The time for Biyu to arrive in Shadow Gate had arrived. They had spent two weeks at the rural estate near Temple Town. The weeks dragged on, as people came to pay their respects to Defender Elderwoods, while being more or less discreet in seeking an audience with 'Lady Bringer'. Biyu was not yet used to being addressed by the epithet, even though everyone including her family used it for her. Nor could she get used to the pull on her attention that came when her name was spoken. It was easy to see why the ire of a god could be raised by the careless use of their name.
Shelly and Mitchell, the courtesans they had hired to accompany Bert and Allie, were dressed up in elaborate outfits that, despite the amount of cloth involved, was designed to frame their flesh rather than cover it. Shelly was dressed in a scandalously short sleeveless tunic with a square cut neckline that showed off her cleavage. The sides were split, offering glimpses of decorative undergarments and the ribbons that accentuated her legs. Her impractical slippers required servants to place rugs for her to walk across, while the self-conscious Bert struggled to keep his eyes forward.
Mitchell wore an open vest that showed off his oiled, wiry body. Thick muscles and squared shoulders were popular, but Mitchell was slender and lithe like Sir Bridget or May. Cruel gossipers called him 'womanly' for it. Having seen Lady Chelsea naked, Biyu knew a woman could be muscular and broad shouldered.
Lady Claudia had acquired a courtesan of her own, a small man with a cat-like 'pet' quality. She embarrassed everyone who watched her dote on him. He was muscular in the classic sense, which lead to Lady Claudia cooing about her 'little Lynx'. That was to say he was short and squat rather than diminutive. His name was Finn, and he had a quick smile and amiable demeanor that was instantly charming.
Biyu took her place upon a palanquin at the head of the procession, carried by mortals from her Immortal Legion. May acted as her guard, walking before her. The Immortal Legion, living and not, formed ranks between her and the rest of her family. Biyu felt the distance between her and her family. Anya had insisted on riding in the rear of Allie's cart, noting that she was a minor Elder of the family, not a member of Biyu's religion. Biyu had tried to argue, but in the end Anya took Biyu aside for a 'talk'. It was not a talk, but a talking 'to'. Or maybe it would be more accurate to say 'at'. When Biyu had confessed to her wife, she had thought she knew all the things to say. Anya was deaf to her words. At first, it made her sad, but now she found it frustrating.
The Sweepers, now six instead of two, escorted the carts of Defender Elderwoods and the rest of her family. Allie had her own cart, where Wizard Bob rode in a place of honor as her guest. Sir Bridget rode alongside Allie, as her personal guard. The other six Sweepers walked alongside the carts. Bert shared a second cart with Lady Claudia and Lord Vincent, as lesser members and retainers of the household.
They vacated the estate in the early morning, leaving behind the staff to prepare the residence for future occupants. It took hours to reach Shadow Gate proper, and the sun was already past its zenith before they reached the walls that marked the old fortified city. Reaching the city, Knights of the Order of Severing Twilight and the city guard greeted them in formation as an honor guard.
May met with the Marshal of the Guard and the Marshal of the city's chapter of the Order of the Severing Twilight to go over last minute details for the procession through the city. Typically, a procession of a Lord of the Fortress or Lord of the Road would enter the gate and follow the major street to the Palaces. Since Biyu intended to invoke a Feast of the Dead, they would walk all the major streets of the city to draw them into Biyu's domain. Some of the Knights glared at her with open hostility, while others looked on with reverence and awe.
Once the details of route had been agreed upon, May led the additional honor guard to begin the parade into the city. People lined the road and the streets, cheering and throwing marigolds to Lady Bringer and her household. Biyu waved to the people as she rode in the palanquin, remembering the last time she had done so years ago on her way to Shishi's feast. The faces were similar, but not the same. No one looked upon her with lust, but the faces of the people were either full of reverence for a god who promised to usher them to Judgment and the Heavens, and revulsion from those who saw her as a verboten god of death. She felt a moment of resentment that despite the drastic change in her life, people still liked or hated her for reasons that did not relate to who she was, but what she was.
Foreign nobles were common in Shadow Gate, as the children of nobles, including powerful nobles, headed to war or returned home as a seasonal event. There was disappointment that no gifts were tossed into the crowd, but that was a custom of the sons of Dukes, and only occasionally done by Counts and Marches. Gods were uncommon, but not rare. One passed through at least once a decade, and that was considered a dry spell. No gods went to war, they were forbidden by mutual agreement lest it result in an escalation where mortals were guaranteed to lose. Defender Elderwoods, Allie, was greeted by curious onlookers, but it was Lady Bringer who brought the crowds.
The parade was long and circuitous, with infrequent breaks for water or rest. Fog followed in their wake, lit by gleaming soul lights that danced in their thousands. At first the people saw the mist as a curiosity, but as the ghost lights became ghosts the people fled the streets to hide in their homes. There they found long missed family there to greet them. Some people, those who listened to the warnings from the criers, wore masks and charms against vengeful spirits or ghosts, but most had not believed in the warnings for the new holiday. Soon the dead glutted streets, even though the streets had mysteriously widened.
The parade made its way through the city, working inwards from the walls. Some of the streets they had to take were narrow, and the Immortal Legion kept a wary eye that no one accost the procession. They were few, only taken when a street ended in smaller streets or alleys between buildings just large enough to permit passage to carts. After Biyu's passage, even tight alleys were wide enough, including any obstruction.
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During the parade, members of the Immortal Legion broke off to patrol the widened streets. The dead joined their living counterparts, most meeting each other for the first time. The guardian spirits drew upon their power, granting both the living and the dead a modicum of power. Vengeful spirits were captured, to be made into new guardian spirits once their vengeance, if just, was granted. They also corralled those up to mischief, drawing them off to an early Judgment instead of letting them disrupt the festival. A few souls requested to join the Immortal Legion, and they were sent on to Biyu's domain for Judgment and consideration by Bruce and his scribes.
The number of dead were startling, even after May's warning. Even with Biyu merging her domain into the living world, reshaping the city, it was crowded. Biyu felt her domain straining, like when she devoured the souls of the demon god. Instead of straining herself and risking injury, she began to withdraw her domain from where they had started. The earlier fog faded, returning the streets to their familiar shape. Lost Souls lost their forms, turning into lights that dulled before winking out. Biyu consoled herself that they would be in the city for a while, so she would be able to usher the dead to Judgment if they missed the festival. Through their bond, she let May know. May in turn informed the Marshals. The Marshals called for runners who had been stationed along the parade route, and soon criers were calling out changes in the festival.
The procession ended in the courtyard of the Palaces of Shadow Gate. They were greeted by the rulers of Shadow Gate: March Shadowgate, the Lord of the Road of the stretch of the North-South Road that held the city; Defender Shadowgate, the Lord of the Fortress who acted as City Lord of Shadow Gate as well as the commander of the city guard and militia; Governor Shadowgate, the Princess of the Empire and the highest authority of the Imperial Ministries in Shadowgate Province; her brother, the Magistrate-Governor of the Principality of Shadowgate, the lowest position in the retinue if one did not count the servants. They all bowed down in obeisance to Lady Bringer at her arrival.
"Lower!" May shouted the order. The living Immortal Legion lowered the palanquin to the ground. Biyu stood up, and stepped down the palanquin to stand before her hosts. Lady Bringer remained seated, appraising the mortals who could faintly hear the echoes of their Litanies.
"Lift!" May shouted, and the palanquin with Lady Bringer was lifted back up. "Turn! Lower!" The palanquin was lifted and turned to face the gates. Lady Bringer would hold court in the courtyard, while the rest of the household, including Biyu, would enjoy the reception. May remained to assist Lady Bringer as the swiftest of runners. Bruce stood beside the palanquin, summoned from Lady Bringer's domain to act as her scribe and advisor. The Immortal Legion formed into ranks, led by a pair of fire-eyed guardian spirits who watched everything.
A column of petitioners, living and dead, had followed in the parade's wake. They stood waiting while Bruce's scribes took their names and the business they request to have heard, as well as to give guidance on the protocols of the court. More than a few petitioners were turned away, the matters they wish to bring up outside of Biyu's influence. Requests to see specific people, including one scholar who desired to ask a philosophical question of a philosopher long dead, were rejected. They were told to pray to their gods for intervention, for they were the ones to allow passage to the mortal world from the Heavens, while Lady Bringer could only hold the festival. Others were requests by the living to seek vengeance on the living, and they too were summarily rejected. Only the dead seeking vengeance would be heard.
Biyu's mortal avatar stood waiting for the rest of her household to join her. She took her place beside Anya as the household arranged themselves to greet their hosts.
While the Bringer of Judgment held court, the mortals entered a hall of the old fortress to hold the reception.
Emmett was full of wonder as he walked the streets of Shadow Gate. So many souls, more than he had ever imagined, let alone hoped for, flooded streets that had been drawn halfway into the netherworld. He'd walked these streets many times before. That had been several lifetimes ago, when the city was younger and not quite so large. In fact, he was the one who created the charms to keep the undead outside the city. The purpose of those charms was to keep souls trapped within the city, of course. The repulsion of the undead was a useful side effect for selling the charm to the March of the time. He'd wished to create a reservoir of souls, so he would always have them available for his experiments. Once his attention had wandered to new experiments, he had all but forgotten about the charms in the city.
He excused his forgetfulness by reasoning he must have expected the charms to fail under the pressure of the dead eventually. Yet, they had lasted to this day. The city was glutted with souls. No wonder his agents had always found it easy to collect Lost Souls here the few times he required extras. He'd assumed they had quickly collected them because large cities always had Lost Souls wandering about.
Emmett also found the way the domain twisted the world strange and wondrous. Not only was the netherworld and the realm of the living merged, or maybe just closely overlapped, but the space they occupied had been expanded. After the expansion, the city was full rather than packed.
He walked the streets, taking part in the feast and talking to various people living and dead. People smiled when they saw him. He'd always engendered positive feelings in people he met, and most talked openly about whatever was foremost in their minds. The night wore on, and he reveled in sharing it with so many promising souls. He had Second and Third Mind keeping notes on promising souls to send his Priests and agents after.
Then the night ended, filling him with horror. As the mist faded, he felt the disgusting touch of that ulcer on the universe: Arliss. It combed through the streets, passing him by. He was still alive, after all. But, so many promising souls were snuffed out. Taken from the netherworld to the Heavens, instead of enjoying the Life Eternal. How many promising souls had been ferried away beyond his reach?
How many could have known the Life Eternal, and the joy of immortality?
Some were left behind from Arliss's touch, but even they disappeared as the merger of worlds slowly collapsed. The extra space shrank away, the mists dissipated, and only a few living revelers were left behind. Emmett searched with his eyes attuned to the netherworld, and found that even those souls who had not been taken by the wretch were gone. Taken by the bitch god. It was not long before only the corrupted vengeful spirits and ephemeral soldiers displaying her colors remained. So many, lost.
As the last vestiges of his opponent's domain gave way to the morning sun, horror gave way to rage. There was only one punishment for someone who would condemn the dead to the Heavens. Death. That day, Emmett vowed he would kill Biyu Kimmel Lostlakes Elderwoods Bringer.
