Tug and Ward

CHAPTER 5

Clairvoyant

The guards of the synagogue opened the double doors as the King went down the carriage. He entered inside. There was a blue carpet from the door to the altar. The chairs were empty. The dome ceiling was made of transparent glass. The moon was visible from up there as if it was made to illuminate the synagogue.

He walked to the altar. He stood just before the stairs going up the dais which was filled with water as if it was a pond but shallow as the water level did not even reach a foot. The constellations were carved in the wall of the altar. Each star was signified by the glowing blue gemstones.

A black-skinned lady dressed in a white tunic embroidered with golden thread was dancing in the dais. She was moving around a fire in the middle. It was the fire that never burnt out since ancient times thus the synagogue was built around it.

Another lady appeared before the King. Unlike the one dancing in the dais, she was only wearing a plain white tunic and her hair was pulled back in a neat bun having a golden headdress encircled in her forehead. Her skin was not black too, rather almost as white as her tunic.

She bent her knee outward, sweeping one foot behind her and she held her skirt out from her body as she lowered her head before the King. "The mistress is in the middle of a ritus, Your Majesty. Please come back in the morrow," she said.

"Thou dare to send back the King?" He groaned.

"My apologies, Your Majesty. But the ritus spans till midnight," she uttered calmly.

His brows furrowed. "Inform the clairvoyant of my presence," he demanded, his voice hinting annoyance.

Yet the lady remained calm and composed. "Your Majesty, the ritus shall not be interrupted as it is the most sacred of all the sacred," she said. She straightened her posture but kept her stares on the floor. "If you insist in seeking an audience with the mistress," she motioned her hand to the pew chair upfront.

The King scoffed and glared at the lady as he took his steps going to the pew chair she guided.

The lady curtsied again to the King before she went back upstairs with two other women her age. They were all kneeling while their hands were clasped together. Their eyes were shut and they remained like that as the clairvoyant kept dancing the ritus.

King Emir watched the movements of the mistress. It was graceful and slow. She was careful in each motion. Her eyes were closed yet she knew were to land as if she had performed the dance a thousand times. There was no music accompanying her but the King felt as if the fire and the water were humming along with her movements.

It was an eerie sort of tranquillity as if the dance whispered secretly to him. The passing hours went unnoticeable as the King found himself in utter peace while observing the clairvoyant.

At last, bells began ringing and the moonlight had shifted its direction. Midnight, then, had fallen.

The mistress opened her eyes as she did the last movement of the ritus. She was softly panting. She straightened her posture and turned her back from the constellations and went out of the dais. One of her ladies patted a cloth in her face to wipe drops of sweat. Her black skin radiated albeit the synagogue was barely lit. She laid her eyes to the King and flashed a smile. She walked down the steps.

The King stood up and waited for the clairvoyant.

"I fear you'll anger the Queen," she said as she halted and curtsied in the front of him. She stepped one foot closer and laid her fingers on his shoulders. "Once again, you left her alone in your lonely and cold abode." She tiptoed and positioned her mouth just an inch from his ears. "You are a bad spouse, My King," she whispered.