Darkness Risen (The Ava'Lonan Herstories Book 4) (16 page)

“I am not speaking heresy,” Jeliya stated calmly, “I
am setting forth a hypothesis. The Av’ru is different from the Tru’Av’ru. That
is plain knowledge, fact. There is evidence to support the theory that my Jur’Av’chi’n
is from across the Av’ru.” Now she trod dangerously close to two secrets, but
she pressed on. “If this is so, and the rules that apply here do not apply
there, is what happened really Solu’san? If he is not subsumed in me, have I
really transgressed?”

T’mundo looked away over her balcony rail to a
middle distance. He pondered his contemplative point in space for long grans.
Jeliya looked at her hands folded in her lap. Had she convinced him?

“I honestly do not know,” he said at last. “It is a
fine hypothesis, as far as it goes, but that means nothing to the Supreme One.
Hypotheses do not, ritious pardon, make.”

“Then let the Goddesses judge. There is a Rite that
can judge if I have earned Ritious disfavor, is there not?”

His eyes lay heavy on her. “Yes, there is. And you
do know that if it is shown that you have earned such disfavor, that you will
be Outcast for all time?”

“I’m aware of that,” Jeliya replied, wanting to
swallow in a throat suddenly dry, “but I’m willing to take that chance. I must
be judged fit to assume the High Throne. If that will absolve me, then I will
undergo the Rite. All doubt can then be laid to rest.”

“Think what you are asking, Highness. Think hard
before you ask it.” His cautioning was wearing at her resolve. But there was no
other recourse.

“I have, chi’ol’bey’one. If there is doubt in the
mind of even one person in this Realm, then all may as well doubt. I will not
disgrace my Family and my Tribe by assuming the mantle of the High Queen with
such doubt. Better I were still lost in the ne’daiwa’lons. A Queen under a
shroud of doubt is a weak Queen, and a weak Queen is worse than no Queen. I
have no choice.”

T’mundo nodded in acquiescence and approval. Jeliya
was right. There was no choice. Not so long as one person held the tiniest
hesitancy would her reign be successful.

“Very good, Highness. I had to be sure that you
understood all the ramifications of the situation. I shall begin making
preparations at once, and the Rite will be added to your list of Ascension
duties.”

He extended a hand and drew her to her feet, then
kissed her forehead unexpectedly in a kind of benediction.

“You are worthy of the High Crown,” he said. And
with that enigmatic statement, he took his leave.

the light
turned...

Ashmisa appeared in the receiving lain. Jeliya
greeted her and the Voice returned the greeting, bowing and spreading her arms.

“Peace and light, High Heir,” she said warmly.

“Peace and light, Voice,” Jeliya smiled.

Ashmisa stepped off of the jonona symbol and
significantly pulled a papi’ras scroll from a special carry tube at her waist.

She presented the scroll Jeliya, dropping into her
guise of a Voice of the High Queen. The Heir’s response to that somber air was
automatic.

“This is the official schedule of your participation
in the De’en’nu, set down and sealed by the hand of the High Queen for the De’en’nu
Festival,” she said, taking a seat before Jeliya. She presented the document.

“Please read it to me,” Jeliya requested formally.

Ashmisa nodded and opened the scroll with a
practiced snap of her wrist. “During this ritious Festival you will be coroneted
Av’Daun. On the turn before the De’en’nu’un, you will be presented at Court in
your official return. It was thought that a late, public return would emphasize
and confirm the rumors of your infirmity. When the Court sees that you must
return by palanquin, strength will be loaned to your answer to the challenge by
the Ottanu. As Otaga said, your injuries cannot by themselves excuse your
absence at the Bolorn’toyo, but it can lend support to the platform you must
build for your rebuttal.”

Jeliya nodded, seeing the sense of this.

“You will take your place at the High Queen’s right
hand and sit through Court, then participate in the special ending rites and
invocations that mark the eve of the De’en’nu’un. After that you will have one
small meal, go through the De’e Rites of Purification, and at Av’set you begin
your first eve’s vigil. That’s the Eve of Confirmation.”

Jeliya listened sedately to the itinerary set out
for her. It would be a real test of her mettle, especially in her
not-fully-recovered condition. She was healing, but still a long way from being
totally well. But Ashmisa did not ask if she were up to accomplishing these
tasks. It was a given that she had to be. As High Heir she had no choice.

They had been doing their best to fortify her in the
last several turns. Ultimately, though, it came down to her own strength of
will and conviction, and, of course, the blessings of the Goddesses.

“You will recite the Mantra of Confirmation one
thousand times before the eve ends, and with each recitation you must cut a
rough piece of jadine into a perfect rhomboid cut with your av’rita, to be
added to your mantle of Av’Daun at your inception. Each will be blessed by your
mantra so that it may adhere to your mantle.

“At Av’Dawn you will follow the High Queen upon the
Blessed Path of Av to the Festival grounds. The path is one thousand paces
long, and you must never stop on the Path; though you may slow or even take a
slight pause if necessary. When you have traversed the Path you will be taken
to the pavilion of Ava’Lon to preside with the High Queen over the First Turn
of the De’en’nu. You may rest until zenith, when the Zenith Blessings take
place and in which you will take part. Then you are excused to refresh yourself
until Av’set, when the invocations for the De’en’nu’me, the Second Turn of the
Festival, will take place. Then begins your second eve’s vigil, when you will
recite the Mantra of Invocation one thousand times. This mantra is to call the
Ancestors, the Goddesses and the Supreme One to come and sit in judgment of
your ritu’chi, to find you worthy to take the Golden Throne. With each
repetition of the Mantra you will shape a gold nugget into the symbol of the
High Family and Tribe of Ava’Lona, with your av’rita. Each will be blessed by
your mantra so that it may adhere to your mantle of Av’Daun.

“At Av’Dawn you will follow the High Queen upon the
Blessed Path of Av. Then you will be taken to the pavilion of Ava’Lon. The High
Queen will do battle with her seven best warru, and then you will battle her
next seven best, all having been chosen the eve before in the De’e trials.
After that you will rest until zenith when the Zenith Blessings take place, and
in which you will take part. Then you will be excused to refresh yourself for
your third eve’s vigil, before the De’en’nu’ka. After the invocations of Av’set,
you will recite the Mantra of Revelation one thousand times. With each
repetition you will gaze into the heart of a cut diamond and pull out all
impurities with your av’rita. Each will be blessed by your mantra, and each
will be added to your mantle of Av’Daun. Any visions or revelations from the
Goddesses or the Supreme One should come to you in that eve, and you will have
time to record them later. At Av’Dawn you will traverse the Blessed Path, and
at the pavilion your will complete the Rites of Passage to become Av’Daun
named. At that time you will answer any challenges made against you. When all
has been resolved you will follow the High Queen out among your people on the
radius path around the pavilion. When you return, all the gems and gold that
you had blessed in your three eves’ vigil will have been added to your mantle,
and you and the High Queen will be dressed and you both will assume your
mantles and the High and Low Thrones. You will preside until one san’chron
before Av’set, when the Feast of De’en’nu commences. After two san’chrons, you
may retire to contemplate your new status and be apprised of your new duties.
Then, at Av’Dawn the next turn, your new duties begin.”

Ashmisa put down the scroll after this long oration
and looked at Jeliya. “Do you have any questions?” she asked, in her own voice,
different from the officious voice in which she had read the itinerary.

Jeliya shook her head. Usually the ceremonies for
any of the Festivals, including the De’en’nu, were not so strenuous. But since
it coincided with her coronation as High Heir Named, the provisions for that
eventuality had been instituted. Plus there was the test for her fitness to
rule. She had known this was coming. All her questions had been answered long
before.

“Then you must rest and prepare yourself for the
coming turn, and your return to Court. Blessing of peace and light be upon you,
Highness.” She pressed Jeliya’s hand and received an answering smile, then took
her leave.

…the light,
tense and turgid with anticipation, turned…

The City of Ava’Lon swelled as a flower blossoming
swells, burgeoning forth with fruits of harvest and hard work. Its petals
unfurled as its people unfolded stands and pavilions, built booths and
platforms, and generally prepared for the huge celebration in the harvested
fields outside the City proper. And at the heart of this bloom rose the Palace T’Av’li,
from which all power and grace flowed like the heady scent of pollen and the
sweet turn of nectar, moving and moved by the will of the people, awaiting the
right moment to put forth its richest bounty - the royal Family of the High
Queen.

Merchants buzzed about the City, industrious as
bees, directing workers in moving and storing goods. Local nobles and Royal
entourages moved stately through the press and crush without av’tunning, like
colorful bouquets in their own right, settling into their temporary residences
to await the festivities. Children, excused from lessons, ranged free like
ants, whether running and playing with youthful abandon, or helping with
preparations, fetching and carrying, ferrying messages, and innumerable small
things that the adults were too busy to deal with. They performed many simple,
but pleasurable tasks, decorated costumes and stuffed themselves with treats.
Adolescents helped take stock of inventory, prepared less complicated dishes or
readied ingredients for others to use, watched over younger siblings and tried
to be as grown up and useful as possible. The adults readied themselves and
their various goods and services for the influx of people who would arrive from
all over the Realm, including the Av’Touched.

But at one san’chron to zenith, all activity ceased.
Everywhere in the Wulady Realm, the youthful and aged turned their eyes to a
special plaza, waiting.

the light
turned...

In the Palace T’Av’li, Audola stood at her balcony,
watching the rush and flow of its denizens like the pulse of blood through some
huge beast. Her hands lay lightly on the banister, her eyes on the glittering
buildings below, but her mind was farther away, at a certain Lan’mba farthest
from the Palace.

To know that Jeliya was safe was enough. Audola felt
time, like an enemy, weigh against her. Then, like a beast in fright, the
motion below her stopped, blood frozen.

“Av’One, it is time,” Luyon murmured, stepping out
of an av’tun. Servants and maddi slipped silently into the lain.

Time to commence the combining of the Ways. Audola
squared her shoulders and gave herself up to the servants’ gentle tortures.
Half a san’chron later, she av’tunned to her lain of rite-casting, where her
rit’ati waited to assist her. She stood in the middle of the chamber, where a
mosaic of malachite tiles made the stylized form of a boabi. The rit’ati began
beating their lap tym’tyn drums.

“Light of Way,
paths of narrow gold

Av’s turn is
come; let them be as One

Through the
Heart, in turns of old

And with the
zenith, stands Av upon

Ways of High, in
Cities, bold and bright

The san’chron
nigh, with our Harvest done

Bring forth
connecting Light

To our golden
City, may all comers stand

From hand to
hand, by fire’s song and Rite

All Ways are
one, from City heart to land

Combined to a
single glowing strand

Through T’Av’li’s
center, by Av’s own command!”

Golden light flowed from the heart of T’Av’li, down
the main entrance and out along the boulevard that snaked around and through
all of the Ritious City. At each intersection the light branched, filling the
street with a glittering light tunnel of gossamer av’rita. The light expanded
through all of the City’s ways, but one particular branch wove its way to a
circular court, which had a twin in every major wuman city throughout the
Realm. There the light gathered before the avid eyes of millions, growing
brighter and denser, pulsing in time to the High Queen’s heartbeat. In each
mosaic circle, the glow grew, slowly, patiently. Breath held, the people
watched. Then from each the light shot out, through the main street of each
City, from the mosaic court to Temple of Ya’kano at the end.