4. From the Illymium Codex

Deep within the Weir, a barren land in the farthest southern corner of Ardelym, in the core of the Black Mountain, lies the God Gate, a portal to another world. Tended by the Wols, a sisterhood as meek as mice and as fierce as vipers, the God Gate opens every Zar to allow men and beasts from the Blue Planet to enter.

Chapter 9

When the room had cleared and the celebration had moved to the outer courtyards where a lavish banquet of food and drink was laid out, Neit Wol remained, her blind milky gaze fixed on Hyperia, who at last was forced to recognize her.

Hyperia left her husband's side and descended down the dais' steps to greet the older woman in the center of the rotunda.

"Neit Wol," she said. "Please let me extend a personal welcome to Oran to you and your Wol sisters."

Neit Wol's calloused hand clamped tightly on Hyperia's slender wrist.

"Hyperia Davadas," the old Wol whispered, the white hairs on her chin trembling.

Hyperia instinctually pulled her hand back in revulsion, but Neit Wol held on tight. Neit’s free hand brushed from Hyperia’s bosom to her abdomen.

Gasping, Hyperia jolted back. "What are you doing?"

Neit's cracked lips parted and spread into a smile. The teeth that remained in her mouth were black at the roots. "I want to give your son a blessing, that is all."

The old witch suspects something, Hyperia thought as cold panic ran through her veins like ice.

"Revered guarder of the Weir,” Hyperia whispered after a pause where quicksilver thoughts rutted sinister pathways in her brain. "I didn't want to say this in front of everyone, but Ilymm spoke a second prophecy. A secret message, for your ears alone."

A gray tongue emerged snake-like from Neit's mouth. She licked her lips. "Oh?"

"Yes." Hyperia glanced over her shoulder to make sure no one was in earshot. As luck would have it, she saw Flenn follow the king through the colonnade en route to his private office. She returned her attention to Neit. "If you come with me to the Tower, I will divulge Ilymm's message in complete privacy."

Hyperia knew that as clever as the old Wol was, she would not be able to resist the tempting offer for a private office with Illym's ensign. After all, this was the Zar year, when Zephyrea, the Blue Planet, flew by the God Gate. It was Neit Wol's duty to manage this magnificent event. The stakes were high, and Neit had been preparing an entire lifetime for it with selfless devotion.

"Now?" the old Wol asked, impatience revealing itself in the rapid blink of her milky eyes.

"Yes, now!"

Hyperia clasped Neit's arm, whisked her out of the great hall through the colonnade, and down the hall toward the pulley car.

Within minutes, they were flying to the top of Oran Tower. Neither of them spoke a word during the short ride, but Hyperia's eyes remained fixed on the old Wol, who stood with her other senses alert, nostrils flared against any pressing danger.

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"Here we are," Hyperia said gently when the pulley car reached its destination. She opened the metal gate and guided Neit into the tower room.

"Flenn Illymium?" Neit nervously called out.

"The old mage is still downstairs with the others," Hyperia said, closing the gate and locking the car to prevent it from being returned to a lower floor. "We are completely alone."

Hyperia sensed fear in the old woman, and it emboldened her.

"Come," she said, placing a gentle hand on Neit's arm, "to the tower steps."

Hyperia held out her hand, but the old Wol hesitated.

"Illym's word may only be heard at the highest peak of Ardelym, but you know that."

"The Kadaar mountains are nearly as high," Neit replied grimly.

"Nearly, but not quite. Don't you want to hear Illym's message concerning your sisterhood?"

Neit nodded and allowed herself to be led to the narrow spiral staircase.

"You go ahead, Neil Wol," Hyperia said, lifting the skirts of her sapphire gown. "I will follow behind to catch you in case you fall."

* * *

While the citizens of Oran celebrated with the foreign guests in the outdoor courtyards below, Tylla, Starlex, Rigel, Jabe, and Carmelle enjoyed a drink of wine on Rigel's private balcony. His room was located in one of the high towers with a stunning view of the Crimson sea.

"At least the pressure's off you now, milady." Rigel directed his slurred words at Tylla.

"What do you mean?" Tylla asked from the depths of a chaise lounge where she and Carmelle reclined.

Rigel turned his back on the stunning vista. The late afternoon sun peeked through misty clouds as the two moons made a soft appearance on the distant horizon. "Now that your mother is having an heir, you can do as you please."

Carmelle's lips upturned into a hopeful smile.

"I never thought of that," Tylla said. "Does this mean I don't have to marry?"

"Don't you want to marry me?" Carmelle asked, only half-joking.

"If I could, yes," Tylla replied, planting a kiss on her lover's lips.

"What about you, Starlex?" Jabe asked as he helped himself to more wine. "Surely you have a few suitors."

Starlex shrugged and gazed at the sky. "None who appeal to me."

"Aren't there any marriageable men left in Mynimium?"

"A few," she replied with a blasé air.

The conversation concerning her unmarried status always made Starlex uncomfortable.

"Well, isn't it true you all Illymium women are barren?” Jabe asked.

Starlex gripped the scrolled balcony railing until her knuckles whitened, willing away the rising tide of tears stinging her violet eyes.

"Leave her alone, you idiot," Rigel said, swatting Jabe on the ass. "Sorry, Starlex, he can't handle his wine."

Jabe shrugged. "I didn't mean to offend you, Starlex. I just assumed it was common knowledge." He shifted his gaze to Tylla. "Isn't that why your mother had so much trouble? Remember she brought all those old witchdoctors to court to cast fertility spells?"

"Well, Scipio planted the seed at last. Cheers to that!" Rigel lifted his wine glass.

Tylla groaned and said, "Can we stop talking about my mother and her baby? I'm bored with the subject already."

Carmelle sat up and excitedly launched into a new topic, a trip she and Tylla were planning to take if they could somehow convince Hyperia and Scipio it would benefit Tylla's education. "We're dying to see Old Mynimium. Do you know that city is seven Zar's old?"

"Yes," Rigel mused. "Mynimium was once the shining jewel of Ardelym, an oasis on the Akri desert. But once the Sylvan River dried up, Mynimium died with her."

Jabe returned to Rigel's side and slipped his arm around his waist. "Didn't the Nazeer poison the river with their mining operations?"

"Something like that," Starlex said, tilting her face to the sky. A cool soft breeze pushed her white tresses from her face. Talk of Mynimium was as hard to hear as talk of marriage. Both made her feel a painful emptiness that only one thing could fill. It was a word she only dared utter in her silent prayers to Illym during her solo rides in the Pale Forest or lying beneath the moons on the Crimson Sea shores at night.

The word was love.

Suddenly a loud scream, shrill and horrible, pierced the stillness. A flock of crows exploded from nests within the palace wall recesses, scattering in all directions. Rigel cried and clasped Starlex's wrist as they watched Neit Wol fall from the sky. She landed with a terrible thud face down on the roof below them, sending a chain reaction of spider-web cracks across the terra-cotta tiles.