked Mihai’s frame as she groaned, “Please do not hate this request from a wicked and traitorous child! If there is any love remaining for your daughter, please set aside this offer and grant, please , an earlier promise made by your lips, if such a thing is any longer possible.
“Mother, from my young womanhood, I watched you in your birthing pangs as you delivered life to this world, both sons and daughters. Then, one day, you allowed me to hold to my breasts a child of yours to nurse from me. Did my face not beam with unspeakable joy at just her touch upon my heart and did I not ache with happiness at feeling the babe suckle life from my soul?
“Oh, my Love, my Cherished Delight, the burning within me has not subsided from the earliest days of my childhood, when I still remained in my virginity. Indeed, it has only become greater, a raging inferno consuming my entire being. Should all things
come to pass for me, to go away into nothingness, I would be satisfied if I had borne but one son to feed at my breasts.”
Ma-we said not a word, staying silent, hiding any emotion, saying in her mind, ‘It is not the hour to speak, for I shall not swage my daughter in choices made.’
Mihai pleaded, “If, by your hand, the flesh of one kind can be made into that of another, so that a child of my flesh can become that of my brothers, is it such an impossible thing for you to change your daughter…daughters a little, so that they might become like you and know what it means to be filled with child?! And what of your promise? Is it really such a great thing I have done, so that I, alone, should be given chance to sit a throne and that a man of valor should not?”
Mihai shook her head. “No! Your child will not surrender what is hers from birth!
A woman I came from your belly and a woman I shall remain until the world’s ending! It cannot be changed! ” She looked again into Ma-we’s eyes, searching for redemption.
She found none.
With wails of remorse, Mihai fell upon Ma-we, burying her face in her mother’s lap.
“Oh, forgive an errant child! Please! Let her be damned now, rather than suffer the shame of hurting you!”
At that, Mihai’s waking world began to spin into darkness, her flesh unable to carry the weight of the moment any longer, soon to be followed by a deep, painless sleep.
Her mother’s tears of joy she did not see, nor hear the gentle words that passed Ma-we’s lips. “You have not disappointed the Maker of Worlds, for your wisdom has saved us all this day. Rest for now, my Cherished One. Tomorrow shall come, and with it new joys” she frowned, “…but also despair.”
* * *
Mihai awoke to the sound of a twittering bird on her windowsill as a gentle breeze parted the flaxen shades, allowing late-day light to cascade into the tiny apartment.
Struggling to regain her senses, the woman wondered aloud where she was and how she got there, sitting up, groaning, “Was this but a foolish dream and am I delinquent in making my appointment?”
A voice from the shadows answered, giving Mihai an unsettling surprise. “Foolish maybe, but the hour is young and our appointed destiny still some hours away.”
“Who?! ” Mihai bent forward, peering into a dark corner to find the face behind the voice.
The person, whoever she might be - for Mihai was sure it was a woman’s voice - was sitting in a chair propped against the wall, supported on its back legs, two hands clasping a knee that was pressed against the person’s chest, her foot resting on the seat bottom. At once, Mihai recognized by the style of boots and cut of the trousers, the person was an officer, but she could see little else.
The woman let the chair fall forward onto its front legs, revealing her face. It was Darla, all done up in her most handsome of uniforms. “Did we enjoy our sleep, my Lady?”
Mihai grumbled words better left in the shadows as she slowly pushed her legs over the side of the bed, attempting to drive sleep from tired eyes. Little joy remained in the woman’s heart. Remembering previous hours and the dread of the decision she had made
did not put her in a good mood. Resting her hands on the bed as her feet touched the floor, Mihai grumped, “My darling of sour refrain, how long have you been here?”
Darla casually reached to turn on a wall light, spreading a mild, yellow glow across the small apartment, slowly lifting her foot, placing it back on the edge of the chair seat, wrapping hers arms around her leg as she leaned forward, resting her chin on her knee.
Waiting until Mihai was about to utter some more colorful words before replying, smiling, Darla answered, “Oh, more than two hours ago.” Again she waited, flustering Mihai anew. Then, at just the right moment, she teased, “Lowenah had Zadar…you do remember our little brother, Zadar don’t you?”
Mihai sputtered, “Get on with it, you, or I’ll… I’ll… put you on report for withholding pertinent information!”
Laughing, Darla replied, “Since you put it that way, Lowenah had Zadar and me bring you over here. Sure would like some of the stuff you were drinkin’. You were out cold, but had the biggest smile on your face. Why, I think we could have dragged you over here by the hair on your head and you’d have never known, that is ‘til you woke up later.”
Mihai shook her head to clear the last of sleep’s cobwebs from her mind. “So what a’ you still doin’ here? Got no place to wander off to or other people to pester?”
Darla put up a good-natured fuss, declaring her innocence, answering as if offended,
“I was asked to remain here, watching my ward until she awoke. Had I known the rude reception awaiting one of such genteel persuasion, I’d have departed as quickly as Zadar did! He said it was your snoring, but I wonder.”
Looking down at the floor, Mihai disagreed. “He must ‘a figured the bed was too small for the both of us. That’s the only reason he’d leave.”
They both laughed, Darla adding, “No, I believe it different. The boy’s nose is upon a new scent, I think.”
Mihai sighed wistfully, “He does have a way about him,” she looked into Darla’s emerald green eyes, “doesn’t he?”
Darla giggled, “He can make one wish the night would never end, or is it that day would never come?” She giggled again, her face blushing red as her eyes looked toward the ceiling.
Changing the subject, Mihai noted Darla’s stylish uniform. The woman stood and, with arms gracefully spread wide, slowly circled once around.
In the days before the King’s War there was little regulation regarding military apparel, especially formal attire. Darla was no exception in taking advantage of this freedom. Other than its light blue color, there was little else to distinguish it as a Navy uniform. It was natty to a fault, revealing the woman’s feminine curves while hiding her sensuality, elegant while not being garish, formal but still fully functional.
“It was just delivered today, just in time for tonight.” Darla turned a circle once more.
Mihai asked, half joking, “Haven’t you about enough of new uniforms? Only four months ago you were sporting one made, you bragged, by ContorieDamalis, herself, the finest linen maker in the Empire. What happened to make your taste in garments change so fast?”
A black cloud passed across Darla’s eyes, Mihai catching only a glimpse of it.
Without missing a step, the girl continued her turn, chatting most cheerily, “That thing? I
tore it on our last patrol in the Trizentine. Didn’t want to bother with a fix...too much work and all.”
Changing the subject quickly, Darla, stopping to face Mihai, giggling, “You know what? Mother told me to expect a surprise at the council tonight. In fact, she said I would have more than one.” She clasped her hands. “Mother’s surprises are always so much fun. What do you think it might be?”
Mihai frowned, thinking of her resignation from being field marshal and then her dismal rejection of Lowenah’s wonderful gift. Maybe that was the reason Mother had Zadar and Darla deliver her here, to her apartment. Maybe Mihai wasn’t wanted at tonight’s council anymore.
Shaking her head, Mihai added, “I don’t know what it could possibly be, but I’m sure it will be worth your trouble to be there to find out.” Then she changed the subject, asking, “Did I really snore?”
Darla laughed, bending forward as she continued to chuckle. “Sister, if you had snored any louder, we’d had to replace the broken plaster in this room!”
A quiet knock directed the women’s attention toward the door, Darla jumping up to open it. With a swoosh! cool evening air rushed into the room, bathing Mihai in its chill, sending goose bumps across her bare skin. Shivering, Mihai stared into the shadows to see who the visitor was.
“Hello!” Ma-we’s cheery voice sang from among the rustle of wrapped bundles filling her arms. “Well, girl…” speaking to Darla, “are you just going to stand there?”
“Mother!” Darla yipped with joy, jumping like a puppy long waiting for its master.
An instant later, Ma-we found herself being dragged through the door, almost tripping on the threshold. She cried, “Hey, child, gravity still works here! Do be careful!”
To say Darla was oblivious to Ma-we’s predicament would be to say water flows downhill. She hugged her mother, bundles and all, twirling her round and round, until Ma-we stubbed her toe, pleading, “Please, little one! Please! Do be a good girl and put me down!” with a painful grimace on her face.
Mihai, who had turned rather glum at seeing their mother, could not help but laugh at the antics of her little sister. Forgetting her sullen mood, she sang out part of a little child’s tune.
“Should the merry pig
Dance with the goat,
Shall the swill stay in the trough?
Or will the corn fall off the cob,
To be scattered in the mud?”
‘ Plop! ’ A small bundle fell from Ma-we’s arms to the floor. “Little darling, that is quite enough!” Ma-we sputtered. “Now put me down!”
Darla laughed, spun around one more time to Mother’s fussing, then gently returned Ma-we’s feet to the floor.
What a sight for Mihai! Darla was a big girl, taller than average and muscular. Ma-we, on the other hand, was most demure and only three fingerbreadths over three long cubits tall and, also weighing in at only seven stone or so, was of a stature smaller than
most of her daughters. “It makes me more lovable...” she would often say when asked why she had chosen to be so among her children.
And Darla? This was a side of her that few people ever saw. In groups she was often shy; as an officer, strictly business; and in combat, ruthless. Today she was with Mother, ‘the most wonderful person in the universe’. When with her, Darla could release all her pent-up emotions. She could become the little child again, safe and innocent, free from all the dark memories that haunted the woman day and night.
Darla released Ma-we, only to start rummaging through the securely wrapped bundles. “What did you bring us?!” she excitedly asked, pawing at another package.
“What treats are here for your darlings this day?!”
Clutching the bundles tight, Ma-we pulled herself away, turning toward the bed, scolding, “My little mouse, my little mouse, thou who seeks another’s cheese, run along, run along, for these sweet treats belong not to thee.”
Dropping the packages on the bed, she turned and, after giving Darla a kiss, poked her with a finger. “Today belongs to gifts untold, but for you, not here will you behold.
To your sister, sweet and dear, these things belong, I fear, I fear.”
Darla pouted, making a sour retort, “When birds of spring sing out love’s songs, the crow shouts out, ‘Be gone! Be gone!’ And off will the tenderhearted songbird fly, crying out, ‘Oh, how sad. Oh why? Oh why?’”
“It’s the raven, Dear,” Ma-we replied, “the raven,” then slapped Darla on the behind. “And that’s what little songbirds who don’t listen deserve!”
Jumping back, aghast, Darla began rubbing her eyes to cover pretend tears and started another refrain of a child’s poem about a little girl rejected by some dancing frogs, then attempted to reach past Ma-we to get at the bundles anew.
Mihai burst into uncontrolled laughter, watching the two struggling in mock combat over who was to get the bundles. Through tears, she shouted to Ma-we, “That’s what you get when you spoil the child! Remember, ‘The mule will wander far and wide, should a weak-willed master attempt it to ride’.”
Holding Darla at hand’s reach, Ma-we, breathless, replied, “I have spoilt all my children… you…especially, you included!”
Mihai laughed, but a cloud swept her thoughts.
Darla and Zadar were the two youngest children in all the realm. Darla was not three at the time of the Rebellion, with Zadar being born some months after it began. But it was Darla who spent her growing-up years living in the palace’s shadows, reaching out to few and avoided by most. Euroaquilo, who frequented the palace during her early years, took a shine to the girl. He was the only man willing to draw close to her.
Darla’s affliction was too difficult for Ma-we’s other children to handle…and her eyes, those eyes... Few looked into them more than once out of an uneasy feeling of being watched by something unnatural. So it was when the children visited Mother, Zadar was made their center of attention, while Darla was politely ignored. Even the woman’s coming of age celebration was postponed until she was well into her thirties, Ma-we having found no man willing to trust his dream share to her.
As she watched, Mihai shook her head in puzzled wonder. Funny, regardless of, or possibly in spite of the way Darla was viewed, she never displayed any outward bitterness for the way she was often treated. Her devotion to the cause and her siblings was unquestioned. Throughout the long wars, she had not faltered, even placing her life
on the line many times to rescue others from death. It was this selfless devotion to her siblings that won over the hearts of her fellow comrades, especially her sisters.
And then there was Zadar. He had been totally spoiled by the others while little Darla silently watched from a distance. Yet she never harbored any resentment toward him. Truth be said, the two were very close, oft times inseparable. When he grew into manhood, he forced his siblings to accept Darla into their company, even using intimidation or shame.
Mihai was drawn back to the moment when she noticed how quiet the room had become. Darla was resting her hands on Ma-we’s shoulders, while Mother gently stroked her daughter’s face. Some kind of guttural purr came from Darla’s throat, indicating her pleasure with the moment, an ability that was uniquely hers.
Standing on her toes, Ma-we kissed her daughter, asking, “Sweet love of mine, would you surrender the moment to us for just a little while? I do need some time alone with your sister.”
Darla stared into her mother’s eyes, searching for something secret only to the two of them. Satisfied, she bent forward, kissed her mother and started for the door. While opening it, she looked back over her shoulder at Mihai. “You are to dine with me this eve. I shall wait for you at the tram. If he has not wandered too far away, Zadar will join us at the Kataklino Cafe at eight.” She popped through the doorway into the evening shadows.
Ma-we’s eyes followed the sound of Darla’s fading footsteps until the evening swallowed them up. With a sigh and slow shake of her head, she turned her attention to Mihai. “My child, your sister loves you too much, loves me too much. She does not test it out, the love, I mean. She hasn’t truly searched to see how honest mine is for her, but only bathes in the warmth it produces.” She sighed again. “The hour draws closer when her trust will be tested to the full, my child, to the full.”
Ma-we said no more of the matter, changing the subject before Mihai could ask any questions, grinning, “My Dear, how wonderful to see you this hour, this very, very special hour!” Plopping in a nearby chair, she wiped a hand across her forehead. “What a workout it’s been! Didn’t realize just how much until I sat.”
Mihai was in no mood to fraternize, staring at the floor, still seated on the edge of the bed. What was the use? At a most critical moment, she had failed - failed because her heart refused to listen to the logic of her mind! Now what hope remained for her people, her sisters?
As if understanding Mihai’s accusative remorse, Ma-we waxed apologetic. “My tender child, daughter of the New Age and mother to the old, I am very sorry my reply to you this day fell upon sleeping ears. I have caused you much grief, for I, too, became slow of tongue because of the things I heard coming from your mouth.”
Mother’s sweet tone was too much for Mihai. She scowled. “What are you about?!
I…”
“You did the right thing!” Ma-we leaned forward, staring at a very surprised Mihai.
“That’s right! Somehow…don’t ask me how…” she winked. “But for a selfish, uncaring…well, you know the kind of person you accuse yourself of being. Somehow you managed to listen to your heart this time instead of your head, which listening to your head is often very wise, but not this time, at least.” She slapped her legs, still grinning. “Michael, you made the right choice!”
Mihai was stunned, speechless. She had made the right choice? How?!
Ma-we jumped up from the chair, filled with excitement, quickly sitting beside her daughter, grasping her hands. “We have drawn closer to winning this day! The danger to my worlds has diminished. Hope grows in my heart that I have made Fate wise and it shall do my bidding.”
Her head spinning from revelations unmasked, Mihai asked, “What of the prophecies, all the prophecies that must not be dismissed or every good thing shall pass away?!”
Ma-we’s reply was merrily scolding, like a child taunting her playmates for not finding her hiding place, laughing, “What have you to do with prophecies? You don’t yet understand! I am the Maker of prophecy. I invented the game long before your kind walked free upon this soil.” She broke into rhyme.
“Words there are, many and bold.
Some are new and others old.
And others you’ll find twisted and bent,
To fit my mood, I have them sent.
Your kind you think are truly smart,
When riddles you discover in the dark.
But for the answer, your braggarts sway,
While the real meaning I whisk away.
I rarely speak without one of these,
A riddle, a riddle, as I please.
The wise I make to look like fools,
For truth stays hidden in my riddling tools.”
Ma-we chuckled, “Prophecies or riddles? Please! They are both one and the same to me. In the days long before your kind, I and others beside me would spend countless hours making riddles of prophecy. Why, there are some riddles we made up that could take months of your time to merely express, not to mention the countless years of your time to figure out.” She squeezed Mihai’s arm, grinning with pleasure. “Some riddles that I have been told so many countless eons of your time ago, I am still puzzling over.
That’s right! Even I am not privy to all the secrets of the universe.”
Sitting back, supported by outstretched arms, the Maker of Worlds mused, “Never have I uttered a prophecy that hasn’t been twisted up in one or more riddles. Never!”
She nodded. “That’s right! Even my own children - even you have never been given a clear and simple explanation of what the future may hold. And I have my reasons for doing so.”
“First, in the beginning, I could not tell for sure what free will would eventually do to the hearts of my children. Until you came along, I had never felt love in the way you gave it. So love took on new meaning for my children. If I had not known what form it would take, how could I have foretold it, other than to put it in a riddling prophesy which could have many different outcomes? But my self-said prophecy gave me hope… faith, you might say… that someday I would find the love I was seeking.”
“Let me ask you a question.” Lowenah’s eyes twinkled. “Am I the only source of life in the universe?”
Mihai was surprised by the question and answered abruptly, “Why, yes! By your own words you have said you are the Bringer of all life.”
Leaning forward, Ma-we lifted a hand, shaking a finger. “My words you have quoted correctly, but are they not riddling words, themselves?”
Mihai puzzled.
Mother explained, “My fingers have not yet reached beyond forever. I still search for the end of all matters, will for as long as it takes. I live eternal because I have no reference by which to gauge my life. Still, I did have an awakening of sorts, a time when I came to realize I was me. And I do not know all things… yet.” She poked Mihai.
“And I hope not to!”
Ma-we shook her head. “Know-it-alls are so very boring. They never have anything new to say. Have you noticed how they act?” She puffed out her chest. ‘Oh, now that I have stopped telling you about all the wonderful things I’ve done, allow me to talk about how wonderful I am’.” She laughed. “Boring! Oh, so boring!” Ma-we quieted. “Allow me, please, one more question. Will life always spring eternal?”
This time, Mihai, uncertain, asked, “Won’t it?”
Ma-we glanced away, studying the dials on a corner clock. “Only to the limit of my abilities and life, which, since I did not create me, but have always been there, and because eternity is beyond my vision, how can life eternal be an absolute?” She looked back into Mihai’s astonished face. “That is why you must never take life for granted! It is a gift, filled with riddles of uncertainty and chance. What may befall us tomorrow, we cannot know for sure today. Riddles give us flexibility to adjust to whatever may come.
Riddles may help keep us living with hope when all becomes hopeless around us.”
Mihai was still confused, and somewhat flustered at the thought of ‘eternity questioned’.
Glancing again at the clock, Ma-we warned of the lack of time, concluding her dissertation on riddles. “My riddling prophecies you do not yet understand. Let me say this: what you saw today in the scepter and crown are but an infant’s understanding of the riddles and meanings. And it is a very important matter for it to be that way. Without riddles, I would have little means to see into the hearts of my creation.
“So many times I gave gifts to the people in the Realms Below – you saw it for yourself. What happened? The very men rewarded with a tiny bit of information puffed themselves up with pride, declaring their knowledge of me was divinely great!
“See! And look at the mess there today. Around the time of the Great War, I handed over to you a man and then a group of men to declare a time of hope. And what did they do with the message given them? They took control, deciding for themselves good and bad, beating any who disagreed with their prattle. Even now, at this very moment, they foment trouble, secretly seeking new power and glory, thinking themselves as the princes of a new world yet to come. I shall say no more of them.
“As you can see, riddling prophecy acts like a two-edged sword. It gives hope to the humble who have honest faith in me that I shall carry out my purpose. But for the proud, it opens up their hearts so they reveal what they really are – revelers without real love, lusting for power and glory, openly displaying a wanton desire to dominate over others of
their own kind.” She patted Mihai’s hand. “I think we have beaten that horse way far enough. Now on to more personal matters…
“At the end of the Great War, a new star in your league of followers had risen to prominence. Unlike the former who had attempted through honest and humble means to declare my message of hope to the inhabitants of the Second Realm, this new saint became an unbendable master, relegating my style of love to protocol and rhetoric, while bullying his masses into line to do his personal bidding.
“This man, although personally loyal to you and me, reflected the passion of your brother – being proud, boisterous, and arrogant. I did not bring him and the organization he had twisted and bent to his will to nothing because there was too little time for me to start anew. Even though it was now polluted and corrupt with insolence and pride, it could still serve my purpose, to bring forth my Shiloh of prophecy.
“Although still yet to be conceived in the womb, the hour of the child’s arrival was clear to me. I could not afford to bring forth another organization in order to bring my prophecy to fulfillment. I decided then to continue to guide this group until my purpose was fully accomplished.”
Ma-we sighed, shaking her head. “Although your followers still shout your name and mine, their hour of abandonment is close. I can see that they will not accept my Shiloh when I deliver him, but will stone him and cast him away as an evil and wicked prophet of the Devil.” She shrugged, “But that is the way of men. Good men do wicked things and all must suffer the price for such foolishness.”
Snapping her fingers, a fire blazing in her eyes, Ma-we declared, “Well, my Shiloh does live, even as I speak! He is still but a child, yet I see him as a powerful lord and king. My faith in his loyalty is strong. My millennia of genetic endeavors have not been fruitless. And you” she poked Mihai again, “have opened the way for him to take the throne appointed for him from the world’s foundation!”
Mihai jumped back, startled. “What are you about?! My head you filled with words uncertain, dreams of shifting glory, and troubles of fate denied. How am I to understand my trials faced this day? Did the ominous clouds of destruction really hang over the universe should I have chosen the wrong road, or were you only gaming with a weak-minded, foolish child?”
Ma-we laughed. “Riddles, riddles…fooled you, too!” Before Mihai could reply, shock growing on her face, Ma-we added, “A game? Yes! A foolish child? No!”
Her mother stood and began to pace. “When you were young, I watched you play games, some full of pleasure and others full of peril. You were most careless when playing Khoor-ruuk, risking yourself and others, competing in the glider races. More than once you injured yourself, even to the point of breaking your bones and cracking ribs, something that was very rare among your siblings.” She stopped, looking in Mihai’s face. “Those skills you acquired then were taken with you into the cockpits of the flaming chariots you flew after the Rebel Wars began. What you played at then often proved fatal to others, even bringing you close to death on occasion. But was it still not a game of sorts that you were playing, a very deadly game, but a game nonetheless?”
Clasping her hands behind her, Ma-we resumed pacing. “A game need not be pleasant or peaceful to be called a ‘game’. It is the pitting of one’s mind against another’s that makes something a real game. For these many years, I have gamed against
your brother. Is it dangerous? Yes! But there’s nothing else for it. If the game is lost, then all is lost.
“My child, dearest in love and caring, I did not mislead you with my riddles, for I asked you not to believe them without question, or to take any action regarding them.
When I made request of you to do something for me, I was clear and concise, revealing to you all that you needed to know. But you fell prey to the most tricksy of moves a game-master can make. You assumed to understand what I was doing.”
She came over and sat beside a troubled Mihai, gently patting her leg. “Child, there was nothing I could do but watch as you and your siblings gathered false reasonings into your bosoms. Misunderstanding a riddle is not damning for an honest, humble heart.
Any pain or loss experienced will eventually be compensated for…eventually. In the meantime, I was able to keep your brother in the dark concerning my real purposes and clandestine activities. Your brother assumed, too, but he has acted to his own ruination by thinking he’s outsmarted me.
“For these six thousand years, I have outsmarted him, he thinking you were to stand the throne in his stead. You have taken his blows and must continue to for a little while longer. By my allowing your suffering, I have succeeded in gathering my new creation , my children from the Realms Below, altered and refined through generations of genetic selection. They stand ready, soon to lead this world of yours to victory against all wicked men.”
Mihai excitedly asked, “The Swords…? Shiloh…?”
“Yes! Yes, my dear.” Ma-we smiled, sadness in her eyes. “The monster I have created to bring a ruin to all living things, it has been done. What was shall not be. And what is to come shall be the thing unwished for. The storm, even now, is rising in the North. Tonight you shall see the coming breeze, and its cold breath shall chill your heart.
Please, my dear one, do not allow it to destroy your heart.”
“What?!” Mihai asked, surprised. “Why should I fear the very creatures you have promised me? Do I not love the children you have made for me?”
Ma-we frowned. “Daughter of darkness and death, do not attempt to fool your mother. I see jealousy hiding at your door. Have not your own words this day betrayed your displeasure with the usurper appointed to command your brothers and sisters? Do be careful! Disaster waits for you on the trail. If you do not listen to humble wisdom, a humiliation awaits your fate. Naked you shall be made to look if you do not get hold of your heart, for I see that Time will take a man’s hand, and he will reveal all that is secret concerning you and your rule.”
“My rule? I chose not the crown today. I have no rule, not even that of army commander.” Mihai’s heart had focused upon words it chose to hear, pushing Mother’s warning of her daughter’s jealousy over her own kind into the clouds of willing forgetfulness - a most dangerous thing to do, one that would eventually prove itself fatal.
Ma-we eyed her daughter, but decided that added discussion of the matter would be fruitless. ‘Little can the watchman do should the one hearing his warning stuff up his ears to the danger heralded.’ She squeezed Mihai’s hand. “My daughter, you must learn to learn, for life will teach you many unwanted lessons.”
Softly stroking her daughter’s hand, Ma-we confessed, “I have never seen you do one thing out of wanton selfishness, but do be careful. Love, if not checked by wisdom, may well cause a person to make damning decisions. Love without caution, even if it is
for me or your siblings, can be as dangerous as pride. I fear your love will act blindly.”
She slowly shook her head. “But it is not my call to make.” Sitting back, Ma-we smiled,
“And now to answer your question concerning rulership.” She snapped her fingers. “But first, I recommend a quick bath or a good, steaming shower.”
“What?!” Mihai was confused by Ma-we’s change of subject.
Glancing again at the clock, Ma-we hurried Mihai along. “Time runs ever faster the sooner one needs to complete an errand. I’ll explain things to you as soon as may be, but not sooner. If you don’t hurry, it will have to be later than may be…much later.”
Not asking further questions, a very curious Mihai did as Mother requested. She made quick work of matters, choosing to shower, it being much faster. In only minutes, the woman was toweling herself dry.
Ma-we met her at the door. Without saying a word, she lifted a hand and ‘ whoosh!’
a puff of warm air instantly dried Mihai’s hair. She grinned. “No good, no good at all.
It’s much better now.”
Squeezing Mihai’s arms, Ma-we excitedly asked, “Do you recall the words you spoke so long ago about the master leaving in order to receive a kingship and throne?”
“Why…why yes, I do.” Mihai answered, surprised. “But that kingship is gone, or should I say passed along.”
“Gone?” Ma-we quizzed, looking up at the ceiling in thought. “Gone? No. It never went anywhere.” She looked into Mihai’s face. “It’s still where it’s always been.”
Saying no more, she hurried Mihai into the bedroom, toward the bed.
“Mother? What?” Mihai was caught up speechless by what she saw. Some of the bundles had been opened, their secrets displayed on the bed. A beautiful bejeweled, floor-length silk gown was spread out beside an equally long, flowing, purple satin cape, a pair of matching high-laced sandals and golden jewelry completing the ensemble.
Ma-we asked Mihai to dress, assisting her as she did. After slipping the shimmering purple cape over her shoulders, Ma-we inserted the gold chained, green emerald earrings through her daughter’s ears. With a ‘snap!’ Mother locked them in place. “There,” she said with a smile. Turning her daughter around to face the mirror, Ma-we breathed a satisfied sigh. “Perfect, just perfect…” Then peering into Mihai’s eyes through the mirror, she commented, “How long I have waited for this day to see my child of fruitful birth stand up as a woman among her kind. Tonight! It is a good night to be here, when the world is born anew.”
Mihai responded, bewildered, “You confuse me so. Earlier this day, I stood before you, denying crown and throne in order to remain a woman and, hopefully, one day bring forth life from my inward parts. Then you riddle me with words concerning another rulership, which is a mystery to me. And then you speak of a new day when you see a favorite child stand up in some kind of glory. Mother, your riddles are too much for me.”
Ma-we was busy with Mihai’s gown, adjusting a shoulder strap while humming a little tune. She gave a gentle tug and then turned her attention to the cape, fitting it snug around Mihai’s shoulders so that it hid much of the dress. As she worked, she stared into her daughter’s ocean-blue eyes and began to coo,
“A merry sprite went off to walk
Through a field of crimson wheat.
By chance she met an ogre foul,
Who asked to take her to the ball.
In disgust and fright, she ran away,
Hiding low in the crimson hay.
And all the while, the ogre cried,
‘Please, oh please, be at my side.’
As darkness fell, the field she fled,
But the ogre caught her, and to her said,
‘Tonight, with me, you’ll dine and feast,
For you cannot escape fate with this beast.’
He took her to the fairy dance,
And into the firelight they came by chance.
And behold, the girl came to see
The ogre was really a prince to be.”
Ma-we grinned. “Riddles within riddles within riddles… A riddling book is what I wrote, but truth and honor it is filled with. Did you not believe your sister when, in front of your very ears, before you descended to the world of men, she promised that you were to have a kingdom? Think, child! How could I have promised such if I had already promised my darling something so different? You know I would not do a thing like that.
“What you believed to be so foul was not…was not what you thought at all. I have many kingships to offer. The crown prince over all my universe is but one. Your kingdom still awaits you. Tonight, I shall have it declared to all the world.” She put a finger to her lips. “But they will not be informed as to which kingship it is…not yet.”
Staring up and into Mihai’s eyes, the Maker of Worlds asked, “Now, if I will give to my daughter - child of my own flesh - all the promises I did promise her when she was but a babe, but has held so dear in her heart all these many days… if I will promise to give her, one day, a son…no, no…many sons and daughters without number and also to all her sisters besides, will my darling child accept this one other burden and all the woes that are delivered along with it?”
What could Mihai do other than accept whatever Mother was offering? Why, for the gift of offspring, alone, she would face Asotos and all his bands of henchmen. She would accept a thousand years of torture at his hands if she could produce but one soul through which her blood coursed. “Yes,” she blurted unhesitatingly, “whatever your servant girl must do will be done!”
“Good! Good! My child has promised. Now it’s too late.” Ma-we scurried to the bed, picking up the remaining bundle. “What will come to be must be her fate.”
Hurrying back, she handed it to Mihai. “Open it! Open it, my darling little child.”
She giggled, “A gift for you, a prize for me. A shock on your brother’s face we’ll see.”
Mihai shook her head as she opened the bundle. It was good to see Mother so pleased with the moment, especially considering the events of the day. When Lowenah acted so childlike, her daughter knew that all was well with her. Ma-we’s quiet moods, something she had been most affected with as of late were distressing to Mihai. For as merry as Ma-we was this eve, it must have been a very good day for her.
Struggling with the last knot – the bow having slipped when Darla and Ma-we had jousted over it – Mihai placed the package on a small dressing table. Ever so slowly, she worked the string loose, the secrets hidden within the silky wrapping being postponed to near frustration. Eventually, the ribbon surrendered, Mihai pulling the wrapping away, gasping.
Ma-we grinned, elated, “Well, what do you think? What do you think? Come…
pick it up. Pick it up! What is my darling waiting for?”
Mihai hesitantly reached out and slowly lifted up a golden crown, cool and hard to the touch, but as light as a goose down feather. Little more than a band in the back, it widened like two growing waves joining together in a peaked crest at the front. Aligned along each wave were six gemstones, each of different beauty and power. The two top stones, one to the right and left of the crest, were Cortessoian, a jewel made by combining green emerald and ruby-red sapphire. Beneath the crest was engraved a roaring lion under which were words in an ancient tongue, translated, ‘A thousand years may eternal be’.
Ma-we was all so anxious. “Well, are we putting it on?! Or must I take it from you and do it myself?!” Not waiting for a reply, she pulled the crown from Mihai’s hands and set it on her daughter’s head. “See! Both your heart and mine are gifted this day. A riddle answered in a most wonderful way.”
Mihai’s head began to spin wildly. Clutching it, she pitched forward, falling into a black void that hurtled her down ever faster into a growing vortex of nothingness. No sight, sound or feeling reached the woman’s senses other than that of falling, ever falling.
Yet that was only an illusion, vertigo of the imagination, a universe of descending emptiness. Concluding this journey to be a vision, Mihai reached out with her mind to find its hidden treasures.
She soon detected tiny sparkles of color tumbling through the dark nothingness, eventually filling the void with blinding oceans of rainbow hues. “Mesmerizing!” she would later describe this world of living delights. Yes, “Alive!” she said, because of the pulsing messages they imparted to her, even answering questions asked of them with her mind. But that world, too, soon passed from sight.
This kaleidoscopic universe eventually parted, leaving Mihai as she was drawn into an emerald green sea. “Mother’s eyes!” Were her eyes not the same in color and warm delight? A sound like the roaring of giant waves on an endless beach filled the girl’s mind as she was swept along. Then, down she tumbled again, the roar becoming a deafening tumult. ‘ Plop! ’ Mihai crashed into something, stopping her fall, being knocked senseless.
Was it a fleeting moment or an eternity before Mihai awoke? With a vision, one never knows. In fact, it is a good question not to ponder. She found herself lying upon a sandy shore, pounding surf in the distance. Sitting, she became aware of children’s laughter coming from down the beach. Getting to her feet, she started off in the laughter’s direction.
Struggling up a dune, her feet slipping backward in the loose, dry sand, Mihai eventually made the rise, the beach at low tide stretching out before her. There was a warning cry from someone near the dune, sending dozens of naked little bodies scurrying away, disappearing beyond other dunes. Only one child remained, a small boy of light complexion and auburn hair.
Slowly and cautiously, Mihai worked her way down the dune, ever fearful the boy would also run away, but he did not. He quietly stood there awaiting her, a living conch in his hands, its shell glistening with colors of the woman’s earlier vision. Studying the boy, Mihai could see no fear in his eyes. Indeed, he appeared to be expecting her. Oh how easy it is to forget it is a vision when Mother’s fingers play at the game!
Stopping two paces away, Mihai stared, examining the boy in an attempt to understand his part in this vision. He spoke up as if reading her mind, “You wonder who I am, for you see me not in past or present.”
Pondering aloud, Mihai asked, “Who are you, then, an apparition from future days?
A symbol of things to come?”
The boy shook his head. “I am neither apparition nor symbol. I am a reality though not yet beheld, a promise though not yet fulfilled, a coming dream, a breath of refreshing spring. As you live, so do I, for I am a holy being, born of kings sired by the Cherubs, themselves. I am born from mortal flesh which covers an immortal spirit. My fate is your fate, for you choose my existence.”
Mihai asked, very curious now, “Who are you?”
The boy frowned. “You still refuse to understand. Oh trouble…oh trouble… Look at me and see. Are not your eyes and mine the same? Do we not share a common mind and soul? Look, I am the son you wish to have, child of kings, a promise granted.”
Crying with joy, Mihai reached out to hold the boy. He jumped back, scolding, “Do not touch what is not yet yours!”
“What?!” Mihai cried.
The boy silenced her. “I am come to give you hope and assurance, because what you see is what you will have, but in latter days, when all that is now is no more. You, my mother, must hurry to an end this wicked hour if you wish to see your son again. I will mark an end of an age and the beginning of another, a sign that peace has come to all living things.”
He handed a surprised Mihai the conch. “But first you must dry up the River Styx and bring the Boatman to his end. He will not halt his ever-quest to bring all souls into his breast until you have brought him to a finish. To you has been this burden given, for today the Crown of Life you took upon yourself.”
Mihai protested. The boy hushed her, waving his hand as he slowly faded from sight. “Drink it up and bring it to a finish, for in your hands now rests the destiny of lovers and friends. Bring to an end what your brother created so long ago. Part the waters so there will be a returning for all who have passed beyond.”
Alone, Mihai stood on the beach, the tide ever rising, tumultuous waves splashing further up the sand. Or was something else happening? Everywhere she looked, the sea increased in agitation, as if it was being called away from its bed. Looking down at the conch, she saw the shell pulsing its radiating colors in rhythm with the waves. Or were the waves dancing in rhythm with the pulsing shell?
A burning sensation filled Mihai’s hands. She let out a cry and dropped the conch, it crashing into the sand, gray, dull and lifeless. Looking at her hands, the woman observed as the pulsing rainbow hues raced up her arms, flooding her body with their radiating energy. Soon Mihai was aglow with power, a living beacon calling to the advancing sea.
Mihai lifted her arms, fingers extended. She stood high on her toes and called out words strange to her ears but understood in her mind, their translation being, ‘A ruin! A
ruin! A ruin I shall make it! No more shall your shadow descend upon my people. I shall cut down your living boughs and give what was yours to another. Your heart is for me a sported treasure in which I will exult!’ The raging waters rose high above the woman’s head. Just before they enveloped her, she shouted, “Down with all that is yours! ”
To Mihai’s surprise, the tormented sea did not wash her away, drowning her in its wrath. Instead, she discovered, it drew into her, being torn from the ocean floor. Inward the water rushed, all the oceans and seas, rivers and lakes, until the flood departed, leaving a barren landscape scattered with the wreckage of many broken and twisted ships.
For but a moment, the woman stared at the ruined land. She was then lifted up and swept far away, into a silent world filled with glowing spheres of radiant light. Drifting through this strangest of universes, Mihai felt she was not alone. Gradually she came to realize that life pulsed strong within each sphere. ‘Strange,’ she thought. Reaching out and touching one as she floated past, a voice called out to her, drowsily speaking her name.
Shocked, she jerked her hand away, putting the woman into an uncontrolled spin.
Helplessly tumbling end over end, Mihai managed to gently bounce and bump into one sphere after another. Each time she touched a glowing ball, a sleepy voice as if waking from some deep, forgotten dream, would call out to her, often by name. “The Web of the Minds!” Mihai shouted, although no sound came from her lips. “Mother shows her child the world hidden from mortal vision!” She marveled in wonder, recognizing many of the voices. Lost acquaintances and lovers sang out to her, and her heart would sing back. Oh, how delightful to be near the ones she had so longed to see again! Yet here they were, still very much alive, waiting once more to be clothed in mortal flesh, so that they, again, could sense the world around them.
“Oh, Mother!” Mihai cried, only to see the spheres fade into darkness.
Ma-we caught the child up in her arms. Mihai moaned, “What? Where?” She had been gone for but a twinkling of an eye from this world, but countless ages and lives had passed before her eyes during that time.
Helping Mihai to stay on her feet, Ma-we steadied her daughter. “There, there, we will soon be fine.” She giggled, “Travel sickness, you know. Catches up to novices quite quickly…”
Rubbing her eyes, Mihai asked, “It was a vision, wasn’t it? A wonderful, beautiful vision?”
Ma-we hesitated, grinning. “A vision? Er… well… you might want to call it that…
for now, anyway.” She took Mihai’s hands. “The day may well come when you will understand that visions and reality are often one and the same. You do not always discern matters the same as Immortals…yet.”
Blinking in an attempt to regain her focus, Mihai asked, “I’m…I’m really back…
here, I mean, or is this another part of my vision?”
Still smiling, Ma-we asked, “Did you like the trip?”
“So I’m back here, in reality, I mean?” Mihai asked again.
“You’re back here, if that’s what you mean.” Ma-we answered slyly, nodding.
“And I guess you’ll be stuck here for some time, so you might as well accept it as reality.”
Mihai asked no more concerning the matter, concluding the part of her adventure she called a ‘vision’ was finished. Mother had different ways of looking at things, and when
she was in a good mood, it was impossible to get a straight answer from her. Mihai sighed in satisfaction. At least Mother was in a good mood.
Finally addressing Ma-we’s question, Mihai answered, “Yes, yes I did enjoy the trip.” She reached up to adjust her crown and cried out with surprise when finding it gone. “My crown! Where?”
“It’s here!” Ma-we interrupted, touching a finger to the side of Mihai’s head. “You possess it within your mind. It is a gift that is only yours. No one can take it from you, nor can you lose it. If you desire it to be seen by others, you only need to think kingly thoughts and it will appear. It would be most appropriate for you to act kingly tonight.”
She turned away, watching the time. “Once you have wished the crown upon you, it will not fade until you will it away. Oh, yes! It is very real when you wear it… hard to the touch, you might say.”
Ma-we turned back toward her daughter, her jovial demeanor quickly fading. “The position of king is not just an entitlement to the throne over my people. You now have a kingdom that is its own - an everlasting kingdom – but you also act as steward of the throne for the king yet to come. Your obligation is to protect and secure that kingdom until the one entitled arrives to lay claim to it. It is a most serious responsibility.”
Ma-we warned, “The hour approaches when you must take the lead over my children. Already I see a great fire in the East that blots out the sun with its smoke. It will silence my lips for but a day, yet in that day all good things may perish. You must stand as a sentinel over my kingdom until that day has passed and protect it until its fate has been determined.”
She stepped up to Mihai and began to stroke her satin cape. “You, my child, are but a king…not a dictator. Into another’s hand you have surrendered the army. Tonight you will honor that person in front of all onlookers, declaring TrishaQaShaibJal the new lord over all the armies of the Empire.” Lowenah took Mihai’s arm. “Child, remember this well: Trisha’s loyalty is to me and after this night will be also to you. But…but she is a god over your people at war, not accountable to you regarding military decisions.”
Looking into her daughter’s concerned eyes, Ma-we explained, “You are the bonding agent that unifies the Empire. Trisha, though, has now become one of the Angels of Death that will bring all things to ruin. Yes, I have chosen others as well. You have the power to hold back the winds of destruction, but once released, it will be your duty to strengthen your people for the storm that will rage upon them. Let the warrior do the slaughtering. You do the healing.”
She patted Mihai’s arms reassuringly. “Today I have bestowed knowledge beyond excellence upon you. You will need it to rule. But I cannot give to your heart the wisdom it will need to survive this coming contest – game, if you will. Thus, the knowledge you have acquired is only useful if you force your heart to become wise with it. A king must think and reason first! Feelings are a pleasant distraction used sparingly and only on the coldest of nights.” Taking hold of Mihai’s hands and giving them a squeeze, Ma-we concluded, “Please remember this: A field marshal may lose an army, but a king an entire universe.”
The two chatted for a while about some of the things Mihai had experienced, Ma-we nodding and replying when appropriate. Observing her daughter closely, Ma-we troubled inside. ‘I must stay the course even though she does not yet understand. Much must be lost before this age ends, much more than I wished might be. But there’s nothing for it.
Destiny rides the skies unbridled. It belongs to my children to rein it in and force it to do their bidding. There’s nothing else for it.’
Seeing the hour was late, Ma-we took her daughter’s hand and, to conclude matters on a lighter note, changed subjects. “My Darling so dear, I must be on my way. You should hurry along for dinner. We’ve kept your little sister waiting far too long. What mischief she attains to at this moment is for the imagination to conjure. Remember times in the past?”
Mihai nodded, recalling that Darla had been known to get into a mix from time to time, especially with some of the more prominent children on the councils.
Touching her head, Ma-we suggested, “Hide your crown for now, until arrival at the council, but wear it when you enter, if you would, please.”
Mihai promised.
Smiling, Ma-we kissed her daughter. “I’ll see you in a bit…have some little business to attend to before tonight.” She kissed Mihai again and darted out the door.
Turning away, Mihai walked over to the mirror. She watched as her crown slowly faded from sight. ‘Sorta’ like things on Mother’s table,’ the woman thought, placing a hand where the crown had been.
For a few moments, the grown-up girl stared into the mirror, reflecting more on what she had become than as to how she appeared. A new sobriety filled Mihai’s heart. The days of her coming of age lay in the long-forgotten past. A new age of violence had long ago swept away any innocence of earlier times. It was now her duty to see to the end of this wicked age and make way for the new – an age of healing.
Glancing around the tiny apartment, Mihai was filled with a romantic melancholy regarding it. She could remember how it had so long been a hiding place for her soul, a sanctum of security in troubling times. But now there was something different about it.
It took her a moment to realize just what.
Now she knew. The woman could remember, just like a person can remember the security of a certain toy, but she was unable to feel that security. It was gone - gone with her innocence that she had refused to admit to until tonight. There was to be no going back now. The world was changed. Mother had made sure of it, and this evening would seal it forever. Whatever was to come on the ‘morrow, this tiny dwelling was not to be part of it.
Tomorrow, Mihai would remove what few keepsakes she desired from here, delivering them to the palace. The upper chambers of the Firstborn she would procure, holding them in trust until the man-king promised them arrived. In the back of her mind, the woman understood that this room was but a symbol for all the children of the Empire.
Forever was darkness falling on the past. Although the sun was to arrive again and shine its light on a new and cleansed universe, it would be a different one than the one left behind. Forever gone would be the childlike innocence of the eternal past.
Mihai walked to the opened door, casting one last, longing glance back into the room. She sighed, knowing there was no returning to this comfy nest. Waving her hand, the room fell dark. For the last time, the child passed the threshold, quietly closing the door behind her.
* * *
Section Two
Of Councils Great and Small
Piercing eyes studied the solitary figure sitting quietly in a distant corner of a great chamber called the ‘Hall of Assembly’, political strategy room since the beginning of the Rebellion. Those eyes squinted in wondering question, ‘So, this is the wisest of counselors, personal advisor to the Maker of Worlds? Doddered, unkempt, nervous…
Who really is this man, ArdonAzubahKenath? He looks more the part of an Eastern slave merchant awaiting his next client, and he has just recently returned from one of his mysterious deep space sojourns. This person deserves closer scrutiny.’
‘Ardon’, as he was more often called, had been sitting in the Hall of Assembly for nearly an hour, it being his custom to arrive early so as to observe others entering, and to not be noticed, himself. It afforded him the luxury of a silent inquisition of the gathering crowd and time to ponder possible unfolding of the night’s events. Long ago he had learned to watch warily for clues that revealed motives and intentions. More than once he had managed a coup on some covert spy or enemy agent amidst the loyal children of the Empire. Tonight was special, at least according to Mother, and from the looks of all the military brass and high-ranking officials, Mother hadn’t been exaggerating. These people needed his scrutiny.
He frowned in surprise and disapproval watching a lowly naval officer shyly enter, his eyes opened wide in awe at the gathered company of royal officials and leading military officers. For some moments the man stood there, arms hanging limp, with folded hands. The nervous fellow looked more like a trapped animal seeking escape than a captain in the Empire’s navy.
Ardon stirred, leaning forward, concerned. ‘Now why does Mother trouble our presence with a washed-out captain, unfit to hold the bridge of a cattle barge, or that scrap heap of a ship, the...’ It took a moment for him to recall. ‘Oh yes, that derelict hulk, Shikkeron? Should have scrapped it out before the Great War... What’s Bedan doing at such an important counc...’ Ardon snapped his fingers. ‘Oh, yes...Zephath... Sirion...
Shikkeron was a first responder to its distress signals.’ He slowly shook his head. ‘Why does Mother need Bedan’s counsel here? The official report contains everything he could provide.’
Ardon’s apparent arrogance was not as it appeared. True, he believed his position on the head council was well deserved, and he also believed it would be through the roles of various councils that permanent peace was to be obtained, military actions only a necessary stopgap to provide time for diplomacy to win out. Bedan, a captain of peacetime necessity, and one of the countless younger children, made the man’s deficiencies loom greater in Ardon’s mind. The fellow was just another of the dullards and misfits this war had gathered to itself. The great leaders of ancient times were the heroes who must bring matters to a finish. And wasn’t that what this evening’s gathering was all about?
It troubled Ardon to think that Mother...Lowenah...did not bother to inform him or seek his advice concerning Bedan and Shikkeron. It was not her silence about the matter when they visited in private conference earlier, but her obvious secretiveness that was most disturbing. True, she informed him in somewhat lengthy detail about Mihai’s reaction to being offered the king’s crown, the woman being given another kingship later in the day.
He was also made privy to Trisha’s promotion to field marshal, something that also perturbed him as it had Mihai, but for additional reasons. It was Mother’s incessant riddling and evasiveness that had been most bothersome. ‘I think the girl has the right stuff.’ Lowenah had said so offhandedly about Trisha, before adding, ‘And she’s so pretty, too. Don’t you think so?’
Ardon had sputtered about the woman’s youth and inexperience, presenting numerous reasons why she shouldn’t be given such a high military post. Though not mentioning it, he secretly believed the position should go to a member of the Council, possibly Lord PalaHar, a highly respected military officer and a member of the Council of Twenty-four as was he, who understood the value of diplomacy in conflict. Plus, Trisha being an Off-worlder and so new to this realm led him to suspect the children of this world might resent having to bend a knee to such a person. The shadow of such a feeling already was being manifested by a few in the way they saw Mother dote over some of them.
Lowenah had brushed off Ardon’s arguments, saying it would be good for some to learn a little humility, she eyeing him carefully as it was spoken, then, bouncing from her chair, her golden tresses drifting high into the afternoon breeze, politely dismissing him, replying as she turned, “The hour is upon us when humility may not only save the soul, but may well preserve the heart. It’s time some of my children learned that, ArdonZoiathenBethy, man who sees little use for the titmouse.”
Ardon scratched his chin over Mother’s final words, the name she called him. For hundreds of millennia, he had been called ‘ArdonAzubahKenath’, ‘man of stones’. At least it was the name’s original meaning. Ardon ignored the less noble ‘the man who abandons the festival of the winds and hides himself in the misty caves’ that many of his younger sisters came to attach to it. And that was another thing. His mind wandered…
For all his age and wisdom, he being one of the most ancient of the children, he never was able to understand women at all...that was, except for Tashi.
Craning his neck, he scanned the room. Tashi, governor of the Trizentine colonies, was supposed to be here this evening. He searched carefully to see if she had arrived yet and been missed. Satisfied that was not the case, the man settled back in his chair, watching the door, his mind distracted with seeking the reason for Mother’s name-calling.
“Hello there, sweet one!” Startled, Ardon looked up just in time to have two soft hands cradle his face and two full, moist lips smack his. Eyes opening wide in surprise, Ardon stared dumbly into Tashi’s face.
Leaning back, Tashi studied the perplexed fellow who was still trying to get his bearings. She frowned, shaking her head. “I’ve come all the way from the Trizentine, holding my passions in check in anticipation of this coming night to be spent with my lover and you have nothing to say to me? Tsk, tsk... Maybe I should have accepted that
captain’s request to wile away some quiet hours with him.” She pulled Ardon’s face close as she bent forward again, planting another kiss on him.
While sheepishly stuttering his hellos, Ardon glanced around the room, concerned that others might have seen or heard Tashi’s amorous advances. Satisfied none had, he relaxed and, taking her hands in his, smiled, replying quietly, “It is good to see you, too, Governor…”
Tashi shot him a scolding stare.
“Er, well… of course, of course, I’m overjoyed to see you and… and…”
Though teasing, Tashi’s voice was serious to the point of threatening. “I have not contained my feelings these many days to be put off by a stuffed shirt, Lord Ardon. As you have promised… and I will collect on that promise…this visit belongs to me and I shall have my way concerning it. Tonight, and tomorrow, and the next, and the next if I wish… and I do wish… and for all the days I am here on this sojourn of mine, you will lavish you time and energies upon me. Our bed I shall warm with you for my entire stay.”
She stood upright, shoulders back, eyebrows furrowed, hands still holding fast to Ardon’s. “And, if you think your phony piety will allow you to show aloofness toward me this eve, I will shout out to the entire crowd your passionate love songs showered upon me in your hidden chambers, songs that others so openly confess to all the world, but you, you stodgy old hermit, hide in secret vaults, fearing your dignity might be questioned should others hear that you also desire the flesh of women with manly abandon.”
Ardon’s face flushed red with embarrassment and concern as he squeezed Tashi’s hands, pleading quietly, “Oh no! No, my…my sweet one! I do want to be in your company. I have been waiting so long to see you. It’s just that, well, you know this council is so important, and…”
“And?” Pulling a hand away, Tashi shook a finger at him. “And if you don’t behave, I will take my leave with that officer over there…” pointing at Bedan in a distant corner,
“and I will deliver my pent-up desires upon him!”
Almost jumping from his chair, Ardon quietly cried, “No! No! I mean… I mean, I do want your company… really. I am sorry that…”
Tashi grinned, “That’s better. No more granny grunt stuff.” She kissed him and turned to leave. “I have some business to attend to, but I will not be far away. Do not leave me alone after this night’s council. I will be waiting.” She hurried off to see some others.
Ardon slowly settled back into his chair, his eyes ever watching Tashi’s sensuous movements as she glided across the room. Not even a muscle twitch gave away his pounding heart, his sweaty palms the only evidence of passions the man was fighting to keep under control. “Oh my! Oh my!” he mumbled under his breath. “How does she manage to do that to me?” He hated and loved that woman, hated her because she could strip him, the great counselor to Lowenah, of all his emotional control, loved her because she chose him to be the one she so tortured. How? Strumming his fingers on the chair’s arm, Ardon pondered the possible reasons.
The woman’s given name was ‘TaanathShiloh’, meaning ‘my peaceful ebony child’, but was later changed to ‘PurooQanaTashi’, having the dual meanings ‘mistress of the passionate wildfires’ or ‘the child who possesses the wildfires’. And the woman, Tashi,
certainly lived up to her name. Lowenah had struggled to keep the girl’s passions in check until her coming of age celebration. After her release of service from her virgin year, the child had gone wild so to speak, and did chase down her dreams of passion like a consuming wildfire.
Ardon had come upon the woman during one of his many sojourns into the uncharted abyss of the Nebulan Cloud Bank. His need for supplies had delivered him to Exothepobole, a then tiny mining colony on Sustrepho far out in the Trizentine. Tashi was already the elected leader of the mining council - no small achievement considering she was one of the younger children during that time, being only a few thousand years of age.
Sustrepho was a dark, cold planet, being a great distance from its nearest star, where metavideoxide was found. Conditions were harsh and unforgiving. Not only was metavideoxide known to be a dangerous, unstable mineral, mining for it was equally unpredictable. Some of the early veins went two miles deep under the mountains west of the outpost. It was Tashi’s job to secure the safety of the miners and make sure they had adequate supplies, responsibilities she executed flawlessly. In fact, Tashi was responsible for turning Exothepobole from a tiny mining camp into a thriving city, provincial capital, and mercantile exchange for the entire Trizentine star systems.
Ardon’s arrival at Exothepobole caused quite a stir, few of its inhabitants having met the acquaintance of one so ancient, they being considered almost mythical creatures among the children of the latter part of the First Age. Tashi, being head of the mining council, took it upon herself to make Ardon’s visit somewhat of a celebration, seducing him with wine and song, bedding the fellow that night using her sensual wiles and cunning personality, entrapping him into surrendering to her his heart…the only woman ever succeeding with such a feat.
Looking across the room at the woman now, her glistening, black, ebony skin and knee-length, obsidian-midnight, dark, curly hair, Ardon slowly shook his head, his ardor for Tashi growing by the second. How did she do it? It wasn’t fair! He was in control.