The Age of Light (The Ava'Lonan Herstories Book 1) Read Online Free Page B

light.
    Within the
Av’ru’s arms embraced.
    We draw our
strength from Your own might.
    In Ava’Lona, our
blessed land,
    May our
Sisterhood endure,
    We stand as one
beneath Your hand,
    We stand as one
forever more.”
     
    When the rite was completed the door guard announced
her. The gargantuan gold-and ivory-inlaid doors swung open and her palanquin
was borne through, her entourage in tow. The lavender and coral lacquered
palanquin descended at the end of the last aisle on the western side of the Laine and she was assisted to her feet, the folds of her heavy silk wrap flowing,
whispering iridescently about her. She was escorted to her place near the back
of the hall to her low Throne. It also was done in her Tribe colors, a mahogany
and amethyst and coral affair that sat low to the ground with a high back and a
plump satin cushion for a seat. The back and armrests were also padded, which
was just as well, for whether this Bolorn was to bear
good tidings or bad, she would be have to sit in it for the better part of the
turn. There were low tables framing her Throne and backless cushions arrayed
around it for her retinue. An oval of plush carpeting covered the whole area.
    Soku sul Doan unfastened her wraps to reveal a gold
bustiere and pec’ta loincloth, and settled
herself onto her low Throne. Her handmaidens fussed over her mantle, wraps and
crown briefly before taking their places on the carpet. She smoothed her pec’ta and arranged herself a little more comfortably on the seat. The tension in the Great Laine was high, thick enough to swim in. The murmur of several hundred conversations
seemed to shape the tension into an unseen force, moving it as the wind moves
the sea to make waves. Around her sat the Yakan’tsu of Sao, the political party with which she was affiliated by ancestry and locale.
Together with the Dago, the Aru, the Dyo and the Sii Yakant’sen ,
the Sao Yakan’tsu made up the Border’Weste Territory; and with two other Territories, the
Middle’Weste, and the Sor’Weste, she and hers made up the Voice of the Weste.
    She was head of the smallest Tribe in her Yakan’tsu .
But her Voice did have weight, and could sway her peers, for the honor and
oath-claim of the Doan Tribe were unimpeachable, and had been for generations.
Her presence caused its own little ripple in the sea of potential.
Conversations shifted and new circles of alliances pooled, new concessions were
made because of the support she represented. Her presence had a definite effect
on the political landscape. And underlying it all was the slow, drowsy beat of tunka baritone drums.
    “Inside, Sister Doan!”
    Soku looked up and to her right, to see the Moyi
Queen leaning toward her, stroking a deep red gem. The Moyi was not of the Sao Yakan’tsu .
She was affiliated with the Sii’Ya, the sister Yakan’tsu to the Sao’Ya, in size. But the Sii’Ya was under the influence of the Dyo Yakan’tsu at the moment, the Dyo’Ya being the largest of the Border’Weste Yakan’tsen .
In effect, a spy or emissary of the Dyo’Ya and a hint of impending intrigue.
Being of fairly equal rank, either could speak first without loss of superior
aspect. “Peace and light to you, Soku sul Doan. How fare you and yours?”
    “Peace and light, Itil sul Moyi,” she replied, out
of courtesy, laying her hand on her own gem of mother of pearl that sat in a
shallow recess in the table to her left. The davri gems allowed for easy, private discussion by eliminating the need for either
Queen to get up and bridge the gap between place settings. An ancient rite
placed upon the Laine disallowed them from av’tunning their thoughts. “My Tribe is well and I am well. How fare you and yours?”
    “Very well, very well indeed.” Itil leaned even
closer and the burgundy and pearl gray armrest creaked dangerously under her
considerable weight. “What think you of all this, Sister?” she asked, her sharp
eyes glittering as they swept over the assemblage of