It was most strange that some forty-eight hours before the announcement of James Earl Jones' death, I was contemplating him, and this story. I was never much of a Star Wars fan, though there were other roles that he played that very much captured my heart. If there was ever a voice that could make my knees go weak, it was most definitely his. Rest well James, you will be fondly remembered.
The Forbidden Book
You lay on the blood-red divan draped with leopard skins in your bed chamber, that housed every conceivable luxury that could be had in this dark and violent age. Being the King's only precious daughter you were granted your heart's desires, well almost all of them. The only luxury you didn't have was the path to choose the man you would love. You hated thinking about this, but since your eighteenth name day, it had been a paramount thought in your mind. Your aging Father's as well. Recently he had sent emissaries to the far corners of Hyperboria seeking the appropriate suitor for your hand.
Who would he be? A Prince or a King most certainly. Probably at least twenty years older than yourself, and that thought made you unhappy. You longed for someone young, vibrant, who still could dream like you did. However, you would according to your family line just as every other Princess who had come before you, marry who your illustrious Father chose for you, and you would do it without complaint. You sighed, thinking about this certain dread. It hung over your otherwise charmed life like a sentence. For indeed it was. At least that was how you saw it, and your distaste for the role you must play was unlikely to change.
This evening though you had sent the servants away, and commanded the guards at your door to admit no one. You ran your dainty white fingers bedecked with rings of gold and precious gems over the snake skin cover of the ancient tome that lay before you. Your many bracelets shifted on your slender arms, to come to a stop at your wrist with a musical clatter. Your heart beat with excitement that finally you had in your possession a copy of this very book that you had sought for months.
It was old this tome, and you knew that in your Father's kingdom at least, this was forbidden reading. Possession of such a volume was punishable by death. You wondered looking at its dark cover, what would your father do if he caught you with this volume. Would he enact his penalty on you?
The writings on the cover were in Stygian, but you had studied the language since you were a small girl, and the words came to you easily. 'Embracing the Dark: The Pathway of Set and the Art of Ascendancy' You ran your fingertips over the embossed title on the serpent-bound cover and slowly opened it to the first page. The book smelled of dark mystery, deep jungles, and the mustiness of an age of disuse. It had cost you a pretty penny to have this volume located, and it had been delivered to your chambers with the utmost secrecy and care. It always helped that your dark-haired and pale-skinned beauty entranced all the servants that truly mattered.
This 'new' religion was fast sweeping the Kingdom to gain the minds of many new followers. Those who were disenfranchised with the Spider God Zath. The towers of the serpent had risen almost overnight in the larger cities, and many had flocked to them. Though your Father tolerated other religions, the converts of Set he had found particularly dangerous. As these conversions had not just spoken to the hearts and minds of the small folk, but the nobles and those of great influence as well.
You had never been a devoutly religious soul, only giving lip service to Zath, but you did enjoy the recordings and texts of many different gods. You had devoured them all, but none had spoken to you like the teachings of Set. It was, as far as you could surmise, a religion that caused you to look deep inside of yourself, peel away the many layers, and explore a deepness that many could never fathom. Being a Princess this idea appealed to you, the simplicity of giving up all the baubles, protocols, and trinkets, and becoming a follower of Set and their enigmatic Leader the mysterious Thulsa Doom.
You had heard many stories about him. Some said he was a powerful sorcerer, and that he had once been a King. Others said he was the last living Atlantean, a race rumored to have hair the shade of night, ebon skin, and bedazzling blue eyes. There were whispers that he was over one thousand years old, and could assume the form of Set himself, or that he was even immortal. You didn't know what to believe, as you had never laid eyes on the man. Though you did wish as you devoured the beginning chapter about letting your walls and fears go and seeking 'infinity' that he could be among one of the many suitors that your Father would bring to the castle to vie for your hand.
Sadly though your Father had claimed the prophet of Set to be his enemy. He had not gone as far as destroying the towers of the snake, at least not yet. However he had begun to purge or restrict the cult as he called it, and its teachings wherever he could. You wondered as you read on if your own Father could not benefit in some way from the words and directives of Set himself? You were sure that you could. To you, the teachings made sense and spoke to you with a sincere depth that to this date no other religious doctrine had.
