Severing
The Emperor sat at a desk in his private study. The room was small but needed to be no larger. It contained a desk for the Emperor to write upon, a large fireplace that always burned, and in its center sat a well. The water came full to the rim and showed a hazy map of the Emperor’s lands. Through the window, the sun was setting on a dull, grey dusk. Just as the sun sank below the horizon, the well’s water swirled and a drop of water separated to float above it. The Emperor hurried to the waters and raised his hand over the drop. As the water stilled the map returned and drop fell on a particular place. After a moment and a wave of his hand, the Emperor watched as the map changed and the view came to the village of Varna, the mountains nearby, a cave entrance, and then the nearby farmstead.
“It’s her again! That blasted woman will learn eventually. Captain, you know the area around the village of Varna?”
The door to the study stood open and the emperor’s Captain of the guard stood outside. When the Emperor began his exclamations, the Captain ducked his head to squeeze his large muscular frame through the small doorway for orders. “Yes, Emperor.”
“There is a small farm in the woods at the base of the mountains, between the River Thorn and the village. A farmer lives there with his grown son and daughter. Do you know them?”
“No, Emperor.”
“Look into the well and I will show you the father.” The well’s waters were mysterious to the Captain. He did not understand how they worked or how it knew the faces of the people in the Realm. It seemed to him however, that the older the person was, the better the well knew their face. It was rare for the Emperor to show him a child or a juvenile in the waters. When he did, the image tended to be hazy or seem incomplete.
“I see and remember, my Emperor.”
“There has been a signature. Find the Daughter. Test her. Burn her.”
“As you will, My Emperor.” With that, the Captain hunched down and squeezed back out through the small doorway. He always personally attended to the burnings. After gathering a small squad of soldiers, the Captain escorted them all to an archway of black stone that was inset with colorful cut stones. The arch was centered in a courtyard near the barracks and used only by the soldiers. The Emperor rarely allowed use of the worldways, but searching signatures was always to be done as soon as possible. The Captain turned a tooled piece of pink quartz and the view of the courtyard through the arch wavered. It rippled and twisted like reflections on water. The Captain stepped through and found himself in the central square of Varna beside an identical arch. The little moon Arna was rising when the squad left the village, indicating that the night was almost through.
Aen had come to the castle to talk to Zantis, hoping that he would remember what they were and come to his senses. His palace guards had escorted Aen to the top of the highest tower in the castle. According to Zantis, the vantage point was to give her the greatest view of what could be their kingdom of immortals. Aen quickly realized that Zantis could not be reasoned with.
Losing her temper, Aen dug her fingers deep into the stone of the castle parapets, “This is about balance!”
Zantis turned towards her, accusatory finger pointed at her back, screaming across the tower, “No, this is about power and control!”
Aen turned towards him, red climbing her chest, up her neck, and across her face. “Only to you! You are destroying the balance because you want control. I only want to restore the balance.”
“How? By having control over me? That’s not balance. That’s power. You want to have power over me; control over my dominion. Well I refuse to give to you. You’ll have to take it from me by force!”
“If you won’t control yourself then I’ll have to contain you. There can be no balance if you can’t control yourself. You can’t choose who lives and dies like this! You knew that when you were a god!”
“I am still a God! And how do you plan to ‘contain’ me, sister? Will you send me back to the ether where we were born? We both chose to leave that behind. We both chose together to walk among men!”
“I control Birth, brother. If I condemn you not to be reborn after death then I can return to the ether with you and we can live there in balance again! We do not belong here among men. We should not be made flesh!”
“And I control Death, sister. If I forbid you your death, then we are both condemned to immortality in the flesh of men! Our fates are linked sister. If you cannot die, then I cannot remain in the ether. Balance would be destroyed if you made it so. “
“There is a death you do not control brother. “
“And how does that benefit you dear sweet sister? You would have to allow yourself to be reborn. For all eternity, I would reign as you died and were reborn over and over again. I would rule over man as a God, a God made flesh and immortal!”
“In the flesh, we are gods among men. In the ether, we are gods of men. I can give magic to them when I’m in the ether, brother. You would have no way to stop me. And when I am reborn, I can teach them to use it. And when I kill myself again, I can give them ever more magic until you can no longer contain them. Until they no longer see you as a God! I will make them all gods if it restores the balance!”
Rather than voicing a reply, Zantis raised his hands and made a motion as if pulling on a rope. Aen was pulled towards him and stumbled. Grasping at her throat, she found her fingers wrapped around a cord that slowly materialized from her throat to her brother’s chest. She fell to her knees and glared at him. He ran his fingers along the cord and it turned a platinum white.
“Well that feels a bit odd. I am so used to severing lines and watching them wither away to ash. It is not often that I make someone undying. As for killing yourself, sister, go ahead. I think you’ll learn quickly that there is a fatal flaw in your plan.”
Aen saw her lifeline glow white and then felt her breath return to her. Even without severing the cord, having death handle your tether was uncomfortable. Her line disappeared as Zantis let it go and Aen returned to her feet. After a moment of simmering in her anger, Aen approached her brother. Ever so softly, she said, “I believe we have come to a disagreement brother. And as you have taken away my death, so shall I take away your rebirth.” Raising her palm towards his abdomen, she watched as a small egg shaped light came from him and rested in her palm. The light faded until she held a simple egg-shaped stone. With a pass of her other hand, the stone was gone. “You underestimate me brother. One day you will meet me in the ether, and I will embrace you there, as I never will again here. Flesh has corrupted you. You no longer see the whole. You no longer weigh the balance. You no longer realize what we should be.”
Aen turned to walk away and Zantis began to laugh. She could still hear him as she walked across the courtyard towards the castle gates.