Return to Aether

Searching the Palace

Through the labyrinth of corridors, Falco and Rowena searched the Palace for wherever the serfs' quarters could have been, Kenneth following after them. The Palace, the capital of the island nation, was five stories tall and decorated with bull frescos and horns of consecration. Bull imagery was everywhere with that imagery the presence of the Earth Bull could be felt. Amongst the warehouses, workshops, shrines, offices and royal apartments, the serfs' quarters could have been anywhere in the Palace, on any floor and they would always be in the presence of some manner of bull imagery.

Taking a moment to look at the throne room, Falco and Rowena saw that little had changed. It was still a large room with five and thirty steps leading up 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 had once been statues of a past Divine Deucalion, both in a sitting position with their hands upon their knees, portrayed as idealized, being young and athletic, but the heads had been changed. No longer had they the heads of a man, but now they had the head of a bull. No longer did the statues have flesh of gold, hair of lapis lazuli nor were their horns silver, they were things of sandstone, not the portrayal of gods on earth, gods who lived and walked amongst the people, gods who were as mortal as everyone else, gods who understood what it meant to be human.

Taurus' decision that there be only a single deity meant that there would be no god kings and that was ultimately one of the problems. The Earth Bull had never been human, he did not understand what it was like to be human. His form was not human, his form was that of a beast that was worshipped by bandits, rebels, torturers and Crown Princes, a beast that sacrifices were made to by throwing someone into a bull pit to be gored to death. No human monarch that was considered a god on earth ever demanded such a thing no other deity period demanded such a thing and under Menes, predecessor of Falco's paternal grandfather Conall, the sacrificing of people by throwing them to the bulls had been banned in favour of appeasing the dark deity with airs and pujas of vintage.

Alas, the banning of throwing people into the bull pit to be gored to death had not been done everywhere. In Hyperion when Leo had been its king, that had been the continued way to appease the Earth Bull. With the ascension of Ascanius, Falco's brother-in-law, the worship of the Earth Bull had been banned and no more were people thrown to a bull to be gored. Still, that was one city-state and the world was a big place.

Hearing someone enter the throne room, Falco and Rowena both turned while Kenneth both turned and arched his back. It was someone unknown to Falco and Kenneth, but Rowena remembered him from her time as a prisoner of Hyperion. He was Tilla, one the Priests of the Earth Bull from when Leo ruled the city.

Tilla was a man of medium height, being only five feet and nine inches tall, and build with brown hair and eyes. He could have vanished into a crowd easily and not be noticed.

Turning away so Tilla could not see her countenance, she whispered to Falco: "Hold me close."

Falco did as his wife had instructed, holding Rowena close to him as she wrapped her arms around him and hid her face in his shoulder. Instinctively, Falco began to stroke Rowena's long, red hair as Tilla turned his attention to them.

"Here now, what's this?" asked Tilla, walking over to the couple and then looking at Kenneth. "And what is that?"

"She saw the statue come down, sir." Falco answered. "Saw it crush some poor souls, I am merely calming her."

"Indeed, and what is that?" asked Tilla, pointing at Kenneth. The caracal's response was to loudly hiss at the Clergyman of the Earth Bull.

"A caracal." Replied Falco.

"Where did it come from?"

"We acquired him from a merchant."

Staring at Kenneth with narrowed eyed, Tilla then turned his attention to Falco. His eyes still narrowed, he uttered: "I don't recall ever seeing you."

"You wouldn't have, sir." Falco said. "My wife and I don't live here we are from one of the villages outside of the Palace. We've come for work."

"And you've brought that?" asked Tilla, gesturing at Kenneth. The caracal hissed once again at the Clergyman of the Earth Bull.

"He can catch birds, sir." Falco stated.

"And I take it your wife can dance?" inquired Tilla.

"Yes, sir." Falco answered with a nod.

"I take it you are both lost then." Tilla said. "Your wife should go to join the dancer's guild on the third floor, you should go to the huntsmen's guild on the second." And with that Tilla made his exit, while looking behind him as he departed.

Falco may have only just met Tilla, but he had a feeling that the Clergyman of the Earth Bull knew more than he let on. As he loosened his arms around Rowena and she ceased hiding her face in his shoulder, the Divine Deucalion of Aether looked into the reddish-brown eyes of his beloved wife and uttered to her: "We must be careful."