"It'll be fine, Mar," Damali said with a calm smile.
Marlene let Damali's arm go, becoming exasperated with worry as Damali knelt. Nervous and wound up like a top, Marlene paced back and forth in front of the altar, keeping her voice low and reverent. "Besides, Akhenaton had six daughters, and was always seen with his queen at his side--seven women, Damali. You know he's seen it all---all of them fine, his wife a star. Nefertiti's girls had to be the bomb and had to have everything under the sun and moon at his door coming at 'em. Why not take it there for unfiltered advice and leave Eve be, because she's conflicted. She has to be; she's his mother," Marlene whispered though her teeth. "Her advice might be... oh, chile. I ain't speaking ill of one of our queens, but, remember, now, Akhenaton was the first of the monarchs to emphasize his role as a father, and with Tutankhamen as his son-in-law, you know--" "Help me call the violet pyramid, Mar," Damali said with her eyes closed.
"All right, all right, all right," Marlene said, her tone testy as she knelt. "In and out. Keep the questions simple and--"
"Open the pyramid with me, Mar," Damali said, breathing slowly and deeply. "I know not to step on any toes. Trust me. I owe Eve, don't forget... she put her body on the line to direct us to the Chairman's lair. That had to be a difficult meeting. I'm sure, if Adam found out, he didn't take it well."
Marlene let her breath out hard and focused with Damali. With their eyes closed, both women turned toward each other once their palms began to tingle, creating a peaked V with their right hands, fingertips barely touching, as their left palms slowly rotated faceup to form the base of the energy structure.
Slowly but surely a violet light filled the space between their hands as their focused energy intensified. They spread their hands apart until the light radiated and remained before them on its own with them kneeling before it palms up.
"I call great Queen Eve, alone, for private counsel," Damali whispered.
The light throbbed. "Enter, my child, at my permission. It is Eve."
Marlene stood and backed away with a sigh. Damali stood and walked forward into the violet light.
Marlene wrapped her arms around herself. "Tell her I said hi."
Lemurs and colorful birds made the heavy cover of trees seem restless. Damali slowly walked through the humid, heavily green- swathed terrain, her gaze sweeping as she searched for Eve. She stopped at the edge of a large pool and glanced up at the thundering falls. When the great queen surfaced from the beneath the clear water, Damali stepped back and noticed the white sheath that was warming on a rock. Eve dropped her head back, smiled at the sun, wiped the water from her face, and began to wring out her braids.
"Oh, Queen Daughter, I so love Madagascar. It reminds me of home."
Eve sighed and walked to the rock, na**d and unashamed--pure, natural sensuality oozing from her as Damali handed her the soft linen fabric. She pulled it over her head, shaking lose her long hair, her face radiant with natural beauty as she patted a spot beside her for Damali to sit.
As Damali tried to decide how to begin the difficult conversation, she was so glad that her mother-seer had insisted she shower, rinse her hair with clean rosemary and sage water, and anoint herself with myrrh before coming here. Just sitting near such majestic beauty made her feel so
very uninitiated to true elegance, even while wearing the light, white gauze blouse with flowing sleeves, billowing pants, and plain, flat gold sandals. She toyed with her silver ankh earring to divert nervous energy. Eve could make a plain sheath look like a million bucks.
"I am honored, daughter, that you have sought my private counsel and not Nzinga's. But why?"
"I am honored that you would have me visit you alone," Damali said, bowing her head and keeping total humility in her tone. "I mean no disrespect to Nzinga, she is warrior of warriors, huntress of huntresses, but this is a delicate matter that requires detente."
Eve chuckled. "Ah... and if it is about a male, why not consult Ne-fertiti? She is renowned for her most effective diplomacy with the other half. She bore six daughters in an attempt to offer her king a son, and did not--yet he loved her so that he remained faithful and did not seek to sire a male heir through taking other wives. She is your better counsel on that topic."
"No," Damali said, meeting Eve's merry eyes. "You were first, will always be first, and are the wisest on the council. I owe you deeply; just as the world owes you deeply for all that you put on the line for us. Thank you for that. I also thank you for guiding us to the Himalayas to find... a lair, before." Damali's eyes slid from Eve's with reverence, not ever wanting to mention the Chairman or hurt the elder queen with a reference to her old lover. "Therefore, I have come to you."
Eve clasped Damali's hand and swept it to her mouth to place a kiss of adoration on the back of it, accepting the compassion and respect Damali's tone held. "Tell me, child. What weighs your heart?"
"I said a prayer," Damali replied in a rush, her eyes seeking Eve's so furtively that all the merriment left Eve's eyes. The older queen squeezed Damali's hand tighter, which made Damali's grasp follow suit. "I was angry at my soul mate. He'd hurt me, had done abominable things... so I wanted a change, I thought. Wanted to teach him a lesson. The prayer was darkened by anger, and . . ."
Eve's eyes became wide as her free hand covered her heart. "You didn't slay him, did you?"
"No, no," Damali said quickly. "But I may have injured his spirit." Damali looked away. "In fact I'm sure of that, and I know forgiveness is a part of any relationship, but while under the influence, he took one of my Guardian sisters, and--" Eve snatched her hand away. "He did what?"
Damali stared at Eve as she stood, placed her hands on her hips, and tilted her regal head to the side. "And you didn't plant your Isis in his chest?" She made a hard tsking sound with her tongue and stormed back and forth for a moment before she finally sat near Damali again. "All right. My apologies. I have just never been so galled... If he was under the influence, he should have never put himself in such a position to even . . ." Eve closed her eyes. "I am the last one who should cast aspersion," she said, opening her gorgeous brown eyes and taking in a deep breath through her nose. "This type of dissention within your home troubles me, daughter. It strikes a nerve. I detest seeing one of our queens experience such disrespect."
"Oh, thank you, Eve," Damali said on a hard exhale. "I thought it was me. That I was losing my mind for being so furious. I couldn't pull it together, and I lobbed a serious prayer."
"Oh, child, what did you ask the Most High for?" Eve closed her eyes again and kept her hand over her heart.
"I wasn't playing games of spite, I really wanted someone who would love me with his whole heart, who would be honorable, do the right thing, be strong, disciplined, courageous, and good." Damali let her voice trail off as she looked at the water. "I really meant no harm, I was hoping that it might even be a new and improved Carlos, actually, but then he manifested. Somebody else."
Eve's palm cradled her face. "Then why so blue, my child? Enjoy the gift from above."
Damali's hand covered Eve's. "I don't know that I should or if I can." Both women's eyes met.
"If you called him from a pure place in your heart, after having it so abused, why? If he manifested as all those wonderful things, and you were never married to Carlos in the Light... well. . ."