Chapter Eighteen #4
“You expect the Temple to be torn up? People worship here!”
“They’ve torn it up before.”
“Only to replace the floor. I doubt anything beneath the top layer or two has been touched in centuries. Overall, the Temple is preserved.”
“We need to look deeper. It’s said the settlement here was quite small even after Leifur’s rule was underway. It still wasn’t what you’d call a village.”
“Lumi, I don’t get what you’re after.”
“With so few here, it’d be easy to hide it if there was more to this.
” Lumi pointed at the wall. “You have to come up a lot of steps to reach this level.” He waved a hand at the empty space.
“Leifur could have had the base built up to hide more of the poem. Preserved, he knew whatever else there was would remain hidden. I know you think I’m crazy, but I think we should look.
If Leifur wanted to hide something, he would have done it before the place became too populated and threatened those in charge of laying the stonework to never say a word. ”
“Uh…”
“This place has never been knocked down to the foundation. That’s still the same wall, and in those times, some fairies were born with the ability to preserve things.
This place is preserved with a magic that no longer exists.
They’ve added a bit here and there, and that’s it.
It was the perfect place to hide the truth because there would never be any need to tear it apart and start over or do extensive repairs.
You said I could have whatever I wanted. ”
Jaki hadn’t thought he’d ask for the Temple floor to be torn up.
“The rose border-” Lumi pointed. “It’s not a rectangle either.
Why aren’t the words a little higher instead of ending so near the floor?
Wouldn’t it be pleasing to the eye to have the poem carved higher and in a completely rectangular border?
If I’m wrong, I’ll never ask for anything again.
I thought of this because of Jacqueline, what we know of Elira, and how our Kingdom doesn’t match any other.
Not once has she threatened the destruction of an area because someone without a penis was wearing the Crown. ”
“You have a point.”
***
The High Mage was not happy. Anything with preserving magic won’t fall apart or wear away on its own, but it can be taken down. The last thing he wanted to do was mess with the foundation.
Jaki said they weren’t destroying the foundation entirely, so it wouldn’t compromise the Temple itself. He got several men in there with tools, and while Lumi sat in the High Mage’s house to warm up, feed Jacqueline, and eat something himself, they started removing the stone tiles.
The High Mage wore an expression as if Jaki had taken a dump on the altar. It had taken quite a lot of insistence and a reminder of who was the Crown Prince there.
The workers pried up the top stones to lay them aside with little trouble. The stone underneath the tiles was a darker color. Mortar dust was swept up as the men continued their work. When one near the border was lifted, Jaki hurried over to see.
Lumi was right. The design would have been more pleasing if the text had been carved higher with the border surrounding all four sides. As the men sweated, grunted, and cleared away more of the stone, new words were revealed.
Jaki ran to fetch Lumi and take Jacqueline in the sling for a bit.
They both stood and watched as another stanza was slowly revealed.
The men worked faster, spurred on by the sight of something hidden from all eyes for so long, and even the High Mage didn’t look so nasty about the state of his Temple.
Since the foundation stones were overlapped, more had to be removed than he initially planned on.
When it grew dark, lanterns were brought.
Jaki had kept reading each new line that appeared over and over while he tried to figure it out. Once the bottom border was revealed, he was able to read the entirety.
And when the fairies saw the beauty of the white lands,
The sky that could turn from clear blue to grey,
And the glittering flakes that rained down like blessings from Elira’s hands,
The fairies wanted to stay.
And when our Goddess Elira came with a blessing to grant,
The fairies saw the bed of white roses and the crown of gold,
And the gift of love, children, and the ability to plant,
The fairies knew they could thrive in the land of cold.
“One man
One crown
One bud
One clan
If you dare to deign
My commands,
Then my blessing will not remain,
And death will ravage these lands.”
The gift of life for the land
So the region would eternally stand?
The lack of something to pass on
So the line will always have a new dawn?
“For your line to remain in bloom,
The gift must go with you in your tomb,
For other rulers, the opposite is true,
The next here must go without and make do.
If blood runs because of greed,
Your people will suffer a time of need,
If the future buds don’t understand,
You’ll see death and the destruction of your lands.”
The man was one,
The crown was one,
The buds would go on,
And the land will always see a new dawn.
And the fairy agreed so all could enjoy the beauty of the white lands,
The sky would always remain clear blue and grey,
And the blessings would continue to rain from Elira’s hands,
The fairies would get their wish to stay.
And with an heir, the Goddess Elira would bring a blessing to grant,
The bed of white roses must bear the crown of gold,
And with love, children, and the ability to plant,
The fairies will thrive in this land of cold.