Zykeiah passed Marion’s room and stopped at the door next to his room. There were three doorways in the hallway. This door, right next to Marion’s, resembled the other two doors except this one had a silver door handle. Sighing, she turned the door handle and entered into her little room.
She tossed her garment bag onto the floor beside the blackened fireplace. The fireplace occupied the right wall her room that separated her room from Kalah’s. Her room shared the left wall with Marion. Zykeiah often wondered if Queen Zoë found it amusing to have Zykeiah sandwiched between both Marion and Kalah.
Zykeiah did not find it amusing at all.
Using two stones of flint, she lit the logs in the fireplace and cautiously placed several more pink logs into the growing flame. The pink logs acted not only as a source of heat, but also as an air freshener, offering the floral scent of the potta trees, which were pink in color, into the air. The clinging scent of danker beast was still attached to her clothing and hair as she sat down on the wooden bench and removed her boots, but at least the smell would not stain the room.
She removed her clothes and piled all of these items into the garment bag that was already filled with other garments. Putting on a robe made from rough but comfortable tarra, she opened her door and walked down the Hallway between the Great Hall’s kitchen and Marion’s room to the central baths.
Zykeiah watched as servants rushed to and fro with decorations and supplies. Some children carried their best dress outfits through the Hallway to the servants’ homes, just cleaned from the wash. It was not often that the castle had something to celebrate, not since Kalah’s birth, according to Queen Zoë, had there been much to celebrate on Veloris.
Smoggy, humid, and thick, the air in the corridor to the central baths always made Zykeiah sweat as if she had run full speed up to the highest point of Stocklah Mountain, the highest mountain point in the Northern Forest and on the entire planet of Veloris. She knew Stocklah and the higher grounds of Veloris better than anyone; the area was ideal for meditation and rides.
Making a sharp right into the central baths, she breathed a sigh of relief. There were no others at the baths today. Thankful she could be alone with her thoughts, and she had much to think about, she chose the triangular baths in the back of the bathroom itself, closer to the castle than the forest.
Book-ended by the Great Hall and the East Wing Hall, the central baths satisfied the needs for both kitchens by providing a centralized location for water. The main basin had a projecting trough that allowed servants to carry water to either of the kitchens. The baths themselves were sectioned off from the main basin and the Greenery by stonewalls on three sides with the back wall being the back section of the castle. A small stone courtyard separated the central baths from Kalah’s, Zykeiah’s and Marion’s rooms. The room that housed the central baths was as long as all three rooms put together.
There were a total of five baths. The largest bath, which was closer to the forest, could hold approximately ten people; it was considered the community tub. The tubs themselves were wooden and most often protected by a canopy, except the Queen’s bath, which resided in an elevated section of the room farthest away from the other wooden tubs and secluded by a heavy, iron screen that was dense with shapes and rosemary flowers. Each tub was lined with cloth to protect the skin from the wood.
The remainder of the tubs lined the back wall of the bath; three wooden tubs of equal length and depth could each hold two people if necessary. It was the first tub farthest away from the door that Zykeiah chose and often found the best spot for obtaining as much privacy as could be had in such a place.
The baths room was heated by an enormous open hearth towards the front of the room that was kept ablaze by the bath maid to the point of the room becoming a sauna.
Upon seeing Zykeiah enter the bath, the bath maid followed her in and went to the built-in basin that resided beside the hearth. Turning the bronze tap, he began to fill the bucket with hot water. As he lifted a full bucket, he quickly placed an empty one under the tap to fill as he hurried and poured the water in to the bathtub.
“How hot would you like?”
“The same as always,” Zykeiah answered.
He continued to fill her tub, running back and forth from the basin to the tub, careful not to slip on the slick flooring with his buckets.
After several trips back and forth, the tub water waited patiently for Zykeiah. Steam rose into the air as if offering itself to her. Come, come, and cleanse yourself.
The bath maid waited beside Zykeiah…out of breath and wiping his damp face.
“Yes?” Zykeiah asked as she held her robe closed.
“Would you like help with your bath?” The bath maid smiled exposing toothless gums and horrible offending breath.
“No,” Zykeiah answered and a frown formed on her face.
Seeing the anger on her face, the bath maid abruptly bowed and offered, “My apologies, my lady.” He raced out of the baths without looking back.
She thought she heard him mumble “witch” as he exited.
Digging into her robe’s pocket, Zykeiah removed a sack of salt, hand-chopped by the souls of Solis that she had taken from her latest trip. She dropped a handful into the steaming water and watched them dissolve.
Next, she needed to regain her spiritual balance. This could be obtained by dropping leaves of clove, lotus, musk and wisteria into the steaming water.
She removed her robe and lowered herself slowly into the soothing waters of the bath, Zykeiah closed her eyes and thought of the one called Sarah.
She had more important things to think about, like her knighting in the next cycle, the results of her trip to Solis and much, much more; but for now, she only wanted to relax and think of pleasant things.
Zykeiah closed her eyes and thought of the woman’s fabulous eyes that were the color of gosha, but still fantastically enchanting. Yes, Queen Zoë was right. She was the one.
Opening her eyes to stare at the ceiling, Zykeiah knew that that alone would complicate matters.
* * *
Marion waited patiently in the frigid afternoon at the mouth of the Antiqk Oracle in silence for as soon as the Wrangler birds entered the invisible sphere of the Antiqk realm their screeching fell silent.
“Come on Sarah,” he whispered as he gazed up to the blushing sky. “It grows later.”
Sarah appeared shaking and moving sluggishly from the cavern. She stumbled, slipped and fell. Running to her side, he picked up an almost lifeless Sarah. Tossing her over her danker beast, he mounted his danker beast and made his way back to the castle with Sarah in tow. He hoped she would awaken before they reached the castle, Queen Zoë would be furious if she found out that he had jeopardized their plan for this. He could feel the Queen’s disapproving scowl as he entered the castle with Sarah blackened out by the Oracle.
It was not uncommon for the Oracle to overpower a person, if that person required too much information. The Antiqk Oracle gave only as much as the person touching the oracle required. It required an excellent mastery of one’s mind to query its wisdom and prophecy. Perhaps he should have warned her of that.
One such woman, who lived in the sphere surrounding the Antiqk Oracle, had scrawled the scrolls and derived wisdom of the Oracle for many rotations before Queen Zoë. She then had given them to Queen Zoë upon her deathbed. It was said that the woman was insane upon her death.
“I should not have brought you here,” he said to Sarah, as she remained unconscious. “But you are supposed to be our savior.”
As they moved further from the pulsating glow of the Antiqk, Sarah began to stir and moan, but she did not awaken.
“Be strong,” Marion urged. “For the heavens, be strong.”
* * *
“Where is Marion?” Kalah asked as he stalked in to the central baths.
Groaning softly at the interruption, Zykeiah answered, “I do not know and do not wish to know.”
He raised one of
his eyebrows, but his questioning look was lost on Zykeiah, who eyes remained closed as she relaxed in the tub.
Leaving the central baths, Kalah knocked on Marion’s room door again, but no one answered. Searching between the two Halls, Kalah tried the baths, then back again.
Finally he made his way down to the stables, where the overwhelming stench of danker beasts almost made his eyes water.
“Have you seen Marion?” Kalah asked the servant page who smiled at the visit by the young knight. It was rare that the stables saw Kalah; he hardly left the castle.
“Yes. He and Sarah left mid-morning for a ride.” The servant page then moved over to feed a handful of dark green leaves to a young danker calf.
“Thank you,” Kalah responded promptly before fleeing for the sweeter air of the castle.
Slowly Kalah walked past the royal guards and into Queen Zoë’s bedchamber where Queen Zoë reclined against her pillows. Propped up like a puppet, the Queen ate a bowl of roasted beef with crushed rosemary.
“Your face gives me the answer I have been looking for; you do not have to speak,” she said firmly.
Kalah shrugged, “I cannot find him.”
“He is not in the castle.” Queen Zoë had not asked, but merely stated.
“No, Mother, he is not.” Kalah answered half-heartedly as he stared out of the window.
Queen Zoë smiled. Kalah only called her mother within the cozy confines of her bedchamber. Marion did not call her mother at all once he had become a knight; the secret had to be maintained and kept to a small group.
“You do not approve, Kalah?” Queen Zoë could see her young son wrestle with the looming shadow that was Marion. The shadow was so much larger that it deflected any sunlight of recognition from Kalah.
“He is your brother.” Queen Zoë pressed. “Not your rival.”
The words burned into Kalah’s ears, forcing his short temper to fester and boil over. “No, Mother! He is a knight and that woman is Veloris’s and the whole Pixlis Galaxy’s hope of freedom. He can’t just take her from the castle, tell no one but a stable page and…”
He turned and stalked out of the room.
“Oh, Kalah.” Queen Zoë collapsed into her pillows and wept.
* * *
The aroma of fresh bread floated and filled the air of the castle as Kalah waited in the Great Hall for Marion’s arrival. Marion and Sarah had been riding for the better part of the day. Where had he taken her? The weather outside was bitter and cold. How could Marion have taken Sarah for such a long time?
Zykeiah, refreshed and free of the danker beast smell, arrived at the Great Hall for evening meal in full knight attire, although her official knighting was still one full rotation away. Tight, burning pink leather pants, black leather boots complete with thigh dagger strap and a furry pink sleeveless sweater that exposed her sculpted arms, caused the female servants of the Great Hall to gasp and whisper to each other and overt their eyes when she passed.
Queen Zoë raised her hand to beckon Zykeiah to the front of the Great Hall. Though evening meal would not be served for another few minutes, the Hall was packed with the Queen’s servants, the knights, and those vying for the knights’ favor.
“Are you ready?” Queen Zoë asked Zykeiah once she reached her throne.
“Yes, my Queen,” Zykeiah said.
Smiling, Queen Zoë slapped her leg lightly and said, “Your are like one of my children now.”
“Yes, my Queen,” Zykeiah answered, making the Queen roar in laughter and then into fits of coughing as the color quickly drained from her face.
“Are you all right?” She leaned down as the Queen pulled a spiny green leaf from her pocket, placed it in her mouth and started to chew it. The soothing juice from the leaf calmed the Queen’s coughs, but did not cure them.
Zykeiah kissed the Queen’s bony hand and went to sit next to Kalah at the table closest to the Queen. The Hall had filled up fast; there were not many more spaces in which to sit.
“Your concern wrinkles your face, Kalah,” she said as she squeezed in between both of Kalah’s girlfriends, Tate and Mary.
“He should have returned by now,” Kalah grumbled. “Give us leave, Tate and Mary. Tonight dine in the East.”
Sighing and pouting, both the twin sisters, Tate and Mary, barely more than sixteen years old, stood and left Kalah without question, but with many longing looks of lust and sadness that tonight he would not be with them.
Zykeiah laughed at Kalah’s gross indulgences, from the two sisters to his collection of daggers; Kalah lived largely and with extravagance. He had to have the best. Even his red leather pants were derived from the hide of a kowlata, fierce tough creatures that resided primarily in the Southern Forest. Their skin held the coloring ink better than any other, and Kalah would not rest until he had several of their hides. Marion and Zykeiah’s leather came from the kowlettas, which were in the same family as the kowlatas, but had been domesticated and bred for the purpose of using their skins and other things.
When Marion had suggested Kalah use the kowletta’s hide, Kalah disagreed and left to go capture a few kowlatas, stating that the hides of kowletta were weak and not as protecting to the cold. Marion did not argue with the insistence of youth and even traveled with him to the Southern Forest. They returned with several kowlatas and Kalah returned with a hand that was nearly bitten off by one of the angered beasts.
Queen Zoë repaired it, and Marion thought his younger brother learned his lesson about appreciating what was available.
Kalah had not. He boasted in the Great Hall of his experience with the kowlatas and continued for months about his strength and courage displayed there. He even went so far as to challenge Marion’s courage by stating that his brother feared and began to cower at the kowlatas’ roar during their hunt.
This announcement received a hard punch in the face from Marion, just when Kalah actually thought he was big enough to step from his big brother’s shadow. And what greater situation to defeat Marion than in front of a full audience at the Great Hall! But Marion returned him to second best, cloaking Kalah in his shadow, making sure that Kalah never thought of stepping out again.
But it did not end there. At every given opportunity, Kalah tried to circumvent Marion’s authority, leadership and even his mother’s affection. Over the years the stress to Queen Zoë wrecked the older woman’s health. The aftermath of the arguments and debates was that the two brothers grew apart, each blaming the other for her sickness.
Only as of late have the two brothers tried to make amends.
It was prior to that when a weakened Queen Zoë called upon Zykeiah for help.
She remembered the day clearly as if it was today.
Outside a winter storm dropped inch after inch of soft snow onto the Northern Forest. The castle waited for the storm’s fury to pass and prayed it hurry and move on. It continued for several full hours. The coldness entered through cracks, windows and even seeped in from the ground making the floor icy cold. This seemed only to exaggerate the widening gap between Marion and Kalah as the bitterness spread.
Zykeiah was relaxing in her favorite tub in the baths when Queen Zoë came down the stairs and into the central baths with her advisor and servant, Octiva.
Zykeiah watched as Octiva prepared the waiting bath water for cleansing. The tiny Queen coughed repeatedly as she crumpled fresh thymus into the bath. She lit several incenses that lay alongside her tub and she inhaled deeply.
When Octiva departed; the Queen prepared to bathe privately without aid. The thick canopy hid her from view and all Zykeiah could make out was the Queen’s shadow as it moved about the tub, then as it entered the water.
“I know you have just arrived here,” Queen Zoë said as the two women bathed alone in the central baths. “You are needed here. It is your destiny, child!”
Zykeiah sloshed lukewarm water into her own face as she struggled to sit upright in her tub. “But, but, I am a slave.”
“You
are the one who escaped from the cages,” Queen Zoë said firmly. “From Valek, no?”
Zykeiah’s fear increased. She could hear her blood thundering in her ears as she tried to think of a way out of this. “Yes, but—”
“Then here is what you must do…” Queen Zoë replied. “You must return to Solis.”
* * *
“Where are you, Zykeiah?” Kalah interrupted Zykeiah’s memory. “Not nervous about tomorrow?”
“Just thinking.”
Kalah’s eyes moved from her face to the Great Hall’s entranceway. “He is never this late.”
“Perhaps it is the girl,” Zykeiah said, neglecting to mention Sarah’s name; the Great Hall was far too crowded.
“Perhaps,” Kalah grudging agreed. “He was like that with you. Once.”
Turning away from Kalah’s accusing stare, Zykeiah said, “He was never like that with me.”
* * *
Marion and an unconscious Sarah reached the stables and by the position of the few stars visible, Marion knew evening meal was to be served within moments.
“Tell no one of the hour.” Marion ordered as he slid from his danker beast smoothly placing the reigns into the open palm of the servant page. He lifted Sarah from her danker beast and tossed her over his shoulder with equal fluidly as if he had done it hundreds of times before.
“Yes, sir.” The servant page quickly agreed as he herded the danker beasts into the stables.
Marion’s heavy footsteps landed squarely as he carried Sarah up the stairs from the stables.
He peeked around the corner before scurrying down the Hallway to the Greenery. The hot, smoggy air from the central baths caused Marion to cough and sweat. No one heard for all had gathered in the respecting Halls for supper.
Placing Sarah on the floor, Marion quickly scanned the aisles of potted planted and sprouting herbs, spices, vegetables and fruit. The Greenery housed over sixty herbs and all of the food harvested for the castle; Veloris’s climate demolished any herbs and most spices that grew outside the castle’s walls. Only certain plants native to Veloris had adapted to withstand her arctic temperatures.
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