Chapter 10

A man Jabbit hadn’t seen before was guarding the entrance to the Banyan Dream. Since the man had never seen Jabbit either, he didn’t allow him to pass. Sybelien secretly watched the scene from a distance and she didn’t plan to interfere. It struck her as funny that the man who had caused so many people so much trouble was having difficulties getting by the doorman of a whorehouse. Her gleeful experience was cut short when two well-dressed older men arrived and joined the discussion. She saw the bouncer avidly nodding and then he opened the door for Jabbit and the two men. They entered and Sybelien couldn’t shake the feeling that someone had played a joke on her.

As usual, Inandrey presided over the Banyan Dream from her boudoir. She reclined on her plush purple settee and was surrounded by her scantily clad employees when Jabbit and two well-known nobles entered together. Her eyes slightly widened in surprise but aside from that little slip, she maintained her regal poise. The two men politely bowed to Inandrey and she rewarded the gesture with a gentle smile.

“Lord Wharrinos – Lord Sachson, what a pleasant surprise,” she greeted the men.

“Lady Danjala, the pleasure is all ours,” Lord Sachson returned the greeting. “Lord Wharrinos and I are in Katerra for rather unpleasant reasons. Regardless, I am certain the visit to your temple of delights will make our stay in Katerra a most pleasurable memory.”

“Lord Sachson speaks the truth,” Lord Wharrinos approved. “Upon arriving at the threshold to your home, we were enraptured by a beautiful sight and all of the day’s unpleasantness was already forgotten. We encountered this young gentleman. Your doorman refused him access to your establishment but we thought his charms would be wasted on the streets and asked him to accompany us inside the Banyan Dream, the renowned treasure vault of beauty.”

“Yes, indeed,” Sachson agreed. “The moment I saw him - his noble Alorian appearance combined with the darker accents of a ferocious nature - I had a vision I dearly want to become a reality. I would love watching this beautiful young man merging in the heat of passion with your equally beautiful daughter Anseyla. I imagine it would be a sight only gods were ever allowed to witness before.”

“Of course, we wouldn’t want you - nor several more of your beauties - to be deprived of such a sight,” Lord Wharrinos adjoined. “So allow me to invite you and all the ladies currently present to accompany us and become witnesses to the divine entertainment we envisioned.”

Inandrey listened to the Lords’ lengthy proposition with a gentle smile on her face. In contrast to her serene appearance, her mind was in turmoil, feverishly appraising the situation. She evaluated costs and profits but also existing risks and probable outcomes. Anseyla, her daughter, was a reliable professional. Her other daughter, Evanis, was anything but predictable in regards to the young man. Would she erupt and cause a bloodbath if she learned of a dalliance between her sister and the boy she obviously viewed as her possession - even if it was only business?

Then there was the young man to consider. Aside from his perfect beauty, he was an intriguing curiosity and the proposed encounter would offer a chance to intimately observe his strange appeal. She cast one last glance at Anseyla and one at the placid-looking Jabbit and when Lord Wharrinos finally finished with the last part of their offer, Inandrey had come to a decision as well.

“My lovely daughter and I would feel delighted to accommodate your wishes, my Lords,” Inandrey announced. “I’d suggest the Carmine Room as stage for this endeavor.”

The lords approved her choice of room and followed Inandrey as she led them out of the boudoir, as did all the young women, giggling excitedly. All but one; Anseyla took Jabbit’s arm when they reached the door and held him back.

“Listen, this is business,” she instructed. “I am certain you and the Princess really enjoy each other’s passion but we - you and I - we’re actors now. I’m the professional, so let me take the lead. Don’t worry either, I’ll make sure you’ll enjoy what I’ll do to you and no matter how clumsy you treat me, I’ll pretend I relish it, too. That’s what we are paid for, to present an illusion.”

“Thank you,” Jabbit replied, smiling. “I now feel much better about the coming lesson.”

Arm in arm, the actors unhurriedly followed their audience to the Carmine Room, their stage.

A conclave with a very different mindset had gathered at the residence of the Alorian High Priest, his Excellency, Montis Shoban’Rohass. The High Priest and seven Untars - a term originating from the old Alorian language, meaning ‘the first among equals’ - of different Orders from the Alorian priesthood sat at a large round table. The table was made of an exotic redwood, matching the opulent furnishings of the High Priest’s study.

“I called forth this meeting on the persistent demand from the ‘Order of the Keepers of Truth’,” the High Priest pointed out, not trying to hide his annoyance. “Brother Phaross, please let us know the urgent reason for this meeting.”

The addressed priest rose out of his chair. “Brethren, all historians, and clerics of my Order are certain; the signs are clear, the Nameless Son is walking among us - at precisely this time, here in Katerra,” he stated. “It no longer is just a prophecy, it is our reality.”

“Which prophecy exactly are you talking about?” Solvenos asked, the Untar of the ‘Order of the Golden Hand’, the priesthood’s treasurer. “I apologize, but there are so many prophecies I lost the overview.”

Untar Phaross glared at his brethren. “It’s not overview what you are missing; you lost your faith!” He chastised. “All known prophecies regarding the ‘Nameless Son’ refer to the same event. The differences between them only reflect the particular view of the prophet who made the prediction. Presently, my Order focuses on Kobranas of Kassites’ prophecy. It is written:”

After a short reverent pause, Phaross continued. “The recent revelations brought to us by the ‘Order of the Bhansun’ validated Kobranas’ prediction and subsequently enabled us to identify at least some of the powers mentioned in the prophecy. The scholars agree, all four powers are individuals. ‘The might of the sword’ is Evanis Danjala, third commander of the ‘Forsaken Army’. There is some disagreement about the identity of the ‘Innocence of youth’, but most scholars assume it to be Princess Rhaseris of Danuba. The very same Princess we chose to become the next Empress of the Alorian Empire. ‘The knowledge of the ancients’ stays a mystery, as well as the identity of ‘The retribution for the betrayal’ - although we, my dignified brethren, should be very aware which betrayal Kobranas predicted, thousands of years before it was committed. Of utmost importance, however, every scholar concludes that the ‘Nameless Son’ walks among us. We assume his appearance to be that of a youthful male person but that’s no more than an educated guess at the moment.”

Phaross statements were a lot more explicit than his usual vague predictions of gloom and doom. The conclave took a loud but brief moment to digest the information. The arguments and angry disbelief continued until the High Priest re-called them to order.

“Any news about the order-warriors you sent to interrogate Evanis Danjala? Or the whereabouts of Princess Rhaseris?” The High Priest asked the dark hooded figure of Ashun Kal’Thys, Untar of the Order of the Bhansun.

“Evanis Danjala is well known and her appearance distinctive,” the Bhansun Untar answered. “Reliable sources informed me of her return to the Banyan Dream; the whorehouse of her mother, Inandrey Danjala. As you probably know, ‘The Queen of Whores’ is a member of the Midnight Council. None of my sources know what Princess Rhaseris looks like or what happened to my fellow brethren who investigated the Banyan Dream. We sent a message by carrier pigeon to Rhaseris’ father, King Aerathon. In his reply, he told us that he’ll send a search party to Katerra but it’ll take them almost two weeks to arrive here. We are certain that by then we will already know her whereabouts.”

“Disappointing,” the High Priest admonished. “Don’t you have enough men to arrest Evanis Danjala?”

“It’s a delicate matter for my Order to arrest someone in Katerra,” Ashun Kal’Thys expressed his concerns. “Emperor Dharos of Tunapor is no friend of the Alorian priesthood. Open fights in Katerra to arrest its citizens might stir his ire. Then there is the Midnight Council. They secretly rule Katerra and won’t tolerate us arresting people, either. Even more so if those people are the offspring of their ruling members.”

“Why don’t we do what everyone else does in such a situation?” Kinsela Yar’Sorra intervened. “We hire mercenaries without any known connection to us. They do the dirty work for us and no one knows who hired them. Obviously, we can’t use the mercenary service of the Midnight Council but there are thousands of that ilk in and outside of Katerra.”

“Interestingly enough, Evanis Danjala is just such a mercenary and she betrayed her client, King Mandorak, when she brought Rhaseris to Katerra,” Ashun mentioned. “That should warn us of the dangers in hiring mercenaries.”

The High Priest loudly slapped his hand on the table. “Evanis Danjala is of no importance to me,” he thundered. “I need you to get hold of Rhaseris! Without her, our plan will be delayed for months. I’ll not allow it!”

All present Untars expressed their obedience to the High Priest’s decision.

“Regardless, we have to plan for the contingency the Princess might have become impure and is no longer suitable for her role as Alorian priestess and Empress of the Empire,” the Untar of ‘The Order of Purity and Devotion’ suggested.

“I don’t care one lick if Rhaseris is the cheapest whore in the Banyan Dream by now,” the High Priest snorted. “We chose her for a reason but that reason wasn’t her purity. Find her and bring her here! This meeting is adjourned!”

Not that far from the Marble Cemetery, Sybelien slipped off the road and under one of the hundreds of bridges, crossing the numerous streams flowing through Katerra. Only this bridge was the hiding place of Sybelien’s most secret treasures. She looked around and waited until she was certain no one had noticed her leaving the road, then picked the loose stone in the fundament of the bridge and pulled it out. She took the small casket hidden behind the stone and looked inside. The casket only contained two items, a small piece of folded linen and a golden chain with a medallion.

The linen was a piece of the cloth she was wrapped in when she was taken out of the arms of the dead woman who had been murdered by the Yorak. The embroidery on the piece of cloth showed the same symbol as the golden medallion - the circle of the sun with an open eye in its center. Long ago, a ruby had been set as the iris of the eye. Sybelien wasn’t even four-years-old at that time and hardly could remember it. She remembered the crying face of the woman who had rescued and cared for her, however. The woman had broken the ruby off the pendant and sold it to buy some food and medicine for the sick and starving pair. The woman had died anyway but Sybelien survived.