The Alchemists' Council by Cynthea Masson

Author:Cynthea Masson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: ECW Press
Published: 2016-05-02T00:00:00+00:00

The Night of Albedo arrived years earlier than anyone could have anticipated. Jaden had learned both in texts and from her fellow alchemists that pendant status was not granted until graduation from the Junior Initiate. But tonight, she and the other Juniors would enter the sacred Waters of Albedo — waters infused with ancient salts that lined the walls of the chamber, waters laced with Lapidarian powders gleaned by Novillian Scribes from the Lapis itself — and be ritually purified to receive a pendant infused with Lapidarian essence. Though the pendants were interim, Jaden nonetheless felt both honoured and anxious, eager and fearful. She had imagined taking part in this ritual since she first learned of it, during one of Sadira’s classes a month or so after arriving in Council dimension. Of course, as the evening and ritual unfolded, she understood that many of the details were not at all as she had read or imagined. The water was luminescent, as if the Albedo’s contents flowed directly from the Lapis itself rather than from the wells of the Council’s subterranean caverns.

She stood in ceremonial blue cotton robes behind Cercis and Laurel, beside Arjan, waiting for Azoth Ravenea to recite the Blessing of Dissolution and for Azoth Ruis to open the Albedian Gates. When Ravenea raised her pendant to the beam of light that filtered through the blue crystalline floor from the Scriptorium above, Jaden moved her hands in sacred gesture over her pendant. The other Initiates did the same, heads bowed and eyes closed for the recitation. The gates were then opened, and one by one the Initiates were led down the stone steps into the Waters of Albedo. Later Jaden would recall the cool sensation of the smooth stone against the soles of her feet, the warm pressure of the water’s current against the palms of her hands. Arjan’s thick black hair glistened in the light that reflected from the water. Jaden longed to touch him. Perhaps the waters affected her desires. Finally, yet seemingly beyond time, she sensed no separation of herself and the others — she was nothing beyond the moment, nothing beyond the Albedo. In her mind, in her sensation, all was one for the duration of the ritual.

Azoth Ravenea and Azoth Ruis then entered the Waters of Albedo themselves. Azoth Ruis carried with him an emerald-inlaid tray on which stood a small metal tripod supporting an intricately carved silver bowl over a green and blue Phoenician flame. The flame kept the Lapidarian essence within the bowl at the temperature required for pendant infusion. One by one, Azoth Ravenea removed each Initiate’s pendant and dipped it into the Lapidarian essence. A brilliant flash of light signified the completion of the conjunctive infusion, after which each infused pendant was returned to its respective Initiate. When Jaden’s pendant was returned to her, she held it briefly against her lips and then for an extended period against her forehead, as she had seen so many alchemists do during her time with the Council.

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