The dimly lit antechamber of the Great Temple of Pizna did not improve Ninon’s gloomy outlook as she and Alda walked to the end of it. Neither could see into the hall where services took place, as it was lower than the elevation at which they stood by six stairsteps. A bell hung at the centre of the ceiling, from which they could summon a priest or priestess.
“We have to do it now,” Alda reminded the princess in a firm but gentle tone. “Duchess Ortrun was right. General Karesti will send search parties out when she realizes you’re not at the palace when she awakes.”
Ninon glanced at her servant for a moment, nodding before returning her nervous gaze to the bell. With an unsteady hand, she pulled the rope that was attached to it, sounding it for the entire Temple to hear. Around a half minute later, a priestess walked up the six steps to the antechamber to greet them. She wore the same tall golden mitre as her male counterparts did, and a similar golden robe except that priestesses wore white belts around their waists to emanate Pizna’s womanliness.
“Your Highness,” she bowed as she became level with Ninon. “Your arrival is a pleasant surprise. What may we do for you at this hour?”
“I-I would like a reading done for me,” Ninon sputtered out. “I know it’s terribly late, but I cannot wait.”
“How far into the future would you like to see?” the priestess asked.
“As far as possible.” Ninon confirmed.
The priestess’ gaze went to her clasped hands as they tore away from Ninon’s eyes.
A request like that now? I cannot do this alone. I must get a priest’s assistance. This is an absurd request, but I cannot deny the inquiry of a royal family member. Mother Pizna would be greatly displeased.
“Understood,” the priestess nodded, looking back again at Ninon. “But I have to warn you that such a reading will cause you some amount of physical pain, and you may not get every answer you wish. Our prescience isn’t unlimited.”
“That’s fine.” Ninon nodded. There was no going back now.
“Excellent, please go down those steps and wait at the bottom. Just you, Your Highness. Unfortunately, only the subject of the reading and the priests performing it are permitted into the hall,” she spoke, first to Ninon, and then to Alda. “We cannot contaminate her visions with that of someone else’s. You may sit at the steps until she returns.”
Ninon gave a somber look to Alda before she fully disappeared down the steps. Alda returned a smile that was of a maternal nature. That was all she could do. From then on, it was just Ninon and the priests.
The short set of stairs ended at a small space that was cordoned off from the massive liquid pool that was the hall of the Great Temple by a waist-high wall on three sides. On the edges of the wall were several items. Two were glowing Utrium lanterns, meant to navigate the dimly lit hall. The third object was a neatly folded glowing dress, which was the only garment or item permitted to be taken into the liquid methane pools of the hall. After changing out of her plain tunic into the dress, Ninon was met by the priestess who arrived after a very brief talk with Alda. The priestess removed her shoes and swung her legs over the short dividing wall, making a small splash as her feet hit the liquid methane. She took one of the two lanterns, leading the way while having Ninon follow her.
The warm liquid around Ninon’s ankles hardly made her feel any less nervous. In fact, her heart beat harder the closer she got to the central tower where readings and other ceremonies took place. In the middle of the cylindrical room was the podium with the glass case that encased the strand of Pizna’s hair that had been inside it for centuries.
The priestess asked Ninon to stand against the edge of the wall as she pressed a button on it. From below the water, another structure emerged. It was a bed made of a single hard, but smooth stone that was around waist-height. The section where the head and shoulders rested was elevated, making it inclined.
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“Please lie down, Your Highness,” the priestess calmly instructed the girl. “I will retrieve a priest to assist me with this reading. Do not stress. Matriarch Pizna indeed offers relief to her Children who seek it.”
The priestess departed, and for the short time she was alone, up against the cold and hard bed, all Ninon could do was try to control her breath and heartbeat. Remembering Ortrun’s words and Alda’s smile helped her, but it did little to stop her from thinking about what possible dire events awaited her down the line.
“Good morning, Your Highness,” the priest who had come to help with the reading greeted the young royal, arriving with the priestess. “Please, relax. In a moment, we will close off this room and inject more liquid methane. This will make your body less resistant to the readings and will help us see as much of your visions as possible.”
The heavy sliding door shut with a thud, briefly causing the walls to vibrate. Liquid methane poured into the room gradually through slits in the wall, like the cylindrical room was a massive cup. The filling ceased once Ninon’s entire body was submerged, with the exception of her head and neck.
The priest and priestesses then tied cloth veils around their mitres, hanging over their faces and concealing them. Ninon’s visions would project against the inner side of the veil, allowing them to see and interpret them. The priestess then had Ninon open her mouth, where she placed a clean piece of cloth for her to bite down on to cope with the pain she would have to undergo.
“Please lift your hands, Your Highness,” the priestess requested. “We must make a connection with the inside of your body to read your visions.”
The priest and priestess each made swift, shallow cuts on their right palms with small ceremonial knives, leaving thin trails of blood emerging from them. They then made similar cuts on each of Ninon’s palms. She winced as a searing, cold pain flashed across the front of her hands. Then, each religious official went down on their knees and held their blood-covered hands to the height of their faces, palms facing outwards.
“Mother, we ask for Your permission to enter this Child’s mind, to offer her relief that which only You may grant. We ask that you make this Ceremony easy for us, those who have given our lives in permanent service of You. All in all, we ask for Your clarity, guidance, and all that which you will to give Your Children.”
After the short prayer, the priest and priestess clasped a hand of Ninon’s each with their right hands, smudging their bloody cuts against one another. They squeezed the girl’s hands so tight, she felt that their arms were extensions of her body. Yet that was only the beginning of the pain.
“Refuge,” the priestess spoke first. “You will go to seek refuge.”
Ninon’s eyes clamped shut as she tried to ignore the increasing pain, slowly traveling up her palms, crawling up her wrists.
“A battle will ensue, all for the sake of returning you home.” the priest narrated.
“Then you will find two men of your lineage, alive and well, at the cost of another’s life.” the priestess said.
The pain came up to her elbows. It was like lava painted the insides of her hands and forearms.
Two men? Ninon fought to process the revelation. Father and… who else?
“Peace shall be restored, and the perpetrators of darkness will be rightly punished. Your station shall remain the same, but it… cannot be maintained.” the priest said in a low voice.
The hot, flashing agony had intensified the higher it travelled, and it now came up to her shoulders.
“Different sides, separated for eternity by strife, will seek their commonalities,” the priestess said, very vaguely. “And you shall be one of its many facilitators.”
The pain reached her spine. Ninon lifted her head, as if to gasp for refreshing cool air, but the priest’s hand guided it back against the bed. She kicked her legs, causing the liquid methane around them to splash.
“But this will not last forever!” the priest raised his voice, which echoed across the cylindrical wall of the room. “Traitors will make their appearances. They will make their allegiances clear, and armies that were never seen in the past will be pitted against each other!”
The affliction had run down her spine, quickly encompassing her legs. It was as if the sun, which was so far from Titan that the number for its distance from it could not be spoken, had materialized itself under her skin and around her very bones. She thrashed about the bed, rolling from side to side, stamping the stone bed with her heels so forcefully that it shook the solid structure. All that controlled her were the weakening grips of the priest and priestesses’ hands. Tears streamed down from the corners of her eyes, and blood leaked from her nose. To have the very future extracted from the body was a terrifying, agonising experience for anyone. Not just for a child of 14.
This is the strength of a Karesti, the priest let a very rare instance of worldly curiosity get to him, even though the Princess’ grip on his hand was enough to just about to shatter it. An ordinary one of our kind could not do this, even with the same pain being inflicted on them. It is so very fascinating.
“Brother, we must stop the reading!” the priestess warned. “She will cause harm to herself as well as to us if do not end it right now!”
My eyes… Ninon contemplated as her forced shutting of them became more and more involuntary. They feel so… heavy. My whole body feels so heavy.