Chapter 26 - Where it all ends
Hotel, Upper East Side, New York, USA, 2030. The next morning.
It had been a long time since her nights were as restful as they had been in the past.
If the memories of Warka left her relatively quiet from now on, having become rarefied, it was her body which had decided to take over from her spirit to continue to torment her in another way. Either it was her back that reminded her, especially on cold and rainy days, by reminding her of the rheumatism she had inflicted on it with her adventures and her rare accidents at work, or it was her lungs that were acting up, leaving her breathless or leaving her with a stabbing and burning pain in her chest. It always passed, but it was pretty bad.
It was nice in the hotel room, not too hot and not too cold. There was a pleasantly cool breeze in the air. This surprised him a little from a two-star hotel, by the way.
By reflex and the still closed eyes, Adélaïde wanted to seize on the bedside table, with groping, the vial containing the remedy which relieved her, a time, of these evils which carried the disease which would finish it.
Her hand closed only on emptiness. Perplexed and half-dazed, the professor grumbled between her teeth and immediately turned around to increase the reach of her fingers, without more success.
Fleury opened lazily her eyelids, surprised by the softness of the luminosity of the room. Generally in the rooms which she reserved for short displacements, it was all or nothing. The creamy softness of the walls, impeccable, surprised her eyes even before noticing the arrangement of the furniture. It didn't match the layout of the room she had booked.
The professor was about to lean on one of her elbows to straighten up when she heard a rather discreet murmur in the opposite direction, closer and closer. She did not have however the time to react before an arm did not come to rest at the level of its size and remain there, surrounding it. Her perplexity increased when she perceived a body lying close to her, against which the concerned arm kept her.
The archaeologist did not panic. Far was the time when she was only a frightened virgin. It was more destabilizing than worrying, more especially as it had been years since she slept alone.
Frowning, Adelaide took the time to think a little to gather her memories of the day before.
She had landed in New York. She had gone downtown, to the business district. She had visited Godric, which had been no small feat. He had brought her to his office so they could have a quiet chat. They had talked and drank. She had talked a lot... and drank a lot.
What he left only a possibility, in the state in which she had reduced herself to let herself go like that.
The French-British woman tried to tilt her head slightly to try to look over her shoulder. The blond hair now disheveled was, undoubtedly, familiar and identifiable. She trusted him and herself enough to know that he would not have done anything to her in such a state.
With an amused smile, she mused inwardly that there would be no shortage of girls her own age. His letters had been very revealing in this respect, since he had never hidden them.
There remained only the most difficult thing to do, namely to extract herself from this situation, to get up and grab her pocket watch which she saw posed on a small table fixed to the wall on her side of the bed.
In spite of her efforts, she did not manage to reach the object of her covetousness, not succeeding in undoing herself of its catch. The young man still asleep was not decided to release it. Hardly had she caught the pocket watch that he had brought it back to him with soft firmness.
- Hm... what are you doing? Stop fidgeting so much. It's way too early," he huffed displeased.
Rather than releasing his grip, he tightened instead his arm around her. Lengthened against its back, it posed its head close to its shoulder. The strength he showed as well as his body awareness made her realize how much he had grown by refusing, thirteen years earlier, to continue to take the potion of Youth at the end of the sixth Grail War.
He had refused to give her the reasons why. His hatred for his older Archer self seemed to have turned to contempt for the latter, his judgment being somewhat more lenient toward Caster.
The more the years had passed, the more Fleury had the impression to see their features merging.
He had lost none of his self-confidence, on the contrary. No doubt the path he had chosen, that of a self-taught entrepreneur who supervised promising and flourishing start-ups, had to play a part in that. Behind his annoyance and impatience, Adelaide knew that he was a little less arrogant than his elders and a little more humble. He was aware that because he had become more "human", he was also more empathetic and therefore less protected by royal distance and authority.
However, on the rare occasions when he had spoken to her privately, he did not seem to regret his choice too much.
The archaeologist realized, however, that she had been awakened by a pain in her lungs. Adélaïde tried once again to shift gently but firmly her arm in order to make her way towards her bag posed on a sofa close to a large bay window veiled by thick curtains. The professor soon realized that his young friend had passed a leg around his and thus prevented him from moving more. He had besides quickly made to bring back it close to him with his arm, which surrounded it again. She heard him blowing to him in the ear of a low and serious voice.
- Don't force me to use a spell. I'm tired enough as it is.
- I'm in pain, I need a vial in my bag. I'll sleep better if I'm not in pain.
- Oh, if that's all.
"If that's all? He wasn't the one who had to put up with chronic pain, clearly! Adelaide was about to protest when she felt him move. She closed her eyes as a brief, intense, familiar golden glow lit the room for a couple of minutes. When she opened them again, she heard a slight "pop" as the old-fashioned cork was removed. She barely had time to make out that he was holding a small gold vial in his hand as he bent down to bring it to her nose.
- Here, inhale this for me. You'll fall asleep very quickly and without any pain.
The scent of the concoction struck her immediately. A floral scent? She did not have time to linger there because the preparation was so powerful that it drowsed her and that she fell asleep without a noise.
She was fast asleep and did not see the satisfied smile typical of a job well done as Godric closed the bottle and made it disappear as it had appeared, before falling back to sleep.
[***]
Warka, southern Iraq. The year 2030. One week later.
The week of rest and relaxation that Godric had forcefully proposed to her had not been a bad thing, even if she would not openly admit it to him. The young CEO had obviously organized himself very well and had arranged to take some time off... well, as much as he was able to, given his great involvement in the management of his business, which he would then do from a distance.
Everything was very well arranged. A little too well anticipated for Fleury's taste, as if he was well informed.
Nevertheless, with the little time she had left, she had no desire to hold it against him. It was the same for the sharing of the very large bed. He didn't make any inappropriate gestures, slept quietly as long as she kept quiet herself, and they both enjoyed the company.
Besides, it wasn't as if years earlier, a similar situation hadn't already arisen.
Crisscrossing New York once again, she had been able to complete the little change she had planned - less than a week - for the equivalent of two or three weeks' travel. Since they would travel to two visibly, she had to envisage a more adapted equipment for this excursion.
Because it was like that that she intended to make it pass. A last excursion, a return to the sources.
The ruins of the ancient Sumerian capital were still standing, by a miracle for which Adelaide would not have known how to thank the gods. Of course, many of the buildings had suffered from the gunfire and explosives of the extremists who had tried to destroy them, in order to erase all traces of the past and deprive the descendants, of intellect if not of blood, of that civilization of part of their culture.
In comparison, the visit to Fatima in Samawa had been a much simpler task for Fleury.
The years had dulled the anger and resentment of Karim's wife towards him. In this way, the city can be a place for people to live and work together, and it can also be a place for people to learn from each other. The grief of losing a loved one and especially her own recent experience of a similar bereavement had begun to soften her old friend's anger, so that they had ended up crying in each other's arms, sharing a similar pain. They were both aware that they would never regain their former closeness, but wanted to repair their friendship, which had been fragmented and weakened by the terrorist attack, to the end.
In an olive branch, Adelaide had finally been able to return Karim's pocket watch, which she had kept carefully all these years with a view to returning it to him as soon as she could. The photograph that had been hidden remained in its case. A religious silence accompanied this gesture.
They spent a few days in each other's company, in comfort and a much appreciated cordiality.
It was quite amusing for her to think of how Karim's children were attracted to Godric, constantly demanding his attention and inviting him to join in their games. Godric, though sometimes annoyed, had shown a patience and kindness that she had rarely seen in him outside of his interactions with Emily, Fiona and Suzaku, especially when they were children.
Fatima had not failed to be intrigued by him and to ask him who he was and where he was from. In order not to worry her more than necessary, Adelaide had stuck to the official version and presented him as a child they had adopted with Waver shortly after the Warka incident. This had surprised Karim's wife, but she had not sought to know more. Fleury had nevertheless noticed during the two weeks they spent with them that she always observed Godric with a certain distrust and was never at ease when he laid eyes on her.
The marks of the international war that had taken place in the region were still numerous. Baghdad bore the strongest marks of it, while in Samawa they were relatively quieter, so close to the banks of the Euphrates. Adelaide had to admit that sharing this last trip with someone gave her a sense of calm that she had not expected at all.
The enthusiasm that had begun to waver since Waver's death and, worse, the announcement of the results of the analysis laboratory, had regained its composure and gave her surroundings back their colors. So she was grateful to her former battle royale partner for having managed to trap her in this way against her own bad temper, her weariness and the depression that was eating away at her.
It was sometimes difficult to associate him with the young king who had accompanied her during the Grail War now that, like Emily, he had grown up. His features were getting closer and closer to Caster's, though Rin and Waver associated them more with Archer's. Adelaide had been careful not to mention this to him, however, knowing full well that Godric wouldn't take it very well.
Yes, he had changed. They had both changed, in their own way. And yet, no matter what the others said, the teacher could always find something in the way he spoke and behaved that set him apart from them. Something unique to this young Archer with whom she had developed a strong bond, which had blossomed into something else after their contract in the Holy Grail War had ended.
Many of their relatives could not help but relate him to the tyrant they had confronted. Emily and Suzaku, still innocent, only saw the big brother figure they had known. Adelaide, on the other hand, sometimes saw in him the facetious, determined, temperamental but fair kid who had reached out to Warka, and thus had pulled her out of the shadows of the ruins and the arms of death.
This same kid who had stayed by her side, in spite of everything, at every difficulty they had crossed.
This kid wounded by his weakness of then, that she had carried on her back in front of an implacable magician. This kid sometimes patient and sometimes impertinent. This kid who, in spite of his youth, had always surpassed himself and had called upon treasures of ingenuity to protect her on more than one occasion.
This kid who had grabbed her by the arm and pulled her along whenever she wavered. This kid who had motivated her to question her own limits so that she could overcome them.
This kid who had the potential to match his alter-ego Caster and who had the whole future ahead of him.
- Uruk calls Adelaide. Are you coming or do you really want to spend the night under the stars?
- You might as well avoid it, replied the person concerned. The nights are really cool in the desert!
Their guide had led them to the gates of the ancient ruined city, against a generous purse. The area was still unsafe, although news reports had not indicated that there was any risk of an attack soon. After all, the fire could still be smoldering under still-warm ashes.
Somehow, behind her impatience, it made her smile to almost hear Godric's youth.
She felt rather cheerful, and shared his expectation a little. Of course fear never lurked far away, nestled in her gut, but she had no intention of backing down now.
She had missed this landscape more than she thought possible. Its bare majesty, its special atmosphere, its remains that, defying time and human conflict, still stood.
- I must have told you this before, but it saddens me that you have to see it in this state. The extremists have done their damage. I am impressed by the simple fact that he survived the rocket in part.
- What do you think! This is beautiful stone and engineering. It's not like your concrete and glass towers, erected in a few months and not holding up.
- Especially since you designed many of these buildings, including the palace, am I right?
- I could have been an architect indeed, if I hadn't been a king," Godric nodded with pride.
It was one of the advantages he had found by obtaining the Grail and the vow he had presented to it. He had not been forthcoming about the circumstances of this discussion with the Grail's embodiment, so Adelaide had never known the exact terms of his wish or whether Gil Caster had been able to get his. Freed from the chains of the Throne of Heroes and the Grail Wars, he could live his life as he wished. He had even managed to keep his powers intact, to his obvious satisfaction.
The Mage Association had been in a cold sweat, but against their better judgment, the boy had lived a quiet life with her and Waver and had not made a fuss. He hadn't tried to conquer the world, or at least Iraq. No, he had played to their expectations.
The rather anonymous life under the identity they had created for him earlier, Godric Gilderoy Kingsley, suited him just fine. His only demand had been to stay with her and Waver, which she and her husband had readily accepted. Despite the strong impression the great Archer had left on Waver, he had come to accept that while they were of the same heroic essence, they were two people as different as Caster and Godric. It had taken quite a while.
Godric had been quick to study many of the areas that piqued his interest, such as computers, video games, political science, history, urban design, and architecture... and was not above adding his own input as well as his own comments, as here.
She regretted that she didn't have much time left. Adelaide was curious to see him grow up and to see the man he would become, in a more peaceful context. She kept this thought in the silence of her mind, a peaceful and slightly melancholic smile on her lips. She intended to isolate herself and disappear into the desert to carry out her last act, once this last enigma was solved, but she appreciated his company for the last days of her own life.
It would not have been very difficult to take the key to the fields that would take her to join Waver, Karim and the others towards better skies, a key whose glass tinkled softly at the bottom of her jacket. Was it foolish not to want to suffer harder and longer? She did not consider it a fault to want to choose when and how she would die, once the time came.
They walked quietly through the ruins of Uruk, sometimes in comfortable silence, sometimes in animated discussions about the architecture and what remained of it. Slowly, they reached the foot of the palace ruins, which were quite damaged by the terrorists, the rocket and their own breakthrough.
- In any case, the hole we had drilled is still there. The structure has been weakened but I think it should hold for our passage, if we don't do anything crazy. Are you still in?
- I'm still in.
- All right. I know you don't need any advice but be careful on the way down. The rocks have destroyed the staircase and might be slippery. I'll scout ahead. Any objections?
- None, as long as I'm here.
Well? Godric had become less talkative as they returned to square one. This was where they had met... under these white sands and rocks that seemed timeless. There was no reason to believe that he could read her mind as he had in the past. The Grail War that had linked them was over, and with it the bond that had united them as Master and Servant. At least that was what she had learned from the books and discussions she had had with Rin, Waver, and Shirou, although God's case was special.
The only other known case had been her older Archer class self. And apart from the late priest Kotomine and Rin's late father, no one had known him well enough to know.
More than ten years earlier, young Gil had suggested that they return to Warka one day so that she could dust off the ruins and he could take care of the case of the violent uncultured. She had managed to drown the fish with time and fighting, knowing the proposal was unreasonable although quite tempting.
She wasn't good enough to forgive the extremists, but not foolish enough to risk them.
No, they would ignore them. Rather than this endless struggle, she would rather they enjoy the trip.
Cautiously, the archaeologist crept through the opening that gave them access to the bowels of the palace remains. The presence of the rockery and the sand in addition to the vast limestone rocks made the progression difficult, making her bad knee protest when the slope was too accentuated. Adelaide gritted her teeth, however, and stubbornly refused to show it to the young man. It was a matter of pride and dignity for her to progress without his support, as long as she could.
The few positives to the ransacking of the terrorists were the thin new openings that had cracked between some of the rocks, making the air a little more breathable and the places a little more visible.
The professor's complexion was quite pale. She certainly wasn't improving her short life expectancy by making so much effort, but at least she was enjoying the moment to the fullest. It wasn't just the illness and the long walk they were taking that made her face look so pale, nor did it make her breathing more jerky, nor did it make her hands and legs shake slightly.
Adelaide no longer denied her trauma, just as she no longer wanted to run from it. No, she wanted to face her fear in order to free herself from this nagging regret, this guilt that was eating away at her mind.
Fleury did not want Warka to be synonymous with terrorism. She wanted her ruins, her history and her culture to remind her of the passion and curiosity that had marked her life as an archaeologist.
The only regret she would have left would be not to have taken the time and had the courage to return there with Waver and Emily. This dream, stifled by her tenacious fear, was now dissipated in the clouds of the past.
Several times she almost slipped. Each time Godric's hand caught her arm.
At the end of their risky descent, as he waited for her to recover her breath and energy to continue their impromptu exploration, Fleury had turned to him. Her pale face with emaciated features, cheeks reddened by the effort and a forehead beaded with sweat had lit up with a wide, sincere, warm and grateful smile. His clear eyes had regained their brightness and vivacity.
Adelaide was not angry with him for upsetting her plans. She just thanked him for being there with her.
The despondency that had hit her since Waver's death was beginning to dissipate a little. She would stay on her resolution, but Adelaide would honor this final riddle Caster had set for her, just as she would share this journey and this moment with her former teammate and youngest friend until their paths parted when they came up from the ruins of her former palace.
The riddle haunted her mind with a clarity she hadn't perceived in years. It was as exhilarating as finally rediscovering a landscape previously hidden by thick vapors of fog.
They returned to the small unknown room, which she had the pleasure to see that the mechanism was still working before she locked it again. They walked through it in a comfortable silence, as if they were walking in the corridors of a familiar place rather than in the remains of a city.
In the course of her inner reflections, their steps finally led them back to the vast courtroom.
Once again, she was struck by its grandeur and its state of preservation, despite the circumstances. If its furniture no longer existed, the skeleton of its architecture had survived, against all odds. It was enough for him to close the eyes one moment to project there, in thought, the past visions associated with this space that the young Archer and Caster had held, each, to share to him at the time of shared dreams.
These steps that separated the throne from the space intended to receive visitors, this open space that let the day, the air and the heat pass above and behind the imposing seat of royal power. Even so, stripped of their finery, a cold majesty still permeated its stones. The few frescoes that had survived, though damaged by time, were like an echo of their greatness before their decadence, their brutal fall that struck them during the Flood.
As if after too long a sleep, his mind was beginning to wake up and start hunting for clues. Godric stood back, wordless and unmoved. She could, however, feel his vivid crimson gaze on her, following her movements.
The king had no intention of helping her and that was fine with him. He was just keeping an eye on her, carefully.
- "Where it all began" and "where it will all end". I can't think of any other possible place. It's got to be somewhere around here. I doubt it's the little room adjacent to what I think is the courtroom, that would be too obvious," Adelaide commented thoughtfully.
- What do you think? A "small room" where you found a stylus and traces of a bookcase. It looks like an office, doesn't it? My office, that is," God replied, shaking his head.
She couldn't tell if he was more amused than annoyed that she hadn't identified the role of this seemingly insignificant, yet in many ways central room for them. Her eyes riveted on the walls that she inspected with attention and meticulousness did not allow her to see his expression, she could only rely on the tone of his voice. She nodded her head in concentration. This answer, which had frustrated her so much that she had been close to finding it before she escaped, seemed less of a priority to her. She thanked him silently nevertheless for having confirmed her theory.
- What could have escaped me that shouldn't? If it is well here, there is inevitably an element which should alert me. I know these places, I've had time to walk around them. Not as much as you undoubtedly, but normally enough so that that jumps to the eyes, she resumed.
She stopped abruptly, freezing her glance on the section of wall which she observed. With her eyebrows furrowed, the professor looked very carefully at the characters that were offered to her sight and intrigued her. One of her gloved hands came to touch the engraved inscriptions with delicacy, respectfully.
- Well, that's strange. These graphemes were not there when I was last here, nor were these morphemes. I would have remembered them if they were. And this notch... has an interesting shape.
- Isn't it? Such a familiar shape... strange, right? Maybe there's a reason it's there. Maybe this king was planning things in advance," God scoffed.
This was a sign of impatience that was not like him. What had gotten into him? She hadn't felt like she was talking nonsense, just thinking out loud. Was he trying to help her or was he trying to provoke her? Fleury decided to retort behind her back, pretending to be offended.
- That's right, make fun of me while you can!
- Excuse me for wanting to put a little humor in this world of seriousness," he said.
- I'm just kidding. If my sense of humor started to fail, I wouldn't have much left.
- That's true. That would be a tragedy.
There was too little time left to take offense at so little... and besides, she wasn't sure if it was all a joke on her part. His slight mockery seemed to confirm her suspicions. The enigma itself did not seem very complex anymore... where was it leading her? Adelaide had no idea and, for the first time in a long time, she found the enthusiasm of the search for an answer. Perhaps a little annoyance too, but she felt a little alive again.
Without a word, the professor slipped one of her hands under the shirt she was wearing. Her gloved fingers grabbed the golden chain that never left her neck and gently pulled it out from under the fabric.
In the palm of her left hand soon rested a key of pure gold. Its pommel, linked to the chain, was not smooth but gouged in several places, grooves that went all the way to its gleaming hilt. The key itself was of a curious square shape, chiseled on both sides with strange patterns.
Godric had given it to him in the guise of a cartridge, just before the battle with Rin and Ishtar. Gilgamesh had not wanted it back, leaving it in his care alongside his riddle.
None of them had wanted to explain to her what she was. She was a mystery in this Mystery.
Doubt was no longer allowed. The notches in the wall seemed to correspond in every way to the key. There was only one way to verify this and to see what Gilgamesh wanted from her beyond the Grail.
Adelaide was coming to this conclusion when the archaeologist was surprised to feel Godric's arms wrap around her shoulders. She had not heard him approaching behind her. Her young friend tightened his grip just enough to embrace her against him. She couldn't see his expression since he was behind her back, but the teacher could hear his slight smile through his voice.
- You'll probably be a little mad at me, but as you said yourself, we can be a little selfish from time to time.
His tone was more composed than usual, behind his great confidence. He no longer bothered to keep his mask of impertinence, a bit arrogant. Why, remained the big question. Of course, he let his guard down a bit when they were alone and allowed her to see him more as he was behind his walls. He trusted her, and she trusted him. This had been the foundation of their friendship.
Even if, as usual, he only retained what interested him. A shadow of a smile on her lips, the teacher did not try to break this embrace. It was a moment as rare as it was precious.
- Come on, Godric, why should I be mad at you?
- You'll understand when you understand. And sometimes you can thank me in your prayers. We won't see each other for a long time, but I'll be thinking of you.
- I'll know it when I know it, right. I haven't heard that one in a while.
- You missed it, you must admit. I hope you won't miss it too much.
With a light laugh and a final friendly pat on her arm, her young former teammate and friend released her and motioned for her to move on. Understanding that he would not enlighten her further, Adelaide let a smile wander across her lips and stepped forward. A strange magic was emanating from this wall, more and more prevalent each time she approached it. It was probably risky but there was only one way to find out. There was still too little time left for her to back away now. While she still could...
With a delicate gesture, she slipped the key they had entrusted to her years earlier into the lock.
The graphemes and morphemes lit up with a golden color, connecting them to the key. A diffused glow grew on the wall, emanating from the lock and the characters on the wall.
Like a barrier, an ancient power brushed against her presence and probed her magic. Worried at first that she had activated some dangerous mechanism or misunderstood the riddle, Adelaide was surprised to find that the magical energy did not harm her and spread quickly enough.
A fountain of light burst forth with such intensity that the professor was immediately blinded. The archaeologist could see nothing. She could not move. No sound escaped her lips.
An unparalleled fear had seized her when the light ended up enveloping her entirely.
[***]
Unknown place, unknown date
This unexpected sleep was, against all expectations, pleasant. She had never imagined that death could be so pleasant and soothing. She had always been told of a tunnel that led to the glow of another adventure, of terrifying hells, of more merciful skies or of a very icy abyss. Everything was calm in this clear deluge that had seized her, this wave of light that had submerged her, it was as if she was swimming or rather, floating, tossed in an ocean of silence and serenity. The first perception that came to extract her from this peaceful languor was a fresh and watery sensation, like the caress of a light spring shower. It was not unpleasant for as much.
She did not expect that this comforting veil would dissipate as it had come.
Nor did it feel as if she was literally falling into a void! Adelaide immediately opened her eyes. She had hardly time to notice the clear and blurred walls which surrounded her before striking a rather flexible surface which came to deaden her fall. Stunned for a few moments, the pressing need for air made her instinctively take support on one of her hands to gain the surface.
Which wasn't very far, by the way, she shouldn't have been in very deep waters.
By the gods, she had just tumbled down a waterfall or what? It was already a miracle that she didn't break her neck! The water had been life-saving for a change... it was strange that it was warm. Now that she thought about it, some rather bewitching perfumes seemed to embalm the place. It didn't quite fit the teacher's image of the Beyond, anyway.
Women were panicking all around her. Fleury had no idea what they were saying, although some of the syllables sounded vaguely familiar. It was a real cacophony, these women dressed in oriental style did not understand a word she was saying.
She was not out of the woods at this rate. This translation problem was quite annoying.
- ... fire-haired priestess!
- Here she is, after so long!
"Fire-haired priestess? That didn't mean anything to her. She didn't know of any figure that could fit that description, and yet she had studied folklore! There must have been a mistake about the person. She didn't look like a priestess in her pants, shirt and jacket, and her hair clearly didn't have its former flamboyance.
Despite her unsuccessful attempts, having the impression of hearing a rough English, the archaeologist tried once again to engage in a dialogue with these women who were not familiar to her.
- Uh... sorry ladies. I am a little bit lost. Could you help me ?
- Of course priestess! We'll take you to the king.
- To the king, you say? Adelaide asked in puzzlement as two women led her along with an air of playfulness that she found hard to understand.
- Of course! The king has been waiting for you for so long," commented the younger of the two ladies.
It made less and less sense. Maybe it was his head starting to spin? If it was a dream, it was very strange to say the least. Something about it seemed familiar, though, like echoes echoing off the mountainside of her memories... yet, drowned in the mist.
- You... you understand what I'm saying? I couldn't understand you before.
- Of course, we know your language! The king teaches us all languages, including those of distant lands such as An-gle-ais. That's important," said the elder.
Their vocabulary was simplified and their pronunciation rather rocky, but they expressed themselves quite well. Too well, in fact, for people who had been surprised by her outfit, given their confusion. The two women - quite pretty, by the way - pressed her step a little as they led her after them through a maze of corridors. Uneasy, Adelaide could feel the glances of the old-fashioned armed guards on her, critical or too insistent, on her undoubtedly soaked clothes.
Trying to distract her mind from this lingering sense of shame, Adelaide preferred to focus her attention on their path and on the architecture of the immense building they were walking through. The stone was of a brilliant white and let glimpse from time to time splendid gildings and magnificent patterns, which once again reminded her of others she had seen in foreign museums.
An immense room offered itself to her eyes, bathed in the natural light that escaped to its open air end. A particularly large throne barely obscured its illumination, under veils that provided shade no doubt appreciated by its owner. The room was particularly crowded, a fairly dense crowd gathered there and a long line was drawn.
She recognized the man who was sitting there, his incarnate eyes riveted to a soldier who was talking to him.
Adelaide froze. It wasn't possible and then... she couldn't possibly show up like this! Trying to clear her throat to pull herself together despite her nervousness, she turned to her guides.
- The king seems very busy. Perhaps it would be wiser to drop in on him a little later?
- On the contrary, priestess! He always told us that you would be a priority," replied the younger girl.
- He would be unhappy if we didn't bring you to him right away," the elder confided.
She could read the respect as much as the fear in the voice and the look of the following. For she had no doubt, they must have been attendants in view of what they were saying and what they were wearing. On the one hand it was not convenient for her dignity... on the other hand, it did not surprise her from the concerned person. A thin smile escaped her. At the doors of the death that she was, she would not have another occasion to greet him.
The archaeologist conceded thus by nodding. As much as not to lose a precious time.
Without worrying about the long line which waited at a few meters of the throne, the two following took her at each arm and split the gathering, ignoring the curious glances of some or the confusion of the others. Adelaide didn't understand what they were saying, although some of the sounds were familiar.
Still, the sobriquet "Fire-Haired Priestess" still appealed to her... as did the way many of the people of Uruk stepped aside as she approached, respectfully.
The brown-haired priestess - the famous Siduri, no doubt - turned to her with a puzzled, reproving look before settling on the equally confused teacher. Her expression brightened immediately and, with a smile on her face, she turned to the king who was sitting on the huge throne.
Siduri indicated to the following to join her, the king of Uruk resting his crimson eyes on Adelaide. With a satisfied smile on his lips, Gilgamesh called out to her in a strong and warm voice.
- Welcome, priestess! I have been waiting for you.
[END]