The Oracle

"I donot care what people think," Vayuvijay snarled at his father-in-law "that was my daughter, I was about to loose."

Shivashakti and Dharmeshnath had immediately followed Vayuvijay after the court had dispersed. Vayuvijay was standing near the wrought iron fireplace, while Manyata sat on their large four poster teakwood bed with her daughter who was fast asleep, held close to her chest, silent tears still escaping her eyes. Dharmesh sat on one of the reclined chairs, staring thoughtfully at the wall opposite to him, were a picture of himself along with his wife and four children hung.

"Mani, make him understand," Shivashakti begged her daughter, "I care about the princess as well, but you know the perils that the emperor had called upon himself, by that little show."

"HOW DARE YOU FATHER!!" Manyata snapped back "how dare you call that a show." "Ofcourse, what is she to you, just an annoying little child." Said Manyata, her voice rising considerably. Her father looked at her, devastated at the allegation.

"I..dont..care..about..the..princess..", he spoke slowly, his voice trembling, "I don't care about my own granddaughter," he continued. "Do you think so lowly of your father Manyata?" Shivashakti had tears in his eyes.

"Ahem" Dharmesh interrupted, as both the distraught father and daughter looked at him. Vayu was still looking at the fireplace.

"I donot disagree with Shiva" he raised one hand as Manyata was about to interrupt him "the power of air is rare, just like the power of fire and Water." He looked at his daughter-in-law with a meaningful look. Manyata knew what he meant. Vayu was not the only one who was gifted. She herself had manipulated water, many times during her childhood. However except for her parents and Vayu nobody knew about it. She was surprised that Dharmesh had the knowledge, but again Dharmeshnath, knew about everything that was going on in every part of Ethar. He had eyes and ears everywhere.

"The oracle had warned that the use of the gifts, may drawEaval's attention, since the bearers of such power are rumoured to be those blessed with the bloodline of Supreme Operator himself." Dharmesh spoke to the room at large. "Therefore even I feel that for your safety, both of you should refrain from using your powers. The oracle had predicted that Eaval had already found a vessel to penetrate Ethar, and it would try to terminate the vessels of Supreme Operator first, to make easy his work. Your act out there, even though justified," he said with a glare at Shivashakti "may have not only endangered your life but the life of those around you as well."

"As long as I am alive, I will never let anything happen to my family." Vayu said firmly, finally turning to face his father. Dharmesh looked at his son, his eyes were red from crying. The younger man already had a lot on his shoulders. He got up and walked up to his son and placed both his hands on his shoulder. "I want you to be careful Vayu," he said looking at his son's light brown eyes. Vayu hugged his father, and held onto him. He felt safe, in his father's arm. Even at the age of twenty seven, he felt protected when his father was around, and he wanted his daughter to feel the same. He withdrew and walked up to his father-in-law, who looked hurt, and touched his feet.

"I am sorry, Father Shiva," said Vayu as Shiva held his shoulder and pulled him up from his crouch on the floor. "I promise to adhere to your advice." Vayu turned towards Manyata and took the princess from her. Manyata got up and touched her father's feet, who immediately pulled her into an embrace as they both cried silently.

"Well, that brings me to a very important matter." Vayu said a little cheerfully as the father and daughter broke from their embrace. "We have only fifteen days remaining for the naming ceremony and we need to do an extensive planning."

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The six hooded figure stood around a small white glowing sphere in the middle of a dark chamber, below the castle.

"What should we do now?" a female voice asked the glowing sphere.

"What has happened cannot be undone now" an ethereal voice spoke from the white oracle, "however, the Emperor should not be allowed to leave the capitol within a year. They now know who he is and will be waiting in anticipation to remove him. When he leaves his daughter must accompany him in his voyage around the five lands."

"But she is just a child." A male voice protested. The high priest held his hand to quiet him.

"What is to happen, shall happen." the oracle continued, "I have stated earlier that the emperor's safety depends on his daughter. The people of Zayden and Kaanan have a huge role to play in defeating Eaval and only if they meet the daughter of the Emperor shall they rise against the Eaval."

"So you suggest that we allow the emperor to extend the length of his stay in Zayden and Kaanan," another male voice enquired.

"Yes, only Emperor Vayuvijay has the ability to bring out Kaanan and Zayden from their dark days." The Oracle remarked. "However, evil is always lurking at the places you least expect it to be. There had been some development which may have gone unnoticed, in Kaivalya. Donot forget to visit the state, just because it is flourishing. If someone would want to attack the Capitol, it would make sense to build your camp in the state closest to the Capitol."

"We will, my lord." A third male voice spoke this time.

The oracle slowly stopped glowing and turned dark. The six figure bowed and slowly exited the chamber.

"What can possibly be wrong with Kaivalya?" asked Shivani, as she removed her hood, once outside the room.

"When Supreme Operator has warned us, we should abide by him." Said Shivashakti as he imitated her action and removed his hood.

He looked at his other companions. The high priest was a young man in his middle thirties, and had been chosen by the oracle. Only the high priest had access to the oracle at anytime, and the other five could only visit when they were called upon. The previous emperor of Ethar Vishwamitra was walking slowly ahead of him. The old man was nearly eighty and walked with the support of a metal stick. The oracle chose the high priest and nominated the candidates qualified for becoming the Emperor. The previous emperor had to select his successor from amongst those nominees. Once an emperor had stepped down from his thrown, he would be allowed to visit the oracle.

The oracle never spoke to anyone other than the Six orators. The six orators comprised of the previous emperor as long as he was alive. Once he passed away, the reigning emperor was allowed to join the Orator after he had stepped down, till then the place of the emperor remained vacant. The high priest was chosen directly by the Oracle. It was rumoured that just before his death, the high priest had a dream where the oracle directed him to appoint his successor. It was like a miracle that whenever the new high priest was appointed by the older one, the older high priest would die.

The other four members were those who possessed the qualities of discipline, compassion, reasoning and bravery. They were selected by the high priest himself relying on his own judgement and observation. Shivashakti had been a member of the oracle for the longest time compared to the rest of the orators. He had been induced as an orator when he was only thirty two. Shivani and Dharmeshnath had joined only a couple of years back, followed by Vishwamitra, whereas Veerbhadra, the commander-in-chief of the Army had joined couple of months back, when his predecessor had died from snake bite.

Oracle was the medium by which Supreme Operator communicated with Ethar. The oracle was worshipped every month on the night of the fullmoon by the people in the temple built on a hillock few miles away from the castle. However, people only knew about the high priest's identity as the Orator. Even though they knew there were other orators, they were unaware about their real identities. 

"We are forgetting an important fact." Said Dharmeshnath. "The oracle wants the princess to travel with the Emperor."

Shivashakti sighed and looked at the young high priest Sattvik. Sattvik smiled "I know you old men will make sure that the emperor orders for my execution. Fine I will tell him that the oracle had directed the child to be taken along for the CHILD'S safety." He mocked glared at the two grandfathers. They both smiled at him.

"Dont you think the oracle is being unjust to the little child?" Shivani asked a little irritated.

"Which I am being made to keep in my gut and not breathe a word about." Shivashakti said disrupting her.

"That is for the benefit of the child remember." Finally Vishwamitra spoke.

"How can you say such a thing when....." Shivani started angrily, but stopped when Vishwamitra gave her a warning look.

"We have to obey the oracle's instruction. The only way to do it, is if we keep it from Vayu." Vishwamitra said in a monotone "He will never let it happen if he gets to know the truth."

"Tomorrow is a big day for her. Her name, the oracle had said, her name will reveal her true identity." Said Dharmeshnath. "Lets wait and watch how the events unfold themselves.

Each of the orators walked back to their living quarters.