City of Dreams

City of Dreams

“Is it really wise to leave such an important task to...to unskilled volunteers?” Sigeo took a sip of his iced tea and leaned back, idly counting the prayer flags strung from the awnings of the cafe hanging limply in the still air. He started silently reciting the names of the gods represented there but stopped himself. He took another sip of tea and turned back to Bellona. “The Templars are trained for this, Bel. Why not let them do the job?” He waved a server over to their table. “More mint tea, my child.”

“Yes, Favored,” the server said with a curtsey. She turned to Bellona. “Shall I bring you more, Favored?”

Bellona shook her head, “None for me, Fern. Thank you.”

The server smiled and gave another, deeper, curtsey. As she headed back into the cafe, Sigeo watched Fern reflexively reach up touch a prayer flag.

Sigeo shook his head at Bellona, chuckling. “How do you remember their names?”

“I don’t know how you don’t, Sig.” She smiled, and Sigeo laughed outloud.

“My goddess demands I keep my mind on the ledger, not on niceties.” He grew serious again. “Still the question stands, why not send the Templars? They are trained, they are plentiful, and they are beholden to the Assembly.”

Bellona nodded, and said, “All that is true, but this task is greater than the Templars, greater than the Assembly. All who are willing to face the danger should be allowed to go. ”

“Are you tossing your faith over to the Lady, Bel, that you would have so many go in pilgrimage to Her lost shrine?” He swirled the melting ice in his glass. She leaned in and placed her hand on his to still the glass. Her gaze was intense; whatever fire Morgan had lit in soul of the priestess burned behind those clear blue eyes.

“My faith remains where it has always been, Sig, but I know truth when I see it. You must support Morgan’s proposition.”

Sigeo sighed. “What did Morgan promise you to get such devotion to this cause?”

Bellona pulled back, shifting in her chair to look out at the busy street on the other side of the cafe’s low wrought iron fence. Sigeo watched her twist her blessing lock that hung like a streak of rich earth in a field of golden wheat. For a moment he wondered whether had had offended the priestess but for all the years he had worked with her in the Assembly and now the Council, he had never known her to be one to let her emotions carry her away. She was steady as the farmland her god ruled, nurturing in her quiet way, not one to be pushed by passions like some others. No, the columns here did not balance. Morgan must have offered something good to Dasha’s Favored. Bells rang in the distance and Sigeo became impatient with Bellona’s silence.

“Bel, don’t play coy,” he said, slamming the glass down. The dishes on the table rattled in a dull echo of the bells. “If you want my support in the Council, I want to know what game Morgan is playing.”

Bellona startled at his outburst. Then her eyes narrowed. “Is that your price, Sig? Will you exchange your vote for that information?”

It was his turn to fiddle with his blessing lock, a braided streak of bright red tucked out of the way behind his ear. Was his curiosity worth his vote? He had balanced the ledger with stranger tidbits. In the silence, the server brought his tea. He took his time in paying her, trying to make Bellona’s offer balance. But try as he might, he couldn’t. Yet there was other information that would make a very pretty mark in his ledger...

“No, no,” he said. “That is a poor exchange.”

A gust of wind set the prayer flags snapping and tossed Bellona’s hair into a wild mane. The light had changed. Everything had sharp edges, even Bellona’s soft face. Thunder rumbled in the distance.

“Sig, I need to know we have your vote.”

“Can we adjourn to my office? It is close…”

She interrupted him. “No,” Bellona snapped. “Time is running out. The vote is tomorrow.” She leaned forward, pleading, “Please, Sig, just this once. Do this for me.”

Sigeo shook his head, “Bel, you have been here as long as I have, maybe longer. You know that the City runs on more than dreams. You cannot have my vote on credit.”

She slumped in her chair. “What do you want?”

“I want to be kept in the loop.”

“What do you mean?”

“If this passes, Morgan will certainly have people in all areas of this expedition. I want to know what those people see, what those people find, what those people know.”

“But Sakitha will have a Trading Post there.”

“A small one, yes, but the priest there will be tied to the books. I want to know more than one priest can know. Besides, Couriers are expensive. Save me the money of having to send my own people and you have my vote.”

Bellona was still for a moment. The day was growing increasingly dark as the storm rolled over the City. Lightning flashed, turned the world inside out, and the thunder was the only sound between them.

She stood so quickly the chair tilted and crashed to the ground, echoing the thunder. “I have to confer with Morgan, but,” she stuck out her hand, “it seems a fair trade.” Sigeo placed his hands flat on the table.

“When Morgan agrees, we can shake on it, Bel.”

Her lips twisted into a mockery of a smile. “Always the ledgers, Sig.”

“I cannot disappoint my goddess, Bel.”

She righted the chair. “I will let you know as soon as the agreement is made.”

Sigeo nodded.

Bellona turned to go. Sigeo could hear the rain in the distance, and everyone in the street started rushing to escape the sudden deluge. He wasn’t going to beat the storm back to his office. He gulped down the tea. He might be destined to get waterlogged but it would be a sin to leave good mint tea to be watered down by rain.

“It came to me in a dream.”

Sigeo was startled to see Bellona standing on the other side of the cafe fence, her hair dancing madly in the wind, an odd expression on her face.

“What?”

“Morgan didn’t offer me anything. It came to me in a dream.”

Sigeo tipped his head in confusion, “But you…”

“I know. Still.”

“I don’t understand.”

She shrugged and smiled. “You were wrong, Sig. The City does run on dreams.” Without another word she turned and disappeared into the wall of rain roaring down the street.