The Chronicles of Heaven's War: Burning Phoenix (81 page)

Trisha could see the shame reflected in
Chesse’s eyes and smiled, understanding a person’s need to keep
some things secret. “Well…it’s a pleasure to have made the
acquaintance of such a brave and stalwart servant, Co…”

“Chesse, or Chasileah…with the Postal.”
Chesse interrupted. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Field Marshal
Trisha.”

Trisha smiled. “It’s Trish or Trisha… in the
king’s service.”

Chesse thanked her. “Trisha it is.”

After proper introductions were completed,
the conversation turned to why everyone was here, and what the
day’s plans were. After listening for a while, Trisha recommended
that Zadar take the afternoon to spend with his other companions.
“There’s important business to attend to after the luncheon today
that may possibly occupy a great deal of our time. My lieutenant
will be of little use to us. It would be so kind of you to take him
into your charge for a while. Keep him out of trouble, if you know
what I mean.”

All agreed, thinking it a splendid idea.
Zadar gave Trisha a rather passionate kiss, promising a later
return. Trisha invited everyone to dine with her at seven that
night. “Leftenant Crilen and… and Chesse, please come when you
fetch my attendant. I will be expecting you both.”

Crilen did not hesitate, saying he would be
delighted. Chesse stalled, feigning excuse until Zadar cajoled her
into accepting. Trisha grinned, pleased. “We shall see you
then.”

After Trisha and Sarah departed, Zadar and
the others grabbed a quick lunch from a street vendor. As they ate,
a discussion arose over where to go. “It’s been months since I’ve
been to Diamond Ridge.” Crilen offered.

After asking the vendor when the next
northbound lorry was scheduled to arrive, Chesse turned to the
others, disappointed. “We’ve not the time to get there and back for
dinner. I did so much wish to see the Ridge. It’s so beautiful this
time of year.”

Zadar snapped his fingers. “I’ve a remedy, I
believe. Mihai has an old motorcar stabled not far from here. I’m
sure she won’t mind if we borrow it for the afternoon.”

Twenty minutes later, a hard-topped carriage
sedan was speeding north with three passengers anticipating an
afternoon luxuriating in the mineral springs of the Diamond.

* * *

The steaming pools of Mineral Lake were so
refreshing to body and spirit, the trio lingered far into the day,
only departing when the clock forced them.

The mile square Mineral Lake was located at
the southern end of the Diamond Mountains, an area filled with
countless natural geological wonders. A complex of baths and lodges
were scattered around the lake, a gymnasium and amphitheater
anchoring the north and south ends respectively. To the west and
north of the lake stood a line of low limestone ridges that were
dotted with countless natural coves, caves, and caverns. This area
was often referred to as ‘Diamond Ridge’, although, officially,
Diamond Ridge encompassed several hundreds of square miles
more.

Zadar leaned back in the seat of the
autocar, lazily watching the distant rail-stage as it snaked its
way through the rocky hills toward Diamond Ridge. The twice-daily
summer run was popular not only for its destination but for the
delightful scenic ride it offered. A person could travel in silent,
climate controlled comfort or feel the sun and breeze in one of the
open-air cars. The ride was smooth due to antigravity rail systems
and leisurely, with a ground speed of about thirty miles per hour.
This was true of all the rail stages, they being built in long ago
ages when life cared little for time.

Mihai’s motorcar was zipping south at over
double the speed of the northbound rail-stage. Being a wheeled
machine, the ride was not as smooth, and the older Kafter engine
was rather noisy, it being of an internal combustion design. But
the road was wide and more direct, cutting the time to get from the
Ridge to Palace City by over half. The Ridge lorry out of the city
was nearly as quick as the motorcar, but it ran only three times a
day in the summer, once a day in spring and fall, and not at all in
the winter, a daily rail-stage the only way in and out at that time
of the year, seeing that the roads were not kept up.

Still, the motorcar was climate-controlled
and spacious, with the two plush bench seats facing each other, and
it afforded private conversation to the traveling companions. The
trio had lingered long at the Eastern Baths, a rather mundane name
for such a luxurious establishment. One could soak in the bubbling
mineral waters while taking in the sights of the southeastern rocky
foothills and, for a small fee, there was abundant food and drink
to satisfy the palate. Too long they had dallied for a leisurely
drive back to the city, the reason for their current speed.

It was not long before the conversation
turned to the Prisoner Exchange. A debate ensued regarding Asotos’
argument that Lowenah was wrongfully hiding her true identity from
the children in the Second Realm. Chasileah confessed, “It’s a
confusing issue, a dividing one. I’ve heard whispers that Mother is
out of line concerning this. Many feel that cloaking her true
nature creates a false faith in the hearts of those who believe
they are following a male leader. This only adds fuel to the fire
for the people who accuse Mother of deceit by changing Mihai’s
gender when sending her into that world.”

Crilen pondered Chesse’s remarks, then
eyeing her, asked, “So how does our Chasileah feel? Has Mother
stepped over the line on this matter?”

“Stepped over the line?” Chesse shook her
head denying that. “I speak not against what Mother has chosen to
do. I trust to her leadership, her wisdom, but I do puzzle over it.
For the centuries before the global upheaval in Noah’s day, Mother
was known in form and name as ‘Lowenah, the Mother Goddess’. All
the faithful men of old from Seth to Lamech willingly bent a knee
in worshiping her in her true form.”

Zadar spoke up. “All that may well be true,
but the actions of Hormax and his demonic cohorts perverted such
worship into debased and vile religions of filth. Why the men of
those days even took the name of Noah’s wife, Aphrodite, and turned
it into something repulsive and obscene.”

Chesse agreed, countering, “Yet those same
men perverted the male gender by creating gods of evil and obscene
character. Mother still chose to imply the masculine to her
worshipers.”

Zadar disagreed. “The masculine
over
the feminine, not the masculine
without
the feminine...
Mother spoke to her chosen people in womanly terms of endearment,
even speaking with the feelings of a nursing mother. No, I think
that she needed to emphasize her strength and power in a manly way
to a race of men who had, because of Hormaxian machinations,
subjugated women into stations of weakness and slavery. If the
people of those Realms were ever to believe that hope in the
vanquishing of evil existed, they needed a male god to put faith
in.”

Chesse still feared Mother’s deception,
though well-intended, might have negative consequences in the
future when all truths must be revealed.

Crilen queried, “Do you feel that Mother had
questionable motives for doing such a thing? That she may possibly
fear - or have feared - a vast falling away of her
loyal
disciples in the Lower Realms should the facts have been
revealed?”

Her voice carrying the tone of insult,
Chesse curtly answered, “
Never
have I questioned
Mother!”

Crilen sat back, grinning mischievously.
“Whoa, there! No need to go to war here. I was only wondering what
you think of Mother’s decisions concerning this.”

Apologizing for her rude response, Chesse
went on to explain what she meant. “Mother has given to all her
children the freedom of choice, to choose to decide which road or
course to take. It is also a freedom she gives to herself. I have
lived ages longer than either of you, have witnessed other
decisions Mother has made, as well as the consequences of those
decisions.” She leaned forward, shaking a finger. “By Mother’s own
volition, she has regretted some of her decisions made. That takes
not away one bit from who Mother is, but it does reveal that even
wise decisions may not always produce the hoped for results. Should
all of Mother’s decisions prove foolhardy,
I’d rather die a fool
following her than to live eternal a slave to my brother
scum!
”

Zadar cautioned. “What you say may have some
merit of truth to it, but dangerous speech it could be, none the
less. If it fell upon the wrong ears, especially coming from an
Ancient like you… well… weak hearts are easily swaged, and I feel
there are many weak-hearted ones still among us.”

Chesse did not argue, replying, “I only
speak my opinions among trusted confidants for sake of presenting a
clearer picture of the way I see matters.”

Crilen slowly nodded as though considering
Chesse’s comments and Zadar’s admonition. He finally spoke up.
“Well, whether Mother’s decisions were either wise or foolish, that
girl of ours, Darla, sure kicked some ass at the Prisoner Exchange!
No man has anything on her when it comes to being tough!”

It was Zadar’s turn to sit forward,
surprised, asking, “What of Darla? Was she harmed in some way?”

“
Have you been in a tomb?”
Chesse
asked, incredulous. “The gossip has been rife regarding the girl’s
exploits. You were at the Prisoner Exchange, weren’t you?”

Zadar stammered his confessions. “Well… er…
yes, I was, er… but my party left soon after the prisoners were
released.”

Crilen did not allow Zadar to escape with
such an empty excuse. “Maybe so, maybe so, but that was some time
ago. Where have you been since, working on some secret plans for
coming conquests?”

Squirming a bit, fearing that he might ‘let
the cat out of the bag’ if he said too much, Zadar offered a lame
excuse and quickly changed the subject back to Darla. “Nothing
secret, just busy...busy. You know, do this, get that, errand,
errand, errand... Besides, you were at the Prisoner Exchange, too,
Crilen… heard some stories about that. You know the Dogie left
early, told you we were going, myself. I just thought you might
know some details that hadn’t reached the gossip. What of
Darla?”

“All right. All right. Seeing you’re not
giving anything up…” Crilen surrendered. He related stories he
overheard from others who had witnessed Darla’s encounter with
Asotos. Zadar’s ears tingled with excitement at the things
disclosed. As the details of events unfolded, an idea began to
percolate in his mind - that is, until Crilen came to the part
where Darla and Euroaquilo went off on one of Mother’s trade ships
to celebrate a new coming of age.

Zadar groaned, “So she’s gone off with
Euroaquilo? You got me thinking about something, but I needed to
talk with her about what I have in mind.”

Chesse piped up, “The girl’s not far away.
Why, I saw Euroaquilo just yesterday morning at the spaceport,
preparing his escort ship, the Griffon, for its return to the Third
Fleet. He told me that Darla was off on an adventure to meet with
our latest arrival, a certain Ishtar, if I recall, out at the
village, as we speak, I suppose.”

Zadar beamed. “That is good news! I’ll see
if Mihai will allow me to take her carriage out for another spin
tonight, after dinner.”

Chesse frowned, cautioning, “I don’t know if
Darla will take to your intrusion. She’s been waiting a long time
to be together with that child...goes way back with her. It might
be wiser to wait a day or two. Give ‘em time to get reacquainted
before busting in on them.”

“
I don’t have a day or two!”
Zadar
exclaimed. “We’ve got business coming up soon, and I need to find
out answers to my questions before then. Darla will
understand.”

Crilen leaned forward, eyeing Zadar. “Your
face reveals more than your words. Tell us, what is so important
that you should go off on a run to find your sister when a mourning
dove waits for you in her nest? This isn’t the Zadar I know,
willing to forego an evening tryst for the sake of uncertain
consequences. What’s up? Why can’t things wait at least until
tomorrow?”

Not wishing to reveal his full intentions,
Zadar explained, “From what you say, Asotos got really close to
Darla, possibly into her head. She may have learned something
important, a tidbit of information revealing his motives or future
plans.”

Crilen laughed. “You put a lot of stock in
the idea that Asotos would share pertinent information with a horse
maiden - at least that’s what Mother dressed our girl up to be that
day.”

Zadar disagreed. “It was a ruse to draw the
Worm out. ‘Least that was the gossip I heard tell regarding it -
gossip from a dependable source. Mother set Asotos up, tricksing
with him the way she sometimes does, to get him off his guard so he
might do something foolish.”

Rubbing his bearded chin in thought, Crilen
mused, “So it was a setup? Hmm....” He then asked, “You’ve got some
special meeting where you’re planning to share all this with the
big brass? If you do find something worthwhile, do you think they
will buy it, especially coming from Darla?”

Zadar hesitated, not liking Crilen’s
negative implications about his close companion. He imagined that
Ardon had filled his head about her while on the way to the
Prisoner Exchange. Ardon was known to grab the ear of anyone who
would listen when his pride was hurt. He shrugged nonchalantly.
“Well, we have several meetings coming up. See, it’s this way: I’m
an adjunct to the field marshal. It’s my job to provide whatever
information to her that might prove beneficial. Time is always of
the essence when it comes to matters such as making plans and
preparing for things, war maybe. Everyone knows there’s a war
coming. Field Marshal Trisha’s in the middle of what’s coming. It’s
my job to assist her as much as may be.”