Sweet Dreams Ch. 06: Learn How to Dream

When we came to the place where we would stay for the night, tents and fireplaces were already prepared. I could even smell cooked meat.

Tieka announced, "We will gather around these three fires. Our people have prepared a meal for us. We will go to bed early and start with the rising sun."

Our horses were led to the place where they would spend the night and we gathered around the fire and were each given a bowl of stew.

"Haruk, I heard people from the north are good storytellers."

"Tieka, I do not know, if we are good storytellers, but we like to tell and hear a story."

"Would you tell us a story?"

"Do you know many stories from the north?"

"None. Women were never allowed in the room when men talked about their encounters. Neither were we allowed to talk to northerners."

"Then let me apologize to all the northerners first, because I will tell a story they all know by heart."

Hundreds of years ago a boy named Lodrak was sold to the temple of Ralatha, the goddess of love in a city north from Ashtagoah.

In the temple house lived the high priestess with eight more priestesses. The high priestess was only allowed to leave the house to perform ceremonies at the temple and once a year for a gathering of the city's officials in the city hall.

No man was allowed to set foot into the temple house except for the temple slave, Lodrak. He only did so, when asked to. And he never saw the high priestess. He never was in the same room with her. Every time she left the house, she hid her face under a veil.

Lodrak grew up and became a very handsome, strong, and nice young man. He lived in a small shed in the garden of the temple. He spent his days around the beautiful priestesses since he was a boy, but he never dared to look at them with desire or touch them.

One night one of the priestesses came to his shed. She undressed, kissed him, and whispered into his ear: "Let me show you what the goddess of love has to offer."

And she showed him how to make love to a woman. He was a very eager student, and he tried his best with the priestess in the first night. But he was like all first timers, he was nervous, he did not know how to touch a woman and how to handle himself. But she taught him patiently and spent the whole night with him. In the end she was sufficiently satisfied. What he lacked in experience he made up with enthusiasm.

When he woke up in the morning, he was alone. He was not sure if he had dreamt all that, but the traces of what happened the last night were obvious and he fell back to his bed with a happy smile on his face.

In the evening the door to his shed opened again and another one of the priestesses came to him for the night and educated him with great effort. He never spent a night alone from this day on. There were eight priestesses and one of them was with him for each day of the week. He could not be happier. He felt like he had a family that loved and cared for him as much as he cared for them.

After two years of having company in bed every night, Lodrak was asked by the High Priestess to come to the house for the evening. He had to come in the afternoon and be prepared in ceremonial baths and with prayers. Body and mind were to be pure when he would meet with the high priestess.

When he was ready two priestesses led him to the high priestess's room, and closed the door from the outside. She was on the bed, but she stood up as soon as they were alone. She undressed with one smooth motion. He watched her in shock. She was the most beautiful women he had ever seen.

"Young Lodrak, my priestesses have prepared you for this night. They thought you did very well, and you are worthy of a high priestess of Ralatha."

He could not take his eyes of her. She looked at him with a longing in her eyes.

"I am at a disadvantage here. You can look at my naked body and enjoy the sight, but I cannot. Would you change that, please?"

Lodrak swallowed and began to undress. He still was not able to form words in his mouth or even in his mind. When he stood before her naked, she looked at him and examined his body.

"You seem to be quite excited to see me. My priestesses told me that usually your member is not already standing high up to the sky when they start an evening with you."

She took his hand, led him to her bed and kissed him. After the long kiss she whispered in his ear, "I am still a virgin. I have lived in this house since I was eight years old. Please be gentle and careful. But I want to be satisfied after tonight. Can you do that?"

He could. When she woke up the next morning, she felt a bit exhausted but very happy. She had slept in his embrace the whole night. She woke him up with a kiss and then woke him up even more by satisfying him with her mouth.

"I am a bit sore between my legs and my priestesses tell me, that you enjoy this very much too."

After that night, sleeping with her became part of his weekly routine. They tried new ways of satisfying each other's needs and lived happily for another two years.

After two years all priestesses suddenly stopped spending the night with him, but they did not tell why. They were still friendly and seemed to care for him, but he had to stay alone in his shed once again and after he tried a few times he did not dare to ask any more why.

They behaved like this for two weeks. Then one day the high priestess asked Lodrak to her room and told him: "My dearest Lodrak, I can only apologize for our behaviour. I could not talk to you. Today will happen something very special and you must prepare for it, as you had to prepare for our first night."

Then Lodrak was bathed, cleaned, and shaved. They clothed him in new white linen. They put a veil over his head and told him to walk after the high priestess.

She walked to the temple, Lodrak followed her and after him the other priestesses. When they reached the temple, they opened the doors and walked inside.

Three hours later the eight priestesses left the temple, but Lodrak and the high priestess were nowhere to be seen and were gone forever. From this day on for several months the sky was in deep red every evening. Some said the goddess of love had the god of the clouds paint the sky in her favourite colour because she was in an especially good mood.

"Mylord, you are a good storyteller!" Tieka exclaimed.

"Tieka, my story is not yet finished. There are still some things to add. But from here on the story varies. I have heard many different versions myself, but this is my favourite one."

A few years later the three sisters gathered, Ralatha, the goddess of love, Isanna the goddess of the living and Naletha, the goddess of the dead. Naletha told them about a man, whose time to be with her had come, but she could not find him. Neither was he with the dying nor was he already dead.

Isanna told them, that she did not know anything about this. She thought the man was already dead for some years, since he was not in her realm anymore.

When Ralatha heard this her face became red and she confessed to her sisters, that she had taken this man and his lover to her realm and that she intended to keep him there. Her sisters were mad at her, because she was not allowed to interfere in matters of live and death.

Isanna threatened to exclude her from her realm if she did not come to an agreement or a compromise with her sister.

Ralatha and Naletha bargained over Lodrak for days. They came to a compromise. Lodrak's heart was light as a feather, Naletha was looking forward to embrace him in her realm. He was allowed to visit Ralatha's realm once a week to spend the night with the High Priestess until her time had come to. And he was allowed to visit Ralatha herself once a week to spend the night with her too.

Since then, on every sixth day of the week the evening sky is especially beautiful. Because of this the name of the sixth day in a week is Ralathaday.

I cannot remember how often I have told this story. I must have heard it hundreds of times. There were as many variations as there were storytellers. Some were more graphic in scenes in the shed, others described the gods in detail.

One version was especially popular amongst young men in the military. The first one to tell it was my older brother Naaldir when his mental illness took hold of him. He tells it from time to time ever since, always to the amusement of the whole court. Usually it goes about this way:

Lodrak was a slave in the temple of the sex goddess. He fucked the high priestess senseless. Then the sex goddess took him to her, and he fucked her senseless too. The goddess of the dead did not want to take him, because she did not want to be senseless too. End of story.

Years ago, I was very ashamed, when he told it and I could not understand why my father never stopped him. Later I understood that everyone had the right to tell a story and others who were not mentally ill did sometimes make a fool of themselves too.

This time I could not make a fool of myself. My audience was very grateful; but they did not know about our culture, and I did not want to give any opportunity to ridicule.

They were silent for a few minutes, and they seemed to think about what they had heard. Then Imila looked at me and asked, "Who are Isanna and Naletha? I never knew that Ralatha has sisters."

Before I could answer one of the boys, Zultor, spoke up, "There are no sisters. This story is just a pile of shit from people who have left the true ways. I don't want to listen to this anymore. Men as slaves of women? Why should a man ever care how to satisfy a woman? When fucking is not enough it is her own fault."

Tieka jumped up and turned to him, "Shut up at once and stop insulting those who come to help us."

These seemed to be the tensions our messengers told us about.

"We will have to see if they really help us. I see just a bunch of people gathering information about us."

"And I would not blame them, if they did not help us after they saw how you receive them."

"Hadn't this earthquake come it would be very different."

"But the earthquake had come, and everything you and our fathers did, led to this disaster. What did you do? What did you want? More ships, more ships to raid Agdulmek and the cities in the north.

And what did it bring us? Our granaries were old and leaking before, now they are destroyed, even our ships, which are so precious to you, are destroyed or we cannot use them, because our port, which needed to be repaired, was destroyed by a landslide.

Now we stand before the kingdom naked, hungry and without houses. And we are in this because of you and people like you.

So, just shut up. I am not interested in what you like to hear and what not. You have no power over me."

She paused for a moment and waited for a response. But none came. Then she took her seat again and turned to me.

"Duke Haruk, I am very sorry for this. But not as sorry as Zultor will be when we come back to Dagrala.

Please, would you answer my sister's question."

I thought for a moment but decided not to comment on the argument.

"2690 years ago, a man named Gugor prayed to Ralatha. When suddenly in the middle of his prayer the temple was filled with light, and he saw three sisters dancing arm in arm. When they saw him, they smiled at him and asked him 'Do you know, who we are?'

He answered, 'No, I don't think I know you. Who are you?'

One of the three answered, 'You know me, but you have never seen me. I am Ralatha, goddess of love. You came here to pray to me. I hear every prayer in my temple, and I have heard you. You were asking for life. My sister will give you life, but you have to listen, what both my sisters have to tell.'

'What are their names?'

'Isanna and Naletha. They are older than me, much older, but until now, they never touched earth.

You will come back tomorrow and the day after and the day after, and you will listen.'

'But I must work, what do I eat, how do I pay for my clothes?'

Isanna answered, 'We will take care of you.'

Gugor came back the next day and the temple was filled with light again. He listened to the three sisters every day and he wrote down, what he had heard. With time others saw that Gugor stayed in the temple for hours, sometimes even for days and the doors wouldn't open, when he was inside.

Many asked him, what had happened, but he did not tell anything until the goddesses told him, that he was finished. His book, his revelation contained everything they saw necessary.

They asked him to preach about his encounters and send copies of his book to everyone he knew. Five years later every city had a temple for Isanna and Naletha, the goddesses of the living and the dead."

"And what is in this book?"

"I think we have a copy with us. It is about the life and death of men. About how to live by the rules of the gods, how to ensure, that your heart is as light as a feather, and you will one day wake up in Naletha's warm embrace.

It teaches with stories about men, gods, animals, and other things. Therefore, we tell so many stories in the kingdom."

"Thank you, duke. Maybe we can continue this talk later. Now we should go to sleep. We need to be refreshed and awake early in the morning. The nights are getting shorter, spring is coming."

I shared a tent with Mandrak. When we laid down, I asked him in his dialect, "What do you make of those two boys?"

"They are here as spies for those who don't want change. I am not sure, which one is more dangerous, the one that spoke up and gave away his intentions or the one that stayed quiet and spoke to one of the messengers right afterwards."

"I don't like them both. We must keep an eye on them. I will talk to Ladar in the morning."

"No, it is better, when I talk to him. They watch you very closely. I will ask Ladar's men to keep the boys entertained with pointless talk about military."

"Thank you, Mandrak. Now let's go to sleep. I think we should be awake and alert tomorrow morning. Good night."

"Good night."

"I am impressed, son, you are handling this well."

"What do you mean?"

"Telling them the story of Lodrak. You introduced Isanna and Naletha in a very gentle way."

"Not gentle enough for some."

"I don't think anything would have been gentle enough for young Zultor. But it is the other one, Hamur, you should worry about."

"I think so too."

I opened my eyes. Of course, I knew I was dreaming. But I wanted to see my father.

When I opened my eyes we both were sitting at a table, full of wonderful dishes, specialities from all over the kingdom.

"I thought I invite you to a late dinner to remind you of the great variety in the kingdom's tastes."

"Thank you. How does eating in a dream work?"

"I don't know, just try it."

Everything tasted delicious. I hesitated when he presented an exceptionally good-looking piece of pork to me.

"You cannot get fat, if that is what you worry about."

"Just one more piece. And then we must talk. I have a few questions."

"Then read my books first!"

"These questions will not be answered in your books. Others will."

"What are your questions then?"

"Did your father come to your dreams too?"

"You are right, this question will not be answered in my books.

My father came to my dreams too. As did his father to his dreams. But I think no king before has experienced what you experience. The gods are with you, that is why you can see, what you see."

"So, the gods send you to my dreams?"

"Yes and no. Just because I am dead does not mean, that my duty as a king has come to an end. I cannot explain everything here, but you will understand."

"Can the living visit other's dreams too, or do you need to be dead?"

"You want to visit Larna?"

I nodded.

"This is why Gulrak sends you to the temple in Faltara. You will know more about dreams, than anyone living has ever known. Are these all your questions?"

"For now, yes."

"You chose wisely. They would not have been answered in my books.

But we must hurry now. Mandrak is about to wake you up.

Don't trust the boys. Trust the two girls, they have not lied to you and never will."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Goodbye, my son. I am looking forward to your next dream."

I felt a hand on my mouth and someone whispering in my ear, "Wake up, but keep silent."

It was Mandrak. I nodded slightly and he took his hand on my mouth.

"Do you hear that?"

I listened out into the night. I heard the river and the wind. Suddenly I heard it. Someone was sobbing, then crying and suddenly screaming, "Leave me alone!" It was Imila's voice.

I jumped out of bed, put on my shoes as fast as I could and ran over to where screams were coming from.

Hamur stood in front of the girls' tent and looked at us, "No one can enter!"

"You will see that I can!"

He pulled out a knife, "No, you can not!"

Meanwhile the others woke up too. Ladar and his men came to the tent.

He shouted to him, "Put your knife down, boy."

"No, I will not. You will not make me do anything. I will take what is mine!"

He ran towards me with his knife when suddenly Tagor appeared from the side and hit him with a wooden stick. He was knocked over and Ladar's men overwhelmed him. I ran towards the tent and opened it.

Tieka lay on the left side unconscious and Imila was sitting in one corner half naked while Zultor threatened her with a knife. And again, Tagor's stick came from the other side and knocked him out.

Ladars men pulled Zultor out and tied him up with the other boy. I crawled into the tent, gave Imila a blanket to cover herself and asked Tangara to help me find her clothes.

Half an hour later we had evaluated our situation. All the free cities' messengers and scouts were gone. It was just us northerners with the two boys and the two girls now. It seemed Zultor had knocked out Tieka and tried to rape Imila. She was beat up too, but not as bad as Tieka.

Ladar and Tangara were still not sure if this was a cover up to lure us into a trap. After what my father said in my dream, I was sure, that the girls had nothing to do with it.

We made the fire going again and sat in a circle. The girls sat with us; the boys were tied up in some distance so they could not hear us. Ladar's men guarded them.

Tangara asked the girls what had happened.

Imila began to tell, "Zultor opened our tent and whispered to us, 'Stay silent. We have done our work, now comes the reward.' I asked him what work, and what reward this was. Then he bragged about how they lured you into a trap, that they sent away all our messengers and scouts to prepare men to kill you at Zaffa's gate and that their reward was us.

The young men are about to take over again, he said, and then all the girls from rich houses would be at their right place as slaves and he would start with me.

Tieka tried to shove him out, but he knocked her out. Then he began to rip of my clothes. This was when you came."

"Can you tell us more about these two?"

"They are sons of our father's good friend, from the Kalka family. Some families only agreed to sending us to the Low Pass only if they come with us. Hamur should one day follow in his father's footsteps and Zultor was to command a raiding ship in a few years."