The Age of Light (The Ava'Lonan Herstories Book 1) (15 page)

The High Queen looked again at the lavender and
coral.

*:
I
don’t know
.:*

the
darkness of late eve turned to the darkness of early morn...

The High Queen had disdained both her palanquin and
‘
tunning
to get to her suite of
lains
. Instead she
paced slowly through the high, long dim halls that tunneled through the great
expanse of the Palace
T’Av’li
, still
hiding her sickness of worry. They needed to make plans and she needed rest
before attempting the Rite.

She did her best thinking on her feet, and moving
through the cavernous passageways that had the illusion of the present eve sky
imposed in the ceiling helped calm her thoughts. It was like walking through a
wide and deep, ornate canyon that stretched on forever. Surrounded by such
vastness and silence enabled her to think clearly without the apparent pressure
of ceilings to hem her in.

Attending her were her twin sons, her Warru First,
and her six Voices. They followed silently behind her, waiting patiently while
she gathered her thoughts.

A sudden opening in the seemingly seamless hallway
led to a miniature sitting
lain
with low,
comfortably padded lounge seats following the concave, semi-circular space, all
facing a low central chair. Audola drifted toward the arrangement of seats,
sank into the center chair. The others settled around her, wondering if she
were ready to talk.

“There is much trouble facing us,” the High Queen
said after a time. “The
Bolorn
did not go
well.”

“We had anticipated the objections to your
ascension,” the sixth Voice Ashmisa stated. “Their protests were groundless.
All know that your ascension is unavoidable.”

“But I had not expected to be challenged,” Audola
said, an edge in her voice. “I am in the weaker position, and this I do not
like. Tokia has supporters even though she bears my disfavor. I think this
speaks more clearly than anything of the strength of my standing.”

“There is the possibility that we will be facing
Turo’dan
,
the end of our golden age,” Otaga said placatingly. “Many are uncertain,
afraid. They may feel betrayed, and may make rash decisions based on that
feeling of fear or betrayal. Perhaps what we saw was just a symptom of this.”

“I disagree,” Sinyi said. “Fear or no, uncertain or
no, Queens do not make such commitments lightly, at least wise ones do not. I
think that they see Tokia as an opportunity to gain power once the Heir
ascends. If the opposition she faces is strong, she will have to work hard to
appease them.” Her voice was not quite derisive. “The Border Queens have always
had a deep-seated resentment of the Inner Queens and the power they hold. I
know - I served in the court of a Border Queen who did nothing but dream of
being a Greater Queen and talked of nothing but being able to cut the Greater
Queens’ power down. And now they see an opportunity to seize some of that
power.”

“Perhaps the Border Queens are rightfully discontent
with the way things stand,” Audola said, thoughtfully. “I have never liked the
division of rank among the Queens. I have long
wished for a way to correct it.”

“But one cannot just arbitrarily throw out a system
that has been in place for thousands of cycles, Audola,” Luyon said. “The
Greater Queens have bigger
lons
and can
contribute more in the way of taxes, offerings and su’sus - therefore they have
more say in the policies that generally govern the whole Realm.”

“And the Lesser Queens get the dim end of the
lain
,”
Staventu muttered.

“It’s not as if the Lesser Queens are being
neglected,” Sinyi protested, glancing at the Prince. “All Queendoms get equal
su’sus
proportional to their size, to maintain their
lons
and roads and homes to a certain standard. With the
su’sus
and the Pact of Sisterhood, the High Queen is able to ensure that all of her
people are fed and housed, if they choose to live in houses, and that in times
of disaster there is immediate aid forthcoming. But for some Queens
that is not enough. Some are content with their
lons
and the weight their Voices are given in the
Alorn
council. But others, like Tokia, are not.”

“And before the threat of
Turo’dan
,
there was little that the discontented Lesser Queens could do about it,” Jarisa
added, putting in her voice. “But now, with the prospect of total obliteration
of all we have ever known facing us, the ambitious and the clever see
opportunities to elevate their standing and are pouncing like starving
ke’nnu
.”

“They would jeopardize the Realm and its
preservation in order to ensure their elevation in a new political system that
might never rise from the ashes of
Ava’Lona
,” Sinyi
said with conviction.

“Not all,”
Staventu protested. “There are those who wouldn’t wish for the burden of a
bigger Tribe or a bigger
lon
.”

“But there are those who do, and it is they that we
must watch for,” Sinyi told him. “And Tokia seems to be in the forefront. As
the
Av
’One
said, we had not anticipated her attack, nor the subtle direction it would come
from. With the simple act of questioning the Heir’s whereabouts in the manner
that she did, she has effectively called into question the credibility and
capability of the Heir to take the High Throne.”

“How can we be sure that it was an attack?” Thiam
asked, taking his usual position of skeptic and devil’s advocate. “Perhaps she
was merely curious. Or concerned.” His own argument sounded thin to his ears,
but he threw it out anyway. All possibilities had to be explored.

“There is little doubt that her statement was an
attack on the Heir,” Jarisa said calmly, not quite as vehement in her
denouncement of the Lesser Queens as Sinyi was. “There was no respect or
concern in her voice. We could all see that. Besides, the
Av’rujo
would not have expressed her displeasure if Tokia had merely been expressing
concern. And the way she basked in the confusion she had brought about was
positively obscene.”

“Such craftiness and ambition directed toward aiding
our Realm could have been an asset to us,” Audola said. She shook her head, her
crown heavy upon it. “But directed against the Heir and myself, it threatens
the cohesion of our Sisterhood and possibly the security and unity of
Ava’Lona
when we need it most. The Heir’s continued absence only makes things worse. She
has been, however wrongfully, challenged. That challenge must be fully answered
in the proper way as to discredit the one who issued it. She will also have to
regain the complete trust of the Realm or everything will fall apart when I
ascend. In addition, we must address this matter of dissatisfaction among the
Lesser Queens.”

“If Tokia had not disgraced herself, you may have
had a precedent to change the tradition that affords the Lesser Queens less
power,” Thiam said, his thin face looking more mournful than usual. “However,
she seems to have closed off that opportunity.”

“Perhaps not,” Audola murmured, reaching into a
pocket-fold and pulling out the last scrap of
papi’ras
she had received.

“What does it say, Mother?” Rilantu asked, his
curiosity piqued.

Audola handed it over to him. “I think that this
Soku sul Doan might be useful in healing the breach in the Queens’
ranks,” she said as the note circulated the group. There were nods and
skeptical looks. Sinyi looked outright opposed to the thought.

“However, the first priority must be locating and
retrieving the Heir. Rilantu, Staventu, Otaga, Jarisa, I will leave that to
you. I would like you to begin that task immediately. The rest of us will put
our heads together and figure out a way to salvage the situation. We will keep
you apprised of any developments. You are excused.”

The four chosen bowed and spread their arms, and
took their leave of the group.

“Can this Soku be trusted?” Ashmisa asked. The
question was followed by a heavy silence. The loyalty of a Queen had not been
called into question in a long time.

“We shall see when I meet with her,” Audola replied
quietly. “And I will consult the
Av’rujo
.”

The fifth
Voice, Dariaku had not spoken. Audola looked to him. “Your thoughts, Dariaku?”
she valued his opinion highly, for he always thought things through thoroughly
before giving an answer.

“I have none yet, my Queen,” he said quietly, bowing
his head to her. She nodded in return. She could wait. Only once had she ever
forced him to give an opinion before he was ready. Fortunately, he had been
right, but thereafter he absolutely refused to speak before his mind had
completely shredded the problem and then put it back together as a solution.
Audola had conceded the point with little fuss.

“I have a thought, Audola,” Luyon said. When she
looked to him he smiled thinly, his full lips barely twitching. “My thought is
that we all get a full eve’s rest and start again in the morn. With all the red
eyes facing me, I fear that I might be looking at
lor’ugawu
.”

There were laughs all around and Audola nodded. “You
are most correct, Luyon. And to look at your eyes, one could believe you to be
the head lor’ugawu of the pack.” She stood and spread her arms. Her advisors
climbed wearily to their feet as well. “Good dreams, my friends. May tomorrow
find us much clearer of mind and
eye.
”

in the last shreds of eve, the deepness
of the darkness turned toward light...

“So
how do we find her?” Staventu asked, gesturing to the huge map that covered the
entire table and fell off on all sides to carpet a large section of the floor.
He tugged at a sandal strap, shaking his head, popping a
gennep
into his mouth. The circle of light from the large chandelier of
av’s
pheres
illuminating the map glowed off his deep bronze skin. “She could be just about
anywhere.”

“Well, what was her last known location?” Rilantu,
his older twin, asked. He sat across the low table from his brother, leaning
into the pool of light. The royal Princes had gathered their own miniature
lorn
in the huge Palace library, consisting of the advisors that their mother had assigned
to them, with the addition of the head Librarian.

“The last time the Heir reported in, she was
somewhere between here and here,” Jarisa said pointing to the Queendom
lons
of
Shannai’lon
and Cantoba’
lon.
“That’s were she left her escort, taking only one
warru
with her, and ordering the rest to continue on to Cantoba
’lon.
She said that she was going to go Weste, to try to approach an
individual from the
Av’
Touched races
and that the full escort would hinder her. It’s the same procedure she had used
when she approached the
Cribeau
and the
Katari
.
You know how they are, some of the
Av’
Touched. They
are very particular about large groups of strangers approaching their
lons
.”

“But what significant Tribe of
Av’
Touched
lives around here?” Staventu stabbed the map, which rustled dryly at such
treatment. His finger lay on the borderline of the two
lons
mentioned. “There weren’t any last I heard.”

“Some of
them are nomadic,” Rukto, the old Librarian, observed in his low, dried up
voice. “Perhaps one has moved there recently.”

“This is all irrelevant,”
Warru
First Otaga said, irritably. “Let’s deal with pertinent facts for now.
Irrelevancies can wait for later.” The
warru woman
was
edgy with a member of the High Family missing, even more so because it was the
Heir. Protecting the High Family was her most important duty, and she took
responsibility for the actions and mistakes of all her
warru
.
Losing the Heir had been unforgivable, and even though the High Queen had not
admonished her, still she felt every moment that the Heir was missing like a
stab to the heart. She, more than anyone, was quite anxious to have the Heir
found and brought back home in one piece, and anything not directly related to
achieving that goal only wasted time, in her view.

“All right,” Rilantu sat back. He began to name the
facts that they had, counting them off on his fingers. “We know her last
approximate location: somewhere on the road between Shannai’
lon
and Cantoba’
lon
, heading Weste,
with only one
warru
. We know when she was there:
almost four ten’turns ago. She could have reached the Border within that time
by
kati’yori
.
So we have an area with a radius of about two thousand yori’turns to search.
Perhaps if we knew specifically why she was there?”

“She was on Journey. But she said something to the
effect of wanting to verify some information in an obscure reference in one of
the
herstory
texts,” Rukto supplied.

“What
information was that?”

“I do not recall, exactly, but I can find out.” At
Rilantu’s nod he clapped his hands, summoning a novice. “Please call for
Pentuk. Ask that she bring with her the reference texts that she and the Heir
were working out of.”

The novice nodded and went to the doorway of the
adjourning
lain
that served as the Head
Librarian’s study. There stood a waist-high drum that seemed to be part of the
wall. The novice caressed the taut skin of the drumhead with his palm, causing
a flat, hissing sound, which he followed with a strong, clear beat in sets of
three. It was a name. He repeated this, then paused, then drummed out a totally
different rhythm. The surprisingly deep voice of the drum traveled along
special conduits in the walls that extended to all parts of the immense Library.
The skill of the novice was clear as the drum almost literally “spoke,” the
rhythm rising and falling like inflections of a voice. He repeated the message
in the same short hand, one that neither Prince was familiar with, cocked his
head, and then nodded to Rukto. He bowed, arms spread, and left.

“We’ll have our answer in a bit,” the old Librarian
said, smiling.

Ten
granes
later a
young woman stepped out of an
av’tun
, her arms
loaded with huge volumes. She came forward, her movements graceful despite her
awkward load. A high, narrow table floated to her from a nearby wall, almost
like a docile pet coming to welcome its mistress. It slid to position itself
before her so that she could put the books down.

“Teacher,” she greeted Rukto, in a soft, melodic
voice, spreading her arms and bowing. “
Warru First
. Voice.
Av’S
ons.”

All greeted her in turn. Then she looked at Rukto
for instruction.

“Pentuk is my best student,” Rukto said, looking
like a proud father. “She will succeed me one of these turns to come. She was
the Heir’s liaison here at the Library. Pentuk, you were working with the Heir.
I need to know the information that the Heir was seeking to verify, and the
passage it was from. The one for which she was trying to find corroborating
information in the general regions around Shanna
i’lon
and Cantoba
’lon
. I believe it
had to do with the
herstory
of the
Av’ru
and the occurrence that preceded the
Zehj’Ba
.”

Pentuk felt a tiny pick of sweat start under her
arms as she lifted the top book, laid her hand on the cover, murmured a short
rite. She was nervous enough being in the presence of such powerful people. But
two were the Princes, and in their presence, the Rite-binding of secrecy that
the Heir had laid upon her might be broken. Her teacher would not be pleased.
She deliberated whether to take the initiative and break it herself or to wait
until someone asked a pertinent question that required the Rite-breaking. The
book flipped open when she moved her hand away, turning itself to the desired
page. She held the book forth to Rukto. She would wait.

“Read it, child,” the old man said, waving the book
away, taking his spectacles off to rub his eyes. “My old eyes need as much rest
as they can get.”

Pentuk cleared her throat, scanned down the column
of writing. A small globe of light appeared above her to illuminate the words.

“ ‘And it happened that in the cycle five thousand,
four hundred and fifty of the
Ava’dan
, during the
reign of Silini sul Ava’Lon, that there was a minor disturbance at the Western
Border of the
Av’ru
, a ripple in the patterns of the
Av’ru
.
This disturbance was investigated immediately and recorded in the official
Library Periodicals. Further details of the investigation may be obtained in
the Journals of Silini’s
Warru
First
Tumbaya.

“ ‘The High Queen Silini was forced to ascend to
become
Av’rujo
with the appearance of the
Zehj’Ba
, and in the
cycle five thousand four hundred and fifty four, her daughter, Heir Jenikia sul
Ava’Lon became High Queen.’ ”

“That’s it?” Staventu asked. “That’s not much of a
reference.”

“It refers to the proper text in which to find the
information we seek,
Av’
Son,” Pentuk
said, closing the book. “I am merely starting at the point in our search that
put the Heir on her present course.” She absently smoothed her light silk wrap,
making the folds fall straight. “We were led to many other references, in fact,
in our pursuit of the notion that the Heir had. And we found something very
disturbing.”

“Perhaps you’d better start at the beginning,
Pentuk,” Rukto said. “Tell exactly what put you and the Heir upon the trail
that led you to your discovery.”

“Yes, Teacher. The Heir came to the Library a cycle
and a half ago, very distraught after she learned of the High Queen’s intended
ascent. Teacher Rukto assigned me to give her whatever aid she might require.
She told me that she wanted to see every article of information about the
Zehj’Ba
that I could get my hands on, no matter how obscure. There are, of course,
volumes and volumes of treatises, discussions, analyses, reports and dissertations
about the
Zehj’Ba
.
There are copies of almost every book and scroll in
Ava’Lona
here in this Library, and the mountain of works we accumulated was monumental.
It was too much to handle on one table, with just the two of us. So we moved to
one of the bigger
lains
of study and,
with the help of many novices, we began to sort out the many and often
conflicting documents. I do not think that such an extensive study of the
Zehj’Ba
has ever been conducted in all the cycles that we have been looking for its
source. The Heir was truly tenacious - we got half way through the information
we had gathered before she began to get frustrated.

“I suggested that perhaps if I knew more
specifically what she was looking for, we might be able to find it more expediently
by eliminating the texts that were obviously irrelevant. She then confided that
she was looking for some hint to the cause of the
Zehj’Ba
.
Then she asked me if there were any unusual events before the
Zehj’Ba
that might be related to or might give some clue of its cause. That’s when we
ran across this reference. The closest event of an unusual nature preceding the
Zehj’Ba
is this disturbance, four cycles before. We thus turned our search in a new
direction, and made our discovery of something that no one else seems to have
been aware of.” She paused, let her eyes touch each of them to lend
significance to her next words.

“All direct references that have detailed accounts
of the investigation of the disturbance have either been lost or destroyed in
some manner or other. To make a long search short, we found that all such
manuscripts that might have given a clear description of the disturbance in all
the Libraries within nearly twenty
lons
of the Ritous
City have either been destroyed beyond recreation or rewritten, omitting the
necessary information that we required.”

Staventu exclaimed and Otaga clucked her tongue in
astonishment. Jarisa stared at the student Librarian and Rukto shook his head,
obviously having heard about this before.

“How that
escaped my predecessors’ notice is a mystery,” he said sadly.

“Every reference?” Staventu demanded, outraged. He
had a love of
herstory
and of books, as did his
siblings, and the loss of any materials saddened him. “Does Mother know about
this?”

Pentuk nodded, also looking grieved. “Therefore, the
Heir decided to investigate the Libraries of some of the more distant
lons
.
It seems that the destruction and omission were deliberate, and quite thorough,
in and around the Inner
’lons
. But whoever
was responsible for this crime was not so meticulous when it came to the more
distant
lons.
Perhaps she or he felt that the smaller Libraries of those
lons
were less likely to have very much information about what we were looking for
and any losses from these places would be more noticeable. The perpetrator was
for the most part correct; most of the Libraries farther out did not have texts
that would go into as much detail as the ones here in the Crown City.
But a few precious books managed to survive. In a Library in a distant Western
lon
the Heir found a text that described the investigation of the disturbance.” She
held up a slim volume, dark with age and stiff from disuse. “In it the
warru
tells of an unusual creature being found near the Border immediately after the
disturbance. He reported that the being was sent to the Ritious City.
And four cycles later the
Zehj’Ba
began.”