The Kurilusa part 5. The Sevenfold Covenant

The Brides of the Gods

Then the king of kings sought out the Seven Oracles, the wives of the gods,

In hope of learning what he must do to be granted a son and heir,

And for the wombs of his kin to again grow fertile.

They were Seven Sisters of great beauty,

Carried forth from the same womb at the same time.

Knowing this to be more than providence,

They were sent into the temples of the homeland without touching unsanctified ground.

There they were wed to the gods, and sat as guardians beside the Seven Braziers,

Whose sacrificial smoke bore them into trance,

That the gods might speak through them unto elven kind.

When the elves abandoned their homeland on command of the king of kings,

The Sisters veiled and protested.

Yet still the elves built pavilions around them and their braziers,

So that their feet should never touch profane earth as they were borne onto the arks.

Then, as the Sisters lost sight of their blessed yet crumbling shores,

They spoke as in one voice:

“No home have the elves now to truly call their own,

Nor sacred pact with gods; the covenant is broken.

The voices speak all at once.

It is finished.”

The Seven Temples

In the new land a vast temple was raised for the Seven Sisters.

Seven ziggurats stood, each crowned with a gilded shrine,

Mirroring the seven heavenly lights above.

Great labour was spent in their raising,

That the gods might once more be pleased.

And the king of kings, though ruler of all,

Was made as a commoner before the Brides of the Gods.

For he alone must ascend each temple, barefoot and unserved,

As a penitent in the hall of the divine.

The Voices of the Sisters

In the first temple he entered, a voice cried:

“Be afraid, for you tread upon the floor of the gods!

Remove your shoes, for this fire burns on holy ground.

I am the wife of one of your lords,

Whose sacred land you abandoned.

My husband bids me tell you:

The blessed land has fallen, and the covenant with it.

You decreed the fate of your people,

Yet did you not know the gods also had their plans?”

In the second temple the voice cried:

“Be afraid, for you tread upon the floor of the gods!

Remove your shoes, for this fire burns on holy ground.

I am the wife of one of your lords,

Whose sacred land you abandoned.

Yet you have brought us new worshippers,

Who sacrifice in our name.

For this we granted you a daughter—yet you are not content?

Who are you to demand of us?”

In the third temple the voice cried:

“Be afraid, for you tread upon the floor of the gods!

Remove your shoes, for this fire burns on holy ground.

As you came as foreign seed unto new shores,

So must foreign seed come into the womb of your line if it is to flourish.

Dilute your blood, and we shall strengthen your people.

This is the sacrifice for a Second Covenant.”

In the fourth temple the voice cried:

“Be afraid, for you tread upon the floor of the gods!

Remove your shoes, for this fire burns on holy ground.

You are a lord who follows one voice to many,

Yet you know not how to listen.

Will you harken now?”

In the fifth temple the voice cried:

“Be afraid, for you tread upon the floor of the gods!

Remove your shoes, for this fire burns on holy ground.

Seek not the words of fate, for they are of the realm of gods.

Those who know them know also the divine,

And shall bear the curse of divinity.”

In the sixth temple the voice cried:

“Be afraid, for you tread upon the floor of the gods!

Remove your shoes, for this fire burns on holy ground.

Covet not what is not yours to covet.

Show humility, and we shall show it unto you.”

In the seventh temple the king entered—

But here no voice commanded him.

The maiden only blushed as he gazed upon her,

Saying softly:

“Look not at me thus—you make me blush.”

The Union

And the king said:

“Six times I removed my shoes like a beggar at the door of his lord,

Yet only rebuke was given me.

But you, fairest of all whom I have beheld in both realms,

To you I would gladly remove not only my shoes,

But all my garments,

And lay with you as my wife.

Thus I prove myself master of my fate,

Equal to the gods you wed.

And by my seed in your heavenly cup,

I fulfill the command to dilute my blood.

So shall all be content.”

And so the king of kings cast off his robes and shoes,

And lay with her in the temple of her god.

She did not refuse him, but gave herself willingly,

Whispering:

“I was destined to be the bride of a god,

No matter how fate ordained it.”

Then he led her hand in hand out of the temple, naked,

Before the shocked throng below.

And he declared:

“Behold! The Second Covenant is sealed!”

The Twin Thrones

The queen Zelhuya, Crowned by Stars,

Good sister, dutiful wife, faithful consort,

Was greatly shamed.

For no elf, not even the king of kings,

Might hold two wives.

Yet he proclaimed himself now both elf and god,

Dwelling in heaven and earth alike,

And therefore needing two brides—

One for each throne.

And though resentment grew, awe grew with it also,

For envy and ambition burns fierce in elven hearts.

They saw the path to godhood opened before them,

But none dared walk it behind him,

For they knew he would suffer no rival in divinity.

The Fostered Heir

Then whispers stirred in Harreatusa,

And in the palaces of every lord.

But the king of kings, seated between his two wives,

Knew the envy swelling in his court.

So he called forth his sister with suckling babe,

And tore the child from her breast before all the lords.

And he said:

“Amarilippa, king of the Western Shores,

First to raise halls of stone,

You shall be foster father to my divine daughter.

For if honoured with her care,

Envy shall rise against you,

And your faction shall be broken.

Thus unity I preserve,

Even as the war in the mountains drains our strength.”

End of the first tablet of the Kurilusa