The Age of Light (The Ava'Lonan Herstories Book 1) (14 page)

She was quiet for a very long time. She sat still,
through the telling of the folktale “The Bull and the Golden Calash,” and
through a performance by the royal dance troupe in honor of the first
Bolorn
of
Ava’Lona
.
The movements of the reveling royalty took on meaning as she watched with
practiced, unobtrusive eyes.

Soku did not break the silence; she knew Barajini
would speak when she had an answer to Soku’s question, or confirmation to her
own suspicions.

“I see -
pools of potential,”she observed slowly. Her fingers moved in the private
language between them,
I see a trend of support tendered to one of the
Cat-kin Tribes.
Tokia’s totem animal was the
gila
cat.

“Yes,” Soku said. Barajini took that as a prompt
that she had found the topic the Queen wished her to think upon.

“Many of our Border and Lesser Sisters seem -
restless,” she continued.
They seem to be in unspoken support of her.

“Indeed.”

Ah
, Barajini thought with satisfaction.
That
is what concerns my Queen.
She turned over the matter in her mind.

“Not a good thing,” she said, tasting pineapple. Her
tart was half gone.

“No, it is not. Not for such as we.”

Barajini now knew, at least generally, what the Doan
Queen wanted to discuss. She was concerned about the possible division of power
and the impact it would have on the smaller, less influential Tribes like the
Doan.

“There are ways of - calming them,” she ventured,
unsure if Soku were thinking of tendering support to Tokia.
Ways of
preservation?

“And most of them unsavory at best,” Soku said with distaste.

Barajini thought that over. Soku was not thinking of
siding with Tokia, then. That meant that if there were a shift of power in the
Weste and then a conflict, the Doan Tribe stood a chance of being destroyed.
But Soku had said ‘most,’ not ‘all.’ Perhaps she had an alternative?

“Most,” Barajini echoed, testing her hypothesis,
“but not all.”

“No, not
all.”

“How may I
serve you, my Queen?”

“I believe that we need to expand the Trade of our
Western Border sisters,” the Doan Queen said, seemingly changing the subject in
midstride. “Form a network that touches all corners of the Realm.” Her fingers
said,
There is the potential for a rift to form in the ranks of the Queens
.
This must be stopped. Tokia, for reasons
known only to her and hers, has decided to take advantage of the confusion
surrounding the ascension of the High Queen. We, too, might seize upon
opportunity, to close that rift. But that depends upon the minds of our
sisters. There must be others that feel as we do. We must watch for them.

“Yes,” Barajini replied to both statements, a slow
smile touching her lips.

“Such a thing would be unprecedented. But it is time
for a change, I think. The Greater Queens can not have full control of
intra-Realm export forever.”
The situation must be approached carefully.

Barajini understood fully now. Soku was proposing
that she form her own
Yakan’tsu
that, on
the surface, seemed purely concerned with Trade, but was really a counter
measure to Tokia’s schemes. The formation of such a thing had to be done carefully,
for Tokia would be watching for just such an attempt to foil her plans. The
Ottanu Queen would have to be dealt with in such a way that she would believe
that the
Yakan’tsu
was exactly as it seemed. And she would have to be persuaded that it was not in
her best interests to join.

Too, Barajini understood the need for the double
talk between herself and Soku. With the underlying unrest of the whole affair,
any misspoken comment overheard could do incomparable amounts of damage.
Av’tunning
their thoughts was prohibited by ancient rites.

“It has been tried before, Majesty,” Barajini said.
Which was true; many Lesser Queens had tried to change the system of Trade, but
all attempts had failed for one reason or other. Her fingers said,
We and
others of like mind may be competing with Tokia for the same Sisters.

“Yes, I am
aware of that,” Soku replied. “We will simply take a different approach.”
There
are those I know will not support her under
any
circumstances, and those
who would not, given any other choice. Tokia would have to approach these
Sisters carefully, sugar-coating her own proposition. They can simply say that
they found a better arrangement. That is what we will say if we are approached.

“Excellent, my Queen,” Barajini murmured, leaning
close and gesturing faintly as if to point something out to her Queen. She used
the rustle of her silk garment to cover her words. Unspoken etiquette had been
satisfied: with her initial approach many would immediately send listening ears
to eavesdrop. By now most would have passed and come away none the wiser. Now
they could speak in relative privacy as long as they kept their voices low.
This was expected. “And when she
approaches you to try to worm her way in, you might tell her that it would have
serious political repercussions if you permitted her to join. Attack her ways
of negotiation and business, divert her from bringing her suspicions of your
intentions to the discussion. All know the Ottanu’s ruthless ways of business;
this will not arouse her suspicions. Rather she will see you as an opportunity
to sway many of the other Queens of Tribes such as ours that she would not
otherwise have access to, if she can convince you.” She shifted and pointed out
some other inconsequential thing.

“We must move swiftly to reach those of our Sisters
who might be swayed by Tokia, but would rather have nothing to do with her. Go
out and make overtures with some of the other neutral Lesser Queens. It is time
to see how much weight my oath-claim carries. I will begin composition of a
letter of intent to the High Queen.”

Barajini
nodded, then added, “Tokia seems quite interested in you for some reason.” The
Voice looked at her liege. “Could something have occurred that would lead her
to guess our intentions, my Queen?”

“I believe Tokia is interested because I am the
least of the Lesser Queens of the Weste,” Soku observed, waving a negligent
hand as if making some trivial comment. “If others of greater rank see me
endorse Tokia’s position, they may feel less trepidation, for they would not be
in the position of influence. If Tokia can gain support from the bottom up, she
can gather more sympathizers more quickly. Especially since I would be
exemplary of at least one of her arguments.”

At Barajini’s askance look, cloaked by an amused
smile, Soku outlined the short conversation between herself and Itil sul Moyi.
Barajini nodded thoughtfully.

“We might
even be able to use that to our advantage,” she said.

“Yes,” Soku nodded and smiled, still keeping up the
appearance of a light, frivolous conservation. “And the Supreme One knows we
need all the advantages we can get. Pen a note to the High Queen on my behalf,
Barajini, requesting a private
lorn
. Then see it
to her. Hopefully I may gain endorsement of what I do by telling her my full
intentions. And Barajini, be - discreet.”

“Of course, Majesty. Always.”

the
eve turned, darkness to darkness...

The High Queen gazed out at the activities of her
subjects, and did not like what she saw. Dissension among the Queens
had occurred before - it was to be expected. But never quite to the dangerous
level that she sensed in the undertone of this
Salaka
.
The
Bolorn
had not gone well, not as well as she had hoped, and now there was a very real
possibility that the subtle signs of internal friction between the Greater and
Lesser Queens could turn into outright civil war. Audola stifled a sigh, flexed
her stiff and aching back with small movements. Perhaps she was being an alarmist.
The signs she was seeing could lead to a number of possible outcomes, the very
worst of which was internal fighting among the Inner and Border
’lons.
Her strategy teacher had always told her to assume the worst in any situation
and then hope for the best, but in application she had to try and see every
avenue, every possible and probable consequence and narrow it down to one
course of action. Things might not be as bad as she thought, or they could be
worse than she imagined. She really needed to consult with her advisors and
take into consideration their opinions and thoughts on the situation. Then, she
could worry.

The High Queen looked at the rich food being served
on platters of gold and plates of sapphire and
jadine
.
Her own plate was heaped with the most delectable culinary delights the royal
kitchens could offer, but she found that she had no appetite. She was still
desperately frantic over the missing Heir. And though her demeanor did not show
it, the strain of keeping her face impassive was taking its toll, the weight of
worrying and the chafing of frustration at not being able to act at once
wearing away all of her reserves. The feeling, in the face of all her power, of
being powerless to find her daughter, the anger at whomever was responsible for
keeping the Heir from making her way home - all of these boiled dangerously
close to the surface. And the worried glances she intercepted from Luyon were
not helping either, just adding to the general confusion of things.

How she wished she could have cancelled the
Bolorn’toyo
the moment the Heir seemed to be in trouble! How she wanted to dismiss the
Salaka
and begin immediately with a Rite of Seeking! But these things were not
possible, for once called, the
Bolorn
could not be
rescinded unless the entire Realm were at stake. Once called, the tradition of
the Bolorn could not be postponed and absence could not pardoned except in the
most extreme cases of sickness or danger. Once called, attendance of all Queens was required, and Audola was subject to the same
laws as all others, even laws that she made. She had called the
Bolorn
a third of a Season ago. Then eight turns before the gathering, the Heir had
disappeared without a trace.

She had tried a low order Rite of Finding, and
turned up nothing. The
Av’rujo
had turned
up nothing. On top of all her duties during the preparations, she sought and
sought. Finally, she put into motion the beginnings of a High Order Rite of
Finding, a rite that required two turns of groundwork and six Rite-casters to
perform. It was all ready.

And the rigid custom of the
Bolorn’toyo
and the
Salaka
,
once called, kept her from acting. To cancel them would have been an
unforgivable affront to the Ancestors, the Goddesses and the Supreme One.

The evening wore on. Audola kept a serene expression
fixed upon her face and she smiled and conversed sometimes with those around
her. Servants from several Queens brought her
missives, which her Voices accepted and passed on to her. She glanced at them
all and made the appropriate response. But the broil of her emotions kept
resurfacing in her thoughts no matter how she tried to divert herself. By the
end of the eve she was worn down to a thread.

The last of the revelers were struggling to get up
and leave when a final servant not wearing Tribe colors nervously fluttered at
her elbow. She took a deep breath and mentally shook herself, feeling as if she
had been in a daze of pain. She waited while Luyon acknowledged the man,
accepted the carefully folded square of
papi’ras
the
servant presented to him. Luyon passed the note to her. Her eyes flickered over
the words written there, then raised to search the last of the festive guests
remaining within the
Great Laine.
A pair
of eyes caught her own. She gave the slightest of nods, received only a
slightly deeper bow from the other.

*:
Mother?
:* Rilantu’s
‘
tunned
voice whispered in her ear. He circumvented the Rite that prevented
av’tunning
one’s thoughts to another with ease. *:
Who is it this time?
:*

Audola did not admonish her eldest for his breach in
protocol. The note had been delivered circumspectly rather than directly. To be
seen in discussion immediately after receiving it would turn undue interest to
the sender. Rilantu chose the lesser of two indiscretions, electing not to
speak out loud. His handsome face, though showing traces of the fatigue they
all felt, would give no indication that he was in secret conversation with
anyone.

Instead she gestured in their private short hand not
to pursue the matter, and that they would discuss it later.

*:
Friend or foe?
:* Staventu interjected from
the side. That he knew and participated in what should have been a private and
unapparent conversation did not surprise her. He and Rilantu, as twins, had
always had a special link, ever since they were infants. To speak to one was to
speak to both.