章節 20: Petition
Selena felt odd to be on this side of the Petitioner's Gate.
Less a gate than a pair of giant double doors, it separated the audience hall, where Selena was used to sitting in the gallery when she attended court, from the Petitioner's Court, where she was waiting alongside Priestess Tulsi and Chief Priestess Semetta now.
The giant double doors themselves were rarely opened, being reserved for occasions that brought larger crowds of people to see the king and his entourage; but a normal sized pair of doors inset into the larger were opened, allowing the petitioners waiting outside them to hear the bulk of what was said inside, even if they couldn't see what was happening.
It was through these doors that Selena was able to hear the fishermen's guild reporting on the recent fishing crisis. She couldn't help looking a question at Priestess Tulsi, who shrugged uncomfortably and nodded. It seemed the priestess considered it likely that the fishing problems were linked to the tides.
Selena was about to look back at the Gate, when she noticed the petitioner in front of them staring at her. He seemed to be a noble, and judging by the package he was carrying, likely presenting himself to the Throne. He did look a little old to be just reaching majority, so Selena idly wondered what might have kept him out of the capital.
Selena looked away for a moment, but when she looked back he was still staring at her. A bit bothered by his rudeness, she glanced at Tulsi. He seemed to follow her gaze out of instinct, but then he did a double-take. This caught Tulsi's attention, who looked at him and frowned.
Before Tulsi could say anything, the noble stepped forward and said, "Pardon me for staring, but would you happen to be…?"
Tulsi answered before Selena could. "Yes, Lord Brower, she is the sister of who you think she is," she said warily. She pulled Selena lightly by her sleeve and set herself partially between the two of them, as if to protect Selena from him.
"My apologies," the young man said. "I did not mean to disturb you. Either of you," he added, shifting his focus to Tulsi.
"There were some wrongs done the last time we met," he went on. "But not by you. You did the best you could. And it has taken me some time to realize that despite the magnitude of the wrong done to me, it does not excuse the wrongs I have done to those who were just trying to help. Or to those who were hurt as much as I."
Priestess Tulsi looked like she was going to say something, but the noble's name drifted in from the open doorway.
"That's me," he said simply, straightening his suit coat. "Moonless night but it's hard being back here," Selena thought she heard him mutter before he walked through the door.
"Priestess Tulsi?" Selena asked carefully.
"Hm?" the priestess replied, eyes still glued to the door the young noble had just walked through.
"Who was that?"
The priestess pulled her eyes away from the door with a visible effort. "You don't know him? No, I suppose you wouldn't." She sighed. "He is a young man who I hope has had some healing from his pain," she said cryptically.
Selena looked away from the door and noticed one of the petitioners in the group of dwarves behind them looking at her; but as he looked away after a polite nod, she put him from her mind.
The expected courtesies of the noble presenting himself to Father drifted through the door, and then a name she hadn't been expecting to hear: Mona.
Selena threw decorum to the wind at that, even to the point of ignoring Tulsi pointedly clearing her throat, and edged forward to where she could just barely see Mona arriving by Father's side through the doorway. One of the guards at the door made as if to object, but stilled himself on recognizing who she was.
Before she knew what was happening, Mona was running through the Petitioner's Gate, a distressed look on her face.
"Mona!" Selena called out, careful to keep her voice at a level that wouldn't carry through the doorway.
Mona looked at her, wild-eyed, and then past her when a surprised sounding voice said, "Lady Alys?"
Selena was dimly aware of Priestess Tulsi's hand on her shoulder as she took a step forward, but then Mona turned and hurried off in the opposite direction. Selena aborted her second step and watched Mona disappear through the nearest hidden servant's door; she would surely have been running in full sight of all the remaining petitioners for quite a while, had she not grown up in this place.
Selena ached to go after her sister, but besides the fact that she had something else to do, it seemed pretty clear that she wanted to be alone right now.
She turned back to the audience hall to see Father with his hand on the noble's shoulder, talking quietly to him. Then her gaze tracked back to the dwarves. The one who had been looking at her before was doing so again, but this time when he saw her looking at him he stepped forward.
"Milady, if I may," he said politely, "that girl who just ran out. Who was she?"
"My sister," Selena replied. "Princess Mona."
The dwarf nodded. "So not a Lady Alys at all." He hesitated. "Once more, milady, if I don't overstep. But might there also be a redheaded girl…?"
Selena's eyes narrowed. "What has Aadhira done this time?"
"Aadhira," the dwarf repeated. "Aadhira. Is she also–?"
"My sister," Selena confirmed. "What did she do?"
"Oh, nothing much," the dwarf said, holding out his hands in a placating manner. "Only a little Tides scam, nothing serious. The only offense I might take is how poorly it was run. It's just that – I thought I had heard that the royal family of Luna had only daughters."
Selena nodded slowly, confused. But the confusion was quickly forgotten when the noble strode out of the audience hall. He stopped as he neared Selena, mouth opening but no sound coming out. He held up his hands toward her, then looked down in surprise at the bundle he was still carrying.
His head snapped toward the Gate, but Master Rizier was already calling the temple delegation into the hall.
Selena followed the priestesses past the noble who helplessly watched them enter the audience hall. Up to the Throne they walked, to where Father was clearly surprised to see her inclusion in the delegation. A touch of concern entered his eyes as they drifted over to where Selena knew the rest of her sisters would be sitting if they were in attendance.
"Chief Priestess," he said, for their ears only, after the herald finished announcing them, "I beg you to take care with what you ask. I have already had my heart broken for one daughter today, and I would prefer to not have it repeated so soon."
"I think you have nothing to worry about," Semetta replied. "Not unless your heart can't handle the absence of a daughter for a week or two."
Father looked slightly concerned, but said, "Then speak," regardless.
"I received a sending from Bulan this morning," the Chief Priestess said, for all to hear.
The king raised an eyebrow. Magic was the fastest and most reliable way to send a message, but was sufficiently more expensive than the cost of a messenger that it was usually used only for the most urgent or important of communications. This might be less the case for an organization in possession of a large number of magic users, like the Lunar Order, but it was still worthy of note.
"In this sending, the presence of Acolyte Selena was requested in Bulan at her earliest convenience for an indefinite amount of time. If it please the King, I should like to inform the High Priestess that the acolyte is on her way."
Father knit his eyebrows together. "Was a reason given for this summons?"
"There is a certain concern of the daughters of the Royal family that has come to the attention of the Order. As the acolyte is a member of the Order, it has been considered prudent to invite her to the Lunar Temple in connection with our investigations first, and reserve the option to request the presence of her sisters later, should a need for their presence be indicated."
Selena didn't actually see Mother rise from her throne, but suddenly she was there, next to Father, whispering in his ear.
After several moments, Father nodded and addressed the Chief Priestess once more.
"It is agreeable with the Throne," he said, "that our daughter undertake this voyage. Please begin the preparations and let us know if anything is needed from us to expedite her journey."
Semetta nodded and made as if to leave, but the king held out a hand for her to wait. "If the princess herself is not needed to begin preparations, we would be happy to have her remain in our presence until such time as she is ready to depart."
The Chief Priestess nodded her assent.
Selena turned toward the gallery and gasped upon seeing Aadhira.
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