Chapter 5: Divine Madness

"Even a worm will turn," said Yuri as he walked Nilla through the Garden of Earthly Paradise.

She took in his statement, as her eye's darted about and examined the work the guards and the castle priests had been doing. She was pleased by their vigour, their frantic bodies hurrying up and about as they placed the seats in the exact manner, she had sketched out for them.

Even with this venue, she was very pleased, and found something calming within the orphic landscape that had her ponder upon the very relationship she had with both Yuri and Jonathan.

Like a new Eden, seeking to emulate man's first encounter with God, she wondered whether this would be the place of the inevitable fall from grace for both men in her life, or if one would offer something more, willing to sacrifice themselves for the sake of salvation.

Yuri seemed more like the likely candidate. But her heart, circled with briars, couldn't accept him just yet.

"It seems you've grown wiser since we last met," she said.

"It was bound to happen. I've faced the consequences of my actions and acknowledge that what I had done back then was wrong." Yuri turned to look at the clear sky, his grey eyes glittering in the sun's rays. "I for one didn't realize how painful my actions were until I was confronted with your tears. And then I realized how I drunk I was. Drunk on a crazed and obsessive reality that drove me into an earthly delusion. I honestly prayed to see you again and spent these last months correcting my mistakes so that I wouldn't make you cry. So, believe me this time."

Her eyes shot to one sculpture, set in the corner, in the shade of a Dragon Blood tree. A marble figure, with heavy set eyes that menacingly pierced out to the centre of the garden where there was another sculpture; a pair of wings, feathers plucked out and set on the earth as they burned in an eternal fire.

She pointed Yuri to the sculpture and said, "I hope you're not that man." She planted a kiss on his cheek, and followed with, "I've been taught to love my enemies, so having you by my side doesn't bother me."

"I'm not your enemy. I truly love you and want to help you. I know better than anyone the truth behind this conflict and the hearts of the delegates and those they serve."

In truth, it was not that she didn't love Yuri. She did. With her whole heart and every fibre of her being. But that love was what scarred her, and the way he played with it as if it was just another stone on the side of the street. Worst of all, she felt her bones rattle whenever he lingered near her. And in her dreams and the trance's she walked through daily, she saw the image of a dog, throwing up and then going back to lick its own purge.

As her heart steeled at another glance of him, she held his hand and said, "I have a conflict to solve. If you want to show me your love, then help me protect the delegates. No one should die. Understand?"

His lips curled into a smile, "Yes."

She took his word for it and went her own way back into the castle to look for the Head Priest. There was too little time to be worrying about Yuri, at the end of the day, the truth handed to her was that the death toll in Azura was steadily rising. Don Porter had just finished the final slaughter of the royal family and his troops were slowly rising to the North.

As Nilla sat with Head Priest Judoc for a quick discussion before the unveiling, he looked her dead in the eye and said, "It's pointless to seek remedy in this divine madness. Even when faced with death and decay, they will not change and will staunchly hold onto their rotten ways."

He passed her a leather-bound book, "I hear you have a gift of seeing into the future," he said brows twisting.

"Yes. It's nothing special though."

"Well, concerning this conflict, what do you see as the outcome?"

"Nothing."

"Have you had a dream since the arriving at the castle?"

"No."

Judoc sighed. He rose from his seat and gestured for Nilla to rise as well. "Like a city on a hill, the truth will shine. I believe the delegates have assembled in the Garden now, so let us go and reveal what they have done. But, with this book I want you to write your dreams."

Her face twisted, "And then what?"

"You do things for the glory of God, correct?"

She nodded.

"Then, what follows is in his hands. All you need to do is see it, write it, remember it, and prepare."

No sooner than he had said it, a junior priest had come through the archway to the study where they had been. The Junior Priest informed them that all delegates had arrived, and courteously led them to the garden where they were met by the empirical stares of the delegates.

As Judoc went up to the standing platform, Nilla was brought to the front row of seats, led to sit between Yuri and Jonathan. Setting her eyes on Head Priest Judoc, who smiled gently to the congregation, her fingers clutched onto the leather book he gave her as she softened her shoulders, held her head high and let Judoc take over.

Judoc reached into the pocket of his robe and pulled out a clunky, brick like remote with two buttons: a yellow button and a red button.

Having turned to the black veiled box, he calmly went forth and pulled the cloth of the item.

Sitting there was a television, thick and black as its static screen flashed a series of pixelated images.

Judoc turned to the delegation and inched closer to the edge of the platform, "Good afternoon, everyone. Today marks the first day of the peace negotiations, and per Princess Nilla's request, we will implement a system here in the castle that all delegates shall abide to in the coming three months."

He pressed the yellow button, and the screen changed, a scratchy sound came from the TV as he stepped to the side and let it take centre stage.

"I'd like to introduce to you the Ina Island," he said. "As you can see here, this is a new model television set with two-way communication. From the screen we have stationed our frequency to continually send information from the Calypso Broadcasting Commission to give you a live feed as to the civil conflict on Azura."

He lifted the remote and said, "This is a telecommunications device called a multiway pager. There are only six of these presents on the Island. These will allow you to communicate with anyone back in Azura as well as siphon through media images of what's currently happening in Azura on the Television. To access one, you may put forth a formal inquiry with the Princess. Are there any questions so far?"

Jonathan was the first to shoot his hand up. "Will our conversations with our allies be made public to all parties?"

"We are under no obligations to reveal your secrets. If you wish them to be public, then they will. If you choose to be quiet, then, we can only rely on the live footage of Azura to form speculation."

Jonathan grinned, and then slumped back into his seat.

Meanwhile, this led a flood of questions to come from all parties.

Some asked whether there was a time limit or special requirements? Others asked whether the footage would be censored, or if it'd be explicit. But the answers where all straightforward, as Nilla had sent Judoc a letter of what he could say pertaining the system. It was simple, all there was to the deal was what Judoc had stated, anything else depended on Nilla's discretion.

As the round of questions ended, Judoc asked if they were all comfortable to proceed to the next item on the programme. They all said yes, but he asked again anyway.

As he gave each delegate the chance to respond individually, the knots in Nilla's stomach curled tighter.

As much as she still couldn't trust Yuri, she had to admit that he was the only one she could clench onto in that moment. It was either him, or Jonathan. Having witnessed Jonathan's bloody hands commit cold murder a few weeks ago, she couldn't come to terms with even touching him.

She quickly glanced at Yuri; his frigid stare set ahead. Her hand stiffened halfway, but she fought against it, remembering that he was going to be her husband. The least she could do was put on a show that they were in good terms and their bond was more than just infantile philia.

As her hand jittered, she slipped her fingers between his and held on tight.

Judoc, upon getting the last persons response, gave a sorrowful sigh as he stationed himself back in front of the Television.

"Her highness has put together a series of clips that had transpired in the last two weeks. She expressed her want for all parties to be aware and up to date with the current situation of Azura before coming to her with requests. Hence, I ask that you reserve all comments until after the programme."

Judoc looked to Yuri, to which Yuri nodded and gave a signal to the Imperial Guards standing at the top of the roof. They pulled the upper dome shut, suspending the garden into night.

All eyes fixed onto the static screen that played a repetition of glitching images.

Judoc pressed his remote, and a gut-wrenching scream came from the box, then the video began to play.

It all started out in the city centre of the South-Eastern city Neophilia. The everyday citizens walked about the streets, vendors calling out to the average man as lines curled around the streets from a booming café shop.

Streams of people went in and out the government offices, a series of soaring buildings made of glass that gleamed in the sunlight.

As the camera zoomed in, and the midday bell chimed throughout the city, a huge burst of flames boomed out through the top of the buildings and glass shards spluttered through the air like giant orbs of glitter.

Shocked cries filled the streets, as men and women set on fire ran out the buildings and onto the busy four way. Some were immediately run over, leaving trails of huge red dots like dozens of cherries popped beneath the wheels of trucks. A whole collision course of motor vehicles spun out of control as the shards fell onto the helpless pedestrians who scattered around.

It didn't end there.

The camera cut to a new location. Outside the city of Moira, in a field of dry grass and parched trees that had been overrun by a murder of crows, there was a gully. The camera panned through the field, then went to gully's edge. As it peaked over the banks, it revealed heaps of corpses poorly buried as flies swarmed the area and maggots infested the soil.

The camera then cut to different locations. Different things happening in each scene; a congress of baboons singing their manifesto at a rally, church priests shaking hands with Don Porter and a team of riflemen.

But in all the things that were revealed. Nilla had only one thing to say,

It was a wonderful symphony of controlled chaos.