The Divine Deucalion of Aether

The Red-Columned Palace

When the trireme returned to Aether, Falco and Kenneth both raced for the palace. They were home at last and wanted to see everyone they had left behind! Through the Crown Prince's mind images of his father and mother and sister and brother-in-law raced through his head, but the most constant image was Rowena's countenance.

Upon reaching that five-story tall red-columned maze of a palace that served as Aether's capital as well, Falco stopped and looked down at Kenneth. The caracal stared up at him and Falco gave a smile before entering the palace and began to navigate the passageways to reach the throne room, Kenneth following close behind. It was easy enough for them to navigate, yet when the reached the throne room they found it to be completely empty.

The throne room was a large room with five and thirty steps that lead to the alabaster throne, more a glorified stool than anything else that was placed before a statue of the Earth Bull, a deity that resembled a great bull with fur of lapis lazuli and horns of silver. To the sides of the steps were statues of a past Divine Deucalion, both in a sitting position with their hands on their knees. As tradition dictated, the statues portrayed the Divine Deucalion as idealized, being young and athletic. What would have been flesh was gold and the hair of the statues were made of lapis lazuli, for as the Divine Deucalion was a god on earth, they would be portrayed as gods were with flesh of gold and hair of lapis lazuli.

Looking to Kenneth, Falco inquired: "Where is everyone?" Kenneth meowed in response, to which the Crown Prince of Aether replied: "I don't know either." Walking up to steps to the throne, Falco then addressed the statue of the Earth Bull, inquiring: "What have you to say? Where is everyone? What do you know of this, Prisoner-in-the-Earth?"

Although a symbol of puissance and affluence, the Earth Bull was chained in a cavern beneath Aether and it was feared what would happen if he was ever to break free. On occasion Aether would judder, caused by the Earth Bull pulling at his chains, trying to escape and he could be heard booming and barking as he pulled at them. His priesthood all looked forward to the day he broke free, but everyone else thought them mad. Had the Earth Bull not been chained under Aether and the deity favoured by the bandits and rebels who had been the islands first settlers and later the crown princes who had come before Falco and his father, the current Crown Prince doubted this deity would have been his kingdom's patron, he did not even see a reason to like this deity. Of all the gods in all the world, the Earth Bull had been the only one, until the ascension of Menes to be appeased with throwing a man into a bull pit to be gored to death. Ever since Menes had ascended to the throne, immolations to the Earth Bull had been forbidden and instead his priesthood appeased him with airs and pujas of vintage.

The statue gave no answer. No booming, no barking, no juddering, nothing from the Earth Bull. Was he asleep... or had he escaped in Falco's absence? Or perhaps... Perhaps the Earth Bull had finally found peace.

Was it truly possible? Falco wished it was so, but that left Taurus unaccounted for. Where was he? Where was his father? Where was his mother? Where was his sister and brother-in-law? Where was his father's golden tiger Aedan? Where were the exiled prince and princess from Leto Alboin and his sister Scholastica? Where was Buri, the ambassador from the Ulgen Khanate? Where was Publius, the ambassador from the Commodian Republic? Where was Frumentius, Falco's lifelong friend?

Where was Rowena?

"Falco?"

Falco turned and saw Rowena standing in the entranceway to the throne room.

Rowena was sixteen twelvemonths old and stood at a height of five feet and six inches. She was a slender young woman with light skin, large reddish-brown eyes and red hair that was long and straight. She was fairly attractive with an honest face, a cute mouth and good legs. As was the case of anyone considered the comeliest gentlewoman of anywhere, it was an exaggeration at best with the exaggeration including her mouth being the cutest and her legs the best. Her attire consisted of an amber coloured breastband and a brown perizoma and she kept her hair in a ponytail.