Westfire

Westfire

In the legend of Time, it was said that a serpent arose from the sea, chasing a great black bird across the sky... the bird pecked out the eye of the serpent, and led the People to the mountains...

A black mist was spreading slowly across the land. It had appeared without warning. All the Seers from the farthest reaches of the country had been summoned and had assembled in the capital city to give their sage advice to the queen. The city of Honoria was crowded and hot at that time of year, high summer. Even in the mountains, the desert wind wafted up from the plains.

"Look, Terin! Look at all the finery of the people! Have you ever seen such a sight?" Eithne gazed down from the library window to the street below. Bustling groups of people traveled on various errands, most of them headed toward the temple and the queen.

Terin glared at her friend, disturbed from her reading. She got up slowly from her stiff-backed chair and wandered over to the window. "I don't see what's so special about all those people. At home in Destin, we had such crowds, even more people, if you can imagine that." She sniffed lightly, but Eithne noticed her eyes widened in surprise.

"Oh, Terin. Such a group has never gathered like this one. Queen Esme herself is said to hold audiences day and night!" Eithne continued to look longingly down on the crowds below. "How I wish I could see the queen..."

Terin traced a fingertip along the wooden windowsill. "You're silly, Eithne. You'd better get back to work on those Memerian verbs before Vanda returns." Terin walked back over to the study table and resumed reading. She scanned the pages quickly, with hardly a pause.

Eithne grimaced. "Memerian verbs are all irregular. There are at least ten tenses per word!" The shelves of books along the walls seemed to press in upon her, making the room seem smaller than it was.

"I know. You should study them before the test next week." Terin continued reading.

"Ugh." Eithne turned away from the window and returned to her chair. The dust was thick in the room, and her book was covered with a thin layer of film. "Ick. I hate summer in Honoria."

"Study, Eithne. I'm trying to memorize the monologues of King Manon. Those are difficult enough without having to listen to you drone on and on about your pathetic existence." Terin held her book up, resting the edge on the table. She hoped that would discourage Eithne's endless prattle.

Eithne wiped the pages of her vocabulary book with the edge of her sleeve. Her dress was of fine linen, the finest that could be bought on a miller's salary. She smiled, remembering her mother who had woven the dress. Eithne was a scholar, attending the teaching schools of Honoria--a lowly scholar with no redeeming qualities. She was female, young, and basically useless, at least according to her tutor, Vanda. Teaching schools sent graduates across the country to various villages, to teach children. Eithne hoped to be accepted to the rigorous Academy, the highest level of achievement. To get there, she would have to memorize those Memerian verbs, plus the languages of three other tribes. The Academicians served in the Temple, and were called to serve elsewhere as the need dictated. They were ambassadors, translators, priests and priestesses, and leaders.

It would take twenty years of hard learning and experience to pass the final test. Eithne daydreamed about the day she would take the final test. It was said that the Lady herself tested each candidate.

The Lady! The great goddess Calí herself was embodied in the queen. Queen Esme had not been born to royalty. She was Chosen in the Kingship Ritual. Everyone had expected the throne to be handed to a man, but the bird-goddess chose Esme, who had been only seventeen when she ascended to the throne. Now she was middle-aged, and Eithne thought of her as a kindly grandmother. She had never been privileged enough to see her in person, as some of the other scholars had.

Eithne was fifteen years old. She had been living in Honoria since she was ten, having come from a faraway village on the plains. Terin was three years older than she, and was also striving to become an Academician. If accepted into that group, she would soon be going to live with the other acolytes. Eithne would get a new roommate.

She doodled idly in her copybook, thinking about the future, Memerian verbs forgotten.

The door flew open.

"Scholars!" Vanda, the tutor, exclaimed as she strode into the room. She was a heavyset woman of elder age, but still spry. She slammed her cane down on the wooden study table between the two girls. Both Terin and Eithne jumped at the sudden interruption. They stood up quickly, and murmured the greeting.

"Teacher, we study to learn and we learn to serve."

"How go the monologues, Terin? Expect to be examined on them." Vanda turned her attention toward Terin first. Eithne breathed a small sigh of relief.

"The monologues are going well, Teacher. Ask Eithne about her verbs." Terin grinned, as Eithne shifted uncomfortably under Vanda's sharp gaze.

"Eithne, Memerian verbs?" Vanda pursed her lips. "Valat!"

"Valat: valu, valut, valute, valusez, valuson, valusent..."

"And the meaning?"

"Um... to work?" Eithne said, tentatively. She knew that "valat" was similar to another verb that meant "to work." She hoped it was the right one.

"And the imperfect tense?" Vanda queried, still staring at Eithne.

"Valutiez?"

"Hmmph." Vanda muttered. "Very good. That is one of the more difficult verbs. And it does mean 'to work.' You should never guess if you don't know." She sat down in another chair at the end of the table. "Sit. I have some news."

The two girls sat down, closed their books, and looked attentively at their tutor. Eithne shivered slightly, even in the heat.

"You have no doubt heard of Queen Esme's call?" When the two nodded, she continued. "The Seers are befuddled. They claim the black mist hides the future." Pausing, she settled back in the chair. "Now the scholars have been called."

Eithne gripped the edge of the table in excitement. "All of us?"

"All of you, even the lowliest ten-year-old."

"What are we to tell the queen? I don't know anything about this mist," Terin said, puzzled. She looked at Eithne and then at Vanda.

Vanda shrugged. "We're called to serve, so we serve. The Academicians will be called first, then the acolytes, then the subacolytes, the primers, and finally the beginners. Since there are so few scholars, it should not take long. Be prepared to go tomorrow. You will both be in the subacolyte class." She sighed. "It will be interesting, to say the least. I must warn you both: do not lie to the queen, no matter what question she may ask. She knows the truth. She is our living goddess, after all." Vanda looked toward the ceiling in reverence.

Eithne nodded. "Thank you for this news, Teacher. I'm sure we'll be prepared."

"Yes, thank you," Terin said.

"Now, back to your studies. I must consult with the other teachers." Vanda got up from her chair and headed toward the doorway. "If all goes well, perhaps you'll have a chance at some free time around FeastDay." She smiled at her two students. "Fare thee well."

"Fare thee well," they chorused, the traditional goodbye. Vanda left the room, closing the door behind her.

Eithne could hardly contain her excitement. 'We get to meet the queen! We get to go to the temple!" She began to twirl around the room, and ended by impulsively hugging Terin.

"Calm yourself." But Terin's eyes betrayed her excitement. She hugged Eithne back and then walked over to the window.

Both girls stood side by side, gazing up the gently sloping hillside to the white temple. "Haven't you always wondered why the temple is white instead of black? Calí is represented by a blackbird. I've always wondered, anyway..." Eithne trailed off, shading her eyes from the bright light of midday. "How does Vanda expect us to keep studying after telling us all that? What am I going to wear?"

Terin smiled at the younger girl. "Eithne, you're as skittish as a colt. You'll wear the robes of a subacolyte, of course. What you wear under it doesn't matter."

"Ah, that's true. It was generous of Vanda to include me with the subacolytes."

"As she said, there are few scholars still attending classes. She probably wants to get the audiences over with as soon as possible, so we can go back to studying." Terin shrugged, and went back to the table. "Speaking of which, Manon is calling..." She huddled down next to her book, and soundlessly read the speeches to herself, stopping only to wipe sweat from her brow. The room was stifling at that time of day.

Eithne continued to look out the window toward the temple. The White Temple of Calí it was called. The queen lived in it, and the Academicians lived around the edges in small houses. Maybe one day, she would have a house there.

"Wouldn't it be absolutely wonderful to be attendant to the queen?" she said to herself. "Living among the Chosen and within the house of the Lady..."

"Silly. What about being called to Serve? What if you were called to serve the worst nobleman in the district?" Terin said, half-listening to Eithne's daydreams.

"I would go gladly, if I were so directed."

"Famous last words."

"And yourself? What is your goal?" Eithne walked back to the study table.

"To serve as a priestess, of course. That is all there is."

"Queens are Chosen from that line."

"I know." Terin smiled.

"As if you could ever be queen!" Eithne picked up an eraser from the table and tossed it at Terin.

"You never know."

"Ha." Eithne opened her vocabulary book and tried to read more verb tenses, but it was useless. Thoughts of the next day filled her mind. What could the queen possibly ask the scholars? She went over the details of what she knew about the mysterious black mist...

In the night, an army marched across the plains, living off the land, scourging the villages, taking what they could carry, poisoning the sacred wells...

The sea boiled, and a strange creature arose from the waters. Its scales glistened in the moonlight and then a cloud obscured the vision. A great red eye was all that could be seen...

"Eithne!" Terin spoke sharply.

"Huh? What?" Eithne raised her head from her book. "Was I asleep?"

"No, you were shouting."

"What did I say?"

"Valasatiez! Valasatiez! Seminala retournete!"

Eithne blanched, feeling cold all over. The memory of the strange vision she had just had scared her.

"To war! To war! Seminala returns. Why would you be speaking Memerian? It's a dead language, used only in formal negotiations."

"Valasat" was the other verb Eithne had hoped she was not confusing "Valat" with.

"I don't know. I didn't even know I was asleep. How long have I been out?"

"Not more than ten minutes. It must have been some dream."

"Sorry I disturbed you." Eithne took a deep breath. "I don't feel so well. I think I'll lie down."

Terin smiled. "Too much sun?"

"Yes, perhaps." Eithne gathered up her books and left the library. All her thoughts were now on the dream she had. Quickly walking through the halls, she did not glance at the sumptous surroundings that had once dazzled her. She headed straight for the sleeping room she shared with Terin.

"Seminala..." she thought, not daring to speak the word aloud. Eithne's heart hammered in her chest and she slammed the door to the bedroom, locking it behind her. She went to the small bookcase in the corner, and pulled a book of mythology from the shelf.

Seminala was the serpent that Calí had defeated in the Beginning Times. The book spoke of another group of people who followed Seminala, and who she had rescued, keeping them safe on her back. But Calí had destroyed her power, and those people faded into obscurity.

Or had they?