DISCLAIMER: I don't own Hawksong or the Kiesha'ra series. Amelia Atwater-Rhodes does.
The New Priestess
1. The Tale Within A Tale
"Disa, the Serpiente have arrived..", the guard informed.
He found the Mistari Disa staring out of one of the balcony windows at the setting sun, her wise eyes tinkling with secrecy. She turned towards him, her strawberry-blonde hair glinting in the last remaining rays of the afternoon sun, and smiled. Without saying a word, she glided back gracefully into the lobby to greet her guests, as graceful as a tiger can be.
"Charis! Such a pleasant surprise to see you!", her dulcet tones called out. "And your lovely family too!"
The Serpiente pretty much resembled one another with their pale complexions and elegance, well-known for their trademark of being one of the most beautiful species of shape-shifters. Their jewel-toned eyes all focused upon the Mistari herself, as she graced them with her presence.
"Please, it was of our request that you help us hold this meeting..if it weren't for you, I don't think the avians would have ever accepted the offer in the first place..", the present Naga of the whole clan spoke. "After all, it depended on the choice of the future queen of the avians, their only heir to the throne, I heard....although for some reason, Zane seemed to be entirely sure of himself that she would accept it.".
At her words, the eldest of her children looked away, as if to conceal his amusement.
The Disa's eyes warmed at the gesture, and said, "There is no need to thank me, for it is of our greatest concerns that most wars be put to stop. However, I believe you have arrived two days earlier than expected. Your meeting was arranged to be on the night of the new moon, was it not?"
"Really?", one of the guards spoke up. "So we had to rush along the whole way for nothing?". She and the other guard had platinum blond hair and a set of piercing green eyes, as opposed to the jet-black hair and garnet eyes the Cobrianas possessed.
The Disa glanced at her, and smiled once more. "The paths leading to our palace are enticed with magical spells put upon them centuries ago..it is of no surprise to us that it has shortened or changed in any way before the event of the new moon."
With that explanation, she walked towards the door, only turning back to motion the rest of them along. "Come...there is much for you to know.".
Not knowing what else to do, the Serpiente followed her through the door to the corridor, where the Disa started to tell them the story they needed to hear.
"You know, the serpiente legend has always amazed me ever since I heard of the story. The Dasi, the high priestess, the invasion of Leben, and the formation of the serpiente's second form of a serpent--truly one of the most enthralling stories I've ever heard.", she said, as she marched on through corridor after corridor.
The Serpiente were too busy trying to keep up with her and avoid bumping into others along the way to make any comment.
"Where is this woman taking us, Zane?", the female guard asked in a hiss, annoyed as she narrowly missed tripping over a random object on the floor.
Zane didn't answer, hoping that the Disa might be the one to explain.
Nevertheless, she went on as if she hadn't heard anyone protesting, and said, "Of course, what makes a story so interesting is when there's a story within the story..".
"I beg your pardon?", Irene asked, not needing to rush like the others since the people in the palace seemed to move out of her way when she was walking through. Unbeknownst to her or the rest of the Serpiente guests, news of her unborn child spread like wildfire throughout the tigers' headquarters; pregnancies being one of the most celebrated occasions in the Mistari lands.
At her question, the Disa responded with a chuckle, "Why, of course! The story of romance between Maeve and Kiesha!"
Ignoring their shocked expressions, she pushed open a door and welcomed them inside.
It was a cozy-looking lounge, with piled red velveted mattresses surrounding a short mahogany table at the center of the white marbled floor, and golden ornaments enframing a single large window that allowed streaks of golden sunlight to seep into the room.
As the Dasi and her guests seated themselves, she proceeded to tell them the true tale of Maeve's unintentional betrayal and the eventual lovelorn despair that drove the head of the Dasi to use Ahnmik's black magic to numb her pain, as the Disa poured herself and her guests some herbal tea.
After taking a sip of her tea, she said, "It was perhaps, Kiesha's biggest mistake to banish Maeve and the falcons altogether.", and after seeing the look on the faces of the Cobrianas, "Please, do not misinterpret what I meant to say. You must know that it was Maeve's responsibility to keep the balance between Ahnmik and Anhamirak. Without the falcons or Maeve, it's only logical to assume that the Dasi broke, thus letting the ultimate powers of the two gods to run wild. At least, that was how I was informed."
"Informed?", the Arami of the serpiente spoke. "Who informed you of this?"
The Dasi did not automatically answer him, taking another sip of her tea. "All in due time." she said.
Charis contemplated the story she just heard, and muttered, "It never occurred to me, but...of course, everyone knew about Maeve's role in the Dasi.." Looking up to meet the Disa's gaze, she said, "But with the balance broken, surely something must have happened."
"And something did.", the Disa replied, looking almost sad. "Kiesha ended up inheriting the flow of too much magic that would do more damage than help. With that kind of power, Kiesha could've destroyed the world, and that was when the falcons intervened."
The Serpiente were about to speak, but the Dasi held up her hand to silence them. "Allow me to finish. Ahnmik is different from Ahnamirak, such that the god himself mastered over control whereas your god is all about love and freewill. Being so, the flow of Ahnmik's magic was able to subdue itself, and thus the falcons were not affected. However, they saw what Kiesha was capable of, so they had no choice, I suppose, but to take away half of the serpiente magic."
"What?!", Zane roared.
He was quickly followed by the protests of his family members as well as his guards.
The Dasi sighed. The serpiente were famous, after all, for not holding back their emotions. To add to that, the feud between the serpiente and the falcons was well-reknowned. Their reactions were only to be expected.
"You can fume about that one little detail, or you can hear the rest of the story. Which one do you choose?", the Disa responded. If she had the reserve of the avians, she might've waited for their anger to subside on their own, but she didn't want to waste too much time on that.
Charis took a deep breath and said, "Continue."
And so the Dasi did. "Now, the falcons, although having taken away half of your magic, were unable to destroy it. So, they took in a little human girl, raised her as the complete opposite of your kind, and gave it to her. The power, in turn, gave her the second form of a hawk. That little girl is Alasdair, the first of the avians..", she said, and did not wait for the serpiente to react.
"The falcons instructed her to raise an Avian empire with morales and reservation, so that the both of your kinds will never find anything in common with one another. Nevertheless, there was always this certain attraction between your kinds that allowed Alasdair to invite Kiesha and the others to her keep. This was also the time when Araceli of the falcons decided to intervene again."
The Disa looked at all their astonished expressions and said, "You have fought with the avians for far too long, and for what? Have you not attempted to find out the truth of the war for yourself, despite what the truth may hold in store for you? Are you so keen on blaming the avians for starting the war as they have blamed you?"
Shaking her head, she went on, "Neither kind has started it. Araceli used the magic of persuasion on Kiesha so that she would stab Alasdair in the back, and again on the avian guards to retaliate aggressively. I suppose you know what happened next."
"That...is absurd. I cannot begin to even... So the falcons started it.", Zane said, his words overlapping one another.
The Disa shook her head, and said, "We will not be pointing fingers at anyone in this matter. After all, it has all stemmed from the arrival of Leben, and he is not one to be messed with. What's important now is to figure out a solution--and we have."
The Serpiente looked at her in surprise. "And what would that be?", Irene inquired.
Before the Dasi could respond, one of her Mistari guards walked into the room. "The falcons have arrived, and she is ready, your highness.", he stated, and left the room once more after an affirmative nod from the Mistari Disa.
She turned back to face her guests. "Perhaps it is time we paid a visit to Danica Shardae."
Took me a while to make this chapter. I had to change a few stuff here, so as to fit my version of the story, like it was Ailbhe instead of Galen that appeared at the first meeting. Galen's protective of Irene, I'm sure, but I'm giving Ailbhe a bit of a bigger role here.
RxR if you can! XD
