Lisaykos, Healing Shrine of Mugash

Over the last rotation and a half, I asked the best mind healers to take on Aylem as a patient. When all the active ones in Aybhas declined, I moved on to those who were nearby but had retired. There was only a handful. All but one were reluctant because they were intimidated by Aylem. This did not surprise me. It was sad but true that the Queen scared people, even silverhairs.

Then two days ago, one finally said yes. She arrived yesterday and would stay here for the next several days to set a schedule and to interview the people who knew Aylem best. Once all her interviews were done, she would commute when the weather was nice.

Lyappis hat Truvos haup Esso retired several years ago to a lovely little house overlooking Black Lake in Truvos four wagon-days to the east from Aybhas. She was close enough to fly into Aybhas every day if she wanted. I assigned a permanent room to her in the guest quarters because I knew the cold season weather would strand her here on occasion.

I held off asking her because she is the oldest of the mind healers good enough to handle Aylem. She's a couple of years older than Fassex. She was one of my teachers when I was a healer-in-training more than forty years ago. Lyappis still drops by the chapel shrine in Truvos several times each rotation to chat with the four healers assigned there, so she says. I'm sure it's just a coincidence that she manages to do a fair bit of hands-on healing when things get busy.

Lyappis was one of the greatest healers of her generation. If not for her retired status, I would have asked her much earlier. The only downside to bringing Lyappis in as Aylem's healer was her youngest daughter, that incorrigible gossip, High Priestess Kamagishi. I knew it in my bones that with her mother here, Kamagishi would visit my shrine more often to the detriment of my cherished peace and quiet.

On the other hand, Fassex thought that Kamagishi had broken through Aylem's defenses and that the two had a growing friendship. If that was the case, then having Kamagishi around might be an asset for Aylem's recovery.

Since Lyappis would be coming to take care of Aylem, I wondered if I could convince Emily to consult Lyappis about her nightmares and flashbacks. I know Emily will never stop being apprehensive around large gatherings of Cosm, but taking the sharp edges off her fear might get rid of the flashbacks and enable her to sleep better at night.

We had gathered for morning repast in my dining room, myself, Lyappis, Aylem, Opa, and Wolkayrs. We were waiting for Emily and Thuorfosi, who should have been here by now.

"Why don't you all get started and I will go see what's keeping those two," I got up and walked through my bedroom to the door of Emily's. I could hear them talking. I knocked and then let myself in. They were both sitting on Emily's bed, jabbering away like a pair of schoolgirls.

"You two," I folded my arms and leaned against the door jamb, "food now, talking later."

Emily looked at Thuorfosi and Thuorfosi looked at Emily. They pointed at each other and said in unison, "busted!" Then they started laughing.

"W...we should probably migrate to the dining room," Emily said with a conspiratorial smile to Thuorfosi after she had caught her breath.

"Yes, but my dilemma is whether to suffer through your incredibly slow walking pace or tuck you under my arm so we can eat before the sun does down." Thuorfosi was in the same exuberant mood Emily was in.

I had noticed this phenomenon before. Usually, Emily is calm, quiet, and serious; however, sometimes she lets loose and acts just like a girl in her teens with Thuorfosi, Twessera or Kayseo, and sometimes even Wolkayrs. It was usually Kayseo who brings this behavior out of Emily but today it was Thuorfosi, who was usually a somber young woman.

I didn't object. It was good for Emily to relax and have a little fun. It made me feel like we had achieved something positive when she could enjoy herself with the Cosm in her life. Regardless, I was hungry and wanted my early repast.

"Children," I made sure I sounded like they were a grave disappointment to me, "I would encourage both of you to behave since we have company." This was Emily's first meal in our shared quarters since she went off to Omexkel, 13 rotations ago.

That snapped Emily back into her usual serious self, "company?"

"The Queen, Princess Opo'aba, Wolkayrs---I'm sure you remember him, Emily---and the Revered Priestess Healer Lyappis hat Truvos haup Esso."

"Ah, yes," Emily rolled her eyes, "another short and manageable Foskan name w...with the usual short and manageable title and honorific. Who is she?"

"The Queen's healer," I held the door open and gestured that the two of them needed to start moving toward the dining room. "She'll want to talk to you about the Queen. You should tell her everything."

"Everything?" Emily frowned at me.

"Including how Asgotl fits into everything," I nodded.

"Wow, not a little everything, but everything about everything," Emily shook her head.

I stepped back into the room, reached over, and picked up Emily, "I beg your pardon, Great One, but if I don't put something into my empty stomach soon, I just might eat you. Coming Thuorfosi?"

Thuorfosi got the doors for me and I put Emily on her chair to the right of mine. I forgot that we had newcomers to the table. Opa, Lyappis, and Wolkayrs stood up and made a bowing obeisance to Emily, "may the blessings of the eleven gods be upon you, Great One."

Emily's eyes reacted but she recovered immediately, "and also upon you. Please, sit down and eat." Then she exhaled and let her posture relax.

"Emily, this is the Revered Priestess Healer Lyappis, who I told you about."

"I am honored to meet you, Great One," Lyappis politely bowed her head. Emily had that look on her face that told me she wasn't sure about having an interloper at the dining room table.

Wolkayrs, who was sitting to Emily's right, came to her rescue. He leaned over, "this is where you're supposed to make a polite comment back and maybe engage in some innocuous small talk, Em."

Emily frowned at him and he smiled back.

"Oh, right," the look she gave him wasn't the flaming daggers of death glare, but it qualified as a precursor. "Me, making innocuous small talk with strangers? Right." She looked at Lyappis, "sorry, I'm not good with polite society stuff."

Lyappis gave Emily an understanding look, "no need to apologize, Great One. These things pop out of my mouth without my even thinking. You'll get used to it eventually."

"Huh."

"Tea?" Wolkayrs asked her.

"Please!"

"Lord Usruldes dropped this tea off for you. He said you took a liking to it down in Black Falls," Wolkayrs filled her beaker.

She picked up the beaker, sniffed, and then broke out into a beaming smile of pure delight.

"Is that Usruldes' smoky tea?" Aylem asked.

"Yep," Emily took a long thoughtful sip. "This stuff is so good."

"Lisaykos said you wanted to go to the Crystal Shrine with me," Aylem went fishing for why Emily wanted to go. I hadn't told Aylem that Galt visited Emily in the middle of the night.

"A certain fluffy tuxedo cat paid me a visit last night," Emily watched as Wolkayrs piled three of the egg-onion-cheese rolls on her plate. "He said there's something wonderful under the floor of the chamber under the dome."

"Emily!" I looked at her in shock because what Galt told her she would find was foremost in her thoughts. Thuorfosi and Aylem saw it too.

"Anyway," Emily scowled at us for having picked up her thought, "remember what you did when we were looking for air pockets in the Is'syal aqueduct? I was thinking you might be able to find where the empty space under the floor using the same trick you used on the air pockets. It would be faster, I think, than what I thought of, which was getting Raoleer to rig up a mechanical geophone using a spring tied by magic somehow to the recording rolls of vellum that the Priestess Recorders use. Then I could use the travel times of acoustic waves to find the thinnest part of the floor."

"I lost you on that last bit, Emily," I told her.

"No worries, I understood it," Aylem looked at Emily and Emily looked back at Aylem. I could see the consensus forming between the two of them.

"You need to eat something," Aylem pointed at Emily's plate. "I need to change into riding clothes."

"Wait!" I put a protective hand on Emily's shoulder, "you're going now?"

"Yes!" Emily and Aylem said in unison. The two of them glared at me, daring me to try and stop them.

"Cancel everything I have on my schedule today, Wolkayrs," I told my scholar attendant. "I'm paying a visit to the Crystal Shrine. And send down to the mounts residence to have Heckees saddled with the long saddle and sent up to the south balcony. Lyappis, you should come with us. You'll not want to miss this. Besides, Foyuna wouldn't forgive me if I left you behind. Opa, you can ride with me."

"Not with my mom?" Opa sounded a little put-out.

"Sorry, Opa, but Emily rides with me," Asgotl shouted from my study where he was eavesdropping on our mealtime chatter.

"Oh," Opa looked surprised.

We were ready to leave by the second bell. Lord Usruldes joined us. He was still in Aybhas wrapping up loose ends on the four surviving attackers from the Night Market attack. They would be transported tomorrow from the Aybhas Garrison to Is'syal for their trial in the Well of Galt on the fourth day of the sixth rotation, four days from now. How he found out so fast about our sudden trip to the Crystal Shrine was unknown though I guessed it had to do with all the unseen security he had installed around Opa and Emily.

Foyuna was waiting for us under the great dome of the Crystal Shrine in her lovely blue and yellow robes, complete with veil and triple headstall. The rest of us were in riding clothes. All of our mounts, excluding Asgotl, left for the gallery ledge that circled the dome.

Aylem dismounted and unwrapped Emily from her riding cloak. Then they had a whispered exchange that sounded like an argument. It stopped when Asgotl interrupted: "Em is right, Aylem."

Aylem looked like she swallowed sour milk, but then rolled her eyes and just nodded. I wandered over. "You're not getting down, Emily?"

"I don't need to be carried around and if I sit on Asgotl, no one is likely to trip over me," Emily explained.

"Aylem doesn't need to fuss with watching out for Emily," Asgotl added, "not when I'm around." That explained what they had words over. Emily and Asgotl had gotten even closer while Aylem was absent and I wasn't sure how she was adjusting to that.

"Alright, put a stopper in the beak, bird brain," Aylem reverted to that uncertain tone of voice she had been using lately, "because we need to take care of formalities." She reached over and scratched between his ears.

I turned to see everyone waiting on us. Foyuna was on her knees, "May the blessings of the eleven gods be upon you., Great Ones."

"And also upon you, Holy One," Aylem smiled and held her hand out to Foyuna, "please rise."

"Thank you, Great One," Foyuna beamed. "If you will excuse me for a moment," she walked over to Lyappis.

"How are you, my girl?" Lyappis smiled.

"Grandmother Lyappis, I am well. I don't know if we'll have time for shopping in Queenstown afterward," the two exchanged the polite form of an embrace between relatives. Emily watched this from Asgotl's back and then tugged on my overtunic with a question on her face.

"Foyuna is married to one of Lyappis' grandsons," I said quietly.

Aylem stepped out and crooked a finger at Opa. She reminded Opa to greet the High Priestess of Tiki appropriately. Then my son in his Usruldes suit accosted Foyuna, and to my surprise, they traded warm greetings. I was left wondering when Usruldes had gotten on such good terms with Foyuna, who seldom left her shrine.

When Usruldes and Foyuna were done, all the formalities were finished.

(continued in part 107)