“So you recommend I go to Chaos not only unenlightened, but with only three people who care whether I live or die?”
“Two, actually. I suggest that you and I continue to appear somewhat aloof with each other. That will leave you only your brother and a man who quite clearly has ulterior motives in remaining your friend. Not only would this make you far less threatening to our hosts, it could also put you in a far better position to aid Cas Lydia. I, like you, feel that she has suffered enough.”
“You know I'm not good at lying.”
“Yes, unlike Novanus I fully understand that point. Yet for this you will not have to lie, as long as you leave the popular belief of the lack of a relationship between the two of us up to me to explain. Not offering unnecessary information is not lying, as you already know.”
“What if I am asked directly?”
“Then you may consider yourself under the orders of an elder – as I am, you know.”
“Do you really think this would be best?”
“I do, Shi'ahn, I do. For you, for Cas Lydia, and ultimately, for Lumina.”
“Oh, all right. I dislike being so universally hated almost as much as I dislike being revered on Shiral, but if you truly believe it will be for the best…” She nods. “Then yes, I'll not try to mend any fences during the trip.”
“And continue not acknowledging our friendship?”
“Even that.”
She smiles warmly, then abruptly changes the subject. “By the way, I love what you've done with your rooms.” Her smile turns playful as she disappears, and the passage of time, I suspect, returns to normal.
I open my door to step out, startling a servant.
“My Lady, I am to escort you to the ambassadorial wing.”
“But William…”
“Here, Shi'ahn.” He closes his door and joins us, a small travel bag slung over his shoulder. I’ll bet he’s already wearing his gift from Puff. He smiles at my bag, which is much larger than his.
“Got the kitchen sink in there, Sis?”
“Hardly. Zah-Ha’Gor’s gift does not fold well. I’ve no idea how the material was worked into a dress, but I’ll bet some pretty powerful magic was involved! I don’t suppose you packed any food? I couldn’t fit any.”
He laughs, “Do you think of anything else?”
“Quite a bit – but food is always necessary yet not always attainable.” He puts his arm around me as we walk, until we hear familiar voices ahead.
~~~
“What are you saying… that we’re going to walk there? That could take months!” I recognize Nero’s grating voice.
Darius replies, “It will not, we will be taking what has proven to be a surprisingly swift passage.”
“Oh really! Funny, I have never heard of a swift path between our realms. Will you be leading us into a trap?”
“Of course not – we have sworn to protect all who accompany us. If you doubt our sincerity, perhaps it would be best for you remain here in Lumina.”
“Oh no, I wouldn’t miss this for anything!”
William and I enter the room and Darius smiles, turning his full attention toward us and away from Nero. After a moment his eyes drop to my bag and he frowns slightly. “We really will provide for your needs, Shi'ahn.”
“I certainly hope so, because all I have here is one item that doesn’t pack well.”
He looks intrigued, but turns back to the others. Nero, Gwenllian and Alma are looking at my slightly gaping travel bag with expressions of disdain, while Celeste rolls her eyes to the ceiling. Darius notes each reaction before continuing.
“Now that we are all assembled we should be going. All those who truly wish to accompany me please step into the protective rune. We will be transporting first to our embassy, from which we will transport to the midpoint. From there we will Passage-walk.” I look around and see we are in a circular room, and in the exact center is a large, highly magical circle. A balcony looks down over us, as do a good thirty guards. What do they expect to happen in here? We all step inside the strange looking rune. “Ready?” He concentrates for a moment, and our guards change into rather frightening creatures. No, that isn’t it… we have appeared in a different, though extremely similar place that is also highly guarded. Darius addresses the guards,
“Cas Darius ni Uisnach, escorting a party of seven Luminarians coming to testify in the upcoming trial of Cas Lydia ni Uisnach. They are as named; Gwenllian, Daughter of the presumably late heir Prince Llywelyn, Lady of Lumina. Celeste, Daughter of Countess Aurora, Lady of Lumina. Nero, son of the heir apparent Prince Vespasian, Lord of Lumina. Alma, Daughter of the deceased Prince Edward, Lady of Lumina. Casanova, Son of the deceased Prince Edward, Lord of Lumina. William, unclaimed descendant of Princess Nebulaea, Lord of Lumina, and Shi'ahn of Shiral, unclaimed and unproven supposed descendant of Princess Nebulaea. House Uisnach claims responsibility for both their safety and their actions while they are in our presence.” Darius points to each of us as we are named and the guards carefully scrutinize us.
“Your oath has been duly recorded in the register. You may proceed to the outer chamber.” Darius appears relieved.
“Follow me, please.” He leads us down a long hallway and into another warded room, though it seems different, as though the warding is against something different. He steps into the rune and again we follow. This time instead of finding ourselves in a similar room, we are suddenly outside, surrounded by very large and dangerous looking hound-like creatures.
Darius whistles a three-note chord and the largest beast approaches him. Unfortunately, he is standing next to me! Darius steps forward a little, reaches out and scratches the beast behind its ears as it sniffs him at first tentatively, then with growing pleasure. Darius sniffs it back, then smiles.
“Good Nightgaunt. These are our guests, we are providing their safe conduct.” The beast looks us over, then walks toward me. Darius assures me, “It’s OK, Shi'ahn. He understands that he is responsible for your safety at this time. Let him get your scent.” Ah well, it isn’t the first time a large creature has sniffed me over. Everyone backs slightly away, but then other hounds approach the rest. ‘Mine’ gets a bit enthusiastic, whining happily at my travel bag, I instinctively reach out and scratch him behind the ears and he licks at my face. I hear the other hounds growl in distrust at the rest of our party.
Dairus smiles, “Well, he seems to like you,” then he drops his voice and asks quietly, “What do you have in there, Shi'ahn?” I open it slightly and his eyes widen. “Really? I look forward to seeing that.”
We both notice something odd going on with the hound inspecting William, he growls questioningly while wagging his tail… I’m sure of it now, my brother is wearing his armored underwear. Darius correctly interprets my smile and moves to calm the beast.
Since William and I seem to have passed inspection, I look at our surroundings. The land is very open and unspectacular, but the sky! There is a beautiful double blue star looming large overhead, more beautiful than anything I’ve ever seen in space. Darius’s voice is soft in my ear.
“Beautiful, isn’t it? It lies at the exact midpoint in our Universe – I’ve often wondered if it has a purpose aside from captivating onlookers. Some say that they formed from all that remained of the nebula matter left behind when Nebulaea’s consciousness moved on to a more corporeal state.”
“Is it true?”
“No one knows. It happened a very long time ago – few who witnessed it are still alive. What amazes me, if the legend is indeed true, is that this is all that is left of that nebula. It was not a small thing, after all, and yet, that which awoke took with it a tremendous amount of mass. Have you ever met Nebulaea?”
“Ah, no, I have heard it said that she no longer walks among us.” I can’t pull my eyes away from the magnificent stars, they seem to be moving rather fast, and they sound… familiar?
“Go ahead and lose yourself in it for a while – I have to make sure all the hounds
fully accept their charges before we move on… and they seem to be having a difficult time with some of your relatives.”
I give my full attention to the amazing sight above me. It truly does seem familiar, and yet that doesn’t make sense – the larger sun’s harmonies sound just like… my sun – the sun of Shiral. Could it be? I call out to Gaea through my new ring.
‘Yes, Shi'ahn? Where are you? Your thoughts seem… near.’
‘I…’ I try to sense the ring’s link to Gaea, and it stretches directly toward the smaller sun. ‘Gaea, I am on a world not far away at all… I think I’m staring at you. You appear to be a small blue sun in a dual orbit with a larger blue sun.’
‘That would be the moon-shield. It reflects excess light and radiation away from the planet – without it we would burn.’
‘You’ve never mentioned that before.’
‘I hadn’t known until recently. You told me to grow stronger and protect Shiral; in preparing to do so I am learning a great deal. Computer is being very helpful, by the way, I thank you for introducing us and allowing our ongoing communications. It is nice to finally have a friend.’
I’m not sure how to respond to that. ‘Gaea, you must be careful with that connection.’
‘You do not trust Computer?’
'You misunderstand, I do trust my computer to do its best to protect me, and therefore you; I do not trust those of Lumina. Most do not like me, and in the past had used my computer to spy on me. I removed their access, but they keep trying to reestablish their connections. If they are successful in compromising my computer, they may gain access to you, and that cannot be allowed.'
'Shi'ahn, you taught me a great deal about protecting myself, do you think any of that knowledge could help Computer protect herself?'
Herself? 'Yes, I suppose it could. Just always remember that you must maintain your own protective measures; you protect not only yourself, but all our people.'
'Yes, of course, Shi'ahn.'
William has noticed my fascination with the dual stars and places his hand on my arm, I send my thoughts exploding toward him, ‘It’s Shiral! We mustn’t let anyone know, but it is her!’ I feel his mind stretch toward the stars.
‘Well I’ll be… You’re right, we can’t let this be known.’
Gwenllian’s voice cuts through our thoughts, “What’s with you two? Haven’t you ever seen a double star before?”
Tell the truth, Shi'ahn, just not the whole truth. William beats me to it, “No, we haven’t. The moons of Shiral are too bright to allow much of the night sky to be seen, our skies are never very dark.”
She smiles at him, “Ah, I understand. It is rather ironic, though. Rest assured, there are many such beautiful sights in space - you have much to look forward too, William.”
Ironic?
William points out, 'We are Nebulaean – star stuff, so to speak, and yet we have been denied the night skies.'
'Ah yes, I suppose she would think of that, being close to Novanus as she is. We will have to remember to be awestruck by all night skies – if we aren't, this will in retrospect seem conspicuous.’
‘That should be easy.’ We both scan the sky for more amazing sights, but Shiral outshines everything else.
‘Gaea, we will be going soon. Remember, do not speak to anyone but William and I, our dragons and my computer – and don’t allow anything to happen that might draw attention to your location from outside. Your safety lies in anonymity.’
Something sounds different nearby, the growling has stopped for the most part. For some reason a couple of the hounds really dislike Nero; they curl their upper lips and continue to growl, though quietly. I can’t really blame them – I don’t like him either.
Darius speaks with tremendous authority, “Tindalos, Byakhee, stand down!” His eyes shine alarmingly as he stares down the hounds, eventually they lower their muzzles and whimper. “Good boys.” They look up and lick his face, he turns them toward Nero, and while they still bare their teeth, they no longer growl.
Darius turns to the rest of us, “It is time for us to begin the real journey. Now due to… well, as I said before, the unusual nature of this party, I have been ordered to bring you in on a Passage that you will not likely be able to retrace. Therefore, the hounds will lead us. Nightgaunt! Take the lead.”
The hounds encircle us and we begin our trek.
At first we simply walk along a footpath, the only change I notice is that Shiral is no longer visible. Then I begin to smell… sausages. We top a hill and down in the valley there is a large building surrounded by something I can’t make out. I smell it first – death. The grounds are covered by the remains of bodies. Some of our hound guides whimper as though begging permission to grab some bones for the trip, Darius’s voice booms authoritatively, “No!” The whines subside. When we make it around the building we see cases upon cases of canned sausages being loaded onto transport devices… I feel kind of sick… and vindicated in my dislike of sausage.
Still thinking of foods I dislike, my mind is assailed by another unwanted scent – burned flesh. We come upon a burning village; I can’t bear to look. The smell changes quickly, though, to the smell of burning… chemical. Black smoke rises in the distance, black round things stacked in high piles are burning, the smoke is so black and thick all light is blocked out, it becomes darker than I’ve ever experienced outdoors, and the air hurts my lungs. Rats, I would have to be wearing leather, I cannot use it to filter the air as some of the others do. Darius hands me a handkerchief.
We emerge from the darkness as again the scent changes, this time to that of a farmyard. A large machine moves along an empty field, spewing brown stuff behind it. Manure. Then a new smell, bacon.
Darius exclaims, “Ah, a restaurant - anyone hungry?” Bile threatens to rise in my throat, I look at the others and see similar reactions. “I guess not. Well, we should have plenty of opportunities up ahead, the hounds like the smell of food.”
The onslaught of smells is overpowering, I have to think of something else! Listen to my surroundings instead, that couldn’t possibly be worse. Immediately I notice it - sound doesn’t travel quite properly here, as though something I can’t see is altering the acoustics around us. Even my music has been affected; it’s changed style, becoming slightly more… primitive – less structured. It is strange, but compelling. I don’t know if it happens because I need the added comfort and strength, or for some other mysterious reason, but Mathair’s flute becomes the central core of my song, with the strange compelling music becoming the background. The interplay of flute and this new background is truly intricate and fascinating, very harmonious, it comforts me.
Thus strengthened I find it easier to analyze the strange acoustics around us. In Lumina, continuity is the core of existence, but here, in the outskirts of the realm of Chaos, change is the norm. Vibration here is not only affected by the distance of surrounding objects and their texture and density… here there is another force acting to effect sound. It’s a fascinating aberration – I have to figure it out! Change, decay, entropy; in a word, Chaos. The only way to compensate for unpredictable change is constant observation and re-calibration. It takes more concentration than I’m used to having to devote, but I can do it; I can work within this realm.
I begin small experiments, testing my theories, and my confidence grows; this place is fascinating! There is a beauty to it unlike anything I remember encountering before. After I come to that realization, reality suddenly snaps into the foreground once again and I become aware of those around me. I find myself on Darius’s arm. He smiles down at me, his expression almost bemused.
Are you alright, Shi'ahn?”
“Yes, I’m fine. What a fascinating place this is!”
He smiles in earnest, “I’m glad that you find it so.”
I don’t know how to respond, so I take a moment to glance around at my relatives. William now has a slight greenish cast to him, looking rather ill, but he tries to smile at me as
our eyes meet. Alma, Casanova, Celeste and Nero don’t look particularly happy, but are not the least bit debilitated, just… disapproving. Gwenllian is fine, but the look of distrust she casts my way is disconcerting, my fascination with our surroundings does not favorably impress her. Casanova looks between Gwenllian and I with concern. I try not to let my fascination show so much, except for when the night sky is visible, which is actually rather often – light levels have no relation to the passage of time on this trip. William joins me in looking at the stars when they are visible, and it seems to help him. No one, aside from Darius, ever manages to have an appetite when we near restaurants.
Chapter 15
An Evening in Chaos
Eventually we come upon a very large castle.
Darius proudly proclaims, “Welcome to Uisnach Keep.”
Once inside we’re taken into a large entry chamber where a very large yet stately gray haired man awaits us. “Greetings, Lords and Ladies of Lumina. I am Ultor, Dominar Uisnach. Welcome to our home. He reaches out and takes Gwenllian’s hand, turns it over and kisses her palm. She raises an eyebrow, but otherwise shows little reaction. He does the same with Celeste and Alma who also don’t react, so as he takes my hand I don’t expect much. I do notice how graceful he is in turning it over, then he brushes his lips across my palm just before kissing it and a thrill runs down my spine. I try to conceal its effect upon me, but I can see in his eyes that he knows exactly how much I enjoy it. How could the others have been so unaffected by the perfection of that caress?
He smiles to us all, “Again I welcome you to House Uisnach. Know that we have pledged to protect your safety while you are in our lands and our company. Beware, though, that we can do nothing for you if you leave our presence. Now I am sure you are hungry – Darius informs me that you did not stop during your travels to eat. That particular passage can have that effect on people, it isn’t the most pleasant, but it is unusually swift.” He gestures to a servant who steps toward us. “Wolfsbane will escort you to your rooms to freshen up – dinner will be in one hour. This is to be Lydia’s last dinner before the trial, and so it will be a somewhat formal occasion.” Darius catches my eye then looks down at my travel bag and nods. Oh good, I won’t have to ask the servant what I should wear… Dominar Ultor continues, “If you will excuse us.”
Between Darkness and Light Trilogy Page 19