One staircase into the Women's Marble Palace

Post by Scala Regia.

692 (31) - He's Quarantined Them

The evening sweet chef, Toniafas, had out-done himself. Inensa nodded to the food taster, as she and Sukala sat down in the Radiant Mirror’s Parlor, on the women’s side of the Great Baths.  The food taster for the Imperatrix was of the same family as the Imperator’s, though they hadn’t had one of the family doing the work for almost a generation, since Seventeenth Kurkas had never raised a Mirror of the Ineffable Light and Niku Wahunai had never called for a woman to take up the post. Rafas and Idiesas had been united in requiring it, especially since this Unomas had been revealed to be the missing Matthas Mahid.

The sweet tray was an assortment of shokolade and fanillas truffles scattered around the base of a gilded orange tree.  The fruit on that tree were coated white and several lay ‘broken open’ as if they had fallen. Whole sweet oranges had been taken apart and every segment had the white skin taken off, then each had been dipped in layers of various flavours and colours of shokolade, dark kaf, white cream, milky pehaka cream, then the whole thing had been re-assembled and coated in white cream shokolade before being dusted with gold and hung on the golden tree. “Toniafas remembered your last visit and made most of these without the gold dust,” Inensa said, taking up her embroidery basket.

“Pish, he needn’t,” Sukala said and broke open one of the confections licking the juice running down the sides of her wrists. “These are so amazing I’m going to go down later and tell him so!”

“Good,” Minis said as he came in, overhearing.  He had a courier packet broken open in his hands.  “You brought him so much notoriety last time that he wants to get you to do it again.”

“You look worried, my son.” Inensa said.

“It looks like this infertility has spread out of Arko,” Minis said somberly.  “Reknarja just let me know that it has spread to several coastal towns of Tor Ench. Kranaj has quarantined them.”

There was a long silence before Sukala asked quietly, “The Haians haven’t found a way of stopping it?”

“Once it shows in the population,” Minis said. “No. They’ve succeeded in keeping the women from being infected, if they take the remedies beforehand.”

“So that’s a cure, isn’t it?” The covering on another orange broke open with a soft crackle.

“Not really,” Inensa said. “Once it manifests in the men it spreads to unprotected women. Haiu Menshir is fighting what it sees as an epidemic.”

Farasha came in, saying “Toniafas made truffles in honour of Sukala’s visit, Ky,” over her shoulder.

Sukala looked up and smiled at the two women as they came in and headed for the table. “But there’s some good news,” she said. “When are you women due?”

Re-start!

I shall be returning to my regularly scheduled post tomorrow as a Yule treat!  I should be finished Book 8 soon!  I shall also be starting a video blog concerning the craft of writing.  It will probably be once a week (day of posting to be decided - let me know).  I shall also be starting a set of private writing sessions... sign up with me and I will do an 8 week course with you, specifically focused on your work, through social media so we'll be face to face or voice to voice if that's more acceptable for you.

691 - Sukala's Arrival

YEOLIS PLOT TO DECIMATE ARKO AGAIN!!!

Minis put the cheap broadsheet down and would have put his face in his hands but looked with distaste at the smeary mess of substandard ink all over his palms and even on the cuffs of the Imperial whites, though it wouldn’t cling to the Seals.  It was a new ‘sensational’ Pages, printed out of Solengal, near the mountains.

He picked it up, gingerly, read a line or two, decided that the report on it being too crazy to be something taken seriously and dropped it back onto his desk and pushed away from it.  The clock chimed and he’d just have time to scrub his hands.

The Highest office washing room was tiny but sufficient, then he nodded goodnight to Atzana and pushed off across the bridge, skatewheels clicking.  It felt so good to be moving.

By the time he got to the roof landing, the wind had blown up, gusting wildly. He caught his hair in one hand to keep it out of his face, sheltering his eyes with the other, joining the lookout and welcoming committee staring up at the rapidly darkening skies.

It was strange how fast the weather had turned but instead of settling into normal temperatures it kept bouncing up and down with these odd storms and that played merry Hayel with the wing couriers.

“There they are!”

“You didn’t have to come up to meet her,” Idiesas said as quietly as he could.

Minis grinned at him.  “You think she’d not figure out I was hiding and come to very sensibly whap me over the head with her stick?”

“Er... well, no.”

The edge of that storm will just catch them... oh, mother.  You’re coming to meet Sukala as well?”

Somehow she was keeping her orderliness in the face of the wind.  He suppressed a grin thinking that her hair didn’t dare creep out of her braid or her sleeves indecorously wave at every passing breath.

“Of course, my son.” Her voice cut through the booming, shifting, wild wind running in front of the  bank of black clouds looming over the Rim.  “They’re a full day late because of the weather I suppose and I want to whisk my friend off to a warm glasshouse to look at exotic flowers.  That way she can scoff at me for treating her delicately.”

He let the grin out this time.  “I don’t even know how she does it. She’s still living in that cave.”

The wings that had been spotted spiralled down through shafts of setting sun and gloom of the onrushing storm and he could see Sukala’s wildly coloured clothes as bright as if they were a beacon light.

She was already waving, all the way up there and he could see, when a roll of distant thunder marked a lightning strike, that she laughed.  The storm was still on Finpollendias and not close enough for anyone in the city to see it directly.

“Ha! There’s my emotional boy!” She said as she stepped out of the wing-harness.  He ducked under the wing to hug her hello. Her shirt was an eye-searing red, with purple collar and cuffs, her pantaloons a clashing orange.  She wore an overvest that had green and blue embroidery on it that looked as though it had come from somewhere in Zak country.

“Just standing around weeping into my hands, Sukala. Welcome to Arko again.”

“I’ll keep coming, especially since I’m going to have lots of stiff youngsters to look after my goats.  I certainly need to help you pick out the good bodyguards!”

He offered her his arm, instead of her stick and they hurried over  to where Inensa waited.  He smiled and said “Of course. And I’ll make sure you have sufficient chocolate and sweet oranges whenever you come to do such hard work!”

She just laughed and tapped him on the arm, her ancient old face split with a wide smile.  “Inensa, you look well!  How’s Tesha?  And the stray girls who came back?”

Minis let her go and just had time to marvel at the contrast between  his oh-so-proper mother like a column of dark burgundy silk next to Sukala’s wild colours, before the latest clap of thunder sounded along with a direct strike on the ancient lightning tower and the roar of the first rain.  He rushed inside the wing-barn, but was still soaked, the women already on their way downstairs.

“Mother... I’ll just go put some dry clothes—“

She nodded at him, not taking her attention from Sukala.  “We’ll see you next bead, son. Do you have a dinner meeting?”

“No, Atzana didn’t need to schedule one tonight.”  Minis dripped a bit as he swept his bow, exaggerating to get Sukala’s laugh.  “I’ll see you lovely ladies when I’m not looking like a drowned rat.”