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CHAPTER THREE - THE GUARDIAN SHRINE
The
station was a small building in the very outskirts of the town of
Hollyrule was in the far south of Arrondale, and to get there meant a three-day journey, and tickets were costly. Upon their arrival at the station, neither Myla nor Nuada had been entirely sure whether fairies had to pay to travel on trains - Myla had very little money with her, and could spare none of it unless the spending was an absolutely necessary. They had resolved that Nuada should hide in Myla's bag for the duration of the journey.
Nuada was none too pleased. She'd forgotten about the large salmon Myla had taken from the house when the decision had been made. The tiny fairy was squashed between the salmon and a small bag containing eggs, both of which were beginning to smell. And if only Myla would stop moving around so much! All day she'd been lumped and bumped about, and on top of all that, she felt slightly embarrassed.
How could I have been so bloody forgetful? Of course she wouldn't know! Nuada shook her head again as she remembered the morning's incident. Myla's been brought up in a forest - how was she supposed to know anything about the Divide?
The two had arrived at Jaram station early, with the blessings of the fair-folk and their queen. Making their way quickly through the wooded roads, they talked and laughed companiably until they came to the station, whereupon Nuada had flown into the bag as a 22222y2410w greed.
Inside the bag, she felt Myla run up the stairs and reach to open the door of the building. Then Nuada heard the gruff voice of a guard, and realised her mistake.
"Royal or Wilderness?" the man asked.
It was then Nuada remembered - she had never told Myla of the Guardians' sacred Divide, the law upon which all Fengalonian society was built. Now, she could only pray Myla was wise enough to understand.
"Royal or Wilderness?" the guard persisted, his voice growing more impatient.
"I - I don't know what you mean," Myla stammered slowly.
"Ask a bloody civil question," he groaned under his breath. "There's always one ain't there?" Nuada felt Myla hurry along then, as if pulled. "In there," the man instructed her sharply. Myla sat down quickly and with quite a force, so Nuada came to be in her present uncomfortable state.
As the fairy was reviewing the day's events, a booming voice announced "Thirteen o'th' clock to Hollyrule farm, due to arrive on Platform Three!"
"That's us Nu!" Myla leapt up, and Nuada was again jostled against the foodstuffs and clothing.
Myla rushed out of the waiting room door, and was ushered by the guard who had greeted her at the door onto one of the grimy carriages near the back of the train. But she didn't notice - this was too exciting! She'd heard stories from her parents and older siblings about trains, but actually sitting on one, going to find Tessa...such an adventure the day was, she could forget her grief and burdens for a time.
She came to her senses when a muffled grumbling sounded from inside the bag. Hastily, she removed it from her shoulders, opened it and apologised.
"Oh, Guardians, sorry Nu!" She cried, trying not to laugh at the fairy's appearance. Nuada's hair was mussed up and stuck to her face, her clothes were crumpled, limbs bruised and face angry.
"So you should be!" Nuada retorted, then she too subsided into giggling. After the fits of laughter passed, she straightened and attempted to talk seriously.
"It's okay, I'm sorry too...about that guard this morning."
"What did he mean, Nu?"
"It's... complicated. Do you know about the Divide law?"
Myla frowned in thought. "I think so, my mum used to talk about it. She said I was too young and I didn't really need to know about it. I just don't understand what it really is." She paused then, slightly wistful. "I know about the Hupia though - my brothers are constantly telling me about them and trying to scare me...well, they used to," Myla's voice began to crack, and Nuada quickly moved onward.
"After the war with Pawanzell, the Guardians placed a divide between the royalty and nobility of the world, and its commoners. "Royal" and "Wilderness"."
"Well, what that guard said makes more sense now. But why did they do it?"
"Nobody knows except the Guardians. Theologists have tried for centuries to work it out, but no-"
"No-one believes in the Guardians anymore, but I've seen them! I never believed in them before. I wonder what it'll take to make people believe in them again."
"Some places in the world still worship them - Hollyrule Abbey for one. But the Guardians are real, and so is the Divide, and so are the Hupia."
"Where do they come into it anyway?"
"I was coming to that. After the Guardians established the Divide, they created enforcers of this new law - the Hupia. And anyone, Royal or Wilderness, who breaks the Divide, is punished by the Hupia. And really, you are too young to hear about what they do."
"I can believe in the Guardians, but nothing something as stupid as Hupia! Even the name is ridiculous."
"Yes, I bet you didn't believe in Pawanzell either?"
"Well - I-" Myla was lost for words.
"Everything's changing now Myla. All the old stories, all the things we don't believe in anymore - they're all true, and you and I are caught up with them. The wars are starting up again, and you know about..."
Myla had purchased a large bag of cinder toffee from a passing trolley, and didn't hear anything Nuada said then, and for ever after she wondered how things would have been different if she had.
The sound of an engine pulling in at the station, and Baltica woke, shivering in the draughty dormitory. In the corner of her eye, she caught the flutter of curtains framing an open window. Sighing heavily, she rolled out of bed, hugging the thin blankets tight about her slender shaking shoulders.
As she reached to pull down the sash windows and drive the cold from the room, she paused to observe the landscape outside. Hollyrule Abbey stood atop a tall hill, the meadows and fields and farms of Hollyrule countryside spreading for miles below. The rolling pastures were idyllic and blissful by sunlit day, but terrible by night! Stormy, grey, thundering night that it was, raindrops falling like thrown stones on the tin roof of the abbey - woe betide any poor traveller caught in such weather!
Baltica
started as the distant bellow of a train pulling in at the station rang through
the silence of
Some hours, so it seemed, she tossed and turned, unable to sleep. A short time afterward, Baltica resolved to dress and slip out for a walk to calm her nerves. She crossed the threshold to the door of the room, from which she took her coat and slipped it on over her nightdress. Fumbling in the darkness, she searched the potion cabinet for the right ingredients, careful not to wake Tessa. Eventually she found the Redwater vial and the jar of Dragoneye powder. Sprinkling and pouring a little of each onto her palm, they reacted together to form a tiny flame, bright and tangible, to guide her through the darkness outside.
Slowly opening the door, making not a slight sound, Baltica slipped on her shoes and headed for the main hall. Down the left of the two great staircases she swept, coat billowing behind her like an ocean of cream silk. Where the two stairs met in the centre of the Abbey foyer, the was a magnificent ornate clock, twelve feet in diameter, inlaid with gold and silver and gems, carved with elemental symbols all about the outside. Twenty-three o'th' clock exactly, it read. The Abbey doors shut at twenty-one, but regularly did the Abbey girls wander in the night. Each was gifted with her own key, and Baltica quickly lifted the beams which held in place the great oak door, and left, a tiny slender figure, pale against the navy-grim of the night.
The rain relented somewhat then, yet the cold remained, and thunder still struck above in the heavens. As she drifted further from the warmth and security of Hollyrule Abbey, Baltica became unsettled and in her mind began to regret her decision. Dark stormy nights were no pleasant setting to be placed in, but for one in Baltica's circumstance...She stopped. She couldn't go on, it just wasn't safe for her to walk the wild roads tonight. They'd find her eventually, she'd known that since she'd first chosen her fate and doom, but not tonight. She had too much ahead of her.
Preparing to turn on her heel and run fast as a hunted hare back to her haven, she caught in the corner of her eye a lone figure, cloaked in the darkness and silent. Could it be? No! As the figure approached, it seemed as only a child, ten at most. Surely they were taller!
"Are you lost?" Baltica called, none of her inner anxiousness apparent.
The shadow halted, and Baltica felt the chill breath of approaching doom upon her. Tonight, she was to atone for her ten years of deception and sin. Unless she was to fight...
"No," she whispered at first, over and over, her voice growing in volume until she shouted. "No! I won't be one of you, never! I haven't done anything you wouldn't in my situation! If you understood! I'll never become a Hupia!"
"You bloody cow!" replied a voice, coming from the direction in which the figure stood. A girl's voice, young, befitting for her height. She started toward the astounded Baltica again. "Okay, so I've not travelled that much, but even I know you just don't go round calling people that! What have I ever done to you?"
Baltica laughed slightly then at her own stupidity. "I'm sorry. I thought you - ah, it doesn't matter."
"Are you from the Hollyrule Abbey?"
"I am indeed. Why, are you visiting? It's a bit late, isn't it?"
"I know, but my train's only just pulled in. Will I be able to stay the night in the Abbey?"
"I suppose so, the sisters are always pretty hospitable - only, er, I'm not supposed to be out here at this time of night - you won't tell will you? Let's just say you came to the door and I was the only one who heard, so I answered?" The girl nodded and set Baltica's mind at ease for the moment. "I'm Baltica, by the way."
"I'm Myla."
"You look very young to travel on your own, Myla. Where do you come from? Who are you visiting? What do your parents say to you coming here all on your own?"
That stung. Myla was hesitant to reply, but the older girl didn't seem to notice. "Nosy cow, aren't you?" she snapped, speaking her thoughts as they entered he mind. Then she blunted her tone and wit. "I've come from Arronkari, and my parents don't mind me coming, they say I'm old for my age," she answered cheerily. "I've come see my sister Tessa."
"Of course! Tessa constantly tells me about you, and all the rest of them! Myla Loquelle, it's great to meet you finally. By the Guardians, Tess and me are best friends, we have been since the first year. We share a room, and she snores like a bloody pig with a cold."
Myla giggled, and all previous moment's tension faded.
"Now, about putting you up for the night. You can probably bunk in with us, if the sisters don't mind. You'll have to sleep on the floor though."
"That's fine."
"What do you want to see Tess for anyway? It seems pretty important."
"It's kind of personal. But it's really, really important she hears what I've got to say."
"Oh, okay, I won't bother you about it. Best not to wake her though - she gets grouchy. And believe me, you don't want to see Tess when she's grouchy!"
Myla was becoming impatient - she was tired, hungry and her feet ached. She was fast becoming more and more irritable with the girl, and could think of nothing but hot soup and a warm bed.
"So, who should we ask about me-"
"I think the best idea would be to go and see Sister Kira, she's the Head of the Abbey - and did you know the Head of Abbey is made Thane of Hollyrule country? Not many people realise that. Or we could go and see Sister Bess, she's nice, you'll like her. Mind you, we don't want to go to Sister Nira, she's old and hates kids. And we definitely shouldn't go to Sister Arlinna, because she-"
"Look, will you stop going on about the bloody Abbey and actually take me there?"
Baltica seemed surprised. "Sorry. I was just explaining the situation and -"
"And don't apologise!"
"Stroppy little pegrope, aren't you?"
"And proud of it."
Myla walked in half-slumber as Baltica led her along the oak-panelled corridor to Sister Kira's room. A multitude of oil paintings lined the walls, showing the Head Sisters of Hollyrule over the years. The first portraits they passed were chipped and fading, becoming gradually clearer as they neared the pale wooden door to the office. The last showed a woman, middle-aged, beautiful in a quietly knowing way, wisdom shining in her green eyes. Myla had never seen so much personality depicted in a painting. Upon the door, a bright, highly polished plaque read, in golden bold letters:
Sister Kira Harken, Head of Abbey
Baltica knocked twice lightly and a muffled voice inside instructed them to enter. Behind a desk of dark red wood sat the woman from the portrait, though somewhat older now. Kindness and knowledge radiated from her face, and she looked upon the little girl with benevolence and a wish to help with whatever she could.
"What time do you call this, Baltica? And who have we here?" Sister Kira's voice was of mock anger, amusement hiding in the undertones.
Baltica explained all Myla had told her to Sister Kira, who nodded and decided best to wake Tessa.
"She'll be grouchy, but it's a risk we'll just have to take," she smiled. "Baltica, if you please."
The two left the room, and Myla was alone. She huddled in the chair, afraid, apprehensive, and more than anything curious. Too nervous to think of Nuada in the bag. Clutching at the glass of lemonade Kira had given her, her hands shaking, she wondered what Tessa was like. When she'd left for Hollyrule, Myla had been only a babe. Her stomach tightened, and she looked about the room nervously for something to be sick in.
Myla started as a whirlwind in black silk burst into the room. Tessa Loquelle resembled her younger sister in many ways - her sleek figure, white skin, dark eyes and round face. Her large features were ringed with black make-up, in an attempt to slim them down, make-up that was now smudged from sleep, smudges and streaks of black giving her an intimidating appearance. Her hair floated about her head as she moved. She would have terrified Myla, had the girl not observed that Tessa's long-fingered hands were shaking as much as her own.
The two stared at each other for some while, then Tessa smiled, and the atmosphere lightened.
"So, you're Myla." Tessa had to stop and breathe deeply then. "Talk about unexpected!"
"So...you're not grouchy?"
Confusion passed over the older girl's face, and then she laughed lightly. "Bloody Baltica said that, did she? Guardians, I could kill her! So what happened? You were coming here, she was out for one of her wanders, and you met up?"
Myla nodded. She took a sip of lemonade to moisten her dry throat. She decided it was best not to mention Baltica's outburst - it seemed important not to.
"Anyway, what brings you here Myla? What do mum and dad say to you coming here on your own? And how is everyone? I've not heard from them in-"
Myla could stand it no longer. The same questions, the same barrage of voices continually enquiring into it, what was nothing to do with them. She stood abruptly, and shouted in a voice louder than she'd meant to.
"They're dead, okay! Dead, all dead! Murdered! That's why I'm here, and obviously they can't care much anymore!" Then she fell back into the chair and sobbed.
Myla's words were as a blow to the gut to Tessa. Her head swam, her muscles fell weak and she leant full against the desk. Lies? No - why would her own sister say such terrible things, if they were not the truth? She simply didn't understand.
"Myla?" she stammered, gently rising and touching her sister's arm.
"Murdered!" the girl screamed, and fell into a dead faint.
Baltica drifted through the Abbey corridors for some whiles before she came to the Guardian shrine. Tonight, she was going to confess and be punished. The secret she bore had driven her almost over the precipice of insanity - she just couldn't go on like this any more.
Princess Baltica of Arrondale ascended the steps to the shrine with innate royal grace. She remembered how perfectly she'd planned everything out. Her father believed she was in the Hashwan school for Royalty, the Sisters believed she was plain Baltica Lyenne, who incidentally shared the same name and age as the Arrondalian princess.
Her coat majestically spreading as she knelt, Baltica looked upward to face her fate. Four crystal statues met her eyes. A red eagle with feathers of flame stretching upward to fly for Mardark, a green wolf of leaves, head close to the ground in the hunt for Thiomond, an azure serpent coiling elegantly for Zephaton, and a great golden fairy gracefully dancing for Stolswish.
Baltica was trembling as she lowered her head in prayer and uttered two words which could move a universe.
"Forgive me."
All about her was shaking, crumbling, the Abbey was falling as a ruin to the ground. A great flurry of wind rushed past her ears and tore at her face and hair, until she was sure she was to blow clean away as little more than discarded paper.
Then the rushing passed, and Baltica dared to open her eyes, and she gasped. Before her were the four elemental Guardians of Fengalonia, the same figures whom Myla had encountered at the beginning of her quest. But here all compassion, sympathy and generosity were erased from their fair faces, to be substituted with anger, contempt and disgust.
She shook harder and felt tears of terror sting her wide-open eyes. The four figures before her were silent, and should none of them now break the silence, she knew she would die here of dread.
Mardark was the first to speak. "Thou art Princess Baltica Halanis of Arrondale?"
It startled Baltica to here someone call her that again - not for many years had one done so. She was motionless a moment, still encased in fear, then she nodded.
"You kneeleth before us, but telleth unto us - why shouldst we forgiveth thou? What hast thou to offereth us in return?" Thiomond demanded. Baltica had little she could think of to say in reply, that wouldn't worsen her situation.
"Harken!" Zephaton cried. "Now approacheth the Hupia! Thou hast brought doom unto thyself and unto this place, what canst thou offereth to avert such doom?"
Baltica heard far-off whistling on the hills - the sound of a Hupia, the guards of the Divide. And sure enough, she saw an army of black figures drifting over the top of the moor, making for Hollyrule.
"I don't know!" she wailed. "I just don't know, I don't have anything! Please, forgive me, oh great Guardians, try to understand - I'm so lonely...."
Stolswish spoke then, and her voice was gentler, and soothing to the sobbing Baltica. "I deem thou didst misunderstandeth out law whence thou broketh the Divide. Therefore, thou art to accompany the Loquelles upon a quest, in return for forgiveness."
"Myla and Tess are on a quest?"
"Thou knowest of Pawanzell, Lord of the Remmoncol? He ist returning once again to maketh war with us. Myla and Tessa Loquelle art fated to defeateth him for the second time and thou art to travel with them."
"Oh thank you, merciful great Guardians!" Baltica shouted, but the shrine was empty. Relived, yet shivering in horror still, she made her way with a light heart back to the dorm.
The bells in the tower sonorously sang the time to all those nearby. Twenty-four o'th' clock, the final hour of the day. Some time after Baltica's beseech to the Guardians there, Tessa sat in the shrine and wept. She wept for herself, for Myla, and for the life she'd left. She could only wonder if things would have been different if she'd stayed in Arronkari, though deep down she knew she'd have been killed too, and was secretly glad of it.
She had left Myla unconscious in the chair in Sister Kira's office, and had come here to find answers. She had been granted none of course, but in looking upon those grand crystal statues, she understood the truth of what Myla said, and to some extent, the circumstances surrounding the deaths.
She raised her tear-stained head suddenly as the door opened and Myla came in, her own face streaked from crying. They saw each other properly then, not as the sister they hardly knew, but as two strangers, alone in the world now. And Tessa saw something in Myla's eyes, something she'd never seen before. All the beauty and warmth of bustling streets in the sunrise, a sad beauty, sorrowing and withered to the core, the fate of worlds and all their hopes and dreams and fears resting on her back.
A while they sat together, and Myla, face deadpan the whole time, explained all - Pawanzell, Nuada, the Guardians, the quest. Tessa simply nodded and said she had to be getting to bed, and they'd make arrangements in the morning.
Later that night all the Abbey slept. All but one girl, alone in the shadows of the deserted shrine. She stood as a fifth statue before the carven figures of crystal, grey eyes burning with wild hatred.
The Guardians, the protectors of Fengalonia, had split their children in two, and taken away all who she, Myla, had loved and held dear, to tempt her to fight against what they supposed was evil. What was evil? How could you define it? Would the Remmoncol not consider the Guardians to be evil? How could there be good without evil? How could there be any life among such unrest?
Tears freely flowing once again, she rose to her full height and yelled loudly as she could in her broken voice.
"Why won't you let us live, you selfish bastards!"
Turning swiftly, she ran back to her bed in the far side of the shrine. And cried, howls of bereavement ringing through the silent dark and bouncing from the cold stone, hitting back to her ears until the cries of a million Mylas shattered the harmony of silence, almost a comfort to her in the lonely slumbering world.
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