Red World Trilogy

by V. A. Jeffrey

  "That is a man you can respect, daughter." Said the old healer. They were cooking upon heated stones. The old woman took a small piece of dough, flattened it and threw it upon one of the wider, flat cooking stones. A small, wild pheasant was frying on another stone. She had sent Demos away to cut off a small arm of the blood cactus. The woman often mixed it with mashed figs and wild honey, making a delicious drink from it, refreshing in the unrelenting heat of the day.

  "I think I have come to understand that now. When I was young, marriage was all about the bloom of love, the youthful love. It can be wonderful but it fades with the day."

  "Then you already know that true love starts in respect and friendship," said the woman.

  "Yes," she said ruefully. "And a shared spirit in seeing the world."

  The slaves she had hidden with her were now gone, most toward Hybron. Ioltoslav was making the journey back to his homeland. Kaisha had thought herself of trekking to the Rurriana to find her people, to see what they were like. But the call of marriage in her, for now, was stronger.

  "I believe I have stopped running now. I have found home," said Kaisha.

  "What happened to going to the lands of the Rurriana? I thought that was your home?"

  "It was, until he came for me." The old woman laughed gently.

  "Well, it is all of a same root, my daughter. Your yearnings for a husband and children and your desire to know your family roots, your people. It springs from the same source. You need to know your place in the world." Demos had just walked in. His hands were dripping with red juice from the cactus stems. He flicked a long, thin cactus needle from his finger.

  "Bring those here and I will make the drink," said the woman. His hands, seemingly quite large with strong, slender fingers held the cactus carefully as he handed it to her. He smiled, gentle and serene. Which made Kaisha's heart glad. Yes, she had found a husband and a home.

  . . .

  Demos looked for a man qualified and willing to marry them. He found one in a neighboring village. He left her in Uephis and went to find this village chief who would marry them. Once he received permission he then brought Kaisha with him and many other villagers came besides, to see them marry. A small feast was given for them and Demos gave the old woman some coins of gold and electrum in appreciation and he brought his new bride through the mountains back to Egium to Lady Diwa's house. Kaisha mentioned that she had many possessions there and they both wanted to see if Diwa was well. They made their way in at night, hearing along the journey that there was now a new king ruling in Egi. Demos and Kaisha had come into the city just as the great funeral procession of King Teraht was going out to the Valley of Kings and Queens. None molested them as things were in such a state of turmoil and many feared the new king in Hybron. Kaisha seemed nervous.

  "I have not seen nor heard from Diwa in a long while. I do not know if she even remains here." They called at the front gate. A woman leaned over from over the terraced rooftop. It was Lili, her faithful maidservant!

  "Lili! It is I, Kaisha!" Lili smiled broadly. Lemuel waved a plump hand at them both. The maidservant went inside and soon the front door opened. An attendant ushered them inside and Diwa was waiting for them.

  "Oh, I had worried sick over where you were! And here you both are! So much has happened! Come, come and sit!" They stayed and talked and caught up with news. Diwa told them of news while they were away from the city and the near blackout of news on slave events and Demos told of the events and the following harrowing escape from Senetta's House.

  "May Senetta be praised."

  "May she be kept in long memory." Said Kaisha.

  "How did you two find each other in all this mess?" Asked Diwa.

  "Destiny." They both said. "We are now married," said Kaisha happily.

  "What? You are married and I was not invited to your wedding?"

  "Well, we did not have time to wait." Said Demos.

  "Humph! A man would say that!" Said Diwa.

  "Oh Diwa. Do not be angry with us."

  "I am not angry. I am relieved you both are safe. You must stay a few days. Things have calmed down for the moment. Stay and eat with me. If I cannot be at the marriage feast I shall give you a private wedding supper, at least." And they remained there for two weeks resting and gathering Kaisha's things for the long journey home and watching the goings-on of the city from the rooftop.

  Imperceptible changes were coming. Everything changed even though each day people milled the tile paved streets, went to the markets and led their lives. Slaves were now in revolt and common people were thinking things they had not been allowed to think before without danger. Such as knowledge of Alchemy. Seeds were everywhere and no one knew how they would end and take root.

  On the eve of their leaving for home Kaisha sat with Lili's son sleeping in her lap.

  "He is becoming so big."

  "You will have some little ones of your own soon enough." Said Diwa. It was a very hot night and she was fanning herself with a wide plume of white pampas grass. The city was in full bloom with it and Kaisha had gathered seeds out in the garden to take home with her. Pampas grass glowed with soft light at night under the full moons, depending upon the color of its flower and some switched and ran through different colors at night. They stood out like graceful, bird-soft plumage during the day but glowed at night and gave a soft beauty to the city. She could smell on the light breeze the sweet fragrance of luma fruit. It reminded her of home.

  Below in the street someone played playful song on an oud. They were supping on spiced stewed tomatoes and an egg soup thickened with siqqu. Lili's little one woke up.

  "Come, come!" Said Lili, calling to him from the bedroom. He slid from Kaisha's lap and ran to his mother.

  "She has been a great boon to me and a comfort, Kaisha. Will you take her with you?"

  "I will. Unless she wants to stay here."

  "I think she wants to go where you go."

  "Have you ever thought of getting married again?"

  "If I were not wealthy I would. But I was married before and though my husband was good to me I do not think I am the type to be a wife. I often think of becoming a scribe. I was taught the skill by my husband. And teaching people here, the common people and former slaves, reading and writing is what I want to do. After one is no longer a slave they still have to make a living and eat and not everyone is cut out for hard labor. Besides, the Ainash took something invaluable away from all the people of the Middle World."

  "They took away many things. Which one do you speak of?"

  "The right to know things. They were determined to keep women ignorant of many things, things that under Airend-Ur was our inheritance. They stole it and through that they cast everyone into abject ignorance. It will take a long time to peel that ignorance from the minds of the people because so many still believe in their ideas."

  "That will take a generation to turn around."

  "And I shall devote my life to that cause." She turned to Kaisha. "After all, all of us have a road we are called to walk and each road, if it is right and good, is a blessing. Not all blessings for a woman are in marriage. But I do not deny that marriage is one of the great ones if that is the one for you."

  The next day Demos and Kaisha kissed Diwa and she sent them on their way with all their goods; Kaisha had taken her servants and household goods and Demos's goods and loaded them on camels purchased at the day market and also mules. Diwa paid for hired swords to escort them on their journey and they went back to Hybron.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  By tongues and through ears the word reached him that Demos was alive and well and had returned. Zarhaz had heard from not a few former slaves from Egi that a man had led them to freedom. A man named Demos, who it was said used to be a scribe at the Golden Temple.

  And Zarhaz had some important things to do. He patted the small burlap bag at his side.

  "Demos? Slave revolt leader? How can this be? I can barely believe my ears!" Exclaimed Zeph
yros. Wily Zephyros was an innkeeper now of a newly built establishment trying to scare up business.

  "He used to be the type to jump at a dung beetle and he was part of a revolt in Egi!" He shook his head in disbelief.

  "I suppose the saying now will be: "Out of Egi comes grain and grief! And fleeing slaves!" Many things have changed. I used to be a respected temple Ainash priest. Yet most of them are rotting in the ground now. I am still here to tell the tale."

  "Ai! Do not mention that! It might frighten customers away!"

  "I see no patrons in here."

  "They will not come if you mention death and destruction and. . .the dead," said Zephyros, waving his arms to and fro as if chasing out wicked spirits.

  "When did you become so superstitious, Zephyros? They will come when they will come. But really, where did you hear about him coming? Do you know where he is?"

  "I only heard about him through gossip. You know how it is. Maybe it is not true," he looked thoughtful. "Still, I hope. I was not always a good friend to him but he was a good friend to me." Zarhaz gave him a broad smile.

  "Perhaps you can now make it up to him, eh?" Zarhaz went out into the street, shading his eyes from the bright sun to search the city. Rhuctium still looked much the way it always had; highly ordered, beautified with symmetrical gardens and trees and topped with a sea of blue-tiled roofs. Except the Ainash temple was in disarray. In fact, all temples except small traveler's and mendicant's huts and those dedicated to schools and learning and the arts were being torn down. The word from the king was that the royal city of Assenna was going to be rebuilt and the proclamation had come through the land for all men skilled in the building trades to prepare and to sign up if they could. The blueprints of the first temple built by Kaiga I were found in the All Schools Library. Laws governing corruption, trade and many other things were being reviewed, simplified and rewritten according to the original laws governing men according to their forefathers; according to the Holy Writings. The king's Great Work was on the way and even in the air of uncertainty people were hopeful. Zarhaz wandered the streets, thinking of the scepter he still kept. He went his way in deep thought until he came to the Garden of Lady Quala. A man of means was building a new house beside the gardens and the school campus there, a two story house of good brick that would be covered with tile. Workers were laboring fast, layering it brick by brick and positioning the poles and beams. A man came limping outside, of thin build but muscled with short, close cropped, dark brown hair. And a short beard. He looked older but Zarhaz after a few moments recognized him.

  "Demos. Demos!" He exclaimed. The man looked around at hearing his name called. He then fixed his wandering gaze on the old priest.

  "Zarhaz?"

  "It is I! I thought you dead for so many years?" Tears came to Demos's eyes.

  "it is you, Zarhaz! It is a long story, my father! Come inside and meet my wife, Kaisha!"

  "You are married? I cannot believe it!" The old man nearly fainted with happiness and relief over seeing him.

  "Do sit down. Do not fall and hurt yourself in my new house! That would not bring a blessing!" Demos laughed. He laid out a goat hair mat for him to sit upon.

  "I am glad you are alive and well, my son. I just spoke to a man who said he knew you. Zephyros."

  "Zephyros? I have not heard that name in many years. He is still alive then?"

  "He is. Has a new inn some streets down."

  "Good. Good for him. Perhaps I will check on him in time. I am a busy man, though."

  "We could use the skill of a man like you Demos in the new temple rebuilding work. A scribe of the first order. You always were highly skilled."

  "I long to be a part of the new temple in Assenna, Zarhaz. These are exciting times."

  "There is something else. I have carried it with me for a long time. You know what happened to Jhis?" Demos nodded silently. It was as if the very mention of that place would poison the air.

  "Well, your mother and father, they did not die under the judgment. Only of old age." He could see something lifted from the man's face, as if a weight had come off. Demos murmured a prayer and bowed his head.

  "No, they were good people Demos. We both know that. But your dear mother, she gave me something before I left Jhis. I urged her to come with me but she refused to leave."

  "My mother was like that. Stubborn. She had pride in her house and her place and could not conceive of living through any hardship or anything that would cause her to lose anymore face than she already did by marrying my father. It does not surprise me," said Demos. Zarhaz swung the bag at his side off his shoulder.

  "She had these from you, I think. A book and a small box of family heirlooms. Here they are. Your mother gave them to me and I kept them safe but she said a servant once found them buried in the garden at the house." Demos's eyes widened.

  "I had nearly forgotten." He whispered. Zarhaz drew out the bound, red leather book.

  "Juhi!" Demos took the book in his hands as if it were gold and held it, staring at it, turning it over. Then he looked at Zarhaz. A foreman, weighed down with a basket full of newly made, baked bricks had stepped into the house.

  "Sir, the lady of the house insists we get started upon the back courtyard as soon as possible. Is this to your liking?"

  "Yes, yes. Begin the work today."

  "Yes, sir." The foreman lead a few of the laborers carrying a litter of freshly baked mud bricks through the empty house into the back door opening which had not yet been fitted with a door.

  "I remember when Eliaz told me where to find it. It was when he was dying in that detestable arena prison hole in Jhis." He said darkly.

  "You know those games are outlawed now? Except I think, the chariot races."

  "Good riddance! It had become a way to drag innocent people to their deaths just for the entertainment of others."

  "Many people made much ladre off of those awful games."

  "They can find some other way."

  "He did an important thing, saving and hiding that from the priesthood. Nagilla said many things they they hated. Such as:"There is no such thing as an original thought that did not come from Above or Below first." Many pointed little jewels like that. I think he said it particularly to offend the Ainash," said Zarhaz, heaving a great belly laugh. Demos laughed too.

  "You have gotten the chance to read it then?"

  "Yes. You must read it for yourself. I think you will find that quite a bit of it is pithy and humorous. A surprising joy to read."

  "You know what is shocking?"

  "What?"

  "That we are openly talking about this book which once would have gotten us whipped or worse. Interesting how things can seem the same for generations and then one day they simply change." Said Demos.

  "I know."

  "As to the family heirlooms. They belong to someone that is supposed to have them. But I did not know who."

  "I think I do."

  "Who?"

  "To the new queen. The Red Queen."

  "The Red Queen? What do you mean?"

  "Well a king is to have a queen, right? The Red King must have a Red Queen and I believe those heirlooms belong to her. To a woman who is both of the house of nobility and of the First One. A few of us priests and scribes who are left are examining the ancient family genealogies. Most of those burned in Jhis were copied long ago and sent to the library at the temple here. One of my friends has found some information there about her and her family. The woman herself was raised at the citadel. I met her a few years ago and I even saw her in dream."

  "A scion then. I once thought they were bad women. I see now that these women were keepers of the holy flame when the priesthood fell into darkness. My own dear wife was a scion of the citadel."

  "Was she? Then both you and the king have found prized catches."

  "Zarhaz, we shall have some of the furniture arranged in time for supper. Please honor us by being our guest this week. We would be happy to have you. Please. I m
ust speak with you for there is so much on my heart, so much I have been through. Such as how I got my limp."

  "There is so much I desire to tell you too Demos, and my son I am happy I found you again! I would be delighted! I have also noted a thing of great importance about you."

  "What is that, my father?"

  "You are a true man now. You have a beard."

  They embraced, laughed and wept and Zarhaz stayed as a guest in the tent behind the house for some days before he was sent for by the king. When he arrived at the mansion-turned-palace he presented the Star Scepter to the king.

  Demos was recommended by Zarhaz and all that used to know him heartily as a royal scribe to the king and so he was called before the king after four weeks' time arriving in Rhuctium. The lines toward the king's audience chamber were long as the king had set up the first day of the week to hear the people. Much rebuilding work had started and more would have to be done and a restoring of complete order. The king was very young but he was strong and had the look joy about him. The king held out the scepter to him, a great thing of beauty, shining with inner light.

  Demos touched it and fell to his face.

  "Rise Demos Demosthenes Alictus. I have heard many good things about you and of your scribal work in the Golden Temple. I need a head scribe for my royal office. Would you accept this appointment and take care to record and chronicle the events of my reign?"

  "My lord and king I would do all that you say. I am greatly honored, Your Supernal Highness." This elicited light laughter from the small court gathered. The court so far seemed less formal than any court Demos had seen, imagined or read about. The king seemed approachable. He was energetic and from what he heard, full of honor, valor and strength and reverence for the old ways. And fair-minded. Demos felt not only awed but happy and safe in the company of this king and his court. This is how kingship should be. People should not be in abject fear of their king, unless they have done something wicked to deserve such fear.