Excerpts #4 Taken From Fiefdom 17...Currently Being Written By Verily Prime...

Excerpt #4 From Fiefdom 17 By Verily Prime…

Please Read The First Three Published Excerpts From Fiefdom 17 To Be Familiar With Its Continuation In Excerpt #4 Below...

It is mid afternoon in the Hamlet of Liamigua and we see a pronounced white and purple neon sign Cross that depicts Ecclesiast Silvanos’ church, which is bigger than the surrounding dome-shaped residences… on the church grounds, we also see Dates and yellow Goose-Berry trees, nestled among the manicured, rolling, lush green pastures and parishioner’s children interacting. Beljazza Luna glides in on her glider and like an attractive nuisance, the children that were playing and eating the dates and berries are now curiously gazing at Beljazza. The glider descends and is in whisper mode… so as not to disturb the church setting… shortly thereafter… when the word spreads that Beljazza Luna was on the premises… we soon see some of the parents who were waiting for counseling or who were there simply on the church’s grounds for the children to enjoy the peaceful setting, securing their children and lingeringly giving Beljazza the ‘stink eye.’ Beljazza, who is in full Dragon Lord’s regalia, maneuvers the glider, which is ten feet off the ground, to one side of the church… in like a make-shift parking area for gliders. Beljazza dismounts by way of her gravity boots… and there are some children who come running and flocking around Beljazza… disregarding and not having the obvious animosity that most of the grown-ups have toward her. Beljazza, after hugging some of the children… explaining and pointing up to her hovering craft, escapes and disappears into the place of worship.

Inside the church… we see rows of brown polished benches coupled with scarlet carpet… leading to the pulpit… the church is occupied and some of its laity are kneeling and praying, while others are simply sitting, eyes closed, and contemplating. Ecclesiast Silvanos is not yet visible and Beljazza is searching, especially in the pulpit area to find him. Some of the parishioners are now looking at Beljazza, whose boots, even though she tried her best to be quiet, betrayed her and the quiet ambiance - but not even what is supposed to be the sacredness of the milieu can prevent the disdainful looks Beljazza is receiving. Beljazza, still searching and maintaining a poker face, walks past the pulpit area and goes to a side door and knocks. The door opens and Ecclesiast Silvanos, surprised but happy, is beaming with pride to see Beljazza Luna… unlike the negative facial reception displayed by many of his congregants. Ecclesiast Silvanos warmly hugs Beljazza and she in turn returns the fatherly hug… there are pleasantries exchanged as the Ecclesiast ushers Beljazza inside the modest office that has shelves full of aged books, a couch, a desk and chair, a bowl full of assorted fruits, paper-work, and a lamp over head.

Ecclesiast, looking over Beljazza from head to toe: “Officer Luna…” He guides her to the well worn couch, which must have seen thousands of visitors to that office. Beljazza, sitting down and surveying the modest office, then focuses on the Ecclesiast Silvanos….

Beljazza: “Come on… I am still that little girl, ‘Bell,’ you took a shine to at the orphanage…”

Silvanos:”Ok Bell, by the way (laughing) don’t feel too special… I took a shine to all the orphans… especially the obstinate ones like you….”

Beljazza smile somewhat dissipates… her mind is teeming as to how she is going to start the conversation she came to discuss with her mentor/Ecclesiast… “There is no easy way to say this… I am hated by the people… my kind that I used to work with in the fields of Goshen Minor… some of them look at me like I am an Ogre….”

Ecclesiast: “Didn't I warned you that taking this position will cause you some angst – and that you will get used to it… eventually they will accept you as the first from the Farming Caste to be elevated to be a law enforcer…”

BelJazza’s voice showing frustration: “But they do not look at it that way - they see me as the enemy, right up there with the Dragon Lords… even though you have spoken to them… did you tell them that you begged me to take this job… I didn't want it, but I trusted you and you convinced me that it was good to have a familiar face manning a glider, carrying weapons and enforcing the codes… instead of only the Dragon Lords…”

Ecclesiast: “Bell, every pioneer goes through what you are currently going through… I knew the challenge and I prepared the congregants for what you’ll be doing… look, I practically raised you and I knew you had the temperament to handle this position… I thought that you would benefit from the training and that you would get an insight as to the workings of the Dragon Lords – how many of us can say that we were trained and allowed to man a glider and carry weapons…?” ‘It is why the children are curious every time that they see you and I hope that it will become a norm in the future…’

Beljazza: “and from the other side… the Neroes were convicted without the benefit of a thorough investigation… who believes that the Neroes committed the crime of sedition – how convenient was it for the Dragon Lords to find the figurine and the writing in the ancient language that the Neroes could not speak or write…”

Ecclesiast: And what of your subsequent investigation?

Beljazza: ”The Lords are not too keen on my further investigating because it undermines their almost summary judgment of the Neroes… yet, they summoned me to be there during the initial search of the Neroes’ home… symbolizing that I too agree on the findings and punishment... you should have seen the looks I was... am receiving…”

Ecclesiast: “Do you want to go back to labor fields…?”

Beljazza pauses: “No, I supposed not… I have gotten accustomed to the glider… the freedom to move around… by the way, tell me again how I got this position… I wasn’t thinking about it during the training at the Dragon Lord’s sub stations… but now I am curious... because….”

Ecclesiast: Your position was over seven hundred and ten moons in the making… and it was actually a concession on behalf of the Dragon Lords… since the great rebellion... there was such animus between us and them… that it took all this time just to receive permission to choose among the people who is going to be a law enforcer… and why are you asking now..?”

Beljazza: I think I am being watched, followed… or something…”

Ecclesiast is visibly concerned: “By whom…?”

Beljazza: “Well, I was relaxing under the Liamigua waterfalls above the river and there seems to be a Dragon Lord observing me while I bathed….”

Ecclesiast’s curiosity is peaked even more: “A single Dragon Lord…?”

Beljazza pauses… going over the query of her mentor in her mind: “Yes, I think so…” Then the epiphany lights are turned on as she suddenly figured out why the Ecclesiast asked: if a single Dragon Lord… she thinks and then starts repeating one of the mantras she was taught by her Ecclesiast/mentor: “Twain they were sired… twain they meet their demise!”

The Ecclesiast is excited that Bell has retained some of his teachings she learned at the orphanage…: “Yes, Bell, the Dragon Lords were sired in twos and they also die that way – well, it means that if one dies before the other, especially in battle, it is said that for all intents and purposes, the other is dead too. More importantly… it must have been two Lords that were observing you while you bathed… and no offence to your vanity, I don’t think that your Dragon Lords admirers were lusting… because relationships between Dragon Lords and us are strictly forbidden…”

Beljazza is contemplating: “I am certain it was one Dragon Lord, even though I didn’t actually see him…”

Ecclesiast with heightened curiosity: There is a Fiefdom legend that one among the Dragon Lords, its leader, who we are told by reliable sources, is Anak Nye… rides alone – but of course… it may be indeed a Fiefdom’s legend… because Anak Nye has not been seen for many a moon… well, at least, not outside of Fiefdom’s 23 where the Lords reside… anyway, young Bell… hang in there and it is going to get better… I am going to tell my fellow Ecclesiasts, to tell the people, even doing so formally from the pulpits, to emphasize that you are employed by the Dragon Lords for their benefit …”

Beljazza sighs, pauses and hesitates before broaching the subject: You heard of the killing of the Dragon Lord over the Goshen sea… all I know is that as Goshen is bountiful… so too I know that there is a crackdown coming… but they haven’t told me anything…. everything is hush, hush… even when I asked to be part of the investigation… they said that they’ll get back to me… I sense that whatever is coming will hurt the people… and will cause another challenge to my job….

Ecclesiast: “I thought you would have brought up that subject when you spoke earlier about the Neroes’ trial and execution… and, yes, I have heard from my colleagues about the death of the Dragon Lord… and the badly hurt Dame Nera… whom we met during the Neroes’ investigation, trial, and execution… incidentally, have you heard from being inside who the mask intruder in black is?”

Beljazza with some doubts: “ I don’t know… but I heard it too… that one person or something fought the two Dragon Lords….”

Ecclesiast: I heard… what you have heard and my superiors have been trying to convince the Lords that the people weren't responsible – but you know them… with their habits of punishing the collective…”

The Ecclesiast is showing signs that he is needed elsewhere… or perhaps, because he is uneasy discussing the recent turn of the conversation…. Beljazza too, recognizing that she had occupied the Ecclesiast’s for a relatively long time and that the conversation/touching base was at an end… rose to leave. The hugs that took place during the initial meet are repeated….

Beljazza pulling away from the hugging Ecclesiast so as to speak… asking: “Can you secure an audience for me with Anak Nye?”

The Ecclesiast is surprised… he is pondering the question from Beljazza….

Ecclesiast: “He doesn't grant audiences with us… with anyone… he summons us when needed… and I am told that he has great hatred for our kind, especially since it is rumored that he is the one that murdered the great John Mark.”

Beljazza too is surprised: “You never taught us that and I never heard it… have you met him?... ‘all you have said might have come from Fiefdom legends…’

Ecclesiast: “No, I have not met him… and I don’ think I want to…”

Beljazza is being coy, smiling, and looking back over her right shoulder as she leaves; “Ecclesiast, what of your vaunted faith... after all, Anak Nye is only shell and blood, right?”

Later on… in the wee hours and in the Hamlet of Liamigua, we see a family of seven sleeping in a ranch-style dome shaped home… there are two masked intruders, taking advantage of the night time cover, carrying swords, as they forced themselves into the home… and moving pass the strategically placed lit candles and rooms that are sparsely decorated with locally made furniture. The adults, with the intruders’ hands placed on their mouths, are killed stealthily… there is hesitation on the part of the intruders because among the family members, are young children… sleeping in bunk-beds… the intruders, looking around and seeing and grabbing pillow-like objects from the sofas… then used them to suffocate the sleeping children. The masked killers make their way outside and mount their dark-colored gliders… and sped out of the quiet Hamlet in whisper mode.