Blood of the Goddess Book I: The Locust King
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Locusts at the Gate Chapter 2: A New Name Chapter 3: The Capital Prepares Chapter 4: The Princess is Dead, Long Live the Princess Chapter 5: Outside the Gates Chapter 6: Inside the Black Tent Chapter 7: Surrender at the Temple Chapter 8: The Cult of the Locust Chapter 9: The Locust's Tenets of Faith Chapter 10: Mourners on the Cliff Chapter 11: The Eye of Betrayal Chapter 12: The Dead King's Bedchamber Chapter 13: The Arms of the Goddess Chapter 14: Zayaan of the Narim Chapter 15: The Eyes of the Priestess Chapter 16: A More Permanent Disguise Chapter 17: Tribute Chapter 18: Sacrifice of the New Moon Chapter 19: The Lost Bird Chapter 20: Manah and the Priestess Chapter 21: Desert Creatures Chapter 22: Become the Swarm Chapter 23 The Price of Betrayal Chapter 24: Life Under the Locust Chapter 25: Wild Rose Chapter 26: The Lady Wren Chapter 27: Thought and Desire Chapter 28: The Lady's Captivity Chapter 29: The Wine Maiden Chapter 30: End of Childhood Chapter 31: The Children of Aisha Chapter 32: The Forest Runner Chapter 33: Three Sisters Chapter 34: The Hunt Chapter 35: Bones in the Forest Chapter 36: Lullaby Chapter 37: The Hunter's Horn Chapter 38: Ways Between Ways Chapter 39: Morning Star Chapter 40: A Prophecy for Baraz Chapter 41: Equinox Fires Chapter 42: The Lord Prince Takri Chapter 43: Evening Star Sets Chapter 44: Chaos in the Courtyard Chapter 45: Dasha Chapter 46: Memories Chapter 47: The Body Slave Chapter 48: Caged Beasts Chapter 49: Message from the Capital Chapter 50: Heresiarch Chapter 51: The Color of Blood Chapter 52: Winter Winds Chapter 53: The Bookmaker's Closet Chapter 54: Wrapped in Dignity and Beauty Chapter 55: Vessel of the Goddess Chapter 56: Cracks in the Walls Chapter 57: Two Brothers Chapter 58: The Court of Women Chapter 59: Favored of the King Chapter 60: The Sweetest Fruit Chapter 61: Daughter of the Temple Chapter 62: A Nation of Bastards Chapter 63: The Lute Player Chapter 64: Aisha's Prayer Chapter 65: Promises Chapter 66: Lives Lost Chapter 67: The Tea Maker Chapter 68: Object of Desire Chapter 69: Empty Shelves Chapter 70: Darkness and Light Chapter 71: The Love of Men Chapter 72: The Cursed Ones Chapter 73: Hiding Places Chapter 74: Old Men's Tales Chapter 75: False Prophecies Chapter 76: The Lord Prince Radu Chapter 77: Love Becomes Life Chapter 78: Mistress and Mother Chapter 79: A Test of Strength Chapter 80: The Strigoi-Viu Cometh Chapter 81: Scraps from the Table Chapter 82: A Fool's Errand Chapter 83: The Little Ghost Chapter 84: Stolen Honeycakes Chapter 85: Breathe Chapter 86: Beneath the Palace Chapter 87: Red Pebbles Chapter 88: Common Men Chapter 89: Love and Duty Chapter 90: Nightmares Chapter 91: Earth and Sun Chapter 92: Love and Creation Chapter 93: Until My Last Breath Chapter 94: Fruit and Flower Chapter 95: Two Days Chapter 96: Small Comforts Chapter 97: Heroes Chapter 98: Fire, Water, and Wax Chapter 99: Beneath the TempleChapter 70: Darkness and Light
Aisha pushed the board back into its place in the stairs. She took a step backwards to assess the damage done to the staircase in her haste to reach the hidden area inside. Aside from one crooked nail sticking out at an awkward angle, it looked much the same as before she took the leatherworking knife to it. She hoisted the old case of scrolls on her back and headed back to the closet where she hid the case under a pile of leather used to make bindings for new codices. She found a hammer and headed back to the stairs to repair the crooked nail. She would not have the work of heroic librarians and scribes go to waste because of her own carelessness. As Aisha the librarian she had a duty to protect the knowledge of her people. And as Irinya the princess the duty was sacred.
Aisha returned the hammer to its place in the closet and turned her attention to the scrolls inside the case. Some of them were made of the same fibrous material as the scroll hidden under her pallet in the dormitory, while the others were fashioned from Adyllian silk. She counted them. Ten scrolls in total. All older than the codices she was used to sorting for Baraz.
She pulled the closet door shut before unrolling one of the silken scrolls to read. Unlike the scroll hidden under her pallet, this one bore illustrations painted in bright colors as well as text. The beginning was emblazoned with a painting of an Adyllian silk spider, its orange and white body and rust colored legs stretched from margin to margin. Its front legs held a ball of spider silk, and rays of the sun peeked out from behind its body. On either side were two female figures in silhouette facing the text. The calligraphy was difficult to read.
This is the story of the oldest Beings. Much older than the Sun. Much older than the Moon, older than Earth and Star and Sky and Ocean. In the times before time there were only the two, Light and Dark. No one knows who is the elder of these twins, and no one knows who is the younger, but they were alike as sisters could be in both form and beauty.
Darkness lived as Light's shadow, walking beneath and beside her Sister's every step. But Light could not see her Sister Darkness, for her own brilliance blinded her.
One day, Light lamented her loneliness within the vastness of the infinite. "Why do I live if it is only to be alone, never to know another?"
Her Sister answered her, "You are not alone, Light. I, your Sister Darkness, walk beneath you and beside you."
"Sister Darkness, how is it that I cannot see you?" asked Light.
"You are blinded by your own glory," answered Darkness. "I exist within the places you do not touch."
"My heart longs to see you, sweet Sister!" cried Light. "For I am alone. How can I embrace what I cannot see?"
"It cannot be, my Sister, for there is no place between us," said Darkness. "Where you are, I cannot be."
On they walked, one Sister above and the other below until they came to place where they could walk no more. Light came to rest, and Darkness followed. And they sat silently, unable to comprehend the other.
"Darkness," said Light. "Would that I could dim myself and end my isolation. Let us create a space where we can embrace. A place of Between where Darkness and Light may coexist."
"Yes, dear Sister!" cried Darkness. "Give me a bright feather from your wings, and I shall weave it with one of my own. We shall create a gatekeeper who shall open the ways Between, so that we may know each other as Sisters."
Light plucked a feather from her wing. Darkness wove it with her own, and the two feathers formed a creature the color of dawn and dusk, having eight legs made from the shafts of the Sisters' feathers.
"We shall call you Lina," said Light to the little spider. "You shall make ways Between me and my sister. You shall weave webs and there I shall scatter my light upon all things. And my Sister and I shall behold one another and understand."
Lina did as she was asked, opening the ways Between where Light and Darkness may both exist. For this purpose she was created, to allow the embrace of the oldest of Beings.
It is Lina who taught the daughters of Aaysha to weave fine cloth, and she whose children's bite allow those who live to walk among the dead. It is she who was midwife to the Moon, bearing witness to the birth of Aaysha, Goddess of Adyll. It is her web upon which the Goddess ascended to her mother, the Moon.
For this purpose, we honor the children of Lina. They are the weavers of ways, and the gatekeepers to the Between. They are the pathfinders, who know the way when there is no way.
The door to the closet creaked open on its leather hinges, startling Aisha. She shoved the scroll behind her and backed away.
“Meow?” Old Scribe sauntered into the closet, rubbing his face on the door as he passed.
"You need to stop being so stealthy, cat!" said Aisha, bending down to pet him. "I thought you were a priest!"
Old Scribe purred and wove himself around her legs
"You are right. I need to find a better place to hide these than in my bed." The young librarian dropped to the floor where she sat petting Old Scribe. "I can't bring the whole library back to the dormitory. Someone would notice. And I can't keep pulling that board back. It is loose enough as it is! One day it won't go back into place, or it will fall out if Baraz slams a door too hard. And then he will burn all of the stories!"
She turned her attention back to the shelves she had spent the morning emptying while looking for the opening to the hidden room. "There has to be a way to get in there. If there is a way, I will find it. At least until then the books are safe."
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