A few days passed since my father’s return. There was a great degree of movement within the palace. All attendants, servants, officials, and persons of repute were clamoring for one reason or another. What had shaken all of them was the notice that a sage was to visit.
They were all equally ecstatic as they were frightened. For as you well know, disciple of Vadruah, one should never provoke the ire of one who has gained much in austerities. Curses are a triviality among those of devoted minds.
Yet this visit was a special one. I was to at last be given a name. And I was very much glad. No more would I solely suffer the self-same repeated calls of address: "prince", "boy", "child", and what have you.
As everyone was in uproar about what to do, for it seemed that the sage would be arriving any minute, I was busy being carried by mother on a stroll of sorts. She would often take me to the gardens behind the palace. And many a time the commander would accompany us, giving me rides on horseback.
I had yet to hear his name, but I was sure one day I would know, and that perhaps I could have him train me. And while the latter seemed a definite possibility, it would soon be dashed by what occurred next.
As we were preparing to return, servants came sprinting to us. They said, “O queen, the promised sage has now come to bestow a name upon your child. Forgive us for not notifying you sooner, but she has thrown the assembly into disarray. All are trying to curry her favor, for they wish not to show disrespect to her.”
I was immediately surprised on hearing that, for I was sure the sage was to be a man! It wasn’t to say that female sages didn’t exist in my world. My expectations had gotten the better of me. At least in my mind. Visibly my expression was unchanged, though my body hardened with tension. I think both the commander and my mother could sense that, but made no comment.
My mother sighed and said, “I think not my husband can handle this situation. Come, commander, let us leave to see the sage. It is time my son will be given a name, and I should hope it not be in time of mayhem.”
“Indeed, my lady! Let us make with haste to the hall of our king.”
And so we hastened with the servants back to the palace. We flew through the many halls and stairs until at last we made to the King’s hall. There we saw the sage seated with all the ministers and officials seated around her. Platters of food were laid out with all manners of fruits, vegetables, spices, and the largest bowls of rice I had yet seen.
It seemed to me a glutton had come to meet us. Yet her face of beauty betrayed all expectations. Dark of skin, light of hair, gentle in every motion of hers, all while draped in the self-same saffron robes as every other sage. With the exception that his hair was so long that it stretched a distance away from her position.
That quality I could see bore resemblance to a character from my own world, from a fairy tale of old of whose name escapes me. Regardless, those who beheld her presence didn’t take it lightly. Least my father, who was sweating from head to toe. It seemed that she was much more frightening than any demon he faced.
My mother couldn’t help but sigh, while I burst out into laughter. My laughs were loud and echoed through that hall. In that moment, everyone’s eyes were centered on me, with visible dread on their face. The sage likewise turned to me with interest. Her eyes were stern and directed with such focus, it seemed that she could see all I was about.
But as if controlled by a demon, my laughs wouldn’t cease. This entire situation had lightened my heavy heart. Though the pains of my past doings had yet to fully cease, for at this time, worry escaped me. And I should think that it was good that this was the case.
Still, all things must come to an end, even my short-lived happiness. I suddenly felt woozy, and I both vomited and voided myself in their presence. To say it was embarrassing would be euphemistic. As soon as I recovered, I sensed wrath. From out of the corner of my eyes, I saw a wave of directed gust encased in a bright light. All about were unawares of what was to strike me. I closed my eyes and held my hands out in desperation. And then it vanished.
I opened my eyes to see that from my palms coursed the self-same elements. The King rushed to me to see if I was hurt, and likewise did all the ministers, aristocrats, servants, and so many others. I hadn’t felt this suffocated with attention in so long.
“Son, my son!” cried my father. “You can course the elements! And still as a babe. The Gods have indeed blessed you! See, ministers, what have we to worry now?”
“While this is all good, sire,” said one of them, “it behooves you to still find a resolution for his fate, given that the sage has come.”
“Worry not for the child,” said mother, “I shall keep an eye on him.”
Just as they were to leave to take their seats, the sage appeared suddenly before us. Her eyes widened with glee.
“So this is the child I have heard so much about!” she said, as she moved me out of my mother’s arms. My mother was horrified, and wished to take me back, but the King and the ministers held her back.
“Do not hurt the child, O respected Zuryashah1A term denoting a sage.! He knows not the meaning of respect. Give him your blessings rather than your curse!”
My mother was not wrong to suspect a curse to be met for my behavior. And though I was an odd one among babes, it would behoove one of repute to give reprieve to those who aren’t yet developed. Well, it was the case that the visiting sage’s temper was better handled than your teacher’s!
“Stay your worries and tears, Queen of Koshapa!” the sage said, as she danced with me in her hands. “I have already taken quite the liking to your son. Though he is still in his infancy, I can see by his behavior and mannerisms that he understands my speech and the actions governing those in this hall. This child is a special one. Special very much in the good, but I also hear that he is to have an ill fate.”
“Indeed!” said the King, prostrating to her, and kissing her feet. “We were told upon his birth that his life would be one of ill, cast with many woes, and that it should leave him in the years leading to his adulthood. The sign of his star has placed him close to Death himself.”
I directed my attention to my father. He cried on the ground, now wet with tears. I knew my situation seemed too good to be true, but I hadn’t expected this turn of events. My past dues weren’t expunged but merely to be paid at a later time. And that time would soon fast approach.
The sage all of a sudden became serious. She said, “That is what I heard, yes. But worry not, I have measures in place to rectify it. Come, King and Queen. Let us consult with the astrologers and determine the name of the child. I understand you wished for my consultation concerning this, given you wished to determine the time of his soul’s arrival, rather than his physical birth.”
“Yes, that is correct!” said my father, who followed close behind with folded hands.
“But given what I see, what I know, and what must be done,” she said with firmness in her voice, “I shall request more from you than you realize. Not for me, but for your son.”
My father couldn’t respond, but he seemed to understand the issue.
We all left that hall and journeyed to the other side of the palace where dwelt the royal astrologers’ study. All about were giant orreries, calendars, and whole collections of scrolls and documents detailing the motion of the heavenly bodies and their religious association. What came as a surprise to me was that there were no telescopes or anything of the like.
In this era, the astrologers doubled as our astronomers. Given the technology at hand during this time, it struck me as odd that the astronomers didn’t have such things by which they could study the motion of the planets. How then could they note precise movements and calculations?
It would so happen that these astrologers had already mastered the art of projecting their souls into the depths of space. A skill that now only few learned ones can perform.
Yet, as for the matter at hand, the astrologers need only calculate the correct set of syllables needed to form my name.
When we arrived in their study, they prostrated to the sage who came before them. She lifted them both, and they went on their way to perform the necessary calculations. I was given over to the sage, and she placed me in a ring of concentric circles dotted with symbols of the strange script.
She spoke words more ancient than what I knew, and the rings alighted. She bent before me and placed her hand upon my head. Her eyes were closed, as well as mine. And after a few moments, the light dissipated. Both of us opened our eyes.
“I now know whence you have come into being, child of the Marhan,” she said with a smile. She looked to the sages and said, “Hear well, O astrologers, the child’s soul arrived in the month of Jyatuyam, on the twenty-fourth day, at the rise of dawn at the sixth hour of the morning. His conception did not occur in Koshapa but at the southern port city of Daorka.”
The astrologers at once went to work, and within just a few minutes were able to calculate all the necessary details of which they were shocked.
“O sage, we have calculated that his star sign still falls under the reign of Daryurah, that Lord of Death, under the lunar mansion of Bhrahanya. The beginning syllables of his name should be either ah, ee, yi, yu, ye, or yo.”
She grinned and said, “Let him share in likeness the epithet of the lord of his constellation, Daryurah, and of the name of this sage, Yurvaonri: She who Fights Death, who calls to this child. Give him the name Yurva: He who represents Death! The very lord who should try to spirit him shall now be warded by his own designation.”
The King, Queen, and all others were uneasy of what the sage proclaimed. But they dared not defy the suggestion she cast and let the ‘ill-boding’ name be set. Thus was I called Yurva, and a blessing indeed was that name!
But things were about to take a turn that no one expected.
