It had been a couple of days since the agonising return of Aya plagued Mai's thought and still continues to do. She sighed as she lay on Lady's bed staring at the ceiling of the hut as Lady wove a colorful bracelet whiles singing. She sighed again and turned over in the bed to her left side gaining attention from Lady.
"Mai" Lady turned to face Mai and began "I swear I can use the rythm of your long sighs to make a song" she rolled her eyes.
"I know, it's just that...." Mai paused and contemplated for a bit "It's just that I feel that something big is going to happen but I can pinpoint what"
"And I thought you are goddess?" Lady said more of a question than a statement.
"Yes, I am but even I have some limits" Mai rolled over to her back and sighed again.
"Then consult another god who can see the future or something like that" Lady shrugged frustrated.
"All gods can sense the future but only the Supreme One can see it all, we all just get feelings and glimpses, not all, not everything." Mai responded.
"So consult the Supreme One" Lady dragged out raising both eyebrows as if Mai was daft.
"You don't get it, do you?" Mai asked with a frown.
"Yes, so explain to me. Vividly"
"We can't just see the Supreme One, either he invites us -which by the way is extremely rare like when pigs could fly or he just visits us which is also very rare, so I'm pretty much out of options for now" Mai explained and sat up, supporting her jaws with both palms.
"So we just have sit here and wait for everything to play out" Lady sighed.
"Exactly, let's see what harm the future brings" Mai agreed in a solemn voice.
********
As Mai and Lady were clearly frustrated and beaten out with their thoughts, Amira on the other hand was having the time of her day, she was finally going to take the first step towards her plan to save her family. She skipped a few steps of her footings in dancing and finally stopped with a big sly smile on her face. Nothing felt as good as having things fall into place for you.
"Someone seems happy" Aya sang behind Amira.
"Yes, why wouldn't I be?" Amira sighed in satisfaction "Today is going to be one heck of a joyful day"
"And I believe you" Aya laughed and disappeared.
Amira stepped out of her hut and went to find Lady, to begin her plan. The first step was to take advantage of the greeting ceremony to get something that belonged to Vesi for the illusion spell.
The greeting ceremony if you're probably wondering is when the new pillars and the Makri, if any is introduced to the royal family as a sign of respect. All the royal family members and the members of the place all meet in the secret room to meet the new power holders of the community. And then they talk and mingle a bit and then finally disperses, so what better way to achieve something that belongs to Vesi if not through this.
"Lady!" Amira called out when she reached Lady's hut.
Lady stopped whatever she was doing and opened the door to find her mother in front of her hut "What brings you here mother?" she asked a little surprised.
"Nothing really, just get ready in your best clothes, we have to go to somewhere very important" Amira replied sickly sweet that Lady's heart skipped a beat from all the sunshine coming from her mother.
"Al-Alright" Lady said, her tone doing nothing to disguise the surprise and shock in it.
"Alright, so I'll be waiting here, hurry up and let's be on our way" Amira smiled again and dragged a chair placed near Lady's hut and sat on it.
Lady nodded as her tongue felt too heavy from shock to reply and disappeared into her room.
"Weird, what got mother in such a very good mood?" Lady muttered to herself as she picked out some clothes to wear.
"It might be because we are about to meet the royal family" Mai replied nonchalantly beside Lady.
Lady turned to Mai so suddenly that Mai was scared Lady might have gotten a whiplash "The royal family?"
"Yes, the royal family" Mai replied "It's time for the new pillars and you to pay respect to the ruler of the land"
Lady nodded thoughtfully "Then that must be why mother seems so cheerful today"
Lady picked a simple pale blue dress and wore it, placing a blue bracelet she had woven before on her left wrist to add to her beauty. She stepped out of her hut with Mai( who was invincible by the way ), behind her
"Mother, I'm ready"
"So soon!" Amira exclaimed and stood up from the chair "Well, let's go then"
Amira concluded and led the way.
Lady nodded and followed her mother out of their family compound as they walked towards the royal palace. They met the new pillars and the old ones and exchanged some pleasantries, catching up with each other before they continued on their journey. Soon enough they arrived at their destination and they breathed out sighs of relief.
"This is why many people don't come up here" one of the old pillars said wheezing for breath.
The rest of them laughed and Takoa replied "I even wonder why the palace was built up on this mountainous place"
As they were making jokes and laughing at each other's plight after reaching the palace, a young guard from the palace approached them,
"I welcome you, great ones" he bowed to them.
"Thank you" Amira replied "This must mean the king had long been expecting us"
"Yes" the guard replied "Please allow me to lead you to the gathering place"
"Please" Amira replied and gestured for the guard to lead the way.
The guard then led them on a road towards the back of the palace then to a small room at the end of the road. They all entered the room after the guard only to find a small space with nothing in particular in it. The old pillars and Amira didn't seem surprised but Lady and her peers were definitely confused beyond belief.
But as they were looking around, the guard moves to a part of the walls of the room and touched it. The wall then opened up to reveal a much larger room adorned in beautiful jewelry and explicit designs. They couldn't help but allow their gasps of surprised to escape their mouths and Lady sure hadn't seen all her surprises as she lifted her head and saw Vesi, sitting in all his might on the right side of the king dressed in princely clothing.
Lady's eyes widened and she made a mental facepalm, she should have dressed a little for the occasion. They entered the room and the guard guided them to their respective seats in the room. Apart from the royal family, who seemed a little above fifteen in number, there were some elderly people and some of the palace members as well as guards around. In summary, they were about sixty in the big room including Lady and her peers.
"Your Highness" Amira stood up bowed to the king and the Queen the moment everyone was settled " As tradition demands, we are here to present the new footholds of our community and ask for your blessings upon them"
"Sure,go ahead" the king replied in his deep majestic voice.
"Now if I may" Amira began and introduced the new pillars. They stood up and bowed to the the king and the people present when their name was mentioned.
"Now I believe for what we are most looking for, the new Makri, I would like for her to introduce herself" Amira said after the introductions to Lady with a sweet smile.
Lady not knowing why she wasn't feeling nervous at all stood up and bowed and the moment, she lifted her head, Mai took control of her body,
"Greetings to you my children" She said as Lady's hair came loose from the simple braid it was in and her clothes changed to a longer one and her eyes adorning the greatest shade of white. Her voice became laced with authority and power that all present bowed and the king stood up from his throne offering it to the goddess.
"Thank you all for coming to bless my representatives" Mai said after she sat on the king's throne "Now shall we begin"
The king nodded and moved from his place beside Mai and went to stand in the middle of the room "Our new pillars should come forward to receive our blessings"
The four young ladies who happened to be the new pillars stood up from their respective places and moved to the middle of the room right in front of the King.
"Now kneel and bow to all present" the King ordered.
The new pillars heeded and bowed to all those present and then the king gestured for a guard to come close, the guard came holding four small beautifully woven purses, he took them an gave one to each of the young ladies,
"This is the sacred royal token, you can use it to seek for favours and attention everywhere, both here and beyond. We hope you help to maintain the peace and prosperity if our village. You may rise"
The pillars rose and went back to their seats as the King now went to sit on Vesi's throne beside Mai, with Vesi standing beside her father.
Mai smiled widely and boomed "Now let the fun begin!"