The Queen of Penesthelia and Firman the Brave 2
In the Land of the Men of War
Now, Firman the Brave did not take his spearmen and his bowmen, nor his swordsmen nor his men with carbines, and he who had ridden out of Ortrera to find a bride in the person of the Queen of Penesthelia kept his horse Asil’s head pointed east and rode into the lands where the war was being fought. Everywhere he went, as she said, every man’s hand was turned against him, and the air was filled with drones, and the smoke of burning towns filled the air to the clouds, and the pumping stations were dry of water, and word was whispered that Famine would come back in the land again.
He rode seven days to Calypso, and came to a place where orchards stood and a great house lay blasted in the midst of it, its owner mounted away for war and his family gone where no one knew whither.
A squirrel came down from a tree as he rested beneath it, and the squirrel chittered, “Lord, there is no fruit left in the trees; give me somewhat to eat.”
“Squirrel,” he said, “I have not enough to eat myself, but what I have I will share with you,” and he broke his last orange and gave half of what he had to the squirrel.
The squirrel ate of his fruit and it rolled itself in its tail and in his cloak on his shoulder, and it slumbered, and Firman the Brave rested also.
With the dawn, he mounted Asil and rode deeper into the lands where the war was being fought.
He rode seven days to Helioshad, and came to a place where many houses had been ruined from the sky and the streets broken. The public buildings and temples were burned and hollow, and the people who lived there fled where no one knew whither.
A dog walked there and howled and said, “Lord, there is no meat left in Helioshad for me, give me somewhat to eat.”
“Dog,” he said, “I have not enough to eat myself, but what I have I will share with you,” and he broke his last piece of meat and gave half of what he had to the dog.
The dog ate of his meat and it rolled itself in its tail and around his ankles at the boots on his feet, and it slumbered, and Firman the Brave rested also.
He rode seven days to Iraklion, and came to a place where the men in the land of war made children in bottles from water and air and light and the name of the Lady, and the buildings were all thrown down and burned, and broken glass and iron and stone was everywhere, and the men and women in white coats that had ruled this place were gone where no one knew whither.
A child walked there and wept, and said, “Lord, there is no bread left in Iraklion for me, give me somewhat to eat.”
“Child,” he said, “I have not enough to eat myself, but what I have I will share with you,” and he broke his last piece of bread and gave half of what he had to the child.
The child ate of his bread and he gave her his cloak and she rolled herself in it and slumbered, and Firman the Brave rested also.
Now he rode into the Montara Sierpento for seven days, and part of the valleys were forest and part of the valleys were field and part of the valleys were still desert as if men had never come out of the sky to Iphigenia, and all the work was stilled. This was the heart of the land of the men of war, and all their hands were turned against him, but in secret and in silence Firman the Brave came to where the mountains rose high above the clouds and the air of the world, Firman and Asil and the child and the dog and the squirrel, and when he saw the highest of the red mountains, he knew in it must be a house that had no roof and a room that had no door and a bed that had no color and a treasure that had no key, and the treasure and the bed and the door and the room and the house he must bring to the lovely and wise Queen of Penesthelia as the first impossible thing to make her his bride.