Tales of the Gleamwind I

Why did he leave us? Why did he leave his duty? Why did he leave me? Being Oracle was never my duty to fulfill and I could never believe he hated life this much. Tullip’s death was something I could never understand or process, and would fail to do so for many years to come. - Memoirs of an Oracle.

“Yetorikos Lineas, head representative of the Gliders’ Guild. Revere before Rose Sitak, Oracle of Lazio.” A tall Officer chanted in a strong baritone voice all the way to Sonora’s right, around the main entrance to the Audience Hall.

The Hall itself was so long Sonora could barely see the representative that had just been named, but was narrow enough that she could reach the row of silver-cloaked controllers on the other side with a dozen strides if she wanted to. Centuries old Diamond-shaped carvings filled the dome ceiling of the Hall, showing representations of the Core Shard.

Everyone present in the chamber lined up along the cream-colored pillars behind the rows of controllers. A long, clear path stood open for the announced visitors to walk closer to the Oracle as everyone eyed them up and down. A low, constant stream of murmur reached Sonora’s ears: everything that went down here in the Audience Hall would be the talk of the town by tomorrow.

Yetorikos was a balding man with wiry muscles showing under his rolled up orange sleeves. He strutted confidently along the wide Hall, well aware of all the eyes focusing on him. Leather boots clunk against the marble floor, his every movement radiated confidence. Black and gold shoulder pads over the orange overall showed his actual rank within the Guild, but it meant nothing to Sonora. Nobody was allowed to know how the Guild’s rank system worked apart from them.

Yetorikos reached the foot of the podium on which the throne stood and raised a hand with his fist closed to Rose Sitak-Lazio.

“Revered Oracle, I come before you to ask your permission to redirect some of our Gliders to the tasks we are supposed to do. We serve to keep this Shard alive and not just ferry fugitives here from the Frontier.”

The Hall fell quiet, all eyes on the Oracle now. Sonora finally looked away from the Guild representative and back at her father. Rose Sitak-Lazio was a tall, lean man in his fifties with back as straight as the marble pillars along the walls even when he had to sit on the gilded throne all day long. His dark hair was hidden under a blue shawl, and a dark yellow toga covered most of his body. The edge of a sinuous light blue tattoo curled up his neck, marking him a Lazio Oracle. He tilted his sculpted, cold face ever so slightly, a motion that was maybe only perceptible to Sonora who was used to study her father’s every movement. Rose and Sonora shared the same wide, dark eyes. Eyes that now scanned the overconfident Guild representative.

Rose nodded, to which Yetorikos lowered his fist and the Hall awaited the Oracle’s answer as one.

“If you claim that your Gliders are disregarding tasks that are vital to keep the people of this Shard safe, then I will hear you out.” The Oracle’s voice carried out to everyone in the Hall. Some people gasped at hearing it so close to them.

Sonora smiled in spite of herself, only because she knew no one was currently looking in her direction. The crowd was always easily entertained by this simple vocal trick that only required a row of resonating tubes that carried the Oracle’s voice from the throne to small holes drilled in every pillar.

Yetorikos clasped his hands behind his back and straightened himself even more. “I understand the severity of the tragedy the Frontier Shard is facing, but carrying people to safety from there should be the priority of the Gliders of that Shard. We have perimeters and safety walls to secure daily. The Gleamwind’s intensity seems to grow again, which makes every excursion more dangerous than the last and the more people on our Shard means more resources and supplies are needed. All things that will not gather themselves alone. The Frontier Shard is asking for even more of our Gliders while I can barely make do with the men that I have left at my disposal right now.”

Rose frowned at the representative, then shifted on the throne.

“Even though you did not voice your request, I take it you would want me to contact the Oracle of the Frontier Shard and tell them about this situation? Inform them that we will not be able to aid them as much as we did until now?”

Always full sentences. ‘The goal of the sentence should be clear to you from the moment you start speaking.’ Her father’s voice echoed in Sonora’s head until she shook her head to clear it away. Around her, people in clean togas shifted their attention between the Oracle and the Guild representative, nobody had noticed her yet.

“The Guild would be immensely grateful if the Oracle could manage that.” Yetorikos bent his head ever so slightly. “Alternatively, a mandate that would allow us to recruit more people into the Gliders’ ranks could also be an option.”

Sonora sniffed incredulously, and only her could know that the slight twinge of Rose’s left brow meant the Oracle was also displeased by the blunt request. Her father’s voice, however, did not change.

“I do believe the Guild has enough manpower for what they are set out to do; more recruits would only lead to the overpopulation of your barracks, which in turn would lead to a request for a new, larger building, of which we cannot afford the cost of construction in these trying times.”

Sonora saw what her father also knew: this was the representative’s way of pushing the Oracle into accommodating his original request by telling him what the more radical solution would be. The Oracle was at the head of the Shard, but only on paper. The Gliders’ Guild held at least as much power here as Rose Sitak-Lazio, and allowing them to expand their numbers and facilities was a quick way to inner fights for power.

Fights that the Shard could not afford to have right now.

“Very well. I will formulate a request for the Oracle of the Frontier Shard and notify the Guild of their answer in the upcoming days. That will be all.”

Yetorikos twitched his fists at his side, clearly not happy to have been dismissed so quickly. Somebody cleared their throat behind the row of silver controllers on the other side of the Hall, then murmur and chatter rose around the chamber as people were already speculating who the next guest of the day would be.

Rose did not shift his gaze from the Guild representative until the balding man raised his fist in a hurried but not too disrespectful salute, then marched out the Hall the way he came in. The sound of his leather boots faded away in the distance, but Sonora had already taken her eyes away from him.

Her father was looking right at her. Rose took several moments before shifting around his legs on the hard golden throne, making sure Sonora knew he had seen her. Hands moved under the long dark yellow toga, then stopped. The Oracle had to have pressed one of the hidden buttons mounted on his belt to send a signal to his first Officer.

Soon enough, Rinaer trotted his way to the center of the podium and cleared his throat, facing the public. Despite being a short, bulky man with a rough, wrinkled excuse of a face the man had no fear of putting himself in front of a huge crowd and drawing their attention. That was one of the many reasons Rose had named him first Officer.

“The Oracle will resume the audience after a short break. Let it be known that every request of the day will be heard.”

While Rinaer spoke, Rose had stood up from the throne and after gathering his long toga, glided off the podium and out of the Hall through a back door hidden in the marble wall between two pillars. The row of controllers flowed back into place after letting the Oracle through, eyes always impassive, yet alert under the helmets.

Sonora flowed towards the controllers as well. Some of the nobles standing closer to the podium bowed their heads or extended their arms, fists closed, towards her. She made sure to look directly in the eyes of everyone who saluted her as a sign of her gratitude.

Halberds hummed back in place behind her and she took a deep breath to prepare herself to whatever lay behind that hidden door. Her father rarely called for her during his morning audience, and he had never interrupted it for her sake. Sonora did not know whether to be afraid or excited.

She clutched her hands in front of her and straightened herself. This was no time to play a dumb child, fantasizing over what could be. She was Rosevy, whether she liked it or not. She had to start act like it.

The hidden door slid around its hinges easily enough, then closed itself back once Sonora stepped through it. The first thing she noticed was how much warmer the temperature was in there compared to the spacious and open Hall. She shifted her shoulders just enough to free some of the fabric off her dark skin. Sweating through her toga in front of her father was certainly not something she wanted to happen.

Rose Sitak-Lazio stood at the end of the small room. It was designed for the Oracle to have a moment of rest during long audience days or chat privately with an Officer, if needed. The warm scent of Lavender reached Sonora; her father held a metal lighter in his hands, with multiple thin, tall candles already lit behind him on the narrow wooden shelves. The Oracle moved around two cushioned chairs without even glancing at his daughter. The scent was strong, almost too strong to be pleasant, like it was trying to conceal something.

Sonora stood there, next to the entrance, and contemplated whether to step closer or not. The honor and obligation of speaking first would go to her father, obviously, since he had been the one calling for her and wasting a sentence to ask him what he wanted would only have angered him. Sonora knew that and kept silent. She chose to stay still where she was.

The Oracle took his time to light every candle on the shelves, then walked to the only narrow table in the middle of the room to put the lighter away. He did not sit down in one of the two cushioned chairs. They both remained standing.

“Did you catch the intent behind Yetorikos’ request just now?” Rose asked with a stern face.

Where the sculpted jawline gave Sonora quite a beautiful look, it only made the Oracle seem ruthless and cold. Which was not so far from the truth.

“The Guild representative pushed you into the answer you had given him by putting an even worse scenario on the table, disguising it as a viable option. In front of an audience you had no choice but to go along with the first proposal. Declining two requests from the Guild would not have been a favorable outcome with an audience this large.” Sonora answered calmly. Controlled pride swelled in her chest.

“I am happy to see that your analytical skills are on the level expected from a soon-to-be Oracle.” Just when Sonora thought her father would smile he turned away from her and started to pace the room. “I will have to make sure to be properly informed next time Yetorikos is planning on visiting the palace with a request so that I can prepare to meet him on his level.”

Rose had not stopped pacing the room. Quite unusual from the collected man he was. Sonora did not move, only inhaled some of the lavender fumes to help her concentrate on her father’s words. A tinge of a sickly-sweet odor stung her nose.

“Why did you call me here, father?”

Rose twirled around and fixed his dark eyes on his daughter. The sinuous blue tattoo on his neck shimmered in the candle light. Sonora cursed herself for her hurried words, but had certainly not hurried there to talk about a cocky Guild representative.

“What was your intent with that sentence?” Rose’s voice became even harder.

There it was. Her father’s infamous sentence that Sonora and Tullip always got thrown in their face when they said anything rushed, or without a meaning. Sonora did not flinch this time.

“I apologize, father. I was only thinking of the dozens of subjects who are awaiting your judgement, help, or thoughts out there and that I am the reason they have to wait even more. If you would tell me why you had called me here we could both go about our duties.” Despite her best efforts to keep herself cool, Sonora felt a trickle of sweat slide down her back.

Rose stopped in front of the desk, hesitating only for a few moments. The light of the candles cast angular shadows on his slim face.

“The Oracle Heads will be here tonight.” Was all he said. No pomp. No flowery talk.

Sonora let her hands fall to her sides. She looked at her father questioningly, then at the door behind her, then back at Rose. She did not want to believe what she had just heard.

“They were scheduled to arrive in four days from now.” Sonora’s voice was now strained. “Four days of preparations and studying that is now taken away from me. Is this part of the test already?”

“It is not.” Rose bent down and opened the cabinet of the narrow table. A see-through blue crystal bottle of sproutwine caught Sonora’s attention, but she paid it no mind. “Their journey has just been so ahead of schedule and the Gleamwind so favorable that they are already two Shards away from us. Do not fret, child, as they will not begin the official testing before the planned date, but you have to be prepared to be scrutinized from the moment the five of them enter the palace.”

The five Oracle Heads! Representatives of what each line of Oracles stood for and also the people in charge of assessing whether Sonora was ready to step in her father’s shoes. They would walk the hallways of the palace and watch her every move from that night onward! And here she was, thinking she still had plenty of time to mentally prepare herself for the trying weeks ahead. The flickering lights of the candles danced on the marble walls; a mocking dance.

“But you could have organized an accommodation for them outside the palace until the official starting date of the test…” Sonora let the end of the sentence hang in the air. That unspoken ‘so why didn’t you?’ levitated in the warm room between father and daughter, both well aware of Sonora defying Rose’s teachings about unfinished sentences.

Her heart beat in her throat, but she did not step back or cower before Rose’s glare. To her surprise, her father bent down to the open cabinet to grab the bottle of sproutwine and two thin glasses with it.

“It must be part of the test, if you let them barge in before time.” Sonora did not know why, but she gave her father a chance to redeem himself. “Did they instruct you to only tell me about this now?”

“No, I truly did not know.” Sonora widened her eyes in shock. Rose did sound serious.

“Then why would you go along with it, father? I thought it was important to you as well that I made a good impression, especially on Lazio.” Sonora’s eyes slid down to the blue tattoo on Rose’s neck. “You are the Oracle; if anyone can tell the Heads to wait a few days it is you.”

“Let me know how much you want.” Her father started pouring sparkling sproutwine into one of the thin glasses on the table.

Sonora stood in shocked silence.

“The sproutwine, child.” Rose chided her, annoyed. He did not look at Sonora.

“Are you going to answer me after you poured for us, father?” Her own voice echoed in her head, as if she was talking to herself.

Since Sonora did not stop him, Rose filled one of the glasses to the brim and handed it to his daughter. His face was calm, cold as always but his dark eyes lacked some of the usual focused flair. The lavender scent in the room was losing to whatever that sickly-sweet odor was.

“It’s about Tullip, am I right?” Sonora did not take the glass from him. That kept Rose from backing away from her. Although she felt confused and slightly betrayed there was something thrilling about the situation they were in. Sonora felt like she had the upper hand over her father, a moral upper hand, for the first time in her life. “You somehow want to prove that Tullip would have been a better Oracle than I’ll ever be?”

“Ah, you got your mother’s temper.” Rose tilted his head and smiled at her. Smiled!“And I see you never stopped comparing yourself to your brother. That is something that can be quite harmful to your psyche, having a competition with a dead person.”

“He was your son as well! How can you talk about him like that?” Sonora’s mind struggled to comprehend where the conversation was headed. “And why are you acting like you have stopped thinking about him the moment he disappeared?”

“Because Tullip left us. He left his duties behind him. He left me.”

Now the lack of light in the Oracle’s eyes shifted with a whole new meaning; surrender. After a moment of hesitation, Rose took a sip out of the glass that was meant for Sonora. Some of the clear blue liquid ran down the man’s shaved face, then neck. He did not seem to care when he next spoke up.

“I have nothing against you becoming Oracle, child.” Rose said. “It is not ideal, but there is nothing I can do about it.”

“Why did you let the Heads arrive earlier?” Sonora asked again. She let her father’s cold jab pass right by her.

“It is not my fault Tullip jumped into the Gleamwind, right?”

Sonora’s shoulders sagged, and she walked out of the small, warm room without another word. The only thing that she could think of was that it was a blessing that her father’s mandate as an Oracle ended in little more than two weeks. Rose Sitak-Lazio was clearly going mad.

Her lungs screamed joyfully when she first inhaled the cold, fresh air of Audience Hall and rid herself of the sickly-sweet odor that was becoming overbearing. Chills ran down her spine as she stepped out into the Hall, but whether it was from the temperature change or her talk with her father, Sonora did not know.