After that first time, the Ritual had ceased, for it had been discovered that pirates had rescued the child, and the mainland had intervened. But it had restarted fifteen years ago. There had been two, a year apart…
He had not been involved in either of the two Rituals, for they had taken place on the other islands, but as the newest Twilight’s Hand, he had taken part in both of the Silent Dark ceremonies... But the second Ritual had been different, for Cypress had once again lived…saved by a fisherman. So the ceremony had not taken place. And then the pirates had come. Patron. She, who had taken the Cypress of the first Ritual thirty or more years ago… swept her out of the sea. That Cypress was grown now. Twilight’s Hand smiled. He had heard of Blanca Chevalier… And his heart had been glad… defiantly so.
His Cypress was born while the pirates patrolled the islands. The Cypress Rituals were forbidden then, and he had been proud when the Elder’s Wife chose her, his little daughter… said she was special… said she was the Land’s Daughter. It had seemed that the pirates would never leave. It had seemed safe… She was special. She was his little girl. And he had finally understood Evening Song…and yet, not understood, too. How was it that the Land had found it in his heart to cast away his little girl? The Dark One said it was wrong, but one did not need the Dark One’s guidance to reach this conclusion. One need only look at Cypress… just once.
And now? Cypress is safe, thought Twilight’s Hand. She, too, had been swept away by Patron. They must be strong, he thought. Those that survive are strong… Cypress grows everywhere. She has strong, deep roots; she is a special tree.
I shall never see her again, he thought. And that is right, for what I have done is unforgivable. What I will do next, is also unforgivable.
Like the Land, I am unforgiven by Cypress and the Dark One.
29
Father Griffith gazed out of the window of the cart that was taking them to the Cistern.
Where am I? What is this place where people believe in the Sun and her brother, Twilight. I know the Sun-God of the ancients. This Sun is not that God, it seems. And Twilight? The one who walks in the black of night… What does it mean that he is not afraid? Afraid of whom? Afraid of nothing? Not even afraid of the Sun… not afraid of God? But is he not a god?
“Look! Isn’t that gorgeous?” cried Cat, seated next to him, rousing him from his thoughts. “Do you see that building with the balcony in the shape of a swan?” she asked the priest.
“Yes,” said Father Griffith with a smile. “Yes…” What I see looks like something that stepped out of a dream…a fairytale in which houses have the wings of swans … and rough iron is turned into an artist’s luminous brushstrokes. Here filigreed masonry meets calligraphic iron wrought into myriad shapes: fauna and flora co-mingles on the window frames, the flues, the piers, the doors... Narrow facades, five or six stories high, reveal pendulous balconies accentuated with intertwining roses, tulips, dragons, griffins and countless others. It is as though the street were caught in an instant of movement and crystallized so, retaining its fantastic, lyrical energy like a taut spring, marveled Father Griffith.
“That’s Lola,” Orion explained, pointing to the grey marble building with the swan-balcony and the sinuous ironwork bathed in sparkles of light. “A Pera establishment: a patisserie,” he added, addressing Cat. “They serve Peran sweets.”
Cat clapped happily. “Wonderful! I know I shall enjoy it enormously. What is this road?” she asked, looking eagerly at the passing rows of glittering storefronts.
Orion smiled. “We are on Nightingale Boulevard. It’s the main thoroughfare on this side of Pera. Red’s Road that I told you about.”
Here, he walks… thought Father Griffith. “Does he–” he began but Orion was too quick: he answered before the question could be completed.
“Yes,” Orion nodded. “This is where Twilight walks. This is where it is said he starts to walk. Every night–” he paused. “Remember the blind policemen I told you about?”
“Yes.”
“The idea for the blinders grew from the story that Twilight walks without fear at night. It was originally a group of people who wanted to keep their neighborhood safe and did not trust the police. This is going back a long time, you see. Well, they were referred to as ‘those who walk where Twilight walks.’ In fact, it started in a neighborhood not far from Red’s road. Around some of the rougher back streets, but it became very popular throughout Pera. Eventually, the blind policemen grew into an autonomous arm of the citizenry. And now each blinder wears a black armband coated in Moonlightsmear – the Night’s symbol – and carries a whistle which he or she blows periodically to let people know that they are safe, basically.”
“Like a regular neighborhood watch,” Bruce mused.
“Not exactly,” Orion told him. “The blind policeman keeps tabs on the police, too. They can go anywhere on their patrol. They go everywhere. They see what the police do. People trust the blinders far more than the police. In fact, it is commonly assumed that the police are as effective and as honest as they are because of the blinders. To be elected to blind policeman is to be accorded the highest honor in a community.
“Because the blind policeman walks where Twilight walks…” Father Griffith said softly. Where he walks, dare you? He recalled the line from the poem Patron had read.
They had left behind the glittering Red’s Road and were driving through a narrow residential street in which the buildings were often as fantastic in appearance – although less muted in decoration – as the commercial buildings they had just seen. The cart negotiated the hairpin turns of the street easily and emerged in a clearing.
“This is Cistern Square,” Orion announced. “The entrance to the Cistern is there,” he added, pointing to a small domed building surrounded by dark trees. “The Cistern is underground,” he explained, noting their hesitation. “Follow me.”
They followed Orion as he opened a heavy, unadorned metal door and stepped inside a dank space illuminated by gas lamps.
“Not the light of the light tree?” Cat’s voice echoed off the walls.
“No,” Orion replied. “This is from a time before the light tree. Look!” he ordered, pointing to the opposite wall of dark grey, lichened stone. Upon it there was an engraving clearly illuminated by several gas lamps. They drew close to read it…
My kin, my teeming kin,
Countless as grains of sand.
My brothers and sisters, touched by the Sun’s bright hand.
My kin, my teeming kin, know you how you came to be?
No, they said. Tell us how we came to be
It is simple, my brothers,
Sisters, listen to my tale…
One day, our Sun grew sad, my brothers.
Just as she readied to dip into the River, she grew despondent.
And she called out to her brother:
O brother, my dark brother–
I am unhappy, brother,
My black-haired brother, come to me–
And did the Dark One hear her, my sisters?
Yes, he did, he heard his sister.
And he called out to her–
O sister, my golden sister,
What is it, dear sister?
What is it that darkens the smile of the Sun?
This, my kin, is what the Sun declaimed, from her place in the blue sky:
My brother, I am sad, I fear I cannot find my way to the sky.
It is dark when I begin my ascent from the River to the sky, brother.
I fear I will be lost as I climb out of the River, brother.
O sister, dear sister, he smiled.
I have an idea that may help.
The Dark One reached out and gathered a handful of pebbles from the shores of the Marble Sea
Come, sister, he beckoned
Take my hand; here is a game you should see.
Do you remember the time before you took your seat in the blue sky
How we used to play?
Before you took your place as golden Day,
And I assumed this dark mantle
We used to play.
Yes, I remember, smiled the Sun
I remember how we used to play.
Then let’s play,
Said the Dark One, catching her hand as she slipped out of the sky
And they flew together across the River
And they leapt over mountains
And they danced past windswept plains
Until they reached a fountain.
O brother, my dear brother!
Laughed the Sun, clapping her hands with joy
You remembered!
You remembered our favorite place,
Our favorite toy.
Dear sister, he said, of course I remember.
How could I forget?
The countless times you tricked me by this fountain and got me wet!
O brother, she shook her head sadly, with regret.
I am sorry, brother, forgive me, brother,
To cause you pain was not my intent.
The Dark One laughed,
And deep in his black eyes played a mischievous fire.
Sister dear, he cried,
Do not fret, do not cry.
How about we give games another try?
One that will help you find your way in the sky,
One that may help me get even yet…
What is this game? She laughed.
I am not afraid of you, brother,
I give you leave to try
To get even yet…
So the Dark One took the pebbles he had taken from the beach by the Marble Sea
And he showed them to his sister.
Sister mine, these pebbles will help you see
Your way to the sky.
Now watch me–
And saying this, the Dark One scattered the pebbles upon a flat rock by the fountain.
Out of these pebbles he fashioned shapes.
Sister mine, try to copy me–
How, brother, dear? She asked.
With your hands, my sister,
With your hands golden with the light of the Sun.
But if you cannot–
If you cannot replicate the shape I made…
What then, my brother?
My brother with the red fire in your eyes,
What will you do?
Be patient, sister, watch and follow me.
For once, sister
Follow me…
And she tried, my brothers,
My sisters, our Golden One did her best to follow the lead of her dark brother.
O brother, I cannot!
You are too fast, brother! She cried in despair.
Then throw those stones behind you, my sister!
It is easy to repair.
Just throw those shapes behind you.
Just so…
And she did.
The Sun threw the pebbles she had touched over her shoulder
Into the darkened sky.
And what did she see, my sisters?
What do you think, my brothers?
The Dark One laughed.
His laughter was the song of the Moon as it danced across the black sky…
And what did the Sun see, my brothers?
What did the Golden One see in the black sky?
O brother, my dark-eyed brother,
What are these lights?
What are these points of light in the black sky?
She marveled.
They are stars, dear one, he replied.
They will light your way from the River to the sky.
Let us play a little more, he urged…
I am much improved! She cried with delight,
I can follow your nimble fingers in the dark of night.
Yes, sister, you must throw those stones into the River,
For you need them not.
You already know that way.
Throw the stones in the River…
And she did.
So they fell…
Like rain they fell,
Hard and fast, into the River below.
The stones that had been touched by the light of the Sun,
Flickered in the River.
My kin, my teeming kin:
My brothers who are lit by the light of the Sun,
My sisters, who glow like the Golden One,
Now do you know how you came to be?
Yes, they replied, swirling in the River below.
But the story is not ended, my sparkling brothers.
My sisters, listen…
The Dark One laughed,
And this laugh was the echo of waves that crashed upon a placid shore.
The points above are fixed, sister mine.
For every moment in time, there will be stars that will light your way
From the River to the sky in a direct line…
But in the River, he continued,
There are no lines; there are no points...
There are no stars fixed in time…
These points will flicker, and they will shine
But never will they stay still in line.
You must be careful, dear sister:
For your way is lit
From the River to the sky
But the reverse…
Will surely test your wit.
He laughed.
(From the Book of Shadow)
Cat sighed. “Are we there?” she asked, turning to Orion. “We are aren’t we?”
Orion smiled. “This Cistern where we are standing is supposed to have been built on the site of the fountain where the Sun and her brother are supposed to have played. Yes, we are there.”
“Stars…” murmured Father Griffith.
“Follow me,” Orion said, beckoning to them, “but watch your step. It is steep and can be slippery.”
Silently, they descended the ancient stone steps. Bruce kept Sofia on a short leash, wary of what she might do upon sensing whatever was down there.
They followed Orion as he made his way on a stone walkway, surrounded on two sides by dark water. Tall, pale marble pillars framed their journey, lit by gas lamps.
Orion stopped before a large pool of black, still water. He motioned them to be still.
Ripples decorated the darkness of the pool, and the ripples grew…
“This is where Patron waited for the Song of the Chosen Ship,” Orion said in a low voice. “Right here.” He pointed to the ripples in the water.
And the ripples became pale islets, and the islets became a tail… cruel and prehistoric. The tail ripped through the water, and it raised its head… enough to expose the lizard eyes as blue as the cloudless sky at midday.
They remained silent, watching Orion, who was standing at the edge of the stone gazing wordlessly at the creature in the water.
Father Griffith watched him with growing concern. Poor Orion, he thought.
“Ah!” Cat cried, as though stung.
“Are you all right?” Father Griffith rushed to her side.
She waved him away impatiently. “Yes,” she smiled and nodded at the Crocodile. “I am,” she continued eagerly. “Very happy to be here. Very happy to meet you… I thought … I thought there was one like you in New Orleans…” she said softly. “I used to see him in the zoo, and I felt sorry. He looked so… ancient and wise.” She tilted her head to one side, and appeared to be listening to an unheard voice.
Father Griffith was regarding her with concern mixed with a touch of anger for he thought they might be making fun of him when it happened…
Immortal…
He stumbled and reflexively made the sign of the cross.
Immortal…
It was not a sound, but it was louder than anything he had heard. It was not a thought, but it permeated his mind; and it was not a feeling but he knew it with all his heart.
He crossed himself again.
It was ancient. And wise. And it
was… indescribable.
“Hello,” he ventured uncertainly. One blue eye fixed its ancient gaze upon him.
Pera welcomes you.
“Thank you.” He bowed instinctively.
Pera needs you.
“Me? How?” Father Griffith looked perplexed. “What can I do? How can I help? I don’t know,” he continued uncertainly.
You will know. Look to the time in-between. When it is neither Light nor Dark.
And remember:
Our Sun, our Golden One
Is lost without her brother
And the Dark One, too, cannot live without his sister.
It is wrong to keep them apart:
Where one sits should be beside the other.
“I see…” said Father Griffith, who did not. “How?”
You will find a way
You are not alone.
The tail swept up a wave that lapped on the worn flagstones.
“No, we’re not alone…” Cat said in a contemplative tone.
“You heard that too?” Father Griffith turned to her.
“I think that was meant for all of us,” she said softly.
Lord, I need Your guidance, Father Griffith thought. These are things I do not understand…
Lord, help me…help me understand.
“Yes,” Bruce nodded. Next to him, Sofia stepped to the edge of the stones and sniffed the water. She sat quite still and looked at the crocodile. And the crocodile turned its blue gaze on her. They remained still for some moments, as did the humans around them. Finally, Sofia shook her head from side to side, rose and trotted back to Bruce.
Shadow turned its attention to Bruce, who in turn nodded, and appeared to listen, but said nothing.
“Are you ready, girl?” Bruce asked Sofia softly, as Shadow sank noiselessly into the dark pool.
“Let’s go,” Orion said.
Cat sighed contentedly and squeezed Father Griffith’s arm. “How are you?”
Father Griffith shook his head, unable to articulate his thoughts.
“It’s all right,” she said, patting his arm. “I’m sure you’ll manage to make sense of it sooner or later. It’s a shame we can’t point you towards a rose garden,” she added with a mischievous smile. Father Griffith gave her an injured look.
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