The Duelist 7, page 6
I didn’t actually expect her to take me up on the offer because I knew how reserved she could be, especially because I probably wasn’t the first person she turned to in times like this.
But she proved me wrong when she shifted toward me and took a small breath.
“I am unaccustomed to feeling such deep guilt for things I have no control over,” she began as she hugged herself even tighter.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“I know why my brother and his wife are here,” she continued. “It has to do with Amaya, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah,” I said with a sigh because there was no point in hiding the fact. “But you don’t have to worry because your brother and I are going to do whatever we can to make sure she doesn’t have to take the Oath.”
“Forgive me if I still harbor some doubts,” Anwaar said with an apologetic shrug. “I worry about my sister, and it has been this way since she was young, and I had to look out for her, so it is not easy to just shut the emotions off. I just can’t help but think of what happens if you and my brother fail to find a solution.”
“What are you worried about?” I prodded. The insight the ibex-woman had into her sister’s actions and behavior was a perspective I was curious about.
“I know Amaya,” she said. “If she has any inkling there is no hope left, she will petition for a new mage.”
I arched my eyebrows and glanced at her. “I didn’t know an augur could do that.”
“It’s not common, but in cases where the balance of power is uneven or abused, each augur and mage pair can petition the Order for another pairing,” she explained.
“So Amaya will say what? You abused her, or something?” I questioned with a sick feeling in my gut at the thought.
“Mercedes, no,” she snorted. “It may have started that way in order to protect those who are bonded by giving them a way to leave the bond if needed. Now, either one of the pairs may simply elect to do so on preference if they wish to.”
“Well, that’s a relief,” I huffed. “I would hate for your reputation to be smeared like that.”
Anwaar opened her mouth, frowned, and then closed it again like she didn’t quite know what to say to that. Finally, after another false start, she was able to articulate what had her all twisted up.
“You are kind enough to consider my feelings above your own desires,” she repeated in a logical voice. “It should not matter to you, and yet you have taken that detail into consideration. Amaya always says you are a virtuous man, and yet I am still surprised. If she knew, she would just shake her head at me.”
I smiled as a soft look entered her opalescent eyes, and I pictured the very sight. “I think I know what you mean. She’s quite virtuous herself.”
“This is true.” Anwaar’s smile faltered. “And it is why I feel so guilty. If she must be forced back to the Order, she will not permit me to join her. You see, the Order does not want those among their ranks who are unwilling servants.”
“Aside from the Prophetess,” I grumbled.
“Yes.” The ibex-woman nodded her long-horned head as her expression hardened. “Unfortunately, Amaya’s case is a matter of her bloodline, and because of this, it is a matter of destiny. One cannot interfere with destiny.”
“They just haven’t met me yet,” I said with a cocky grin and nudged her shoulder, which teased a rare smile out of her.
“I must thank you for your support of her, even though it has been tempting not to take her fully as a lover,” Anwaar said, and I suddenly stiffened beside her.
“Um…” I cleared my throat and rubbed the back of my neck.
“You two have not fully made love, correct?” she rephrased as she stared hard at me.
“Say that we have…” I hedged. “Would that really be so bad?”
“Are you not a Traveler, then?” the ibex-woman questioned.
“I definitely am,” I replied and watched as her face went pale. “What is the big deal?”
“The ‘big deal’ is you should have poisoned her, and the fact she seems perfectly fine is quite curious,” she said as she stared at me with an intense expression in those multi-faceted eyes. “Quite curious indeed.”
Chapter 5
I stared at the ibex-woman with my jaw almost in my lap as I went over in my head what she had just told me, and no matter which way I sliced it, her words were not making any sort of sense.
“I’m sorry, but did you just tell me I should have poisoned Amaya just by being with her?” I blurted out when nothing was adding up. “Either I am going deaf and senile, or I’m missing a much larger part of the puzzle.”
Anwaar studied me for a moment in silence, and I couldn’t help but feel a little uneasy as her eyes pinned mine. “Do you know what it costs an Acolyte of any status to take the Oath?”
“No, but I’m guessing if I did, I would be less thrown off right now,” I deadpanned.
“The particulars of the Oath are pretty straightforward,” she started. “Simply, every Acolyte must drink of the Ocean Mercedes so Her knowledge will flow through us forevermore. Too much of it, while an Acolyte is newly pledged, can overwhelm her, and so augurs especially must remain chaste of any man’s essence who has also consumed the Ocean. And they teach us all Travelers always drink from the Ocean of Knowledge.”
“Yeah, that was one of the first things I did when I got here,” I admitted. “The sun was so hot, and when I dove into the freshwater, I was so thirsty I didn’t even think twice.”
“Yes, this is how it is for everyone who Travels here,” Anwaar agreed as she massaged her right hand with her left. “The Goddess makes it so.”
“You said the Ocean contains knowledge?” I questioned.
“Indeed.” The ibex-woman nodded her long-horned head. “Haven’t you ever wondered how it is that you could understand everyone from the moment you got here? The knowledge of language comes from the Ocean. All Travelers have experienced this.”
“But too much of the Ocean’s knowledge is like poison?” I asked as I attempted to understand what she was telling me.
“Because the augur-women are already given powerful gifts of knowledge at birth from Mercedes, they risk becoming inundated with too much Knowledge if they make love with those who also have it as well. Too much can burn their minds’ out and could put them in eternal sleep.”
“I knew it was against her customs to forgo remaining chaste, but she never told me there were actual dangers to herself,” I said as I pinched the bridge of my nose. “You have to believe me, Ana, if I had known how risky it was for her, I would have never agreed to it.”
“I do believe you, Alex,” she placated, and the corners of her mouth ticked up a little in amusement. “I also believe once again nothing can stand between my sister and her goal when she gets it into her stubborn head. She probably figured it was a risk worth taking. However, I don’t know how she could have come to that conclusion because by all rights this should not have worked.”
“So, the question now is why?” I pointed out. “Is it because she’s the Prophetess?”
“No,” she said. “If anything, that makes her more susceptible. The only thing that would make sense is if…”
Anwaar trailed off as the thoughts visibly raced through her mind. Something had obviously occurred to her, and I waited with bated breath to find out what it was.
I knew by the way she suddenly sucked in a sharp breath and gripped my wrist that she was on to something profound.
“What is it, Ana?” I asked when the anticipation was too much for me to handle. She also struck me as the type of person who could easily get trapped in her own thoughts from time to time, and I didn’t want her to leave me out. “You’re killing me here.”
“There are only three possible ways things could have ended up the way that they did,” she began as her eyes shifted rapidly back and forth like she was organizing some massive spreadsheet in her head. “The first would be you didn’t drink of the Ocean, but by your accounts, you are telling me you did, correct?”
“Correct, so that’s out,” I confirmed. “And the other two?”
“The second reason could be that everything the Order ever taught us was wrong, which is hard to believe because there are accounts of people actually going insane from Ocean poisoning,” she listed. “And then the third would be maybe Amaya isn’t of Prophetess lineage at all. Either that, or these two reasons need more investigation. But if the latter is true, and Amaya is not of Prophetess origin, then there is no obligation holding her to the Order or the Oath.”
“This sounds like the loophole we need,” I said and tried not to get too excited. “How do we go about proving any of this?”
“Well, ideally it would be a matter of comparing specific genealogies, but all of the archives that held the ones we may need were buried on Eng due to the Uprisings,” Anwaar explained.
“Buried like physically buried?” I asked.
“Yes, after the Eng-folk were punished for their part in the war, the Ashers of Blood and the Temple Order physically buried most of the ancient archives under the ground,” she said, and it almost felt like I was back in history class.
“I didn’t know Jenner's people were punished.” I frowned. “What exactly were they punished for?”
“They were punished due to the fact they put their intelligence above even the greater good,” the ibex-woman said as if she was reciting something from a textbook. “The Eng-folk believe in free knowledge for all, but the simple fact is there are just some things the larger part of society should not be made aware of if peace is to be achieved.”
“That sounds ominous,” I said dryly. “And what does it mean exactly?”
“I… Don’t really know.” She shrugged. “This is all they teach us.”
“And you don’t think that’s a problem?” I asked, but when she continued to blink at me with a blank expression, I decided to move on. “Anyway, what was the punishment?”
“The Isle of Eng was enchanted by the High Priestess many seasons ago,” Anwaar continued. “She cursed the land and made it so the Eng-folk who live there lose their higher reasoning and regress, or devolve, into their base species. That is why most of Jenner’s folk have chosen exile from their homeland rather than succumb to savagery.”
“Jenner’s never mentioned anything like that,” I said and hunched my shoulders a little. “He’s mentioned the Uprisings in passing and about how he misses being an Archivist, but I guess I just never thought to ask beyond that.”
“Not many of the Engish like to discuss the past,” the ibex-woman said. “Although, it might be necessary to do so now. There is a chance we could potentially unearth the archive we need that holds the knowledge of gaining Amaya’s freedom. I am willing to do whatever it takes, because I know she is willing to do what she must so I may have the same: a life that is my own.”
“Ani? Ani?” a worried voice called out before the owner of that voice came out onto the balcony we were sitting on.
“I’m here, my love,” Anwaar said and then hopped off the ledge.
“Where have you been, my darling, I’ve been worried,” Horus said as he reached for her and brought her closer. “And what is this? Were you liaising with my best friend? Have you sought affections elsewhere? Oh, the tragedy!”
“It’s true, she finally traded up,” I laughed as I shook my head as I patted him on the shoulder. “You can come to our wedding if you want.”
“Oh, gee, how kind of you, thanks,” he snarked back and then shoved me away. “As if I would believe for a second she would fall for you instead of me. I mean, look at this face. This hair!”
“You are quite attractive,” she agreed as she gazed at Horus’ face. “If I were to leave and elope with another, it would only be due to your big mouth.”
“Exactly what I was-- hey, wait a minute!” he interrupted himself when Anwaar’s words finally hit their target.
“I am a good listener,” I said and waggled my eyebrows at Anwaar just to get under my friend’s skin.
“That’s it, I’m never letting either one of you out of my sight again,” he declared as he threw his love over one shoulder and marched a few steps away.
The whole time Anwar just went along with it with a bored look on her face as if these antics were nothing new and wholly on par for the course. The way her cool expression contrasted with the falcon-man’s overblown dramatics made the whole scene even more hysterical, and I couldn’t contain myself from finally letting loose a side-busting guffaw.
When I started laughing, this caused Horus to drop the act as well, and he put his love back down on solid ground so he could laugh without the fear of dropping her.
Anwaar simply smirked as her opal eyes tracked the both of us with silent judgment. “I take everything back. I’m going to just elope with myself.”
Horus and I paused our hysterics long enough to take a breath, but when we locked eyes, we devolved into giggles once more.
“Ah, but on a more serious note,” the falcon-man said as the hilarity subsided. “Are you really alright, Ani?”
“I am,” she reassured him. “Alex and I were discussing ways Amaya and I can both leave the Order for good.”
“Oh?” He arched one of his thin black eyebrows. “What is the consensus?”
“In summary, I need to pick the brain of our resident Archivist, but if you want my opinion, I don’t think we’ll be returning home any time soon,” I said.
“Where do you think we’ll be going?” he asked.
“Eng Isle,” I said.
“Well, it seems like I have a lot to catch up on,” Horus said. “I’ll let Ani do the honors.”
“Okay, good, because there is someone I need to have a chat with,” I said, and I frowned a little when my thoughts clouded with Amaya.
“Be sure to give her an earful from me as well,” Anwaar said knowingly. “And don’t go easy on her.”
“I won’t,” I said.
“And Alex?” She stopped me before I could duck through the entrance of the balcony. “Thank you for listening.”
“Of course.” I gave her a smile and nodded at Horus when he mouthed a quick thank you at me as well, and then I left them alone to talk while I sought out Amaya.
My search eventually led me out to the courtyard where the rest of the Terrans were finally making the journey from Lower to Upper Echelon in two long lines. The gap between the edge of the airship and the other side was still quite sizable, so two wooden ramps were set up parallel to one another and were being manned by several sturdy men on each of the ramps’ four corners.
Because the ramps were being held only by some rope and a few men, the going had to be slow and single file, but the sight of Zoie’s ears as well as Rylan’s familiar laughter caught my attention and temporarily distracted me from my task.
I stopped, and I felt a fond smile unfurl on my lips when I saw my son twirl my wife around in a little improvised jig as some of the kids sang a song and clapped their hands. It seemed to be the perfect distraction for the little fussy ones who were getting whiny from all the standing around as the lines moved slowly.
I decided to linger back in the crowd just a little so I could watch without being noticed for a moment.
Rylan seemed to have grown an entire acre since I’d seen him last, and even though he still had that boyish grin, and his movements were still gawky, I could start to see the young man hiding beneath the adolescent.
His jaw was a little bit more square, and his voice which had previously cracked on every other word now seemed to be finding a mellow timbre to settle on. Pretty soon, a full-fledged man would take the place of the boy… A man with features alien to mine.
Because the reality was Rylan was only my adopted son, and whenever I thought about his origins, it was a sharp reminder that I’d had the misfortune of running into his biological bastard of a father.
Kavo Alda.
Well, “running into him” wasn’t entirely accurate given I’d never actually met the guy face to face, which was more of a gut punch whenever I looked at Rylan.
The elusive traveler/dreamwalker menace, and also the proverbial thorn in my side, definitely had his fingers in a lot of different pies, and his trail of destruction was something I’d inadvertently committed myself to fixing along the way.
When I first heard of the guy back on Nata Isle, it was after I got down to the bottom of the corruption in Gatetown. Through a long string of puppets and pawns starting back from even when I’d met Dagmar, the person behind the curtain had always been Alda.
Finding out his influence exerted all the way to Terr was just the icing on the cake.
Recently, his top crime featured corrupt mind-controlling medallions made from the sacred ore harvested from the Terrans-- among other things like helping Archus Doler experiment with demon ash in order to create minions, as well as a whole host of things he did that took place before I’d even arrived here.
Namely, orphaning Rylan for starters. And come to find out, he wasn’t the only one up to these antics, if Mozz, Tharfin's niece, was anything to go by. The lizard-girl with similar Dark Realm gifts like Rylan was also orphaned by her father, Krev Alda-- Kavo’s brother.
Luckily, one half of that equation had been dealt with, but the fact remained they had both been here as Travelers longer than I had. This meant they had the opportunities to spread their network in any way they seemingly saw fit, and unfortunately, what they saw fit tended to wreak havoc and pain wherever they left a footprint.
I was quickly coming to grasp that my main ambition would be to end the collective reign of the Aldas’ treachery once and for all.
I just needed to freaking get to the last brother first.
So far, all I’d managed to do was take out Kavo’s “generals,” so to speak, and I was beginning to feel like I was in some never-ending video game where I had to battle boss after boss without actually meeting the final Head Honcho.
