Lamekis

by Charles de Fieux

  “Good God!” the Lindiagar yelled and struck the Tok-ho-dor221 three times. “Can it be that such black lies are dared in Fulghane’s Sanctuary? Isn’t this the Princess that the fire consumed? And she was supposed to take the place of the other? Oh, my Bil-bou-gan-gan,222 see and judge for yourselves!”

  The people had heard everything and, being allowed to look, they discovered the lie. They shouted out in anger to sentence and submit the High Priestess to the Fa-ris-bouk.223 The King approved the judgment, calmed the crowd down and ordered that the girl who caused the condemnation of the High Priestess tell everything she knew about the plot or else suffer the same punishment. The young girl was scared by the threat, threw herself at the feet of Fulghane, turned her back to the King and after these signs of respect confessed that she was the daughter of the Magna Fakhaldak. Her mother’s constant hatred of Princess Cleannes, whom she could never bring herself to see as Ruler, cooked up the plan to have her take her place and be protected if her dealings with the males were ever found out, as she might fear because of the hostility against her in the temple and the suspicions she had that her secret would be discovered.

  The confession was so appalling to your noble father that he tore out half his beard in despair. The people saw this and out of duty and respect wanted to show the same proofs of their indignation—they wasted no time in imitating him. In less than a minute all the beards were torn off. The old men, because they were too weak, ran to the strong hands of the young and were plucked to the last hair.

  That is where things stand at the moment, Princess, (continued the Karveder). The great Lindiagar is convinced that under such circumstances you have to make an appearance so that the sight of you will assure your incontestable right to the throne. The sacred mark that you have on your head will prove who you are and will protect you against any deadly tricks that the present troubles might cause.

  “Why didn’t you tell me this before?” I scolded. “I would be in the temple right now. You’ve made me lose precious time.”

  “No, Princess,” the Karveder said, “the people are in the inoupisoir.224 It would have been dangerous to interrupt their fury. When the Sun has gone down you will appear before the stunned people. These are the orders of the great Lindiagar. After that, Abska-kou.225”

  The terrible word was too strong for me to add anything. I kissed his eyes and waited for the appointed time. The Karveder put my head between his legs and in this respectful position brought me to the gates of the temple. When the Sun was at its awaited point we entered. My noble father saw us, rang the Tok-ho-dor, lectured the people in my favor and made me mount his throne. He covered me with his cap and recognized me as Cleannes, i.e. Queen. My first act of authority was the destruction of the two laws that I had always hated. The natural custom of enjoying the presence of those who gave us life was reestablished in all its splendor and on the same day I ordained that all the males kept in the temple of Kaiocles be sent home, totally free of the princes and princesses of my race to marry whomever they wanted and proved worthy of.

  The changes were not well received. The people grumbled. The Lindiagar, who was not expecting me to take things so far, made me see the consequences. I was about to say to my noble father that the supreme authority should be put above all considerations, but my attention was distracted by a general cry that broke out, caused by a great wonder. Fulghane was turning like a weathervane on its pole. The awful thing was going to give a divine order. I was dumbfounded. The King himself, in spite of his prejudice against his own religion, seemed shaken up. The statue stopped and let out a deep sigh. Our amazement magnified. In a clear and intelligible voice it spoke, casting dismay and worry on all the watching souls.

  “So, it is done. My people must perish, the temple must be destroyed and I must leave this place forever. A proud King has raised a crooked daughter to annihilate my laws and their wicked subjects have accused my High Priestess, refused to obey my divine orders and defied them. If my divine power had not warned me of their awful projects, they would already be trampling my image under their guilty feet. Tremble, Amphicleocles, you are all going to die. There is only an instant given to you to repent. There is only one way to appease my anger and get back in my favor. The Lindiagar must be cast down from the High Throne and his daughter suffer the punishment that Magna Fakhaldak was unjustly condemned to. Let her daughter, and mine (that is a secret I want to reveal), be raised on the High Throne and exercise the sovereign power. Only then will I pardon you. Otherwise I will strike you down. I have spoken.”

  As soon as the Oracle had spoken, the people rose up in anger and wanted to obey. The Lindiagar, who was never as magnificent as in the most terrible dangers, threw his cap at the people, rang the Tok-ho-dor and ordered his Karveder to take the guards, force open the Sanctuary and smash the altar under the statue.

  “I am being wronged and you are being seduced, Bil-bou-gan-gan!” he shouted. “Fulghane is not speaking. It’s a trick—Magna Fakhaldak is hiding inside. This amazing prodigy is nothing but one of her tricks. If things are not as I say and after going to the statue Fulghane really speaks or shows sure signs of his presence, then I will step down from the High Throne. I myself will sacrifice my daughter to the divinity in compensation for the crime and I will seal it with my blood. After that, Abska-kou.”

  These words were spoken so majestically they froze the people who were ready to use lethal force. A humble silence fell and everyone waited for the results of the royal promise. They were not a little surprised at the ruler’s insight. The Magna Fakhaldak was found inside the statue. Her old, ashamed face was buried in her hands. They had found the machine that made the statue turn and other tricks that would be too long to go into detail.

  The people were outraged at being the dupe of the wicked High Priestess for so long and she and her daughter and all her subordinates fell victim to the people’s unbound fury. They begged me (because I was recognized as the Ruler) to get out of the temple, go back to my palace and leave them free to satisfy their vengeance and anger. I thought it best to give in to their just requests.

  Two hours later the temple was destroyed to the very last stone and the guilty were punished. Throughout the kingdom the great Vilkonhis was worshipped instead of the impotent Fulghane. Temples were dedicated and you could say that a great revolution had been accomplished without the state being attacked at all. It is always the case that when the truth is heard, it wins the day. By recognizing a supreme being the Amphicleocles found so much justice and humanity in their laws that they willingly and quickly bent under the gentle yoke. The great Lindiagar was made their minister. What glory after reigning as powerful King over their hearts and giving to his people so many proofs of his kindness during his reign. Now he crowned it all by working to make them happy until after death. Oh Heavens, it is you who accomplished this important work! How indebted we are to you for being so blessed? The Amphicleocles will praise you forever.

  Part 6

  The kingdom of the Amphicleocles enjoyed a profound peace. My father and I shared the throne and were calmly deciding its destiny when an event, as extraordinary as it was ill fated, altered our tranquility.

  The Karveder came before me one day very disturbed, which foreshadowed the evils we were soon bound to fall victim to. “Two huge and incredibly powerful monsters have just appeared two leagues away from the capital,” the minster told me. “This news coming from a neighboring city’s governor caused me the utmost dismay and I ran, Queen, to inform you so you can take the appropriate measures to protect your states against the evils that this dreadful event might cause.”

  The matter seemed so important to me that I immediately went to my father’s room to tell him. On hearing the news he changed color. “Oh, my daughter, the time of the prophecy has come. I praise the divine Being for everything. Fulghane was destroyed by our hands and the consequences are inevitable—I’ve been waiting for them.” After this my illustrious father told me about the or
acle226 that foretold the day of our first blessed meeting. We worshipped the great Vilkonhis together and completely resigned ourselves to his divine will.

  The Karveder, who was waiting for the end of our conference and for orders to deal with the awful news that he had brought, was quite surprised at our calmness. He tried in vain to make us destroy the worm monsters or at least to keep them away but our opinion was not to stand in the way of our destiny. He respected this and sighed when he kissed our heads. No doubt he left grumbling about our blindness.

  Some time passed without mention of the terrible invaders. They were seen no more. But one day as I was walking in the palace gardens, Za-ra-ouf, the terrible monster who was defeated by Motacoa’s bravery, suddenly showed up, grabbed me and stole me away. My cries and those of my father did nothing but speed up my abduction. Oh harsh Heavens, my abductor ran faster than the winds! Another of his species sped in front of us to forge the path he had to follow. It would never be possible to believe the incredible leaps the two of them made and how fast they got away. At the very beginning I fainted and only came to after we had arrived in that awful den that was destined for me.

  Za-ra-ouf, King of these monstrous people, as I said, did not wait to tell me his feelings. “Beautiful Tumpingand,” he said as soon as he thought I was ready to listen, “I love you and want to make you the happiest of mortals. My kingdom is limitless and you will see the friendliest Trifoldaysters turn yellow with grief for the great honor that I’m favoring you with. But in order that you enjoy the favors I’ll heap upon you and that you not miss your country and your rank that the great Ver-fund-ver-ne called you out of, you must know who I am, my great qualities and how hard it was for me to get to you.”

  The story of Za-ra-ouf

  Of all the Kings reigning in the Inner Earth, I can honestly and humbly say that I am the greatest, the friendliest and the one who has attempted the most extraordinary things. Everything I have done so far has been the result of deep meditation. My predecessors tried in vain to break into the bright domain where the light shines freely, but I alone succeeded. At first my objective was only philosophical curiosity, but your reputation for wisdom and beauty reached even me through channels that you will soon learn about and it hastened my plans, inspired them with a feeling I had never felt before. My magnificent heart was completely obsessed with being in your charming presence. Bow down before me and listen carefully.

  One day while I was reexamining one of the places where the light came right up to me, I heard the nearby stamping of stumpy worms.227 I hid behind a rock planning to catch one of the monsters228 when they showed up. I had been waiting for this great luck for a long time. The tradition of my kingdom had taught me that these savage people had a secret229 that could infallibly destroy our cruel enemies230 and more than one of our Kings had spent his time and energy trying to find their lair to make them give up this so-called secret. But all of their efforts so far had failed. These people were so horrified by us that they fled with as much energy as we spent trying to catch them. We had no idea why. No doubt it had to with some natural disgust, but whatever it was we never knew why231 and yet it would have been really sweet to add this distinguished honor to my glory.

  I do not know if the monsters smelled me or if I was wrong about them riding their fantastic horses, but whatever the case, I only saw a few stumpy worms with no riders come peeking through a crack in the rock where I was hiding. I decided to catch the first one within reach hoping that if I succeeded, it would lead me to its masters. I was just about ready to try it when one of them walked up slowly and sleepily, making it easy for me. I jumped out of my hiding place and onto its back. It was so scared that it started running at full speed and I held on so tightly, in spite of its bucking and galloping, that after two days I arrived in the country bordering our empire. The monster had barely got through the opening of the Inner Earth when he started suffocating. The same thing happened to the one my chief minister was following me on. Both of us stood a long time in awe of the magnificent sight before us. Our eyes could barely stand the sight of the eternal sky.232 We took the first path we saw and after walking for three days we ended up at the foot of a surprisingly high and majestic wall. I had never seen the likes of it before and I was eager to know the reason for such a wondrous work.

  It took us more than a month to walk around the wall. Its enormous size made me think that it marked the boundary of some extraordinary kingdom since the rulers were so careful to forbid entry. The more things I found blocking my burning curiosity, the harder I tried to overcome them. It was not an easy task, my beautiful Tumpingand, but I’m sure you know that, so I’ll skip this part.

  My minister and I found no way to breach the wall as simple as digging a hole and going under the wall into the wondrous kingdom,233 but we lacked the tools to get started. After discussing the problem we agreed that we should go to the first town to find some and that if they refused to treat us kindly we would force the inhabitants to lend them to us.

  But we had another problem with this. A simple town appeared on our left and as soon as we entered all the people ran away in fear. It was a little surprising to us. There was only one old man, whose decrepitude rooted him there, to help us out. In spite of being really scared he wanted to talk with us to help us in our project and give us a rough idea of your kingdom’s traditions. What he told us was amazing and instead of giving up, my mind was completely made up.

  These people, I told myself, must be very wise to be so determined to break away from the rest of mankind.

  The old monster234 lent us some iron tools that we could use to reach our goal. It took all my resolve to forge on. No underground trip was ever so hard for a Trifoldayster. After a month and a few days we entered your realm. We had learned through experience that the sight of us was frightening, so we were careful to travel only at night. During the day we hid in the woods.

  After 15 days or more without meeting anyone or coming across any habitation, we finally saw a grand Kou-i-ouf235 that was so strange that the minister and I laughed together for more than two hours. But we were wrong. People have their customs and what might seem ridiculous is really only unfamiliar. We decided to get through the wall and to enter the building in the middle of the night to take the residents by surprise and force them to answer all the questions I had to satisfy my curiosity.

  It was basically just three things: First, to know if the bright star shining on you was a god that you worshipped or a creature that we might have relations with; second, what miracle allowed you to live with those monstrous growths that we did not have; and third, if you were intelligent. A Trifoldayster philosopher seeks knowledge and will risk everything to get it.

  The old man I talked about and whom I asked these things seemed so poorly informed that I snubbed him like the monster he was. My opinion was that the people closed up within the walls were the sages who could resolve the thorny problems. Was there anything else needed to drive me forward in my search?

  The time of night we were waiting for came. Soon we were in a room where a Tumpingand girl was lying in a box236 with a male of her species. They were both in a deep sleep. I went up, uncovered them and was not surprised at what I saw. “Oh Ver-fund-ver-ne,” I cried out, “can your glory be manifested in such mysterious ways?” And I threw the covers back on the monsters. I got tired of waiting for them to wake up, so I pulled the nose of the Tumpingand girl who started screaming like a snake. I couldn’t help laughing at how quickly she buried herself in the arms of her male and so to have a little fun I pulled them both by their legs telling them that if they kept making my head spin with their screaming I would rip out their teeth and skin them alive like they deserved.

  My words made them as gentle as moles.237 I took advantage of their tameness to satisfy my curiosity on the points I mentioned. I was not too surprised at the mental instinct with which they answered my questions, but when the Tumpingand young man told me your story, beautiful Ascalis
Nasilaë, and described your charms, what did I feel? Right away a tumultuous heat burned my noble heart. I could not understand how you got on the throne, calmly, how determined you were to destroy that false, baroque divinity and how wise you must be to keep it all going. All this joined to your beauty and gentleness captivated me. I decided right then and there to steal you away and make you happy.

  I won’t bore you with all the steps I took to put my plan in action. Just know that I got you to be with me without you knowing a thing. I have to confess that I love your rosy face—it makes me forget about those awful, disgusting limbs. I abducted you and you know the rest. Now, pay even closer attention, I’m going to finish.

  I chose you to share my ever-so-sweet favors whether my people groan about it or not. I have unfailing ways to bend them to my will. Rejoice and bury your pride. Your court will consist of the most beautiful Trifoldaysters of my kingdom and soon you will reign over the strongest and bravest subjects of this land. You will be served by the stubborn people who tame the stumpy worms, a mark of distinction that no Queen has ever had before you. Let your tears be tears of joy.238 I’ll leave you now. I have nothing more to say.

  Nasilaë finds her father

  I cried, it is true, after that depressing conversation and though the monsters were fooled by my appearances of joy, I suffered nonetheless. I prayed to Vilkonhis and to my father for help. My despair brought me 20 times to the point of killing myself, worn out by my laments and my suffering. My beaten body surrendered to sleep and I had a nice dream that in the end calmed my worries. “It is you, Universal Master of all things, who comforted me with this dream to foretell the end of my troubles.” The dream’s message was too important to pass over in silence. So here it is: