The Age of Light (The Ava'Lonan Herstories Book 1) (4 page)

Bequeath to us
your light, we your Daughters call.”

The second tier held the remaining Greater Queens
and the first among the Lesser Queens. These were the Middle Territory Queens,
from the Norae, Este and Weste. Their
lons
were smaller
and their Trade less wide-spread. They raised their voices in harmony to
accompanying
jadine
flutes, spread their arms to
welcome the five Greater and seven Lesser Deities, the link between the Supreme
One and wuman.

“Goddesses we
call, above us you stand

Grant us wisdom
in Av’s land

Hold us united,
in heart and hand.”

The last of the Lesser Queens that sat upon the
third and highest tier added their voices and welcome with the rise of silver
conch shells, saluting the Ancestors, the
Av’rujo
,
the High Queen and the Heir. These Queens, including Soku, were farthest from
the Ritious City, tiny
lons
huddled near and against the Border. The Outermost Territories
had the least direct Trade with other regions. Their trade required the use of
middle-
Trade’Marms
who traded and won concession for the Lesser Queens when they were not in the Ritious City. Because of this intermediary the
Lesser Queens did not rise far in the Trade Circles that was the heart of
Ava’Lona’s economy and politics.

“Ancestors
before us, from the dawn of time

Mother to
Daughter pass on, in unbroken line

Av’rujo to
Av’One to Av’Daun, reign ever sublime.”

When they sang the High Queen’s name the gigantic
doors at the head of the Hall cracked open, a greeting rhythm singing out from
the tukni. Light like the dawn poured through the opening, and in its center
stood the High Queen. She seemed a thing born of Av as she stepped forth in her
mantle of gold. She stood directly above her High Throne, adding voice to the
great harmony of welcome.

“Av’s light
bless us, In Solu’s name

Av’s warmth hold
us, In Solu’s name

Av’s dawn guide
us, In Solu’s name

Ashe!”

She began to
glow in the blinding light. Each Queen put a bit of their av’rita into their
voices and flung it to her, and she in turn channeled the song of life to the
Av’rujo
.
The
Av’rujo
gathered this song and sent it to
Av
, weaving the
Rite of
Solu
.
The light of
Av
, the physical embodiment of
Solu
,
answered and the
Av’rujo
sent it back with her own song
of love and welcome. The
Laine
glowed and
each Queen sparkled like a star in the light with her own aura as each partook
of that love.

The light in the Hall, like a silken curtain
dropped, collapsed back toward the Throne. It began to weave a golden stair at
the High Queen’s feet, a path she would traverse to stand before her Throne. It
was a representation of the love and unity and faith of the People upon which
the power of the High Queen rested. The ritual dated all the way back to the
First High Queen, Inzebau, and the legendary Battle of Rites that she fought
with her sister, Insofaya. Never in all the fifty-five generations of High
Queens had the stair ever faltered.

The drums and instruments quieted as the High Queen
descended the first stair. The Greater Queens on the first tier rose to their
feet and raised their arms up to the High Queen. She moved to the second step
and the Queens on the next tier followed suit.
The third tier of Queens rose as her foot
touched the third stair and the mantle bearers rushed forward down either side
of the Throne to spread the royal mantle neatly about the seat of gold,
sapphire and
jadine
. On the final note she stepped
down to stand in front of her Throne. Her Voices and
Go’Orisha
,
the High Priestesses of the Twelve Deities, filed down on either side to the
curved panel of seats that looked out over the assemblage of Queens.
The royal twins moved two levels down from their mother to take their positions
before their seats. The High Consort, had there been one, would have sat
slightly above them. And conspicuous by her absence was the Heir.

The High Queen Audola stepped forward, resplendent
in her gold, royal blue and purple, and let her gaze sweep over the assemblage.
The entire wuman Realm was represented in this one lain. The
Av’Touched
were absent - the
Av’ru
was a wuman
construct, and they had no claim or dealings with it.

“Peace and light upon you all,” she said in her
strong, clear voice. The accompaniment was silenced.

“And upon you, Mother Queen,” all replied into the
still ringing air.

“Let us offer thanks and praise to our foremothers
and their foremothers,” she said, raising hands and eyes to the crystalline
skylight, to the heavens.

“We offer thanks and we sing our praise,” came the
chorus.

“Let us offer prayer and reverence to the five
Greater and seven Lesser Deities.”

“We offer prayer and we sing our reverence,

Ya’kano
, Goddess of Light, Rite, and Rita,
Daughter of
Av
;

Ak’suya
, Goddess of Motherhood, Fertility and
Patience;

De’enu
, God of Hunt, Harvest, and Abundance;

Ag’ko
, Goddess of Peace and Wisdom;

Ans’ra
, Beloved, God of Death, Life renewed
and the Seasons.

“We offer prayer and we sing our reverence,

If’la
, Goddess of Herstory and Science;

Is’kala
, Goddess of the Arts and Inspiration;

Mon’da
, Goddess of Puberty and Youth;

Af’eno
, Goddess of Fortune and Politics;

Ak’ana
, Goddess of Weather, and Storms;

Kuf’yo
, God of the Av’Touched Ones and patron
of Higher Thought;

Ka’bi
, God of Nature, Mercy and the Son of
Ans’ra
.”

“Let us offer love and worship to the Supreme One,”
the High Queen intoned.

“We offer love and we sing our worship,
Shalgo
Imantu Solu
.”

“Let the light of Solu shine upon us always, ashe.”

“Ashe!”

The light within the Hall slowly faded to normal and
the stair of light vanished. The two Throne guards stepped forward to take the
High Queen’s hands and guide her back slowly to her High Throne. She turned her
palms down and lowered her arms a measured distance, then turned her palms up
and spread her arms wider, simultaneously assuming her Throne in one graceful
motion. A single
tum’tyn
began to beat in simple
cadence.

Her sons sat two drum beats after she did, and the
Voices a beat after that, and so down the stepped dais and up the tiers the
motion went so that it seemed to be a ripple effect generated from the nexus of
the High Queen.

When the last row of the Queens
was seated the High Queen again stood. Now would be determined whether the
purpose for this
Bolorn
is a joyous or grievous
occasion, Soku mused. But by the haste of the
Bolorn’s
assemblage, she doubted that it was any kind of good news. The
tum’tyn
then, too, fell silent.

The High Queen let the silence drag out, did not
raise her arms. Even the drums stayed stilled, and the gravity of that unspoken
gesture began to weigh heavily upon the
Laine
. The vast
room became utterly still. In the absolute silence she scanned the faces, her
eyes seeming to touch each of them.

“My daughters, the peace is gone from my heart and
the light has left my eyes in darkness.” Her voice reverberated off the walls
and the huge, hollow tusks that formed the support structure of the
Laine
.

“We grieve with you, Mother Queen,” the assemblage
murmured in answer.

“I have called for this gathering because I have
terrible tidings to bear.” The weight of her eyes held all enthralled.

“Lyadni, who was High Queen before me and had, by
the grace of the Supreme One, ascended to
Av’rujo
,
is near the end of her life. The light of the
Av’ru
is being taken faster than her life force can replenish it.”

A low collective gasp rocked the
Laine
and conversation broke out all over. This was worse than anyone had expected.
Several voices raised questions of
Turo’dan, the
prophecy declared by the Mad God
Kwabana
. He had
been brought down and cloven in half with the appearance of the
Tru’Av’ru
,
the wall of energy that had divided the world at the advent of
Ava’dan
.

Over the millennia that
Alona
had been divided, it had been reported that the half godling, who had built
himself another half from bits of plants and animals, had prophesied this doom.
He augured that when the
Av’ru
began to die
faster than it could be reborn, this would be the Sign,
Turo’dan
,
that the end of
Ava’Lona
and
Ava’dan
would be at hand. Then that which was torn asunder would once again be whole:

When dies the
light from farthest dawn

A thing of Loro
shall be born;

When cold the
hottest jungles grow

A thing of Dio
shall all know.

And when the
skies are deepest green

A thing of Chia
shall be seen.

And when Light’s
Reign is all undone,

The World in
twain shall become one.

As mention of the Sign spread, conversation became
more agitated and fever-pitched until finally one of the Greater Queens on the
second tier stood and spread her arms.

“Mother Queen, could this be
Turo’dan
?
Could the Age of Light,
Ava’dan
, be
ending?”

The
Laine
was swept
with silence and all eyes turned to the lone figure before the golden Throne.
The silence dragged by on leaden feet, stretching past the point of any known
formal
sils
,
the pause of respect. The giant hall grew still and yet more still, as though
all the figures within it had been replaced by clever simulacra. Not a
guinne
braid stirred, not a bead clacked. Then, for the first time ever in her reign,
in her life, the High Queen let her head fall fractionally from its proud,
regal, chin-high pose. And her face became slightly other than totally
confident. The expression passed in an instant, but an instant was all that was
needed to have its effect.

All were shaken to their innermost core. Audola sul
Ava’Lon, like her mother, Lyadni, had never, ever shown distress nor lost her
composure, no matter what she had faced. Not when the cold-beasts had attacked
from the unprotected Norae; not when the red-madness had gripped the
Katari
and they had rampaged across the Western savannas. Not when the death plague
from the deep tropical Sor’n-cap had swept up across
Ava’Lona
like a hurricane. Her breach of her own standard was infinitesimal, and her
head again raised to its lofty position, but the damage was done. It seemed,
almost, the gesture of someone gathering courage. There was no doubt that the
Realm was in dire straits.

“
Turo’dan
,” she
uttered, softly, slowly, but the words carried to the ends of the
Laine
.
“My beloved daughters, there is a truth to this that we must face. That truth
was foretold and it has shadowed our thoughts and actions for thousands of
cycles. I cannot say that what befalls us could not be and is not the Sign of
Turning. I do believe that our beautiful land is in peril, and I believe that
which preys upon the
Av’ru
will end my
life before its
time. But if this is indeed the Turo’dan and
Ava’Lona is to fall, if Ava’dan
is to end - I will stave off the
inevitable to the last share of life and light that
Shalgo
has granted me.” She paused, then spread her arms as if the gesture pained her.
“In ten cycles’ time I shall ascend to
Av’rujo
. And my
daughter, the Heir, shall become High Queen.”

The
Great Laine
erupted
with sound, voices exclaiming in protest and crying out in disbelief, moaning
in dismay. Calls for continued and expanded searches for the source of the
Zehj’Ba
warred with proposals for regency and pleas for postponement. Some reasoned
that the Heir was too young to accept the responsibility while others declared
that with the end near the Realm needed a strong, experienced High Queen to
lead them.