The quietness of the wee hours was a double-edged sword, for it offered calm quiet, but that calmness also invited the madness that comes with constant thoughts. And Sarah had too many of the latter as of late.
The queen’s guards were not in their traditional positions and the hallway leading to her quarters was dim and unlit.
“Hello?” Sarah called as she entered the Queen’s quarters.
Kalah, Marion, Zykeiah and Queen Zoë were crowded in a tight circle; their conversation stopped as soon as she entered. The queen was not in her bed, but was seated in a chair. The others stood tightly around her in a semi-circle.
“What has happened?” Sarah asked as she stepped further into the quarters.
They turned to look at her, then nervously at each other before stepping back, revealing a woman who appeared to be sleeping. The way her head was leaning slightly to the side reminded Sarah of someone she knew, but this could not be her. Queen Zoë said that they could go back for her; the queen was not encouraged by the odds of her escaping.
On closer inspection, Sarah moved the spiraling black ringlets from the sleeping woman’s face and gasped.
“Amana!” Sarah leapt forward and hugged her sister close, waking the sleeping woman.
Amana eyes opened slowly. “Sarah?”
“Yes, oh, yes!” Sarah gripped Amana tightly.
“Sarah,” Marion gently called.
Ignoring him, she lifted her sister to a standing position. “Come, we have much to talk about.”
Nodding, but not speaking, Amana followed Sarah out of Queen Zoë’s quarters trailed by concerned stares.
Chapter Thirteen
“I cannot believe it!” Sarah gripped Amana’s hand tightly as she led her younger sister through the scented hallways of the castle. She didn’t keep her voice down, and she felt joy unlike she had felt since her escape from the cages.
Amana’s eyes barely noticed the elaborate rugs and blazing hearths that lazily heated the castle in early morning hours. Her eyes never wavered from Sarah’s as Sarah retold about the times they went about as children prior to their abduction from Earth.
“Amana, are you okay?” Sarah had reached the East Wing and hesitated before heading up the spiraling stairs to her quarters. She removed some strands of hair plastered to Amana’s hot, moist face.
“Yes,” Amana answered and gave a half-hearted smile that seemed to wane as soon as it started.
She tickled Amana behind her ear, but Amana did not smile or grin. Tickling, especially behind the ear, used to cause Amana to erupt in to fits of laughter that usually spilled over to her and the two would collapse to the floor.
But that was when they were younger and long before the cages. Perhaps now, after the grueling stench and abuse of the cages, the act of laughing and the joys of life might be lost forever in the blue spheres of Solis.
Shoving those questions aside, Sarah took the stairs two at a time and quickly turned back as she reached the top of the stairs to make sure Amana was behind her. All remnants of weariness had been chased away in light of fresh enthusiasm.
Amana, her sister, best friend and sole surviving family member was now right here in the flesh, in her quarters and sitting cautiously on her bed.
“Feel that Amana!” She pulled the blanket up and touched Amana’s cheek. “Soft, Amana, soft. Remember?”
“Yes,” Amana responded and gave yet another waning smile.
“Oh, Amana, let us go to sleep.” She quickly pulled the covers back and beckoned for Amana to lie down as well.
Unsure of just how long Amana had been in her flesh, Sarah had no idea if she was aware that she was tired. Shortly after the soul was reincarnated into its body, the soul sometimes did not readily recognize that the new body grew weary. Sarah had only known one person to escape the cages and that was Zykeiah, but the older souls often told stories of when it suited Valek to do so, he would reincarnate souls back to the flesh.
At the time, she had dismissed them as the tales of overactive, long-abused imaginations of lost souls. Now, she found herself often referring back to those stories and tales for information and guidance. She wondered how the souls knew such detailed information when none of them had ever been to Veloris.
Listen… Sarah could hear the watery voice of the Antiqk Oracle warn. It was so compelling she had begun to feel the voice was in the same room with her and she was not alone.
She dismissed the ambiguous nature of the Antiqk Oracle’s knowing voice. That night at the cottage, she had felt a deep knowing inside that moved and crawled around in her mind. The sharp, crisp images of the dreams had receded in recent hours, and in their place, bits and pieces still remained lost in a grayish fog of Veloris’s early mornings.
She woke up and focused her attention on Amana sleeping beside her. Effortlessly, a smile came to her face. The cages may have spoiled her sister’s understanding of joy, but it did not spoil her sister’s beauty and youth.
The voice whispered from the hidden corners within her and she knew something was not right. The gnawing at the corners of her self-conscious mind did not cease as she returned to a fitful slumber. Listen and embrace, the clear watery voice of the Antiqk Oracle resounded as she slept.
* * *
“How did she come through the circle?” Marion asked as the first lights of the weakening Veloris sun kissed the frozen tundra of the icy planet.
Queen Zoë huddled beneath several thick blankets. A roaring fire and the three Minister Knights accompanied her. They had been in her private quarters since Sarah gleefully led Amana from the room earlier. The queen sat in her bed, and the knights had followed her into the bedchamber.
“I came through the circle without aid,” Zykeiah answered from her spot near the fire.
“Yes, Zykeiah, but you should have seen Amana at the Circle,” Marion began, “she had totally lost control; she was so frightened of Orono. She is not you; she would not have taken the chance to flee the cages alone.”
Kalah remained silent as he watched Marion and Zykeiah search for an answer to Amana’s miraculous arrival to Veloris, which he cared nothing about. Why complain that another beautiful woman had arrived on Veloris?
“Maybe her desire to be free eliminated her initial fear and she escaped.”
Marion ignored Zykeiah as he paced, irritated, back and forth beside the queen’s bed. His face was wrinkled with concern and thought.
Zykeiah mistook his silence to be an insult and said hotly, “Just because she is a woman does not mean she could not come through the circle on her own!”
“I know that!” Marion spat back.
“Stop it!” Queen Zoë said. “I want this to end right this moment. This must be settled, now.”
The thin, fragile queen struggled to an upright position and pointed her long, elegant finger at Kalah.
“He is your family. She is your family. Veloris is your family and the caged, slaved souls of Solis are your responsibility. The time for which we have prepared is upon us. I can feel it in the wind. It whispers in the shadows of this castle and demands to be heard.”
Kalah turned away. He had heard his mother’s words before, and he was not in the mood for another lecture.
“Hear me, Kalah!” Queen Zoë fell into coughing fits and Zykeiah produced three green leaves of rosemary that the Queen quickly ate to soothe her coughs.
“You must come into the circle.” Queen Zoë extended her arms to the ceiling and chanted the ancient prophecies of the Antiqk scrolls.
Kalah clasped both hands over his ears and he fled from the queen’s quarters, producing a different series of fits and cries from her in the foreign tongue of the ancients.
Marion looked to Zykeiah and the two watched as salty tears fell from his mother’s eyes.
“Zykeiah, Marion, you must quench Kalah’s jealousy if we are to defeat Valek.”
“We will. I promise you, Mother,” Marion said gently.
“Do not be so quick!” Qu
een Zoë wheezed. “You must settle the trembling within.”
Marion released her hand and took his leave without further comment.
Zykeiah also turned to leave, but Queen Zoë was not finished with her demands that morning.
“You must also purify the aching desire that burns within you. You are knowledgeable of the scrolls; it will not fall favorably for you if you proceed on this course.”
“I am aware, my queen,” Zykeiah responded abruptly before turning yet again to leave.
“Zykeiah, she cannot love you. She is the chosen deliverer of the Pixlis Galaxy,” Queen Zoë warned.
“Can she not?” Zykeiah asked before leaving.
“By the heavens, the scrolls must hold true.” Queen Zoë snuggled against her pillows and gazed at the retreating clouds.
* * *
Amana and Sarah ate the afternoon meal of roasted henckens and fresh greens tossed with fruit juice, later than she expected. The rest of the castle went about its chores. The East Wing Hall had long since emptied the servants into the jubilant snow and chilly day.
Mechanically, Amana lifted the slick piece of henckens to her mouth and chewed in an unmotivated rhythm. Sarah could hear the watery voice of the Antiqk Oracle as it returned, refusing to be silenced. She attempted to enjoy her meal. She truly thought the act of eating was more enjoyable than any other act in which she had engaged since returning to flesh.
Again and again her eyes returned to Amana’s face and the absence of the familiar brightness that was once frequent behind her eyes.
“Is it wonderful?” Sarah asked as she thought of her initial breakfast with Marion. The hot egg that she picked up without regard or any clear indication of its temperature burned her. The stinging sensation of the burn seemed to sear itself into her memory.
“Yes,” Amana replied.
* * *
“I tell you, Zykeiah, the arrival of Amana is strange. Can you not sense it?” Marion said from the corner of his bed.
She noted the deep, dark circles underneath his eyes. His lips were white and cracked.
“Have you not eaten or slept today?” Zykeiah stood and went over to him.
“No,” Marion grunted. He wiped his naked head and temporarily closed his eyes. They opened within moments and he said, “What if Valek sent her here?”
Zykeiah snorted. “Impossible. How would he know about you and the Minister Knights?”
“How did you?” Marion asked.
“It was rumored through the oldest souls that there were a group of rescuers called the Minister Knights…” she started to explain.
“That is all?” he asked, knowing there was more.
“No, the rumors were that the Knights resided on Veloris.”
“Valek could have found that out. The rumors of the Knights could have reached him.” He lay back onto his bed.
The afternoon sun’s rays sprawled across his broad and hairless chest. Zykeiah could not take her eyes off it and she leaned over to rest her head against it, as she had done many times before.
He held his breath as she started to place gentle, soft kisses on the area just above his pants-tie and continued up until she reached his mouth.
“Zykeiah,” Marion whispered. “This is not right –”
She leaned in to kiss his lips. But he grabbed her shoulders and slowly pushed her backwards until she was seated upright.
“It used to be like this, Marion. Say you miss me…” she pleaded softly.
“No, I do not miss you, Zykeiah,” he said gently as he sat upright. He released her shoulders.
Zykeiah stood up and returned to her previous spot by the fireplace. “Then it is true, you love her.”
“Zykeiah, I-I…” Marion stammered. “I cannot explain –”
“It is of no important matter,” she said as she left his quarters leaving her floral scent behind.
* * *
Sarah and Amana sat on the hard stone floor of the foyer as the children played marbles and the mothers sat together in a semi-circle and knitted with various shades of yarn. They whispered and giggled amongst themselves, every once in a while casting a nervous glance towards the two new members of the castle.
Sarah thought that an afternoon relaxing with the children’s laughter and the warm soothing flames of the two open hearths might provoke some emotional response from Amana. Perhaps by watching the children play, hearing their laughter and seeing the women’s closeness would somehow help restore some of Amana’s humanity and spirit.
“Do you see the children play? Do you remember when mother had given us a small bag of marbles and you placed them directly into your mouth?”
“Yes,” Amana answered flatly.
Her eyes stared off into space. They were glassy and not directly focused on the robust environment around them.
Sarah leaned back against the wall and began to play with Amana’s hair as the afternoon crept slowly into night. Kalah had rounded the corner and Amana’s eyes lit up.
“Hello!” she said.
The loud greeting startled him as he had just placed his hand on the door handle to his quarters.
“Sarah, is that Marion?” she whispered anxiously.
“Hello, Amana.” Kalah walked over to her and squatted down to her eye level. “My name is Kalah.”
Amana blushed and giggled in a way that was short, nervous and shrill. But the excitement in her eyes had died.
Kalah continued to stare at her with growing interest and intensity. “Will you join me in the West Wing for evening meal?”
“Yes,” she answered quickly as she traced his brand with her finger.
“We will both be there, Kalah,” Sarah spoke up from beside her, “for evening meal.”
Kalah flinched at the sound of Sarah’s voice as if startled. He said, “Of course,” before standing and returning to his quarters.
As if the sun had set into night, Amana fell silent and resumed her former staring into nothing as Kalah left to return to his quarters.
“Kalah is a Minster Knight like Marion,” Sarah explained. “How did you know about Marion?”
“I have heard his name around,” Amana said flatly.
* * *
The children’s game of marbles had ceased and their mothers had taken them down to the East Wing Hall for evening meals. Sarah and Amana washed their hands in the water trough before returning to the Great Hall.
The Great Hall was significantly quieter than the previous evening, for there were no festive engagements arranged for Amana’s arrival.
Kalah waited outside the Great Hall entranceway and upon seeing Amana, a wide smile spread across his face. The smile seemed strange, for Kalah was almost always sullen. Offering his hand, he escorted her into the Great Hall, leaving Sarah to enter on her own.
Sighing heavily, she entered the Great Hall alone as Kalah escorted Amana to the favorite spot of the knights. The smell of the evening meal scented the air and Sarah’s stomach growled in anticipation.
Queen Zoë watched as Kalah walked the latest Veloris visitor to the table closest to her. The Great Hall fell eerily quiet as some of the servants received their first look at Sarah’s sister.
As he sat down next to her, the whispers and conversations resumed but not without glances and sneaked peeks at Amana.
Queen Zoë walked over to the table and smiled at Amana. “Welcome to Veloris, Amana.”
Sarah noticed Octiva hovering just behind the aging Queen; it was the first time she had seen the woman from the servants’ cottages since her midnight trek there.
With nothing further, Queen Zoë left the Great Hall with her personal servant, Octiva, trailing behind her, no doubt eating her meal in her quarters.
The watery voice within spoke again, vibrant and forceful as Sarah turned to the Great Hall entranceway. Marion walked in with Zykeiah.
When Marion’s eyes met hers, Sarah started trembling as if she had a serious case of the shudders.
She wasn’t t
he only one affected by his arrival.
She ceased listening to Kalah’s tales of bravery when Marion sat down across from her at the table. Her stare did not falter as she watched him smile and say, “Good evening, Amana. I am Marion.”
She shook uncontrollably as she stumbled to stand.
Sarah turned to look at her sister, whose shivering was quite visible. “Amana, are you –”
The watery voice screamed inside her, piercing the balance between a deep knowing and quiet delusion. She placed both hands to her ears as she collapsed to her knees beside Marion’s seat at the table.
Zykeiah raced over to her, “Sarah are you all right? What is the matter?”
The vision swirled in front of her as Sarah stared into open space. It obstructed her view of the surroundings inside the Great Hall. The vision showed Marion struggling and howling in agony in some dark cavern alone, dying. With each lash he received in the vision, she felt it.
“Marion!” Sarah sputtered as she reached out to him while attempting to fight off the vision and pain. She was blind; she could only see the horrific vision swirling in front of her. She had no control over her senses. The oracle was commanding her.
Marion stood slowly and leaned over to her. He listened to her screams with his back to Amana. He could see the pain etched across Sarah’s face. “Yes, Sarah. What is the matter?”
Amana removed the small turquoise sphere and lifted it toward Marion’s back.
Kalah yelled, “Amana, what are you doing?”
Marion, hearing Kalah’s cries, turned to see what the yelling was about and saw Amana bring the sphere to her eye level.
Sarah screamed, “Marion!” and waved blindly trying to reach for him, but his attention was split between Amana and her.
Hearing the heart wrenching pain of Sarah’s screams, Marion, whose interest was in Sarah and her well being, pulled his attention back to her, just as the pale bluish light of the sphere smashed into his back.
Sarah’s vision ended just in time to watch his soul extraction. There were thundering screams as his soul was snatched from his body, causing a terrifying lump to form in her throat. “NO!”
Modern Magic Page 200