FLARN MANAGES
by Luthienn
For disclaimer, rating, etc, see the Prologue.
Author's note: The Minbari expressions are from Hightower's Minbari dictionary.
CHAPTER 1: ACTS OF SACRIFICE PART 2
Minbar, the city of Tuzanor, in the same cycle
On the northern continent of Minbar stood the city of Tuzanor, also known as the City of Sorrows – a place as old as Minbari culture itself, full of traditions and secrets, some of them holy and some of them dark. Its history reached back to the beginning of the people, way before Valen, before even the caste system was established. Long before Yedor, the capital on the southern continent, was established, Tuzanor had been there. Yedor might have been called the Eternal City, but it was fairly new compared with Tuzanor.
Which was the very reason why the Temple of Valeria had stood here for uncounted millennia. The esoteric cult of wisdom and light, embodied in the mythic figure of Valeria, of whom not even the high priestesses knew if she had to be considered as a goddess, a preternatural creature or simply the personification of the divine powers that held the Universe together, predated the fairly young cult of Valen so far that it was impossible to tell how much older it was.
Still, the followers of Valeria – a group within the Religious Caste that refused to take part in any power struggles and deeply despised violence – had chosen to support Valen when he had come to aid the Minbari against the Old Enemy, the Shadows. How could they not? The Shadows were the exact opposite of whatever Valeria and her followers stood for. Everyone who helped them to drive out the Shadows of the Galaxy was an ally.
Thus they allowed Valen into the inner court of the Temple – according to tradition he had been one of the nine males ever to receive this honour – and taught him all that he had been able to learn. In exchange, Valen had shared with them his holy visions of the far future, which the Sisters of Valeria had written down and kept the scrolls locked away – until the fullness of time, when they had to be opened and their secrets shared with the chosen ones.
The Temple of Valeria stood in the oldest part of the city, way beyond the dazzling array of crystalline surfaces that was considered the centre of Tuzanor. The buildings, carved from the natural crystalline deposits of the planet, generally wore geometric shapes, most predominantly that of a triangle. To the Minbari, everything reflected the number three: the caste system, the mysterious Grey Council, their most sacred relics… even their architecture. All were evocative of "three".
The Temple of Valeria was no exception from this rule. It was perhaps the most imposing structure of the whole city: a structure of nine separate buildings, eight of them arranged in a hexagonal outline with three temples each on the longer sides and two each on the upper and lower peaks. A ninth building was adjoining the lower peak, as if it were some sort of anteroom, and all buildings were connected by arched corridors that had no windows to the outside. No outsiders had ever seen the inner courts and gardens – or the inner sanctum that was established above all other temples, just like the head of the Grey Council stood above the other nine Satai.
All these temples wore the names of the different aspects of Valeria; her "emanations", as the secret lore of the Sisters called it. There were not named on any of the modern languages – not even in Adronato, the Religious Caste language – but in the Sacred Tongue that no one but the anointed Sisters of Valeria still understood.
The first one on the lower peak was called Malkhut, the Knowledge, for knowledge was the way that led to the deeper mysteries. The second one on the lower peak was Yeshod, the Light, for through knowledge the way to light leads. The first one on the left was Hod, the Patience, and the first one on the right was Nezah, the Sacrifice, and these two led to the hidden inner temple in the middle of the court, the one called Tifreth, the Glory. From Patience on the left led the way to Din, the Power, and from Sacrifice on the right led the way to Khesed, the Mercy. Power again led to Binakh on the left, the Understanding, and Mercy on the right led to Chokhmah, the Wisdom. These two, finally, led to the upper peak and its crowning temple that bore the name of Kheter, which meant Enlightening in the Sacred Tongue, but also Crown.
It took ten cycles for a novice to pass through all these temples, living and serving a cycle in each and learning the ancient lore assigned to that particular temple. The buildings had arched walkways connecting them with each other, linearly either on the left or on the right side, and again one walkway each connected the twin buildings that balanced out each other on the two sides. Only Tifreth had a connection to each other temple, for Glory meant in the lore of the Sisters the summary of all Valeria's attributes. Consequently, this was the most important one of all temples, and only those who had gone through the other nine and reached Kheter on the end of the ninth cycle of their service were allowed to enter it.
Lúthienn from the Faithful Hearts – a small and rather insignificant clan of the Religious Caste – had nearly completed her cycle of studies in the Temple of Tifreth. Only thirty more days separated her from the inauguration ceremony, in which she would be irreversibly declared dead for the outside world and become a Sister of Valeria. Ten cycles would have been a long and arduous way for any novice, but hers was even more so than that of the others, for she was the Chosen One. Thus she had spent all her life in the Temple… well, almost.
She had barely reached the end of her first cycle, when the Sisters, alerted by an ancient prophecy Valen, began their search for the Chosen One – a female child born once in a thousand cycles. The instructions of the prophecy were clear enough, so that Master Draal found her rather easily. She was taken from her biological parents and brought to the Temple. As such thing was considered a great (and extremely rare) honour, her parents obeyed, of course, even though their hearts were breaking. They had met only once in the last fourteen cycles – when her parents brought her baby brother, Tannier, to the Temple, to receive the blessings of the Sisters.
Too little for a life in the convent yet, Lúthienn had spent the first five cycles in the common area of the Temple of Malkhut, with the other girls who had received their Calling or been sent there by their parents. But even then, her life had been different. She had not slept with the others in the dormitory but in a tiny cell all by herself. She had been tutored by Master Draal from a very tender age on, and when she fulfilled her sixth cycle, she was clad in the robes of a Shai'mira, a female acolyte (not that the Order of Valeria had male ones) and entered the Temple of Yeshod, never to leave the Order again.
From that moment on, her life had belonged to Valeria. Her unparalleled gift for musical harmony had been detected, and she served as a Shai'mira for six cycles, walking through the Temples of Hod, Nezah, Din, Khesed and Binakh. As her voice was the sweetest and clearest that even the oldest Sisters had ever heard, she was chosen to sing the most sacred hymns during the ceremonies. She had content with this life and willing to live it out as a Ch'aal, a ceremony master. It was a honourable position and she found great delight in this kind of service.
Whenever she had mentioned this to Sal'sataia Zhalenn(1), the superior of the Temple, the tall, willowy priestess had just smiled kindly and warned her that as a Chosen One, she might not have the chance to choose her own place in the Temple. She had not understood this cryptic answer – until the visions came
She had barely fulfilled her twelfth cycle and had just entered the Temple of Chokmah, when they first hit. It had caused a great upheaval in the Order, of course – how could it not? A young girl, with the sign of the Chosen One on her head, having visions about the death of Dukhat… it was highly unsettling. And when shortly thereafter Dukhat was killed and the bloody war against the race called humans broke out, Sal'sataia Zhalenn began to give her thoughtful looks, and ordered the eldest Sisters to search all ancient scrolls for more prophecies about the Chosen One.
The visions had never ceased since then. The Sisters tried to shield her from the outside world, but Lúthienn knew she would not be able to hide in the Temple forever. A Seer had duties towards her people. And a Chosen One had a destiny that she could not escape. Not that she would want to escape. Her life was service – to serve Valeria, the Temple and Minbar. The form of service might change. That which was important – to serve her people – always remained the same.
Completing her afternoon studies, Lúthienn left the library of Tifreth and stepped out onto the balcony to look upon the inner gardens. Their beauty always put her heart at ease, and right now she needed that small relief. She had been struggling with frightening visions of darkness and bloodshed for days by now, which was the more upsetting as the war against the humans had ended almost a year ago.
She gathered the wide folds of her white robes tighter around her and looked down onto the sunlit gardens. There was a small waterfall cascading down next to the arched, stained glass entrance of the Temple of Khesed, its water pouring into a small pond. It was an incredibly peaceful, soothing sound, and Lúthienn began to relax, when she discovered two white-clad women sitting on a bench next to the pond and talking in low voices.
One of them was Sal'sataia Zhalenn, but the other didn't wear the sacral robes of the Temple. She wore the common white of the Religious Caste, and that surprised Lúthienn a little. Visitors were a rare thing here, as the Sisters led a solitary life, spent in silence and meditations, aside from the ceremonies. With the expectations of teaching the acolytes and the novices, they rarely even spoke to each other, in order to keep the serene atmosphere undisturbed. Family members were welcome to join the ceremonies in the Temple of Malkhut, but they were seldom allowed to enter the inner court or to speak to the Sisters – only in matters of great importance.
And yet now an outsider was visiting the Temple grounds. And not any outsider, at that. Although she had only been here once before, Satai Delenn was not unknown to the Sisters. Not only was she a renowned leader of the Religious Caste and the one who had brought the war against the humans to an end, she was also the daughter of Sal'sataia Zhalenn. Which, of course, didn't mean that she would have been allowed to go in and out of the Temple as she pleased. So, why was she here now?
Lúthienn felt the dark clouds of foreboding blur her vision, despite the warm sunshine in the gardens. Was Satai Delenn here to ask for protection in the Temple? Was there truly another bloody war coming? Was the Temple still safe?
She could not stay there any longer. She fled the balcony, ran back into the Temple of Tifreth, back to her own small, bare cell and tried to find support in her meditations, to center herself. But not even fifteen cycles spent in rigorous exercises could bring her soul the peace that she had sought.
It wasn't until after the sunset ceremony that Sal'sataia Zhalenn sent a young acolyte to her and asked for a private meeting. This was a most unusual request, and Lúthienn felt her chest tighten with anxiety. In all her years in the Temple, she had only met Sal'sataia Zhalen privately about four times. She was only a Dra'sa(2), not even an anointed Sister, and Sal'sataia Zhalen rarely spoke to anyone outside of tutoring anyway.
She was lead to the Sal'sataia's office in the Temple of Malkuth – the only public area of the Temple grounds. It was less barren than the usual accommodations in the Temple, after all, it was used for the rare occasions when the Sal'sataia had to meet outside visitors (usually Religious Caste leaders), and small adjustments for the outsiders' sake had been made. One could not expect dignitaries to kneel on a thin mat upon the cold stone floor while discussing important matters with the Sal'sataia.
Zhalenn looked up from her desk where she was studying some documents – official papers, from the look of them, not ancient scrolls of lore – and smiled. Her green eyes were wise and warm… and surprisingly tired, hiding a deep sadness that had not been there the day before.
"Ah, Lúthienn," she greeted her warmly, "good, you are already here. You can leave us, Dhaliri," she added, turning to her Nial'sa(3), "we won't need you anymore."
That surprised Lúthienn even more, and she started to become truly concerned. If Sal'sataia Zhalenn didn't want her attendant present, the conversation would not be pleasant.
"Please, sit." Zhalenn gestured to a couch and waited for the astonished Dra'sa to seat herself. They were alone in a small office, and Zhalenn knew there would be no purpose in formality now. Everything depended upon what she was about to say… and what Lúthienn might answer. This was something that needed to be done, and it was her assignment to persuade Lúthienn of the necessity of it.
Zhalenn studied her hands, for once not able to look at her favourite pupil. "I did not want this to happen, Lúthienn." She looked up at her in sorrow. "Please know this. I have done all I could to prevent this from happening, although I have known for some time that my efforts would likely fail. I still believe that this is a mistake, but my objections were rejected by the Grey Council itself."
Lúthienn couldn't think of an answer. She simply looked at the Sal'sataia, her heart growing heavy with nameless fear.
Zhalenn leaned back in her chair and took a steadying breath. "For a thousand cycles, Minbari have kept stability and order through the three castes, as you know. But ever since we ended our war against the humans, peace between the Warrior and the Religious Castes has been precarious at best."
Lúthienn nodded, starting to understand the pattern. "They are not taking kindly that they have been robbed from their victory, are they?"
"No, they are not," Zhalenn agreed. "Ever since Shai Alyt Sinoval took his own life out of protest and the Trigati has vanished in deep space, hidden hostility has been festering between the two Castes. This has to end, or the Peace of Valen would be broken and chaos would break out across all Minbar. Thus the Grey Council has come to a decision – one that would cost our Order a great sacrifice."
Lúthienn gave no answer, just waited patiently for an explanation about what that sacrifice would be, and how it concerned her personally.
"It has been a time-honoured custom of our people that if a clan has been wronged by another one, a child from the clan which bore the fault would send a child to the wronged clan to marry one of their members," Zhalenn continued carefully. "And as the Warrior Caste feels that they were wronged by the Religious Caste, our only way seems to be to follow this ancient custom. But this time the wrongdoing seems too great to be balanced out by a simple Nafak'cha(4). This time, a greater sacrifice is required." She looked at Lúthienn steadfastly now. "I have no other choice, child. I shall have to set you free, so that you can marry Neroon from the Star Riders clan."
Lúthienn gazed at her in absolute horror. Leaving the Temple, where she had spent all her life? Giving up her Calling, her destiny, to marry a warrior responsible for uncounted deaths during the war? Neroon, of all people, him, who never failed to boast about how many humans he had killed? The Sisters of Valeria might have led a solitary life, but even they had followed the events of war, thus Lúthienn knew all too well how Neroon was.
He was a monster. A monster in the disguise of a Minbari. A monster that delighted in the massacring of a clearly inferior people. And she was supposed to marry that?
"It has to be, child," Zhalenn continued; being a telepath, she could read the troubled mind of the confused girl like an open scroll, "or else the war and bloodshed will come to Minbar, the next time."
"But why me?" Lúthienn whispered, devastated.
The Sal'sataia sighed in defeat. "We are the most respected Chu'minn(5) on Minbar. Giving away one of our own would show that the Caste is serious about making amends. And you are the only one among us who has already reached Nath'sa(6) but hasn't been anointed yet."
Lúthienn was too numb with shock to feel anything. So, she wouldn't be inaugurated when the fullness of time comes. Thirty days only separated her from the last Rites. In thirty days, she would have been safe from the scheming of the Del'Saezha(7), safe from Neroon… But now all was lost. All she had prepared herself for, all she had studied, prayed for, all she has hoped for, was taken from her.
"I've tried to fight this decision," Zhalenn added bitterly, "but I was overruled. This has to be done, Lúthienn. You have to sacrifice yourself – for the good of Minbar."
Lúthienn nodded, almost absent-mindedly. This was too much to take at once, too hard, too cruel. "When…?" she finally asked.
"Neroon has already left for Tuzanor," Zhalenn answered simply. "The betrothal ceremony will take place in two days."
The girl blinked, shaking her head at the news. "So soon?" she whispered.
Zhalenn nodded solemnly. "The sooner the voices of dissatisfaction are silenced, the better for our people. But I made it adamantly clear that you shall not leave the Temple until you reach legal maturity. This is your home – you have nowhere to go. And the marriage cannot be consummated as long as you are under-age."
"But I shall not be inaugurated, shall I?" Lúthienn asked, barely audibly. Zhalenn shook her head in sympathy.
"I fear that is no longer possible, child. I am greatly displeased about this, for I am certain that your destiny would lie elsewhere, but I cannot do anything to stop this from happening."
Lúthien nodded, her young heart breaking visibly. A single tear appeared in her eye and rolled down her face slowly.
"I shall do it," she whispered brokenly. "For the sake of our people."
TBC
End notes:
(1) According to Hightower's Minbari dictionary, zhalen means "alone". I made a noun out of it, so the name of the Sal'sataia (literally "Mistress", also the Mother Superior) has the approximate meaning "the lonely one". All the other Minbari expressions are from that dictionary.
(2) Female apprentice, the equivalent of a novice.
(3) Female attendant.
(4) In this context: marriage ceremony.
(5) Monastery.
(6) Sexual awakening ( puberty). A word made up by me, using Hightower's dictionary.
The structure of the Temple of Valeria (based on the Trees of the Sohar, from the teachings of the Kabbala):
1. Malkhut – Knowledge
2. Yeshod – Light
3a. Hod – Patience
3b. Nezah – Sacrifice
4. Tifreth – Glory
5a. Din – Power
5b. Khesed – Mercy
6a. Binakh – Understanding
6b. Chokhmah – Wisdom
7. Kheter – Enlightening
The temples with a suffix "a" are on the left side of the compound, the ones with a suffix "b" on the right side. Temples without a suffix are on the upper and lower peaks of the hexagon.