Sirius

Sirius

Write a story set in a land under a perpetual curse of night.

Lady Sirius was angry. The court tiptoed around her, muted whispers echoing behind her as she swept past, pale blue gown and silver hair fluttering softly behind her as she walked. She wasn't certain exactly why she was angry, but she was, and every courtier could see the tension across the Princess' slender neck and shoulders as she walked away from their surreptitiously fleeting glances.

Finally, the glow-lit throne room gave way to the dimly illuminated walls of a hallway leading to her private chambers. Her stride undiminished, Sirius kept going until she was stopped short by a brass-bound door with no handle or knob. She lifted her hand and with an airy wave, caused the barrier to dissolve from sight. Such a customary, daily bit of household magic that she no longer thought about the mechanisms behind it; she just did it. She stalked over to the tall windows at the end of her sitting area, pulled her heavy skirts up around her knees, and clambered onto the deep-set seat that fronted it.

Grunting slightly with effort, Sirius threw open the windows, letting the cool breeze flow past her face. Finally, trying to release her tension, she breathed deeply of the lightly scented air that wafted up to her rooms over the Moon Garden. The mingled aromas of Jasmine Tobacco, Evening Primroses and Giant Moonflowers rose to tease her nose. After several more breaths, she felt her headache and the knots across her neck and shoulders ease.

Sirius let herself sink back into the cushions lining the window seat, while rolling her head back and forth to assist her muscles in unknotting. She had no sooner dropped her silver head back onto a convenient bolster than she sat bolt upright with a stifled scream.

Looking down at her lap, she stared at a small pair of button eyes which were fixed on her face. Little whiskers wriggled in an expression of humor.

"Chilla! Why did you do that? You knew I was trying to relax."

The small chinchilla wrinkled his nose and settled himself into a ball on her lap. His obvious air of nonchalance only served to irritate her more. She reached a hand under his soft, round belly and scooped her friend up into the air.

"Siri, put me down!" he squeaked. His tiny legs scrabbled in the air as he struggled to get down. "You know that I get airsick."

Sirius kept the silky rodent up in the air for a few more moments, but placed him gently back on her skirt after his squirming threatened his balance. She cupped his small shaking body between her softly stroking hands until the quivering stilled. Then she cupped her hands under him and lifted him up to her face to rub him gently against her cheek in apology.

"I'm sorry, Chilla. I didn't mean to scare you. I'm all out of sorts today. I don't know what's wrong with me. Shhhh, I won't do it again."

She pulled the animal away from her face to stare into his eyes. "Are you okay, now?"

Chilla nodded his head, letting his mistress know that he forgave her show of pique. "Please set me back down, now, Siri. I wanted to talk to you about something."

"What is it?" she asked him, rucking up her voluminous skirts into a comfortable bed for him.

"I wanted to know why you were so upset," the tiny voice piped.

"I'm not sure."

Chilla sat back and snuggled into her skirts. Both were quiet while she thought. She could relive today in her mind, but couldn't pick out the one thing which had set her off. Breakfast; no different from any other. After-breakfast entertainments; lighthearted and amusing. Luncheon had consisted of sliced vegetables and fruits, sauces for dipping and sliced breads. Again, as usual. After meal amusements were, well, amusing. The evening meal had been accompanied by minstrels with the bards performing their compositions after the remains of the food had been cleared away. The wines and cordials had been light and delicious.

After these memories had passed through her mind, Sirius looked down at her friend and shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. Today was like every other day. Nothing was different, at all."

Chilla thought about this for a moment, and then perked his cup-shaped ears at her. "Why would you want it to be different? Isn't everything perfect the way it is?"

Sirius reflected a moment more, and then decided to make a clean breast of things. "I found a scroll hidden in the back of the library. I was bored, so I read it. It took me several days to work it out; the writing on it was so faded and old. I finished it before breakfast, and now I am confused."

Chilla wrinkled his nose at her, and then spoke again. "What confuses you?"

"The scroll does. It tells of a time when our land was young. It also tells of a God, worshiped by our people. Helios was His name, and He was the personification of something called ‘The Sun.' He bathed the world in warmth and light. Our Goddess, Selene, is His sister. Radiant Selene has no brother! I know this, but I cannot get this God out of my mind. What is wrong with me, that I would think such impure and blasphemous thoughts?"

Chilla had frozen as still as a small, furry statue as soon as Sirius mentioned the God. Only the tip of his tail twitched, revealing his agitation to her. "Please do not ask me about this, Siri. I don't want to tell you. My kind has kept the histories alive for age upon age. We did not know they were written down for your people to find."

Sirius stared at her friend as if she had never seen him before. She noted his fur trembling, as if in a breeze, although no breeze came now through the opened windows. She knew he was very upset, but couldn't contain her curiosity.

"Tell me, my friend. As Princess, I command it."

Chilla seemed to shrink in on himself for a moment, and then he drew a deep breath and began speaking. The Princess had only a moment to notice that he spoke in the chanting tones of a Master Bard, before she became caught up in his tale.

"Long and long ago, Selene and Helios ruled jointly over this world. They were two-thirds of a triad. The third was their fellow Goddess and sister, Eos, Goddess of the Dawn. Dawn is the time between the rule of Selene and the arising of Helios. She was the world's bridge between the two."

The girl started to speak, but Chilla motioned her to silence with a diminutive paw. She closed her mouth and settled back against the cushions.

"After a long time of Eos following Selene, separating Sun and Moon from each other, Selene grew jealous. She loved her brother, but was only able to see Him in the evening, when He was tired from His long ride across the sky. Eos saw Helios every morning, at the peak of His strength."

Chilla looked down at his front paws sadly, as if seeing what had happened in his own mind. "Selene plotted against Her sister. One morning, just before Eos was to color the sky in preparation for Helios, Selene offered Her sister a glass of sparkling wine. Eos, suspecting nothing, thanked Her sister and drank the wine down. Fire poured throughout Her body as the poison that Selene had secreted in the glass took effect. Out of anger, before she was swept away into the pain, Eos pronounced her death curse. Selene would never be able to touch Her brother. Helios was swept away from the world, leaving Selene alone to light the skies."

"To this time, Helios has remained where Eos imprisoned Him. He no longer travels the skies of this world. Every year, His light grows dimmer. Soon, He will exist no more, and Selene will forever be alone."

Caught up in the sadness of the tale, Sirius cried out, "Is there no way to bring Him back?"

Chilla shuddered. "Yes, there is one way to break the curse. Do not ask me, Siri. I cannot bear it. Let things go on as they have."

Sirius assumed her most regal air, looked at Chilla shivering in her lap and pronounced the words that sealed her fate: "Tell me."

At her words, Chilla stood and told his friend to lift him up to her shoulder. Ignoring the bite of his sharp little claws into her skin, she did as he'd asked.

"Take us to the Moon Garden."

In the Moon Garden, Sirius walked where Chilla directed her to go. They soon arrived in the center of the Garden. Sirius gasped at the huge flower that greeted her eyes.

"What is that flower, Chilla? Why haven't I ever seen it before?"

Chilla wiggled, and the silver-haired princess put him down on the ground, next to the shining white flower. He sniffed its delicate fragrance, and then turned to face his friend.

"This flower is your fate, Siri. It holds the heart of Helios within its petals. Until His heart is set free, the God will continue to fade. Set Him free, and our world will return as it was before the curse."

"But what is it? And, I repeat myself, Chilla. Why haven't I ever seen it before?"

"Are you certain, Princess?" The formal words were sad.

"Tell me!"

"This flower blooms only one night each year; on the Solstice, as is proper for the heart of Helios. On this one night only, is there a chance to save Him."

Chilla's sad eyes met those of the princess. "This flower is yours, my friend. The time is now. This is the rare flower of...Cereus."

Siri felt a shock go through her at the word. Of course. That was why there was, every thousand years, a princess that took her name. Sirius. Cereus. She knew what she must do.

The chinchilla watched, refusing to look away, honoring the choice of his princess, his friend, as she reached a pale, slender hand to the waiting white blossom. When she touched it, the world shuddered; feeling rather than hearing Helios' shout of triumph.



Chilla sat beside the crimson petals of the night blooming Cereus. No longer white, it now glowed blood red. He sat sentinel against the empty pale blue gown. He would sit here and savor the scent of the day blooming Sirius flower while he watched Helios start his travels across the sky.