Damell shook his head slowly. “Not like this,” he repeated. “Not like this,” he muttered as he walked away and entered his sleeping chamber.
Rhuna slept for a short while around the time of the sun’s ascent into the sky, and she fought the heavy weariness caused by poor sleep. She looked out the open window of her sleeping chamber and saw a pale blue sky with high white clouds. The air outside was cool, and she reached for her warmer clothes before going to her mother’s room.
“We have to get some clothes and footwear for you!” Rhuna told her mother as they descended the stairs to partake of the morning meal. Goram and Lozira were already seated at the low eating table, with Shandi sitting between them shoveling sweet rice into her mouth. Rhuna told them about her plans for the day, and Lozira offered to keep Shandi with her and Goram.
Rhuna looked around and caught a glimpse of Damell peering from a doorway at the far end of the room, and as he closed the door in front of him, Rhuna felt that he was avoiding her. She fought the turmoil of hurt feelings and forced her thoughts towards the day’s activities ahead.
The walk to the markets with Kiana was slow and tedious for Rhuna because her mother stopped every few steps to touch or look at something she had never seen before. When they arrived at the markets, Kiana wanted to examine every single item on display.
“No touch!” shouted a scrawny old woman as she slapped Kiana’s hand away from the garments of her stall. A man Rhuna assumed was her husband stepped up next to the woman and apologized for his wife’s harsh behaviour.
“Customers usually do not touch unless they are prepared to take the item for exchange,” he explained, and then looked at Kiana disapprovingly.
“She only just arrived in Varappa – from far away,” Rhuna explained.
“Visitors no longer come to Judharo, due to recent events,” croaked the ill-tempered woman.
“What recent events do you mean?” Rhuna asked.
“Do you not know?” she asked astonished. “The Suchinda Atlans have attacked and killed many Conjurers, and now they are retaliating!”
Rhuna said that she had heard about this, and then explained that Kiana was her mother who had journeyed to Varappa to live with her. “She needs a whole new set of clothes and footwear,” she told the couple.
The man mumbled something to the old woman, who then scrutinized Kiana for a long moment before reaching for several garments and items of footwear. Rhuna approved of the old woman’s choice, and removed the pouch of precious metals and stones for trade from her bag. Before the exchange, Rhuna saw a necklace with a turquoise pendant which complemented some of the clothes, and asked for the jewellery item to be added to the items of trade.
“You trade those little things for my clothes?” Kiana asked as she observed the exchange of small gemstones and gold for clothes and footwear. “On Chinza we only swap things of equal size and value,” she added.
Rhuna said that she remembered such things from her childhood, and then took the necklace which she hung around her mother’s neck. Kiana held the pendant in her hand and stared at it wide-eyed.
“It’s for me?” she asked, reminding Rhuna of an innocent child.
“Yes, only yours,” Rhuna replied, and then watched the smile on her mother’s face glow with childlike delight. As they continued to walk along the market avenue, she observed how Kiana kept touching it, like a child with a new toy. It struck Rhuna that she had never seen her mother behave this way.
“You’re not how I remember you,” Rhuna said impulsively to her mother.
“You’re not how I remember you, either,” Kiana replied, and after a brief moment, both women burst into laughter. Rhuna realized that this was the first time she and her mother had ever laughed together.
Rhuna and Kiana strolled casually along the wide avenues towards the forums where Rhuna said she wanted to stop and listen a while.
“What are they talking about?” Kiana asked, and Rhuna explained the function of the forums, then translated the names of each forum as they walked past.
Suddenly, Rhuna stopped abruptly and stood motionless. In the forum ahead of her stood the Dark Master, speaking eloquently from the platform to a large audience.
“What’s wrong?” Kiana asked. Rhuna was still speechless, and when she heard her mother’s question, she felt overwhelmed by the answer she would have to give.
“He’s a very bad man,” she said simply.
“You know him?” Kiana asked.
“Yes. He did a lot of bad things to a lot of people,” Rhuna said, realizing that her body trembled with agitation. “I have to hear what he’s saying – it’s important,” she told her mother.
“The masses have never thirsted after truth. They turn aside from evidence that is not to their taste, preferring to deify error. Whoever can supply them with illusions is easily their master; whoever attempts to destroy their illusions is always their victim,” spoke the man most people knew as the Commander, who transformed into a multi-talented expert in many fields.
“What is his name?” Rhuna asked one of the listeners in the audience, wondering what the people knew about the Dark Master’s true identity and devious schemes.
“He is known as the Master of Enlightenment,” answered the listener. “He teaches complete freedom. You should listen!”
Rhuna ushered her mother through the gathering to a place where they could be seated for a while. As she sat down, she looked around her briefly and glimpsed Yarqi seated nearby, giving her full attention to the Dark Master’s speech.
Rhuna looked at the man she intensely detested, and saw his outer extravagant appearance which attracted his audience. His speech was eloquent, his mannerisms flamboyant, and despite her abhorrence of the Dark Master, she was enthralled by his manner.
“What is Freedom, my Friends?” asked the Dark Master, known to his audience as the Master of Enlightenment. “Do you feel free when you are obligated to do certain things for others? Do you suffer from guilt over trifles such as speaking words which have upset others? Are you compelled to attain certain principles or ideals, and suffer negative emotions when they are not achieved? This is not true Freedom, My Friends! No! Indeed not!”
The Dark Master, in the body of the Commander calling himself the Master of Enlightenment, gestured effectively with his hands as he spoke. Rhuna noticed his unusual clothes of bright and clashing colours, and suspected that he deliberately chose such a combination. His hair was brushed back from his face, and a bejeweled headdress sat atop his head. Rhuna felt energy in the air emanating from him, reaching across the audience as if every word he spoke emitted a tangible force.
“Why should we obey the rules made by our equals?” he continued, pausing after each question for extra effect. “What makes the self-asserting law-makers superior to us, that they should make rules for us to obey? Think about it, My Friends: Is your neighbour superior to you so that he should make rules for you? No! Indeed not!”
“He is right!” whispered the woman seated next to Rhuna.
“Many are the social rules and unspoken laws that dictate our behaviour in every aspect of life. Yet who determined what is good, proper and right behaviour? Is this not again a form of reprehensible arrogance on the part of the self-asserting law makers to impose their own ideas of good, right and proper on others?”
Suddenly, many people in the audience began to clap their hands simultaneously. The Dark Master raised his hands in acknowledgement, and paused only long enough for the applause to raise anticipation in the audience.
“True freedom should not enslave us to these unpleasant feelings, My Friends! Rid yourselves of these impositions! Free yourselves of false rules, principles and ideals which pinch your conscience at every turn! The only true rules and principles to follow are your very own! Yes, My Friends: you have been deceived! You have been misled and imposed upon! No one is your superior! No one has the right to impose anything on you, My Friends!”
Once more, the a
udience broke into applause, this time accompanied by cheers and calls of support and approval.
“What are rights?” the Master of Enlightenment asked, looking intently at several people in the crowd. “Do you have any rights?” he asked, pointing at someone near the front. “Are you in control of your own life, or does someone else determine whether you feel guilty, obligated or imposed upon?”
“Reclaim your rights – all your rights, Friends! Because you have the right to have everything you desire! You have the right to have no restraints, no rules and no obligation towards anyone else – only to yourselves, My Friends! Yes, indeed! The right to live your life as you desire!”
This time the applause and cheers were even louder than before, and Rhuna began to feel deeply uneasy. When some of the calls of approval abated, a woman stood up to speak.
“What should I do if my husband disagrees with my wishes?” asked a woman
“Is the answer not obvious and very simple?” replied the Master of Enlightenment. “Rid yourselves of anyone that imposes their will upon you!”
The woman nodded and Rhuna wondered what she would do about her husband. She looked around at the audience and saw many listeners nodding in agreement, while some expressed enlightenment and joy. Rhuna looked at Yarqi and saw deep reverence and awe in her face as she sat mesmerized by The Master of Enlightenment.
“What is he saying that is so wonderful?” asked Kiana, and Rhuna began to translate into the Zao language.
“He said all that, just now?” Kiana asked as she looked at the faces around her. “It sounds very selfish,” she stated after a moment. “Like a naughty child!”
Rhuna could not resist smiling broadly at her mother’s simple yet accurate evaluation of the Dark Master.
Rhuna ushered her mother away from the Forum of Enlightenment and the Dark Master’s speech, and then stopped at another forum not far away when she heard agitated discussions.
“We must rid ourselves of this abomination – the Conjurers!” called out someone.
“Stop the Conjurers!” chanted a group in unison.
“Stop the Suchinda Atlans, too!” called another person in protest, and several more voices rose in support.
“People here talk a lot, eh?” Kiana said to Rhuna as they continued to walk.
“I haven’t seen such conflict and trouble since…we had to leave Safu,” Rhuna said, as a chill raced up her spine.
“You think there’ll be big trouble?” Kiana asked. Rhuna thought for a while before answering.
“If something isn’t done right away, then I think it can only end badly,” she said.
Part Seven
(The Conjurers)
That evening, after relating the day’s events with her family, Rhuna and her mother withdrew to her sleeping chamber to play with Shandi. Kiana joined in and began to play awkwardly with the little girl.
“It’s been such a long time since I played with a small child,” Kiana said, laughing at herself.
“Which child?” asked Rhuna.
“You, of course!” Kiana laughed again.
“I don’t remember that you ever played with me!” said Rhuna surprised.
“Oh, but I did,” Kiana insisted. “You were too young to remember.”
Rhuna tried to recollect her earliest memories, but a noise outside the door distracted her. Damell opened it and looked straight at Rhuna.
“Possessor of Discernment wishes to see each one of us,” Damell said in a somber tone, and Rhuna translated for her mother.
“He’s going to die soon?” asked Kiana innocently. Damell nodded in reply, and then beckoned everyone to follow him as he walked slowly towards the room of the aged Atlan man. Damell motioned for Rhuna to go first, and she stepped softly into the quiet room towards the bed.
She was shocked to see a frail and crumpled old man she barely recognized, propped up on some cushions in the dim part of the room. As Rhuna approached the bed, Possessor of Discernment looked at her from sallow, sunken eyes. His raspy breath and weak voice confirmed to Rhuna that the old man would soon die.
“Shandi would be too upset to see you like this,” Rhuna said with a lump in her throat.
“She is very special,” Possessor of Discernment croaked, and Rhuna nodded. She sat at his side in silence for a while, lying her hand on his forearm as he closed his eyes and managed a faint smile.
“What did he say to you?” Kiana asked when Rhuna emerged from the dying Atlan’s chamber.
“Just that Shandi is very special,” Rhuna answered, and then watched Goram and Lozira slowly enter the chamber to see Possessor of Discernment for the last time.
Rhuna awoke the following morning with a heaviness in her chest from the solemn visit to Possessor of Discernment, and when she saw Damell’s drawn face in the corridor, she knew what to expect.
“His life force has departed,” Damell announced. “Hari Tal has already made preparations for the burial.”
Rhuna wondered what kind of burial processes were common in Varappa, and Damell explained that Varappans use a special white cloth to wrap around the corpse before interment in the ground. In that moment, Hari Tal appeared with the white cloth, and Damell followed him into the deceased man’s chamber.
After Rhuna had helped Kiana choose clothes to wear, she heard that the family was ready to take Possessor of Discernment to the burial place. Goram and Damell held one end of the stretcher on which the wrapped corpse lay, and Hari Tal placed a flower arrangement on its chest.
“My commiserations,” said a man as he passed them in the street. Others bowed their heads in solemn respect when they saw the white shroud with flowers, and a few people even accompanied them in the small procession to the burial place. Shandi was unusually silent, and Rhuna wondered whether she already understood the seriousness of the occasion.
As the burial procession left Judharo through the large gate, the sympathizers remained behind and let Rhuna’s small group continue the long trek to the burial place outside the city walls. After several stops to rest, especially as they ascended a hillside, they finally saw the burial place on level land overlooking the floodplains of the Great River.
Stone plaques identified plots where people were buried, and Rhuna saw that some were very elaborate, while others were just a plain slab, but attached to all of them was something to identify the person lying beneath. Rhuna noticed that most of them had the deceased person’s Identifier attached to the plaques.
“Over there are some empty pits,” said Goram, and Rhuna saw that about seven holes had been dug in a grassy area near some trees.
“Look! A burial shroud!” said Lozira with surprise, and Rhuna looked where her daughter pointed.
“Someone has unearthed a deceased person!” Goram said astonished.
“More over there, Sahb,” Hari Tal told Damell as he pointed in another direction.
“What?” Rhuna asked faintly. “Why? Why would someone do that?” She looked at the faces of everyone around her and saw her own emotions of bewilderment and horror reflected in their faces.
“The Conjurers, of course!” Damell spat with loathing. “We cannot bury Possessor of Discernment here, lest his resting place is desecrated!”
“Why are they doing that?” Lozira asked with fear in her voice.
“They try to bring back life,” stated Hari Tal, and then gave Rhuna a poisonous look.
“I think I was dead, too,” said Kiana, grabbing Rhuna’s attention. She gasped and spun around to look at her mother.
“You understood what we were saying?” asked Rhuna, her thoughts spinning as she struggled to decide how to answer her mother.
“I can figure it out,” she said simply, and then gave Rhuna a penetrating look. “Who’s doing this? Did they make me alive again, too?”
“The Conjurers did this,” Rhuna said, indicating the opened burial pits. “But I was the one who brought you back to life,” she stated carefully.
“Oh,” Kiana responded f
aintly.
Damell looked around and then stated that they should take Possessor of Discernment to a private location.
“A short distance, over that rise,” he said pointing. The group followed Damell’s lead and carried the shrouded corpse of Possessor of Discernment across a mound and into a thin forest of small trees.
“We should disguise the site and leave no plaque or other indication that someone has been interred here!” he said with agitation. “When the Conjurers have been defeated, we shall return and decorate the site properly.”
Hari Tal and Goram assisted Damell in the digging of a hole, and covering up the freshly toiled soil with twigs and leaves until the ground looked undisturbed. After the effort, the men stood a while in silence before turning to leave the peaceful spot.
Rhuna looked back down onto the burial place below, then across the floodplains, admiring the colours created by the descending sun. This time of day always made Rhuna feel sad, while at the same time grateful to be alive in order to appreciate the wonders of nature everywhere.
“What will happen now that the secrets of the pyramids have gone with him – doesn’t anyone else know? Was he the only one?” Rhuna whispered to her father as she walked alongside him down the hill.
“Do not be concerned with this matter,” said Damell with a dismissive wave of his hand.
Rhuna and her mother attended the forums regularly in the days after the burial of Possessor of Discernment, and almost every day another death was announced at the Forum for Awareness of Occurrences. Goram and Lozira also attended the forums with them, and Lozira became terrified when she heard of a fatal attack on a man.
“It reminds her of the attack on Goram,” Rhuna explained to her mother. “He nearly died. Lozira was there and saw everything.”
“Poor girl!” said Kiana with genuine empathy, and began to comfort her with gentle strokes on her back.
Rhuna- New Horizons Page 23