Early Summit Deliberations : Kalile and the Ambassadors

The Sky Table

Heavy rains to the west of the mountains had made the approach to New Che-Uin difficult, with some of the cliff paths having tumbled away, and others being deep with sticky mud. Arrivals from the furthest lands came in a great throng, streaming steady through the gate. Upward they went into the streets beneath welcoming banners and flags, all saffron and bearing the mark of the Bee, the symbol of the golden city.

As the last of the guests filed into Kalile's cliff-side quarters, a group of Ambassadors had gathered, and stood about quietly conversing beneath the sweeping central dome of his open-air library. Lazy shafts of incense rose amongst large potted tropic ferns, and leading onto the broad verandas from the library, low iron and brass braziers burned in anticipation of the drawing dusk. Warm, amber beams of late afternoon light flowed through the carved stone arches and marble sills onto a great, twisting vine table that had grown up through the floor and, over the ages had been trained into the shape of a huge living lecturn, around which similar vine seats with leafy, high backrests had also been grown. The vines had crept in robust, woody tangles up the walls, curling around columns and into cracks. The ceiling above the table was yet another sweeping coffered dome. At its center was an amber glass skylight, and around this were painted in frescoe the fifteen celestial dieties of Mirico and their corresponding symbols from the Ambassador's alphabet. Between the grand columns supporting the dome were vignettes, also in frescoe, of the creation of earth by Creatoli and L'wambwah, the birth of Glynmarra from the cosmic womb, the march of the tree people from Yirdilfi, the first Tree, and the breaking of the Universal silence as Akhenn sang the first song among the stars. Also there was depiction of Suryama, the Great string of Beads, and the twins Qyla and Oturra, the moon sisters.

The delegates and representatives from many corners of Mirico had traveled immense and dangerous distances to be present. Most seemed calm, but there was an air of agitation among them; the Summit of the hidden realm went back into deep time, and its gathering was both a celebratory and a serious affair.

Among those in attendance were Tharkin of the Kinnarit, Bry'e of Amnamar, and Zwindar of Wyandolor, representing their own tribes and clans, but also there was Abfosam Maso, the Patriarchal leader of the bird folk Onapali'e in the tropical Naku Islands. At his side stood Ahpe, blind earthspeaker of the N'Miridna in the Ou-Ti lands, where her bird folk made their home in Yaawo-Ana, the city of trees. Beside her, leafing through a book on astronomy, stood the formidable Saarka, Egret'u of the Vexed Mists, and hailing from a great bird tribe of wandering fish hunters. Examining one of Kalile's many astrolabes and nautical maps was Anto of the Ta'me folk, frog hunter of the Wandering Isles. Ee'ador, wasp woman of New Che-Uin was providing water in delicate chalices with felted handles. Ehn'a, white Shelkie of the Dillydell stood calmly absorbing the group, with her enormous shell extending partially out onto the nearest veranda, so that her moist snail skin could feel the light wind pulling in from the west. Last was the Pengoon named Yaenouk, who had come furthest of all, hailing from the white ships of Copirnikha in the South. She was engaged in conversation with Kalile as the Master of Arrows, Kai'an the Bee, entered the chamber to announce a final arrival.

Yuk'anda, Elk Ambassador of boreal Firinbrad, entered the chamber with his attendants.

"Forgive my lateness, Ambassadors and friends," said Yuk'anda, bowing in a greeting traditional to the Elk Men of the north. While many of the Ambassadors of Earth offered a bow with their fingers splayed in the form of wings, Yuk'anda's hand pose was far more like the antlers that grew from his great Elk head. 
"Your presence is a gift, Yuk'anda," Kalile assured, as he joined the others. Kalile gave a stoic nod to the Master of Arrows, who curtly bowed in response and ducked out of the room to quietly close the doors of the chamber. Kai'an and several of the city's archers, all bees dressed in fine woven armor, then took to their posts on the verandas, and outside the chamber entrance. An attack was not expected, as New Che-Uin was indeed a city devoid of violence, and Kalile, in his humble manner, had indeed discouraged the presence of guards and soldiers as protection for him. But Kai'an had insisted, and thus all precautions were being taken.

As Kalile came to stand among those who had gathered with him, he seemed smallest among them. Though he was broad of chest and not diminutive in stature, the whole of his company dwarfed his human form. Kalile was, in presence, as great as any who walked the Lands of Mirico, however, with hearts that held hands, and with a mind ever aiming its arrows toward truth,

As Kalile bowed his head and placed his hands, palms outward, over his chest in the Glynmarran bow, the room fell utterly quiet, and, each in their own way, the Ambassadors also made reverence to the great bird with their hands, or simply bowed their heads in respect. Together, with Kalile leading the words, and with the bee soldiers and guards also echoing the words in the alcoves beyond, they spoke a remembrance of the Ambassadors, a chant going back into the Deep Time, which said;

These are my Seven Directions

Courage, for self and others

Service, in stewardship and charity

Simplicity, in task and possession

Mindfulness, in focus and awareness

Strength, in work an in body

Peace, in mind and in action

Health, in balance and purity

These are my Seven Purposes

Truth, encouraged and endorsed

Discipline, taught and followed

Compassion, practiced and received

Knowledge, obtained and exchanged

Freedom, engendered and protected

Equality, given and sought

Inspiration, found and provided

The Seven flames burn in my hearts,

that I may be a light in the world.

 Zwindar of Wyandolor 

Then as all eyes again opened, Kalile asked, “Shall we sit, everyone?” And altogether they found places at the table beneath the painted dome, save for Ehn'a the Shelkie, who drew herself up to the vine table at its furthest end, and folded her slightly translucent hands at its woody edge.

Just as the group had settled, from below in the city came the sonorous eve'ing call of the three Golden Trumpets, heralding the closing of the gate until the coming dawn. 
Iriolandinal,” said Kalile as he settled in the last vacant vine chair.

“I am humbled to be host to such esteemed company. I hope that you find our city agreeable, and that your many travels to us have been as devoid of discomfort as possible.Some at the table gave a nod, others, a subtle Glynmarran bow. Still others leaned in closer, listening with keen Ambassador's ears.


"For those among you who are less familiar with my lineage, I am the tenth B'Urendi to steward human Ambassadorship in Mirico. Some say the Earth chose my family to speak for it in this regard - and yet my family's position has been misinterpreted by some, as though we would align only with humans, making no concern for Earthly issue. But for myself, from the time I was very small I sought to hear the Earthspeech, so that I could not only join the conversation and address the earthly concerns, but also so that I could speak the words of earth to those who have not yet learned to listen. Among us here there are very great and accomplished speakers, and it will be my happiness, I hope, to hear what each of you has to share with us during the Summit deliberations. There are many issues to be covered in the days to come,” Kalile continued, “as all of you know, but as I open this discussion in such setting as is private, I do so with a topic I had not expected to introduce... There has been, as some of you may have already heard, a rejoining of hands as it were, between Mirico and Iridia.”

All gathered at the table again gave some form of acknowledgment. None among them looked displeased, but some did show concern.

"You speak of the children who passed through at And'yolek," Saarka the Egret'u observed. Some of the delegates exchanged glances. 
Kalile continued. “Considering this rejoining of hands between Mirico and Iridia, where better to present it than at the Assembly of the Summit?”

Anto the Ta'me huffed. He was leanly muscular, with wide frog eyes and webbed hands and feet intricately tattooed with bogmaw spirals. “Until we know the nature of this joining of hands, it would be wise to keep such news shrouded in mist."
"Already the news has passed to many prior to our arrival," Kalile sighed. "It is my thought that we should staunch supposition and rumor with truth." 

"There are many in Mirico who are not ready for a rejoining of hands-" suggested Ehn'a the Shelkie. "The socio-political climate among the Ambassadors remains in profound dichotomy, with devotions as passionate as yours, Kalile, but also there is ambivalence, apathy, and the dark pacts of demarcation, going back ten thousand years."
Kalile acknowledged Ehn'a's words.

"As one who is a recent shift in the socio-political climate," said Yaenouk the Pengoon, "I wonder if Queen Bry'e might have any word in this regard."

All eyes turned to the new queen, who was visibly hesitant to speak. “I would ask all of you,” Bry'e began, “to forgive the winds that rattle my speech.” She drew in a ragged breath, gathered herself, and spoke. “As a seed of the deep jungle, I am accustomed to listening to many voices, accustomed to speaking, occasionally, with one small voice. I feel poorly prepared to speak to many, and often, and my one voice feels afraid that it may say the wrong words.”

A bead of Suryama fell where no one responded. All in attendance were curious what the crimson queen would say, since none of her kind had taken part in a Summit in many turnings of the world.

Anto responded. “Your actions, as new queen, are as sharp as my spear, and a hundred times more powerful. The Tam'e would hunt many marshes and not find such bravery. You have the admiration of my clan.”

A rumble of agreement followed. Zwindar glowed quietly, and Kalile too.

Zwindar, having read the curiosities of the group and knowing her better than most at the Table, spoke to Bry'e next, with more direct words. “Do you think more of Amnamar will join with us, as you have? Do you think there shall be, among the Ambassadors, a turning of the tide?” 
Kalile, now looking at Bry'e and Zwindar as their eyes met across the distance, saw for the first time the love that flowed between them, and the wings of his hearts fluttered.
"I have felt great surprise," Bry'e admitted, "that so many of my own people have hidden in alliance with the One World. There may yet be more of us, as we, not only Amnamar but many other cultures, have hidden away in fear and for our own protection. While it is, perhaps, devastation of our homelands that have driven many of us to change, it is my hope that others may come forward wishing for N'Miridin. But, as the Tam'e have spoken, to rise up from hiding is not without great risk."
"You have not had dealings with the New Iridian children, is that correct?" Yeanouk inquired. 
Bry'e lowered her beak as a no. “I have seen the children only through the mind of their mother."

"In matters of the new Iridians, have we had dealings with any of these children, or is their presence merely hearsay?" Abfosam Maso inquired. His many tribal necklaces and beaded body decorations of shell and seaweed clinked softly beneath his long pale beak as he spoke. His headdress of broad leaves and flowers, which the Onapali'e of the Naku islands fashioned anew each day, had obviously been gathered that morning from Kalile's own Che-Uinian gardens.
“One of the children has been brought to this very city, and is at this time in our care," Kalile revealed. 

Tharkin interjected, calmly, but with a dark edge in his words. “You mean to stand Zakor before the Assembly.”

Kalile was surprised, but only subtly. Tharkin was not one to withhold emotion or remark, and his hearts had already leaned heavily in the direction of the little girl with whom they had traveled for some time. 

"I have thought to make her part of the Summit in some form," Kalile admitted carefully, "but only if she herself will agree to it, and within the discretion of you here in this company."

Tharkin's look was serious, but not grave. As he spoke he spun a small obsidian arrowhead between his knobby thumb and middle finger. “To bring her here was task alone, but to put her on display removes her mask, if you take my meaning. And she may be from Iridia, but she is not of Iridia.”

"I agree," said Bry',e with more confidence now. "She looks with different eyes that the rest of her people."
Zwindar spoke. “Perhaps not all the rest, but a majority, certainly. Bry'e and the good Tharkin speak for the same concern in different ways. But I say this child represents the way Iridia could be, if given the chance to see itself with new eyes.”

The Abfosam responded, “What one sees when one is small is not what one sees when one is grown. And the Iridian people are still very much a child in the womb of the world. We could still take the hand of this child and guide it towards a better maturity.”

There were rumbles of agreement from all around the meeting table.

Now Yaenouk the Pengoon spoke, in a dulcet voice with a distinct British accent. “This Zakor, it seems to me that she could be a representative for so many here in Mirico that have been forced to hide away, or to live in exile. If this young girl is as brave as you say, I believe she could speak for those of her kind here, who for centuries have struggled for equality, and for recognition as members of this natural world.”

Ahpe the Ou-Ti raised her hand.
"Yes, Ahpe," Kalile acknowledged. 
"As one who closely listens to the voices of the earth," she said, "I hear this child as an interpreter, like those of us in the Ou-Ti, but perhaps more highly specialized. I spoke for a brief time with Zwindar and through his eyes it seems she has a unique relationship with the Creatolonic energies, most specifically the stones and the fire. I believe, if she was given the right teacher, she could speak for Iridia, to Mirico, and also with the powers of Earth itself."

Now the Ambassadors altogether seemed a bit uneasy, among them even Kalile.

"We must consider, Ahpe of the Ou-Ti," offered Yaenouk, "that in many places in Mirico it has been declared unearthly to allow humans, Iridian or otherwise, to apprentice in the Speech of Earth. To teach even a highly gifted Speaker in this regard could place both the child and the teacher in grave danger."

"We understand," Ahpe responded, calmly, "that laws have been passed beneath some boughs, but not all. If an Earth Speaker came to us, we would without hesitation shelter and guide them to their utmost abilities. 
"Your tribe," said Kalile, "has the advantage of sequestered villages."
"Why was the task of Earthspeech denied to humans?" Bry'e inquired, looking vulnerable as she asked. 
"Misuse of the earthly powers has been catastrophic in the past," Yuk'anda acknowledged, "where a sad few learned the speech only to use it as a weapon against us."

Zwindar spoke carefully. “The creed of the Ambassador, since the Deep Time, has been that the Earth speaks first.” He waited a moment, receiving the eyes of everyone in attendance, and then went on. “There are energies with which we are familiar, to which we are tuned, and which we humbly serve, but these greater and deeper sources are far more powerful and knowing than anything we are, as simple Ambassadors. The earth is always searching for those who resonate with and respond to its energies, so it was that the three children near And'yolek responded to the outreaching earth as it sought those who would hear it. 
None of these children knew of the gift they possessed, nor were they aware that, as they responded, they would then be drawn further into the role they could assume as Earth Speakers. The earth knows them to be part of itself, and as such I say that we must protect and guide them with utmost respect. If the earth has chosen these children, it has spoken, not only to them but also to us. We were given hands so that we might reach out in ways that the earth cannot. Is it not our duty, as the ambassadors of earth, to also respond, to take the necessary risk?”