Titus ran out to Festus, who was taking the opportunity to rest after his long journey.
“Festus, you need to come with me right now,” Titus said, excitedly, disturbing the sphinx’s short-lived nap.
“Titus, my dear friend,” Festus said, not entirely able to hold back a growl. “Do you know how few pleasures a sphinx is able to experience in these trying times?”
“My mother said she could help free you from the device.”
Festus froze for a moment. “You should have started with that.” Festus began flying in the direction Titus had came from, and soon the boy himself was running to keep up with his sphinx friend.
“This is the sphinx?” Titus’ mother asked her son.
“Yes. This is Festus,” Titus replied. “Festus, this is my mother, Kaelah.”
“I am grateful to you for helping my son to free my daughter. If you’ll permit me,” Kaelah said, coming to Festus and kneeling down in front of him.
While Festus remained still, the priestess parted the mane on Festus’ chest, revealing the jewel once again. But, rather than punching in a series of symbols, she grabbed the jewel as a whole, and began twisting it right, then left, then right again. All of the symbols began to glow, and, for a moment, it turned red, and Festus’ mouth slammed shut. But then the jewel reverted back to blue, then finally it became colorless. With a final tug, the whole device was removed from the sphinx.
“Yeow!” Festus yelled. He looked down to see the device in the priestess’ hand, his mouth agape. Then he half pranced half flew around the room. Upon returning to his starting point, he rolled on the carpet until he saw Titus’ and Kaelah’s grinning faces. He quickly returned to an upright position and coughed down the joys of exclamation still in his throat. Instead, he looked up at Kaelah and spoke in a formal voice, “My lady, I am most indebted to you.”
“You are quite welcome.”
“So you are able to answer questions freely now, yes?” Titus asked eagerly.
“Technically, yes, but,” Festus said, causing Titus to pause with his mouth half open. “I was taken from my people when I was very young. Before the knowledge of my people had been fully passed on to me, and I have been a slave for too long to trust humans with knowledge freely.”
“Festus, I was the one who freed you from the palace,” Titus argued, his eyebrows knitting together and his mouth forming a frown. His voice was pained from the lack of trust.
“I know, but knowledge has a way of corrupting even the purest of hearts. So, I will give you a test: ask me one question, and I will tell you what I can. If you prove yourself by using this knowledge wisely, then I will give you more of my knowledge.”
“That seems fair,” Titus sighed. “All right. How do we defeat the Emperor?”
Festus sighed. “I do not have the full answer to that. If I did, my people would not be in slavery. But, I do know this. There is a prophecy that tells of the Emperor’s defeat.”
“We have a portion of the prophecy,” Kaelah said. “However the parchment is badly faded. From what we could decipher, the Vessels are key to removing the Emperor from power.”
“So Cassandra and I?” Titus wondered how he would be able to convince his sister to defeat her former fiance. He also wondered how either of them would be able to wield the power of the Paralir. Neither of them had been aware of its existence before. Maybe Cassandra had learned something about it in the palace. He would have to ask her when she woke up.
“That is what it seems, but we can’t be certain. We only have a portion of the text,” Titus’ mother replied.
“But there is a place where the full text of the prophecy can be read. The Old Temple, at the border where the empire and the two remaining kingdoms meet. There is, however, a catch.”
“Do we need to answer a riddle to get inside?” Titus asked warily. He’d had enough of those.
“Do not try to get extra answers out of me,” Festus said, glaring at Titus for a moment. “However, since I do not actually know the answer to this question, I will let the matter pass. I do know, however, that the prophecy can only be read at the sunset of the summer solstice. Something to do with how the light bounces off the walls, I believe.”
“The summer solstice?!” Titus exclaimed. “That’s only two weeks from now! We can’t make the journey in that short amount of time!”
“Calm down Titus,” Kaelah said, putting her hands gently on Titus’ shoulders. Not all hope is lost.” Titus nodded, but it was clear he was not very hopeful. “We can discuss it more at dinner. It will be ready soon. In the meantime, go and check on your sister.”
Titus looked at his mother, nodded, and headed over to his sister’s side.
Festus wandered to one of the tapestries on the other side of the room. Kaelah instinctively knew that he wanted to have a conversation with her in private. Or as privately as possible without causing her children to be suspicious.
“Does the emperor know about Titus?” Kaelah asked.
“No, but Philon does.” Festus replied. “During our escape, some guards and the prince himself caught up to us. He tried using the Paralir to convince Cassandra to come back to the palace with him. She asked if her brother could come, too. It is interesting that he still tried to convince Cassandra that her family had died. It would have been more beneficial to him if he had both Cassandra and Titus in his custody.”
“Even a sphinx can’t know everything,” Kaelah replied kindly. “Especially the workings of a mind as twisted as Philon’s.”
“That is truer than you know,” Festus replied, sadly.
“Would you grant me the honor of answering one question for me?” Kaelah asked.
“For the woman who set me free from slavery? Of course!”
“Where are the last of the free Sphinx?” When Festus hesitated, she added, “I mean no harm to you or your kind. Surely my freeing you is proof of that.”
“I believe you do not mean my kind harm, but forgive me for saying that I do not trust everyone in Kairos.”
“If it is any consolation, neither do I.”
Festus sighed. “The answer to your question can be found in the same place as the prophecy. But that is all the information I will give you on the matter. Forgive me, but I cannot risk the last of the free Sphinx being enslaved.”
“That information is enough, thank you,” Kaelah replied. “I do hope that there will come a time where humans and Sphinx can trust each other again.”
“As do I, my lady, as do I.”
