Shiva XIV

by Lyra Shanti

  Just then, Zin turned around to face Ayn and held up his thumb, as if signaling some sort of assurance. Ayn’s thoughts started swimming, which made him unable to process whatever Zin was trying to tell him.

  Baffled and drunk, Ayn watched Zin step onto the stage with Lady Raven. Holding his elenon in his hand, Zin smiled like a child on his birthday. Ayn smiled along with him, moved by his friend’s happiness, and for a few moments, Ayn was briefly taken away from his own moody, pensive mind.

  As Ayn ate his salad, he listened to Zin play the elenon to perfection. The music was an elegant piece Ayn had never heard before. It was slow, soft, and sensual. Mixed with Lady Raven's smooth, bewitching voice, the music filled the room with a mellow, nearly liquid mood. Ayn could feel his spirits lift while watching Zin play his new elenon. It seemed to Ayn’s woozy brain as if he were watching a God in The Un who was creating a new star in the heavens.

  “He's amazing, isn't he?” came a booming voice. Ayn looked around and saw a man sitting backwards in Zin's seat.

  He was the announcer with the shaggy, blonde hair. “Now THIS is the kind of musician I've been looking for!” he loudly said over Zin’s music. “Sorry,” said the shaggy-haired man, “let me introduce myself. I'm Luc and I run this joint.” The man reached over and shook Ayn's hand firmly. “You're not from around here, are you?” asked Luc as he smirked at Ayn with squinty, blue eyes.

  “No, not really,” replied Ayn.

  “I didn't think so!” laughed Luc. “You must be from Deius.”

  Ayn nearly spat out his drink.

  “Ha! It's alright, kid,” added Luc, highly amused, “I won't hold that against you.”

  Ayn looked at Luc, confused. He was relieved that Luc didn’t seem to know he was The Bodanya, but he also wondered how Luc knew he was from Deius, and why he would hold anything against someone if they were. The man seemed very odd to Ayn and just as alien to him as Lady Raven with her black, curved wings.

  “Anyway,” Luc continued as Ayn and Zin's dishes arrived, “don't you agree?”

  Ayn took his first bite of the delicious MahMah stew, and then, with a mouthful of stew, he burbled out, “Agree? About what?” He then swallowed what felt like the most satisfying food he'd ever eaten.

  “About your friend up there!” Luc exclaimed with a laugh. “He's fantastic! The best musician I've seen in a long time! And he's handsome as well, which is definitely a plus when drawing in the crowds.”

  Ayn nervously nodded and smiled, hoping Zin would be done playing his music soon so that he would come and talk with this Luc person himself. There was something about him that made Ayn feel rather itchy and anxious.

  The song finally ended as Lady Raven bowed to Zin, gesturing with her hand to the audience to show who had been playing the beautiful music. Zin proudly bowed with an exuberant smile. He then rushed to the table where Ayn and Luc were sitting.

  “Did you see that, Ayn?” gushed Zin. “My father would be shocked!” Zin was about to say even more, but when he saw that Ayn was not alone at the table, he quickly stopped himself.

  “Congratulations, my silver-haired friend!” said Luc as he stood up to shake Zin's hand. “You really are a fine elenon player!”

  “Um,” Zin nervously muttered, “thank you.”

  “Sorry,” said Luc, laughing as he stood. “I suppose you want to eat now. Where are my manners? I really can be an old Sirin-fish!”

  Ayn couldn't help but giggle.

  “I was just so caught up in your musical talent!” Luc exclaimed as he pulled up another chair. Zin, who was rather confused, and somewhat skeptical of the strangely jovial man, placed his elenon carefully down beside the table, then sat down in his chair. He took a look at the stew and grimaced. By Zin’s reaction, Ayn gathered MahMah stew wouldn't have been Zin's first choice in entrees. Ayn didn’t understand. Anyone who doesn't like MahMah stew is clearly out of their minds! thought Ayn.

  “So, you liked my performance?” asked Zin as he took a bite of his salad.

  “Liked it?” replied Luc. “I loved it! You are a gifted young musician, my boy!”

  Ayn noticed that Luc had a few rings on his fingers, as well as a necklace made of what looked to be rubies and emeralds. Ayn didn't know if Luc’s affluent appearance meant he was very rich or if his jewelry were merely fancy-looking fakes, giving him the appearance of wealth.

  Either way, Luc seemed to appreciate clothing and had a flair for fashion. Ayn noticed Luc had on black, Ohrian style boots, which were made out of some kind of smooth skin, perhaps whale or Tokani, though most Deiusian sea mammals were endangered, so he doubted Luc would be wearing their skins. Then again, he didn't know what sort of man Luc was. Perhaps he is exactly the type to wear the skins of an endangered animal, Ayn mused. He then bit into a mushroom, trying not to think about it further.

  “Thanks, my friend,” said Zin. “Hey, you wouldn't happen to know a man named Luceon, would you?”

  The shaggy-haired man gave a hearty laugh. “Yes, my boy,” he giddily replied, “I think I may know the fellow!” Luc again laughed, stomping the floor with his boots.

  Ayn looked at Zin and nudged his head to the left, attempting to communicate to his friend that the man sitting there was actually the owner of the club. Zin seemed to understand the signal and smiled nervously.

  “I am the man you’re looking for, and I am completely at your service,” said Luc as he scooted in toward Zin. His somewhat dramatic, overtly friendly behavior didn't bother Zin all that much, but Ayn became more and more uncomfortable. Is this man physically attracted to Zin? Ayn wondered, a little shocked. Having no experience with other cultures or laws other than those of The Holy City on Deius, Ayn felt clueless and naive.

  Unfazed by Luc's closeness, Zin reached into his pants pocket and pulled out the letter given to them by Luc's sister, Velna. He handed it to Luc, smiled at Ayn, then continued to munch on his salad. Ayn couldn't help but marvel at his friend's nonchalant confidence.

  “Ah! Great minds think alike!” exclaimed Luc after reading Velna's note to him. “My sister and I are twins, you know. ‘Course, I’m the better looking one!” Luc gave another hearty laugh, then threw his arm around Zin's shoulder. “Alright, my young Ohrian wonder,” Luc continued, “here's my proposition! Since I'm a generous man, and I've also been blessed with the gift of knowing a good thing when I see it, I'll hire you for two nights a week with free room and board at my extended stay hotel as your starting pay. If you do well, which I'm sure you will, I'll add you to the lounge's regular roster of performers, and you’ll get a handsome salary! So, what do you say, kid? Does that sound good to you?”

  Trying his best to seem aloof, Zin paused, took a sip of his drink, then replied, “Sounds... promising.”

  “Wonderful!” Luc practically shouted as he stood up and clapped.

  Ayn wondered if the bar owner's dramatically flamboyant behavior was common on Xen or if it was just him.

  “Now, do you play anything else or just the elenon?” Luc asked excitedly.

  “I can play any instrument set in front of me,” Zin replied, cool as a winter night's breeze.

  Luc howled in amusement. “Marvelous!” he exclaimed. “I expect you to start tomorrow night! You'll open for Lady Raven and play as her soloist! Just you wait, kid, the crowds will come from everywhere to see you!”

  “How much will he be paid?” asked Ayn, unaware of the impropriety of his question.

  Luc laughed his boisterous laugh and grabbed Ayn and Zin's shoulders, which made Ayn wince a little. “I simply adore the both of you!” Luc wailed. “I tell you what,” he said as he caught his breath from laughing, “how about we discuss those details tomorrow before you play? You go ahead and enjoy your dinner, which is on the house, by the way. Everything will work itself out like the very Un does in heaven!”

  He winked at them and turned to leave. However, he didn't leave. Luc snapped his fingers and turned back around. “Oh!” he dramatically shouted. “I
almost forgot to tell you where my cousin's hotel is! You honestly can't miss it. Just turn right once you leave here, and go a few blocks down. It's within walking distance, and the sign is hard to ignore! It's the only one with those big, blue waves on the top! It really is the best hotel in the city! Just check your pretty selves in, and I'll arrange everything else!” With that, Luc winked at them once more, then finally left their table.

  Ayn raised his eyebrows at Zin with a mix of confusion and fear. Zin smiled at him in return. “Don't worry,” Zin said between sips of his drink. “Like the man said, everything will work itself out... like The Un does in heaven.”

  Ayn gazed at Zin who was happily eating his dinner. Unable to understand his friend's carefree attitude, Ayn sighed and shook his head, which was still reeling from the Teal Tornado. Everything felt like it was spinning: the room, his whole entire life.

  --

  Reese didn't like the idea of her best friend from childhood playing with a sweet man's affections like that. How could Ona be capable of such cruelty? There was just no way that a Krian princess would be allowed to court a Deiusian priest, and Reese was sure Ona knew of that fact.

  Unless... thought Reese, Ona has truly fallen in love and is willing to fight her kingdom's conventions, and perhaps her own father, just to be with him. Reese wondered if Ona had finally grown up and forgotten that silly dream about the man on the black horse.

  Walking down the hall, deep in thought and unsuspecting of any danger, Reese didn't notice the man's hand aiming for her mouth. In a flash, she felt herself being dragged away and shoved into a corner behind a pillar.

  She was about to bite the man's hand off when she realized whose hand it was. Baran quickly gestured for her to be quiet with his finger against his lips. He then pointed to two men who were down the hall dressed in hooded robes and looking around them, as if wary of being caught. She soon realized that Baran had been watching them, and he wanted her to witness the secret meeting of these men as well. As Baran slowly released his grip from her mouth, she smirked at him, then joined him in carefully spying on the suspicious men in robes.

  “Did anyone follow you here?” asked one of the men with a gravelly voice. In an instant, Baran and Reese recognized the voice; it belonged to Octian. The eldest of the councilmen, Octian’s voice was distinctive in its low, scratchy tone.

  “No, I don't think so,” said the other man, whose voice was much younger and unrecognizable.

  “Good,” replied Octian, shifty-eyed. “We need to be as discreet as possible.”

  Taking one last look to his sides, Octian gestured for the other man to follow him. He then put his hand on the knee of the statue of the Goddess Verlo, which was located behind them. Much to Reese and Baran's surprise, the statue turned and revealed an opening to a secret passageway. They both had known of such passageways, but were shocked that someone like Octian would be aware of them as well.

  “In there?” asked the young man, alarmed.

  “Don't worry, Darvis, my boy,” said Octian. “It is safe… and more importantly, it is extremely private.”

  Darvis... thought Baran. He remembered the young man, but only vaguely from his youthful school days. Baran was older than Darvis by a few years, but Baran remembered him to be mild mannered and polite with an attraction to the arts. Why in the world is Darvis following a man like Octian into a secret chamber? he questioned silently. Baran knew there was only one way to find out.

  As Baran prepared to follow them, Reese held him back by his arm. “Do you ever think before you move?” she hissed in a whisper. Baran sneered at her. “Give them some time to think they're alone,” she advised, “and then follow. When they are discussing their plans, record whatever you hear.” She smiled wickedly as she tapped the black button that was usually concealed by her collar. It was times like these Baran remembered why he had once allowed himself to fall so madly in love with her.

  Baran waited a few moments, then carefully pursued Octian and Darvis into the secret passageway. Reese followed close behind him, silent and quick like a thief in the night.

  Their Lirhan training prepared them for moments like this, and they were ready for any situation, even at home when all seemed safe. As they quietly weaved through the dimly lit passageway, they could barely see the figures of Octian and Darvis, who seemed to be exiting through a secret door. As Baran and Reese approached where they had last seen the two men, all they found was a stone wall. Reese knew better, however, and grinned at Baran with her catty smile.

  “Fold your hands and give me a lift,” she said in a low, hushed voice.

  “What? Why?” he whispered in reply.

  “Just do it,” she ordered.

  Baran shook his head, then folded his hands together tightly with his palms upward. He had done such things before with Reese when they were in the Xen war together, as well as all throughout their Lirhan training days, but it had been a long time and he had forgotten how capable Reese was when executing acrobatic stunts.

  She placed her foot on his folded hands, then jumped into the air. Grabbing onto the top of the stone wall, she pulled herself up and stood on the very narrow ledge. Smiling with pride, she winked at Baran and began searching with her hands for something on the wall above the ledge.

  Baran had no idea what Reese was up to, but he knew her well enough to trust she knew what she was doing. Reese wasn't Atlar's top Lirhan spy without good reason.

  Sure enough, she seemed to find what she was looking for: a knob of some kind. As she slowly turned the knob clockwise, Baran noticed that a triangular shaped window was becoming visible near Reese's head. The clear window had not been there before, at least not that Baran had seen.

  Reese looked out the window for a moment, then quickly took out a rolled up twine from her pocket and began lowering the twine down to Baran. Grabbing onto the sturdy twine, he was pulled up by Reese, and was soon able to stand on the ledge next to her. As he stood there, balancing, he marveled at her talent and skill. She never ceased to amaze him.

  Reese pointed to the window. “This is an ancient peering window,” she whispered.

  Baran had read of peering windows in stories as a child, but never believed they were real. According to legend, a person could see and hear the objects on the other side, but couldn't be seen or heard in return – mainly because they were made of crystals that were enchanted by the ancient “magic” of the legendary Krian elders. It seemed ridiculous to Baran to think that these magic windows were real, but the window they were now peering through seemed to fit the description in the stories perfectly. The only question was if the people on the other side could see them in return.

  Reese pointed at the window once again, this time showing Baran that the men they were following were now in a secret room on the other side of the window. “Oh, look,” she said with a catty smirk on her face, “it's good old Octian and that poor Darvis fellow. Hmm... I wonder what they're talking about?”

  Her smirk grew into a full blown grin as she turned the knob from before, but this time, just a sliver counter clockwise.

  Baran could now hear their voices, clear as bells.

  “Brilliant!” he exclaimed. Baran immediately worried that Octian and Darvis would hear him, but that didn't seem to be the case since they kept on talking, as if they were entirely alone.

  “But don't you see, Darvis?” said Octian. “The king only does what he wants without thought for his council or even his country! In fact, if it suits him, he freely sends young men to their deaths, simply because he wants to win!”

  “That isn't true,” Darvis replied in his soft-spoken manner. “I know that you are speaking from a place of great pain, considering what happened to your son. Believe me, I was Leif’s friend so I feel your pain, but...”

  “He was my ONLY son!” Octian passionately interrupted.

  “Yes... I know,” Darvis replied like a dog who had been scolded by his master. “Forgive me, wise elder. I realize what a terrible
ordeal his death must have been for you. But how can you, in good conscience, blame King Atlar for Leif's death?”

  “Easily!” Octian shouted as he crossed the secret room, which looked like a small library, barely lit by the plasma-candles hanging on its stony walls.

  “I am sorry if I offend, Councilman Octian,” said Darvis, biting his lip, “but I was under the impression that your son willingly joined the war of his own volition?”

  Octian slowly turned around to face Darvis. With a snarl, the gray-haired councilman lifted his chin proudly and adjusted his Krian broach, which clasped to his shoulder, as if the act of doing so could somehow hold back the rage deep within him.

  “I'm afraid you don't quite understand, my dear boy,” Octian calmly replied. “My son believed in Atlar's convictions the way a child follows a God - a mighty Warrior-God - without flaw. But that is far from the truth, for I know the king too well. He is my younger brother after all.”

  “You are brother to the king?!” Darvis asked in shock.

  Baran was almost as shocked as Darvis that his secretive, distant uncle, who usually kept his royal relations to himself, would tell Darvis the truth about his family. Reese was not as shocked, but she found it strange as well.

  “Yes,” Octian answered in a glum voice, “I was even designated to be the next in line as First General, and possibly king, like my father before me. But that all changed when Atlar fought my father for his title. Such ego! Such impudence!”

  Darvis nodded and listened with genuine interest.

  “All my life, I've watched as Atlar simply took what he wanted,” continued Octian, “without care how it may hurt those around him! First, he took the throne by defeating our father, making The Council believe he was some kind of hero, which he was most certainly not. I refuse to deem a man a hero by how many wars they have won. Then, he took his wife by threatening Deius with war if they did not allow the marriage to proceed.”