The Sapphire Eruption, page 28
part #1 of The Sword's Choice Series
“Whose side are you on?” she said, frowning at Dornias.
Dornias sighed. “I’m only saying, I don’t think what these men have done is that serious.” He shrugged. Gorigus regained his composure and tried to cut him off, but Dornias lifted a finger to stop him. “I know, Gorigus. To use fire on the path to the temple is a practice many would consider a grave sin… but who are we to judge them? After all, these men were trying to get here on foot, and in fact they had almost arrived when we assaulted them! We, on the other hand, arrived here with our thoroughbreds, horses bred in the mountains and accustomed to riding in the snows, turning our route into a much simpler feat. Are we really going to judge these two men who have come here on foot, as was done in the old days? Just for a moment of weakness? The icy wind, the snow falling on their shoulders… I don’t see such a serious mistake. Besides, I remind you that you weren’t even able to find the torch they used.” Noakh couldn’t help but breathe an almost imperceptible sigh of relief upon hearing these words. “What evidence were you going to show to the Church Court?”
“Any torch would have served,” Gorigus replied lowly.
“And lying to the Church Court, Gorigus?” Dornias answered in a tone of exaggerated alarm. “As I have already said, we are not the ones to judge these men, let alone judge a member of such a noble house that has as much history as that of the Criven de le Dos family.”
After obtaining his companions’ consent, Dornias threw the two swords he held to Noakh. Then Gorigus and Laenise returned the crossbow and the shield to Hilzen, though they did so with greater reticence than their companion and without looking Hilzen in the eyes. After that, Gorigus and Laenise left to tend to their horses, ensuring that their beasts were well protected from the cold.
After his companions had left, Dornias extended a hand toward Hilzen, helping him up. Noakh meanwhile hastened to hang his swords back on his belt.
“Forgive my companions, they are not normally so irascible.” Dornias smiled. “This bad weather makes everyone grumpy.”
“It’s fine.” Hilzen had strapped the shield onto his back once again. The crossbow hung safely on his belt. “This incident is already forgotten. Thank you, sir…”
“Dorniaseus Delorange,” the man answered as he performed the Aquo act of reverence, after which he extended his hand. “But please, call me Dornias. Dorniaseus was my grandfather… and of the many gifts that I consider my ancestor to be endowed with, his given name was never one of them.”
Hilzen and Noakh had a difficult time hiding their astonishment. Delorange House was not simply a noble house like that represented by the Criven de le Dos family. Rather, the Delorange lineage consisted of the oldest and undoubtedly most powerful noble family in the Aquadom. This explained why his two companions seemed to listen to him. No matter how important their houses were, they could not be as important as Delorange House.
“A pleasure… and I am Safer Criven de le Dos,” Hilzen lied, returning the bow. “And this one,” he added as he pointed to Noakh. “This is the scoundrel of my servant, who doesn’t even deserve to have a name, but you may call him Servme.”
Hilzen was satisfied, but Noakh couldn’t avoid frowning. His friend was taking too much advantage of the situation.
Dornias could not help but burst out laughing at the name he had just heard. “A suitable name for a servant,” he observed. He then looked around the entrance hall where they stood at that moment. Just then Laenise and Gorigus returned. “My companions deserve to be introduced. Before you stand Gorigus Emsier and Laenise Naudine, the heirs of their respective noble houses.
Both Gorigus and Laenise made a none-too-elaborate gesture of reverence. Then Dornias looked up at the roof and raised his arms, exclaiming: “May our troubled encounter not detract us from the value of our deeds. After all, we have arrived at the Temple of the Lady of the Mountain!”
CHAPTER 32. The Lady of the Mountain
Dornias, Gorigus, and Laenise were the first to enter the hall, followed by Noakh and Hilzen. The room smelled slightly damp. The huge stained-glass windows were unable to provide light to the room due to the stormy weather outside. Gorigus approached the torches that hung on the walls and lit them one by one, each torch resting in a support that had been shaped into a spiral. With the improved light, the five colleagues admired the room where the statue of the Lady of the Mountain rested.
The hues of the stone floor were a mixture of grey and blue. In the middle of the room rested a marble statue that had acquired a yellowish tone over the years. Even so, the passage of time had not managed to diminish the astonishing detail of the sculpture. The marble was carved in the shape of a beautiful woman. Her head was turned to the ground while water flowed from her marble eyes, running down her face and along her entire body, until the tears fell to the floor. After such a long period of time spent crying, brown markings had appeared on the woman’s face. Underneath the sculpture an inscription in Flumio could be read: Lacma alem sinie. Lacma fortia.
“ Let my tears heal your soul. My tears are your strength,” Laenise recited as she knelt before the statue. The others did the same.
“To be here,” said Gorigus, unable to contain his emotion. “At the feet of the Lady of the Mountain…” Laenise ran her hand gently across his back as a sign of support.
Noakh and Hilzen knelt quietly behind the nobles. Noakh was about to ask Hilzen about the Lady of the Mountain, since he didn’t know much about such a respected statue, but he realized Hilzen was holding back tears. The Fireo saved his questions for another time.
Dornias was the first to rise.
“Are we pure enough?” asked Gorigus, stepping back slightly.
“Nonsense, of course!” answered Dornias emphatically. “I think we’ve paid enough respect to the Lady of the Mountain,” he added. Nonetheless, he approached the statue. “And if we are not pure enough, may the Lady of the Mountain give us strength with her weeping.”
“Shall we?” Laenise suggested.
Dornias nodded. “Come, Gorigus. You first!”
Gorigus approached the statue cautiously. He ran his thumb over the cheek of the Lady of the Mountain and let his finger soak in her tears. Eventually he drew his thumb to both his cheeks and rubbed them with water. After that, he turned back, looking at the others in the room, who seemed expectant.
“How do you feel?” Laenise asked eagerly.
“I feel…” Gorigus paused, trying to find the right word. “I feel as if my sins have been forgiven.”
After his words, the others lined up to receive the Lady’s tears. First Laenise, then Dornias. Noakh, not feeling that he should be part of the ritual, stayed behind at first. Hilzen, however, gave his companion a surreptitious nudge, urging him to get in line.
Hilzen took a longer time than the others to perform the ritual. He spoke quietly to the statue before passing his thumb over the aged marble. Noakh heard Hilzen mention the names of Marne and Lynea, his wife and his daughter, as he drew his necklace from his neck, opened the locket, and passed his wet finger over it. When Noakh’s turn finally came, Gorigus raised an eyebrow while his face displayed a crooked smile.
“Are you sure, unickey?” he said just as Noakh’s thumb was about to touch the water. Noakh paused at Gorigus’s words. “If I were you, I’d think about it.”
“What do you mean?” asked Noakh, perplexed.
“Isn’t it obvious?” Gorigus replied, shrugging. “Fireo blood runs through your veins. The Lady of the Mountain forgives our sins, but even she is incapable of changing our origins.”
“Who knows?” Laenise continued entertainingly. “Maybe the water will burn his unickey skin…”
“There’s only one way to find out,” Noakh replied in a more defiant tone than he intended.
Noakh brought his thumb closer to the Lady’s face, as the others had done. Afterward, he ran his wet finger over his cheeks. He noticed a cold sensation as his cheeks came into contact with the drops of icy water. It was curious how similar the extreme cold sensation felt to the sensation of being burned, Noakh reflected. The Fireo realized everyone was watching him as if they were waiting for something to happen… for him to be punished for his Fireo blood, probably. Even Hilzen seemed expectant.
“I feel my cheeks burning,” Noakh confessed with a shrug, “from the icy water.”
“That’s it?” replied Gorigus, disappointed. “I felt the same.”
“I must confess that even I was curious to know what was going to happen,” Dornias confided. “It seems that the Lady has not only purified us; she has also taught us a lesson, eh?”
* * *
After performing the ritual, they moved to a different room. It was a dark place, a kind of gallery, with one wall open to the elements. They lit a bonfire, aware that in such a chamber it was not a sin to do so. They sat around the fire, trying to warm their bodies. Gorigus had gone to the horses to get some food from their bags.
Dornias stared into the fire. “My father used to tell my brother and me that the Tears of the Lady of the Mountain could purify one’s soul,” he said.
“Really?” Laenise answered in surprise. “My mother said that from the Tears of the Lady of the Mountain originated the sacred sword of our queendom, Crystalline.”
“The sacred sword, huh?” said Gorigus. He had just returned to the room. In his arms he carried some meat and a bottle of wine. Noakh and Hilzen stared at the food. Their provisions were almost entirely expended, and whatever remained was far less appetizing: Hilzen carried only a few radishes. “Is that why they say that the sword weeps, and that its lament can be heard when it is wielded by the queen?”
“That’s right.” Laenise nodded, drawing her hands closer to the fire.
“What about the House of Criven de le Dos?” Dornias asked, addressing Hilzen. “What stories do they tell about the Lady of the Mountain?”
Hilzen paused briefly before answering. “There is this story my mother told me when I was little. I used to tell it to my daughter before going to sleep.” Hilzen’s voice almost broke after mentioning his daughter. His eyes stared directly before him, lost in the storm. Then he began. “Before, long before she was known as the Lady of the Mountain, she was no different than any other maiden. She was not of high birth or even of a wealthy family; her origin, in fact, could have been no humbler.” Hilzen smiled even as he snorted. “My mother, every time she told the story, gave the Lady a different job: soldier, merchant, baker. I used to tell my daughter that the Lady was a washerwoman. It didn’t matter. One day the Lady looked out at a river, and she saw her pale face reflected, as on every other day, only this time, her reflection began to speak to her. Her reflection urged her to head towards the Snowy Mountains. This precise place.” He tapped the floor lightly. “Her reflection had not told her why, not a single reason. Even so, the Lady left everything and headed towards the Snowy Mountains. It was a hard path, but her faith urged her to keep going. She suffered all kinds of calamities—she was robbed, attacked by wolves. It was as if all kinds of misfortunes were waiting specifically for her, and yet the Lady didn’t give up. She arrived here, this very place, wounded and fatigued but proud to have fulfilled the will of the Aqua Deus. When she reached the top of the most prominent peak of the Snowy Mountains, nothing happened; it just started raining. The Lady was disappointed at first, but then accepted that her trip had been in vain. That rain, however, which looked like an ordinary drizzle, suddenly began to heal all the wounds she had suffered during her journey. It even seemed that her fatigue was dissipating…”
“And since then the Lady of the Mountain has been able to heal our people with her tears,” Dornias said, concluding the story. He smiled quietly. “I hadn’t remembered that story.”
“What happened to the Lady?” Noakh asked. For he had never heard such a tale.
The fire cracked. “It’s just a legend, but”—Dornias paused—“that woman is said to be the first ancestor of our royal family, the Dajalam, and the first queen of the Aquadom.”
“Is that how our sacred sword received such powers?” Laenise asked. “The Tears of the Lady of the Mountain were transmitted to her blade?”
“Could be.” Dornias shrugged.
The next moment, he offered Hilzen and Noakh some of their meat. They accepted the food, each man thanking Dornias with a nod.
“Wait a minute.” Hilzen reflected. “That means that the Lady of the Mountain was…”
“The queen with the greatest power in all our history and the first bearer of the Sacred Sword, Crystalline. So it is.” Dornias nodded. “In my family, it is said that none of her successors has been able to display as much power as the Lady of the Mountain.”
Noakh nodded interestedly, wondering what Dornias meant by such a statement. No one had been able to display as much power as the Lady of the Mountain, so he could not help but wonder: Did the same thing happen with the Fire Swords? He could not know; his father had not told him anything about it. Yet he could not be entirely sure that it was not so. Noakh remembered hearing that the sacred sword of the Aquadom had power over water. Wondering exactly what powers the Lady of the Mountain had been capable of using that sword, his hand passed unconsciously over the hilt of Distra.
His thoughts were interrupted by Gorigus, who looked amused.
“You know, Safer Criven de le Dos,” Gorigus said, his mouth full of food, “other noblemen have better taste when selecting the Fireos who accompany them.”
Dornias could not help but laugh.
“Here we go again,” Laenise said, as she snorted and squinted at Gorigus.
“You have to admit, Laenise, she has some charm,” Dornias answered, smiling.
“Who are you talking about?” Noakh replied. Gorigus’s words mentioning Fireo companions had aroused his curiosity.
Gorigus frowned mildly then sneered at Noakh. As eager as he was to talk about that woman, he knew how to put aside his contempt for unickeys. “Who else would I be talking about but the heiress to Rosswode House?”
“She’s not that big a deal,” replied Laenise, grumbling. “You’re just attracted to her because her eyes are different…”
It was obvious from her attitude that this was not the first time they had discussed this subject.
“Oh, come on, Laenise,” Dornias reprimanded. “Do you think a troll with those eyes would capture our attention in the same way?” He turned to look at Hilzen. “Hilzen, what do you think? You surely have heard of the beauty of the Rosswode heiress.”
“Beautiful, yes,” lied Hilzen, who had never heard of such a woman. “She’s not my type, though.”
“If your type of woman is not the perfect woman, then I understand your words,” Gorigus replied. He snorted, and Laenise twisted her mouth. “Her golden hair reaches to the small of her back, she is tall and slender, her face is sweet, and she has a thin delicate nose, round lips, and long eyelashes. Her features are adorned with a dazzling smile with perfect small teeth and large golden-ochre brown eyes… With those eyes she can melt the ice!”
Noakh tried to hide his surprise. Brown eyes and golden hair… Fireo blood ran through the veins of that woman, there was no doubt. But that meant one of her parents had to be a Fireo… So, an Aquo from a house of nobility had married a Fireo? Noakh wondered. It sounded utterly improbable!
Dornias laughed. “I don’t know about her gaze melting the ice… but melting your heart, for sure!” He slapped Gorigus animatedly on the back.
“Gorigus.” Laenise grimaced. “Would you really defile the nobility of your lineage? Humiliating your house by marrying someone affected by the Crossbreed Curse?”
Noakh had heard of that curse before. There was a saying about crossbreeding between kingdoms: The gods are capricious. They had therefore built evidence into those who were the fruit of what many considered a forbidden relationship. Consequently, the color of the eyes of the newborn would always be different from that of the kingdom in which the infant was born. In the case of the noblewoman who was the subject of the current conversation, given that she presumably was the fruit of a relationship between an Aquo and a Fireo, and having been born in the Queendom of Water, she would have been cursed by being born with brown eyes and blonde hair—which, according to Gorigus’s description of the ochre color of her eyes, she had been. In that way, she was unable to hide that part of her blood. Of course, the Crossbreed Curse was a myth that could not be proved, since if a unickey born in the Aquadom had been born with blue eyes and a different hair color their parents might well have dyed the child’s hair blonde, as Noakh did. The eyes reveal what the hair hides, a second saying related to the curse ordained.
“When did I say I would marry her?” Gorigus paused. “Wait. Did she tell you anything about me?”
“Aren’t you being a little unfair to the poor girl?” Dornias complained.
Looking at her friend, Laenise went to answer indignantly, while Gorigus this time seemed to be on his side.
“Laenise, I know that Fireo blood runs through her veins, and that might not be to our liking.”
Dornias turned to Noakh. “No offense, Servme.”
Noakh waved his hand dismissively. Dornias turned back to Laenise.
“I know we’ve been raised to hate them as they hate us. I know. What I mean is, how can you think it’s that girl’s fault? In any case, her parents should be condemned, but her? She had no choice! What do you think she should do? Live a life of suffering for something that wasn’t her fault?”
Noakh couldn’t avoid smiling, feeling sympathy for the nobleman.
“How can you say that, Dornias—in the very temple of the Aqua Deus?” Laenise said indignantly. Hilzen and Noakh watched the scene with astonishment, aware that it was better not to intervene in the conversation. “Not even you, so tolerant and modern, should say something like that.”
“Laenise… the Aqua Deus displays benevolence towards the rest of the kingdoms. Our god is so kind, so gentle, that it even grants the other kingdoms the gift of rain. If our god is so benevolent, why not you?”
