The Goddess of Atvatabar

by William Richard Bradshaw

  CHAPTER LVI.

  OUR RECEPTION IN CALNOGOR.

  The royal city of Calnogor never contained such splendor, suchimportance of historic event, nor such a multitude of people, as onthe occasion of the triple event of our marriage, our coronation, andthe reception of the distinguished strangers from beyond the PolarGulf. How shall the glory of that day be described? What occult powermust animate the pen that must be at once the stylus of a poet, thebrush of a painter, and the wand of a magician, to do justice to thesplendid theme?

  The entire army, composed of half a million wayleals, had come fromCalnogor to Kioram to escort the aerial ship containing myself, Lyone,and the distinguished strangers, together with our retinue and thesailors from America and Great Britain. On either side of the ship thearmy was massed in two equal hosts, waving a million of wings. Eitherarmy was led by a phalanx of flying bockhockids, led by Yermoul andGrasnagallipas. A body-guard of wayleals bore fifty gigantic goldensceptres, being the ensigns of sovereignty over the fifty provinces ofthe kingdom.

  All the way to Calnogor, five hundred miles distant, the armyperformed the most incredible evolutions to the measured thunders ofmusic. Its legions massed themselves in ever-whirling globes,undulating all along the line of flight like monstrous serpents.

  Again, mighty cones of wayleals would stream from our yacht on bothsides, upward and backward, like a blaze of comet splendor.

  Then, suddenly, globes of wayleals would surround us, globe withinglobe flying alternately in different directions; and we seemed tomove on the centre of another earth.

  To describe the endless flight and counter-flight, the concentrationand radiation of the wayleals in grand review, would be impossible.Captain Adams and Sir John Forbes were astounded at the extraordinaryevolutions possible to winged men in a world where there ispractically no gravity. The army moved in Daedalian march; it was attimes sinuous with labyrinthic movement to the sound of drums and theroar of bugles. The wayleals formed arches and crowns, conchoidalconvolutions, zones and wheels, hemispheres and globes, cones andpyramids. The yacht was clothed with sublime torsions, peristalticsplendors, and immense radiations of living bodies. It was thegrandest movement of men ever seen on earth.

  We were again completely surrounded by a single globe of wayleals, inthe centre of which moved the yacht with fearful speed. The globemoved as fast as we, and the living shell obliterated both earth andsun from, sight. Then, with a roar of artillery, the globe exploded,and lo! before us the infinite golden dome of the Bormidophia, themarble city of Calnogor, and dense multitudes of excited people!

  The city was decorated with the conquering flag of Lyone and withflowers; and the inscriptions on the triumphal arches were: "Long liveLexington and Lyone, King and Queen of Atvatabar!"

  The entire army, augmented by the allegiance of the defeated king'stroops, headed by the supreme general Hushnoly, received us at theentrance to the city.

  Pending the reconstruction of the government, law and order were beingadministered by Hushnoly, assisted by a military council consisting ofall the victorious leaders.

  The festivities incidental to our entry into Calnogor and the publicrejoicings over the reincarnation of Lyone lasted several days. I tookoccasion at a reception at the royal palace to confer suitable honorsand rewards on my victorious generals. I created the supreme generalHushnoly a noble of the first rank under the title of Goiloor, or Dukeof Calnogor, and confirmed his authority as commander-in-chief of thearmy, and Zooly-Soase was also created Goiloose of Calnogor. GeneralGerolio was created Boiroon of Swerga, an inland city, and appointedvice-commander to Hushnoly. General Rackiron was made Goiloor ofSwondab, and his appointment as general of the royal artillery wasconfirmed. General Ladalmir was made Goiloor of Kioram and commandantof the fortress. General Yermoul, who retired from the army, was madeGoiloor of Gnaphisthasia. The grand sorcerer Charka was made Goiloor,and the grand sorceress Goiloose of Egyplosis, while Grasnagallipaswas created Boiroon of Invention and General of the Royal Bockhockids.

  General Starbottle was made Goiloor of Savasse, a province of thekingdom, and Prime Minister of the government. General Goldrock, whowas now fully recovered from his wounded leg, was made Royal Treasurerand Goiloor of Blindis, a distant city. Dr. Merryferry was madeMinister of Foreign Affairs; General Nototherboc, Minister of NavalAffairs; General Pra, Chief of Police; and General Flathootly,Minister of War.

  I assumed the title of "His Majesty Lexington, King of Atvatabar," andLyone that of "Her Majesty Lyone, Queen of Atvatabar," of equalauthority and dignity to myself.

  I issued a decree confirming all titles and dignities for the life ofthe recipient only. As a man cannot transfer his character orabilities to his children, more especially the virtues that made himfamous, so neither could he transfer his titles or dignities toposterity; and a man who had no other claims to greatness than theplumes he had borrowed from his father, should be despised forstrutting in artificial glory.

  The Borodemy was maintained, and no restriction of popular orconstitutional liberty already enjoyed by the people was permitted.All titles given to men who were simply fortunate enough to receive amajority of votes, making them representatives of the people in theBorodemy, were abolished, and men only were honored by virtue of greatservices accomplished. All members of the Borodemy were paid liberalsalaries, on the principle that a prince had no more right to anappropriation from the public purse than a legislator. All publicmeasures adopted by the Borodemy were subject to the veto of the RoyalCouncil, composed of the king, queen, and actual members of thegovernment.

  I need not say that the victory of Lyone over death and the fact ofour army having conquered in battle gave us unlimited power. I was thesupreme lord of Atvatabar; but, nevertheless, in the hour of triumph Idetermined to use my power for the good of the people. The sensationcaused by the return of Lyone to life had stirred all Atvatabar withfeelings of the profoundest awe and loyalty. Vast crowds of peoplecame as pilgrims to see their queen and offer congratulations.

  Had the old creed, with its worship of Lyone and Harikar, not fallenwith the success of our arms, Lyone would undoubtedly have beenworshipped anew as goddess more devotedly than ever; but therevolution being founded on antagonism of the old faith to socialwelfare and the laws of nature, a new creed must necessarily take itsplace.

  The new creed of one body and one soul was based on order, truth,justice, benevolence and temperance. This I styled the Remeliora, orbetter thing to that which had gone before. The new creed gave thesoul mastery of its feelings, and love was measured by a regularthrob. Souls becoming stronger and more masculine were the better ableto bear the pulsations of joy and despair. They could sustain theiremotions with a cordial enthusiasm, and passion, no longer a franticflame, became a soft and abiding fire.

  I appointed the grand sorcerer Pontiff of Remeliorism, giving himauthority to formulate a code of ethics that all could adhere to. Withsuch a code as a solid foundation, I hoped in time to establish apurer faith than that possessing only the human soul for its deity.

  Not many days after our coming to Calnogor, and while still engaged insettling the government of the kingdom, we received a visit fromHushnoly and Zooly-Soase. It was with feelings of pain that we heardthe object of the supreme general's visit.

  With a voice softened with emotion Hushnoly told his story. Incarrying out the reforms at Egyplosis made necessary by the success ofthe army of the late goddess, a great difficulty presented itself. Itwas found that, notwithstanding the fact that all of the priests andpriestesses had fought for Lyone and the new faith, as against the oldorder of things, nearly one-half of the twin-souls were still at heartas great devotees of Harikar and hopeless love as ever, while theremaining half had renounced the practices of Egyplosis in common withtheir queen. It was found impossible to change the faith of the entirepriesthood in a moment, so to speak, and many still believed that theold faith possessed fruits of self-sacrifice, culture, spirit-power,and the ideal life, such as the new state
of things would utterlydestroy. Hushnoly and the high priestess were in sympathy with theadherents of the ancient faith, and they too believed in sacrificingmarital rights for the sake of the ideal existence.

  The revelation of such a spiritual revolt in Egyplosis, headed, too,by the man and woman who had sacrificed so much for the cause of Lyoneand myself, revealed human nature in a new light, while it astoundedus. I had foolishly supposed the supremacy of the sword could carrydominion into spiritual things, and that Egyplosis was whollyconverted to the new faith, to Remeliorism.

  The situation was extremely painful.

  "Supreme general and high priestess," I said, "both her majesty Lyoneand myself are greatly indebted to your courage and support in thelate struggle; a support heroically given us in spite of your ownsecret faith. Is there no way by which you might be reconciled, bothof you, to the new order of things?"

  "We fear not, your majesty," said Hushnoly.

  "Will riches, will honors not tempt you?"

  "Your majesty, we cannot be tempted," replied he.

  "You are doubtless aware," I continued, "that it would be impossiblefor the government to recognize, much less give support to, a systemof faith for the destruction of which the war was carried on. Much aswe love you, much as we love the priests and priestesses, we cannotgive allegiance to the old faith, We cannot, we dare not countenanceyour creed. It will be therefore impossible for yourselves or yourpeople to remain at Egyplosis, which will be the chief shrine of thenew faith hereafter."

  "We have already anticipated all this," said Hushnoly, "and do notpropose even to remain in Atvatabar."

  "And where do you go to?" said Lyone, in astonishment.

  "Well, your majesty," replied he, "we have determined to takepossession of the sphere Hilar, one of the untenanted spheres aboveus, and there create an ideal world. Thus we will relieve your majestyof all embarrassment and remove any obstacle in the way of religiousor political reform."

  I was bewildered by the reply of Hushnoly, as I had never before heardof any one desiring to dwell on the wandering sphere Hilar, and beggedan explanation.

  "Hilar, as your majesty is probably aware," said Hushnoly, "is asphere twenty-five miles in diameter that floats in space at adistance of fifty miles from the surface of Atvatabar. It revolves onits own axis at the rate of a mile an hour, making a completerevolution in seventy-five hours. It also revolves around Swang onceduring a hundred aerial revolutions, or in one hundred of its days. Ithas tropic, temperate, and frigid zones, with perpetual ice cappingits poles. It contains one ocean of irregular outline and has onecontinent. The areas of land and water are about equal. There are twomountain ranges, turning from a given centre of upheaval anddetermining the configuration of the land. There are one hundredislands in the sea and a dozen rivers on the land. In fact, it seemsto be a facsimile in climate, geologic, and physiographical conditionsto the outer world you have come from; and on such a sphere we proposeto build a new throne for Harikar, and seat thereon another goddesslike the virtuous and glorious Lyone."

  "Ah," said Lyone, "I know who that other goddess will be--she will bethe fair Zooly-Soase."

  The high priestess blushed in her robe of crimson silk, making hergolden beauty superb and precious. As for Hushnoly, it was evident thedestiny of his counterpart soul was already fully anticipated. Herascension to the throne of a goddess would virtually make him ruler ofHilar.

  "We desire, your majesty," said he, "to resign our titles and officesof high priest and priestess of Egyplosis and supreme general andgeneral of the amazons of the royal army of Atvatabar. Our onlyrequest is that we be allowed to depart to Hilar, together with suchof the priests and priestesses of Harikar as are willing to follow usthither. Also, that all new converts to Harikar desirous of emigratingto our spiritual kingdom will be secured freedom of departure fromAtvatabar for all time hereafter."

  I willingly granted Hushnoly and Zooly-Soase their request, and added:"You both shall be promptly and liberally rewarded for the greatservices rendered your king and queen in time of war, as well asrecompensed for past services to the country in Egyplosis and for lossof estate in Atvatabar."

  I promised to issue a royal decree embodying all of the aforesaidliberties and bounties in favor of Hushnoly and his fair consort andtheir followers. The late high priest and high priestess, withgrateful, cordial adieus, departed from the audience-chamber.

  I thereupon appointed General Rackiron the commander-in-chief of thearmy in place of Hushnoly, with General Gerolio the vice-commander.