Breaking the Gloaming (31 page)

Andor stopped just outside the doors to the hall. “No matter what happens,” he said, “we must be one.”

“We could be nothing else,” Lorien replied.

He bent down and kissed her.
 

Then they turned together and walked into the hall. Trumpets announced their arrival and the guests stood to greet them. Columns framed the hundreds of people underneath the arched ceiling high above.
 

Andor held out his arms in welcome. “Honored guests!” He announced. “Tonight we celebrate peace. We celebrate the union of Valemidas and Sunan!”

The crowd cheered and the feast began as he and Lorien approached their seats. Ravien and Wren and Jon and Mailyn were at the royal table, on either side of the chairs reserved for Lorien and Andor. Each couple leaned close together, facing the crowd.
 

“My ambassadors,” Andor said to them. “It is good to see you united. You will need each other’s counsel in the days ahead.”

They all stood and bowed.
 

“Ambassador?” Wren asked. “I like that.”
 

“I prefer princess, or maybe Her Excellency,” Ravien said. It almost looked like she was smiling.
 

“I leave the details to you.” Andor turned to Jon and Mailyn. “But seeing as Tryst’s son will be raised in Sunan, it might be better to choose a modest title.”

The six of them took their seats and talked more of the changes to come. They talked of trade between the cities, and of how the peace might be protected. Lorien’s suggestion was a new city built on the islands in the middle of the Aerith Sea. It would be a place welcoming to both nations, with no past history, where their people might learn from each other. Wren and Jon liked the idea, as long as the city had a free market.

When the feast was drawing to a close, Andor signaled for the formal proceedings to begin. The four gongs at the corners of the room muffled all other sound and called the guests to silence.
 

Andor beckoned for Lorien and Ravien to stand with him. They walked to the front of the table, to the guests’ clear view. Andor held up a crown in each hand. One was the diadem of Valemidas, with its sky blue jewel. The other was new and identical, but its stone was a ruby taken from Zarathus.

With all eyes on him, Andor turned his back on the crowd to face the sisters. “The world will soon learn that women can lead a people well.” He reached forward to place the crowns on their heads.
 

The sisters bowed forward and received them. Lorien was like the sky, Ravien was like fire.
 

Andor stepped between them and faced the crowd again. He raised his arms over the sisters. “I present to you all,” he declared, “the stewards of Valemidas and Sunan, united under my reign!”

The Valemidans cheered at once. The Sunans’ applause came in smaller measures. Few things change overnight.

Lorien relished the moment but had no illusion of perpetual peace. The march of history destroys and rebuilds depending on the character of the great souls who lead that march. Other evil teachers would find other vulnerable pupils. Dark places would try men’s souls, breaking them for destruction or reconstruction.
 

Andor was broken but rebuilding. She would help him lead. His light would forge the nations. The brightest lights always pierce the darkest shadows.

QUOTATIONS BEFORE EACH CHAPTER

The quotations before each chapter often signal subtext. Below are attributions for these quotations. I have collected them here, rather than including them after each quotation, to avoid pulling your mind out of the Gloaming world while you read. As meaningful as philosophy might be, it is no rival to a good story.

Chapter 1 – Revelation 21:24

Chapter 2 – Camus

Chapter 3 – Bacon

Chapter 4 – Sir Walter Scott

Chapter 5 – Camus

Chapter 6 – Psalm 107

Chapter 7 – Kierkegaard

Chapter 8 – Burke

Chapter 9 – Hegel

Chapter 10 – Rousseau

Chapter 11 – Camus

Chapter 12 – W.B. Yeats

Chapter 13 – Sun Tzu

Chapter 14 – Friedman

Chapter 15 – Rousseau

Chapter 16 – Gandhi

Chapter 17 – Rousseau

Chapter 18 – Ecclesiastes 9-10

Chapter 19 – Ecclesiastes 9:17

Chapter 20 – Proverbs 13:17

Chapter 21 – Gandhi

Chapter 22 – Marcus Aurelius
 

Chapter 23 – Galileo
 

Chapter 24 – William Blake

Chapter 25 – Thucydides
 

Chapter 26 – Nietzsche

Chapter 27 – Napoleon
 

Chapter 28 – Aristotle

Chapter 29 – Aristotle

Chapter 30 – Joel 3:11

Chapter 31 – Luke 6:38

Chapter 32 – Hegel

Chapter 33 – Luke 1:78-79

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

J.B. lives outside Washington, DC, with his wife, two kids, and an intriguing day job. While he carries forward the torch lit by heroes like J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, he also finds inspiration in history’s great books and thinkers.
 

Visit
www.jbsimmons.com
to learn more about J.B. and his upcoming dystopian trilogy about the end of the (real) world.

[email protected]

@jbsimmonslight

*
*
*

Did you enjoy BREAKING THE GLOAMING?

Please post a review on Amazon. They are as priceless as food in the Gloaming.
 

After you post your review, let me know by email and I will send you free updates and an ecopy of my next book.