The Fallen World

Lord Basil - Part 2

"What are those white, shiny things up there?" asked Drusus eagerly.

"They're called stars," replied Lord Basil. And if you're so overwhelmed by the sight of the surface, just wait until I tell you what stars are. Not yet, though. One day you will know everything. One day you will know the true size and nature of the universe, but not yet. Not until you're ready. One little bit at a time, my son. He took him by the elbow and pulled him gently but firmly away from the window.

A moment later, though, they reached the observation room and saw another, far larger window in front of them; a window with exactly the same view except for the planet looming on the horizon. The mind numbingly beautiful, three quarters full blue and white globe of Tharia. Drusus stood frozen like a statue, his mouth hanging open and his eyes staring, and it was several minutes before he was able to gasp out a few words. "Is, is that it?" he said in a trembling, awestruck voice.

"Yes," confirmed Lord Basil. "That's Tharia, the fallen world." He was also staring, only a little less awestruck than his son. Seeing it in his secret scrying mirror was one thing, but to see it like this, with his own eyes... "If we were to walk a little way in that direction, we'd be able to see all of it, like a great ball floating above us, and if you were standing on the surface of Tharia and looking up, you'd see Kronos, our world, floating like a ball in the sky."

"Like a great ball in space," said Drusus in fascination. "How big is space?"

Lord Basil laughed to disguise the fact that he didn't know the answer to that question. Then he said "Remember you wanted to know why anyone would want to rule a world of, how did you put it, cannibals, savages and ruins?" Drusus nodded. "Well, have a look at this."

He went over to the Lens of Farseeing wiped clean of dust by the Tharians and sat down on the cracked leather seat. He took a moment to remember the description of the lenses he'd found in some of the old family archives, along with the Instructions for using them, and then he manipulated the wheels and levers on the framework until the lens showed a suitable scene. He then stood again and indicated that the boy take his place.

Drusus winced as the protruding framework of the chair dug painfully into his buttocks and thighs, but the discomfort was instantly forgotten when he saw the scene in front of him.

There, in the lens, was the image of a city, a city vast beyond comprehension. A city in which crowds of people more numerous than the young boy could imagine milled around under the open sky. They thronged along narrow streets and alleyways between buildings of brick and stone, some of them as large as the Konnen mansion and towering three or four storeys above the ground, fluttering with brightly coloured flags and pennants and with striped canopies shading their doorways. The people were dressed in outrageous costumes and uniforms in every colour imaginable. Their skins were the colour of freshly baked bread as if they'd just been taken out of an oven, and some of them were leading horrible monsters, creatures he knew only from myths and legends. Horses, donkeys, camels and goats.

"What is it?" gasped Drusus, his eyes like saucers and his mind close to overload with all the new things he was being shown. "What is it?"

"A city," replied his father. "A real city, not some pathetic little refugee camp which is all Kronosia really is. A real city, with as many as a hundred thousand people living in it. A hundred thousand people, my son. Can you imagine that? Twenty times as many as live up here in Kronosia."

Drusus looked back at the scene, trying to imagine it.

"What's more," continued Lord Basil, "that's just one city, one of many. There are hundreds of cities down there, Drusus. Hundreds, and many of them are even larger than that one. The fallen world has risen again."