Queen Zoë favored other plants not native to Veloris and had educated both Marion and Kalah extensively and vigorously on the identification and use of herbs and spices.
“There!” He rushed to a yellow-spotted spiny plant called squalla. Ripping off a leaf he hurried back to Sarah and placed the leaf under her nose.
“Awake!” Marion commanded and gently blew on the leaf. Its spores flew into the air and into her nostrils.
“What happened?” Sarah asked as she awoke, her eyes fluttering rapidly as if still buzzing from the experience at the Oracle.
“Gently,” Marion said. He could feel her trembling beneath the heavy sweater. “You must eat.”
Almost relying exclusively on Marion’s arm for support, Sarah hoisted herself to a standing position. They walked sluggishly down the Hallway to the Great Hall.
“Ah, there, see Kalah. I told you he was fine,” Queen Zoë said quietly as she smiled at the sight of Marion and Sarah entering the Great Hall.
They reached the table closest to Queen Zoë, where Kalah and Zykeiah sat. Marion helped Sarah into the seat next to Zykeiah. She was still groggy, but awake.
“The ride went much better than expected,” Marion said as he leaned down and kissed Queen Zoë’s cheek bringing a wider smile to her aged face.
“I am sure,” Queen Zoë said as she playfully swatted Marion’s arm.
“Where have you been?” Kalah inquired heatedly as soon as Marion sat.
“We went out.”
Marion winked at Zykeiah, who smirked then rolled her eyes.
Kalah grunted as the servants brought out the evening servings of crushed tanger-flavored henckens with tartberries. The meal was accompanied by ale. Sweetened berry juice was also served. Marion ate greedily as oily juices dripped from his chin and he said little despite the questioning stares from Kalah and Zykeiah.
“So, how was your ride today?” Zykeiah asked Sarah who ate very slowly.
Sarah shrugged as she chewed slowly.
“There are some great waterfalls higher up towards Stocklah; I could show you.” Zykeiah offered. “If you are up for another ride.”
“Sure,” Sarah said anxiously and eager to have Zykeiah’s gaze move to someone else, some place else. She hated the woman’s intense stare. It made her skin crawl.
“You are a real lovely woman. That must have brought you many favors in the cages.”
“The cages know no favors,” Sarah curtly responded.
“Surely, you remembered that Zykeiah,” Marion said. “It has not been so many years ago that you were there.”
Zykeiah said softly, “No, it has not.”
“You have been to Solis?” Sarah asked failing to hide her surprise.
“Yes, I was a slave in the Soul Cages.” Zykeiah answered as she moved the food around her tin plate.
“You were rescued?” Sarah continued to question. She knew many of the slaves that resided in the cages, but had never seen Zykeiah before.
“No.” Zykeiah took a deep breath. “I escaped.”
“That is why she is to be knighted tomorrow,” Kalah announced before guzzling his ale and signaling the servant for a second round.
“It was not just her escape from the cages,” Marion added, “but her courage and unflinching bravery that she has demonstrated since arriving here.”
The others at the neighboring tables stomped and clapped in agreement to Marion’s declaration.
Zykeiah only grinned before saying to Sarah. “You will be there, right?”
“Yes.” Sarah did not know what she had committed herself to but it did not matter as long as Zykeiah kept her penetrating gaze directed at everyone else.
As the Great Hall emptied, the Minister Knights, Sarah and Queen Zoë remained. They dismissed the servants and only those few in the kitchen remained to clean.
“Tomorrow will be crazy; try to sleep tonight,” Queen Zoë suggested to Zykeiah. “The time draws closer still.”
“Evening all.” Sarah excused herself. Before Marion or Kalah knew it, she was already out of the Great Hall with Zykeiah fast on her heels.
Just outside the Great Hall’s entrance, Sarah turned and said, “What do you want of me?”
Tired and mental drained from the trip to the Oracle, Sarah just wanted to go to sleep.
“I just want to talk to you,” Zykeiah said.
“I am tired. Can this not wait until tomorrow?” Sarah said softly.
“Yes. Of course, enjoy your sleep,” Zykeiah smiled and turned back to the Great Hall.
Sarah started again for her chambers. Once she reached her door, she was out of breath due to the trot up the stairs. She pressed back against the door as if she was trying to blend into the door. She let out a sigh of relief and entered into the safety of her room.
Chapter Seven
Valek brushed his hair briskly with hard, even strokes as he stood naked in his bathing quarters. The tub of cool, dirty water remained stagnant in his wooden tub. Incenses burned lazily as he placed his brush onto his stand and dressed in his favorite soft leather cream-colored suit.
He quickly braided his hair into a thick plait and hurried from his private quarters through the heavy screen and into his office where General Ogroth waited.
“My dear General Ogroth.” He extended his skinny hand. “Good to see you.”
“Sure,” General Ogroth grunted. “Can we get this over with?”
Just as Valek sat down in his chair, the plump General Ogroth slowly walked over to the gold desk and threw down ten silver coins.
Valek picked up one of the coins and closely studied it.
Several seconds passed as General Ogroth’s foot tapped impatiently. Valek continued his close inspection of the coin.
“Valek, the SOLANCE! I am a busy man!”
“You idiot!” Valek threw the coin into General Ogroth’s bushy beard. “You demand nothing from me!”
Valek leapt from his chair and slammed his fist against his desk.
“Ten silver coins?” Valek whispered angrily through clinched teeth.
“What you ask is ridiculous!” General Ogroth yelled back. “We will not pay; it is robbery!”
Sighing noisily, Valek sat back down in his chair. “Then leave and allow Earth 3012 to obliterate and take over your pathetic Saturn Four.”
Valek slowly extended his hand, but did not get up again. He said, “No more business. No more Solance.”
General Ogroth said with a sneer, “You little piss.”
Valek turned his chair so his back faced to General Ogroth before saying, “Good day, General Ogroth.”
Silence as the General roughly stroked his bushy beard.
“All right, fine, Valek.” General Ogroth dug deep into the scratchy pockets of his green pants. “Thirty silver coins.”
The sack made a loud “thwack” as it landed on the desk.
“As agreed.” Valek turned around to face the General, exposing his pointy teeth with his smile.
“I am glad to see you have agreed to the new price.” He beckoned to Orono who waited back in the shadows of the room. He came further into the sparsely lit office.
“Take General Ogroth to the warehouse and allow him to transport back to his pathetic planet. Give him three cases of Solance. One on the house.” Valek smiled with a wink at General Ogroth.
General Ogroth wiped his sweaty brow with a thick meaty hand and grunted again, this time causing cloudy streams of smoke to spew from his flared nostrils.
“Tsk, tsk, General Ogroth,” Valek said. “Save your temper for your enemies.”
Orono led General Ogroth from Valek’s office into the drab hallway.
Once the two were out of earshot, General Ogroth asked, “Why are you insistent on working for him?” His voice sounded like a low roar. “Valek is obviously mad.”
Orono hurried through the chilly corridor with urgency only utilized when Valek needed it. He knew the system of corridors and hallways better than anyone else at Valek’s castl
e. Once he felt they were far enough away, he stopped short and quickly looked around before replying, “Do you not know?”
General Ogroth snorted and said, “What do you mean?”
“Do you not use the product you paid so much for?” Orono asked impatiently.
“No!” General Ogroth patted his head and said, “I do not need it. Intelligence is born, not sold.”
Growling, Orono snatched away and resumed his pace in the direction of the dungeon. He hurried as fast as his legs could carry him. He wanted to be away from the General and soon. He had other business to take care of.
“Besides, Valek would kill me if I tried to read his mind. You should know it does not work on him.” General Ogroth mumbled as he, too, sped up his pace. “So what is it? Are you are a coward? A spineless, fat snake?”
Grabbing the torch from the wall, Orono led General Ogroth down the stairwell to the dungeon without comment. Orono pulled the lever to raise the creaky elevator that led even further down into the warehouse. The warehouse housed crates upon crates of packaged Solance. It occupied the area below the dungeon and the dungeon-quarters. Clients were not permitted to enter the warehouse, but Orono had already stacked Saturn Four’s shipment outside the warehouse door.
Orono wheezed and sweated profusely as he lifted the boxes of Solance, the bottles clinking and clanking together uneasily inside. General Ogroth watched with fear prying into his stomach.
“Break them and the silver comes from your hide!” General Ogroth smoothly threatened. The decaying flesh smell that was condensed just outside the cool warehouse caused General Ogroth to place his hand over his mouth and nose. He had to take sips of air to breathe.
General Ogroth coughed and clawed for sweeter air, but was denied it. Orono put down the crates and opened the warehouse’s door, slamming it quickly as he went in, leaving the General alone in the hallway.
Moments ticked by as the General continued to cough and gag. The smell was overwhelming, yet he could not leave until Orono came back to escort him to the circles. He would leave if he knew the way back to the circle.
Finally, Orono came out of the warehouse. He lifted the crates and started off without comment or explanation.
General Ogroth followed a sweaty Orono to the Circle of Solis, where several of his soldiers waited to transport to Saturn Four.
General Ogroth asked, “What does he make that stuff with?”
“I cannot tell you,” Orono quickly replied. He lowered his voice so that only the General could hear and said, “But for a price the mysteries of the galaxy will be opened to you.”
“It smelled like death in there.” General Ogroth pulled on his too short jacket and wiped his face.
“There are many, many secrets that I am happy to tell you,” Orono said as he smiled at General Ogroth.
“Ah, yes, depends on what you know.” General Ogroth lifted a hairy eyebrow.
“I do not sell junk,” Orono barked before turning away. “You know where to find me.”
* * *
The cloak held a faint scent of danker beast like most things in the castle; yet, the rank smell also held brief spots of myrrh. It did not matter to Sarah; she only had to go a short distance. She tied the belt securely about her waist. She went to her window and gazed at the moon, then down to the trail that led from the East Wing kitchen to the servants’ homes a short distance away. The moon illuminated the cluster of servant cottages nestled just off the east end of the castle.
“I must go,” she whispered. It was tonight or never, she thought. Every day that passed put a greater distance between her and Amana. Sarah held her breath as she opened her door and crept quietly down the stairwell. At this late hour she hoped everyone would be in bed resting for the ceremony tomorrow.
She hurried into the East Wing Hall, past the abandoned tables, and into the kitchen. There was a doorway just past the fireplaces and stoves that led outside. Sarah listened for footsteps or voices. She did not hear any, so quietly she slid back the door’s wooden lock and stepped outside. Silence seemed to encourage her and she turned towards the direction of the servants’ cottages. They seemed to call to her. It was almost like they were begging her to come to them.
“Come, come,” the cottages seemed to plead.
The ground crunched beneath her feet. She stepped cautiously, but snow blanketed the ground. The brownish muddy dirt of Veloris could be seen just underneath the layer of snow. Along the trail, Sarah observed discarded bones, seeds, and other objects that failed to make it from the castle to the servants’ homes.
The howling wind ripped through her cloak, blew it about her face, and temporarily obscured her view. Her ears burned and her feet ached as she hiked on. The distance looked so much shorter when she first saw it from her window. Maybe the distance between the castle and the servants’ cottages was elongated by the biting cold of Veloris at night. It almost caused her to turn back, but the internal yearning to visit, to see what was there, tugged at her. She pressed on.
“Almost there,” Sarah said quietly as the wind blew another gust of snow and ice into her face.
Thoughts of Amana came to her as she continued through the wet snowflakes that fell from the sky and the burning lashes of the wind. She thought about how miserable Amana must feel.
* * *
Amana felt no sleepiness, fatigue or drowsiness as she sat in her cage. The nothingness clung to her like a wet blanket, always following her as she went through the tunnels to the mines where she and dozens of other souls labored. The souls mined the slick, black Solis rocks for Valek’s less than profitable business…rock salt. He sold rock salt to smaller planets that required the substance for fuel, beauty aids, and magic.
“Hello,” said a young woman with eyes empty like the caves beneath the cages. Her hair was a shallow red color and it flickered as she entered Amana’s cage.
“Who are you?” Amana asked as she rose from her seat. She tried to see around the new arrival to the place where MaxMion waited. She had seen the new arrival around the cages, and she was even in Amana’s cage last night; however they had not spoken.
MaxMion rubbed his hands anxiously together and whispered, “New arrival.” He hissed as he retreated into the shadowy blackness and quickly vanished, as the midnight dark tunnels swallowed him up.
The new girl floated over to the corner of Amana’s cage and started to cry softly. No tears fell for there was no body in which to produce them. They were souls trapped in a cage. She was bodiless, a soul without a home. The body was no more, but habits like eating, sleeping and crying did not immediately fade away.
The new soul peeked through her balled-up fists at Amana.
“Do not be afraid,” Amana offered. “The shock will wear off soon. You’ll get used to it here.”
“I am Amana,” Amana tried again to calm the new arrival.
Amana got up from her spot on the floor, crouched next to the shivering girl, and tenderly patted her arm. She said, “It will be all right.”
To her surprise, the girl whimpered and gave her a tentative hug. It was a surprise. She didn’t feel the hug, but the gesture reminded her of her sister, Sarah.
“I am sure it will,” the new girl said in a hoarse voice. “My name is Katelin.”
* * *
MaxMion and Orono, partially hid by the shadows of the caverns, watched as the new arrival Katelin embraced Amana.
“Are you sure?” Orono asked for the third time.
“Yes, can you not smell her erotic scent?” MaxMion sniffed the air and then greedily rubbed his tummy. “If only she was flesh, I would roast her over the tender licking flame of the berry bushes.”
“Patience, my dear friend.” Orono pulled a small, opaque ball from his pocket. “Our time will come.”
“Yes,” MaxMion hissed excitedly. He jumped up and down in a hurried motion that caused Orono to smile…briefly.
“Come, we have much to do.” Orono melted into the obscurity of the tunnels
with MaxMion following close to his heels.
* * *
The wholesome home at the forefront of the servants’ neighborhood windows was illuminated with candles, as if it was waiting for her to arrive.
The ground, solid and coarse, had been down trodden and worn by the daily pilgrimages between the servants’ quarters and the Queen’s castle. Although tightly compacted, Sarah stumbled over occasional loose stones and rocks that had been unearthed from the path. Her eyes watered as the sharp wind sliced through her clothes, bring the piercing cold directly in contact with her skin.
The first house looked just like the others: a small home with a snow covered roof and windows that held curtains and flickering candles. She gravitated to the first house either out of a desire for refuge from the bitter night’s frigid temperature or because the place seemed to call to her. Nevertheless, it attracted her.
The Antiqk Oracle had revealed much, although she did not remember all of it. She did remember that the information had come at a lightening speed. So quickly she could not match responses with the questions. In some cases, she had not formed the question before the oracle had answered them. The dizzying speed in which her questions were answered only left her head aching and her stomach uneasy. Yet, here she was before this home.
She stepped on the first narrow, cracked step that led to the door. She stepped up two more steps and reached the door when it opened revealing a woman. Long, straight, ash-blonde hair was scattered across her face, camouflaging her eyes, but it failed to hide the woman’s knowing smile. She stepped back into the house as she beckoned Sarah in.
“Come in. It’s freezing out,” she said softly. Her voice was warm, inviting, and musical all at once.
Sarah followed the woman into her home. Once inside the quaint residence, the woman pointed to a makeshift bed on the floor close to the fireplace. It resembled a pile of blankets and quilts on the floor.
“Warm yourself by the fire,” the woman suggested as she stepped over the makeshift bed to the fireplace. She added a few more logs and turned back to look at Sarah.
“Please make yourself comfortable,” she said.
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