“First thing’s first. Everybody got their pieces of gold?” Wolly asked in a bossy voice. They all checked their pouches and nodded.
“Oh, for the good old times when I used to be a pleb, and only had to pay a silver per God,” Mordan sighed.
“Where to first then?” Sylvain asked.
“Eh, let’s just do it the traditional way; Cathedral of the Moon, then onto Moonstone Square, from there to Sunflare Square, Cathedral of the Sun…” Octarian suggested.
“Yeah, yeah, we got it,” sighed Mordan.
“I’m bored already,” frowned Trillian.
“No, the traditional way is stupid, just think about it. If we go to the cathedrals and temples first and then to the sermons, we won’t have to walk as much,” Sylvain objected.
“And then what? Eight sermons without the joyful interruption of rubbing up against dozens of girls in the temples?” Wolly was outraged.
“You’re engaged,” Sylvain reminded him.
“Yes, but there won’t be any rubbing until we’re married.”
“If you don’t care about her that much, why marry her in the first place?” Trillian asked.
“I have two very good reasons.”
“Those being placed north of her stomach and south of her neck?” Octarian grinned.
“That’s not what I meant, but you must admit…”
“They’re very apparent, not that I looked...” mumbled Mordan.
“But they’re very hard not to notice,” added Sylvain.
“They’re simply spectacular,” stated Trillian.
The other four looked at him with surprise.
“Why do you care?”
“What’s not to like? I bet I’ve touched more of those than you all, put together.
They let me, ‘coz they know I’m no danger to their virginity,” laughed Trillian.
The bells of the churches chimed four times.
“Enough. Enough. We’re closest to the Cathedral of the Moon. Let’s start there. Any objections?” Octarian lost his patience.
The others shook their heads, and they started their long day of what they called ‘church crawl’.
The Archer Festival of Faith was the most important religious event of the year.
It was the day when every single Realm-citizen – between the age of seven and seventy, – paid homage to the Gods.
The process consisted of both attending sermons, and going to the Gods’ houses to pay pieces of silver or gold.
Traditionally, it meant visiting the Cathedrals of the Sun and the Moon and the Temples of the Warrior, the Lover, the Sage, the Preacher and the Hermit to donate coins to the religious houses.
Commoners were required to give one silver per God, nobles one gold for each deity. Top members of the Royal Families were expected to part with ten gold each, for every God or Goddess.
As the World had gradually opened up, and the relationship between continents gained importance, the Realm had started to recognise the three new deities that Distantlanders worshipped; the Jester of Inner Kronuria, the Lady of the Ocean of Western Euposia, and the newest addition, the Dark Goddess of the Underworld of Areshadia.
The three new deities didn’t have their own temples of the Capital, but they got their shrines within the houses of worship; the Temple of the Hermit accommodated the Shrine to the Jester, the Lady of the Ocean had hers in the Temple of the Preacher, and the Dark One’s shrine could be found in the Warrior’s Temple.
While the Sharknball Championship brought half the nation to the Capital, - almost causing the Island to burst at its seams -, the Festival of Faith meant lunacy on a whole different level.
There was hardly a single person in the Realm who wanted to miss the Blessing of the Structure, which was the most uplifting part of the day. The effect of the Blessing was the strongest around the Central Tower.
Nevertheless, the Festival was more than strenuous to both the believers, and even more for the priests and priestesses of the temples.
Sermons were held every hour, starting at quarter past the hour.
Each of them lasted for thirty minutes.
The first was held at midnight, and the sermons continued right up to eleven o’clock at night of the first day of the Festival.
Every deity had their own sermon.
As it was impossible to accommodate the masses in the temples and cathedrals, the sermons were held on the Main Squares of the districts of Moonstone, Sunflare, Wheatfield, Windscale, Stinger, Archer and Mountainborn.
Giving the donation meant going to the houses of worship of the same districts.
On arriving in a temple or cathedral, the participants had to queue up, hand over the donations, receive their blessing and sign the Book of Faith of the respective place.
Unfortunately, the Main Squares were all miles away from the houses of worship, thus everybody had to walk from place to place.
Every single horse and falcon was strictly banned from the city on that day, as they would have caused an even worse commotion.
City barges and wheeled transporters had a field day, but the queues for them were so long that most people didn’t even consider that option.
All in all; the day was horrendous.
By eleven o’clock in the morning, Octarian and his friends had visited five churches and had finished listening to their fifth sermon.
“I’m starving,” said Mordan while the crowd of the last sermon dispersed on Stinger Main Square.
“I can’t feel my legs,” complained Wolly.
“We’ve just been sitting for half an hour,” Sylvain looked at him.
“You mean squatting on a wooden bench,” corrected Trillian.
“Well, I’m not going anywhere else before we eat something. Nowhere else but a warm place where they feed us,” stated Wolly.
“Right, let’s eat,” Octarian marched towards the nearest tavern, The Hanged Man.
As soon as the staff recognised the Royal party, they miraculously found them a table right at the fireplace.
Plates of omelette and pots of coffee appeared within a few minutes. The innkeeper apologised profusely for not having anything on offer that would be more suited for the exceptional guests.
“All we wanted was a simple breakfast and now we’ve got it,” Mordan assured the agitated man.
“So, how did you like the sermons so far?” Sylvain addressed the others.
“I had a well-deserved nap during the last one,” said Wolly through a mouthful of eggs.
“I noticed; your snoring woke me up,” Mordan shot him a nasty look.
“I was debating on how many hours before tomorrow’s ball I should start camping out in front of the Warhorn Palace, to make sure of not being late for picking up Ariessa,” Octarian muttered.
“I for one thought it was fantastic. I managed to exchange a few scribbled messages with a Windscale Guard. I’ll meet him later tonight,” Trillian grinned.
“I envy you my friend. It must be so much easier to deal with your own gender. Saves you all the hassle of figuring out what is expected of you,” said Wolly.
“Yes, but just imagine what our lives would be like without the Ladies,” countered Mordan.
“Easy?”
“Simple?”
“Uncomplicated?”
“Still… Bless ‘em.”
“Yeah.”
Sylvain thought for a second.
“Oh well… Who knows which is the better option?”
“Just say the word; I wouldn’t mind being the Queen of Lectricka,” Trillian winked at him.
“I admit, if I had to choose from you lot, it would be definitely Trill,” Sylvain grinned.
“We noticed at last year’s Wintersky Masquerade. The tongue action between the two of you was…” started Octarian.
“…hard to watch,” Mordan finished his sentence.
“Trill was a very convincing Roditeean courtesan,” Sylvain shrugged.
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“Besides, I had no choice; he said the magic words of the Festival.”
“Aaaah… ‘Don’t speak; just kiss’… can’t wait for this year’s Snogfest. Only two months to go,” Wolly sighed with anticipation.
“And again; you are engaged,” Sylvain rolled his eyes at him.
“Took me two months to get over you after that kiss, you git,” Trillian muttered at Sylvain.
“Too bad your Emperor Aeron has found himself a husband; I’m sure you could have had good chances there,” Octarian said.
“Yeah… he’s my type as well. Eh, who cares? I’m not in a hurry to settle down,” Trillian shrugged.
“Right, onwards. We better go,” they all stood up, and Octarian left some pieces of gold on the table.
***
Ariessa dragged Ramstone by his hand into the Temple of the Preacher.
“I can’t walk anymore. I want to sit down,” he moaned.
“Pull yourself together or father will start one of his tirades again, and we’ll never get home,” she hissed at him.
Surely enough, Emperor Xisar, who was already standing in front of the priestess who took the donations, turned around and cocked his eyebrows at them.
Seeing his children’s tortured faces softened his expression.
“Right, you two. You have done really well so far. I think we all deserve a rest. You finish your business here, I’ll quickly go to the shrine and then get us a table in The Burning Arrow. I’ll meet you there,” he said, and then pushed himself amongst the throng of people towards the archway that led to the section of the temple that was dedicated to the Lady of the Ocean.
“Come, let’s do you first. When you’re finished, go over to the shrine, sit down and wait until I pick you up. Then, we go and meet father,” Ariessa pushed Ramstone towards the priestess. He nodded. For once he obeyed.
After Ariessa had handed over her donation, got the Preacher’s blessing and signed the Book of Blessings, she made her way to the shrine that was situated in a side-wing of the temple.
Suddenly, one of the private prayer booths opened, and she was pulled inside.
“Oh by the Warrior; it’s you,” she whispered when she recognised the Traveller.
“Princess,” was all he said before pulling her into a tight embrace, kissing her lips.
All of Ariessa’s resolves disappeared in thin air.
For the first time since she had met him, she felt whole again.
She wasn’t sure whether the kiss had lasted for a second or an hour, all she knew was that she didn’t want it to end.
When it finally did, the Traveller took her hands.
“Come with me. Come with me, and we can be together forever. I know that you want it as much, as I do.”
He was right; she didn’t want anything more.
She closed her eyes, and tried to imagine what it would be like.
She looked at him.
“I can’t.”
“I understand,” he replied.
The door of the booth opened, and he stepped out.
“Wait!” Ariessa shouted after him.
She exited the booth, determined to find him.
She desperately scanned the masses.
He was gone.
***
There was a knock on the door.
“Are you decent?” an unfamiliar male voice shouted.
“Not according to my mother. Enter, whoever you are,” Nessa replied.
A dark-haired youth stuck his head in.
“Greetings, fellow-Adept. Sister Tarilla sent me to fetch you. I’m Gregorius Oxenhorn.”
“I know you from the Academy,” Nessa said in surprise.
‘But I’ve never noticed how handsome you are,’ she added in thought, and immediately buried her flushed face in her hands.
“Thank you, Sister, you’re very pretty yourself,” Gregorius laughed.
“If I may say so, this new, short hair-cut really suits you,” he added.
“Thank you. Guys usually don’t notice. Are you fond of your own gender?”
“No, but I’m Gundian; I can appreciate both style, and the Ladies at the same time,” he smiled.
‘Thank the Gods,’ she thought and felt her face burn again.
“This is horrible, I’ll never get used to it. How can you cope with having your thoughts heard at all times?”
“Stop thinking so loudly and practice, my dear.
Not that I’ve had a lot of it; I only moved to the Hidden City a few months ago. I’m sure that by now every single Equimancer knows what I think of them. They’re very understanding though.”
Nessa looked in the mirror, inspecting herself.
“Are we ready to go?” Gregorius asked.
“You tell me. This is my first Archer Festival in the Hidden City. Am I dressed alright for the occasion?”
“As long as you’re wearing a swimming costume under your robe.”
“Very funny.”
“No, seriously,” he said.
“In that case, please wait for me outside, I’ll be there in a minute.”
Gregorius left the room. She smiled to herself.
The Hidden City grew more and more appealing by the minute.
Gregorius was to die for with his green Equimancer’s crown, broad shoulders, dark locks and warm, brown eyes.
‘It would be great to spend the day together,’ she thought.
“With pleasure, Sister, I’ll be sticking to you like a leech,” he said from the other side of the door.
Nessa opened it, and glared at him.
“For Gods’ sake; how far do my thoughts reach?”
“Don’t blame me; I was just standing here. I had no idea whether you were talking or thinking. It sounds the same, you know. Besides, there’s nobody else around,” he replied reproachfully.
“Wait… I can’t possibly go out there without understanding this mind-seeing thing,” she grabbed Gregorius by his arm.
“Quite understandable. I had problems getting it to start with, but then Elated Tarilla gave me an explanation that made it clear…
Well, sort of,” he said, staring into space.
“Nice… Did you tell me this to taunt me or are you willing to share?” Nessa asked after a while.
“Patience, dear. I was about to collect my thoughts in order to be able to give you an adequate explanation. But what can I expect from a Fire-Air-Apt? No patience at all,” he shook his head and tutted.
Nessa gave him a vicious squint.
“Right. Imagine a really huge library. Let’s say it’s circular.
You see shelves, filled with tens or even thousands of books lining the walls.
There’s a table in the middle of the room.
A table, with a single book on top of it.
Now; any Equimancer, who walks in, is able to read that book.
Easy to picture, right?” he looked at her.
“Yes, it is. I’m not an imbecile,” Nessa huffed.
“Of course not. Sooo, that book is the metaphor for somebody’s current thought. It’s there, it’s easy to read for any Apt, doesn’t matter whether you’re Fire, Water, Air or Earth; they – or rather, – we can all read minds to an extent.
For Fire, Water or Earth, this is just about where we can get; reading that one book, lain out in front of us. We could go up to the books on the shelves, but we couldn’t read them.
But for a single Air Apt – like yourself-, it’s different. You can pick any book you like and you’ll be able to read it…”
“All of them? All thoughts? Even hidden ones?” Nessa asked incredulously.
“Well, yes, but there’s a little problem. You wouldn’t know where to look for the thought that you want to read. I mean; you could get lucky and pick the one book from amongst the hundreds of thousands around you, but chances are slim that this would happen.”
“Damn,” Nessa grumbled.
“Damn indeed. It’s only the Dou
ble-Airs, like the Chief Prosecutor for example, who can walk in and immediately find the particular book they’re looking for,” Gregorius concluded his explanation.
Nessa was about to ask some more questions, but Gregorius clapped his hands at her.
“We’ll be late. Let’s portal!”
When they materialised at the Main Square, Elated Zabarius Breeze already stood on the slowly revolving, round podium that seemed to be floating mid-air.
He cleared his throat and began his speech.
“My beloved Sisters and Brothers. I welcome you all to this great Festival of the Preacher, during which we celebrate all our Gods and Goddesses.
Yet again, you have elected me as the speaker of the day. Don’t you think I don’t know why.”
“Coz’ we love you!”
“Your speeches are the best!”
“We respect your age and wisdom!”
“Heckling, eh? That’s what I have to put up with. Very well. I decided to change my ways; I have worked for months on end on a speech that will be both insightful, and two hours long.”
For a second, a shocked silence greeted the announcement. Then, laughter erupted.
“Yeah right.”
“You would rather take up accounting than deliver a two-hour speech.”
“Bring it on then!”
Zabarius raised his hands.
“It’s no fun if you read the speaker’s mind, you lot. Fine, fine. Let’s get this over and done with. Ready?”
“Ready!”
“First and foremost we celebrate the Creator, the Original Source, the Maker of the World, whom we have to thank for everything, really.
It – for it is neither male, nor female, and both male, and female – well, as far as we know, but that is the common consensus…
Anyway, It, who has created our Gods and Goddesses and of course the Structure.
Do I need to explain the Structure? I think not. It’s the living embodiment of the Creator Itself. It’s our home, our nurturer and we all adore it. Right?”
“Right!”
“Today we celebrate all ten deities, both the seven old ones, and the three newcomers.
Father Sun, who brings us dignity, generosity and the joy of life.
Mother Moon, who teaches us to love and respect our families.
Our Lord Warrior, who shows us how to be honourable when wars are being fought. The one whom we have to thank for all the competitions we enjoy… Sharknball being the best example. Good one, Warrior.
The Lover, who is both male, and female, who makes us appreciate passion and all things that are beautiful.