Skies Over Tomorrow: Constellation (25 page)

“Hieu!” she said, fanning her face, her eyes shut tight.

“Emperor Ohin is master.”

“What?” She then heard the drawing of a sword and backed away. “Hieu!” The sound of the sword piercing light armor and flesh, as he struck a guttural chord, shocked her.

Tears began to wash Ayame's eyes, and she stumbled to the bath area. Having reached the basin in a frantic state, she searched for and found its faucet and drew a stream to flow. Her hands came together under the running water, and with a captured scoop of it, she splashed her face. She cupped more water and drank it to rinse the gritty taste from her mouth. Her hands came together for more water, and she brought it to her face and inhaled just enough of it to flush her nostrils clean. With relief to her senses, she turned off the water and reached for a hand towel and patted her face dry, sponging her eyes. Then she heard wailing from the den and rushed out. She saw Ume in the doorway, cradling Hieu close to her chest, and was speechless as the chambermaid, kneeling in a puddle of blood, rocked the body of her head squire.

“Why?” Ume said, looking up to her lady. “Why punish him? He was most loyal to you.”

“You misunderstand. He took his own life.”

“I don't believe you!”

Ayame frowned, and said, “Because you are in distress, I will pardon your insolence.”

“And I shall not forgive you for what you have done!”

“Do not let your distress cloud your wisdom, chambermaid,” a voice said from the hall.

“Shen?” Ayame said and turned her back to the doorway. “Shen, you should not be here. Please return to your chamber. I will resolve this matter.”

“He was dead long before this.”

“What do you mean?” said Ayame. “What happened to him?”

“I do not know. Something happened on his way to the temple. His pack animal lay dead in the forest, and at the temple, his presence vexed the High Priestess. She said he was cursed by sinister magic, that it had consumed his soul.”

“Ume, go and fetch the house staff and inform Madam Nariko of this matter. Go now.”

“Aye, milady.”

“Shen, this concerns me. He spoke of Emperor Ohin before he took his life.”

There was only silence.

“Shen?” Ayame turned, and went to the door, careful not to step over Hieu's body, or in his blood. She poked her head into the corridor and saw only the chambermaid sobbing with short strides toward the servants' wing. She then looked down at the body of her head squire and noticed the purple pouch in an open hand, recognizing the embroidered Sharizardian emblem on it.

When night relented to day, with the sun sitting just above the horizon, base servants honored Hieu with a passing rite. They carried the body of their brother to the forest at rear of the of the estate, where the burial grounds rested right beyond its edge, with a considerable offset from the stable's line of entry. The ceremony, less prestigious than if for a noble, was quaint and docile; but still no less deserving for the gentleman. Lady Ayame, in attendance to the interment of her attendant-at-arms, was the last to leave his grave; his last words troubled her.

“Ohin,” she said. “How do they know?”

“This may be the beginning of the end for me,”
said Shen, speaking telepathically from the house to Ayame.

“Only because you've been betrayed,” she said, her voice low and soft as she focused on the headstone of her head squire.

“I am not the first to seek the Holy Orb. Those who have gone before have died on Maraknus, and so it, too, may be my fate. I cannot accuse the Creator of betraying me.”

“No, Shen. Someone has betrayed you. Someone has told the Sharizardians of your quest.”

“You are tired. You know not what you say.”

“Aye, I am tired, but not so exhausted to speak in circles.” Ayame sighed and said, “I fear I cannot protect you—not by myself. You will need more than one escort to Maraknus. I believe the adversity we anticipate may be greater than what we think.”

“I have cursed you and your house. I should not have involved you, so I shall not involve others.”

“We have yet begun it for you to be pessimistic.”

“It began when I decided to seek the Holy Orb, when I asked that you join with me on this quest.”

“Regardless, I joined with you because my heart opened to you. I made that decision, and I will not betray and abandon you now. Do not ask that of me, and be assured that I never will.” For a brief moment, the silence of the forest kept Ayame company, and then she said, “We leave today. Please, Shen, we should not go alone.”

“Very well, but it shall not make a difference.”

Ayame looked to the house. “Do not bear the prospect of further gloom unto me,” she said. “Despite everything, at least let the day I will become your wife bring you some sense of happiness.”

“Indeed, it does.”

Ayame smiled, but the gesture was weak and faded as she looked back to the headstone. She sat in stillness for a moment.
“You should rest if you are to survive Madam Nariko,”
she then said telepathically.

“And you?”

“I must ready our trip to Khonshu. The Pris Chroma leaves for Arcanon this early evening.”

“You should rest.”

“I shall rest during our voyage to Maraknus.”

“As you wish.”

Ayame felt Shen withdraw from her mind. She then reached out to the gravestone; her fingers traced over the ornamental detail of the granite marker with a light touch. “Good-bye, Hieu,” she said, and then stood and left the burial grounds.

Ume came to Lord Shen's chamber midmorning, and knocking on the door of the guest quarters, she entered and found the spiritual noble asleep. She called her lord out of his slumber and informed him that he was to meet with Madam Nariko in the garden before attending the morning repast with other lords and ladies. Shen sat up. The chambermaid asked that he not keep Her Majesty in waiting, as she moved to the wardrobe trunk at the foot of the bed; from it, she retrieved his clothing and chasuble. Having closed the chest, she laid his attire on top of it, and offered to attend him in the bath area. Shen refused and stood, wearing long undergarments, and went to wash up. Ume then took her place by the chamber's entrance and waited on him with a lowered head. After the interlude of cleanliness and emerging from the bath area, Shen went to the wardrobe trunk and took up his clothes, one article at a time, and dressed. When he was ready, he gestured to Ume and followed her to the garden.

Amid the overwhelming and pristine ornamentation of the manor, as they toured through it, Shen knew he would have to reassure Madam Nariko, for she was most unsettled with the death of a servant in her house, and given the timing of his arrival at her estate, she saw it as an omen.

They entered the vivid magnificence of the chateau's immense garden spot from a side door, and Shen delighted in the breeze that carried the aroma of various flowers, plants, and trees. There were gardeners and field maids at work, harvesting fruits and vegetables and medicinal herbs, and cultivating the land.

“She awaits you over there, milord.”

“Thank you,” Shen said, and left Ume at the entrance. He treaded the trail of sand and stone over to Madam Nariko; she stood hiding from the morning sun behind a tree.

“Good morning, Lord Shen, and welcome to the House of Sarauniya.”

“Your Majesty,” he said and bowed.

Madam Nariko held out her arm, and Shen positioned his right arm such that the madam looped and locked her arm around it, and they began their stroll in the garden, walking at a slow pace.

“When Lady Ayame approached me with the contrivance to retrieve the Holy Orb, which I and this house support, I was unaware that you planned to join us as well.”

“It only seemed natural, as we have opened ours hearts to one another,” said Shen. “When I first met her, the way her presence had taken hold of me, I knew to become one with her meant becoming a part of this house.”

“Indeed. I understand it started in the market—the second day of the Lunar New Year celebrations. I must say she has been taken by you very much as well.”

“Aye, I see it in her eyes.”

“As I do yours, Lord Shen. That much is obvious. However, you have claimed her in a most archaic way that disrespects the traditions of this house.”

“I meant no disrespect, my mistress. If you must know, I defeated her in mock combat, to which she lost a wager. If she had won the fight, I am sure we would not be having this conversation.”

“You defeated Lady Ayame—my sister—in mock combat?” The matriarch laughed and then said, “Surely, your tongue rolls like the waves of the sea, Lord Shen?”

“No, my mistress. It is true.”

“I find it hard to believe that the most capable knight of the Sarauniya House lost a fight to a priest-monk.”

“She has trained me well.”

“Perhaps.”

They were quiet, each looking off in different directions over the expanse of the garden.

“Tell me, Lord Shen, will you find the Holy Orb?”

“Aye. It sits in the ancient temple as built by our ancestors on Maraknus. When it is returned to Enteria, a lasting peace will once again reign throughout this world.”

“Our ancestors? History does not see it that way.”

“We are all the same, my mistress.”

“Not as I see it, and I doubt very much that the Creator sees us as the same. I believe She favors us over the Sharizardians. Perhaps if they had not stolen the Holy Orb and fled with it to Maraknus, then they would not have felt Her wrath. Now they are without the Creator and a home—and rightfully so.”

“Perhaps,” said Shen, “but now it is time to set things right. As they were before the voraciousness of power overwhelmed our spirituality.”

“And you think you can accomplish this?”

“Aye, my mistress.”

“There are those who will not look to return to the past. The power they have will not easily be given up, and I believe you will find that to be the case on either side. Have you considered why the priest-monks that went before you have failed?”

“No, I have not,” said Shen. “I have not viewed their deaths as failures. Their loss comes from a belief in the natural order of things as planned by the Creator. Those who have gone before have died for peace. If death is, too, my fate, then I shall die an honorable death. Notwithstanding though, what is believed to be true shall be taken in by the masses, and they will expect our leaders like you, my mistress, to commit to the ideals of a better way of life, and I hope before the inevitable comes.”

“It matters not to me if you die for what you believe, Lord Shen. My worry is for Lady Ayame and this house.”

“Your worry is understandable.”

“As I see it, she is risking her life as well as her heart.”

“Indeed, she is, but she feels she can protect me. She has even decided to ask other nobles to accompany us. Last night's incident has led her to believe someone has conspired to stop me from retrieving the Holy Orb.”

“Aye, she expressed the same concern to me last night as well,” said Madam Nariko. “You are wise to heed her caution.”

“Aye. I do trust in her, and so with your permission, then, two other nobles shall join us.”

“Two shall be sufficient. If other houses catch wind that this house has been left defenseless, then surely one of them will see it as a opportunity.”

“I understand.”

“If I may buttress my worry for Lady Ayame—”

“Of course, my mistress.”

“I worry that I shall lose my sister to either madness if you die, or death if her suspicions hold weight. I wish neither of you an ill fate because in either instance, without Lady Ayame, this house loses its power. Thus, I lose my influence over the Council and other houses. The peace—among us Nousalavians—will unravel to the point where the Council will come apart and our houses shall revert to in-fighting, making us no better than the Sharizardians, who would like nothing more than to see us in dissension.”

“I understand,” said Shen, “but I, like Lady Ayame and yourself, my mistress, am resigned to fate. What will come to be will be. Outside of that, I can do nothing—not even have Lady Ayame break her vow to be at my side on this venture.”

“Of course,” said Madam Nariko, “but you shall vow to me that you shall do what you can to ensure the safe return of you and Lady Ayame—with or without the Holy Orb.”

They stopped, and Shen looked at Madam Nariko and said, “With the Creator's wisdom and Her blessing, Lady Ayame and myself shall return in good spirits, for we will return with the Holy Orb.”

“Understand if you should fail to keep your promise, Lord Shen, I shall have your temple eradicated from the face of Enteria.”

“Aye, my mistress.” He then looked over his shoulder to the sound of footsteps behind them.

“Pardon my intrusion, Your Highness, Lord Shen,” Ume said, falling to one knee. “The feast is ready.”

“Very well,” Madam Nariko said. “Let us feast.”

Shen followed Ume's lead to the dining hall with Madam Nariko on his arm. The chambermaid informed Shen that Lady Ayame had eaten earlier and would not be present; however, as she explained, she had been instructed to introduce him to Lord Ogunsheye and Lady Ishiko, the two knights that would complete the party to Maraknus. After introductions were made, Ume left to tend to other errands, and over the course of the brunch, the priest-monk became acquainted with the two nobles, as well as with the other nobles of the house.

Despite the benign, yet interrogative, conversing, Shen's reposeful composure allowed him to cope. Still, he was grateful of Ume's return to the dining hall, as he knew it was time to depart. The chambermaid knelt beside her queen and whispered into her ear.