Chapter 9

Brownie felt apprehensive as she waited outside the small room that Bieber called ” her office”. Outside the portal of redwood and brass marquetry. It was no different to the other doors just an essential looking screen to shut out unpleasantness.

Beiber had asked Brownie to meet her here after lunch and empathized the point not to be late, she was uncharacteristically jolly, which was unsuited to her. Brownie never quite knew how to read her body language, she was benevolent but at the same time came across quite haughty. She wondered if there was any truth in Kay’s assertions, he had vocalized in his more private thoughts that he believed her to be a Manchurian candidate. He apparently thought so going to great lengths to cover his activities, moving her train of thought on, she found herself saying I do so miss Eulin, he was a sober voice, a sensible council when it was needed, she wondered when he’d return.

Brownie checked the time on her phone which was now nothing more than glorified pocket watch. it had been 10 minutes that she had waited. She was wondering whether to burst in and see what was afoot when the door creaked opened, and there stood Bieber in a white gown. She could see the curvature of her figure in the sun that her window let in, it was more noticeable this time that her skin was immaculate like soft satin, even though her best years were beyond her, she still looked well crafted. Her bone structure and the way she carried herself with poise and grace, she was a mature woman who was thriving, with a heaving bosom “come, come sprite, child!” she said inviting her into her parlor like the old poem, about the spider to the fly.

Brownie entered her domain, she glared at her with her amber eyes from across the desk, across from her was a backless chair with an embroidered cushion, that Brownie was expected to sit on no doubt, she could see a tapestry that looked like it had a group of warriors fighting against a giant. And flames, flames everywhere.

“good Afternoon sprite!” She Said greeting Her with a disarming smile.

“I have something I think you’ll be mightily interested in!?” She said as she reached into her cleavage and took out a folded piece of paper and Passed it over to Brownie.

“What is it?” Asked Brownie as she squirmed knowing full well she would not be able to read the swirly glyphs of the Martian vocab,” It’s an invite! for you,” she said softly, Bieber shrugged her shoulders and added, “well all of us, really!” She winked at her “. to attend the festival of light!”. Brownie unfolded the piece of paper to reveal a number of tickets.

The tickets had pictures of silhouettes lifting glowing sky lanterns that were vivid and numerously coloured towards a star-filled sky.

“ I think we all need a break the 4 Of us!” Brownie nodded in agreement, “so er what is the festival of light all about she asked!” Bieber was grinning like a Cheshire Cat, and her eyes lit up “you’ll see!?”

Brownie had seen a transformation in her that perhaps she was unaware of herself.
“You are in for a big surprise?” she said enticingly

The Martian festival of light. Brownie looked through her window past the garden perimeter and down onto the pavements beyond, she could see a lot of activity outside. People stuttering around the narrow side streets of mārin village now bustling with people, the cosmetics of the streets had been altered .now they were decorated with ribbons and streamers and lanterns that illuminated a path.

It was then she felt Eulins voice within her mind “Jussi have you not missed me!?”

She knitted her eyebrows together, was lack of company making her hear things now? She questioned, had she imagined it, engrossed in her own thoughts, “please don’t be angry with me!” She raised her eyebrows, she wasn’t imagining it, turning frantically she nearly fell off her chase lounge, she scooped him up in her arms, and held the great white bird to her breast “Eulin, Eulin your back, I’ve missed you so!?” She was about to say so much but she stopped herself she stuttered “are you alright, are you back for good!?!?” The white bird blinked and nodded “I am!” He said.

Later that day
Brownie decided that since the others were dressing up that she too would dress up for the occasion, she should wear the beautifully crafted armor that li kay had bequeathed her at the beginning of Tempest retreats.

Bieber helped her into the armor, and assisted her in fashion choices, that’s is to say she helped her pick out a blue cloak with a silver embroidered edging that looked almost regal. The last part of the outfit was a mask she put it on; it made her look vulpinous. She checked herself in the mirror and nodded and recognized herself as passably Martian.

All of them Were in costume. Kay wore a dress uniform black bracers sash light blue cloak and a bird mask that was almost tribal, whereas biebers costume was green with a slightly darker cloak and she wore a mask that kind of reminded her of a hare but also sometimes looked similar to a bat.

Eulin wasn’t wearing a costume of any kind, but he had sprinkled his feathers with some sort of red powder that reminded her of Sindoor.

 

 

Outside there were people in their masks chanting some folk chant; it appeared to Brownies eyes that the procession that was marching seemed to look like some black coven of gothic misfits, but the laughter and the occasional carnival cheer of “YeYeYeYeYeYe!!” Broke the dirge. The people occasionally carried lanterns and glow sticks as they marched like a chain of people that were growing as the great fire Wyrm of light and bodies in their masks carried on encroaching towards its final destination. Some other people wore garments made from straw it was amusing to see, and in fact, the head marcher looked distinguished as he had a cloak of straw and good posture. He wore a mask that had Goat type horns curling up out of it.

The four of them joined the procession as it walked by, down by the riverside and up towards the temple. There were many small tents in the temple square each one for curiosities, for the amusement of young and old alike, for food and libations, there was even a soothsayer reading prophecy. Brownie marched on holding hands with both Kay & Bieber as she swung on their arms and found puddles to splash in, the air smelt of confectionary and warm fermented beverages.

While looking around the small tables, Brownie was caught by a stall selling trinkets and small charms the old man behind the booth wore a half mask it had jester feel about it. He looked at her “everything is half price miss just 2 Cowries.” He Said, “Or I could foretell your future!” Brownie was tempted, but she realized she had no currency none of the Cowries that the old man had asked about. “I’m sorry, I don’t have any money” he paused a while and said, “well that’s a shame!” he frowned.
“You seem to me like a person that could use a reading, from prescience!” He said as his whole demeanor changed. Behind brownie stood a shape a female shape, looking behind her. The man hurriedly pleaded “Please Pa’mina lady I wasn’t doing anything illegal!” He said looking at a female figure in a red cloak and cat type mask “so are you selling things that you are not capable of doing!” She inquired “Please ma’am don’t put a hex on me! Don’t turn me into anything unnatural! ” The women nodded “ok but no more fortune telling, I’ll overlook it this time!!” She said as she waved her index finger in a sternfull manner,
“ I won’t lady,” he turned to look at Brownie “be careful, young one strange things are moving in these parts of late!” He paused “a one like you should beware!”
The man breathed a sigh of relief the figure turned towards Brownie “are you the Sprite the whitebird told me about?!”
Brownie nodded.

The woman stood neath the night sky, beneath the canopy of starlight, silver moonbeams catching her cloaked silhouette. She wore a black mask that vaguely resembled a cat and was reminiscent of something Brownie had seen in history class about ancient Egypt.

Kay stumbled from the crowd like he was emerging from the sea, he waded towards the woman and extended a hand forward to welcome the strange figure. As he spoke he seemed to be more enthusiastic than usual “good, good…you’ve found us!” He said, “I’m sorry I’ve had to go to such lengths, but it was necessary!” “ah our most esteemed Witch, allow me to introduce you to Major paschėlle ūna!” He said to Brownie.

With that the women in the cat mask removed her mask, to reveal a very enigmatic female Martian. As one of the few people now not wearing a mask a few heads seem to turn in her direction and take note of her; she cut a lucid figure as she was almost aglow. People were chuntering about her red hair, and their body language seemed to suggest that the red hair was seen as ratchit, but her confidence and integrity seemed to diffuse any jibes of animosity

What was Noticeable about her was her complexion her skin was like cream it was unblemished and her hair was as red as Rubies, but it was her eyes that stood out most of all as yellow as the petals of the acacia flower and as piercing as needles. She had a row of blue gems adorned over each eyebrow, and a subtle mark across the bridge of her nose, she also had some odd kind of tattoos of purple streaks that ran down the left cheek of her face.

Brownie Thought she was Beautiful

“ I don’t mean this disrespectfully sir, but could you…cut to the chase!” She said “please! I would like to know why the exiled grand Marshall of the old republic of Mercia has summoned me here.” “It’s not that simple!” he said, “it never is!” she replied.

Brownie was not remotely interested in the minutia of the conversation. She decided to leave the politicking to the bureaucrats She found her concentration wondering back to the stalls. It seemed to her that the procession would end at the Amphitheatre. She noticed there appeared to be a few figures looming around the place, they seemed a tad suspicious to her but what did she know? the Martians never did things she could easily digest, always strangeness to them, Beiber was oblivious to the goings on as she was bartering with one of the merchants, Brownie could hear him reiterate “no ma’am no, not for that price!” The merchant was selling colourful sky lanterns, then she thought she saw something that she recognized, and a cold shiver came over her and then dread as she thought she saw the little girl from her dream, no, in fact, she was sure that it was her.

Pursuing the girl, walking against the tide of people coming in, it was difficult as she seemed to flit in between and in and out of the oncoming bodies. Brownie saw the masked faces of people coming towards her. Some were ecstatic; some were intoxicated, some just seemed insane, high on the milk of the fireflower or drunk on moonflower liquor. It was almost like a tidal wave of people that was about to crash in upon her, faceless, empty people, outsiders. It was hard to keep her bearings as everyone was wearing masks, but at last, she could see the small child standing lonely by herself, at last, this would give her the much sought after answers that had been chipping away at her. She began to walk up to the girl, she thought about what she was going to say, how would she communicate with the girl without quite frankly sounding insane. Perhaps Kay was right, about purging a mental illness. She decided she would just say hello and try mingling with her! Suddenly Brownie felt something stop her as she heard Biebers voice “there you are sprite, I’ve got us some skylanterns to light, and then a passion play about Los & Nula -how about that!” Brownie looked back, but the girl had gone, “that’s great!” She said perturbed “we’ll at least try and be a little more enthusiastic!” Said Bieber disappointedly.

“Sorry!” Said Brownie As she hung her head, “C’mon you’ll feel better in a little while!” Brownie followed Bieber to the Amphitheatre.

Outside the amphitheater, a crowd had gathered, and the sky was aglow as lanterns of every colour were let fly into the sky. All of them were ascending towards the full moons the big silver moon that glistened like a silver sovereign in the inky black expanse of a star-filled sky and the smaller golden moon that shone its vibrant rays to the ground beneath. It was indeed beautiful, reminiscent of releasing balloons but somehow, it was better.Couples held hands, sang songs embraced, lifted their masks and kissed, even kay hugged Bieber although she protested, she was secretly amused and smiled to herself when she thought no one was looking. Kay and Brownie embraced he said, “come sprite, let’s send this one to the very steps of the spirit gates itself!”. Eulin sat perched atop of Brownies shoulder, with the warmth of camaraderie and genuine love Brownie could feel herself filling up. She wasn’t entirely sure how to process the emotions, she was soo happy in a weird way these aliens had become like the family she never had, as odd as they sometimes were, they were the ones she had shared her joy, her fears, and her aspirations with. Eulin nudged her with his beak, and she shook herself and pulled herself together, she stifled a sneeze and swept her eyes, she felt the warm glow of magic in the air and all around her. As kay lit the wick on the lantern Brownie watched on in anticipation as the lantern began to lift and float away from her. Away with all her fears and cares, she waved it goodbye, and she quietly wondered where it would go, and wondered if it felt like a departing loved one ready to say farewell for one last time to return no more.

After releasing the skylanterns, the people cordially assembled to sit in the amphitheater that Brownie had occupied where this all began. She watched the actors perform a beautiful play about when the Moons where personified Beings they walked on the Martian soil, the tragic story of love lost and how they became what the are now and the emphasis on why the Martians sent their lanterns to the two moons of Mars.

Brownie although amused decided to skip out of her seat and slip outside for some fresh air. The night had grown cold, but the stars shone with reverence, she shivered and could see her breath as it hung in the air. Brownie lifted her mask so she could feel the air on her face, it was sat awry on the top of her head, she could see men far off wearing masks walking in single file, not like ordinary people, but like military men, no regular folk would have been so regimented. They were acting covertly , she quickly scampered over to her hiding place just behind the pink and yellow pillars just inside the inner boundaries of the Temple where once she had hidden before, she felt a real sense of deja-vu, in this instance she really had been here before.

Brownie felt worried and felt nauseous. She could see the unknown invaders were up to no good ,the leader was signaling them to break off into smaller teams he seemed to indicate with his fingers and point in the directions he wanted them to go ,it looked as if they were making a ring of men around the Amphitheatre. Was this meant to be a massacre she thought, with a bad taste in her mouth. She vaguely remembered from history class about a civil war on earth, a forthright man who sounded the alarm and was revered throughout history, by shouting a warning, it was now her time to bite the bullet she pulled down her mask and ran past the men marching , her heart was beating rapidly , but her Adrenalin was rushing just as fast ..she shouted to the ordinary folk as she rushed by “beware , the regulars are coming , arm yourselves, pick up your weapons and fight!” The military men looked around as they were wondering what on mars she was going on with …after that the realization that the cat had been let out of the bag was obvious. A momentary doubt crept into Brownies Head Had she made a terrible mistake she ran on and from a distance she heard chaos erupting and the sound of swords being drawn. She was right and now
It was time to get out of dodge.