Chapter 56 New Friends
Chambers of Esteban.
Tatiana heard the young people talking about unicorns. She stopped in a doorway, watching them.
Tatiana thought: They are almost the same age as the princess. Of course.
Tatiana: Lupe, Marco, please come with me.
They walked up the stairs to the royal apartments. The royal guards stepped aside to make way for them. The three entered and stopped before the daughter of the king and a royal maidservant.
Tatiana: I want to introduce the princess to her people. Princess Olivia of Costa Lunas, this young woman is Lupe from Limeburner Valley. He is Marco, from the same.
Olivia stood up and gave a delicate bow. Marco gave an awkward bow and Lupita tried to imitate the princess.
Tatiana: I think it is a good idea for Her Excellency to hear about their lives.
Olivia: I understand. Can we talk in private? The young man is afraid of your axe. He has looked at it three times. And the woman is afraid of everything.
Monika: Honey, I do not think that is a good idea. You need to be careful.
Tatiana: I agree.
Olivia looked at the ground pensively. She glanced at the other young people. Lupe was standing a little behind and very close to the boy.
Olivia: Lupe, do you trust him?
Lupita: Yes.
Olivia: Will Marco hurt me?
Lupita: He does not have the evil in his heart to harm a woman.
Olivia: Monika told me this small room is used for private meetings. She said voices in this room cannot be heard. Lupe, Marco, please join me in this room.
Olivia walked towards the thick wooden door and they followed.
Tatiana: Are you sure, my princess?
Olivia stopped and turned to speak to the warrior.
Olivia: I am not sure about anything. I am afraid, and this woman is the only one who is as scared as I am. If you want me to meet my people, if I am a princess, stay there. If I am a bastard you want to control, follow me. I have no weapons or strength to stop you.
Tatiana fell to one knee and touched her axe and her sword: I will serve you my princess.
The three entered the room and Marco closed the heavy door.
Monika: Tea, my Lady? With a splash of brandy?
Tatiana: Yes, but more than a splash, please.
Meeting room.
Olivia was sitting in a chair covered in silk with gems on the arms. The other two were sitting on the other side of a red wooden table.
Olivia: My name is Olivia. I am the illegitimate daughter of King Aloisio. For fifteen years and one month, I have lived in a small room at the top of this tower. My father never visited me, and my mother died giving birth to me. Today I learned that some members of the royal court want me to be queen. I have never been so afraid in my life. I have told you the truth. Please do the same for me.
Lupita: My name is Lupe. My mother died and I do not know my father. I earn an honest living with my body. I have sex with men in exchange for coin. A kind old man paid me for some favors a few days ago. The royal guards arrested me, and I am a prisoner in this castle. I think I am going to die soon for having helped him.
Marco: I am Marco. I transport people in a wooden chair with three other boys. I am the bastard son of a street girl, and I have a little sister who I do not want to become a whore. I think this chair is worth more than all the coins I have ever seen in my life.
Olivia: Do you hate my father?
Marco: I hate the guards. They beat a boy who steals bread for his little sister, but they never protect girls like Lupe. They always say they represent the law of the king.
Lupe: I do not hate your father. It is not right to hate someone you do not know.
Olivia: I never knew my father, but I hate the king. I do not want to be like him. Now I am afraid of everything. If I must be queen, can you help me?
The guarded bedroom.
Clemente: I saved you some food.
Danilo: Did you know I would be here with you?
Clemente: Yes, I have dreamed of this conversation for years.
Danilo: What am I going to say now?
Clemente: If I tell you, it will be different from my dreams.
Danilo: How convenient.
Clement: What do you know about Aurelio?
Danilo: You were right. He is marching south with ten thousand soldiers.
Clement: Are you a thinker?
Danilo: Yes, of course. A man becomes a priest to think about the important things in the world... wait. Am I the reason you know that Aurelio would march south?
Clemente: Yes, you are a thinker.
Danilo: If you have all this knowledge, why do you not use it to help us?
Clemente: I help my family. I care not who the king or queen is. What matters to me is family. My family and the family of the All-Mother.
Danilo: Treat everyone like family. You said fewer people would die in the war. Was that what you meant?
Clemente: Yes. Fewer deaths, less hunger, and fewer rapes. Bipeds never stop harming their family. I can only reduce the damage of this era and save some important bipeds.
Danilo: You speak like the riders who describe thoughts of the Pegasi.
Clemente: Yes. I feel like a Pegasus now. Do you have a pipe?
The young priest took out his smoking bag and offered it. The old man prepared the pipe with the herbs and lit it. The herbal blend was fine and expensive. The aroma was sweet and mild. As the priest smoked, he began to connect with the earth through the wood beneath his feet. He searched the depths of the earth for stronger connections. Danilo, lost in his sadness, did not notice what the he was doing. Clemente exhaled a large puff of smoke which he directed straight towards the face of Danilo.
Clemente: Listen to me, priest of the Pegasi. The All-Mother needs you. Your family needs you. You need to learn a ritual. The Calling requires a priest to work the magic, a fearless rider, and a person with the magic of the Pegasi within. When I was young, I was all three things. I am the only man to perform this ritual without the help of another.
Danilo: How will I know who the others are?
The voice became thoughts in the minds of the two priests.
All-Mother: You and the others will hear the call. The ritual did not begin with the bipeds. Only an All-Mother can initiate this ritual.
Danilo: I understand. When will you call us?
All-Mother: It will be after the death of this biped.
Danilo had images in his mind. The priest saw himself performing a ritual in a place he had never visited.