18
The Chronicler
God is everything, and everything is God.
There is no beginning to God.
There is no end to God.
God is everything, and everything is God.
A steward had guided me through the maze of Alnos House right before sunrise and left me just inside an impressive carved door. Four rooms strung along what looked like a long internal balcony overlooking one side of Alnos House’s central octagonal great hall. I had moved from the first to the second to the third to this the final room, and as if by design, she had started the chant the moment I set foot there. As if under observation, I stole some glances around what appeared like a cross between a small Orthodox church and a mosque. Behind her ladyship, on the wall across from the balcony, an abstract representation glowed in alternating colors. Interlacing eight-sided figures flowed into each other, anchored by eight points of light whose golden warmth I found mesmerizing. Circles of eight suns appeared on the two other walls, harmonizing with stylized Alnese proverbs. A similar meditation room existed off the central hall of Pallas House, but this one outshone it. I suspected it outshone every meditation room in every Alnese house on the planet.
After four iterations, Lady Ciani looked up, “I repeat our basic observation every eighth hour. How nice to have a chronicler witness again.” She rose to her feet and adjusted her cardigan, pulling it tightly around her shoulders.
It broke the spell.
We were alone. I froze at the thought, then took a deep breath, “Is there something I should do?”
“Join me for breakfast.” She waved me along as she stepped through a side doorway into what I would soon come to know as her inner sanctum, four private rooms that included her bedroom, her library, her playroom, and a small personal dining room. We crossed the bedroom to the dining room, where she made a small gesture towards an elegant round table surrounded by four of Alnos’ finest bodychairs. I stepped ahead of her and pulled out one of the chairs, and with a ‘Thank you!’ and a smile, she sat down.
The moment I settled down next to her, two attendants appeared. Each set down a plate full of Alnese pancakes covered with berry-preserve, a selection of other toppings, a cup and a pot. I could smell the coffee in mine. The two attendants retreated out of sight again. I poured myself a cup of the coffee and let out an appreciative sigh after a first taste.
“Ideally, you will join me in my acknowledgements occasionally.”
“I don’t think I understand these … acknowledgements.”
She picked up her pot and poured herself a cup of choctea, then repeated quietly, “God is everything, and everything is God. Every eighth hour, we acknowledge it. It’s good for the soul.”
“Good for the soul? God rewards you?”
She paused, her cup about midway between the table and her lips, and shook her head. After another moment of reflection, she took a sip and elucidated, “To acknowledge God reminds us that we are boundless, and finite, that we share in the infinite light, and in the equally infinite gravity that consumes light. That’s good for the soul, especially when your debts come circling back and you don’t quite know how to repay them.”
I repeated slowly, “God is everything, and everything is God.” Then I turned towards her, “What does it mean?”
“It means exactly what it says.”
“So … you are God?”
She smiled, “Yes.”
“And I am God, too?”
“Of course. And so is this cup,” she lifted hers slightly again, “The altar behind us, the scent of the incense I burn sometimes. God is everything, and everything is God.”
“You believe that?”
“What I believe is irrelevant.”
“Oh.” This time I had to take a moment of reflection. “I …” paused again, shrugged, “Well there’s this song on Earth …,” and I hummed quietly, in English, “We are million-year old carbon.”
“A similar idea, yes,” she acknowledged.
“Part of me believes it, but the other part … But then again, I suppose that would be irrelevant, too.”
“Obviously, it is not irrelevant to you. Now, I will tell you, I know, I know much deeper than belief, there is no beginning to God, no end to God, but when all is said and done, it’s irrelevant. One of God’s many gifts is my mind’s ability to spin many worlds, consider, perhaps a few too many possibilities, and yes, to have or not to have beliefs. Those are simply manifestations of the infinity that is God.”
We both fell silent for a little while, and ate a few bites. After sipping most of my coffee, I wondered, “So, you would like me to … join you in acknowledging God. But if I don’t believe it, wouldn’t it be wrong?”
She picked up my pot and poured me another cup, “Interesting. For you, God punishes and rewards. Like a parent.”
An accurate observation.
“But not for you?”
“God is everything. Father. Mother. But also child. As Alnos Ciani, I have to remember the child, and remind my people.”
I shook my head, “I can’t say that I understand that. I can’t say that I even grasp it.”
“Then we’ll wait. For the right day.”
“You think I’ll get it, then?”
“Like God, the future is unpredictable. You may grow comfortable with our acknowledgements in due time. For today, let’s get you comfortable with these quarters, and get you acquainted enough with Alnos House so you can find your quarters. You probably won’t want to join the household, but the Chronicler’s apartment is right next to this one, and it will be furnished to your liking. Díaz Raymond, I know how easy it is to get lost in Alnos House. When I first accepted to serve my people, at sixteen, I must have found every possible way to get lost here. I propose we spend at least half a day getting lost together. It’s the best way to learn about this house. Then, in the next few days, we can work out a suitable schedule for you.”
“Get lost together?”
A mischievous gleam practically lit up her face, “Oh yes.”
“How?”
“We could play hide and seek. I haven’t done it in quite some time.”
Dumbfounded, I echoed, “Hide and seek?”
“I concede almost forty years of residence give me an unfair advantage. I propose that you hide and I seek. And,” she lifted a slim book-sized tablet that came to life as she shifted it towards me, “here are the schematics of the residence. I’ve programmed the handheld to shift as you move so you can always orient yourself.”
I burst out laughing, then nodded, “All right.” I took the offered handheld and fumbled with it a bit. I could read the Alnese characters with almost the same ease as human ones. I repeated, “All right,” and lifted my cup to my lips for one last shot.
The handheld helped tremendously in our next few hours together. During one of our breaks in the residence’s western wing, while we looked out over Alnos’ city of learning, Lady Ciani observed with a sigh, “Too bad the children remained in Eden Hamlet. That’s the right way to play this game!”
I nodded acknowledgement.
“I know what I shall do! Invite Kyet, Goal, and the twins to join us at the earliest opportunity. Have you played together?”
I nodded again.
“Well make a note for me, will you?” She smiled sweetly, and we played a few more rounds.
A dinner engagement gathered us back into her suite in the late afternoon. Once ready, we proceeded to Alnos House’s smaller, more intimate formal dining room, where Lady Ciani met with and introduced me to three of her councilors.
I stayed in my Chronicler’s quarters in Alnos House the remainder of that week. I met with the remaining councilors, with all of Lady Ciani’s staff, and with the Kobran ambassador. And I prepared four invitations. One for Pallas Xhania Kyet, one for Pallas Thor Goal, one for Pallas Eng Oddysseus and a fourth one for Pallas Eng Illias. When I presented the four slips of paper to her ladyship, her face lit up with mischief and anticipation. It was catching.
