The color of Divinity I - The delusion of reality

The color of Divinity
By Ellnyon

Notes and warnings

Thanks to all the readers, especially the ones who take the time to review and rate. Review replies are in the end of the chapter.

Enjoy your reading.


Previously in TCD: It’s very uncommon for an Ethen to marry outside of his country. Still, Meanea Guinare, a noble Ethen came to N’Alaera to do so with its king: Fenaleos. Iadden, Meanea’s younger Eth brother, favours this marriage for their family’s sake. He’s at odds with N’Alaera’s prince, Edyane, who’s infatuated with Meanea and is against the wedding. Also Iadden’s tutor, Mieri, is plotting a way to stop the marriage so he can claim the Guinare’s heritage. No one knows that he’s in fact their bastard uncle and was already responsible for their parents’ deaths. If this wasn’t enough, Meya’s second prince has been meeting in secret with the Death Whisperers’ race who are about to ignite a war against the North Alliance that same week. He has promised them the life or the support of the recently found Dark-haired Ethen of the Legends, in exchange for Meya’s crown. Unaware of all this and unbelieving in an incoming war, N’Alaera and Meya’s people continue the joyful celebrations of the wedding in a Tournament held in Meanea’s honour…


Part I
Chapter 8

N’Alaera’s capitol’s streets were packed with people. Many of them were walking to the Arena to see the knights, but the larger part was only standing there, in the main Avenue, to see the beautiful carriages of the nobles pass.

As soon as two carriages painted in brown, red and gold and pulled by eight purebred white horses entered the capitol’s fourth level at a smooth trot, the people became euphoric and acclaimed their occupants with loud cheers while throwing flowers and coloured leaves at the road. Everyone recognized the beautiful shield with a reared wild horse above crossing swords painted in red and golden hues on their doors: N’Alaera’s royalty was passing by.

With his side window opened, Meanea waved at the people, intensifying their cheers.

The west part of that level, where the Arena was situated, had even more people, so it took the carriages a little more time to cross. When they finally stopped near the stairway leading to the Arena’s entry reserved for the High class, nobles from all N’Alaera were arriving too. They immediately went to greet their rulers and compliment Meanea on his beauty as soon as they exited their carriage. The usual questions of: ‘what did he think of N’Alaera so far?’ Or ‘were there many differences from Meya?’ were repeated countless times while they talked with the various nobles who came from far away estates exclusively to meet and pay their respects to the Ethen.

The area where they were left was still a little far from the Arena’s entrance and along the way, on each side of the path and stairway, strong cords were held to contain the mass of commoners who didn’t get a seat on the Arena and still wanted to see their new ruler. Several fierce and imposing guards, placed in strategic locations of the path, aided the ropes in their job, grabbing and warning anyone who tried to cross the line formed by both unduly. But even with the sometimes harsh shove they got from the knights, the people didn’t give up on trying to peek on the nobles passing. Some of them had even come from distant provinces and had slept near the Arena to get a good spot so as not to let pass that chance.

Among the people, there were various children with flowers for the nobles. They weren’t expensive bouquets, most of the commoners not having the money to afford classy exotic flowers. No, it had always been a costume in the tournaments for people in the Arena to throw them at their favourite fighters. But in times of need, it was also normal for the poor children to pick wild flowers in the mountains and offer them outside of the Arena to their favourite nobles and knights in exchange for a silver coin or a piece of bread or fruit. Of course now were not times of need, so this wasn’t the case. Today, the children had picked them because they wanted to see and touch the nobles and also take a small part on the festivities. No one had doubts that almost all of those garlands were to Meanea, so the guards had specific orders to let the children give them to him. But that didn’t mean that Athios, following close behind the smiling Ethen and seemingly awestruck Iadden, was not alert to any suspicious behaviour the little boys and girls might have. But until now nothing unusual had happened. The children came, offered their flowers to Meanea, he accepted them with a smile, kissed their foreheads, motioned a servant to give them a golden coin and they returned to their mothers beaming and showing the shiny treat. Meanea glowed with happiness as well. With each child, he turned to Fenaleos and Lessin Sanari with a huge smile while handing the bouquet to be taken to the carriage with the others so that he could receive yet another one. Sanari smiled as well, happy. Athios huffed while seeing another servant running with four more garlands. They could decorate the whole palace with that many flowers. Sincerely, one bouquet had done the trick. Still, he couldn’t really be annoyed. His Lessin was happy and he preferred seeing him like that.

He turned his attention to Iadden. The boy was looking at all sides as if wanting to absorb all that was happening, at the same time. He was a curious child. Sometimes, too curious for his liking. But, today he could understand the boy. Iadden was divided between the flurry of human activity involving his brother in front of him and the imposing building ahead. King Fenaleos had explained the Arena’s story to the boy during the way to the place…

Apparently Endnar’s Arena had been built one thousand and five hundred years ago as a tribute to the knight with the same name. Endnar had been a farmer from a province in the far South of N’Alaera, near the Sacred Wall. A region where healing herbs were scarce and disease was frequent. Endnar came to the Capitol in search of a cure for his younger sister, plagued by a rare and uncommon evil. He found it on the Maguenta’s High Temple. But the herbs the monks used to make the medicine were rare. They had to come from Crano’en and they were expensive.

Well, his family had been rich in many things: money had never been one of them. Solely his journey had taken almost all they had. Going back and letting his sister die was not even thinkable, not as long as he had good arms and legs. So, Endnar entered a popular swordsmen contest that existed at the time to entertain the nobles and help them choose suitable guards to protect their homes. His amazing fighting abilities soon gave him fame and fortune. But by the time he finally got home with the medicine for his sister, a border war between two small countries had exploded on the other side of the Sacred Wall. N’Alaera was allied to one of them and as such was called in to help. The enemy country decided to reply by hiring assassins to pass the Wall as merchants and burn N’Alaera’s southern villages. Endnar’s family and friends were forced to flee from their homes and he saw everything that he owned burn to ashes.

As a result, when he was invited to join N’Alaera’s army at the ongoing war, he fervently accepted. In no time, he passed from a foot soldier to a general and many battles were won by his will and cleverness only. His intelligence and strength made many believe he was that belligerent era’s Maguenta’s Heir. But the one who could confirm the people and the High Temple’s suspicions by speaking directly to the God, did not exist on those times for he is born only once each thousand years: the Dark haired Ethen. Therefore, Endnar was never awarded the famous title (not that he needed it, like he always said) nor the sword nor the magic-resistant shield that come along with it, but his deeds were great and deserved to be remembered. The Arena was built and baptized with his name so that no one would ever forget them.

It was a good story, Athios believed. It was a story of greatness. A story of a warrior, of a true knight. He would also tell such a story with pride. Definitely a name worthy of the colossal building he had in front of him.

Endnar’s Arena was an immensely tall, rounded building with no roof, composed by a large, circular flat area of ground in the centre bordered by tall doors along all its edge. These lead to the barracks where the fighters participating in the tournament prepared themselves. Above these doors, and accompanying the round shape of the ground, you found the stands. They were positioned around the flat ground in successive rising, circular rows of seats arranged on a steep slope, where people could sit to watch the games and cheer for their favourites. These stands and its bellow compartments were interrupted on the South by a different, exclusive stand destined to the judges of the tournaments and the panel where the competitors’ coats of arms were displayed along with the points they acquired. They were interrupted in the North as well by special marble stands with cushioned seats for the nobles and of course the royal family.

Usually the doors to the stands were closed and entrance was restricted, since the games and tournaments were organized by merchants and such entertainments were paid. But because the current tournament was to celebrate their future Vice-king, everyone was free to come and watch, and they were wide open. Still, certainly not everyone could enter. The seats were many but limited after all, so several guards were distributed by the entire Arena to prevent trouble. You could see them trotting down the streets near the entrances and stairs already inside the Arena. The competitors, nobles and judges’ entrances were separated from the ones destined to the general public by the previously referred ropes.

That was the stage where heroes were found by battling one another for the tournament prize and most importantly, for fame...

Distracted by his contemplation of the Arena, Athios almost missed the strange event occurring a few feet ahead of him. Two young twin girls with the long plain braid and dressed in the long grey vests of the Maguenta’s higher temple acolytes, waited patiently near a woman of youthful appearance but ageless dark eyes with two very interesting bouquets. Both were neatly arranged in a harmonious bunch, but the first one was made of small, snow white flowers with pure, silken petals. Athios had never seen that kind of flowers before, and he could sense faint magic in them. Healing herbs were very common but magical flowers were not. It was rather peculiar... The second bouquet of flowers had been brought to N’Alaera on purpose, Athios was sure, because they were cerise coloured ‘Fealiha’: a kind of camellia that only grew in Meya.

But more than the flowers, it was the woman next to the children that concerned him. She was short, her clothes were ragged and her dirty brown hair was tied up in a confusing knot of hair and feathers, with beads hanging down from it. Her dark golden complexion spoke of a life in the mountains and her face was painted in a strange dot pattern, with blue ink. She was certainly not a normal commoner. Her wise dark eyes turned to him and she slightly inclined her head forward in a silent greeting. Athios did the same, but he wasn’t quite convinced she wasn’t dangerous yet. She looked then at the twins in front of her and looked at him again in a quiet request. Athios stared at her from where he stood, a little far away, while Meanea received two more garlands with a happy giggle, and decided to follow his instinct. It said he could trust her. He gave a slight nod and the woman bowed her head again, this time in thanks. His intuition had never failed him.

Meanea let the children go and walked a little further ahead arm in arm with Fenaleos. They suddenly stopped for another bunch of flowers and Midaen’niel and Nareill didn’t immediately notice, only stopping slightly ahead of the king and their older cousin, at the bottom of the stairwell. The strange woman seized that opportunity and gently pushed the girl with the ‘Fealiha’ flowers. She hurried then, surprisingly not to Meanea, but to Midaen’niel.

“For you, Milessin…” she said smiling, a little shy. Meanea saw this and smiled happily at Midaen’niel among the flowers he was also receiving. They were very near to the stairwell already, Midaen’niel was inclusively standing on top of the first step, and the remaining children with bunches took advantage of Meanea’s stop to shower him with the rest of the bouquets. Their cousin Nareill, seeing the small blond Ethen also getting flowers, made a jealous face and wrinkled his nose in a conceited fashion. Then he ran back to Meanea who, noticing the dejected air, gave Nareill one of his own garlands. Meanwhile, Midaen’niel smiled at the girl and received his own bouquet with wonder.

“Thank you. These are my favourite flowers…” he commented, looking at the red camellias. The girl smiled.

“We know.” She said confident. Midaen’niel looked at her, intrigued.

“You know? But how?” he asked. The acolyte smiled again and simply replied.

“Because the woman who brought us is a fortune teller. She sees things…” The little blond Ethen turned to the woman and the other twin and they both curtseyed, smiling. The twin in front of him continued. “She asked me to tell you that your gift is rare. You should cherish it and not worry too much. When the time comes she is certain that you’ll know what to do…” Midaen’niel stayed silent for a stunned moment. The girl cast a quick glance at the nobles around them and seeing that they weren’t paying attention to their exchange, whispered. “She says you can trust her since your powers are alike and she knows how you feel.” Midaen’niel nodded, encouraged. He turned to the woman and the other girl and bowed, his lips shaping a heartfelt ‘Thank you’. The two smiled and curtseyed again. The girl in front of him curtseyed as well and was about to leave when she caught the pleading request in her sister’s eyes. She turned to the little blond Ethen again.

“Hum…would you mind calling your Eth cousin, Milessin? The other bunch is for him, but he’s too far away…” Midaen’niel raised his eyebrows, but didn’t comment. Probably the fortune teller had a message for Iadden as well. He wasn’t wrong…

“Of course. Please wait…” He turned his head in the small Eth’s direction and was about to call him when he saw that Iadden had already been looking at him from his place near Athios and Sanari. The Ethen noticed that also Athios was following the girl’s actions with cautious eyes, even if he was too far behind to actually hear any words. Midaen’niel remembered then that the children received money for their flowers, so he made a gesture with his fingers and Iadden immediately caught the simple signal. The small blond was lucky, for almost all the servants were too busy with Meanea. Iadden extended a hand to Sanari, who was also glancing suspiciously at the brown-haired woman. The old Lessin gave him two small golden coins and the Eth hurried to Midaen’niel’s side.

“Hello.” The masked boy said softly while bowing, when he reached the blond and the girl. She curtseyed almost kneeling on the floor, a little wide-eyed. “Here. Did you need something else?” he continued, oblivious to the girl’s unusual reaction, extending the hand with the coins to his cousin. Midaen’niel nodded and gave one coin to the girl.

“Thank you for everything.”

“Thank you, Milessin. I’m going to call my sister.” The girl said, grabbing the coin. The blond Ethen looked at the diminishing line of children with garlands to Meanea and whispered.

“Please hurry, they’re almost done.” The girl nodded and curtseyed again. Iadden eyed his cousin and the girl, not quite understanding what was going on, but waiting patiently for Midaen’niel’s explanation.

“I’ll thank Maguenta everyday for this opportunity to talk with you, sires. I was really blessed.” The girl finished and then ran to her sister. Midaen’niel spoke then in a low tone.

“They came with a fortune teller. She has a message for you as well…” Iadden stared at him for a moment, a little confused and surprised, but nodded and remained silent.

Upon a glance from her twin, the other girl started walking in Iadden’s direction with deep breaths. To the admiration of everyone paying attention, the beautiful white flowers were offered to the small Eth with a long curtsy.

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Fenaleos was one of them. “Looks like your brother got himself an admirer...” The king whispered with a chuckle in Meanea’s ear. Meanea looked at Iadden, surprised, and then at Fenaleos. They both chuckled, amused. Athios stayed quiet but raised his eyebrow at the strange woman. She was looking at Iadden in reverent expectation.

However, it was Sanari’s sudden intake of breath that amazed him the most. The captain gazed at the old Ethen tutor. He appeared somewhat frightened, his eyes wide and darting quickly from the small Eth to the strange woman. A hand was placed in front of his heart as if he was expecting something shameful to happen any moment now. Athios narrowed his eyes at the Ethen tutor. What was Sanari so afraid of? He was not a man easily scared. Athios knew he had seen too much in his life to be affected by something like this. A very strange and veiled event was happening here, today. Fortunately, the captain had noticed it and his intuition had told him it was nothing harmful. That was a good thing. Unfortunately, Athios seemed to be the one in the dark, here, and no matter what, he didn’t like that feeling at all.

‘Is there a problem, Lessin Sanari?’ He carefully asked, not sure of the tutor’s reaction. Sanari jumped a little at Athios’ strong baritone and regarded the captain’s impassive expression.

‘Hum…oh…n…no, Sir Athios. Of course not. Why do you ask?’ He stuttered, taking short breaths and averting his eyes from the guard’s piercing dark gaze.

‘You look a little flustered…’ Athios commented, getting more suspicious by the second. Sanari fanned himself with the hand previously placed on his chest and tried to feign a disinterested laugh. It didn’t work out. Athios could see right through it.

‘Must be the heat.’ The Ethen tutor explained. ‘I’m still not used to this country. N’Alaera is so much warmer than Meya. Perhaps because of the sea…’ Athios huffed.

‘You were fine until the acolytes offered their flowers to Lessin Midaen’niel and Lord Iadden.’ He replied, straight to the point. Sanari flinched again but he covered it better this time.

‘Well, I can’t say I’m used to see an Eth receiving flowers, so I guess I might be a little surprised…’ he answered with a short laugh. He was lying through his teeth, Athios could tell.

‘It is a costume here, to give flowers to warriors on tournament days. Lord Iadden comes from a widely known warrior family and he’s Lessin Meanea’s Eth brother. I believe it’s not that unexpected…’ he explained, observing Sanari’s expression carefully. Sanari glanced at him, but didn’t hold his piercing gaze, deciding to eye the happy and busy Meanea instead.

‘Oh, I didn’t know of that tradition. It’s perfectly understandable, then…’ he said dismissively. ‘Oh, it appears Milessin needs my help. Will you excuse me, sir Athios?’ Athios nodded, seeing Sanari rush to Meanea’s side. He had let that man escape him today, but other days would come. It was obvious Sanari was keeping things from him, and it wasn’t just today. It was something old. A thing Athios had to find out, no matter what…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Iadden grabbed the flowers and bowed.

“Thank you. They are beautiful.” He said in an awed soft voice. The girl took a deep breath and smiled, shyly. She turned to the woman, who made an encouraging movement with her head. The other twin giggled. The girl faced the small Eth again.

“I picked them myself.” The girl said, almost whispering.

“I’ve never seen flowers like these. They’re like something between a small tulip and a rose…” Midaen’niel commented, observing the flowers with an admiring and expert eye.

“I don’t know, Milessin. They are wild flowers that grow inside the High Temple.” The acolyte said softly and then added, in a lower tone. “The monks say they are magical…” Iadden focused his magical senses on the flowers in his hands and a few seconds later, the small buttons opened in a beautiful bloom, revealing their beautiful sky blue core. The girl in front of him as well as Midaen’niel gaped at the bouquet and then at Iadden in astonishment.

“How did you do that, Iaddy?” The blond Ethen asked. The girl continued to gape at the flowers.

“I don’t know. I guess the monks are right…they react to magic…” He answered, sounding as surprised as the other two.

“They bloom? I’ve never seen them bloom before…” the girl said and turned to the brown haired woman. She smiled as if she knew the flowers would bloom to Iadden and told the girl to hurry in a silent breath. The other twin was as amazed as the first one. She asked something to the woman, who answered with a nod, her eyes never leaving the small Eth.

“The fortune-teller asked me to give you this message: ‘You are kind, generous and altruistic, but remember that, what sometimes can be achieved with one’s sacrifice is better accomplished with everyone’s effort. That way no one will get hurt.’ She also wanted me to tell you to always believe in your heart and in Maguenta. Because they will never fail you. You just have to believe…” Iadden spent a moment contemplating the words, glimpsed the flowers in his hands and nodded.

“I won’t forget her words.” He said simply. “Is she the one next to your sister?” The girl nodded and Iadden turned to the brown haired woman and deeply bowed in thanks. To Midaen’niel and Iadden’s surprise, the woman deeply curtseyed, her knees touching the ground and her head bent forward. Athios saw this and narrowed his eyes. Sanari drew another deep breath.

Iadden stared a few more moments at the kneeling woman and then turned to the girl.

“Tell her I believe and thank her.” He said, his voice a little uncertain. The girl nodded. “Here. This is for you.” He concluded then, handing the girl a golden coin. She shook her head and didn’t take it.

“Our biggest reward is your happiness…” She said with a smile. Iadden looked at Midaen’niel, who shrugged and smiled too.

“Well, then please accept my deepest thanks…” The small Eth replied. Then he leaned forward and kissed the girl in her right cheek. He would have kissed her in the forehead like his brother did to the other children, but he wasn’t tall enough. The cheek would have to do. The result, he suspected, would have been the same.

The girl blushed a deep red, her pale blue eyes widening in something akin to awe. Her small hands went to her right cheek and she turned to the strange woman in supreme happiness. An amused Iadden saw the short woman giggling and the other twin pouting. Midaen’niel was also giggling by his side.

TBC…

Ending Notes: ‘blabla’ - spoken in Eth’s language

Aki: Thank you for your review. As to your request, the only thing I can promise is that everything can happen. So many things are still to come. You might even change your mind until then…Anyway, if you like Iadden, I bet you won’t be disappointed with the end.

Jenna T.: First, thank you so much for your kind words. I guess you’re right: it does appear to be simple and then it turns into something complicated. Sorry, it’s really not my intention to make a difficult story, even if I did spend a lot of time creating the several details. I guess I’m complex by nature.:) It is moving slowly, at least slower than I expected but it won’t be that long. At least, not for the romance between Meanea and Edyane to begin. However, I’m not saying they’re ending up together. I’m not saying he’s ending with Iadden either. It’s all part of the angst, I’m afraid. About the updates, I’m trying for a chapter per week, for now. Let’s see if I can keep up. Anyway, I promise to always update as soon as I can. Believe it or not, some names sound good in my head and then I can’t pronounce them when I try them out loud. :P Still, here you have. Hope it’s not very confusing, though:

Meanea – Mei-ah-nee-ã;

Edyane – EE-dii-ã-nee;

Fenaleos – Fee-nah-lee-os;

Iadden – Yah-dee-ee-ne;

Quera – Kee-rah;

Tenaii – Tee-nai-ii;

Midaen’niel – Mii-dah-n-nii-el.

[The ‘ah’ is an open vowel, spelled like ‘ah’ or as the 2nd ‘a’ in the word ‘Alaska’

The ‘ã’ is spelled like the first ‘a’ in the words ‘Alaska’ or ‘Alas’

The ‘ai’ is spelled like ‘I’.

The ‘e’ is spelled as the ‘e’ in the word ‘arrange’

The ‘ee’ is spelled as the ‘e’ in the words ‘Bell’ or ‘Beg’.

The ‘ei’ is spelled like you usually say ‘a’.

The ‘ii’ is spelled as in the word ‘Piano’

The ‘os’ is spelled as in the word ‘oscillate’

The ‘yah’ is spelled as in the word ‘yahoo’

The ‘r’ is spelled like in the word ‘rack’.]