PaulMichaels
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IGIWS: FIRST DRAFT: Chapter 258
🕑 Added 2024-07-23 17:02:11 +0000 UTCHigh Priestess, Astra looked altar to see if it was ready for the ritual.
"Your Eminence. We cleaned everything for the candidates and their escorts."
"Excellent... You five may witness the ritual... The King's carriage has just arrived. This is a important day, brothers and sisters. For the goddess may show herself today.
One of the other acolytes whispered to another, "I doubt it."
"What was that Brother Wade?" Astra asked the young man in the back of the group.
"Uh! N-Nothing, Your Eminence."
Mother Astra looked at him silently for fifteen seconds. Which made him sweat.
"Iyomelka, does things differently than other gods, Brother Wade... Do you know why she is so silent?... It's because she believes that her followers should listen silently so we can think for ourselves. We do not need to shout at her and pray for her guidance daily, like her fellow gods and goddesses... That is why Iyomelka is not seen much. If she broke her vows of silence every day then the scales of balance would tip in against humanity's freedom to choose... Only a select few will ever be graced by her presence. The ones who follow her path and live by her ideals, will be the ones that she chooses as her children... So, we need to prove to her that we are worthy to hear her call when we least expect it... Am I understood?"
"Yes, your eminence. I apologize for doubting the Goddess's plan."
"It's okay to be skeptical... But don't question her in front of her Idol."
Everyone nodded their heads in understanding.
The High Priestess continued.
"We will be performing the ritual here for two candidates who wish to be the next Queen... I have no doubt in my mind that Goddess Iyomelka will choose one of these ladies as a vassal to renew her followers faith in her.
"May the Goddess Iyomelka, grant them the strength to do her bidding and give Balance to the world." Everyone repeated in prayer.
"The Goddess will make her decision soon... You five will guide the nobility to there seats... The candidates and their escorts are here, along with the King and the Queen... Let's make sure that we perform our duties to the Goddess's standards."
"Yes, Your Eminence."
***
One hour later, in the auditorium of the temple. There was slight murmuring amongst the Nobles sitting in the pews.
"Do you see her?" Lord Gavin asked. He was a Minor Nobles from the east. He ran a town within the Duke's Domain.
"The Dark Elf girl? Yeah, what about her?" Lord Oswin asked.
"No! I was talking about the Alliance Princess. She just blatantly ran into that Dark Elf right when the King was greeting her. Is she asking for a death wish?" Lord Gavin replied.
"You're worried about an Alliance Girl getting executed for disrupting the King when the more significant issue is the kind-hearted fool has fallen for a creature of chaos? We will all die if a Dark Elf becomes the Crown Prince's Queen... All the other human kingdoms will band together and wipe out Fiafyr..." Lord Oswin said.
"But I heard that she is a healer... And a powerful one at that—"
"So you are buying that nonsense too?... She's a Dark Elf, Gavin. She must be using a trick or something on Baron Eamon Stirling's knee. Maybe he thought it was injured all this time, and she made it seem like his knee was healed."
"You might be onto something. But what if she is a healer?... Then that would mean that Prince Quinus is going to become an emperor... Do you think we should switch off allegiances to the Royal Family—"
"Sssh!... What is wrong with you today?... Our allegiance is to the true King, Gavin. And don't you forget it. We are in a dangerous time where the Prince let a Dark Elf into the Kingdom, and the Alliance is whoring out their Princess to try and claim our Kingdom as one of their own. Plus, Marcus Revelia was murdered by the Prince because he fears losing the throne. All this reeks of desperation, and the Alliance are trying to force us to kneel to the Divine Three and convert us to their religion. I will never kneel and let their false Gods rule me!" Lord Oswin declared.
Gavin took a moment to digest all the information and finally replied, "So we should support the Royal Family, right?"
Oswin looked at his friend like he was an idiot. "How did you ever survive ruling a city, Gavin?"
"By not pissing off the people that want to kill you... Plus, you don't make sense. First, the Crown Prince is too soft and kind-hearted, and then he's a murderous tyrant who offed his cousin because he felt threatened. Then you said that he's being desperate and stupid for letting a Dark Elf into the Kingdom, but the Dark Elf was the one to stop those two women from mocking the King... Make up your mind, Os."
Lord Oswin was red in the face with anger and embarrassment. He didn't realize that he had contradicted himself so many times during their conversation. But he was more embarrassed because he thought Gavin was an idiot.
"Listen well, Gavin... Duke Alaric is our only hope for the coming complex ahead. We must be ready to start an uprising when he needs our help. The kingdom's future might be in the balance," Lord Oswin said seriously.
"Are you sure this isn't all just a conspiracy theory?... I mean, if the Duke had that kind of power and influence, then wouldn't he have used it before now?... And if he were to take control and become the King, then who would be the next heir? Sara Revelia?... But she's been married off to Lord Caelum of the Arus Kingdom, which is across the sea," Gavin said.
Oswin was now getting annoyed by Gavin's questioning. Mainly, because he was bringing up good points that he didn't think about.
"We'll deal with it when the time comes. If it can't be Sara, Jemma, or Eleanora because they are no longer within the kingdom, then fine. But we still have the two youngest Revelia daughters here within the kingdom. Whether it's Ingrid or Ursula, I'm sure either one would be better than the Crown Prince."
Gavin wanted to argue against the logic of having a female be the heir to the throne, but he heard the bells ringing from the Temple's tower. The ritual was about to start. Gavin sighed, "If we are wrong about this, Os. We will lose more then our family, friends, and home... We'll lose our country."
Oswin looked at his old childhood friend, "I'm aware, but what's the alternative? To do nothing? Then the kingdom will fall into ruin, anyway. Better to die fighting for the future than to hide away and let history judge us for our inaction."
With that Mother Dyana came into and signaled for the musicians to begin playing. Lord Oswin and Gavin took their seats. The nobles started filing in and taking their seats.
The Prime Minister's seat was the biggest chair off to the front left of the auditorium, while the Royal Family had a nicer pew compared to the rest of the temple.
Everyone awaited the Major Houses, Minor Houses, and the Royal Family. Duke Alaric walked in with Viscount William and Baron Alistair Dravenhart, who was Alaric's other alley within the Major Houses.
William smirked as he followed behind the Duke. And Alistair didn't seem to like being here in the first place. Mainly because his hunting trip was canceled after receiving a Royal message about the Goddess's Ritual, he looked forward to finding that Griffin and having its pelt.
They entered the pews to the left and sat behind Duval's big chair.
"Pff... How many donations do you think the Prime Minister spent to get that ridiculous thing in here?" Baron Alistair asked in an annoyed tone.
"Like it matters... William... Did you see your inside man?... Did he get the crystal on the Idol?..." Alaric asked.
"He was waiting at the entrance of the Temple. We are golden, my Lord," Viscount William answered with a smug look on his face.
"Good... The sooner that we can rid ourselves of that woman, the better... Once I'm on the throne, you will both receive a suitable reward."
"My Lord... If I may... How are we going to deal with the Kingdom of Marn once they served their usefulness?" Alistair asked in a curious manner.
"Not here... I'll discuss this later," Alaric said as he saw Duval and his six allies enter the pew in front of them and sit down.
Duval glanced over towards Alaric seeing if he was coming through on his end of the bargain. The Duke get him a slow nod and the Prime Minister gave a small smile and sat down.
The musicians started playing the Royal Theme which told everyone that the Royal Family was arriving.
'It's time to make Hilda the next Messiah... William's man better not have fail me.' Alaric thought as he stood up and turned around to see his brother walking into the holy auditorium with his wife and son.
When the Royal family entered, the nobles stood up and bowed or curtsied, respectfully.
Then the Major Houses greeted the Royal Family as they approached the front of the auditorium.
"Crown Prince Quinus," said Earl Nathaniel, who bowed deeply. "I hope the Goddess Iyomelka will show favor upon your Lady Rya... She is the one who is destined to become your bride, not that Stoneworthh woman."
"Nathaniel," replied Quinus with a small smile. "Thank you for your kind words... My father is a bit apprehensive, but my mother is excited for Rya... Let's hope that the others see her as worthy as well."
"Indeed," the Earl said with a confident smile.
"Crown Prince Quinus, it's nice to see that you were triumphant against the Tomb of the Horde. I worried that we didn't send enough knights to deal with the problem," Baroness Ysandra Fairchild greeted Quinus with a smirk. Her Domain was located in the far Northeast of the kingdom and she ran the second biggest Mages Academy in the Kingdom. She aligned herself with Duval after he offered her the Ministry position for Education. She was in her late fifties but she still looked like she was in her early thirties. She was one of the few Nobles that was a Mage.
"Baroness?... I didn't know you made it all the way out here... I thought the academy was still in section?" Quinus asked with a curious look.
"Well, I normally would have stayed to help Headmaster Saffron but when I heard that you had returned with Lady Rya. I had to she her for myself," Ysandra said with a grin.
It took a moment but then it occurred to him why Ysandra was here.
"So, Master Hajdah sent you a message about Rya?"
"Sharp as ever, Your Highness... It's a shame that you are only a Maja... Not all mages are as sharp as you, Your Highness. Especially since the majority of the Mage population has forgotten that there are here to help people or to become scholars of the arcane. All they care about is fame, glory, and gold. No one wants to expand the limits of magic... I'm afraid that our Kingdom is heading for a dark age... Until Hajdah told me about her," Ysandra explained.
Quinus smirked and shook his head, "Yeah... Rya help the Ironside Mages learn better more efficient ways to casting spells and helped to create new incantations for wind mages. Hajdah was sad to see her leave... It almost made me feel jealous."
Ysandra laughed, "His loss will be our gain... If she needs access to any of my libraries, please let her know that she's free to look at whatever books she wants in my Domain... Even the forbidden tomes in the restricted section."
"She'll be happy to hear that, Baroness. Do you know if she can get access to the Mage's Library in Tairal?" Quinus asked with a bit of worry. Back when he was eight years old. Three Mages came to the palace to see if Quinus was gifted with a mage vein. The three Mages that tested him was Hajdah, Lady Saffron, and Grand Master Fennic. Fennic was one of the rare multi-elemental mages in all the world as he was able to control both Wind and Water. He was the Grand Master of all the Mage Guilds in Fiafyr and he resided in Tairal's Mage Guild, which was the biggest and oldest of all the guilds in the continent. Fennic prayed that Quinus was a so much that he refused to believe that the Prince was not a Mage until he was proven wrong when he insulted Quin's mana vein which the Prince gladly showed him how strong it was when Quin grabbed Fennic's hand and channeled his mana through the Mage's arm.
The Grand Master couldn't push back Quinus' mana and he felt the pain on his arm. Quinus' mana was strong enough to overpower one of the strongest mages in all the Kingdom. Quinus didn't care if he made the Mage his enemy. All he cared about was making a point to not treat him and his friend like filth.
Ever since that day twelve years ago. Fennic held a grudge against Quin.
"I don't know how willing Fennic will be... But we can try, Your Highness," Ysandra said with a soft smile.
Quinus sighed and nodded. He was beginning to regret insulting Fennic. But at the time. Quinus was angry and he needed to put that arrogant bastard in his place.
"Thanks, Ysandra... I just hope he's willing to hear me out," Quinus said.
Ysandra bowed and went back to her seat with all of Duval's supporters while Quinus looked to the back of the auditorium. He saw Prince Zane, Sir Darius, and a few White Knights standing outside of the doorway into the audience hall. They were all looking over the temple with disgust in their eyes.
'I guess it's blasphemous for the followers of the Divine Three to take one step in a temple not dedicated to their gods,' Quinus thought with a smirk.
Quinus took his seat next to his mother when the music changed again and the High Priestess came walking out from behind the Idol and walked up to the alter.
Everyone became silent and the music echoed off the walls of the temple.
"Ladies and Gentlemen... We have gathered here today to witness the Goddess's Ritual for Favor..." Mother Astra said with a raised voice.
Quinus looked to the side door to his right and saw Hilda standing there nervously. She looked like she was whispering to herself. Then Quin looked to the left side door and saw Rya standing there cool and collected. She noticed Quinus looking at her. She smirked and gave him a wink.
Past Rya in the hallway of the left door stood all their friends, Tayna, Dalia, Sir George, Percy, Nieren, Yuliana, and Johan. They were all cheering her on.
On the right side hallway, Past Hilda was her maid and some White Knights. Everything was quiet until the Priestess spoke again.
"The Goddess Iyomelka loves balance in all things. Whether it's in life or in death, there must be balance. If we wish for her favor, we must perform the ritual..." Mother Astra said.
Then a group of women, who were priestesses, came walking into the auditorium. They were dressed in white robes with gold trim and each had a white mask.
"My the two candidates who wish to be Queen of the Fiafyr Kingdom come forth," Mother Astra said.
Hilda sighed and walked out. Rya just looked at Quin one more time and blew him a kiss before walking over to stand next to Hilda.
The two women were escorted by the priestesses and led up the stairs to the alter.
"The ritual is simple. These two women must perform our Goddess's praying dance. If the goddess finds them worthy then the woman she picks will win her favor," Mother Astra said.
Then the High Priestess gestured to the two young women to step forward.
Rya and Hilda did as they were told and were guided by the priestesses into their spots on the alter.
The music changed once more. Then a drumbeat started and the Priestess's began to pray.
"We ask you Goddess Iyomelka for your favor as you once did for our beloved Queen, Rianna Meredydd," They said.
Queen Rianna had to suppress her grimace as she noticed a few starry eyed looks coming her way. She actively tried to stay away from the Priestesses and Clerics due to them always asking to know if Iyomelka had given her any sighs or spoken to her in a dream. She thought it was hypocritical that they preached 'free choice' but they were ravenous to know what the goddess wanted them to do.
The drums continued to beat, and all the Priestesses did the praying stance that Rianna did to make the idol glow all those decades ago.
Hilda looked standoffish as the Priestesses walked all around them while Rya tried to look stoic.
'Okay, Rya... It's just a strange religious thing... I'm sure they would think that Earth's religions are just as weird. So don't judge them to much now... Haah... What the fuck am I doing? How am I supposed to light this stupid statue—huh?'
As Rya was going through her inner monologue. She glanced at the Idol of the goddess and noticed glowing words at the base of the statue. It had a similar aura to Ether Particles, or the that strange energy flame in the palace garden, or those strange yellow particles that healed Sir Darius. Rya closed her eyes and, shook her head, and looked at the base again, and the words were still there. They read like instructions for how to pray to the Idol. And there were five commands from what Rya could tell.
'Am I the only one who can see this?' Rya wondered as she looked at Mother Astra, who held her hands up at head high and watched the other Priestesses dancing around.
"Let the ritual begin," The High Priestess declared.
The drums stopped, and priestesses stopped moving and began to sing.
"O' Great Goddess Iyomelka..." The Priestesses sang in harmony.
"You give us the power of freedom to choose and the freedom to act on those choices," Astra sang in a hymn.
*Boom! Boom!*
Goes the drums.
"You show us the path to enlightenment and guide us from darkness," Astra continued.
"O' Great Goddess Iyomelka..." The Priestesses sang in harmony again.
*Boom! Boom!*
"We beseech you to bless the Kingdom of Fiafyr and grant us a sign of your blessing."
*Boom! Boom!*
"O' Great Goddess Iyomelka, you gave us life, and we offer ourselves to you."
*Boom! Boom! BOOM!*
Everyone was silent as the Priestesses gracefully moved their bodies in unison to a praying motion.
"O' Great Iyomelka!... We honor you today with these two candidates who wish to be apart of our people and serve our glorious kingdom. They seek your blessings!" Mother Astra said and then turned to face the statue. "I beseech you O' Great Goddess, to bless this Kingdom and grant us a sign of your favor!"
*BOOM! BOOM!... BOOOM!*
The last sounds of the drums echoed throughout the great auditorium.
"I don't know if I could ever handle being a deity if my followers look this silly praying to me," Rya whispered under her breath.
Hilda was nervous about this ritual. She practiced the way you were supposed to pray to the Idol, which she thought she had down. But her main worry was she was about to commit the greatest sin of all. Praying to another deity. At the time, she was willing to do whatever it took to save the Prince, but now that she's in front of this foreign Idol with a style of worship that seemed so wrong, she was hesitant.
'I-It's okay!... I-I must do this for the Crown Prince!... Once everything is over and the threat to humility has ended... Then I can go back to worshipping my real gods and atone for my sins.' Hilda thought as she reinforced her resolve to pray to another deity.
'I don't feel any magic flowing from this Idol... Maybe my Seer Stone could show me something that's hidden from my view... Maybe I can find something out about the gods of this world and use that in some way to help me and my friends,' Rya thought to herself as she observed the Priestesses and the Idol.
Rya and Hilda were brought out of their own thoughts when Mother Astra turned around to face the congregation.
"Let us begin the Goddess's Ritual!... Let's start with our newest member, Princess Hilda Stoneworthh!" Astra said with a smile and walked over to Hilda, who jumped slightly when she heard her name.
"Oh yes, um... Okay," Hilda said, a bit nervous as Mother Astra guided her towards the front of the Idol.
When Hilda was ten feet in front of the Idol, she was stopped by Mother Astra. The Princess looked down at her feet and noticed that she was on a circular platform. That was only an inch higher than the rest of the floor.
"Now, Princess, please pray to Iyomelka... And my she bless you with her favor," Mother Astra said in a gentle tone.
Hilda swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded her head. She took a deep breath and readied herself to pray. But when she looked up at the Idol, she realized that she forgot the way she was supposed to pray to the Idol.
'Um! Um! W-What was I supposed to do for the beginning of the pray again!?! Ugh! HOW DID I FORGET?!' Hilda thought as she racked her brain.
"Is something wrong, Princess?" Mother Astra asked after a moment of Hilda not praying.
"N-No... I-I'm just waiting to get a sign from the Divine Ones—I mean the Goddess's..." Hilda quickly corrected herself.
Mother Astra nodded her head and walked away to give Hilda her space. The princess couldn't believe that she was about to screw up all her hard work and planning. She couldn't mess up, not when she's so close to saving the Prince.
'It's okay... I have faith in all the gods and goddesses... I will be able to see something... I can see something that can help me save my beloved Prince... Just calm down Hilda, and concentrate...' Hilda thought as she focused her thoughts on the Idol.
Alaric was watching everything that was unfolding in front of him. He was looking around and trying to find whoever was working for him. But he was having trouble finding the person. They needed someone to be standing behind the Idol so that when they touched the white stone, the statue would light up. But no one was by the Idol, and he was starting to worry that someone messed up his plan.
Alaric elbow William in the ribs hard.
"Ow!..." William looked over at the Duke with confusion.
"Who is supposed to be our inside person?" Alaric whispered through gritted teeth. He thought it wasn't a good idea to speak about their plan with an Elf in the same room as them, but he needed answers.
William had a confused expression before looking around the altar. He couldn't find anyone giving him their secret signal at all. That's when it hit him that he only ordered his inside man to get the Idol to absorb the Ether Crystal and nothing else. William began to sweat once he realized that he fucked up and he was going to do what he is best at. Throwing others under the carriage.
"I hate to admit it, my Lord. But I think our man failed us," William whispered.
Alaric gritted his teeth so hard that sparks could have come out. His fists were clenched as his anger was reaching a new level. He wanted to punch William right then and there. But he kept his cool. Alaric couldn't risk the Elf hearing them. He turned back to look at Hilda, pondering if he should try to sneak up there. It occurred to him that he should have brought one of his damn Elven Cloaks to turn invisible, but he didn't have it, and he was out of time.
'The fucking fates are against me!... I should have taken the damn lead and done it myself... No... No, you're fine... You have a backup plan... Leandra will come through on getting all the Ladies of the Court to turn against the Dark Elf and the Prince's relationship. I need to trust that my wife will come through. And I should have planned ahead and put someone in a position that I could have trusted and would have done their job. But I didn't, and it's too late to dwell on it.' Alaric thought.
The room went quiet once again, and everyone waited for Hilda to perform the prayer to the Idol.
Comments
Athetos
Sweet! Thanks for the chapter. Very excited to see what will happen... Will Hilda finally have to face reality? Will Iyomelka start a harem for Quinus? Will the other Gods somehow try to interfere? I need to know 😖
PaulMichaels
It's only a cliffhanger if you're excited to see the next chapter 😛
Marek Gwalt
Thanks 4 the chapter https://youtu.be/k9U4C2j9d6c?si=5SuOIGc3IwzMilhI Sorry 4 the link
Micheal Kennedy
Can’t wait for the next one!
PaulMichaels
I appreciate it!... Plus, it's funner to go on with others, so I'm glad that you are all with me on this crazy ride.
Micheal Kennedy
Congratulations on getting this far, bringing us along on the journey!
PaulMichaels
Aw, baby! I've been waiting for this part of the story for quite some time! 😁 I'll try to get the next draft out by Thursday. I'm working on getting the next edited chapter out by tonight.
