Empress Aurora Trilogy Quest For the Kingdom Parts I, II, and III Revised With Index (Quest For the Kingdom Set) (47 page)

They followed
Wangdakene out of the chamber and down a narrow corridor. This path through the
mountain continued unchanging for at least a mile by Marcus’ calculation before
it gradually rose in steepness until at last they faced the rock wall.

In another
cave this would have signified the end of the road. But the Khalaman, clever
people that they were, had carved steps into the rock wall itself. Fifty steps
of stone they counted as they climbed, up into yet another chamber they had not
known the existence of.

Within the
chamber were gathered about half a dozen men and women whom the little group of
friends had not seen at any of the communal meals. The reason for that,
Wangdakene explained, was due to the special status of this small group.

For they were
the Yeshui, the star gazers, and they lived in this chamber that was set apart
from all others. They took all of their meals within its confines, and slept in
adjoining small chambers that branched off the larger one.

Among this
elite group, Marcus noted uneasily, was Kunchena, the mother of Tashima and
Chodena, of whom he had heard but never seen. At the precise same moment she
spied the presence of Marcus and his friends, and not with pleasure.

Her dark eyes
flashed malevolently before she quickly shuttered them like draperies shutting
out the noon day sun. She said nothing, yet Marcus was aware that she missed
nothing of their movements. This one, he thought, bears watching.

Wangdakene
paused in the center of the chamber until all present fixed their attention on
him. Then he smiled slightly and bowed to those whom he had called the Yeshui.

“O wise and
learned ones, who search the secrets of the stars,” he began, “I have given our
honored guests the privilege we have extended to none before them: I have told
them our history and our purpose for our dwelling in this place, high above the
world. I wish them to see what none other than ourselves have ever beheld. Let
us show them the heavens in all their glory!”

After
Wangdakene uttered these words, a young man rose and walked to a far corner of
the chamber. Wangdakene motioned for the little band of Alexandrians to follow,
and to their utter surprise they beheld another set of stairs carved into the
stone. They followed him up this flight of steps, thirty in all, and at the
head of them the young man reached upward for a handle of some wrought metal
set into the roof of the chamber.

He pushed
upward, and a small door opened outward. They trooped up after him, and found
themselves in a small courtyard, of about forty feet square on the very top of
the tallest mountain.

From here the
panorama was dramatic. The night had fallen and the sky glittered with what seemed
like a myriad of stars; hundreds and hundreds of them. A full moon had risen,
and by its iridescent glow the peaks of the surrounding mountain range was
clearly visible as if illuminated with a light of their own.

The air was
somewhat chilly, it being only the first week of May. But already the hint of
balmier weather to come was conveyed on the soft breezes that carried a
delightful whiff of fresh spring flowers to their appreciative nostrils. Kyrene
inhaled hungrily, as did Elena, so starved were they for the scents of the
season, after being confined in the stone halls of the mountains for several
days.

The Khalamans,
however, seemed oblivious to the sweetness of the scent, their whole desire
being fixated on the dazzling sky above them. They had, Marcus realized with a
sense of shock, lost all touch with the earth and its beauties long ago…

The Yeshui had
followed along in their wake. They eyed them warily, not being accustomed to
admitting strangers into their sacred temple. For it was evident that this was
exactly what the courtyard was: a temple open to the sky, that these people
might worship the heavens and all its starry host.

Wangdakene
strode to the center of the courtyard.

“Kunchena,” he
summoned the older woman, “tell our young friends where we are.”

Kunchena bowed
gravely to Wangdakene. She refused to look at Marcus and his friends where they
stood just behind Wangdakene. Marcus felt his skin begin to prickle and a
feeling of uneasiness crept over him.

He glanced at
Kyrene, whose gaze was fixed on the older woman. He saw her lips move silently
and knew she felt the same disturbance by this woman that he felt. Was it
because of her hostility, or was she demonically empowered, and he felt the
presence of the Astra?

Kunchena,
however, had begun a strange ritual. She took a wooden rod and dipped it into a
small clay jar filled with an ointment that emitted a sweet, heavy fragrance.
It seemed to be floral in nature, but not of any flower of Marcus’
acquaintance. He turned to Wangdakene and looked a question.

Wangdakene
whispered that it was the essence of the
malanka
flower, which grew
abundantly in their native land. It was a pale blue star-shaped flower,
symbolic of their identity.

Marcus
realized it must be this very flower that adorned the hair of all of the
Khalaman women. But now Kunchena was proceeding with the ceremony, and she
smeared the ointment on the stones of the courtyard. Marcus realized they must
use the ointment as a kind of incense to sanctify the place where they stood.

Then Kunchena
lifted her arms heavenward to the place where the full moon hung suspended in
the sky.

“Dawana!” she
called out. “Shamere!” she cried, whirling in a circle as she pointed to the
stars. “Wangchuken ek mu posone en kun sashine!”

Wangdakene
translated this phrase for the little band of friends: “Moon! Stars! Mighty is
your glory in all the world!”

Felix managed
to catch the eye of Marcus. Usually the first to see the ludicrous in the
beliefs of another culture, Marcus was faintly surprised to see that Felix
looked distinctly uncomfortable.

Marcus felt it
also, and noticed that Dag was shifting from one foot to another while Kyrene
paled. She clutched small Cort’s hand and put one hand on his shoulder. Elena
alone remained impassive; if anything Marcus thought, she appeared to be
stifling a yawn.

But Wangdakene
was speaking to him and clearly was waiting for a response.

“I am sorry,”
Marcus blinked and stammered. “I did not hear what you said.”

Wangdakene
smiled benevolently.

“I said,” he
repeated in the sweetest of tones, “it is your turn now.”

Marcus looked
at him blankly.

“Turn?” he
repeated. “Turn for what?”

A snort of
impatience issued from the lips of Kunchena. She spoke rapidly in the older
language to Wangdakene.

“Imbecile!”
she huffed. “Why do you have them join us? It is sacrilege, I warn you,
sacrilege!”

Wangdakene
turned back to Marcus and the others, and bowed graciously as if unfazed by the
ire of Kunchena. Once again he smiled and bowed.

“It is your
turn to partake in the worship,” he stated simply. “You must declare the glory
of the heavenly host or they will be angry.”

A gasp of
astonished outrage exploded from Marcus. Cries of surprise erupted from the
other Alexandrians as well. They could not, simply
could
not,
participate in a pagan rite, for their allegiance was to Dominio and Him alone.
Not even to placate their hosts could they take part in the ritual being acted
out before them.

For a moment
he hesitated. He did not want to offend this gracious people who had welcomed
them so warmly and extended that hospitality for more than a week. But they
could not blaspheme against Dominio.

Marcus
steadied himself and glanced at his friends. Kyrene’s hazel eyes widened as she
looked at Marcus; then she dropped her lids for just a moment. Marcus
understood that she also felt as he; and she was silently encouraging him to
speak. Dag and Felix were also gazing at him intently; then Felix inclined his
head slightly. There was nothing to be done, except to speak.

Marcus cleared
his throat and prayed that Dominio would put the right words in his mouth.

“Good
Wangdakene,” he began, “you have honored my friends and me by welcoming us into
your abode. We have been truly blessed, and we most sincerely thank you.”

Wangdakene
seemed to sense something was wrong, for his body tensed suddenly, a look of
wariness came into his eyes, and they never left the face of Marcus.

“My friends
and I must decline to participate in your ritual, however, for we do not serve
your gods.”

Wangdakene
seemed taken aback, and murmuring broke out among the Yeshui.

Marcus plunged
into the fray he sensed was on the way. He told them in the simplest terms
possible, and with gentle courtesy, that he and his friends could not believe
as the Khalaman.

“My good
Wangdakene,” he continued, “we serve and worship the One who created the sun,
the moon, and the stars. You see, there is One greater than all the starry
hosts. His name is Dominio, the Lord of all.”

An exclamation
of protest burst from Kunchena, but Wangdakene waved her to silence.

“Proceed,” he
ordered Marcus, his attention riveted on him.

“You told me,
Wangdakene,” Marcus continued, a surge of boldness suddenly rising within him,
“that the stars have ordained your course; it is set and cannot be changed.

“But that is
not true! For Dominio made Man in His own image, and gave us free will, to
choose whether to love and serve Him, or to go our own way. Man in his folly
chose his own way, and to follow the path of Leon, a traitor to Dominio who led
a rebellion against him and was cast out of his home in Dominio’s Heaven. This
rejection on our part grieved Dominio greatly, for He created us with no other
purpose than to love us. How His heart ached when that love was spurned!

“Yet, He
refused to give up on us. As stubbornly as a lover woos his beloved, He tried
to win our love. He sent His own Son, Alexandros, to tell us of the great love
with which we are loved by Dominio. Because our rejection of Him cost us our
place with Him in His eternal Heaven, a price had to be paid for our admittance
to His home.

“And so
Alexandros, who alone among us was pure and spotless as an innocent lamb, took
our punishment for rejecting God and joining forces with Leon. For we had
chosen to believe that we were gods ourselves, deciding right from wrong,
setting our own course to destruction. Our sentence was to be separated from
Dominio, for why should we be permitted entry to His Heaven when we spurned the
God who ruled it?

“Alexandros
took the punishment that was rightly ours. He died that we might live. And
Dominio raised Him from the dead; and any who wish to be reconciled with
Dominio may count the atonement of Alexandros as his own. He may ask
forgiveness for his rebellion and enmity with God, and so live at peace with
Him, and enjoy Heaven with Him forever.”

Marcus stopped
speaking and looked at the faces around him. Kyrene’s eyes shone at him; she
nodded her head and smiled, and he felt a thrill of elation. Yes, it was the
Spirit within him that testified of the Truth, and he was tremendously relieved
that Dominio had not failed him when the need arose.

The faces of
the Yeshui, however, ranged from blank incomprehension to awestruck wonderment
to furious indignation. Wangdakene himself appeared dazed, but Kunchena rustled
forth angrily, and spat at the feet of Marcus.

“Bah!” she
shouted. “You are deceived, and you lead us astray from the truth!”

She stepped
back and with a swirl of her robes she shook a fist at the sky.

“Dawana!
Shamere! Wangchuken ek mu posone en kun sashine!”

The other
Yeshui raised their voices and joined Kunchena in her worship. Marcus felt, for
a moment only, utter despair. How to make these people understand! Heartily he
wished he could consult Logos, but he could not reach for the Sword now without
the action being interpreted as hostile.

Suddenly,
however, words popped into his mind and out of his mouth.

“Praise the
Lord from the heavens; Praise Him in the heights! Praise Him, sun and moon;
praise Him, all stars of light!”

And just as
suddenly, Marcus knew what his answer was to be.

“Yeshui!” he
thundered in a voice of authority he didn’t know he possessed, “you worship the
sun, and moon, and stars. You believe they guide you and set your course. Yet I
say to you that
they
worship Dominio, and they praise His glory!”

He was met
with howls of laughter led by Kunchena. Wangdakene looked around him uneasily,
looking from one jeering face to another. His withered lips creased in an
uncertain smile, and creaky laughter sounded from his mouth.

This mockery
of Dominio angered Marcus. Who were these people to laugh at the One who gave
them breath!

“Cease!” he
roared, one hand upraised.

The Yeshui were
so surprised that they obeyed at once. The sudden stillness was fraught with
tension as they waited to see what the young stranger would do.

Marcus strode
to the center of the courtyard. He stood with his legs akimbo, and both arms lifted
to the sky.

“Dominio!” he
exulted. “I praise Your holy name. I give thanks for the glories of Your
creation. It is You who made the Heavens and the Earth, and all they contain!
You alone are to be worshiped!”

He suddenly
and with one arm outstretched to the sky, turned in a slow circle.

“And now, O
you stars, give praise to the One who gave you being! Praise Dominio! Praise
the Lord of Heaven!”

Even while
Marcus spoke the last few words, without warning the sky erupted. One after
another and another and another the stars suddenly gleamed brighter and
appeared to grow larger. Then they began to shoot across the sky in a virtual
shower of falling stars. What appeared to be tails of glowing light blazed
behind them. As all gathered watched in awe, they raced across the expanse by
the hundreds, so many that they could not be counted.

A whoop of joy
erupted from Felix, and Kyrene and Cort leaped where they stood. Dag laughed
aloud with the thrill of it, while Elena caught her breath and watched with
eyes shining with wonder.

The Yeshui,
however, were not so elated. After their first startled exclamations died down,
they murmured among themselves. As the star shower went on and on, they turned
with indignation upon Marcus.

“Trickster!
Magician!” they roared. “Stop defiling this sacred temple!”

Their reaction
stunned Marcus. Could they not
see
? How, with such a demonstration of
the sovereignty of Dominio that even His own creation praised Him, could they
stubbornly cling to their own belief?

“Go!”
Wangdakene ordered, a finger pointing with accusation at Marcus. “All of you!
At once!”

Marcus and his
friends fled from their presence.