“Explain,” the First One said.
“As you might know, since our last meeting, Boran Tauntall has taken his own life. It was a minor glitch in the Plan. I have taken over his task,” Tolzan said.
“How so?” asked the woman on the other end of the table.
“By doing what he was supposed to do, Second One.”
“No… You can’t!” she exclaimed.
The First One slammed his fist on the table.
“Don’t interrupt him! Go on, Sixth One.”
“I have performed the Ritual…” Tolzan began, but was interrupted yet again. The Second One’s hand flew to her mouth.
“How could you do this? How could you do this to me?” she whispered, tears streaming from her eyes. She stood up, ready to storm out of the hall.
“Sit… back… down!” the First One hissed at her.
The Second One hesitated for a few moments, but then obeyed.
“What are the flaws in the Plan?” the First One asked Tolzan.
“Hazard has no idea how to achieve his goal. I will give him a few more months, but if he won’t act, I will step in.”
The members of the Council of the Nameless all nodded in agreement.
“Iceblood is failing,” Tolzan said, readying himself for the outrage of the Third One. Surely enough, the old man started shouting.
“How dare you? My son will achieve his goal.”
“Not without my help. He had ten years to prepare. We’ll see how he performs during the Archer Festival. Based on what I’ve seen so far, I’m not expecting much,” Tolzan stated.
The Third One was about to say something, but the First One looked at him which made the old man reconsider. Or fight for air. It was hard to tell by the dim light of the hall.
“Is there anything else?” the First One asked.
“No. Everything else is under control,” Tolzan replied.
“Nothing else? Are you aware what we’re about to do in a few months? How can you be so arrogant as to say that you have nothing else to discuss?” the man, who had been silent up until that point, shouted.
“I wasn’t being arrogant. I have yet to learn how to be. Once I have the urge, I will make sure to seek out your son for lessons in arrogance, Fifth One.”
“Who the Hell do you think you are?” the Fifth One demanded.
“I’m the one in possession of the Evidence,” Tolzan responded silently.
“I think we’re done,” announced the First One.
“Wait,” said the woman who was called the Fourth One.
“Didn’t you say that Empress Gloria has second thoughts about marrying Prince Mordan, Sixth One?”
“I’m sure I can change her mind,” Tolzan said reassuringly.
“How?” asked the Second One. Even through the darkness it was apparent that her eyes were flashing.
“The best way I can,” said Tolzan. This time, there was no stopping the Second One from storming out.
The First One sighed, shook his head, and dismissed the Council of the Nameless.
***
The First One needed to think.
He had tried to deny it, but it became more and more apparent. The Second One had gradually lost the passion and the belief in their cause.
Despite his warnings, she had performed the Ritual on Tolzan eighteen years ago. What was even worse; she had performed an Aimed Ritual, formulating her goals while she had done it. While it seemed to be successful in the first years, by now it was clear that it had backfired.
Both the First One and the Second One had been renegade Apts.
All the First One knew about the use of their abilities came from his mother and his grand-father. They both decided to become renegades as well after they had arrived to the Realm from Areshadia.
He was aware that he could have learnt all about his Apts at the Academy, but his patriotism and loyalty to both his country and to his late wife made it impossible to join the Equimancers.
They were his enemies.
One of the few things that had kept him alive under the circumstances he had to live in, in the past fifty years, was his hatred for them. His main goal in life was to defeat them. And now, they were so close. So close that he could taste freedom.
He couldn’t believe that the Second One was endangering it.
For five decades, the Council of the Nameless had been one unit.
Within that unit, there was a core that was himself and the Second One.
He knew, that as soon as the Plan was realised, the members would turn on each other. He was also aware that the Second One could be victorious over him, because she had bound Tolzan.
The First One knew that he had an option.
An option that he had dismissed initially, but one that he couldn’t help but finding more and more appealing.
***
Since the first time that the First One had met Tolzan, he had admired him for his boldness. It was nineteen years ago that the boy – he was sixteen at that time, - had been sent over to them from Areshadia.
They had told him what it means to be an unregistered Apt in the Realm. Nevertheless, Tolzan had lived his life like Nonapts.
By then, the First One had spent three decades in his underground Sanctum.
He had almost forgotten the sight of the rising Sun or the setting Moon, the feeling of a light breeze on his skin.
He had known that if anybody had seen him, the Plan would fail, but he also felt disgusted by his own cowardice.
A few months after Tolzan’s arrival, he had taken up the habit of emerging from the hidden chambers that his ancestors had built centuries ago, ascending the stairs of the crypt, and taking a walk in the cemetery grounds.
A few months ago, when he had returned from his walk to the subterranean domicile that he called his home, he found a young woman in his bedroom. One look at her light-blue crown explained why his guards were all in place. He was certain that she had made them let her enter his quarters without speaking a word, by merely using Air on them.
He had known about her, naturally.
From what he had heard, she was committed to their cause, and had been very useful. Nevertheless, she had never been a member of either of the Councils, and her motives were unclear.
That night, she had offered herself for a Binding Ritual.
The First One had declined.
Noerelle wasn’t surprised.
She had told him that she didn’t expect him to perform it right away. She merely wanted him to consider it as a future option.
Nevertheless, she had said some things that pushed the buttons of the First One.
“I know that I could be your grand-daughter. An old-World gentleman like you could never take advantage of a girl my age, but this is not about carnal pleasures.
You need an ally within the Council of the Nameless who is completely devoted to you.
We both know that the only way to do it is by you performing the Ritual on me.”
She was right.
The mere idea of their bodies uniting for whatever cause, made him flush with embarrassment.
And she was right about him needing support within the Council.
“You are justifying the doom and demise that you are about to bring over a whole continent with the love for your dead wife.
It won’t save your soul.
You are not doing it for the good of mankind.
You are doing all this for petty vengeance.
You want to see your enemies bleed and die.
You have denied yourself the pleasures of life for half of a century, and yet, you might fail after all.
I could solve your problems, but I see now what you are; a weak and scared old man.
Send for me once you have the guts to change your mind,” she had said.
***
Tolzan felt the Emptiness evaporating.
He closed his eyes, and let the Longing take over
.
The Second One sat a foot away from him.
All he wanted to do was to touch her, but he knew that it would kill the Longing. The only thing that could fight the Emptiness.
Apart from the Plan and the Promise; the two remaining aims of his Binding. The two remaining things that kept him going.
“What was she like? Was she better than me? She must have been. Did you enjoy her young body?” the Second One sobbed.
“Please, Arpya, don’t do this. I had no choice,” Tolzan replied.
“Yes, you did. Someone else could have done it,” she said, trying to stop another bout of crying.
“I’m doing it all for you. For us,” Tolzan said silently. It didn’t console the Second One.
“What about the Empress? Will you sleep with her as well? For the Greater Good?” she asked with resentment.
“These things don’t mean anything. It’s you I want. It’s only you I’ve ever wanted, and you know it.”
“Why don’t you let me touch you? Kiss you? Why don’t you carry me to my bed and show me?” she looked at him through the tears in her eyes.
“You know why,” he replied. It was torture.
At last, he could feel it again.
At last, he felt alive again.
“You don’t love me, do you?” she cried.
Tolzan looked away.
“Answer me!”
“I wish I could, I really do,” it was all he could say.
“But you want me?”
“By the Gods, yes, I do,” Tolzan shouted, and buried his face in his hand.
He stood up.
“I have to go now.”
“No, you can’t! I haven’t seen you for months. You can’t leave me like this.
Don’t I mean anything to you?
All we had is indifferent to you?
I’m the mother of your child!
Don’t you remember what it was like before you pushed me away?”
Despite his best efforts, Arpya stepped up to him, trying to embrace him.
He wanted her so much, it hurt.
He had to hang on to the pain.
He had no choice; he had to get away from her.
He silently thanked the Gods; for a short while he was victorious over the Emptiness.
***
Back then, when Tolzan had passed the age of Unpleasantness, she had performed the Binding Ritual on him.
She had Fire and Water, he was a pure Water Apt. Therefore she could only bind him with Fire.
It meant a life-long passion, a physical longing towards the Binder.
What the Second One didn’t know or care about, was the danger of binding another Apt. Even if the Bound agreed, the Ritual was mutual.
Being the grand-son of the former Matriarch Zetrá of the Tribe of the Adder and the son of Fegilomá, who had never had the chance to follow her mother’s footsteps, because the young Vipra had taken the throne – or rather the bone-chair -, Tolzan had grown up in his aunt’s prison, the Órbóz Kilnie.
In a luxurious hall, close to his mother’s and grand-mother’s quarters.
Close, but in a different part of the dungeon.
Unlike Zetrá and Fegilomá, he had consumed, imbibed and inhaled regular Liquid Bliss on a daily basis with every single meal, sip of drink and breath.
Not the White Bliss – Vichíl Órbóz - that the two women were condemned to.
Vichíl Órbóz; once taken, invaded the bodies of the consumers to such an extent that giving it up, meant certain death.
Vipra had made sure that all her nephew’s wishes, needs and urges were fulfilled; sumptuous meals and potent drinks were served.
Once he had entered the age of Unpleasantness, the prettiest girls were sent to his prison to teach him all a man needed to know.
Gradually, all that he wanted was his daily dose of Bliss.
While he had wondered as a child what he had done to be punished by being imprisoned, the more time had passed and the more Bliss he had consumed, he just stopped caring.
All his worries and fears had been consumed by the Órbóz.
Along with his feelings.
Emptiness introduced itself.
Unsurprisingly, the one thing Vipra didn’t provide, was tutoring in shamanic Apts.
Despite being untrained in his abilities, during the Ritual, Tolzan had bound the Second One to him with Water. He didn’t plan to do it; it was like a reflex.
Being bound by Water meant the strongest emotional ties possible, as long as the Binder and the Bound were alive.
The Binding was for life; neither the Binder, nor the Bound could disrupt it.
They couldn’t take each other’s or their own lives.
After the Ritual, he had felt alive for as long as he could remember.
All the years in his aunt Vipra’s prison, the Órbóz Kilnie, were forgotten.
For months and months the Emptiness didn’t show, for the passion for the Second One had taken over his life.
Arpya opened up to him after the Ritual. She wasn’t meant to fall in love with him, but she had no choice.
During a night of passion, she had told him that initially, he had been brought to the Realm with the sole purpose of giving her a child.
Nevertheless, during the Ritual, she added two more goals; the Plan and the Promise.
Seventeen years ago, she had sent away everybody of her household for a year to their Mansion in the Capital; her husband, Count Swiftarrow, his child from his first marriage and the maid’s son, Mordan, along with most servants. They weren’t allowed to return until Arpya was with child.
Tolzan had been selected to become Arpya’s child’s father, because he was an Apt.
An Apt from Areshadia.
He didn’t care. For a while.
But gradually, he felt that satisfaction made his Longing disappear.
Gradually, he could feel the Emptiness sneaking back again.
By the time the Second One was with child, Tolzan had realised he had to find a way to make the Longing stay.
The only way he could do it, was to prevent satisfaction.
***
Arpya slid to the floor, never letting go of him. Tolzan stepped away and left.
A few seconds later, the door to the Arpya’s chambers opened.
“Tolzan?” she raised her head hopefully.
“No, he’s gone. Pull yourself together.
You don’t care about our goal anymore. It’s only him that matters to you,” the First One said to her.
“I do care about it. Once it’s done; he’ll be with me forever,” she said looking up at him.
“I won’t let you spoil all that we have worked for. I can do it without you,” he spat.
“No. You need me,” she said, wiping her eyes.
“No, your daughter will do,” he replied and slammed the door behind him.
The First One found Fenweed in the corridor.
“Get me Lady Noerelle.”
“I’m afraid she’s in your chambers already, my Lord,” the Master of House replied.
The First One entered his bedroom.
Just like Fenweed had said; she was there.
She smiled and was about to say something, but the First One didn’t give her the opportunity.
“Take off your clothes,” he demanded.
He could take no chances; a Binding Ritual was the one thing that could save the Plan.
Month of the Horse, Early Winter
Realm’s Heart Island
“Wake up, dear.”
Nessa opened her eyes, and looked at Tarilla Sweetwater standing next to her bed, holding a candle.
“Why?”
“You asked to be woken up at three thirty in the morning.”
“You got up just to wake me, Sister?”
“No, no, don’t worry, dear. I volunteered to do wake-up service this morning. I’m portalling from house to house to the ones who need me.”
“Thank you very much… I better get up then,” Nessa rubbed her eyes, making an attempt to get out of bed.
“You know; you can celebrate the Archer Festival of Faith here, in the Hidden City with us.”
“Can I do that?”
“Of course. You’re one of us now; you can do anything we do. We have a short sermon and then we celebrate the Gods in the Gardens of the Seasons.”
“One sermon? One short sermon?”
Tarilla nodded.
“I can have someone bring a message to your mother, letting her know that you’ll celebrate with the Academy members.”
Nessa smiled at her, climbing back to bed.
“Yes, please, Sister Tarilla. My mother will kill me, but anything’s better than the Festival of Faith. Thank you so much. When is that short sermon?”
“At noon. I’ll come back to wake you at eleven if you’re not up by then,” Tarilla said and vanished.
“Very civilised,” Nessa mumbled, finishing her sentence with a little snore.
***
“Oi! Wake up! It’s almost four,” Wolly shouted, shaking Octarian furiously.
“Bugger off, Wolly,” Octarian grunted, when Sylvain’s well aimed pillow hit his head.
“Seriously, Syl, what the…? Oh no, Festival of Faith… Has it been a year already since the last one?”
“Told you; we shouldn’t have gone to bed at all. We should have started at midnight; we could be half-ways done by now,” Sylvain said reproachfully.
“Here, put this on and let’s get started,” Mordan pulled out some clothes from Octarian’s wardrobe.
“Gods damn it, get out all of you, I’ll be with you shortly.”
“Now, now, we don’t want to start the Festival by pissing off the Gods by cursing at them,” Wolly wagged his finger and ran out of the room, dodging the book that Octarian threw at him.
Half an hour later, they stood in front of the Academy.
By then, Trillian Silvertongue had joined them.
“Damn, we’ll never make the four o’clock sermon,” Wolly said.
“There was no way we could have got to any of them. Look around, man,” Octarian pointed at the masses heading in different directions.
Despite the early hour, the brightly lit streets were so packed with people that it was almost impossible to move.