~*~So this was Folcuth, thought Galen Servi the Augur. It reeked of parfum. Everything that was nae painted was gilded, and everything that was nae gilded was inlaid with coloured stones. One would nae know, sitting in this hall of many couches, that it floated in the harbor of Terestai. Its walls,to be sure, were nae marble or painted plaster but wooden pillars and gauzy draperies stirring gently as a breeze blew through them. The sky beyond was light still though it was well past sunset; stars had come out one by one.~*~
~*~Within was a splendour of light. Great circles and squares, arcs and clusters of lamps were let down from the ceiling, or stood among the pillars or on the tables or behind and about each couch in braziers. All that hall was as bright as noon, but the light somehow was softer,less merciless. It e'en soothed and softened,somewhat, the gaudiness of the appointments.~*~
~*~Servants in kilts offered wine, of which the guests partook liberally, and small delicacies on, of course, golden and silver platers, and excuses for their Queenes' failure to appear. Galen was mildly surprised that Archos Zyan had nae lost his temper e'en yet. He was close to it: the high colour was higher than usual, and he was downing bloodwyne at a rate prodigious e'en for him. But he reclined apparently at ease on the couch to which he had been escorted, in the place of Honour beside the empty one. Galen, well down the ranks, caught snatches of his exchanges with those nearest him. His humour was growing cruder as the hour---hours----advanced.~*~
~*~Nae all the guests were from the Empire's citizenry. There were dignitaries from many tribute Nations of Selenia,Danairia,Talleria, nervous and sweating in their best robes, and courtiers in the garb of Hellenes and Morvish. Most of the conversation was in elvyn.~*~
~*~Galen, granted the unusual privilege of a couch to himself, rather enjoyed his solitude. It gave him leisure to appreciate the full ostentation of the appointments. He was rapt in contemplation of a carved and gilded depiction of either a nymph astride a goose or Leda post coitum with the swan, when a shadow fell across him.~*~
~*~It was brief, slipping past, taking the place that had been left vacant,but it altered his focus to the face of the one who cast it. "Why,"he said without thinking,"tis the most interesting of the Graces! Did yea lock thy son in a sea-chest, to keep him from joining yea?"~*~
~*~The Queenes's attendant regarded him with remarkably little surprise, and no censure that he could detect. "Very nearly," she replied. "Dost thou know me?"~*~
~*~"Why," he said, stammering a little,"why, nay. That is--- I saw yea on the ship. Yea were a Grace. The sailor in the rigging --twas thy son, I could nae be mistaken. He looks a fair scamp that one!"~*~
~*~The Fae laughed. Her laughter was full and rich and completely without affectation. "Oh, aye! He is! He was ready to go o'er the side, or to dance on top of the mast, or something equally inadvisable." She raised her brows. They were painted in the Folcuthae tribal fashion, but he could see that they were fine under the paint; her eyes were nearly as long as the paint made them seem, bright and dark at once, and lively with curiousity. "Art thou a priest?"~*~
~*~"Why,"he said, stammering again--- oh, damn his bloody tongue, it ne'er knew how to behave in front of a beautiful woman-- "yes,yes that I am. But how can yea...?"~*~
~*~"I,too," she said, nodding as if he had confirmed something that she needed to know. "Mine Name is Taliennse of the house of Siveni-Ahelas, hence, s'Ahelas. Though nae," she added with a glint,"the Royal branch. I am priestess of INU in the Two Lands."~*~
~*~"Galen," he answered her, for once without tripping o'er his tongue,"Servi the Augur."~*~
~*~"Ah!"she said. "A seer! What doth thou see in that really quite dreadful dado on the beam yonder?"~*~
~*~His eyes followed hers. For no reason that he could explain, he blushed. "Tis awful, is it no'?!" he heard himself say.~*~
~*~"Ghastly," said Taliennse. Women in these realms were outspoken, sometimes to the point of pain, but Galen had ne'er met one quite like this. "I am glad someone from afar hath taste! The Ard Rhighan's shipbuilders insisted that the foreign Ferenghi ambassadors require at least a hundredweight of gilt per roofbeam in order to e'en be mildly impressed."~*~
~*~"No doubt they were taking a cut o' the proceeds!" Galen said."I am impressed, I admit. I hath ne'er seen anything quite....." His voice died.~*~
~*~"Appalling,"Taliennse said for him. She was sitting on the couch, he noticed belatedly, like a child on a stool: alertly upright,hands folded in her lap. Her gown was Folcuthae and worn by all ladies in the High Queene's service. It left nothing to the imagination.~*~
~*~His cheeks were aflame. His eyes dropped, fixing on the first thing they came to, which happened to be a wine-stain on his otherwise pristine robes. Since his winecup lay untouched on the low table beside him,he could nae imagine where the stain had come from. It vexed him quite out of proportion to its magnitude.~*~
~*~When he could look up again, he found admirable distraction. The Queenes had,at last, seen fit to make their entrance.~*~
~*~Women past first youth and greatly gifted with beauty were said to prefer the dimmer lights,a lone lamp or the moon. Edain (Note:a moon goddess, if you remember),it seemed, preferred the full blaze of light, whether it came of the sun, moon, or of a myriad lamps. She came as queen and goddess, arrayed in gold and silver. Courtiers surrounded her, attendants waited on her. None of them mattered. Many were shorter than she, and many more oddly exotic. It made no difference. E'en her sister paled. Only she was Edain.~*~
~*~Galen Servi willed himself to resist her spell. It was nae magick, nae in the sense of potions and incantations. Twas the sublime surety that she was royal, and that the world existed to serve her and her King's intent. She was a queen of a race of kings and gods. She was born to receive homage in a manner that her twin was nae.~*~
~*~So she might think,mused Galen Servi the Augur. ArchosZyan rose at her coming, out of courtesy native to him;the rest followed suit, the easterners rising only to bow to the gaudy carpets, the warriors of the Emerald Shield and Knights of the Storm standing at attention as soldiers and royal guards should. She acknowledged them graciously, the High King no more than thee rest, though he held the place of Honour.~*~
~*~Her couch was set beside the Ard Rhi's. She reclined there, her sister following suit, with grace that was quite remarkable considering how heavy and unwieldy their robes must have been. Once they were settled, with their attendants dispersed about the hall, the feast began.~*~
