The Chronicles of Heaven's War: Hell Above the Skies

by Ava D. Dohn

  * * *

  The cruiser Brosh nestled into the fleet near the Sophia and locked into its same geosynchronous orbit. Ishtar had finally been called down from roster duty and although she was supposed to be readying to depart the Brosh, the girl was crumpled over a duffel bag, fast asleep. Orders filtered down to the crew to let her rest, thanking them for their assistance.

  “Away the boat!” Treston called through the speaking tube to the tug’s pilot. Although he had been diligent with his lessons on electronics and communication systems, the colonel found his ability to understand the technology of this strange, modern world temporarily beyond his reach. He could grasp mechanical things like metal speaking tubes, easily remembering such terminology, and would often refer to such devices when the proper term occasioned to abandon him.

  “Aye, Colonel!” came the pilot’s reply on the overhead. The pilot smiled to himself. He mused about the colonel’s frustration at all the new-fangled words he was supposed to know. How little the man understood about this place and just how well he really fit in. So many strange words and dialects existed among the children of this realm, even they often became confused over terminology.

  It took well over an hour for the tug to carefully maneuver the constant stream of traffic as it closed the thirty-some leagues separating it from the Sophia. Then it waited in the queue for another hour until it managed to obtain a quay for its four barges. The tug pilot watched while a set of double-paneled doors snapped open in the side of the carrier, eventually spreading wide enough to permit all the barges to be pushed inside the one hangar.

  The tug released its tethers when the last of the barges cleared the doors. It then backed away to a safe distance. “S-249 rigger tug clear. Standing down on delivery. It’s all yours, CON. You’ve got the package.”

  “We read you, S-249er. CON has the package.” The communicator on the tug went silent. “Closing bay eight doors. Stand clear all ships.” The tug acknowledged and darted off to other duties.

  Inside the hangar, large machines locked onto the still weightless barges and moved them to various securing pens. In only moments, the gravitational systems were active and air pressure was up. The time it took to unload a packed barge was reduced considerably when it could be done in a holding bay instead of through the barge’s portal.

  Few Navy ships could accommodate transport vessels as large as 5,000 dry tonnes except those with exterior docking stations. Most newer carriers could, but not to the capacity of Sophia and her three sister ships: the R’oxanah, PorechoTherion, and the still unfinished CherutNassana.

  These ‘flying cities’, as some called them, were to this Navy as the ship o’line was to the last of the great sailing navies in the Second Realm.

  With the growing influence of the children from that realm, such romantic terms gradually grew in popularity, eventually supplanting many of the original words used to describe various Navy warships. Those flowery definitions are now found in all but official histories written today. For that reason, I have chosen to sprinkle them around in the text of this very unofficial documentary of the wars.

  Treston and Alynnou were busy checking off the manifest of goods as they were being unloaded from a barge when Major GefenChanan approached. He extended his hand in salutation, grinning from ear to ear. “Well, hello, Colonel Treston. Did you and your girl…” He pretended to clear his throat. “...Captain Ishtar, have a pleasant journey?” Before Treston could answer, the major leaned close to Alynnou, hiding the side of his mouth as though telling her a secret, loudly whispering, “I’ve heard a lot of stories about the two of ‘em tramping all over the desert, all alone, you know. Said it was basic training and all that...”

  Alynnou made a sour face while looking accusatively at Treston. “No need to tell me, Major. I was there. Had to tend to their needs and mend them up after they got all done playing. Never did ask them what they were really doing. Didn’t dare...”

  Treston’s face reddened as he defended himself. “I…we were strictly business, I assure you!” The others just stared, a look of disbelief showing on their faces. “No! No! I’m serious…” Flustered, he huffed, “I’m a professional soldier! It’s my duty to do the best I can.” They smirked.

  Treston fussed. “I mean it’s my duty to do my best to train and prepare our future officers for their coming responsibilities.”

  Alynnou held up a hand and pointed toward her scar. “Yes, and if you don’t get it right away, he’ll take your head off!”

  Treston was stopped-up speechless. Alynnou had been innocent in her statement, carrying the mirth of the moment, but Treston stung inside. Each day he found his feelings growing for his lieutenant and each time he looked at her injury, the more he berated himself for being so violent with her.

  Major Gefen allowed Treston little time to feel remorse. Still grinning, he again extended his hand. “Welcome aboard, Colonel Treston. We’ve been anticipating your arrival. I have been requested to show you and the lieutenant here to your room. Dinner in the officers’ mess will be at seven, followed by a briefing session at eight-twenty.”

  Treston choked out the question, “Room?! Did you say room...for the lieutenant and me?”

  Major Gefen frowned. “I’m sorry, Colonel, but we are a little cramped right now. With the army making the Sophia its temporary headquarters, we’ve had to double up.” Then he reassured Treston. “Don’t worry, Sir. The cabin has a rather large bed…for a cabin, I mean. There should be plenty of room for two to sleep in it at once.”

  Treston began to put up a fuss, attempting to offer reasons why such an arrangement was not possible. In surprise, Alynnou asked, “What’s wrong, Colonel Treston? I don’t snore.” She watched panic growing on his face. Her eyebrows rose. “Don’t worry, Sir, I won’t jump you in your sleep. I’ll even keep a gown on, if my appearance bothers you.”

  “I…I…we…can’t…” Treston fumbled for words. Finally, he blurted out, “Major, do you have extra space in your cabin?”

  Gefen shook his head. “Sorry, Sir, but my duty officer is bunked there. Let me reassure you, that cabin is already too small for her and me.”

  Treston relaxed and smiled. “Then why don’t you have your duty officer and my lieutenant bunk together and I can share your room?”

  Surprised, Major Gefen exclaimed, “Why that just wouldn’t do, Sir! People talk, you know. In this day and age, we have to be careful of our reputations!”

  Lieutenant Alynnou broke in, a cloud growing on her face. “Sir, if my company bothers you so, then I will gladly use the floor, or maybe there’s a lounge I can find.”

  Treston nearly shouted in desperation, waving his hands to stop her. “No! No! That’s not necessary at all! I…we… it can be worked out, Lieutenant. Maybe you should take the bed and I’ll find a lounge somewhere. I’ll…”

  Treston could see the hurt on Alynnou’s face, but couldn’t understand the reason. His mind comprehended the culture of these people, but his heart still was chained to his days of long ago. He feared his growing desire and passion for his lieutenant, not wanting to damage their relationship.

  Alynnou, though, could only see rejection. How ugly she looked to him, with the ghastly scar and all - or maybe it was her figure. He had been enamored with Ishtar, who was quite bosomy. Alynnou could not compete with a girl shaped like that.

  “Hello, my sweet one!” A charming voice echoed from across the holding-bay. Everyone turned to see who was approaching.

  Sirion came running up to Treston, arms spread. She almost leaped into his arms, hugging him tight and planting one giant kiss on his lips. She purred, “It’s been so many days since we have shared our dreams. I do hope you will have the time to reacquaint yourself with me while you’re here.”

  Oh, for the Reaper of Death! He never arrives when you need him most!

  Treston wished for death at that moment,
or at least a deep, deep hole to crawl into. His faced flushed red as sweat beaded on his forehead. He would be the first to admit that he was used to romancing the ladies - at least in the old days, but these people were too much!

  Treston stuttered his greetings, feeling very conspicuous and embarrassed. He wasn’t yet comfortable with such openness when it came to relationships. Certainly, these people must be viewing him as a womanizer or even worse! He began to attempt an explanation.

  Sirion misunderstood what he intended. She squeezed his arm. “Don’t be so concerned, Love. I won’t demand all your time.” shaking her head, “Eutychus arrived the other day. He's been willing to keep me company.” Then looking at Alynnou and seeing the expression on her face, she added, “You’ll have lots of time to spend with the lieutenant. Why, if you’re real busy, we don’t even need to spend a night together...just an hour or so.” She giggled, “It’ll be like old times again.”

  Alynnou broke in, “He doesn’t want to spend the night with me. I’m ugly in his eyes.” She pointed at her scar. “Or maybe my breasts do not appeal to him.”

  Treston cried, reaching out and clutching Alynnou’s arm. “You’re beautiful! The most beautiful woman I know! And your br…your br…” He flustered all up again.

  “Then why won’t you share your bed with me?!” Alynnou demanded, hurt showing on her face.

  “I…we…well…you see…you and I…” Treston was completely lost.

  Sirion took hold of Alynnou’s arm. “What he’s trying to say is he cares enough about you that he’s afraid of ruining the relationship if he becomes impassioned over you. He thinks if he acts like a man and desires your flesh, you’ll become angry or hurt, feeling he only wants to satisfy his personal desires.”

  Alynnou looked at Treston, not understanding, then replied, “I want him act like a man - not just any man, but the man I am finding such strange feelings for. There is little that would please me more than to have him express his passionate emotions for me.”

  The frown returned to Alynnou’s face. “I have watched how he looks at that girl. He watches her breasts bounce as she skips about. I see the desire on his face. His eyes don’t watch my breasts when I walk, naked, in my off-duty hours. He turns away, and says nothing. Even when I have come close, so he can smell the scent of my desire, he says not a word other than to ask of my well-being.”

  Sirion smiled. “My dear Lieutenant Alynnou, let me explain. The men of the Second Realm are a very peculiar lot. If they really care for a woman, they appear to ignore her, feeling that she will despise their uninvited attention. Truth be said, the good colonel here is by far one of the most timid of those men-creatures I’ve known. I spent months convincing him to let me share my dreams with him and, after we did, he feared I would hate him.”

  Treston was shocked, exclaiming, “What…?”

  Sirion cut him off. “If the good colonel has declined to look at your nakedness, then he is showing you great honor, for a man from the realms below does that out of respect for the woman’s privacy, it being their custom to cover themselves unless they are harlots or loose women. A decent woman wouldn’t flaunt her naked body in front of a man unless he was one with her.”

  “But I want him to be one with me” Alynnou confessed, “...the same as he is one with you, for I see he has made you happy. I want him to look at me the same as he does that girl.”

  Sirion slowly shook her head. “You don’t understand. The girl and Colonel Treston are bonded together at the heart. Lowenah has made them one in spirit. I have heard stories and desire to share my dreams with him to see if they are so. I have also been told that the girl belongs to no man until Shiloh comes. Then she will become a new creation. That’s what I’ve been told.”

  Alynnou was curious. “I feel a pain in my heart such as I have never before encountered. When I think of the Colonel, my heart aches within me. Never have I suffered this way, although countless are the men I have made one with me. This man is different. I have become angry when I watch him with Ishtar.”

  “It’s called ‘love’...” Surprised, Sirion and the others stared at Treston, waiting to hear more.

  He finally continued, “Captain Ishtar and I journeyed back to the world of our birth. It was done, I believe, to help prepare Ishtar for future days. Yehowah –Lowenah - gave to us both wonderful gifts.” Treston pulled a pendant fastened to a gold chain from under his shirt. “This was the wedding gift I gave to my wife. After she died of the sickness, I carried it next to my heart for the rest of my life. It was buried in my grave after my death these two thousand years ago.”

  Taking hold of the chain, he pulled it over his head. “I loved my wife in a way I have never loved any other woman…until today.” He paused then sighed. “Now I understand.”

  Everyone was still, waiting on Treston. “When Ishtar and I returned from the realms below, Lowenah gifted us with treasures carried over from there to here. Most precious are these, for as I understand, never before has Lowenah done such a thing, to bring what is from one realm into the other. But it was not just these treasures alone that Lowenah gave us, for she spoke of things that were, and that are, and of things yet to come. She spoke to me words strange to my ears that only now do I begin to understand.”

  “Lowenah asked me if I would be willing to discover the hearts of her children under my command. That I felt I had accomplished - at least at the time. I have attempted to do what she asked. But there were other words I heard that had no meaning to me…that is, until now. Let me please reveal to you what she said. I shall try to be concise and then you tell me if I have come to gain understanding of them.”

  He shared Lowenah’s statements. “‘I am giving to you the child you have requested. She is older than you by many lifetimes of men and her wisdom is greater than yours. You hold not just her life in your hands. Her heart is gathered there as well, for she will fall in love with the man commanding her. Will you allow her into your soul? Will you let her see into your secret dreams? Will you give her the love that all my daughters need?’”

  “Now, for my part, I believed these words to be little more than allegory. After much meditation, I concluded it to mean the world of your kind, the term ‘woman’ symbolizing you and your ways. With this understanding, I attempted to give myself over to learning more about your people and your culture. Alas, I believe this line of reasoning has proved itself false to me. My world is a small one and I am a little man.”

  He reached out and took Alynnou’s hand. “I saw good qualities in you the day I beat you so. Maybe I fought you harder because I feared your loss on the field if you weren’t prepared for the contest. Or was it because, like a little boy with his first crush, I wanted you to remember me, even if it caused you grief and pain?”

  Treston shrugged. “I asked the field marshal for you to assist me in my duties, saying in my heart, ‘she has such good officer potential, I can trust in her abilities’. And then I departed for the Second Realm with Ishtar. After my return, I was so absorbed in helping the girl, knowing how little time she had to learn her responsibilities and…probably because of my infatuation with her…I ignored you.”

  Looking into Alynnou’s eyes, Treston expressed his growing feelings. “Often times, when we were together, I caught myself starting to call you ‘Doronea’. That was my wife’s name. It means ‘the giver of good things’.” He shook his head. “I hadn’t realized just how deep my love for her was.”

  Alynnou let go Treston’s hand and touched his arm.

  Treston smiled, continuing, “I guess I became afraid and refused to consider Lowenah’s words in any other way. My life has been one of loss and death. For thirty years, I served under the military dictatorship of my country. A brother, uncle, and two cousins I watched die beside me. My sister was murdered by her own husband, her beaten body thrown to the dogs outside the wall of her city. My sword has quench
ed its thirst with the blood of over seventy men, women and children. I have raped, tortured, and murdered my way across the empire of old. I am a man fit for nothing!”

  “My desire has been to redeem myself in some small way. I wanted to focus my entire attention on accomplishing it through bringing our enemy to his finish. How could love and affection for any woman fulfill my needed destiny? Love would interfere with my goal: to rid my soul of its guilt over the evil of my wanton murder by the virtuous murder of our enemy. Ishtar was safe for my eyes to gaze upon because she was untouchable, out of reach, you might say.”

  Sirion piped in. “Then what of me? I found you more than willing to adventure with me in my sheets of silk and satin. Was it because you found me untouchable or did you have no love for me?”

  Treston apologized. “Oh, Sirion, how wonderful are your kisses, and to rest in your bosom a delight!” He gave a cautious glance toward Alynnou. She was taking no offense, just waiting to hear his reply. “You were my mentor, the teacher who guided me through this strange land when first I arrived. I love you with all my heart, my soul being torn apart when you were stolen away from me…from us. We have made an unshakable covenant and my desire has been to share the blood grape with you one day.”

  He again looked at Alynnou, wondering what was going on in her mind, he singing sweet nothings to another woman. Seeing no change in her disposition, he continued. “Sirion, you have given me refreshment, but…but you are safe. I do not lead you into battle where I may have to dictate your life or death. You also do not demand more of me than I wish to give. We are ‘friends of the covenant’, such as by the custom of my day, a marriage of sorts. Still I feel no chains binding me nor do I have any binding you, other say than our promise of protective care and devotion.”

  “But this woman is dangerous and I fear her.” Treston pointed at Alynnou. A look of shock crossed her face. He addressed her, “Do you think I haven’t felt your love, seen the way you linger in my presence for no reason at all? My entire body trembles when I see you wander the camp in your birthing apparel. I have not dared think about you for fear I might reach out and touch you and not be able to stop touching you.”

  Lowenah’s words came to his mind. “As your mother spoke to me, so I have feared the question, ‘will you allow her into your soul?’ Yet, from day to day… no...from hour to hour, I find my heart being drawn into yours. And now I don’t know what to do, for I find myself gazing into forgotten feelings, not believing I could love this deeply again. Also I fear, for should I allow my heart to fall in love with this woman, will I be able to command her death should the need call for it, or will my selfishness take over?”

  Alynnou’s voice was little more than a whisper. “Strange the music plays upon a heart so filled with wonder. The days of my virginity were but twelve years and two months, but I feel that my heart has yet to have a man. When I look at you, I find my childhood of innocence returned, and my soul seeks fulfillment for want of your love.”

  She then addressed Treston’s fears of her death in battle. “Should the arrow cleave my soul, is it not but a fleeting moment before we shall be together again, for I would sleep in pleasant dreamlessness, satisfied of a returning. But each hour I wait upon your love is an eternity for my heart. It weighs heavy upon me, making me sick with unfulfilled desire. No, Colonel Treston, death is not the ultimate price to pay. It is the waiting to live that costs the most, waiting to find what lies beyond your dreams.”

  Treston expressed his concerns. “I have journeyed the dark road of death and do not fear it for myself. I fear living…living from day to day, waiting for your return. If you love someone, the hours together are as the life of the butterfly, but the time apart is like the hopeless nights of winter while one waits upon the daybreak of spring.”

  Alynnou countered. “Still, the spring comes. You have lived with loss, and to you, many years it has been. But listen, please, to me and hear what I speak.”

  “The day of our torment, the day the souls of Lowenah’s daughters died in fire and anguish, has been over seventy of your lifetimes. Our husbandly owner, the keeper of our secrets, our souls and our hearts, abandoned us to the cold of life’s winter. Even now, he seeks our humiliation by revealing to all what we shared with him in private.”

  A tear ran down Alynnou’s cheek. “We have been stripped naked in the public square, our private parts exposed for the entertainment of others. Our rape has been made complete by the actions taken against the weaker of our kind by the brutish monsters who were once our lovers.” She looked at Sirion. “Do you not realize that when my sister’s temple was desecrated by the men and beasts in Asotos’ camp, a part of my soul died inside me?”

  She waved Treston silent. “It was promised to us by our mother that one day the men of your world would come to us, the daughters of the darkness, and give back to us what was stolen. It was said that we would become like young maidens again and, in the arms of those men, we would be reborn, forgetting the evil past. I and my sisters have longed for that day, desperately holding onto the hope promised. Many of my sisters have departed for the Field of the Minds attempting to hurry that time.”

  The woman made confession of secrets untold. “For many long days, I did nothing but weep over my lost virginity, waiting for the promise of my rebirth. I allowed my sisters to carry the burden of sacrifice to bring it to fruition. Their blood, tears, and souls I allowed to be poured out on the field of battle for me, while I sat alone, selfishly crying over my loss. Their torn and mangled bodies I refused to look upon, forcing others to prepare them for the Silent Tombs. I finally ran away and hid myself in the northern mountains, seeking solace in my self-pity.”

  “And then, one day, news reached my ears concerning the torture of Sirion at the hands of my former lover. I was also told about our brave young sister, Darla, the youngest of all womankind, and how she faced the Dragon at the Prisoner Exchange. I became ashamed in my heart and a loathing I felt for my own soul. I began to regret my life, wishing instead for the blade’s fury splitting me asunder, as it had already done to so many of my sisters.”

  Treston attempted to offer reassuring words. In desperation, Alynnou silenced him. “Please, my Lord, allow the chaff to speak before it is swept from the threshing floor...”

  “In my guilt, I asked myself, ‘Who am I but a tiny speck of a flea, nourishing my thirst from the richness of a fattened dog, thinking all along that I deserve to be fed because I exist?’ So I said to myself, ‘I shall help buy for others what my heart has for so long craved’. At that I offered my soul up to the gods of war, almost hoping to be placed in the front lines, facing a charging enemy.”

  She shook her head. “But no! They said to me, ‘An officer is your destiny. You shall learn how to command and give orders and send others to their deaths.’ I said to myself, ‘Oh, for my wickedness!’ I believed the Cherubs were repaying me for my dereliction of responsibility. Here I was, a child born in the First Age when those Magistrates of Justice would still occasion their presence upon Lowenah’s children. And I had been more than blessed with an unduly amount of their attention. ‘How they must hate me now.’ I thought.”

  “I cried out to my mother for forgiveness but felt no reply, only a soothing warmth that flowed like a river down my neck and into my back and heart. So I concluded that I was being given a chance to redeem myself by becoming valiant in battle. I would lead my people to glory, hoping in my heart to be killed while doing it. My death would absolve me of my sins and, if I gained a new life, I could start afresh. With renewed hope, I applied myself to the task assigned.”

  Alynnou took Treston’s hand. “And then, that day we were sparring in the desert, I saw you. I knew at once you were a man not of this world. You were brutish and proud, like the sons of the Abyss. But I saw kindness in your eyes - a love for others and good things, like our mother. And then you challenged me to a contest.
”

  She leaned close, honesty showing in her eyes. “I was better than you, still am, for my skill is with the baton, and with the staff I have driven the lion away from my kill. My speed with it remains uncontested for, in the games, I have mastered all of Lowenah’s creatures with my cunning blows.”

  Treston began to fuss, wondering, if that were the case, why she let him win.

  Alynnou placed two fingers on his lips. “Shush. I will explain. I didn’t let you win. I did try to defeat you, but couldn’t. My mind was in such a tizzy over you. I had heard stories of men having already arrived from the Realms Below, but you were the first one I saw. As we fought for the ridge, my heart raced with hopeful desires. In my distraction, I let down my guard for just an instant. I remember little until I heard you call for water to be brought me.” She shyly lowered her head. “It was at the moment I felt a strange burning start in my heart.”

  Alynnou quickly added, “You did teach me a good lesson, one I remember well. In combat, I must not allow my mind to drift. I must remain alert, constantly searching for my enemy’s weakness.” She frowned. “When I was called to be at your side, I believed Mother had forgiven me my wickedness. Not waiting to learn your ways, I pursued your company, anxiously wishing to gain for myself the promise.”

  A gloominess of foreboding filled her face as she let go Treston’s hand, turning away. “The words our mother spoke to you must apply to another one yet to come. For only in selfishness have I acted, wishing to have my heart satisfied above my sisters. I am to pay the price of such wantonness, for now, not only do I see your righteous indignation chasing me away, but my heart burns with a fire I cannot understand and there will be no relief from my suffering it until the day of Shiloh, when he makes all things new.”

  Treston was shocked. He reached for Alynnou, but Sirion stopped him. Holding her hand out, she motioned him to wait. She then grasped Alynnou’s arm and peered up into the woman’s tear-filled eyes. “Sister, stop! Who have you harmed other than yourself? Your sin is not against me or our other sisters.”

  Sirion explained, “I am a child of this age, knowing little more than treachery and death. Still, I understand the tribulation of the heart with love lost. I, too, shared my dreams with the Serpent…and he stole from me my Coming of age. And I, too, dreamed of a rebirth through the love of this man.” She nodded her head toward Treston.

  Sirion slowly shook her head in sadness. “His love satisfied my soul and I treasure my time with him. Even now, I so much want his intimate company. But he has not delivered my heart from the depths of my pain. He cannot…at least, not at this time.”

  Surprised, Alynnou asked, “Have our mother’s words to us been mere riddles - a confection of sweet tales designed to salve our hearts until they heal on their own?” She was confused, so confused. “Is it my own sinning against my soul that has brought about this fire in my chest? I ache from morning to morning, and the ache only increases the more I am near this man. Is this the price I pay for my own wickedness?”

  Sirion smiled. “No, no, my dear sister. Please permit your servant girl time to explain.” she scolded, “And don’t interrupt!”

  Alynnou nodded.

  “Good!” Sirion grinned. “First, allow me to tell you, my time with the colonel as his mentor was two years less thirty-days. He and I shared many secrets, many of which belong only to us. I have not shared a bed with him since my suffering at the hands of Godenn and Legion, and this I want to change. Still, it is not to mend my heart I seek his company, for this he could not do before and cannot do now.”

  “Just so you know, my torture and abuse at the hands of Asotos and his henchmen tore apart my body but not my heart. Like you, that was done when he assaulted our sister, Mihai. Like you, I died that day. But unlike you, I carried the guilt of my sister’s attack long after the Rebellion started for, you see, I had shared the very bed of Asotos the night before he murdered the heart of our sister. I saw the darkness within his mind and refused to question it, seeking for myself the rapturous ecstasy he could give a woman.”

  “My confessions to Lowenah did little to console my guilt, other than to inform me that others of my sisters and Lowenah, herself, felt responsible for Mihai’s ordeal. When offered the privilege of mentoring one of the sons from Below, I believed the same as you, that he would cure my heart. But I discovered just how little I understood the meaning of our mother’s promise.”

  Sirion bent her head to the side in thought, wanting to use just the right words. “When I shared my sweet dreams with Treston, I enjoyed the ecstasy of sensual romance. Indeed, he tried so hard to make me happy. Still, he could not satisfy my soul. And it is good that he couldn’t, because I could not have returned to him what he would have needed.” Taking a finger and poking Alynnou on the chest, Sirion exclaimed, “But you can!”

  “What?! How!?” Alynnou cried.

  Sirion put her fingers to Alynnou’s mouth and waited for the woman to calm down. “In our dreams together, I saw a man troubled and forlorn over a woman he lost long ago. His own regrets over her death, and his normal feelings of guilt, thinking how poorly he had treated her while she lived, prevented him from opening his heart…something I could feel, but not understand…that is until this very hour.”

  “You see, by our definition, the colonel here has given his love to me. At least that’s what all the children of this realm would say. And they would be correct in saying so. I, too, have given my complete love to him…all I have to give. But Mother saw in the children of the Lower Realms a depth of emotion that far exceeds any that you and I have experienced - that is, until now. I believe it is why our king keeps the man, Paul, so close to her, for she has experienced that depth of emotion from him.”

  She softly stroked Alynnou’s arm. “Now, my dear, allow me still more. I’m almost finished. I believe you have been made a beacon of hope for your sisters and the words Treston said our mother uttered do apply to you. For I see a heart burning with a new feeling, a passion that is not yet possessed by the others. Mother was not telling us that we would be returned to our former selves. She was hinting at us attaining a new level of ecstasy, one far beyond our former selves.”

  Sirion looked into Alynnou’s eyes with longing. “You, my fortunate one, have fallen in love. Already, your have become one with this man in spirit, and soon, I do know for a fact, shall become one with him in the flesh.”

  Treston allowed no more time for either woman to speak. He blurted out to Alynnou, “What she says is true! Her words have been more precise and definitely more poetic than I could manage, but they are the same as I have said to you, here on this very spot.”

  He excitedly added, “Lowenah said more to me the day of our returning. She said that I must learn to give gifts that are fitting the needs of my sisters.” With that, Treston took the golden pendant and slipped its chain over Alynnou’s head. “Only to a woman I loved as much as my wife, or possibly more, could I give this gift for I do love you very much.”

  Alynnou could not help herself. She began to blubber, falling upon Treston’s neck, her tears running in streams onto his shirt. In a moment or two, she had regained her composure and stood up straight. Still, she couldn’t speak a word, only offer a shaky smile.

  Then looking at Sirion, a sad frown grew on Alynnou’s face. “Not only have I stolen your dream of the heart, I have trampled on your desire to be with the colonel, thinking only of myself.”

  Sirion gave a toothy smile. “That you have not done. For you see, Treston has already made a covenant with me and my requests he cannot reject.” She walked over and took Treston’s arm. “This night I shall take for my reward the man I am holding. The days are short and tomorrow I have to leave on another sortie. Should the arrow find me then, Treston will not carry the burden of neglect for me.”

  She then took Alynnou, tenderly gripping her arms. “Tonight, prepare yourself for
your new beginning and celebrate the following nights with this man to the full, until your Coming of age has been renewed. My soul and yours are one, are they not? We are sisters of the blood or soon will be.”

  The women tenderly embraced and then each one did the same with Treston. They began to carry on some small talk.

  After waiting patiently for such a long time, Major Gefen politely intruded. “Well, can I take it that we have the cabin issue settled?”

  The others confirmed that it was so.

  “Very well, then!” He smiled and tipped his head. “Allow me to show you to your room.”

  Merrily chattering away, the tiny group happily followed the major. Just as they slipped into the elevator, the major raised his hand, extending his finger. “Remember, dinner is served promptly at nineteen hundred hours.”