Tales of the Gleamwind I

The five Oracles represent the five main pillars of human nature. Becoming an Oracle is actually a two-way process; one must choose the set of values most important to them, but the Head of the Oracle in question must also deem the candidate worthy of their colors. Sounds like a well organized process, created to uphold civilization’s moral code even on rocks floating in the sky. It certainly is, on paper. - Memoirs of an Oracle.

Sonora’s stomach grumbled loudly. She swiftly wrapped her arms around her and glanced around to see who else had heard it. They were standing at the foot of the ramp leading up to the main gates of the palace. Her father, to her left, had his head pointed up to the purple sky in search of their incoming guests, while Rinaer, to her right gave her a slight frown.

“I know it is not part of my duties, Rosevy, and I do not want to overstep any boundaries,” The short man said softly. “But I noticed that both your midday meal and supper went cold in your study.”

Sonora repressed a sigh and braced herself for the reprimand. Although they had no tongue, some of the body servants had also cast curious glances at the untouched food trays when they had come to retrieve them.

“I understand that tense nerves can block any and all appetite a person has, but I arranged small bundle of fruits to be placed on many tables around the palace, so that whenever your nerves will relent a bit you will only have to look around and find the nearest fruit chest to regain some energy.” Rinaer rushed his words, then shifted his gaze to the Oracle, making sure he had not noticed the exchange.

“I…” Sonora’s voice cracked in her throat. Rinaer was the first person to offer genuine support on that chaotic day. Completing four days’ worth of preparation in one was a quite mentally draining task. She mentally cursed herself for trying to speak before having her emotions in check. “Thank you, Rinaer.”

She raised one hand to her long black hair to adjust one of the many braided golden hoops. The wind was chilly and it carried a cold scent of the incoming snowy season. The pale orb of the sun was just about to set behind them. Elongated shadows of the palace reached above them and covered most of the freshly cut lawn. Parts of the Gleamwind were visible just ahead of them, over the edge of the palace walls and the flat, white and pastel roofs of the city. It looked like a single, uneven stroke of master painter’s brush.

The Gleamwind was truly as breathtaking as it was deadly. The warm rays of the setting sun turned purple on the horizon as they broke through the crystalline particles of that unique wind. Particles that were beautiful to watch from miles and miles away but could cut through muscle and tendrils like knife through butter.

Sonora stood like that for a while, with her head tilted upwards to the sky. The endless swirl of colors hugged around their Shard like a mother carefully lulling their baby to sleep. Here, Sonora’s problems felt so trivial. She could take on the Oracle Heads, after all, she was the Rosevy.

Clouds of worry crept back to obscure her mind as soon as the convoy of bright orange gliders drifted into view. Usually, all gliders would have to stop at the Guild’s control points at the edges of the Shard, but that law clearly did not apply to the Heads.

Rose Sitak-Lazio did not react to the appearance of their guest in the slightest, meaning that he was also well aware of the fact that they would be headed straight for the palace. Sonora’s stomach gave another indignant grumble as she was left wondering what else did her father keep hidden from her. Rose had not spoken to her since that morning’s assembly and Sonora thought that was for the best.

The front garden of the palace had a long runway covered in freshly cut lawn that ended at the feet of the entrance ramps, right before Sonora and the others. Two rows of tall, regularly trimmed bushes framed the swift, practiced landing of the group of veteran Guild members selected to transport possibly five of the most important people in the Magnetoriat.

The orange gliders rippled in the cold wind as the pilots held onto the ropes and metal chords to make the landing as smooth as possible. The gliders were more than four meters in width, which meant that only one of them could approach the runway at a time. Sonora prepared herself to make the most of her first impression to each of the Heads.

The first glider approached them, then slowed down before the entrance ramp. A short, handsome man with skin as pale as the moon and flowing black hair stepped off of the secured seat behind the pilot.

The man gave an apprehensive smile to Rose, but did not acknowledge Sonora or anyone else in the small company of the palace. His clear white robe exalted his pretty, shaven face and clearly marked him as the Head of Aspyo, Oracle of Lineage.

Rose did not have the time to say a word before Aspyo’s glider hurried to the side to make room for the next in line. Sonora wondered with an inward chuckle whether the Heads had discussed the order they would land on the Shard. The fact that they probably did, made her feel a bit better about herself.

The second in line was clearly the Head of Lazio, Oracle of Humanity. Sonora did not fail to notice the clear blue tattoos on the old woman’s neck as she bowed gently to both Rose and the Rosevy before stepping aside.

The Head of Trieno’s bright yellow low-cut dress almost poked Sonora’s eyes out. The woman could have been her mother, but carried herself like a young damsel ready to eat any man or woman she desired. With a sly smile on her face she only acknowledged the presence of Rose, then winked at Sonora before taking her place next to the other two Heads. The Oracle of Idols made it quite clear who the ‘idols’ were, according to them.

Sonora had to glance at her father to make sure the next person to awkwardly hop off a glider was truly the Head of Kayfe. The woman looked more like an average librarian from the town. The fact that the Oracle of Knowledge chose a comfortable-looking brown overcoat to represent their colors did not help their case to look solemn and important. Kayfe was a middle-aged woman with slightly graying brown hair tied in a neat bun on the top of her head. A kind, but absent smile was painted on her face as she joined the previous three Heads without exchanging too many formalities with Rose or his daughter.

Sonora did not have the time to take a closer look at Kayfe, because with a dark flourish of a pitch black toga, the last Oracle had touched ground. The Head of Movra was a tall man, almost two heads taller than Sonora, but carried himself in what looked like a perpetual hunch. She could not tell the man’s age because his clean-shaven head made him look much older than his flickering, mist-blue eyes and childish, bored smile.

He bent his head lower than any of the previous Oracles, maybe because of his already horrible posture, then joined the others. Sonora thought the black Oracle of Magnet would stand out from that group, but as she ran her gaze on all of them they made quite a diverse, colorful committee. Their diversity what was made them look unified.

She was not allowed to speak here, only follow her father’s quick signals and movements as he greeted the Heads. Sonora bowed her head and followed the procession into the Audience Hall through the double arched gilded metal gates of the palace.

Sonora did not have to look around to know that the Hall was lined with controllers. The low hum of their halberds mixed with the occasional sound of silver coated armors rubbing at the joints told her of their presence. She did not turn her head to confirm the position of the controllers, because her wide, dark eyes were glued to the podium at the far end of the chamber.

A slim figure in a long, dark yellow toga stood out among the small group of Officers shuffling around near the golden throne. Dayana Sitak’s black face paint meant that she still did not let go of the grief of losing her son, even after a whole year. However, a double row of dark circles had crept under her blue eyes since the last time Sonora had seen her.

“Mother,” Sonora heard herself say the words without thinking. It’s so good to see you.”

Rose, at the head of the group, instantly glided across the marble floor and placed himself between a shocked Sonora and the Heads. Movra’s bored smile had a hint of curiosity in it now, or it was Sonora’s mind toying with her.

“What was your intent with that sentence?” Rose whispered to her. He did not wait for an answer this time. “I am glad you are happy to see your mother but this stepping out of line is a sure way to make all the Oracles reject you.” He sighed, then smoothed his yellow toga and made sure that the blue scarf on his head covered his thinning hair before turning back to the Heads. “You must excuse the Rosevy; her mother has just been… very ill lately and it is an immense relief to see her out of her apartments.”

Sonora was not listening to her father. Her gaze wandered back to Dayana, standing still as a statue on the podium. She had not seen her mother in months, and even before that the only times Dayana was seen outside of her rooms was when the woman wandered the echoing hallways of the palace, claiming that she wanted to retrieve her son’s body. Her son, who threw himself off the Shard, into the endless Gleamwind.

Her father had already retaken his original place together with the Heads, so it was Rinaer who gently tapped Sonora’s side to nudge her on with the group. She shifted her slippered feet along the marble floor, barely aware of anything else other than the sunken face of her mother growing bigger and bigger as they approached.

Small creases, wrinkles that were not there the last time she had seen Dayana had appeared on the woman’s face. Her blue eyes were fixed on a nondescript point somewhere among the many pillars of the chamber, her gaze hallow.

“... and I hope you will find Sonora’s conduct worthy of a future Oracle, be that of any color she chooses to be.” Rose’s voice brought her back to the conversation between her father and the Heads. Or rather, the monologue that Rose was giving and the occasional nod or approving grunt from the other five.

Any color she would choose? Why was he saying it as if Sonora had a say in what Oracle suited her? The Heads were going to spend the next weeks watching her every move with occasional tests here and there to finally come to an agreement among themselves of the Oracle better suited for her. There was not much Sonora could do.

She realized a bit too late that her father was glaring at her from under the blue shawl wrapped around his head. He had asked a question from her. Sonora’s heart sunk; she let her mind wander too far. The sudden appearance of her mother made her lose all the focus she had managed to gather. What did her father ask? Or did one of the Heads inquire about something? She felt her knees wobble under her blue toga but managed to keep herself steady.

“I apologize for my temporary lack of focus.” She could feel Rinaer sigh behind her back. “I promise I meant no disrespect to anyone, it will not happen again.”

Of all the Heads, Aspyo was the one who seemed the most satisfied with her answer. The Oracle of Lineage clasped his pale hands together and smiled at Sonora. A smile whiter than his toga. A smile that carried many things, except warmth.

“I was asking whether you feel like your father had prepared you thoroughly enough ahead of our arrival.” Aspyo said in a high-pitched voice. “Watching Rose Sitak-Lazio up close in action for so many years must have been an incredible influence on you.”

Was he asking whether Sonora was already indoctrinated to become Lazio? Or was it a genuine comment? Sonora sighed and collected herself before responding. It certainly wasn’t a genuine comment. The Heads had already begun their evaluation, no matter what they had told Rose.

“Of course, having my father as a role model to learn from had been a huge advantage for me. Although, not to discredit him, but I had to learn so many things on my own.”

As she said that, Sonora looked at Kayfe. The short, plump woman in her brown coat was looking at everything around her with a lost gaze. She seemed more interested in the architecture of the Audience Chamber than the Oracle and his daughter. Sonora was testing the waters with that comment of hers, trying to judge what the Heads valued and approved. The Oracle of Knowledge seemed unimpressed with her studying and researching things on her own. Until Trieno poked her in the ribs.

“Kayfe… my dear, you’d better pay attention to someone who might soon represent your Oracle.” The beautiful woman in yellow smirked at Kayfe’s fast blinking. “You will have all the time you want to study the history of this place once the Rosevy here will be assigned to an Oracle, please try to focus on the matter at hand now.”

Kayfe smiled almost apologetically to Sonora while Trieno let our a small, graceful chuckle.

“Before we move this conversation to the dining hall, may I present to you my wife, Dayana Sitak.” Rose glided onto the podium and extended his arm to Dayana. She did not move. “Mother of the Rosevy, she has been feeling really ill lately, that is why she is here now to greet you, but would like to apologize in advance if you will not see much of her in the upcoming weeks.”

Disgust crept up Sonora’s throat. Did her father just dismiss her mother like that? Without even mentioning or hinting at the suicide of Tullip? Why did he had to phrase it like Dayana was going crazy and needed to be kept away from them?

She wanted her mother to step up for herself, interject with a witty comment like she had always done when Rose tried to talk over or for her in the past.

Dayana stayed silent and did not even look at the guests.

She did not look at her daughter.

From the corners of her eyes, Sonora noticed someone staring at her. It was Movra, the bald man’s shiny scalp sticking out of his all black clothes like a flickering lighthouse in the dark. He did not say anything, just raised a thin brow at her, then nodded towards Dayana. Was he secretly asking Sonora what was going on with her mother?

Since Movra was standing behind the other Heads, nobody seemed to notice their secret, unspoken conversation. The hunched man scratched his nose, and after not getting an answer from Sonora, shrugged and diverted his attention back to the podium.

Sonora did not know how to react to Movra’s questioning look. He was so… different from all the other Heads. There was nothing solemn about him, nothing serious or mighty, yet somehow he represented the Oracle of Magnet. An order of Oracles with so few members among their ranks that in some Shards their existence was considered a mere tale. What was that all about?

A nudge to her side by Rinaer made her swing her head back to the podium and curse herself for losing her focus for the second time that evening.

“I cannot wait to get to know you more over dinner.” Treino was saying to Rose in her charming, oozing voice. “And your Rosevy, of course. She does look a bit lost at the moment, but I am sure she will reveal herself to be quite the brilliant mind… and body, once she opens up a bit more.”

Sonora stepped closer to them, and her eyes met those of her mother for a second. Dayana looked… lost. Absent. Sonora felt her heart break from the way her father and all the Heads treated the Oracle’s wife; like one of the many marble pillars of the chamber.

“Most of my knowledge has actually been given to me by my mother.” Sonora said in a surprisingly calm tone. “The woman you are so intently trying to ignore.”

Sonora could hear her own breath in the complete silence that fell onto the Hall. All the eyes fell on her, then Trieno, who stood there with her red lips curling in disgust.

“How dare you…? I ignore anyone I want if I feel like it and who are you to hold me accountable for it?”

“Please, excuse my daughter.” Rose stepped between the two of them. He did not look at Sonora, only at Trieno. “I should have never brought Dayana out with her illness affecting her like this, it was my mistake. Seeing her probably messed with Sonora’s head a bit too much.”

“Messing with my head?” Sonora said, not quite heatedly. “Everyone is just ignoring your wife as if she was a piece of furniture, and you say nothing? Is that how an Oracle behaves?”

That sentence made Aspyo drop his pretty little jaw. The white-clad Oracle of Lineage was all for upholding the family hierarchy in all of the Magnetoriat. After a few moments of silence, Rose cleared his throat to respond to her daughter, but Sonora’s attention had been caught by her mother once again. Or rather, by her absence.

Dayana had left the Audience Hall right after Rose had introduced her to the Heads. Why did she leave? Did her father arrange for someone to pull her out of the way? Sonora drew herself up and bowed her head before Rose or any of the other Oracles could say a word. Confusion mixed with an annoyed edge of anger boiled in her and she knew that letting that anger erupt to the surface in the presence of those people was not going to lead to any good. So her mother was a only a puppet to her father? She was going to show him someone who could not be controlled like a puppet.

“It has been an honor meeting you, Oracles. I must go see to my studies now, please do not wait for my return to start dining tonight.” She raised her head once and met the puzzled, astonished frowns of the Heads. She did not look at Rose. “I shall certainly see you in four days, when my official testing will begin.”

Lazio outright scoffed at her while Aspyo’s eyes grew wide as saucepans. Only Movra stood impassible behind all of them, seemingly only interested in eyeing the baffled reactions of all the other Heads.

Sonora turned around and met Rinaer’s eyes. The short man twitched his mouth in what could have been a grimace, then side-stepped to let her leave the podium, then the chamber.

Halberds hummed softly as she passed the line of silver controllers on her way out, then the muffled chat of the still shocked Heads died away behind her.

Although she heard the double doors close she did not look back or slow her stride until she was two levels lower. Then one more level lower. And one more. Down the polished hallway, ignoring the body servants who offered themselves to her. That meant she must have looked devastated on the outside. A mess. She turned left before the next row of stairs and closed the door behind her.

Sonora took a deep breath. Several dozen feet below ground, close to the Core of the Shard, she now felt partially free of the suffocating presence of her father thinking he knew what was best for everyone around him. Far from the Heads watching and judging everything she did. Even a breath out of place seemed to displease one of them.

The Oracle palace was built into the ground of the floating piece of earth. Only the areas open to the general public, like the Audience Hall had windows that showed the shimmering Gleamwind in the distance. However, the lower Sonora ventured in the palace, the safer she felt. It was that resonance, that warming presence of something bigger than all of them, bigger than all of her problems. The Core. A single piece of metal that carried a whole Shard and everyone living on it through the sky.

Sonora adjusted the golden rings braided into her long black hair and touched her soft cheeks. Still dry. Luckily, she did not sweat, which meant that the sinuous golden face paint was still flawlessly applied on her.

When she took a moment to realize where her feet had unconsciously gotten her, breath caught in her throat. She stood right outside Tullip’s old apartments. The ones he only had time to use for two short years after they got separate rooms at the age of eighteen.

Sonora was eighteen now. The same age as Tullip was when he stepped through the door behind her for the first time in his life. He was so happy, back then. A young man ready to tackle the next step in his life; become the next Oracle of the Shard, after his father.

What had gone wrong? And why was it still such a mystery?

Sonora realized her hands were clutching the fabric of her toga short of ripping it apart. She eased her nerves, then thought about turning back and leaving this wing of the palace. Why didn’t she go after her mother? Why did her feet bring her to Tullip’s apartments? To this silent sanctuary to a dead man?

She was so annoyed at herself that she stubbornly decided to have a walk around the unused rooms to figure out what her body could ever want from this place.

Only every third lantern was lit along the walls of the not so wide anteroom. It gave the place a calm, empty feeling, which suited Sonora’s current mood just perfectly. The orange lights danced lazily on the wood-paneled walls as she hovered her way over the soft feathered carpet. Not a single speck of dust rose from it. The place had clearly been cleaned each morning like every other section of the palace. Frustration crept in Sonora’s mind at the thought, which she dispelled quickly. It wasn’t the servants’ fault that they had been ordered to keep the palace clean. And how was keeping some rooms in top shape disrespectful in any way? Sonora scolded herself for the rash line of thoughts she had just allowed herself.

She pushed the next door in. She knew what was inside, and the nostalgia hit her like a massive boulder on her heart. The fact that the place was unchanged from the last time she had been there made everything even worse… or better?

Tullip’s figure was there, before the eyes of her soul, sitting at his desk, intent on writing down his thoughts about his last meeting with his father to avoid forgetting anything. The line of hand drawings along the dimly lit walls had not been touched, preserving the artistic motions of a lost life. The carpet here was of a lighter blue… the carpet… why was she looking down at the carpet?

As she extended her arms, palms open, Sonora caught some of the teardrops slipping down her cheeks before they hit the ground.

“Oh, no, the face paint…” She murmured heartlessly.

She felt weak in the knees again, and wobbled towards Tullip’s desk. No, she needed to stop thinking about it as his brother’s desk! It was just a piece of furniture now.

The bronze chair creaked as she dropped down onto it and kept her head straight up to avoid spilling more tears on some of the papers still there.

Papers?

Sonora glanced down as the tears disappeared from her eyes as suddenly as they had appeared. The wet face paint tickled her cheeks but she did not care. The sight of her brother’s handwriting caught every single drop of her attention.

With surprisingly steady hands, Sonora spread out the thin pages on the polished desk and drank in every word. She was looking at Tullip’s thoughts on some meetings with palace officials, teachings from their father and some witty remarks about what he would do once he would become the Oracle.

‘... the Oracle should be allowed to play Cueball with his favorite team, I see no reason why I should never do physical exercise in my life just because I wear a fancier toga and head wrap than anyone else…’ Sonora smiled absently at the papers.

She did not hear the outer door of the apartments open and close again behind her.

‘... father in private is annoying. Very much so. He dodges every question like his life depends on it and does not give a straight answer even with his back to the wall. Father in public, however, is compelled by his Oracle status to always answer every official query truthfully. Maybe that’s something I can work with…’ Sonora hummed pensively. Rose had never been a kind, warm father in private, and they were always weary of approaching him with a request. Watching him work on the throne, however, was like seeing a completely different person. Honorable, always open to suggestions and solutions. Altruistic.

‘... it was definitely stronger today.’ She read on. ‘The call… or should I write it as Call? I really don’t know what to do… Can’t go too close to the Core without being seen by controllers and that would just make it awkward…’

Sonora jumped at the clear sound of someone clearing their throat. She instinctively pushed the papers away from her and swirled around the chair, rings clanking in her braids.

“Do not stop because of me, Rosevy. I was just intrigued by the architecture of the palace and some servants pointed me this way when I asked which way you went.” Kayfe straightened her simple brown cloak as she stepped into the room. “Since you said you needed to study a bit more, I was wondering where you kept the library in this place.”

She looked around with a scrutinizing look, then glanced at Sonora, who was still composing herself. Kayfe knew very well that this was not a library and was waiting for Sonora to introduce her to this place. The older woman planted her short, steady feet on the blue carpet. She would not be sent away now.

“I am afraid this is not the library, but my lost brother’s apartments.” Sonora rose from the chair to look down on Kayfe. “I just came by to gather some material to bring back to my rooms. You see, he was supposed to be the next Oracle, not me, therefore he has so much more knowledge gathered up here than I do.”

“That is quite impressive.” Kayfe nodded, as if to herself. “Your resolve to be as best prepared as possible for when the testing will begin is a feat every Oracle of Knowledge should envy.” She nodded once more.

Sonora felt like maybe all the old woman wanted was to plant a little seed in her brain about wanting to become a Kayfe Oracle. Tough luck her father was Lazio, and he was probably already buttering up the Head of Lazio as they dined together.

“I have always enjoyed learning about everything there is to know of the subjects that pique my interest. I could show you to the library of the palace on my way out.” Sonora reached back to gather up the papers from the desk and ushered a quite compliant Kayfe back to the entrance of Tullip’s apartments.

She almost pushed the brown-clad old woman against Movra, who had silently traversed the anteroom while they were talking. Sonora let out a huff. Did she perhaps call a meeting of the Heads without realizing it?

“Pardon.” The bald man twisted himself in a funny little bow. “Oh, Kayfe, you should really stop bullying youngsters ’till they cry. Rude. Very rude.”

Sonora’s dark eyes widened and her cheeks grew hot. Her face paint! How did she forget that she must look a mess when Kayfe had entered the room. As an answer to her question, the old woman looked up at her with a frown and seemed to only then notice Sonora’s messy look.

“Oh…” Was all Kayfe said.

“No. That’s…” Sonora fumbled with her empty hand to find the tiny bell tucked under her toga. Why didn’t she call for a body servants the moment tears started falling down her cheeks? “This is totally unrelated to Oracle Head Kayfe being here. It is but a very unfortunate misunderstanding.”

Movra took a quick glance to the room behind Sonora, then sighed. He tilted his head and pierced through Sonora’s outer mask as Rosevy, right into her soul. At least, that was how she felt standing there, watching Movra straighten up in the doorway. To her surprise, he ended up being taller than her, although Sonora looked down on the majority of people. His misty blue, playful eyes glimmered in the dim lights, then settled on her with an otherworldly calmness emanating from them.

Sonora stood stunned. This was not the crooked, careless Movra she had met in the Audience Hall. He raised a pale hand before she could say anything.

“That’s alright. You owe us no explanation. Now, my dear Kayfe, what do you say we stop bothering this soon-to-be Oracle and go have a nice supper?”

Kayfe murmured something under her breath, but moved after Movra as he left the anteroom without another glance to Sonora.

She stood in the doorway for a while after that encounter. Who was the Oracle of Magnet? What did he do? Why did barely anyone choose to become Movra? But more importantly, what had just happened?

Sonora ringed her tiny bell with an absent mind and stood in one place as a body servant rushed to her to sort out her mess of a face.