The Kingdom of Roses

25

Secrets

When love is corrupted, it begins to bear fruit after its own kind. Obsessed, Jiàn Shēng could no longer be patient as his greed grew to possess the one who was not his. He sat in the woods with Bái Láng, playing a game of Go, while plotting his next move.

‘They were unfair to you,’ Bái Láng pushed him.

‘They think I will sit obediently and wait for the time to leave for that miserable place?’ Jiàn Shēng muttered, more to himself than to his general. ‘Why must I wait? I will grab her and all that I can, while I can!’ he said decidedly.

‘You can surely do it. Just let us know how we can secure your victory,’ Bái Láng said excitedly. He was growing in his lust for violence. Moreover, he had started to idolize Jiàn Shēng, thus losing his ability to see truth from fiction.

While the two of them continued to plan and plot, a more somber mood covered Méiguī shān. Time which was boundless in the heavenly realms, now seemed to be moving faster towards an inevitable moment.

The King and his beloved lay beneath their beautiful tree in close embrace. ‘We must make sure everything planned for is executed carefully,’ he told her.

‘The thing I am most concerned about is the memory of mortals. It can be easily corrupted. Yet, we cannot alter it because Jiàn Shēng will find a reason to use it against us. I trust you to handle this part,’ she told her beloved.

‘I will handle it. Let us go through our plans once again,’ the King replied. The lovers first focused on their mortal children.

‘Zhì Rén and Yīn-er, and their descendants will be our vessels. They will contain my life and consciousness. However, they will spread throughout the mortal realm and forget what they had to remember,’ the Bride said.

‘So, I will make sure I have chosen a line of their descendants to specifically carry our story till the time comes to revive your memories. I will hide our trails in their stories, customs, history, and practices. If we use only words to transmit our story, Jiàn Shēng will find our plans too easily and hinder them. They will have to be hidden deeper. Do you remember all I told you that I would plant?’ the King asked.

‘Yes, in their story will be our story. In the warnings you give them, I will take heed as warnings to myself. In their places of worship, the blueprint of the realms, our home and the incidences of rebellion. In their festivals and rituals, the plans for my revival and restoration. In the instructions given to them, the choice I must make – to choose perfect love, the law of the heavens, and that perfect love is you!’ she recounted. He smiled at her tenderly.

‘Now, tell me how their festivals will hide our plans? Let me ensure you have understood these things,’ the King told her.

‘Their festivals will follow the seasons of time, in total seven great ages. There will be two harvests to mark out a total of seven festivals. The time of the early rains in their land shall be the timing of the wheat harvest. And within that time, four festivals retelling our story and work will unfold,’ she said confidently.

‘Yes, in those days spanning all those ages, I will work to find, gather and purify your mantle of fire and light,’ the King affirmed.

‘I do not want you to go through it!’ the Bride suddenly said with force.

‘It is necessary. Without my primordial seed, yours cannot be revived. I must gather the power of your wind from the four directions of the mortal realm in those few days. Remember, in their world, unless a seed falls to the ground and dies, it cannot bear fruit!’ the King reiterated much to her displeasure.

The King continued, ‘Then, there will be a counting of days before I can purify your core and unite all three parts. I will return home that I can complete this work without hindrance.’

‘We are only half-way through it,’ she said thoughtfully as if she was picturing these things in her mind. ‘You will still have to gather the remnants of my consciousness from all the mortals. Remember, the Blood Stone! You must gather as much of it back and let the red turn to purple by learning from the purple that turns to red,’ she instructed him, half-hoping they did not have to do all these things.

‘Yes, in their mortal vessels, you will find your home in those days. I will submerge your primordial seed into the Blood Stone to grow you into my full stature,’ the King responded.

‘That will lead us to the remaining three festivals during the time of the latter rains, when the fruit harvests must ripen and be brought in,’ she continued. ‘Then the seed that grew into wheat would have already been planted back into the mortals. It would have changed its nature fully and I will return,’ she said with a soft smile that betrayed a hint of sadness.

‘I really do not want to be apart from you!’ she said as suddenly as earlier. ‘If I could end this now, I would end it but I know it is not the answer to what is before everyone!’

He gently tapped her nose as he playfully said, ‘Be comforted. Which is easier - to forget the one you love or remember and be separated from her?’ It would be him suffering for ages apart from her and he dreaded it.

She arose from her comfortable place within his arms as she gently pulled him up as well. ‘Come, we have to seal the portals to the realms,’ she said.

They made their way to the center of the kingdom. From here, they had the vantage point and could see all around. The twelve entrances to the twenty-four realms were visible.

The Bride took the crown the King had given her in the past. It was the one that looked like the twisted branches of an almond tree, and around which nestled twelve beautiful stars. This crown was the key to their kingdom and its realms. She used her power to lift it above the realms silently. Then, with her power, she caused the crown to shatter and each of the twelve stars went towards a portal entrance.

When the stars reached their appointed positions, an archway appeared around each of them at the entrances they guarded. The archways glowed with brilliant warm light, but the stars in their center glowed with a soft blue light.

Everyone saw this happen, including Jiàn Shēng. They knew that the Bride was the Guardian of the Realms. They did not know that she had just activated the locks for the entrances of each portal by creating these unique star gates with her crown. While everyone could enter the portals freely, the King and Bride could use their powers to lock the archways when needed, preventing specific beings from passing through the star gates. For now, nothing changed. Everyone still had free access to all the realms.

Not too far away, in the opening hidden in the vibrant woods of the western realms, Jiàn Shēng had gathered his supporters. He was rallying them with a speech to stir them towards fulfilling his ends.

‘Consider well how we have been treated this day! Was justice on our side? Was there fairness and equity? Must we trade our homes and possessions in the heavens for the dirt and the filth of the mortal realm?

Our King, if we indeed must call him that, prides himself to be the perfect Law-giver. Yet, he is not who he claims to be! He withholds the best from us and gives it to those closest to him or keeps it for himself.

Chief among his loyalists is Zhì Shēn! See, how he walks with arrogance in his steps and pride in his eyes. Are we any lesser than he is? Can his music truly bring peace or his fragrances and wines bring an end to our woes? His very presence is infuriating!

Pèi Zhōng, our good brother! Loyalty builds his frame. What evil could he possibly do? His silence speaks louder than all the words of eloquence. He could have chosen to stay loyal to us and our great cause. Yet, see who he has chosen and where he stands before the line drawn upon the sand!

Yīng Fēng, that tattletale! He wasted no time in carrying our secret to the King. On his account our plans were exposed swiftly. He heeds not friendship nor aids those in need. He has chosen the powers that rule us and in doing so, he belittles us!

The next one I speak of, brings sadness to me. I considered him my closest brother. Xióng Zhǎn, how he has betrayed me! He makes the cruelest cut to my heart! I shall not speak of how he has wronged me. Surely, you have the eyes to see it!

We have all loved the King and he has failed us all. Along with him, they have failed us too. Each one who supported him is a traitor to the heavens. We will resist them and show them how our united strength can take what truly belongs to us and us alone!’ he said to provoke the mob. He succeeded for he was one with a lot of charisma.

Jiàn Shēng did not mention his beloved woman. He did not want to stir the mob against her. He determined that he would love and protect her with every breath within his beating heart. He would also make all his followers love and respect her, giving her the due honor that she deserved. He was filled with an insatiable love for her.

He had not learnt his lessons from the past. He was careless. All that was transpiring in the woods, was silently being watched by Bèi Yǎn. She remained camouflaged not too far from him. As soon as the mob dispersed, she swiftly made her way to the Bride.

‘What is it?’ the King asked them as Bèi Yǎn whispered softly into the Bride’s ear.

‘He has chosen to go ahead with the insurrection,’ the Bride replied.

‘Then he has chosen badly,’ the King replied.

She turned away from her beloved and looked in the direction of the southern realms where Jiàn Shēng lived.

‘Is it wrong that my heart aches so badly for him?’ she asked her beloved distractedly.

‘Why would it be wrong? You were closer to him and he was like a kindred spirit to you. In all the heavens, there was none most like you than Jiàn Shēng. This is a very painful loss since it will lead him away from you and all the times you treasured together,’ the King said without the slightest hint of jealousy. He trusted his beloved woman fully. He was right. Her heart was his alone. However, she liked Jiàn Shēng very much and losing him felt like she was losing a part of herself.

She fondly remembered all their times of dueling in the northern realms and the conversations they had. She recalled the mischief in his eyes and the charm in his smile when he was most himself. There were no walls between them.

Her heart ached for all those with him going down paths of self-destruction. Many soul beasts would also not be spared from the consequences. The worst times awaited everyone born into the mortal realm. She felt torn within herself as she could not allow them to go through such unwarranted suffering but there was no other way.

The King shared in her sense of brokenness and grief especially to the innocent mortals.

He was the first to draw himself out from the sadness and break the silence that had descended between them.

‘We owe them,’ he said. ‘But we are also responsible for everyone in these realms. We cannot allow war in the heavens to remain. We have done what we could to take it out of here into the arena of the mortal world. We will also enter that arena and fight it out with him. This is the only way to spare the realms from greater suffering before incorporating those of the mortal realm into our world.’

The Bride knew he was right but there was too much sorrow mingled in the choices. Moreover, time was quickly passing and the time of their separation was soon approaching.

In the realms, peace flowed like a lullaby caressing every being into deep sleep. The innocent creatures were not defiled by corrupted love and its path of war. They frolicked in the safety of their homes and families. As it was in the heavens, so was it in the mortal realm. Everyone was at peace, unsuspecting in these unchanging times that time would change everything.