The Garden of Whispers: A Story

By: Madelyne Posted on: October 31, 2007

Shoulders slumped, Darius sat back in the chair behind his desk. The parchment he'd just crumpled had been tossed into a larger pile of similiar pieces in a dusty corner of the room. It seemed so easy a bargain. Design and build a monument to the Gods, and in return Sarapis would cause his sweet Niliana to fall in love with him. It was the chance of a lifetime and Darius grasped it.

In the early days of their romance, Darius and Niliana spent all their time together. They would picnic on the beach and feed each other bites of caramel-covered apples from Allea's candy shop. Or, if Darius received a healthy amount of commissions, they might visit the Seabreeze Tavern to share an ale. Niliana's beauty caught the eye of every man in the place, and sometimes a few women, but she only had eyes for her devoted artist husband .

At first, Darius felt sheepish, even humbled, at Niliana's praise over the garden he created. Everyone worshipped at least one of the Gods, so it did not seem out of place that she would visit it daily. Over time, her visits grew longer. Once Darius was guaranteed a warm dinner upon coming home after a long day sculpting, but he now arrived to a cold, dark house as Niliana hardly ever returned before the moon had risen to illuminate the otherwise dark streets. When Darius tried to talk to his wife, she was distracted and her words made little sense. The woman thought the Gods spent all day speaking directly to her. One night she would come home, conspiratorily letting him in on a secret confided to her by one of the Gods. The next, she might barge in angrily, insisting she would never visit the garden again, as she could not bear to listen to one more of their whispers.

Concerned, Darius set aside an afternoon and visited the garden that he skillfully designed and created with his own two hands. He watched in despair as Niliana reacted to the "whispers". His spouse tilted her head to one side and nodded, murmuring something about the Triumverate. Suddenly she jerked around, stared in another direction and wept bitterly. Then she turned to look in competely different direction, looked shocked, and laughed hysterically. Darius could make no sense of it. He heard no whispers or voices of any kind. Only a soft breeze travelled up the cliffs and through the statues. Hearing anything else was a sign of madness. Creeping away, Darius made up his mind to confront Niliana as soon as she returned home.

It was nearing midnight when Darius gave up waiting and made the decision to go out and look for her. Wringing his hands, he stepped outside his front door and looked at the moon, high over the Eastern Ocean. Niliana had never stayed out this long, and he feared for her safety. He rushed through the dark streets, past the fountain in the courtyard and up the steps. Darius called out to her, his voice desperate.

"Niliana! Darling, where are you?" He pleaded. He searched the Gardens of Whispers and Moonlight. He combed through the Garden of the Sacred Sea. All the while, he silently prayed, begging for the return of his beloved Niliana. Reluctantly, after searching for hours but finding no trace of her, Darius turned and headed back to his home. Unwilling to go to bed without his wife, he sat at his desk pondering where she might be until the first rays of sunlight brought the dusky glow of morning to the room.

Sharp raps sounded on the wooden door of the artist's humble cottage. Curious about why Niliana would knock at the door of her own home, Darius flung open the door expecting to see his bride. Instead, he was met by a village elder, Erdan the pearl diver and his wife Carmina, and Lexil, the fisherwoman. His bloodshot gaze frantically skipped from one to the next, the grief on their faces not immediately registering to his overtired mind.

"Darius, I'm so sorry," Carmina began. Her voice broke and a huge tear rolled down her cheek. Lexil put her arm about the woman's shoulders. The voluptuous blonde whipered to the younger woman, "Shh, best let the elder tel him."

"Tell me what?" Darius demanded to know at once, and began firing questions at the group before him, "What is it? Why are you all here? What is it you have to tell me?"

The elder took a deep breath and then exhaled loudly through his mouth, smoothing the front of his robes with his palms. For months now people in town had talked about Darius' crazy wife. Would the artist be relieved not to have to deal with the gossip any longer?

"Darius, it's Niliana-" elder started but was interrupted by the distressed man before him.

"Have you found my wife? Where is she? Where is Niliana?! You tell me where she is!" Darius anxiously shouted. His eyes, red and swollen from a night of insomnia, continued to dart between the elder and the Thalassans standing slightly off to one side.

"Darius, it's not good news, friend," the elder struggled to be gentle. As he looked at the sculptor's teary eyes and disheveled clothing, he did not regret his decision to bring the others. Erdan braced himself for Darius' reaction to the news while Lexil continued to comfort Carmina.

Darius lunged forward towards the robust figure of the elder, "Stop pussyfooting around old man and TELL ME WHERE MY WIFE IS!"

Carmina shrieked in fright, causing Lexil to blurt, "Just tell him, please! Tell him what his crazy wife's gone and done to herself!"

A calm took hold of Darius. "D-d-done to herself?" He stuttered, taking a step back.

"This morning when Erdan went out to look for pearls, he found your wife, Darius. He fetched me at once and I saw it for myself. It looks like she's done herself in. Jumped over the cliff, she has." The elder spoke calmly, one large hand firmly on Darius' shoulder. The two women quietly mourned in the background, tears falling freely as they watched Darius sink to his knees. His head fell forward into his hands as he brought his arms up to act as a shield against the bad news.

"No, not my beautiful wife." Darius drew his hands away and looked skyward.

"WHY?" The distraught artist screamed, "WHY DID YOU TAKE HER? I BUILT YOU A MONUMENT! AN ENTIRE GARDEN! WHY?!"

He turned towards the elder. "Take me to her. I must see for myself. Let me see my wife." The elder sighed and nodded, then led the group to the beach where a small group had gathered. Niliana's crumpled form lay covered by a thin blanket.

"Oh no, no, no," Darius moaned as he caught sight of the alien shape before him. He knelt before his lifeless wife, her essence broken and rubbed out by the fall. Slowly he looked up the side of the cliff where his gaze rested on the garden monument he so painstakingly crafted with his own two hands. He looked down the cliff to the form of his wife and asked dejectly, "Is there no way to resurrect her?"

The elder replied, "I'm sorry, Darius. You know how it is when one takes their own life. The Pentad does not allow them to return. We had a priest try to resurrect her just the same, but her spirit wouldn't return to her body, no matter how fervent his prayers."

Placing a hand on her body, Darius nodded slowly. When he spoke, his voice was quiet and without hope. "She'll come home with me until a casket is built."

Murmuring soothing words to her lifeless body, Darius bent and scooped Niliana into his arms. Once home he arranged her as best he could on their bed. Until a coffin was constructed, he never left her side. He alternately pleaded with her, scolded at her, and apologised to her.

After the the burial services, Darius returned home where he sat at his desk and reviewed the original sketches of the Garden. It was perfect in every way, serving to pay tribute to every God. Every God, that is, except Caspian. With a gasp, Darius realised his error. He shoved all other drawings aside and at once began sketching plans for an altar to the Ocean Lord. In his haste he found himself making silly errors until soon, he had nothing but an accumulation of unacceptable drafts for a new shrine.

Shoulders slumped, Darius sat back in the chair behind his desk. The parchment he'd just crumpled had been tossed into a larger pile, disturbing cobwebs in the dusty corner of the room. For days he'd gone without food or sleep in attempts to plan the perfect altar to pay tribute to Caspian, the altar that would return him to his beloved Niliana. Suddenly, an idea struck him.

"Yes, yes. This will .. oh no, that won't, but this ... ahh, yes. Must speak with Allira, for crystals. No no, not crystals. Perals. Where to get ... Erdan!" Darius mumbled to himself as he sketched. Finally, he was satisfied with the results on the parchment before him. He rolled up both the sketch and his notes, and stuck them in the scroll case he used to protect his papers. For the first time in weeks, a smile graced his lips. Darius stepped outside in to the bright sun and smiled as he shut the door behind him. "It won't be long now, Niliana," he said softly. "No, you won't have to wait long at all. I'm going to join you just as soon as I can."

---

At the site of the altar to the Sea God, the village elder stood with Erdan, the pearl diver. The two commened upon the intricate details of the pearl-encrusted structure, from the coral carving of Caspian himself to the wave of green sea glass.

"It is no real surprise that he would wish to join her again," Erdan remarked. Looking down at the mangled remains of Darius on the mess of jagged rocks below, the village elder sighed in agreement. The elder turned and began making his way back through the garden to prepare services for the tortured young man. He looked back and saw Erdan looking out at nothing in particular, head tilted to one side.

"Erdan, what is it?" The elder asked.

Erdan shook his head and rubbed his ear. "I.. thought I heard something." He turned to follow the elder down the marble steps to Anemone way. The pearl diver looked back over his shoulder and shuddered, wondering if he had heard one of the voices Niliana spoke of freely, or if it had just been a trick of the wind.

The End