Italy offered Thame a welcome interlude, a breath of freedom after his ordeal in Australia. Thame found that the substance of the ancient metropolis reflected his ancestry - on ground level, he saw a mix of modern shop fronts, fascist-bricked mansions and red clay ruins. The city stood a constant monument to its past and, unlike Thame, paraded its ancient history with pride. His own story locked and hidden, Thame wandered towards the meeting place for the free tour of Rome that the Monk had signed him up for earlier. Although he felt more relaxed than he had in a long time, he kept the sword in a satchel, close to his grasp. His amulet remained tucked away underneath his shirt, wrapped in cloth to cover its now constant glow.
The tour guide was a friend of the Monk's, so Thame was shocked when a young American girl greeted him with a bubbly smile.
"Hi! I'm Vicky, your guide for today! Ready for Rome?"
She had a high-pitched nasal American accent, her hair pulled tightly back, making her red spectacles more pronounced.
"Oh, hi, I'm -"
"Thame! I know, Dragan told me. Whistle stop tour over two and a half thousand years is it?" She hurried him along.
"Erm, yes?" Thame replied, taken aback with this American enthusiasm.
"Okay, let's get cracking!"
Moving rapidly, the pair cut though the hotel quarter. They passed through neglected hotel streets and beaming white wartime mansions. As they pursued their route, time seemed to move backwards. The city went from grey, to duty white, to red. Even the clean piazzas were tinted with a red mist. Ancient cloisters, still in use, lined the road downhill, leading the pilgrimage to the spectacular heart of the city. Vicky retuned her vocal tour to the odd bit of information here and there. She stopped Thame at the top of some stairs roofed by tree branches.
"Next are the bits that are world famous!"
"I'm excited. I always wanted to come here." Thame said. Then, "For a tour guide, you've gone very quiet."
"Well, from what I hear, I don't need to tell you about this stuff, now do I?" She responded coolly.
Thame looked at her and then realised what she meant. He did not need to learn it from her because he'd lived it already.
"At least one surprise - one new thing for you." Vicky pulled him down the stairs.
Thame came out of the stairwell and saw what could have been a painting, but was in fact a reality. A light-blue canvass decorated with a huge white marble monument. The building, ornamented by gigantic iron horses and men, dominated the horizon.
"This, Thame," Vicky proudly began, "is the Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II. And the thing you can't take your eyes off was built for Vittorio Emanuele II at the end of the nineteenth century in honour of the first King of Italy. He united all the provincial powerhouses like Genoa, Milan, Tome, Florence, Venice and made Italy as we know it."
The explanation stirred Thame's blood. Ormr beamed with pride at the honour shown to such a leader; pining for such fervent respect again. Vicky led Thame to its base where a flame, protected by a guard, burned. The steps were chunky marbled slabs leading up to the high horizontal, lined by giant columns with intricate detail from base to top. Passing the giant iron horses ridden by brass men, Vicky and Thame reached the highest public point facing the ancient Forum.
"There," she pronounced proudly, "The Rome you once knew."
Thame gazed out over the city, enjoying another internal thrill. "I love this building. I'm in awe."
"It's a beast itself, as it's actually kind of out of place. So different and," she paused, "so big!"
"Respect is never out of place." Thame said, involuntarily using Ormr's words. "I could stay here forever."
YOU ARE READING
The Illumination
Fantasy*WATTYS2018 Longlisted* He saw a pair of eyes, his eyes. But they were elongated, angled and a deep, angry red... Thame is, on the surface, an average guy. Suffocated by the politics of his city job and his increasingly complicated love life, he se...
