The Right To Rule

Chapter 10 - Interlude II

Sunset had always filled Skylady Gytha Ashenville with a sense of loss, tempestuousness, and peace. All three emotions were wrapped into one, it was harder to distinguish them apart. Sunset has the ability to cause Gytha to fall to her knees in sentiment as faded days and memories mocked her with their constant changes. Memories have always had a degree of evolving about them, it had surprised Gytha how her memories often changed even the briefest of them all.

Indeed, change was inevitable.

Skylady Gytha Ashenville had seen centuries unfold right after another, age to her was no relative. For someone who had lived for more than four hundred years, it was understandable. Celestial Energy, the power from the moons sat cold beside her heart; it was the same power that had allowed her to live this long. The same power that governed the world.

Gytha’s face was starting to form wrinkles, her hair was starting to turn gray streaking between her golden hair but now she had worn them into a braided crown pinned with shiny golden pins with green and red. She was old, yes, but she has to keep up with appearances. Celestial didn’t make her immortal, it only slowed her aging.

Gytha sat on a rocking chair pushed up with soft velvet cushions with a time artifact balanced on her hand, she wore a plain dark dress and a diamond ring on her left index finger. Gytha was always in mourning during Daylight, for fifty years and she has not stopped. She mourned for this Spiral cursed world, for harsh and brutal times were before Sky Kingdoms.

Beside Gytha was Kachina who was Gytha's great-granddaughter, Gytha found the term great-granddaughter more fitting than adding ‘great’ after another ‘great’ until it justify their relations. There were few things which were unnecessary, their veins course the same blood, there was no need to term that besides that they were family.

Gytha glanced at her great-granddaughter disapprovingly who was beaming on her own time artifact, silently murmuring the numbers to herself. Kachina had grown comfortably in using time artifacts, calculating the numbers, and making necessary measurements. Kachina was involved in the same work Gytha had set upon herself.

Sunset marked the end of Daylight Phoenix. A start of another month.

Gytha sat on the balcony of Ames Palace at the heart of Orpheus. Gytha watched the sun slowly being swallowed by Calm Waters, she didn’t dare and blink, she was afraid if she blinked she might miss something vital, anything that will answer the questions that drum on the back of her head. Gytha’s face was impressive, her eyes blue like Calm Waters, but deep within her, there was a chaos of tides of emotions clashing against each other.

This was not the first time Gytha had sat on her balcony and watch the sunset, her face remained the same and emotions kept getting stronger with each Daylight. For fifty years, she has sat vigil for the sun.

Sky Kingdoms, the world Gytha resides in, was powered by the moons and nights which held a force of anger and hunger that sucked in a life form across its path. But each month, only once, the sun graced the land and that was called Daylight, and after each Daylight, Sky Kingdoms will be thrown into darkness again for twenty-nine days.

However, Daylights were troubling Gytha. Daylights were getting late.

“I can’t fathom your excitement,” Gytha said. Gytha’s voice was like a whisper with a constant tone and a volume.

“This is the greatest discovery in Sky Kingdoms, Great-grandmother!” Kachina said, her voice was laced with such excitement her face beamed.

“In simple words, you meant no Watcher of Time has not come to the same conclusion as we have. I mean it has been going on for fifty years,” Gytha said.

“But Great-grandmother you said sisters always publish their discoveries. No sister has published anything about Daylight in the past fifty years, you said it yourself,” Kachina said.

It was futile to have a conversation with Kachina, she was still innocent of the world and born in the palace, she was sheltered from almost anything. Gytha knew Kachina might die without stepping outside Orpheus. It was not uncommon at Sky Kingdoms, people rarely left the fortress of their cities and towns, they were afraid of Spiral Pulser, they were afraid of isolation.

“However, this is troubling you, Great-grandmother, but why?” Kachina said.

Gytha looked at her great-granddaughter and nodded slowly. It was the first time Gytha had admitted to herself.

This is a new reality, there was no need to continue running away from it, Gytha thought to herself. But it didn’t have any effect to reassured herself.

“You have heard stories about the world before the Origin, the world full of light and color. That was the world the Creator made for us, but this world we have made it ourselves. Everything you see in this world is by our own creation except the stars,” Gytha said.

Kachina frowned processing the knowledge. Ah, what had Gytha thought, Kachina will take time to wrap her mind to the idea that the world was a creation of Watchers of Time.

“What I am trying to say, Kachina, this is a perfectly designed world. There has to be no room for mistakes,” Gytha said.

This world won’t survive without Daylight, Gytha didn’t tell Kachina that. Sisters initially proposed the world without any sun at all to cut the powerfully for Vulcans, men who need Radiation from the sun to survive, men who originally caused a change in the first place.

Sky Kingdoms need Radiation as much as those cruel men did, and probably more of it. Without Radiation, this world won’t survive.

Now, where did the sisters went wrong? It has only been two thousand and five hundred years in this design, it cannot go wrong just as yet, Gytha shook her head trying to kick out some of the thoughts which were not welcomed in her head.

“Nonetheless, Great-grandmother, the sun has only been late by five minutes for the last fifty years,” Kachina said.

“Yet, there was an increase of thirty-six seconds the previous month only. The sun is rising five minutes and seventeen seconds late at the Sea of Gods. Kachina, my dear, for a perfect design five minutes its eternity. If it was only five seconds,” Gytha said.

Gytha watched Kachina stood up and walked to the balcony, she stared at the world beyond, deep in thought no doubt.

Gytha looked at the sky, it was burning faded orange around the ring of the sun, and further high on the sky it was turning dark-purple. The sun has less than three minutes, the world was already turning dark. The city’s white-lights have automatically turned themselves on, the white-lights were bright lamps powered by Celestial to keep Spiral Pulser from coming closer to the city. For close to three thousand years, those white-lights were the source of power that fought the nights when the moons were absent. Gytha highly praised their invention as long as she didn’t compare it to the sun and its brilliance.

“This world was meant to cripple Vulcans, my dear Kachina. They cannot be dangerous without their power to their full potential, and our ancestors thought we will survive without the sun. Instead, they gave us five moons to help the crops grow, to light the world, and blessedly we have survived. In their designs, the moons were not enough, nothing can replace the sun, therefore they held it back except once in a month,” Gytha said leaning back on her chair slowly not to let it rock her.

“What do you think it's happening to the sun, great-grandmother?” Kachina asked.

Gytha didn’t have the answer. It was one of the reasons she has only shared her discovery with few sisters and ask them to do their own calculations and measurements. Gytha hoped to be wrong, she prayed to Skygods about it, but she was not wrong. There was something happening to the sun, some force holding it back.

The Watchers of Time ruling of this world has been swift and successful because Vulcans were focused more on living their brief lives, and that had made Vulcans powerless.

Gytha had only drawn out two conclusions. First, Sky Kingdoms will lose the sun, there won’t be any more Daylights; the conclusion was cataclysmic. Secondly, Daylights will be infinite like the days before the Origin and this will grant Vulcans powers, and there was nothing more Vulcans enjoyed than setting things on fire. It will be chaos, and many will die. Both conclusions didn’t yield any good news.

“This is the last observation I am making before I published the discovery,” Gytha said with a sigh.

Sky Kingdoms deserved to know that this world will crumble soon.

Gytha watched Kachina nodded, but the lass didn’t turn to face her.

Gytha’s time artifact vibrated and she always dropped it as she shook her back to reality. Kachina artifact has done the same.

“This can’t be right,” Gytha heard Kachina murmured before she checked her artifact.

The Creator’s mercy, the reading was one minute and eighteen seconds, more than twice of the previous month.

Gytha bolted to her feet and rushed to her study room. The world needed to hear this. Darker days than Spiral Pulser were coming.