Windows Into the Fair
I wrapped my face against the cold morning. These southern climes had nothing on the cold northern slopes of home, but could still leave a body chilled. Especially when the body isn't the one I came in on. I hate the soft, small body of the boy I wear. I long for the huge, muscled frame I was born with. No respectable Jarl would be found following such a small southerner. No longer am I Einarr the Giant. Now I am simply Firdaus.
Dalm Eberhard, Erdach Kodesh, The Tarrigan Castinate
Sure and true, I have never seen anything like the world of Erdach Kodesh. We arrived here in what passes for the early dawn here. I could tell everyone was surprised at the sudden move in places, and it was the first time that I was really sure that we had shifted places...usually it just seems that we are traveling from one place to another...and then we are just there. I have found myself worried about my memory often of late, never quite sure that what I am remembering is right or that my brain is curdled like old milk.
I had been lying down on my bunk, thinking that my Lord Theodoric would be coming by soon to talk with me about the day, when the whole world seemed to fall away, and then roll decidedly into a Hades spawned hole. When my brain coalesced once more I was struggling not to vomit my nights supper all over myself. My head split like two woodsmen were cutting at it with axes. Blood ran from my nose where I had fallen down somewhere in the earth rolling moments. I wiped my face clean and went out into the night. Where before we were in a grassy park, our tents scattered comfortably near a brook. Now we were situated on a flat frying pan of gravelly earth. Where the night should have been spread with a panoply of stars, instead there was only a gulf of unbroken black. There were no cook fires burning, here and there folks were kindling fires, but everyone seemed to be suffering the same vertigo and disorientation that I was. I quickly wiped the blood from my face and lit a torch so I cold see in the near complete inky darkness. Having lit a way to see, I dashed to the area of camp where my Master should have been.
Theodoric was not on his story telling platform. I circled it quickly, and was near panic for my Master when he grabbed my arm, coalescing from the darkness and holding my flailing torch at a small distance from himself. His silver gray eyes locked on mine and I felt a wave of calm overtake me. "Fear not Eben. I am of good health, and would not care to be set afire with a careless swoop of yon brand." he gently remonstrated me. I relaxed and my Master released my arm. "Now, it seems we have entered a new dheghom, and I fear it is not a safe place for anyone. I had hoped that Sender would wait a mēnsis before trying this, but he has never been good at taking advice. Quickly Eben, let us see where we are."
The two of us moved through the dark, me clutching the torch for life, while a swirling mist of shadow moved just ahead of me and to my left. I could only see Theodoric for brief moments, as he turned or altered his pace. Otherwise the vampire seemed a moving piece of the ink around me. His reaction froze my spine. Most often, my Lord seemed to causally move from place to place, indolent and unimpressed by the world around him. When story telling he was animated and charismatic, but in my brief time with him I had never seen him so focused and steel hard. His mein was frozen ice, and there was no effort on his part to be the human that he showed the punters most nights.
At the edge of camp there was a crowd of people, mostly camp followers and truckle workers. Not even seeing him the cattle moved aside before the oncoming force that was my Lord. He strode to the edge of the people, looking out at the bleak darkness. Aegon stumbled to our side, his blade bare in the night. I was glad to see he had returned to the Pageant before we shifted. His dark hair was disheveled and his face still wet where he had splashed water on it. As we watched, a small, blue moon rose quickly. It only took a couple of minutes for the whole moon to appear and then rise fully.
The crowd gasped in awe, as our placement became apparent in the bright blue light. Near as I could tell we were in some sort of bowl, and in all directions around us rose broken cliffs. As everyone looked around us, a whispered, sibilant prayer went up, invoking the forces of God to protect them from evil. Everyone stood transfixed for some time, only small sounds of weeping and fear coming from the crowd. As we watched a ruddy, yellowish glow suffused the horizon again. In a few minutes it became apparent that another moon was rising, and this time people were struck silent with awe. Every person standing here was solidly assured that they were far from earth and the protection of God.
I came to my senses as I noticed that Theodoric was gone, evaporating back into the Pageant as if he had never been at my side. Aegon seemed to notice this about the same time, and together we re-entered the Pageant grounds looking for our Master. A clarity that seemed to have been lacking for some days seemed to have taken me, and I noticed a number of worn tents and places where the bright paint of the Pageant wagons was showing. A general shabbiness that I was most times unaware of showed now, the silver gleamed less, the gold with chipped spots on it.
We found Theodoric seated cross legged on his story telling platform, staring contemplatively at the small fire that Aegon's men had kindled. When we approached Theodoric began to speak in the deep mellifluous tones he used when conveying a parable or history onto the punters at the Pageant. After he had spoken for a few minutes about Gods, Giants, Titans, and the Universe, Glaucian grabbed my sleeve and pulled me aside. "The Master wishes you to contact Dui and Mongfind. He wants them to secure the Shrine of the Mother. It is possible that it could be taken and held to keep the Fools from acting in our best interests. If Ibn Saqr were forced to protect it, he would do most anything here." Glaucian said, glancing from side to side to make sure we were not being watched or overheard.
I nodded and moved off through the camp at a fast pace, trying to surreptitiously reach the Canvas of the Mother. A huge tent of crimson and gold satin canvas rare as kings tears. The main entrance was swung closed, though I could see torch light flickering inside the massive tent. I stepped inside, the air warming slightly inside with the heat of the oil-cloth torches. Huge beams of ancient wood propped the satin up at strategic points around it, old and polished with years of use and care. Dui, Mongfind, and Saskia were working as a well oiled machine packing different pieces of the Shrine of the Mother away for travel. Two large truckle tents stood nearby, partially loaded with items commonly used in the performances held here.
Dui and Mongfind were Celts. They hailed from the areas south and west of my home. Both were marked with the blue woad in their hair, Dui wearing it in lines down his face. Both are thin but wiry, tough as boot leather and capable with the small knives they carried. Light brown hair hung loosely down their backs, and their lively green eyes watched me closely.
Saskia was from stock more like mine, though her feminine curves left no doubt as to her sex. Her pants were a reddish brown, and a brown tunic was mostly hid by the vest she wore to help her carry her rack of knives. Saskia's eyes were narrow, and I knew that other than perhaps Dui and Doboroslav, she disliked men intensely. Even though we had known each other some months now, she would not willingly be within arms reach of me at any time.
