Kingdom of Deceit

by Roberto Ricci

  “Red is thy heart.”

  The cage bars in front of me opened with a clanking. I walked straight ahead, offering prayers of thanks to the gods for having sent Tiara to me.

  The tunnel contained a long stairway made of red porphyry. As I went up the stairs, windows appeared and the city of Samaris opened up for me in all its splendor. The towers and statues I had seen from the outside hid graceful terraces full of fountains and gardens. The water from the fountains cascaded from the highest terraces all the way down to where they flowed into a lake. There were large stairs on the center of each terrace, with smaller ones to the sides. I heaved a sigh of relief. I was free! And I owed it to Tiara. There was much more to that little infant than the Janis had led me to believe.

  Emerging from the passage, I found myself in an open forum halfway up in the mountain. From here, I could see a wall that divided the mountain in two; between the lower terraces and the upper terraces. It did not take me long to work out that the Sayis lived below while the noble Ashis enjoyed the upper part of the city. There is no time to lose, I thought to myself. I was there for one reason, to find Chtomio.

  The open square was busy with chromes. They were divided in various groups, all huddled around one or two speakers. I approached the group nearest me. “It is a scandal, my fellow Ashis! And we have to do something about it!” said the orator. The others nodded in agreement. I moved closer to listen. Surely it must have been an important issue for their kingdom.

  “To only be allowed to grow almond trees in this terrace is an outrage! We need more citruses!”

  “You couldn’t be more wrong, my dear friend!” replied another. “We should plant new varieties. In Papylia, they have the most beautiful flowers…”

  I moved over to another group where I searched among the various masks for Chtomio, but I didn’t see him there, either. Here the conversation concerned food.

  “The Yellow undoubtedly produce the best beef, much better than that of the Orange!”

  “What nonsense! Have you ever tasted Orange beef? It melts in the mouth.”

  “Noble friends,” I interrupted. “I wonder if anyone has seen the noble Chtomio today?”

  The two bickering chromes immediately stopped talking and turned to face me.

  “We know of no Chtomio, young fellow and I suggest you mind your manners. It is not done to interrupt when two minds are debating such hard pressed issues.” And before I could reply, they returned to their discussion, this time over which territory made the best cheese.

  Dumbfounded, I moved about the other small groups of nobles, hoping to get a different reaction. Yet, no one seemed to know my friend.

  I moved further up to the next terrace, where a group of Red played music, while others were busy lighting candles. Here, a large, fancy-dressed crowd had gathered to dance on a checkerboard courtyard of red and white marble. Sparkling silver tapers hung from every tree branch along the terrace, bathing the dancers with the glowing reflection from the last rays of the sun. Two lines of young male and female chromes formed on opposite sides of the checkerboard. The females wore white masks with full crimson lips. Each was uniquely decorated with lively colors and ornaments like flower petals, bows, stars, and gems to show off its owner’s eyes. They were clothed in filmy white silk mantles and robes that draped around their slim figures. I couldn’t help but be struck by their beauty. The male chromes wore red masks with black patterns on the forehead and mouth and sported red velvet cloaks.

  An elder chrome started tapping a stiletto on a silver gong. An unusual and quite haunting chime rang out. One by one, each of the chromes skipped to the middle of the checkered floor and bowed to the opposite gender, before they all formed into couples. Other musicians began to pluck melodies out of pliant string instruments while each couple began a sinuous dance that drew them closer and forced them back, separating them with an imaginary invisible wall. The dancers teased each other as they moved the palms of their hands close enough to clasp, almost touching before retreating again. It was enchanting and strange.

  Then the music stopped and a herald cried out: “One vigil more until the feast of the candles!”

  The music began again, but the next song wasn’t nearly as captivating. Many of the younger chromes became distracted by a juggler playing with flaming torches.

  “Look at the Princess,” I heard one lady chrome whisper to another. “Stunningly beautiful as always.”

  I gazed in the direction the two masked females were staring and recognized Princess Cestia’s pearl mask. It was slightly different from the one I had seen at the Ferya because it only covered half of her face, exposing her mouth and chin — something that would have been unheard of back in Axyum. She had full, cherry-colored lips and her forehead was decorated with flower petals that extended to the top of her mask and were entwined into her hair – all the same red color as the gossamer silk mantle she wore.

  For a moment, I truly believed she had come from the heavens. I moved closer to her. Her scent spoke of roses and berries. I tried my best to concentrate on the juggler but I could not resist staring. She was almost as tall as me, with long slender white hands which she clutched to her chest as she watched the juggler. Her long black hair drifted in the breeze. A strand of it touched my face.

  “You are not dancing, Your Highness?” someone behind her asked. We both turned to face a lordly young chrome of our own age.

  Princess Cestia gave him a hard stare and then with a calm, but firm voice replied “Why should I dance when so many of our subjects suffer?”

  “So why even watch a juggler then?” The chrome replied with an arrogant note in his voice.

  “Your insolence is annoying as usual Erai,” she snapped.

  “And your beauty is stunning as usual, Cestia.” He bowed and moved on to where other young female Ashis were talking and laughing together.

  Cestia sensed my presence and turned towards me.

  “I cannot recognize you with the mask you wear. In any event, the answer is no to you as well. And you can stop following me around.”

  I bowed. “I have been amongst the Janis and I agree with you. I cannot abide shallow discussions about plants and trees to ornament Samaris while outside the walls, infants of the kingdom die for lack of food.”

  As I spoke, I let my emotions take hold of me rather more than I had planned on. I recalled when my mother and I had waited for someone from Axyum’s Palace of the Elders to come and tell us about the death of my father. I still burned with rage over what the Eldest tried to do to my mother. The color and the cities changed, but the arrogance and injustice remained.

  “Your words sound unusually sincere,” she said in an intrigued tone, “but I don’t recognize your mask. Who are you?”

  “It does not matter who I am,” I replied. “But I have seen with my own eyes the high price that too many chromes pay for being born on the wrong side of the walls. It heartens me to know you feel the same anger and compassion that I do.”

  The music started again. “Dance with me,” she said.

  At that moment, the chrome that had approached the princess earlier pushed me hard from behind, making me lose my balance. I fell to the floor, landing hard and chipping part of my mask while he and his friends laughed.

  “What sort of mask do you have that breaks so easily?” he said. “Who are you anyway?”

  “Erai, stop it!” said Cestia.

  “You won’t dance with me and yet you’ll dance with him? Look at him! He doesn’t even have a mantle. For all that I know, he could be a Janis in disguise!”

  “You shouldn’t have pushed me Erai,” I hissed, getting to my feet.

  He hesitated at first but then, led on by his friends, he replied: “You know me, but I don’t know you. That’s not a situation I like. State your name.”

  “My name is Chtomio,” I told him.

  He burst into a strange laughter. “Chtomio? What kind of a name is that? Chtomio! It’s not an Ashi name. E
ven a Janis would feel embarrassed to be burdened with a name like that! I can only presume your father and mother were drunk as usual the day you were born.”

  He was really beginning to get on my nerves. “It is a Red name,” I said. “Both ancient and noble.”

  “No, no. My name is ancient and noble. It comes from Erai, the God of the Hunt, which stands for valiance and bravery. What does your name stand for, Chtomio?”

  Unfortunately, we Black chromes are not known for our patience. “It stands for one who is about to make a loud mouthed fool hit the ground so hard, he will forget his own name.” I said.

  His friends roared with laughter. Being shown up in such a way was too much for Erai, who charged at me. He was big but he was also soft, reminding me of those heavy sacks we used for the game of Phersu in Axyum. And like those sacks full of lard, I easily swerved out of his path, tapping him just enough with my foot to trip him and send him flying. He landed heavily, drawing the wind out of him with a loud, bleating cry.

  “Enough!” came a commanding voice. It was Minister Oris. Too late, I realized how letting my emotions get the better of me had been a very foolhardy thing to do. I had drawn the wrong sort of attention to myself. Many of the adult chromes from the terrace below were bounding up the stairs to see what all the fuss was about. Still others peered down from the terrace above us.

  “Tell me who you are, or I will have your mask removed in front of everybody!”

  But now came another voice, one which turned every head its way in immediate reverence and respect.

  “That won’t be necessary, Oris. I shall speak to this hot-headed, impetuous young chrome myself, in private.”

  It was none other than the King himself. His gold crown and red-colored mask danced and glinted with the reflection of the many candles lit all about him and his gold-rimmed red tunic sported a coat of arms displaying the two Red guardian gods Adio and Adia. As he made his way past the other nobles, all were quick to bow. When he reached me, I did the same.

  “Come, young Chtomio, walk with me to my castle.”

  “He didn’t start it, Father!” said Cestia, rising to my defense.

  “In which case he has nothing to fear,” replied the King. Then, glancing over at the musicians he exclaimed “Resume the music and the dances! The feast of the candles is about to begin!”

  As the young chromes returned to the checkered board to begin a new dance, the king’s two guards made sure I followed behind him as he climbed the steps up the terraces. As we wound our way higher and higher to the top of the city, I saw any number of nobles pointing at me and whispering amongst themselves. Most were not doing anything, just sitting outside their houses, idly chatting, eating and drinking. In Axyum, male and female chromes alike would be busy at their chores, even at night. But in Samaris everything seemed to stand still. The male chromes seemed flaccid and weak. They were certainly no match for the powerful, sculpted forms of Black Warriors. How it could have been possible that the Reds had defeated the Black in the last war? Perhaps it was thanks to the Sayis, the middle caste, I reasoned.

  The rose-colored castle stood on the highest terrace, at the very top of the cliff. The thousand torches that lit its towers made it seem as if the sun itself had decided to rest there for the night. Once inside, we made our way through a covered courtyard full of trees and plants I had never seen before. In the middle, stood a pavilion made of the same stone as the castle. Three female chromes were inside, chanting odes. They stopped abruptly when we passed by.

  Inside the tower, I was taken into the hall of the throne. Torches on the walls shed glowing, flickering light throughout the spacious chamber. Behind a golden throne at the far end, an enormous red stained glass covered most of the wall. The floor was decorated with an ornate round mosaic, depicting the same image of Adio and Adia that the King had on his coat of arms.

  The king turned towards the two guards. “Leave us.”

  They bowed and withdrew immediately, closing the doors behind them.

  “Take off your mask,” he then ordered me.

  “Your majesty,” I said hesitantly, “there is something I need to explain…”

  “Remove it,” he said. “Have no fear.”

  I did as he said. Slowly.

  The King said nothing, merely stared hard at me with piercing eyes through his mask.

  “You disobeyed me,” he said finally. “I forbade you to come here.”

  I had thought from the start that he had sounded familiar but had dismissed it. How could he have been? But as he removed his own mask, the evidence was there before me. My search for Chtomio was over, in the most unexpected way imaginable.

  “Chtomio!” I cried. I reached out to hug him, but he stepped back.

  “You were not supposed to come here!” he said. His face looked tired. “You were to wait where I left you.”

  “But you never came back to see me.” I said. “I waited so long. I thought maybe something had happened to you, so I decided to come looking-”

  “You should have stayed where you were!” he said, his anger and displeasure clear.

  I felt dizzy, as if the solid floor I stood upon would crumble at any moment. This was not the reaction I had expected. Nor was he the chrome I thought he was. A great number of questions formed in my mind.

  “I was worried for you,” I told him, desperate to assuage his displeasure. “And now that I’ve found you, I don’t know what or who you are.” As the surprise of our reunion wore off, my bewilderment gathered. “How is it possible, my friend? How can you be King?”

  He turned around and paced nervously over the mosaic.

  “Are you a wise old chrome?” I continued. “An inscrutable Harlequin, or a powerful king? Are you a compassionate ruler that saved a young chrome’s life, or an evil tyrant that disregards the lives of his own brothers? You can scarcely be all of these things!”

  “I warned you of the differences between Samaris and the other cities, did I not?” he said. “You should have listened to me! Now you have put us both in danger! Do you understand that?”

  “Danger?” I said, astonished. “What danger? You are the King of the Reds! You can do whatever you want!”

  “I can do whatever I want,” he scoffed. “Listen to yourself! I must take my share of the blame for forgetting how young and naïve you still are! There are so many things that you don’t know Asheva, so many political complexities you can’t begin to grasp. I could speak of them all night, you still wouldn’t come close to understanding them. I have enemies both outside and inside these walls, just like your Axyum, do you understand? No, how could you? You’re just a young Black chrome who ran away from home, so I don’t expect you to understand me.”

  He was so dismissive and disparaging in his tone. Now it was my turn to sound angry, to be angry.

  “Is that all you can say? I risked my life to enter Samaris trying to find you. And this is how you treat me?”

  “You’re not listening to what I’m saying. You ruined my plans! You were supposed to wait where I had left you.”

  Perhaps it was the fatigue, or the harshness I had seen in the faces of the Janis, but something broke in me. I no longer saw Chtomio through the eyes I had done until then.

  “Wait? For how long? And wait for what? To become the Eldest in Axyum? That’s what you would have had me do? Sit there in that forest and watch my life pass in front of me?”

  “You should have trusted me,” he insisted.

  “I did trust you, but after all that time spent on my own, I came to realize my life is my own.”

  “You want to go back to Axyum, don’t you?” He said, ignoring this. “To try to free your mother and everyone you care about from the tyranny and lies of the elders?’

  “Of course.”

  “And you think you know how? After all of that time alone with your thoughts, you are suddenly wise? You think you know better than I do?”

  I shook my head.

  “I just cou
ldn’t stand hiding and being a fugitive any longer,” I told him.

  “So by coming here you’ve made things better?” he said.

  “Why are you being so harsh with me?”

  “Because you disobeyed me!” he thundered. “I needed to count on you to trust me and always do as I say! Always!”

  “Well perhaps if you told me about your plans, it might have been easier for me to do as I was told!” I snapped back, tired of being treated like an infant. “You lied to me!” I continued. “You told me that you were a Harlequin and instead, you are a king! You promised you’d come back and you didn’t. You told me to always follow a path of rectitude and yet your kingdom is full of cruelty and injustice! I don’t understand anything any more.”

  “That’s because you are still young.”

  “Don’t patronize me!” I said, interrupting him. “I risked my life coming here so the least you could do is tell me what your plan is.”

  He glared at me with fury in his eyes. “How dare you,” he hissed. It wasn’t the Chtomio I had known. But I didn’t budge one bit. He turned around and walked away towards the throne.

  “When I met you, in your pathetic Green robes,” he said, “I realized straight away that you were a Black, not only that, but that you were the Black, the fugitive that had killed the Eldest.”

  “How?” I said, surprised.

  “You were pure of heart. You wanted revenge over the Blacks for the injustice your family suffered. I wanted revenge over the death of my son. I thought that perhaps fate had decided to make our paths cross. You would be the key to both of our vengeances.”

  “But you won the war! Isn’t that enough of a revenge? And you also said you wanted lasting peace between the Blacks and the Reds.”

  “And I still do, and you could be the key to such peace. In time, I could make you the Eldest and you would do as you please in Axyum, knowing that the Reds would be behind you.”

  “You would want the Blacks to be controlled by the Reds?”