With a Little Reverence

“Aphrodite! Look!” Enthused Athena, as she noticed the sea in the distance. From their vantage point on this hill, they could see for miles around, if they looked carefully through the spaces between the marble buildings. “I think that is what we should have seen from the Vista of the Eternal Views.”

“Perhaps it’s moved.” Aphrodite muttered, as she was looking the other way towards further hills on the horizon from her viewpoint. “Those hills look familiar.”

Athena nodded and smiled when she saw them. “Ah, yes. They’re the Hills of Pendragon. Birthplace of many a legend.”

Aphrodite frowned. “I never realised they were on the Isle of Atlantis.”

Before either could say another word, Carpo emerged from the library. “I’ve explained to the Librarian why we are here. Jupiter is inside, although Poseidon has been called away on urgent business. Jupiter is meeting with dignitaries from the surrounding lands; kings, queens and noblemen. When I explained the reason for your visit, the Librarian, who wasn’t going to let anyone in, realised the complexity of the situation and agreed.”

As if on cue, a stern looking woman appeared at the door, quickly beckoning for those gathered to enter. The Librarian ushered the group through a set of large oak doors into the Library of Eternal Secrets, and motioned for them all to be seated on some large, plush, beige sofas which took up quite a bit of space in the corner of the room. Beside the sofas another door marked ‘private’ was closed. “I will have to interrupt their meeting for this,” the Librarian whispered as she pointed to the door, “this is not good. Not good. They will not be pleased. Not pleased.” Gingerly, she pushed open the door, which creaked loudly, and, with long taffeta dress rustling she disappeared into the room, gently closing the door again behind her.

Aphrodite and Athena decided to sit on one of the sofas, but all the others remained standing.

Hera glanced around the room. White marble walls, floors and ceilings, and row upon row of bookshelves from floor to ceiling filled most of the room. Dotted around were several plush armchairs, the same shade of beige as the sofas in their corner. Gentle candle lit lamps provided a soft glow to the room, creating a nice peaceful ambience for reading, although apart for the Gods and Goddesses nobody else was in the room. The library had been closed because of this meeting.

Baldur shivered as he realised just how cold it was in the room. As soon as he did so, others too noticed the chill.

With her keen sense of smell, Diana noticed the aged aroma coming from the bookshelves; some of these books and manuscripts dated back millennia.

Athena pulled her chiton closer around her, noting how odd it was for her to be feeling the cold. She and the other Gods and Goddesses wore the same type of clothing day in day out, never really noticing any fluctuations with the temperature around them. Although in the Gardens on Olympus, they were always bathed in the Sun’s warmth, and had no reason to think they would need to dress more appropriately when going out for the day.

Adonis walked over to the first aisle, where instead of books, the shelves were empty apart from a few scrolls. He unfurled one, to see the text written upon it in strange square and triangular symbols, nothing he had ever seen before. He rolled up the scroll and put it back onto the shelf before returning to the sofas.

The door marked ‘private’ creaked open again, and the Librarian reappeared, once again with her whispered rustle. “One of them will be along shortly. They will. Be along.” she whispered. Pointing to the sofas once more, she whispered, “Be seated. Wait.” And with that, she rustled off through the large oak doors, closing them behind her, their thud echoing around the large room.

This time, the group sat, hoping they wouldn’t need to wait for long. The room felt a little warmer since the oak doors had been closed, almost as though the cool chill was coming in from the reception just outside. Expectantly, all eight turned to face the ‘private’ door when it eventually opened again, expecting to see Jupiter emerge, only to be met with a woman wearing long purple robes.

“What y’all doin’ sittin’ there fer?” The woman said, not amused. “Be standin’ up when you meet yer queen.”

“Meet yer queen?” Hera questioned. “We are the Gods and Goddesses of Mount Olympus, mortal, and we stand for nobody who demands it, queen or not. Besides, we are here to see Jupiter on a pressing matter, not to meet a queen from a distant land.”

“Arm not bothered ‘oo you lot are. Your ear to see me ‘n’ that’s that. I do the dealin’s on beyalf o’ me ‘usband Arthur. An’ I’ll ‘ave less of this ‘mortal’ talk, you’ll address me properly, for arm Queen Gemevere o’ the Land o’ Camelot and Pendragon. Now be standin’!”

This is the eighth part to the Legendary Circles II story. The previous parts are on the Storylines page.