Red World Trilogy

by V. A. Jeffrey

  "Soul-memory?"

  "Yes. The soul of that place still exists even though it is long gone. It was preserved. I only saw a foregleam of what is to come and my power to wield the scepter is limited. But he guards its secrets."

  "I assume no one else may wield it?"

  "If anyone else touches it they will die. Only those appointed may touch it. I have been appointed, and another man that I must find in Jhis."

  "What did you see there?"

  "I have been commanded by God not to say a word of what I saw. It is etched in my memory but it was glorious, Kela. The things, the Red Kings and what they accomplished. We will see it rise again."

  "I ask for I am old, Anet. I shall not live long enough to see this restoration. Can you not tell me one thing?"

  "Not even one thing, unless I be struck down. He commanded so. Besides, how do you know you will not see it? It is very close, Kela. I can say that. Very close." Kela sighed and was silent for a time. Then:

  "It is strange. Long ago, fire was used to engine the world, even the heavens itself. It was used from the Holy Mountain to destroy Jhis. The fire prophecy of the king. Later, we turned it into a song."

  "I would hear it again if you would sing the song." Said Anet. Kela smiled broadly.

  Kela called to the others making a ululating sound and they knew that she would relate a grand story for she was one of the best story-tellers and singing voices in the desert.

  "Listen oh people of the high desert. A tale of fire and fury burning red and blood! The blood of the desert are who?"

  "We!"

  "The salt of the desert are who?"

  "We!"

  "When the Holy Mountain was full of fire it exploded and its fires ran down like blood; it covered the land and its darkness and lit it with fire! Who is the strong one of Hybron? Where is he?"

  "The king!"

  "Has he descended down the mountains like the wind in the storm?"

  "Yes!"

  "Where is our strong one of Hybron with his sword of iron, red with flame? He will rise up like the leaping rams of the craggy rock-faces and like the ibex of the field. Will he come?"

  "Yes!"

  "Will he come?"

  "Yes!"

  "Out of the east he will come, just like winds and the divine rains and he will quench his people in the fires and suckle them and give them sustenance. But for his enemies, beware, for out of the north he will come roaring like a lion upon them, like the hot desert wind that scorches from the west he will come in upon them, like the holy fire from the Mountain and for them there shall be no escape!" Kela left off singing.

  In the distance a caravan was coming. Anet hid the scepter carefully in her tent among her blankets.

  "Who is it this time? Who are all these people traveling around such dangerous times?" Asked Anet.

  "I do not know." A few men from this caravan approached and hailed them.

  "We look for water. Is there water near here?" Asked one of the men. These men did not look like tribesmen.

  "There are lakes near Rhe. We are making our way there tonight, soon." Said Khaleb.

  "Tonight?"

  "We travel at night, my friend. We have our reasons but come and enjoin us."

  "I thank you. We would encamp here together with you."

  "Where are you headed and where do you come from?"

  "We come from Galieh. We are headed to Egium."

  "Egium?" The shaikh asked. The man nodded. Suddenly a veiled woman came forward out from behind the leaders of the second caravan.

  "The woman there, I know her." She said.

  "Who?"

  "That one, there. I would see her." Said the woman.

  "Anet!" Called Khaleb.

  Anet came out of her tent, hearing her name called from the old shaikh and a woman's voice that she did not recognize. She watched as the woman approached. She was dressed in purple with a woman's turban and a veil over it, customary of women in the north. Anet could hear the tinkling of step chains around the woman's legs and many glistening bangles of gold around her arms and she wore a ring of silver and jade. The woman lifted her veils and a slow realization came over her. Anet was overcome with emotion.

  "Kaisha!" She did not know if she could bear any more joy. The women embraced long and kissed each other. Anet brought her into her tent.

  "Come, come and I shall serve you tea! It has been an age, my sister. What has happened? I see you have done well for yourself."

  "I have. By fits and starts. I was married but I am now a widow." Said Kaisha. Anet was surprised.

  "I had no idea you had gotten married. When?"

  "A few years ago."

  "Oh no. And he passed way?" Anet asked. Kaisha nodded. "I am so sorry, Kaisha."

  "The pestilence in the land took their toll, especially in Galieh. My husband, he was a nobleman and he did business in iron, as you can see." Kaisha pointed to her many jewels. "He had always fought against a weak constitution. Right after we first married he came down with the bloody flux," some of the men in the camp made a warding sign at hearing this, "and he recovered, but he was not the same as he was. And then he caught it again and died."

  "I am so sorry for your loss."

  "Well, Anet, what I found was that perhaps that was not my path. You know how in love I was with marrying a great lord? I married my great lord and lost him, even before he died. But I have gained my freedom again and now I want to see the world."

  "I do not understand." Said Anet. "What do you mean when you say you lost him?"

  "It was not a happy marriage." She said simply. Anet's face fell at hearing this but she waved it away with her hand.

  "That is all in the past. Let us not dwell there, my sister. I have heard of the things you were doing in the land. The burning of the temple in Galieh was so shocking! You must tell me how it happened. I knew it was you! It awakened something in me, Anet! What have you done since we last saw each other? You must tell me before we part!"

  "Gladly!"

  They spoke at length. Anet commanded her caravan not to leave until the next evening while they talked long into the night and both caravans shared food and tea amongst each other. The next evening Kaisha's caravan followed them to Rhe to find more water.

  "I must get back to the citadel one day. It has been so long since I have seen my sisters. I am glad Mother Berenice and Helga are still there."

  "Why Egium, Kaisha?" Anet pressed. "You never really answered me. Egium, of all places? Why?" Kaisha was quiet for a few moments, as if gathering her thoughts.

  "Several reasons," she finally said. "I do not know why but I feel drawn there for reasons I am not sure about. I must go there. I feel that I will find my destiny there. Also, I want to see the world. I have not seen much outside of Gamina and Galieh, Anet. I am too provincial. I want to see more and Egium is a worldly city. My husband wanted to take me there as well. Besides, I fear what is happening in Hybron, Anet. Of late, I have had terrible dreams of destruction. Stormy dreams. So many people I knew in Galieh have them but dismiss them as hysteria or delirium from the plague or the flux. Or tainted water. Then there is pestilence and the coming war. I have heard, lastly, from a caravan passing us in the mountains that all caravans carrying mainly foodstuffs are trickling to a halt in Hybron, especially in Jhis. And I have bad memories in Galieh. I want to see something different. Something new. If that makes any sense." She said. Anet smiled.

  "I remember feeling the same way when I was young. The Red Path has led me to many places."

  "I remember when we were girls that you always wanted to explore and have adventures. I imagine you have had many adventures." She said. Anet laughed.

  "Indeed. I have a special commission now. You will see what I mean in a little while."

  When night fell the caravans became as one with Anet's in front. Anet rode upon her great beast and held the scepter aloft and it burned bright like a star to everyone's wonder. They knew they had the light of Airend-Ur upon th
em and the procession made their way carefully to the south. When they reached Rhe it was filled with working miners, and a garrison had been installed there. The lakes, because of the mining, had been fouled. Anet took the scepter and touched the waters of one of the lakes and the waters became pure and they filled all their waterskins, fed their animals and drank until satisfied and then proceeded on. All those who saw them did not molest them. Anet's beast roared fiercely, the sound ringing through the air. The warriors and miners were frightened of the sign of the star and they stayed away. Some saw the sign and took note. The next night they separated. After kissing her and giving Anet a gift of an ebony and gold ring Kaisha took her caravan farther north toward the mountains where eventually they would go west to Egium.

  For six more days they traveled, the light of the scepter helping their camels to avoid shallow sinks and to carefully navigate the northern plains between the two lands, which were littered with sharp rock. Soon the eerie eternal fires could be seen. As they came near to the gate of Jhis she called out with a commanding voice: "Here I am with the sign of the Starry Scepter, the last sign of salvation. Leave the city or turn back to the First Pillar and you will not suffer destruction. Your souls will be given to you as a spoil. This is the last sign of salvation!"

  Jhis's answer was a volley of fiery arrows from the archers on the wall. The arrows did not touch the caravan but were burned up in the bright light of the scepter and it became momentarily brighter. Many saw the scepter as she passed through the land. Those at the gate who saw it told those in the city and so it got around and many people were in great fear of what it meant while others knew it to be a sign to leave, the last sign before the siege. The people of the land outside the city walls saw it as well. The Karig and the Ostrites traveling with her rejoiced and sang. The caravan finally reached the southern end of the city wall and Anet said to halt the procession.

  "Why do we stop here?" Asked Khaleb.

  "The man who must have the scepter is here."

  "But how will you get it to him?"

  "That rock mass there, the small one jutting out of the dirt and sand. There I shall fold air and time and go in from there." She said. "Wait here until I come back." They did not know what she meant.

  "Fold air and time?" One of them murmured.

  "Rhaja, please give me a blanket." She said. He fetched one for her. She folded it under her arm and went over to the rock and tapped it lightly with the scepter and something like the gossamer appearance of wings of light seemed to emanate from her back and then she disappeared.

  Once behind the gate she felt as if she were encased in something like water and mists; all was blurry. Her movement was slow, as if she were walking underwater. The scepter she had wrapped in the blanket. She felt and looked like an apparition floating through the streets, unseen to all but the animals. She could see their shining eyes in the night, hiding in dark corners and alleys. There was a soft line of light that served to guide her to the house. When she arrived she reached out her hand and knocked. She experienced the tension and emotions in the city like waves of strange light, colors she could not describe; terror, excitement, hatred, lust, greed, madness, malice, all of it a stew of emotions that boiled around her and pressed in on her. They were dark, craven. She shook it off as she was becoming tired and would need all her strength to finish the task. She knocked again. And then she drew in a very deep breath and blew it out and became corporeal. Someone cracked open the door. The house was dark.

  "Are you Zarhaz?""

  "Who are you?" The man asked suspiciously. She saw that he had a knife hidden at his side and his hand was reaching for it.

  "I am Anet the prophetess. You now why I am here." He looked around quickly and then let her in.

  "You are the one?"

  "Only a servant of God. We do not have much time. Are you Zarhaz?"

  "I am. I am glad you came in time. I am about to leave the city for good." She saw shadows shifting in the house. There were other people gathered there as well. Anet took the scepter and gave it to him.

  "Here is the Starry Scepter. You, and only you are allowed to hold it. Anyone else touching it will die." She lifted her voice for all the men gathered there to hear. There was a freakishly huge man there, bald with a long lock of hair. She stared at him in surprise for a moment before speaking.

  "These men work for me. There is no need to worry." He said. She smiled.

  "I am glad they want to save their souls. Take care and may your path be blessed, my brother. You have returned to the true path."

  "Thank you, my sister. May your path also be blessed. God praised."

  "God praised." Said the other men. After that she stepped outside and as soon as she did she became once more like an ethereal being, traveling surreptitiously through the city, and then she was lying on the ground suddenly, looking up at the stars.

  "Ai! Now we do not have the scepter to guide our way." Sighed one of the young Karig warriors. Anet laughed.

  "One thing I have learned in my training as a desert prophetess is that at times we walk in light and at times we walk in shadow. But never in true darkness. Bring me my staff." Someone brought the staff.

  "Pray with me, that all our power and thoughts will light the way for us but hide us from wicked eyes and designs." And so they prayed with her and the end of the staff became white light, a pale light compared to the sun of the scepter but it was like that of a merry, twinkling star and they sang while making their way south through the land with Anet riding at the head of the train. The beast then told her that his journey was coming to an end and that he would be traveling back to the ruins after a few more days, for his true post lay there.

  And any who glimpsed them saw a tiny star that seemed to have fallen to earth that night and under the light of that star were long and mysterious figures flickering in and out of shadow and light, like a dream caravan. A strange and wondrous omen to anyone who cared to notice.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  The place swelled with tobacco smoke and fruit essence. Patrons sat, laughing, clapping, some singing and many smoking their water pipes as the dancing girls entertained them. Large vats of cheap beer and hearty goat and camel stew with reams of freshly baked flat bread and roasted lizard with onions kept everyone in a merry mood. The smells were tantalizing but the players had no time to relax and eat. Tonight was the night of their long awaited play and the players and stage hands were filled with anxious, febrile energy. Rapheth was so nervous he thought he had forgotten his lines.

  "Please do not tell me that is so!" Cried Shukala. They had rehearsed endlessly and though Rapheth had promised that this would be the last time he would tarry with the school, its instructors and students or anyone outside of his own neighborhood he felt jubilant at the crest of this new thing. Theater was new and exciting. He wished his own neighborhood had one. He'd even thought of writing another play.

  "I wish right now for a large mug of your mother's banana beer, beef wat and injera, Shukala." He said while having white make up applied. Shukala grinned.

  "So do I. And now you have made me hungry. I hope my stomach does not growl while I am on stage." Who will be out there, I wonder? Rapheth thought. If Parso or Zigal - or God forbid Ilim saw him - they would be mortified at what he and his friends were doing. Perhaps not Parso. He would probably be amused.

  Rapheth was playing the queen in the play. One of the students was spreading cerussa on his face. It tickled and he was not used to this at all.

  "Hold still so I can apply it properly, Rapheth!" Said the young man."I want a heavy khol outline this time."

  "As if last practice wasn't enough." Complained Rapheth.

  "You must hold still if want you to look like a true Egian queen, instead of some hag who did not have enough ladre to buy enough khol for her eyes to paint! This my art, Rapheth!" He scolded playfully. Rapheth sighed in irritation.

  "Where is my khepesh?"

  "It is only ceremonial, you kno
w. A queen has no use for a real sword."

  "I know. But still, I like to collect swords. Even ceremonial ones."

  "You have a collection?"

  "Not exactly. I wish I did."

  "I cannot afford one and have no use for them since I am studying to be an actor, Still, some of them are works of art on their own, I must agree. Here," he put down the clam shells of khol and cerussa and went rummaging around in a large box.

  "We have so many props here. We need new ones if the truth be told. Ah! Here. Someone found this a long time ago at a burial site. Stole it is more like it. But is it not beautiful?" He asked, raising up a long khepesh. It was beautiful to Rapheth's eyes. But it needed sharpening. It had many ciphers etched in its metal handle and shimmered a dull silver with copper alloys. Part of its handle was wrapped in old leather. It's blade was partially rusted but even in this state it was beautiful. It was not particularly heavy, light enough to wield and slash with but heavy enough that Rapheth knew it was a real sword.

  "Interesting." He murmured.

  "You will need it briefly on stage when you sit upon the throne as queen and we have a flail for you to hold as well. I have to find it." Another one of the budding acting troupe came rushing in to the dressing room.

  "Come now! You two are like old women deciding on what veils to wear. Hurry up! The crowd is becoming restive!" He ran out.

  "I promise, this will not take long." He picked up the clam shell of khol and the wooden applicator.

  "Aich!" He accidentally poked Rapheth near his eye. It drew blood. "Be careful with that thing!"

  "Oh, oh! I am so sorry! I did not mean it. I am sorry, Rapheth. Here let me clean it." He threw down the make up and flailed his arms in frustration, looking for a towel.

  "It is fine. It did not hurt."

  "No really, let me clean it off." He got a clean towel and dabbed the blood away. Rapheth pretended to be wounded in his pride.