Shaman of the Zaharren

This news, at the time, took me quite by surprise,

But was it not logical from my father’s eyes?

It transferred my trouble from him to another

And with luck it would soon delegate me a mother,

To small bundles of happiness which would devour my time;

And thus slow, if not cease, my perilous crimes.

But if I continued, was caught and condemned

No longer his charge, I would not be his problem.

His choice was made easy by that I was lovely to see

And that the bride price paid for me, was substantial indeed.

Besides all of that; I was already eighteen,

Older than most mares at their wedding scene.

When I first heard the news, I found it hard to digest,

But within a few days, I thought myself blessed.

I knew marriage was certain sooner or later,

And of all likely suitors this was the greater.

For my father, in tact, had chosen my life to consign,

To be the newest addition to the royal concubines.

I agreed to this readily as it left me with

Bountiful time in a grand garden forthwith;

To pursue all of my arts, and perfect my techniques

Save for one or two nights, every two or three weeks.

And with the palace and temple, so close in proximity

It would strengthen my faculty to come and go quickly.

My concession was willing; though it came not from the heart

But for the vast time and resources, this life would impart.

Yet greater as well would be danger and peril

If royalties garments became my apparel;

For although a common mare might avoid a harsh sentence,

Should she be found to be dabbling in shamanic senses,

But being royal by marriage, I’d be shown no drop of leniency,

Should my arts be discovered, while I a wife of the regency.

And having fought Raggerock; if caught he’d ensure

That the end of my life would be brought premature.

But the gains outweighed risks, it seemed so, by far,

And so I offered no protest that on the adar

Of my eighteenth year, I became the twenty-third wife

Of the sultan’s new steward who became the man of my life.

My husband was Caleth, for whom it was my place to swoon,

A pegasus zebra, with eyes like the moon.

Who from among Appren’s sons, had been selected most suited,

To succeed his old father once his long life had concluded;

Passing into those places beyond our imagining,

To find out what sentence the Logos declared for that king.

My first fortnight with Caleth, he was mine alone

By his side constantly as our passions were known.

I enjoyed these days thoroughly, from beginning to end,

Speaking with Caleth and seeking a friend.

But what I found puzzled me and by the end I’d concluded

That our roles were quite mutually to keep the other secluded.

I saw in Caleth a heart that sought to do right,

Yet had little knowledge beyond his own life.

This seemed an odd state for one they called king,

Until I saw better his role in all things.

In time it came, that I began to see clearly,

That although king in title, Caleth was merely,

A puppet for Ragarrock, the true lord of land,

Who had defeated my Caleth without making a stand.

For the chief shaman’s council to Caleth from youth,

Had been to seek pleasure fervently, and care little for ruth.

Indulging fine food and music, laughter and sport,

And all sorts of such things which then filled his great courts.

But the chief shank of distraction, it came by little surprise,

Was from the joys of a harem which was so well supplied,

And Caleth, a stallion, could not quite resist,

Kingship forgotten in his harem of bliss.

What a pair he and I made, each married to keep

The other from making a troublesome bleat;

That each other’s arms; our dissention might smother,

Yet we were not quite ‘a pair’, as there were twenty-two others.

Although my feelings for Caleth could scarce be called love

Were I naive, they would have been mistaken thereof.

So when my facilities became the object of his utilities,

I gladly performed my duties to the very best of my abilities;

And always I’ve cherished the finery to which me Caleth gave

Gold rings for my neck, arm and ear, on which our names are engraved.

When my fortnight with Calelth came to an end

I was moved to the harem; and was not to ascend

To Caleth’s chambers again except by his beckoning

Perhaps once a week, to partake in his wrestling;

Either alone, or with one to three other mares

With whom Caleth’s zeal, I would be obliged to share.

I strode to avoid, as much as I could,

The typical jealousies of a harem’s sisterhood.

I was somewhat successful but still often speculated

Caleth’s favour to me against those others he’d mated;

And believed, (like the others), that if I was not the first,

I was by no means his last choice to counter his thirst.

The first of my friends was Ayanu, for whom

Desire for Caleth had lost most of their spume.

Not that she didn’t desire the love of her lord

But knew that true love was too much to hope for;

And without the illusion of winning his love

Had no need to battle competitors thereof.

She was seven years older than me, with manners quite mild

And we became quite close once I midwifed her third child.

My second friend’s coming, was just five months after mine

When Caleth mandated her, his twenty-fourth bride.

Two years my junior and brimming with fire

Of angry self-righteousness, like an electrified wire.

She came from a small village, on the great desert planes

Whose family came to the city to purchase some grains.

And when Whinwick was found by Caleth’s wandering eyes

Chose wealth over their daughter and made hasty goodbyes.

Whinwick made clear from her first day in the palace

She was not there by choice, and despised her lord Caleth.

She critiqued and condemned royalties opulence

And even more fiercely; masculine dominance.

In the presence of Caleth, she employed brazen veneer

But elsewhere disparaged him with vituperation sneers.

This made her an outcast, from the rest of the sisters

Made worse by her reckless ambition to argue and bicker.

I sought to befriend her, conceiving that maybe

A way of noble revolt might help the young lady.

I showed her the prowess, I had covertly acquired

Which she took to with awe, and was quite swiftly inspired.

And so I discretely began her training forthwith

Her mind took to it quickly, with ambition and withe.

In time, engagements with Caleth came to steady routine,

And the days I’d be free became mine to foresee.

By now my friendship with Ayanu was trusting and close,

And so rather than simply instructing Whinwick, I chose

To take back my guise of shamanic mutiny,

And find what the Logos had planned out for me.

Twas no surprise that when Whinwick learned my intention,

No words could convince her to forgo intervention,

But insisted to join me, and test together our wiles

As we unravelled the sinews of Raggarock’s trials.

Ayanu had no wish to join in such tales,

But did agree, hesitantly, to help cover our trails.

To leave without pomp and return unannounced,

and to give false accounts for our whereabouts.

And to send word by the light of green-flamed lanterns

To alert us if we must make hasty returns.

Treason and Destiny>>>