The Kingdom of Neisseria (excerpt)
By Ana Aguilar, OMS III
Athens
The delicious smell of fried bread coaxes me awake, pulling me from my dreams. My eyes shoot open. Today’s the day. I swallow a yell of excitement as I fling back my covers and peak over at my twin sister’s side of the room. I can barely make out her sleeping figure underneath all of her blankets. She’s about to really hate me in a couple of seconds. I rush over to her bed and fling myself on top of her, bouncing up and down for good measure.
“Dilys! Dilys! Wake up! Guess what day it is?” I say excitedly, almost slurring my words.
“The day you finally leave me alone?” she says, her voice muffled by the blankets. Dilys hates mornings. With a passion.
“What? No! It’s our birthday!”
“Great. Another year closer to death.”
I roll my eyes. “You are so dramatic.”
I hear something clang in the kitchen. A deep voice laughs. Footsteps approach our door and my mother pokes her head in. “Are you girls up? Get dressed! You don’t want to be late. It’s not every day that you girls get to be a part of the Ceremony of Departure!”
Dilys grunts and turns over, burying herself deeper into her blankets. Mother purses her lip at this and walks in, shooing me away with her hands. As soon as I have left the bed, she pulls back the covers, revealing a very disgruntled Dilys.
“Noooo…” she says feebly.
“The day has begun, my dear. You don’t want to be late! What would the Elder say?” With that my sister finally sits up. She glares at us as she climbs out of bed and over to her closet. Mother smiles at her and then is out the door, probably to tend to the bread. I walk over to my own closet and pull on my best tunic and leggings. My stomach growls. I may have a horde of butterflies taking flight from my small intestine, but that isn’t stopping my hunger.
My parents are sitting at the kitchen table, a plate of fried bread with honey and berries lying between them when Dilys and I come in.
“Happy Birthday, girls!” they exclaim as they pull us into a hug.
“Thanks! Can you believe we’re already 16?”
My father laughs once again. His voice is so low it sounds like rumbling thunder. “I never thought we’d see the day that our beautiful baby girls would grow into even more beautiful women.”
“Not only that, but Dilys and I finally get to go to Neisseria!” I say as I grab a piece of bread. Is it my imagination or do my parents’ smiles falter ever so slightly when I say the name of the nearby kingdom?
“Yes, yes, my love. It’s quite an honor that you and your sister are eligible to go,” says Mother rather hurriedly. I sneak a peek at Dilys, but she’s too busy enjoying her honey-soaked bread to be fully aware of the situation.
Once we have finished our breakfast, our parents herd us out the door. “Go straight to the square, ok?” says Mother. She fusses with my hair and clothes, smoothing any wrinkles she can spot. “We’ll be in the crowd.”
“And make sure to sit up straight, Dulci. No slouching,” adds my Father with a wink.
“Yes, Father. We’ll make you proud!” I say, giving them a quick hug before leaving the house.
Dilys and I start on our walk to the center of town where the ceremony will begin. The rising sun spills light onto the red cobblestone streets and reflects in the windows of houses and shops. Dilys seems to have fully awoken since breakfast and I can see a glimmer of excitement in her eyes.
“Can you believe that we are actually leaving today?” she says so quietly that I can barely hear her. “I mean, I knew from a young age that this would happen, but I never thought the day would actually come that we would leave the village.”
“Are you scared?” The sun shines on my sister’s hair, highlighting her ebony locks. She stands a little straighter, raises her head a little higher.
“No. You?” she smiles at me, teasing me.
“Not one bit.”
There are already people milling around the square once we arrive. A large wooden stage is erect in the middle of the square. A wagon hitched with a horse waits patiently next to it.
“Where are we supposed to stand?” wonders Dilys, fidgeting with her skirt and looking around worriedly.
“I dunno.” I stand on my tiptoes, trying to catch a glimpse of the Elder’s white hair.
“Dulci! Dilys! Over here!” I turn to see our friends, identical twin boys, Dabir and Demas standing in the shade of an awning, waving at us.
I wave back excitedly. Dabir and Demas are one month older than we are. In fact, we barely made the cut to even go with them to the kingdom. If we had been born one week later, we would have had to wait a full six months before beginning our journey.
“Hello, boys. How are you this morning?” asks Dilys. Her cheeks slowly turn red. Is she overheating?
Dabir smiles at her. “Just fine, thanks. Happy Birthday, by the way.” Her cheeks turn redden at this comment. Ooooohhh.
“Is the Elder coming?” I ask, trying to diffuse any awkward silences that could potentially arise.
Demas nods. “Yeah. He’s busy telling the Committee how to set up the stage. He’ll be back soon. Have you seen Dyre and Dix yet this morning?”
I chuckle. “Not yet. I wouldn’t hold my breath if I were you. You know they’re always late.”
Demas laughs. “Good point.”
We watch as families meander into the center of town, slowly surrounding the stage. I can just make out the Elder’s fluffy head of hair bobbing around the bottom, occasionally being blocked by Committee Members in their maroon robes. One man makes his way towards us, running through the square to our shadowed awning.
“Good morning, children!” booms Committee Member Ahab, his face beaded with sweat from his light exercise. “The Elder requests that you make your way to the sanctuary to change into your robes.”
We all make the customary bow and thank him, starting towards the sanctuary. We move easily through the growing crowd of people. Villagers move out of our way, clearing a path for us. For a spilt second, I think I see Mother and Father.
“Beautiful day for the ceremony, huh?” chirps the Committee Member, struggling to keep up with our youthful strides. Ahab is not a thin man.
“Yes, sir,” says Dabir. “Our mother feared for rain, but we have been blessed with sun.”
“Indeed, lad,” Ahab says, fanning himself with his hand. “Maybe a little too much sun, huh?” The older man breathes an audible sigh of relief as we enter the cool shadow of the stone sanctuary. Ahab pulls open the doors and begins his instructions. “Now, your robes have been placed in chambers. Dulcinea and Dilys, your robes are in the first chamber. Dabir and Demas, your robes are in the third chamber. Dyre and Dix have already arrived and are in the second chamber.” Demas and I share a look. I have to quickly avert my eyes to keep from laughing. “I will wait for you here.”
The boys enter the empty sanctuary before us. With its high ceiling and stone walls, it makes for lovely echoes. I have to use every ounce of willpower not to make a sound. That would not be very dignified of me. Dilys opens the door to our chamber and we enter. The room is empty except for a bed in one corner and a full length mirror propped against the far wall. Two robes, one black and one white lay on the bed, absolutely pristine. My heart starts to pound. This is really happening. We are leaving the village. The place that we were born in. The only place that we have ever known. But, we are leaving for the kingdom. The golden Kingdom of Neisseria.
With this thought in mind, I slip into the white robe, tying the sash around my waist.
I look over to Dilys in her black robe and catch her gaze in the reflection of the mirror. I am surprised to see tears welling up in her eyes.
“Are you alright?”
She quickly rubs her eyes and inhales deeply. “Yeah, I just… This is it. It’s really happening.”
I smile. “It’s like you read my mind.”
She laughs a little. “Twin-telepathy, I suppose.” I reach out to take her hand. It’s shaking.
“Are you sure you’re ok? It’s me. You can tell me.”
Dilys takes a shuddering breath. “I am scared, Dulci. I don’t know what to expect. What if it’s not like all these stories that we’ve heard? How would we know otherwise?”
I hesitate. I had always been excited to leave. We had heard so many wonderful stories growing up that I had built up an image in my mind of the kingdom. It was supposed to be as perfect and pristine as the robes on the bed. A land without suffering. A land that would give us a good future and a chance to help our village.
I look in the mirror and see the two of us. Connected yet separate. Dilys, raven-haired, precise, pessimistic and shy. Me, golden-haired, clumsy, optimistic and out-going. Two girls with the same face, but different personalities. No, not different. Complimentary.
“Hey, look at us. I see two awesome girls. Two awesome, intelligent and beautiful girls who are prepared for anything that the world can throw at them.
Do you think our parents would let us go if something bad was going to happen? Do think that the Elder would put us at risk?”
Dylis looks at me for a moment and then shakes her head ever so slightly. “No, you’re right. This is going to be good.” My sister stands a little taller and makes for the door, pulling me with her.
“C’mon. We don’t want to be late.”