The Chaos Circles #9

Enatuh’s hall, or simply known as the Hall, was the main reason, if not just one of the reasons, why the village became the capital of the Green Cliffs valley. The sparsely populated community area was not small, indeed one of the largest in the kingdom. But the great interlocking of two mountain ranges surrounding the valley made it a difficult terrain to travel in or out to the north, Asuqaro, or south, Uvounuq.

Lya stopped to catch her breath for a moment as she stood at one of the smaller back doors of the Hall. She had run all the way from her house, her body was sweating despite the cool night’s breeze. But before she could knock quietly, the small door opened with a bang.
“Quick, quickly child! I wish not to miss anything and neither should you!” cried Channeler Harrietta. With a jingle of her bracelets on her thick wrist, she pulled Lya roughly up the staircase and closed the door noisily.

A number of hushed shhh! followed. Lya’s eyes tried to see clearly in the almost complete darkness but her feet tripped over someone and she fell to the wooden floor. Another round of shhh..., a little louder.
“Oh, quiet yourself!” said the Channeler in a hoarse whisper.
Still holding a tight grip on her Lya’s wrist, she pulled her up to the front, following more wooden steps, each narrower and more twisted than the other.

Only men were permitted to sit on the stair benches fitted against the left and right walls. Important guests, regardless of gender and when there are any, were seated at the main red mahogany tables that made a ‘C’ on the stone floor. The open-end arrangement of the tables faced the main antechamber and entrance. The women and children stood crowded listening from the antechamber, or if they were lucky, watch the proceedings from the encircling balcony just under the Hall’s roof.

As Channeler Harrietta led her to the balcony, muttering excuses as she goes, Lya could see Jaque and his father sitting somewhere at a corner close to the entrance, just under the light of a rusty iron-wrought candles’ stand. Terrence was rubbing his chin, his face looked solemn. Jaque looked more nervous than she had ever seen him before. He kept turning his head at every noise but most of the time, he looked at those sitting at the main tables.

“There you go girl, just stand here with Faerilla and watch. Look, Gemianna, Lyndie and Virdie are already here.”
Channeler Harrietta pointed to the high back of the only chair in the balcony area. And with a flash, she disappeared, rather quickly for a woman her size. Lya looked nervously over the railing as she made her way to her mother. On her left were a young pregnant woman and a pair of Willingdottir twins. Virdie’s face lit up at the sight of her best friend and gestured excitedly with her hands to bid Lya closer without making a sound.

Lya pushed her way gently between the curious and anxious women to join them. She touched lightly to her mother’s shoulder to show her presence. Faerilla merely nodded and returned to her attention to the meeting below.
“What’s going on?” whispered Lya.
“Nothing much. Your pa had just introduced the Heads to the Mages and they’ve answered back. See, they’re passing the welcome wine now,” said Virdie quickly, as if saying anymore might distract her of something. The men sitting on the benches were not offered the wine.

Virdie Willingdottir was hardly identical to her twin sister. She was fairer than most people with a thick bushy head of gold, like her father. Lyndie looked more like Gemianna’s sister than simply first cousin. Both were shorter and their red hair was straight. Gemianna had a rounder face, which was full of freckles, a trait only Leighamdottir possessed. Having a round belly, either with or without a child also seemed to be a Leighamdottir trait, Lya quietly mused.

She looked over the railing again and this time, she studied the faces of those sitting at the table. Her father was at the main chair, looking as relaxed as a merchant guard in attention. On his right were not two or three but all seven Heads of Green Cliffs; Jeram, Leigham, Walkers, Caygarl, Asana, Frett, and of course, Jaymes. How did the Caygarls and the Fretts managed to arrive so quickly from their distant communities was as baffling to Lya as why the Mages requested the meeting.

On Handred Samuelson’s left, there were four Mages sitting not close but on the far edge of the tables. Anyone could tell they were the ones because of the silvery peacock green coats they wore and the two young boys standing behind. The boys were servants perhaps, or apprentices, or both. They stood in discipline, but their shivering was obvious and their faces flushed red. Apparently, only the Mages were warned of the cold mountain air in Enatuh’s nights.

Like the rest of them, Handred drank deeply into his apple wine; his eyes never wavered from a light-haired Mage closest to him. He looked to be at the height of his manhood, his short beard neat and his brows thick.
“He’s the leader. His name is Chris Anasteq. Or at least, that’s what he said,” said Virdie.
She pointed to each of the Mages and explained their identity to Lya.
“The old man next to him looks as old as your pa, but more vigorous, if you excuse my meaning. Mage Chris said the old man’s his senior but not his superior or his father, how strange.”

The next Mage had a darker skin than any of them; his eyes were an unusual bright blue, and often shivered but with less consistency than the boys behind him. He drank the wine with less consistency too.
“And that one’s Karina, Chris’s wife. Imagine, a mage for a wife! But Chris addressed her as a ‘Sage’, maybe cause she’s a lady. I’m not sure about these things.”
Lya listened in earnest, her eyes focused closely at Karina. Her curly hair was short, like her husband’s, but her face was shapely.

“The last one’s looked most strange to me. Gerald Usuquinota. What a name. Perhaps his clan was barbarians. But he looked more like a knight, don’t you think?” asked Virdie.
Lya could barely register what Virdie said before her father suddenly stood up with his hands held out for attention. The scattered talks, whispers and other noises disappeared almost in an instant. Handred stood for a moment, before he spoke.
“Blood and brethren, I see and accept you! Clans and clansmen, I speak and listen to you! Let no dishonour be done and may no evil harm us. For at this moment and at this hour, we welcome four Outsiders for as long as they come in good graces. What would they say?”

Handred gestured a hand to the light-haired Mage, Chris Anasteq. The man, who had never left his eyes between her father and the Heads, stood up like a solider. He looked more robust standing than sitting. The man gestured a fist to his heart before he bowed his head low in respect. Then the man spoke, his voice was as deep and haunting as the echoes of a stone dropped into a deep well.

“I say this, Father Villager, to you and your blood and your people. I bring no stain; neither do my company, until proven guilty. I bring no danger; neither do my company, until proven guilty. Here are my hands, no whiter than yours. Accept me is to accept us all. What do you say?”
Lya saw that most of the men we impressed. Jaque had stopped looking around and was rubbing the side of his neck.

Apparently, Mage Chris was no stranger to the ethnic customs of Green Cliffs. Although the faces of the clan leaders were blank, once or twice their heads nodded in approval. Handred did not even blink, but his answer said his sanction.
“I answer you, Outsider, that I shall let you speak. Let all who are here become witnesses to your words and actions. You may speak now.”
The Heads stood up a bit straighter.

Mage Chris paused for a moment. Lya could not tell if he looked tired or troubled, or maybe even both. But there was no evident weakness in his eyes.
“Citizens of Green Cliffs. I wish to apologize for the lateness of this hour I’ve called for you to hear. But any moment in luxury here is a moment in peril elsewhere. For you see, good men and women, the whole of Asuqaro is threatened by outside forces once again. We are at war.”

To be continued...