CH: The Eight Facets of Alira (story)
Rob Geraghty
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As if by magic, the tiny trail through the forest ended in a verdant field.
An oval glade, surrounded on all sides by the great forest trees which, in
the shifting light of many lanterns, looked like enormous stone columns with
fluted ends.
The bright constellations were just appearing in the deepening azure sky as
the last remnants of daylight faded and evening closed in. A soft, cool
breeze kept the lanterns and the great bonfires flickering, sending wierd
shadows across the glade to play on the trees and their shifting leaves.
Many tables were laid out in the glade, and people sat at them merrily
talking, eating and drinking. The smell of cooking food wafted from the
spits mixing with the perfume of many flowers that adorned the tables and
the sharper scent of mulled wine.
A strange feeling of elation welled up inside me as I walked into the light
and over to the nearest table - only four of its six places were filled. I
introduced myself to the four young ladies seated there, who giggled and
asked me to be seated. Their dress was identical; pleated white gowns of
silk that flowed to ankle-length, interrupted only by an ornately shaped
silver belt at the waist. Each wore a circlet of silver in her hair. As we
talked, I felt more at ease with them than with anyone else in my whole
life, for they made me laugh and joke in return. Soon I had forgotten about
time and the rest of the world.
Suddenly a tall steward stood at the end of the table and our laughter
vanished. He told me that there was a seat at another table, and wondered
if I would like to move there. I was about to stand when the four girls
began pleading with him to let me stay. I said nothing, but eventually the
steward relented.
When the steward had left, I drew a small velvet pouch from a pocket and
untied the string that fastened it. They all leant across, trying to see
what it was that I slipped from the pouch into the palm of my hand before my
fingers closed over it. They needn't have, because a moment later I held my
hand in the middle of the table and with a flourish flicked the stone
between thumb and forefinger. Its multifaceted teardrop shape glittered in
the light of the table's candles and held their astonished gaze. Stupefied
by its beauty, they watched as the crystal began to glow with an inner light
until each facet threw out a beam of bright colour. No two colours were the
same. I slowly rotated it in my fingers so that they all saw the colours,
then flicked it high into the air. The crystal seemed to hang for a few
moments spinning wildly, before its light was abruptly extinguished and they
gasped as it seemed to disappear. Opening my fingers once more, they saw
that the crystal was back in my hand, inert but glittering in the yellow
firelight.
The girl who sat opposite me, and who seemed especially beautiful to me,
held out a small, trembling hand and asked if she could see the crystal. I
placed it in her palm without hesitation and she cupped it in both hands in
fascination while her friends crowded around. After a few moments of simply
staring at the flawless stone, she looked up and I gazed into her eyes as
they shone with a radiance all their own. Moisture rimmed her eyelids.
"How... did you make it shine like that?" She asked softly, her voice
quavering slightly. I simply smiled and plucked the crystal from her hands.
"You just hold it up like this," I said, while holding it up as before,"and
concentrate on it, tell it what you want it to do..."
The air was instantly filled with the sounds of flutes and violins, of
voices singing high and clear. They gasped and listened, while other people
drew near to hear the music. Some who were musicians took up their
instruments and began to play in time, taking up the tune. Soon, people
moved empty tables to the edge of the glade to clear space as they began to
dance. The girls did not move, but sat entranced by the crystal I held.
Once again I flicked it into the air, but this time it did stay in place -
spinning and throwing out beams of light just out of reach of the tallest
person. I stood and walked to the other side of the table to take that most
exquisite of the girls - Alira - by the hand.
"Will you dance with me, Alira?" I asked. She smiled shyly and nodded her
head once before standing. With a bow and a flourish, I led her to the
dance.
She danced magnificently, and I matched her. We spun and whirled, dipped
and leapt, yet nomatter how I tried I could not take my eyes from hers.
Alira's dark eyes glittered and shone, reflecting the crystal's beams while
seeming lit from within. Every so often we would realise that we were
staring at each other, laugh and look away. But not for long.
One cannot dance as we did for ever, so soon we left the dancers to return
to the table. The other girls had joined the dance, so it was empty save
for the candles. I held my hand under the place where the crystal spun and
it dropped slowly to my palm, glowing faintly white. Putting the stone back
in its pouch and my pocket, I took Alira's hand. At the edge of the glade
she hesitated, looking into the darkness.
"How shall we see?" she asked.
"The stars are bright, but we can do better. Let me hold your right hand,"
I replied. Though puzzled, Alira held out her hand palm up and I covered it
with mine. She watched as I whispered quietly, then slowly raised my hand.
A small bluish ball of light glowed in her palm and with a command, I sent
it bobbed along the path before us. Alira smiled shyly and giggled.
"It seems you have a solution for every problem, my wizard friend," she
said, and looked away with a distant expression, "even loneliness."
Alira looked back into my eyes wistfully and I could resist no longer. I
kissed her.
Moments later, we were walking onward into the forest by the light of the
faerie-fire and after a short walk, arrived at a small glade. It was so
tiny that upon looking up at the stars I saw only one constellation ringed
by a circle of leaves. The trees seemed to arch toward the distant
twinkling suns and my jaw dropped as I recognised the constellation - the
eight faceted diamond after which the girl whose hand I held was named.
Alira.
She followed my gaze and squeezed my hand.
"Even the stars seem to approve of us tonight," Alira whispered.
Taking off my fur-lined cloak, I laid it in the midst of the glade and she
sat daintily, I beside her. Once again I found myself gazing into her eyes
as she lookd up into the stars, and I saw her namesake diamond reflected
there. I gently kissed her cheek, and she turned to me as we fell into a
soft embrace. The faery-fire blazed momentarily, then faded to leave us in
the starlight and the silent wood, the smell of damp grass and wild herbs.
As we made love under the light of Alira the diamond, we somehow knew that
we had found "the one" we each had searched for.
Thought
-------
I am a crystal
Refracting the light
The facet you see
Is but one of many
And no-one can see
That facet but you
I am a mirror
I am a hologram
Reflecting
Refracting
Your light
I am a light
A mirror
A prism
So are we all
Thought is copyright (c)R.E.Geraghty October 1987
The Eight Facets of Alira is copyright (c)R.E.Geraghty 1979 and rewritten 23
December 1995
--
Rob Geraghty
Official Harper of the RFA
http://wordweb.com harper at dbworld.net.au