by Lyra Shanti
He saw a plate of cured meats and cheeses and grabbed as much into his hands as he could manage. A servant girl looked at him curiously, then quickly bowed as to not catch his eye. Ayn simply smiled, then stuck a rolled slice of cheese into his mouth. He then half-bowed at the girl, whom he had easily charmed, then hurriedly exited before anyone had the notion to tell his teachers about what he was doing.
--
Meddhi-Lan was busy controlling his anxious energy, pacing the floor of the great hall. Amun-Lan stood calmly, watching him. “Meddhi…” said Amun-Lan, “the Ohrians shall come when it is time - no later, no sooner.”
Meddhi-Lan turned to face Amun-Lan and gave him a slight sneer. “I wish it would be sooner,” he mumbled, then continued to pace.
Meanwhile, Pei unlocked the ornate, gold and green framed door to the guest rooms for the king and princess of Kri. Many kings had stayed with them through the years, and Atlar felt right at home, having stayed there previously as a young man.
The princess, however, felt a little uncomfortable, though she did not show it. She could not help but miss her home immediately after having left it, and she wondered if she would be able to sleep in a strange bed in a kingdom that was not entirely familiar to her.
Pei vaguely sensed both of their emotional states, but attempted to keep his awareness to a minimal. He would not let himself unfairly probe Ona’s mind simply because of his attraction for her. He wasn’t the greatest at such mental gifts anyway.
He cleared his throat and watched as they entered the room and looked around. “Will this do?” he asked the king. “Oh yes,” replied Atlar with a contented smile. The king turned to his daughter and opened his arms. “And what does the princess think?” he asked as he wrapped her in his arms.
She serenely smiled, then nodded. “It's beautiful,” she replied.
Pei could not move. Yet again, he felt entranced by her beauty. He wanted to bow and turn to leave, but his feet stuck themselves to the floor.
“Father! Look!” The princess exclaimed, wild eyed, as she ran to the large windows at the end of the room. She then swung them open, and to her delight, the view displayed lush gardens with waterfall-pools that ran throughout the length of the green. “Can you see this, father?” she said beaming with joy. “Look! There are mother’s favorite flowers! My flowers! Do you see?”
Atlar walked over to his daughter and put his hands on her shoulders, smiling. “Yes, Ona,” he replied, “Didn’t I tell you how much you’d feel at home here?” He kissed her forehead, then began helping his servants with the unpacking of their belongings.
Pei was amazed at how different the king of Kri was to that of their own planet’s royalty. Never had there been a king or queen who helped a servant unpack; it was simply unheard of. He also had never seen such open warmth between parent and child. As Pei watched him further, there was something emanating from the Krian king: a genuine goodness. It made him feel love for a man he did not even know.
Pei’s mind was suddenly caught off-guard as the princess turned around and smiled at him. She was radiant beyond his wildest imagination with her noble, high forehead and oval, angelic face. He watched her standing by the window, hypnotized by her waves of dark auburn hair blowing in the breeze as the sun gently kissed it, exposing subtle hints of red. He felt as though he was caught in the haze of a dream. Is she smiling at me? he asked himself, nervously. Does she smile at me on purpose or simply because I am the only one to smile at in the room?
Ona gave Pei no clue as she gracefully ran to her father with a girlish innocence. She then helped him with the unpacking of their belongings.
“I…” said Pei nervously, “I will take my leave then... if everything is to your liking.” The king grunted in approval as he continued helping the servants.
Ona was more aware than her father of Pei’s presence. She walked over to him and half-bowed her head. “Thank you, Ney-Lan,” she said as she raised her head to look at him eye to eye. Pei gulped and could not think of words any longer. “If you don’t mind me asking, what is your name?” she asked with her head slightly cocked to the side. The young man, in love for the first time in his sheltered life, struggled to remember how to speak.
After a few moments he shyly replied, “Pei, Your Highness.”
Ona smiled at him, forcing his heart to fall even deeper in love. “Pei-Lan, we thank you,” she sweetly replied, “and look forward to seeing you at the coronation.”
Pei bowed and swiftly left the room. He felt he had to forcibly pull himself away or he might never leave. It was as if he was waking up from the deepest meditation he had ever experienced.
--
The king of Ohr, Lod Enra, was greeted at the silver entrance gates with a handful of Deiusian Royal Guards, as well as Meddhi-Lan who had gotten tired of waiting in the hall. He walked up to Lod Enra with a confident approach and shook both his hands in the style of Ohrian custom: fist inside fist with the guest always having the inner one. This seemed to make the Ohrian king feel more at ease as he followed Meddhi-Lan past the guards and into the great hall. His wife and their teenage son walked behind the king with their slanted eyes watchful and aware.
Once the Ohrian family was safely inside the hall of the palace, Meddhi-Lan apologized for the overabundance of guards. “But,” he explained, “it is for your protection as well as ours.” Lod Enra raised an eyebrow, which was thin and white. He and Meddhi-Lan looked at each other for a moment. Then, Lod Enra said in a heavily accented Uni, “I assume you are the leading high priest to your new Lord Shiva?”
Meddhi-Lan immediately sensed the truth behind the king’s slightly sarcastic tone. The Ohrians were, for the most part, a non-religious race who looked down on those who still believed in Gods. They had once followed Gods of their own, but that was thousands of years ago, and it seemed to The Dei that Ohrian royalty believed themselves superior to other races in almost every facet of existence, especially when it came to Ohr’s rejection of religion in favor of science. Despite their prejudice, Meddhi-Lan was well aware of how important Ohr’s new allied relationship to Deius was, and he was not about to jeopardize it for the sake of his pride. He assumed Lod Enra felt the same, which was why the Ohrian royal family had come to the coronation in the first place.
“Yes, Your Majesty, my name is Meddhi-Lan, and I am the high priest of The Holy City. We are honored you could join us for this momentous celebration, which represents a new era for our people, as well as a new era for our entire galaxy.”
Lod Enra paused for a moment, then nodded. “This is my wife, Loda La,” he said in a serious tone, “and this is my son, Zin Ra.” Meddhi-Lan looked at the fragile woman with silver hair and her handsome, adolescent son, then bowed to them both as they did in return. “We are very tired. It has been a long journey,” the king explained while opening his hand for his wife’s fist to rest in.
“Please,” Meddhi-Lan said, “follow me to your guest quarters so that you may rest before the ceremony.” The Ohrians nodded their heads and walked with him through the halls to their rooms.
As Pei headed toward the Coronation Room, he noticed the Ohrian family walking behind his Lan. How strange they were to him. They resembled his own people enough to be somewhat the same with hands, legs, feet, etc, but they also had overly smooth skin; it was fine and nearly opaque. Their eyes were slanted upward with a shading of silvery green on their eyelids, which did not seem to be applied by a cream or powder.
Pei noticed how they walked too, almost gliding across the floor, and he silently marveled at them. There was also something about the Ohrians he found particularly intriguing: their gills. He had heard that Ohrians evolved long ago from a fish-like creature, but he had not imagined they still had the slits on the sides of their necks. In fact, Pei had noticed that the queen was wearing a pair of round, circular objects that hung from the slits, just below her ears. He assumed it was some kind of jewelry, but he wasn’t quite sure.
It was both wondrous
and frightening to the young Lan’s mind to think of the differences between Ohrians, Krians, and the Deiusian people. He had never seen so many differences, especially among the females.
At the temple, the Dei priestesses often hung their heads down when they approached a priest of The Holy Order. He was also used to how the priestesses reacted to him in a polite, distant way, and how they usually dressed in fully covered clothing. The priestesses, however, resided on the eastern side of the temple, nearer to the palace of the royal family, and so he didn’t spend too much time with them. As Pei thought further on the matter, he began to question if he had ever truly seen a woman outside of The Holy Order.
While lost in thought, Pei suddenly heard Meddhi-Lan’s voice speaking inside his mind. “Pei,” said the high priest, “what are you doing? I am waiting for you.”
Pei shook from his thoughts, then quickly walked to the Coronation Room, feeling more like a Ney than a Lan.
“I’m sorry, my Lan,” he said as he entered the room. Meddhi-Lan was standing near the door with his arms folded.
“It is not necessary to hide your thoughts from me, Pei. I simply wish your mind to be as clear and concentrated as possible during these next few days, for we have important matters at hand.”
“Yes, my Lan.”
“It is our highest concern to think of nothing but the Shiva’s crowning and of his well being.”
“Yes, my Lan.”
“You must understand, Pei,” Meddhi-Lan said with a sigh, “that I need you to focus your energy so that when I need your help on matters of politics, you will be able to do so readily.”
“Yes, I understand. I am truly sorry, my Lan.”
“And please stop calling me your Lan!”
Pei had never heard Meddhi-Lan’s voice with such fierceness. A little shaken, he lowered his head in shame.
“Pei… please,” said Meddhi-Lan, calming himself, “do not misunderstand me. I am not your teacher any longer, and you may address me as your equal now.”
“But you are my teacher… and always will be,” said Pei with his head down.
“No, Pei,” sighed Meddhi-Lan, “I need you to think of me as your equal and treat me as such so that I may depend on you when needs be. Ayn will need you today as well.”
Meddhi-Lan then pointed in the direction of a large, golden throne, which stood in front of them like the God of the sun. It had a circular disc at the top with wing-shaped rays of metallic sunlight coming from its sides. “Today,” Meddhi-Lan continued as he walked in front of the throne, “Ayn will be crowned king, as well as proclaimed the savior, The Bodanya, of all Deius. This, Ayn fears more than anything else in the world. We must get him through these fears. Do you understand, Pei? You can no longer afford to think of yourself as merely my student. Today, you are Ayn’s teacher as much as I am, and together, we will help him become his destiny.”
“Of course, Meddhi,” Pei said as he raised his head to face his former teacher.
“Good,” said Meddhi-Lan with a strong nod of his head. “We should not be distracted by other thoughts, whether they be desires or insecurities. Agreed?”
“Yes, I agree,” Pei replied, trying his best to appear confident in front of his teacher.
Meddhi-Lan gave a sigh and turned to face the throne before them. He knew Ayn would soon be sitting there, looking for guidance. He also knew there would be nothing he could say or do to entirely prepare Ayn for leadership; it would have to be something he discovered for himself. Meddhi-Lan and Pei looked at each other and nodded, fully aware of the arduous path ahead of them.
--
Ayn did not understand what was taking so long. He had been told to wait in the dining hall until Pei arrived to escort him to The Holy Chamber of the Adin: a large room that had not been occupied since the original Shiva.
He felt anxious and a little sick to his stomach. Where is Meddhi? he thought to himself. Have they forgotten that I am here?
Ayn could no longer take the waiting. He decided to explore into areas of The Holy Temple he had never seen before. Getting up, he walked through the oval doors that connected the dining room to the hallway.
Ever since he was a child, he had been carefully watched. He was told not to go to the servant’s quarters or anywhere near the back entrance of the gardens where the merchants and scholars were sometimes allowed to pass.
At times, however, Ayn would sneak into the gardens when no one was looking. He would peek through a sliver in the stone wall, and for a moment, he could see the outside world.
He saw the merchants in their black and gray suits and thought they looked very serious, which he did not like, nor understood. He also saw people of different colors walking with baskets of fruit and vegetables in their arms. He assumed they worked for the merchants, and he wondered if they enjoyed being in the sunshine or if they disliked every minute of it. Ayn questioned many things, but most of all, he wondered about the peasants.
He had often heard mention of them from his mother and occasionally from the mouth of a priest, but he did not know one firsthand. He had never seen a peasant and didn’t understand what it meant to be one. He only knew it meant they were not wealthy and that they did not live for long, suffering from illnesses or accidents, which often caused death. Of course, he had seen a deadly illness - Plasma Sickness - come to his own mother, The Queen, so he was quite aware that it was not just a peasant’s curse. However, he wondered if they felt The Great Paradox in a way that was perhaps more spiritually inclined than a rich man or royal member might.
Today, though, Ayn was more interested in the hidden places of his own home. In the past, he had often tried sneaking into the closed off area which used to be the private living quarters of Adin. He’d get close enough to peek through the roped off barrier, but before he could reach it, he was usually caught by a priest and told it was off limits, even to a Shiva. However, he figured no one would object after he was crowned and proclaimed as the next Adin.
Silently, Ayn walked through the hallway. He then came to a burgundy curtain and quickly ducked behind it. It was a secret passage to Adin’s library, and a place Ayn was not allowed to enter.
He had followed Meddhi-Lan once before and got as far as Adin’s reading room, but he was found and told to go back to bed. He never understood why he was not allowed into such places if they were originally his quarters from his past life. The Dei were full of such inconsistencies, however, and Ayn learned to accept their strange rules and secrets. Accepting it was one thing, but he never stopped being curious. In fact, he was more curious than ever before.
Ayn opened the door to the secret staircase that led down to a circular path. It was very dark, but dimly lit by the tiny plasma-candles which hung on the walls. He then opened another door and came to an elevated pedestal. He stepped on it and said, “Un.” In a rush, the pedestal zoomed upward as Ayn braced himself as best he could.
He then found himself behind dark-blue curtain. He lifted it to the side, and as soon as he could see that the room was empty, he slipped out from behind the curtain. Ayn smiled to himself, feeling rather clever and mischievous. They must all be too preoccupied with the coronation to even notice where I am! he thought.
He then entered a room with a very long table and many chairs. There was a large map of Deius on the wall, as well as an ornate plasma-chandelier, which hung from the ceiling. He assumed it was some kind of planning room, perhaps where Adin and his council would meet for discussions of great importance. He had seen it before, however, and quickly ran past to get through to his destination: Adin’s library.
--
“Why did you not act more friendly when we arrived? Do you not realize how crucial this visit is for us, politically? Zin? Zin, answer me!”
Silent and staring into the distance, his son did not give an answer.
Lod Enra was not pleased with his son’s defiance. It seemed to the Ohrian king that the prince did not share in his own logical approach to living, nor
did his son seem to care about a future political career. Because of this and more, Zin Ra was not at all what the king had wanted in a son and an heir.
“Why do you sneer at me when I am talking to you?” he demanded from his son. “Zin, do you hear me?”
“Zin Ra, your father is addressing you,” Loda La reminded her son as she brushed her long, fine, silver hair with a bluish jade comb.
The prince sat on a chair with his arms folded. His fair, but stony face turned away from his mother and father. A few moments of silence passed until the king threw up his arms and walked out of the sitting room, heading into the master bedroom. He then slammed the door shut.
The queen twitched from the noise, but quickly shrugged it off. She opened a bottle of perfume and began applying the scented oil behind her ears. She looked into the mirror and could see her petulant son staring at her through the glass. It made her uncomfortable to be so intently watched by his anger-filled eyes. Fed up, she turned around to face him.
“Listen to me, Zin,” she said, strict and cold. “I want you to behave for your father’s sake, and for mine as well. This is not a situation that you can tamper with simply because you are bored or feeling rebellious against your father.”
“I am not bored,” said Zin Ra in a monotone voice.
“Then why must you start with your usual attitude?”
“I have no attitude, Mother.”
Even though he was almost the spitting image of her, Loda La felt no patience for her only child. She shook her head and got up, walking out of the room. She then went into her bedroom, closing the door behind her.