Despite the Angels (8 page)

At dusk, they gathered outside the house and their friends and relations brought their dishes and arranged the food on the tables for later. Two old women, who did not want to climb the hill to the sanctuary, because of bad legs in one case and shortness of breath in the other, were given seats near the tables and instructed to guard the food from marauding creatures, “with four legs or two!”  They were given some wine to help them with their duties, and with much laughter about the value of two sleepy old ladies as guards, the rest of the group set off towards the sanctuary hill.

They were met on the way to the hill by Planidi, who called those people who could play an instrument to the front of the crowd and had a brief discussion with them. Then she turned and led the party up the hill, followed by the musicians. She sang an ancient chant to The Mother and the musicians accompanied her. The older people, who had heard this chant more often, were able to join in, so some of the group reached the top of the hill quite out of breath.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” Alessia whispered to Danthys. “This is where I got the message that I was to go to Mikolos. It has to be a special place.”

“It will be special for you, Alessia, because you make it special for yourself. It is beautiful. Always be aware of beauty, and teach Armishamai to see it too.”

Alessia lifted Armishamai up to look around her, whispering in her baby ear. Planidi was drawing a circle in the dust inside the sanctuary stones. She called Alessia and Danthys forward to stand with her inside the circle and everyone else jostled around, to get the best view.  Planidi held up her double-sided axe to the moon, now rising above them.

“Hail, Mother, guardian of us all, and especially this day of this baby, named in your honour.” She went on with the prayer, mentioning all the spirits who would have a part to play in the lives of the little family beside her. Eventually she came to the actual naming.

“And she came into this world in your light, the light of the moon, and is to be named Armishamai which means Moonsong, so that she may sing your praise and walk in your light always.” Planidi turned to Alessia, “hold her up to the moon, so that she is in front of it. That’s right, up high.” And when Alessia had stretched her arms up to the moon, holding her daughter, Planidi touched the end of the double axe to Armishamai’s forehead and started some ancient incantations. The baby put out her fat little hands and gripped the blades of the axe, causing a ragged cheer from the watchers. Niklon, standing at the back of the crowd, smiled silently to himself.

“Stop reading bad futures into everything. It is not good for you to be wishing bad for others,” Roki was standing in front of Niklon, staring into the smug face. “Come on now, be happy for them and for this baby. Let go of wanting Alessia. She is not yours. Not this time.”

“Why is it good if she grabs the axe?” whispered Danthys to Alessia, who although she was not entirely sure herself, whispered back that it was probably because Armishamai would be more connected with The Mother as she had grabbed her symbol herself.

“Now, the vows” said Planidi.

“Be careful, now. Don’t vow anything you aren’t sure you can fulfil.” Jotin looked around at Trynor, who nodded. “Yes,” he agreed. “we have to be careful here”. They listened as
Planidi asked Alessia and Danthys if they would vow to stay together, to look after Armishamai.

“That could be all right. Depends on the wording.”

“So, now that you have named your baby in the light of the moon, you must vow to stay together and care for her until she comes safely to adulthood.”

“NO!” said Trynor and Jotin together. “You can’t vow that. Too much can go wrong. The world is too risky a place. Too many babies and children die. Just say you’ll do your best. No Vow. NO!”

Alessia shuddered, as a sudden cool gust blew across her. Danthys reached out and took her hand. He smiled gently down at her.

“Of course we vow that, don’t we? I want to stay with you for always.”

“And I with you.” Alessia looked at her feet for a moment, then up at him. “I love you more than anything.”

“So do you vow to stay together?” Planidi raised her arms again to the moon.

“That is safe enough, just for this life,” said Trynor.

“Yes, we vow to stay together,” said Danthys and Alessia.

“And do you vow to care for this child?” Planidi took Armishamai from Alessia, and raised her again to the light of the moon.

“Of course you do.”

“Yes, we vow.”

“And do you vow to see her safely to adulthood?”

“NO, NO!” Trynor and Jotin shouted in unison.
But Alessia and Danthys saw only the moonlight, their precious baby, and their love for each other. And despite the feeling of cold that ran across them both, they joined hands and raised them to the moon and said

“We vow.”

“Oh no, Trynor, what will we do now? They’ve vowed it, without any escape clauses. No ‘with the Mother’s help’ or ‘as long as we have the health’ or anything!” Jotin’s solid energy deserted him, so he sank down until he was sitting on one of the sanctuary rocks.

Danthys staggered slightly and put his hand to his head. He felt a little dizzy for a moment. Must be hunger, he thought, I forgot to eat at midday, with all the rushing around.

“It’s not hunger, you silly boy,” said Jotin crossly. You’ve just knocked all the stuffing out of me. The work you two are making for me and my friend here if anything happens to Armishamai, you have no idea.”

“Come on, Jotin, pull yourself together.” Trynor was fluttering around, his optimistic outlook to the fore. “We can help them fulfil that vow. It’s only fifteen years, after all. There’s a very good chance nothing will go wrong. And if you stay positive, Danthys will too and things will go better. They are both healthy, we don’t expect any problems in the near future, do we?”

“No, I think they will both stay in good health, won’t they? Barring accidents, of course. We’ll have to keep a special watch to prevent those. No trip to Egypt, now. Too risky, pirates and storms.”

“But if Armishamai is with them, what’s the problem, if they all die together?”

“You must all be witness to the solemn vow taken here tonight!” Planidi’s strong voice reverberated round the sanctuary, “The Mother will help those who try faithfully to keep their word, but terrible are the consequences for failure!”
Trynor paled a little as he listened to the woman pile on more awful warnings. He whispered to Jotin. “Do you think that priestess is going to insist the vow lasts forever? Would she have that power?” His slim energies stilled and he lowered himself to sit on the ground beside Jotin.

Alessia looked around for a seat. She felt she could not hold the baby for another moment. She really was heavy for three months old. There was nothing near and Alessia’s legs, feeling as useful as soup, bent and she sagged onto the ground. Danthys reached down to her and she heard a murmur of concern swell through the group of her friends and family, as several people came forward to help. There was a chatter of sound around her and she could pick out some phrases: ‘too much excitement’, ‘overcome with the emotion of the day’, needs some food inside her’, but also ‘not a good omen’ and quickly, ‘shh’. Alessia made an effort to clear her head. She did not want any rumours of bad omens to hang round her precious child. She looked up at her brother, who was reaching down to her and handed him the baby.

“Take Arma for me, will you? She just got heavy for a moment there. Must be having a name that did it!” She struggled to her feet despite the dizzy feeling that clung round her head. She took Danthys’ hand and turned to Planidi, waiting for the next part of the ceremony.

“Look, Jotin, my little Alessia has more courage than us! She’s up already.”

“She doesn’t know what has just been done to them,” grumbled Jotin as he raised his energies to an upright position and started running his hands around Danthys, smoothing his energy and enlivening him. “It will be all fine in the end, so let’s not get thrown by what might never happen.” Trynor was on his feet now, also.
Alessia and Danthys were standing happily in the sanctuary, listening to Planidi’s closing incantations and waiting for the best moment of the ceremony, when she and Danthys would be ceremonially joined, hand to hand and would be truly a family.

Everyone joined hands around the new little family and danced. The circular dance around them sealed their energy in and surrounded them with love and support. These people would always help them in times of need and their other friends in Malatos would dance around them later, when they returned home. Alessia’s eyes shone as she and Danthys danced in the sanctuary, in the circle of her family. She felt safe and happy, and truly blessed.

“We must be loved by all the gods, Danthys,” she whispered so that only he could hear, “to be so blessed, and so happy.”

Danthys swung her around, so that she squealed with delight and gathered her into his arms, crushing a happy breath out of her.

“I certainly am. To be loved by you and to have our little Armishamai, our personal prayer to the Moon. I feel I will always be special.” He closed his eyes and swayed in time to the makeshift orchestra’s happy sounds.

Alessia was busy in the gold workshop, with Armishamai sleeping in her basket in the dim corner. There was not much light left in the short day and Alessia wanted to finish the ornament she was making to protect Arma. It was quiet in the room, with just a sputtering of  oil in the lamp that Alessia had lit to help her get the work done today. Everyone else was at home, starting the preparations for tomorrow’s feast. A whole year gone, she thought, since we sent an offering up to the sanctuary on the high plain. It was a good idea, everything has gone well since. The Mother is watching us. She hammered the little piece of metal again, until it was as thin as possible. She had cut the other side of the double axe earlier and when this one was done she could put it on Arma and go home. The baby had been protected until last week by the pottery axe her grandfather had given her at her naming, but now she was beginning to crawl and it had cracked when Armishamai tumbled against a box in their sleeping room. So it was urgent to make her a new amulet. Alessia concentrated hard as she cut the half-moon axe shape and grunted with satisfaction as the tiny double headed axe appeared in her hands. I am only beginning, she thought, it will be many years before I have enough skill to show to the public, but I think the Mother will find this acceptable for a baby. She laughed as she thought ahead down the years to come and saw a line of amulets, each more skilfully made than the last, protecting her daughter.

A little wail came from the corner and a tiny fist appeared over the edge of the basket and grabbed the side. Armishamai was trying to pull herself up to look over the edge. Alessia bent down and lifted her to a sitting position in the basket.

“There now. You wait there for Mama for a minute. Good girl. Mama has to put a cord on your necklace. Then you’ll be even prettier, won’t you, my precious?” she babbled on in this way and Armishamai’s round dark eyes followed her as she cut a thin strip of leather, and looped it through the little hole at the top of the tiny double headed axe. Then Alessia crouched down beside the basket and tied the ornament around the baby’s neck, whispering a prayer to The Mother as she did so. She sat back on her heels and admired her daughter, now decorated with and protected by gold, instead of pottery.

“Now you are a beautiful girl, aren’t you?” Alessia lifted the baby out of the basket onto her hip and, wrapping a large shawl around them both against the chill of the winter evening, went out of the shop, sealing the door behind her. She exchanged some pleasantries with the scribe, whose nose was down on her clay tablets as she wrote, then with the guards on the palace gate and hurried towards the town and home.

The midwinter festival was the next day and today’s meal was taking second place to the preparations. The house was full of wonderful smells, as Danthys’ mother and sister prepared the dishes they would contribute. Alessia sat in the midst of the activity and nursed Armishamai. Then, giving her a hard crust to chew on, she joined in with the work. Danthys and Bullneck were down in the square, helping to set up tables and raising screens across some of the streets to give protection from the winter winds. The festival meal would take place at midday, when the square might catch some sun and be warm.

Danthys and Alessia chatted as they lay in bed together later. Danthys had admired Armishamai’s amulet and had praised Alessia for her skill after such a short time learning. They were looking forward to the festival meal tomorrow and hoping that Elena and her family might still arrive. As they talked, they felt a shake in the bed.

“Stop that, Danthys!” protested Alessia, prodding him in the side.

“I did nothing, love. I think it is the earth god, turning over again. She has been very restless these last ten days, had you noticed? Maybe she is looking forward to the festival, too. Let’s go to sleep, it will come quicker.”

But Alessia could not sleep without first getting out of bed and doing a few steps of the earth walk, “to let her know we heard”. Then she got back into bed and fell asleep.

They woke again, when it was still dark, as another tremor shook them. This one was bigger and they could hear cups rattling in the other room. They laughed, a bit nervously and agreed that the earth spirits were really excited. Then another jolt in the earth shook their bed and as it settled, they heard a soft crack, as something fell off the shelf and landed on the floor beside them. Alessia put out her hand and felt around on the floor. A sharp point scratched her finger and she felt more carefully, her hands outlining two pieces of flat pottery, each with little lumps jutting out. Alessia gasped as she realised what it was and she traced her fingers around the outline, trying to assess the damage.