Tanis paced back and forth before his modest little hut; the thatch needed attention and the chimney needed work. He would glance to the small, round, squat dwelling and try to find everything that needed repair. Soon enough he would have a new reason to keep it up better than he had before. A smile crossed his lips at the thought, followed shortly by furrowing his brow in worry. The midwife sent him out; he fussed too much over her work. Tanis had no other children and this was the first he had been present for a birthing. Lorena screamed so loudly he thought she was dying. The midwife said it was natural but Tanis could not stand the thought of losing his lovely Lorena to Death’s cold grip. Losing his first-born was a terribly ill omen. Tanis wanted no more than tonight to be over and a new babe to be healthy and nestled at his wife’s ample bosom.
*12 years later*
Every third day of Shanish, Tanis would take his wife’s weaving and several pots of goat’s milk to the market in nearby Shuren. Lorena was currently chasing their two youngest about the yard in a wild attempt to teach them about keeping the sheep and goats. Alayna was meticulously going over the cart contents and ensuring their only horse was properly harnessed. For only twelve winters, Alayna still amazed Tanis every day. She knew more about the world than he could ever fathom knowing himself. She was special in a way every father claimed but no father could ever dare to hope for. Beautiful, strong, intelligent, and brave; he dared believe she could grow up to help change the realm and make it better. It seemed the Emperor had been in a foul mood and fourteen winters was long enough to begin to break the people’s hope of it ever going back to the way it was before. The way it was when the Emperor’s sister tempered his judgments. The way things were before the Emperor’s sister died. A father could hope. If she was not the one to make the change, perhaps she could live in a realm as peaceful as he had once known.
“Are you ready to go? We are going to be late to the Market. If you dawdle any longer, we won’t be able to make any profit. We need to make enough to get new shoes put on Niya and you know that the blacksmith likes to overprice his work for us so he can get his milk for free.”
Tanis grinned at his daughter and grabbed Niya’s lead to start on the road to Shuren, “Well, that is why I have to bring you with my lovely daughter; you always seem to put everyone in giving moods. It must be your mother’s smile that you flash about to everyone. Perhaps it is the sternness you get from your father?”
“I know them, Tanis. I know who they are on the inside, in their heads, and when they’re not with other people. I think they can sense it that I know them.” Alayna walked along beside her father, eyeing the hills of the horizon where Shuren and its people were.
Tanis had confronted Alayna when she first began making strange comments and found she really did not understand where they came from. He had learned to dismiss them as the product of an overly intelligent child without a means to challenge her mind or properly express her thoughts or imaginations. In this case, he simply acted as though she hadn’t said anything of the villagers. “Don’t call me Tanis, Alayna. I am your father. Other girls your age call their fathers ‘Papa’, you know.”
“Yes, I know, but you’re not my father.”
Tanis could not bring himself to respond. He walked the rest of the way to Shuren in silence, a scowl firm upon his face as he tried to piece together why his daughter would make that claim, and with such disregard for the weight of her statement. As soon as Tanis began making sales, he handed the small coins to Alayna and sent her off on errands. Unable to shake her words from his mind, Tanis was unable to haggle properly and made less than what he should have on the milk he brought. Midday passed and by early afternoon Tanis had sold the last of the milk he brought to market; sadly undersold with little profit. After finishing the last of the shopping, Tanis had begun to put Alayna’s comments from the morning behind him. A small fear grew in the back of his mind that she may not be overly smart, but rather that she may have the addled mind of those ill people who just appear intelligent until their mind breaks.
Alayna was in fine spirits on their way home. While Tanis had failed to make much profit, Alayna had managed to get the better side of the deal on every item and service she haggled for. Heading home, she recounted her arguments to get the deals. Between two such stories, she made a little hop in her step out of excitement, waving one hand for a moment in emphasis, “Oh! I also found others! It will be wonderful to have others like me near. Though, after I found them I remembered that you wanted me to stop by the potter and see about getting that old water pitcher replaced since the crack looks like it won’t be able to be patched anymore.” She continued her recitation of the day’s events without pause enough to interject any questions. Tanis just listened and let his thoughts wander.
*4 years later*
It seemed to Tanis that thirty winters had passed rather than half that many since Alayna was born. She was growing into a beautiful woman, but she was a trying child. He had spent the past year in what appeared to be a vain attempt in finding her a suitable husband. He found it difficult however, as he had to let them see her beauty and meet her to know her worth. A beautiful wife that was good with numbers and haggling could make a profit faster than a good crop and was highly sought after. The catch was to get her away from them before they began to believe her mad or before she realized he was displaying her to a possible suitor. Both situations tended to end in a very angry face spitting at Tanis.
Winter was near at hand and took advantage of the night’s breezes to chill Tanis to the bone. He needed to find her a husband by the following spring. Word was spreading about her delusions and the things that she said. If he didn’t have her wedded soon, he never would. Little did Tanis realize the frivolity of those worries. When he came in after finishing his day’s work, he found four of the local girls crammed into his home. His wife sat weaving in their private area he had added on to the hovel after the boys grew old enough to help him build it. An identical addition on the opposite die of the home housed beds for the three children. In the center lay what was the original home. Entering the front door, he looked across a small room directly to the hearth. The kitchen and storage area around the left side of the home was cut in two due to the doorway into his and his wife’s personally area where she did her weaving. Around the right side of the home was the original areas for sleeping and weaving but it had become unnecessary with the two additions. Also cut in half by a doorway, the one into the children’s area, the old sleeping area had served to grow the living space and make room for a larger table.
Tanis did not recognize any of the four girls personally, but based on the fine cloth and bright green hems on the eldest, he was sure he was looking at the well-developed daughter of Shuren’s Underlord. In an attempt to not be caught off guard or dumbfounded, Tanis went to his wife with a stride full of purpose and intent. Letting down the cloth that served as a door, he pulled his wife away from her weaving and pointed towards the girls in the other room. “What in the name of Aen is going on in my home, Lorena?”
Lorena kept her voice low to match Tanis, “Those are Alayna’s friends, dear. She usually goes into town but today they’ve all come over here. Didn’t you see the extra horses up the road?”
“It’s dark out and I was back in the woods with goats. Is that Underlord Harran’s Daughter?”
“Oh yes. It took ,e a bit by surprise when she showed up with an armed escort. The boys pestered him so much he eventually left to go ‘tend to the horses’ just to get away from them. Didn’t bother me in the least considering how the Underlord likes to demand so much in taxes to pay for them to have such shiny armor and swords. And for what? To look good? There isn’t anything dangerous out here.”
Just then, muffled yelps sounded from the girls in unison and Tanis and his wife both hurried to the main room, tearing the cloth from the doorway in their haste. Coming to a quick halt, Lorena let out a small yelp of her own while Tanis stared at the girls.
“Blessed Aen.” Tanis tried to say so many things over the next few moments but accomplished little more than staring and several blessings to the Goddess. The sight before him was three young ladies with hands to their mouths and eyes wide, staring at his daughter and the Jeszna in her fine green. Alayna had manifested a small ball of fire that floated about half a hand span above her palm. Jeszna had done the same. Each had a flame of a different color however, neither of which were natural. Jaszna had a flame of bright green and Alayna had one of deep blue. Shortly after Tanis and Lorena had come into the room, the two girls began to ‘toss’ them back and forth to each other. Mimicking a catching motion where they never actually touched the little flickering balls of light, they would gently swing their arms together toss them back and forth again.
After a few throws, Alayna and Jaszna stopped, grins upon their faces.
Alayna turned to Tanis beaming with glee, “Father! Blessed Aen has given magic to the world! It is no longer the sole domain of the Emperor to wield the powers of nature and the gods. Aen has seen fit to balance the scales!”
Tanis wasn’t sure how to take the situation, so he reverted to his cautious ways. “Girls, Have you told anyone of this? Have you done this before? Does anyone outside of this home know about your…abilities?”
Alayna’s smile wilted at the questions but she knew Tanis and understood that he was very concerned. “We have never been able to manifest our abilities before tonight so no one has seen or knows about it.”
“Keep it that way. For the time being, no one outside of this home knows about this, no one talks about this, and no one ever manifests their abilities where others can see. Understood?”
All of the young women aside from Alayna sheepishly looked at the table and mumbled understanding at the commands. Alayna crossed her arms and scowled. Tanis was not satisfied. Fearing the out lash from the Emperor’s underlings, he squared up his shoulders and tried again with a bit more force. “You are all playing with forces that could get people killed, including yourselves and your families. Now, you will not practice outside this house, you will not speak of it outside this house, you will not invite anyone else to come into this house. You will not put anyone’s lives in danger so long as the Emperor believes and thrills himself on the fact that he is the only human known to deal in magic now that his sister is dead. Do you understand me?”
All of the girls, including Alayna, responded appropriately with their understanding this time. And after a brief discussion with Jaszna about her escort, everyone was sent home in mixed spirits. There was awe in the seeing of magic, fear in understanding the dangers, and excitement glossing over it all to be able to do magic. Alayna’s four magic-capable friends went to bed that night excited and apprehensive about the future. It was the last night they drew breath.
**********************************
Captain Hraggath had never been allowed to use the worldways before. Had he not seen them used as a child, he would have believed them little more than decorative arches in the village and city squares. Something put near every well as a marker, perhaps a religious construct, or simply something from ancient times when magic permeated the world and all its peoples. People had needed to adapt to the loss of magic hundreds of years ago, some claimed it was thousands, but Hraggath couldn’t believe that. As a boy, he remembered the excitement that came with the summer festival celebrating the Gods and their gifts to humanity. He even remembered the hopeful who believed that the Empress and Emperor were only the first to be gifted with magic. They hoped that it would spread as it did in the ancient tales and be wielded by the masses as easily as the overlords and rulers. When he came into his trade as a raw recruit in the capital at 16 winters, the people loved their rulers. Twenty winters after he began his service, magic failed the realm. The Empress died. Even as a high ranking officer in the imperial guard, Hraggath didn’t feel like he was ever told the truth of her death. The Emperor had been acting different for years, but after she died, he changed completely.
Hraggath had accepted the position of the Emperor’s Captain of the Guard shortly thereafter. Many quit their posts and fled to a life of exile outside the realm. But not Hraggath. He was determined to remain loyal to the emperor, and through his service, remain loyal to the Empress. He would find what destroyed them. He would fix them. He had all of eternity to do so. He was a little skeptical on that point, but the Emperor had claimed to make him one of the first of his immortal kingdom. He had survived few injuries he probably should not have, but he was not yet fully convinced of his immortality. Even though he had not aged over the past twenty winters either. Twenty winters since the Empress Aen had died. Twenty winters and Hraggath had come no closer to solving his mystery.
The Emperor had dragged him from bed last night, unwilling to consult or rely on any of the other guards. Hraggath he knew, Hraggath he trusted. He had Hraggath watch a well of water in his study. It had images of the realm that moved and became nearer or farther from his point of view depending on the emperors desires. He showed Hraggath a village called Shuren, the Underlord of the area named Jorin Harran, as well as four other local men. One was a farmer, another worked at the village stables, the third was potter, and the last was a musician. But the Emperor had sent him not for these men, but for their daughters. He was to find all five girls, all of an age new to womanhood and soon to wife, and gather them under guard.
He had given thorough descriptions of the fathers and their whereabouts to pairs of soldiers and sent them on their way to gather the youth. He then took three men with him to the local gaoler for the grisly work of building burning pyres. Thankfully, the village was large enough to have an enclosed courtyard designed for executions and punishments in private. The gaolers were not fond of handling gawkers and wailers and had turned to keeping these things out of the public eye. After the pyres were erected, he returned to the village courtyard. In the center, he eyed the intricate details of the arch that allowed him access to the worldways. The Emperor had told him a few details of how to operate them, which crystals and stones to move, how much and in which direction to face them. He told him only how to get to this village and back to the Imperial seat, with a quick lesson on what to do if he ended in the wrong township or village. He was surprised to note that there were no tool marks on the entirety of the arch. It just was, as if it had always been, without having been made by any mortal’s hand.
Hraggath was pulled from his scrutiny of the arch by the approaching sounds of his guards and their charge. Underlord Harran was fuming as he charged towards Hraggath. His purposeful strides, furrowed brow, and upraised finger pointed towards the Captain’s armor was amusing though Hraggath kept the smile from his lips.
“Captain! I demand to know the meaning of this! Your men will not tell me a thing aside from it is the Emperor’s orders. I demand answers this instant!” His pointing went from the captain’s chest, to pointing towards the ground, and then back to the captain’s chest again. He even stomped his foot once much like a petulant child. Hraggath looked the fat little Underlord over, with his rich clothing, fine jewelry, and foppish hat. His double chin wiggled red in all his spitting, petulant, anger.
The captain calmly pushed the Underlord’s hand away from his armor and the greasy marks his fingers were leaving behind. “Underlord Harran. I understand that this little town of yours does not get much attention from the Imperium. Rest assured that the Emperor taking note of your daughter is a blessing. Any Overlord or Midlord of the Realm’s cities and townships was trip over themselves to have their daughter take the place of yours. He had seen her face in his magical waters and calls her to purpose. Be pleased my good Underlord, or risk offending your Emperor and his good favor.”
Harran looked back towards his daughter and then at the Captain, a mixture of worry and apprehension fighting with pride and scheming battled shallowly behind his features. His daughter at least stood near her guards with pose and grace, hiding well the fear behind her eyes. AS Harran began to calm, the red receding from his face and all of his chins, the other guards began to arrive with their charges. Each group had an angry father, confrontational brother, or screaming mother begging for the girls’ release. At the arrival of all of the girls, and a growing crowd in their wake, Hraggath knew that some damage control was in order. He looked towards the large well near the worldways arch and quickly jumped up to its ledge. Turning about, he could see everyone who was gathering in the square and noticed how quickly they all quieted and turned their attention to him.
Hraggath raised his voice to a commanding boom, “My good people of Shuren! Fear not the hand of the Emperor! He has chosen to bless this town with his magical attention! The Imperium requires their service! Do not lament at the loss of these five young beauties from your midst, but rejoice in their service to the realm! Boast your pride to all who wonder at where your daughters go. Speak with honor that it is from your people that the Emperor chooses his devotees, those who are necessary for the Emperor to spread his magic and bless the land and the people. It is through your youths that he can heal the wounded and ill, it is because of young women like yours that he can do great feats; he brings rain in drought, the sun during storm, he raises homes for the homeless, castles to protect his peoples, walls and wells to keep all safe and comfortable. These young women will be prepared for the Capital here and in due time will be taken before the King of Kings himself! It has been many winters since any were called to the capital. Rejoice that your people have proven themselves to be the first to draw His eye in generations!”
He had practiced the terrible speech many times since his emperor had given his orders the night before. He had decided that if this is to happen again, he should start a precedent of honor in being “chosen.” Hopefully, this would not occur too frequently. The people would not be blinded or manipulated for long on such obvious lies. Hraggath dismounted the well and mingled with the people while keeping a close eye on the girls. The guards were under strict instructions to find the girls, detain them, instruct them not to speak, and then to enforce their silence by whatever force necessary. The Captain answered the villagers’ questions, keeping answers vague and referring many to the Underlord, allowing him to make up information to fill in the gaps. His own daughter had been taken, so he tried to make the situation sound grand to make his own position look better. His was quickly manipulating the situation to appear more powerful. Underlords were little more than the lowest tax collectors for the realm but often tried to appear much more powerful.
Over time, people grew bored of waiting around or had other pressing matters to attend to. The crowds dwindled and the novelty of the imperial guard wore away. Slowly the guard pairs quietly eased away from the square, escorting their charge quietly to the cells of the gaoler’s domain. Every gaoler was firmly under the Emperor’s control. Everyone who dealt in death belonged to him. Even in such a small town as Shuren, Hraggath knew that the local gaoler would not betray tonight’s secret to the locals. When Hraggath saw the last of the girls was no longer in the square, he followed suit and made his way to the high walls and cramped cells that would be their home for the night. And the dirty work that was to be done.
As small as the town was, the taverns and only brothel quieted relatively early into the night. This was a mostly agrarian area. The vast majority of the population would wake early, either with or nearly before the sunrise. The captain personally escorted each of the young girls to their stakes, gagged, and tied them firmly in place. After a moment of apologetic looks for each, he gently tied a heavy blindfold to each one. He would follow his orders, but he did not have to enjoy it. When all five were in place, he walked to each in turn and lit their pyres afire. Within the courtyard, each pyre was places in a circle within the courtyard. They surrounded a small table the gaoler had provided at the guards request. After lighting the fires, Hraggath walked to the center and placed a small egg-shaped metallic trinket in the center. The fires started to take hold in the kindling beneath the platforms the girls stood on. He held it point up, and pressed it firmly on the top. He then released it with both hands to watch it rise up and float about the width of his thumb above the table. Several breaks appeared as the top half broke away into slices and rose away from the egg like spokes on a wheel, one facing each woman.
Hraggath turned as he noticed one of the fires had grown and was starting to lick at the skirts of its victim. She was struggling and whining through her gag. As the other fires grew, the others also began to writhe and whine. As the heat increased and they became overcome with fear, they started to scream. Hraggath could see it, but he heard none of it. Every time a mouth would open in an agonized wail, the respective spoke on the egg would glow brightly. It looked to Hraggath like the egg was devouring their agony, even if all it accomplished was silencing their screams. Hraggath watched as the spokes brightened, until he noticed that one did not glow.
Hraggath turned to look at the farmer’s daughter, Alayna. Her clothes burned, her skin turned red from the heat, her eyes were closed to protect them, and she was crying. But she did not burn.
The Emperor had told him it was likely, but Hraggath had to see it to believe. He was gifted as undying, but his flesh still burned. It would not burn deeply or as badly as other mortal men would and it would heal quickly, but this was different. Her flesh did not burn at all. Among his guards, he was the only undying. The Emperor had not founf it prudent to bless the others. Only the strong would serve in his immortal empire. The guards Hraggath brought with him were young, replaceable, guards who had been in the imperial service just long enough to earn a reputation. The men he brought he chose for having a reputation for enjoying violence. Liking to fight and causing pain. These were the men who found street animals to abuse, whores to bloody, and peasant girls to rape. These were the men who he would have sent to duty sites with high mortality rates, but found this a suitable task for them. They were unlikely to shy away from killing innocents.
Hraggath looked at the faces of his men as the watched from the periphery of the courtyard. Several had dark scowls and tense shoulders; the men who wanted no more a part of this than Hraggath did. The others, Hraggath had judged them correctly. They openly smiled, enjoying the spectacle. He even noticed one man who was obviously aroused by the burning women, even placing a hand into his breeches. Standing behind the rest, Hraggath was disgusted to realize that he likely chose that position on purpose, so the others would not notice. On the other side of the circle, near Alayna, two men saw that she was not burning. Slowly they nudged the guards next to them, who in turn nudged their neighbor. Eventually, the four girls were dead and all of the guards as well as the gaoler had gravitated over to watch Alayna. She cried profusely, but appeared unharmed. Her own pyre was dying down, the stake long since broken away. She stood, naked, in the center of the fire with her hands to her face as she wept.
Hraggath motioned for the gaoler and two of his men to pour sand over the remaining flames and cover the embers. Slowly walking up to the girl with a battle-ready sense of caution, Hraggath stopped a single pace in front of her. “Aen?”
Alayna looked up through tear-reddened eyes and dropped her hands to her chest. She looked at the captain before her and fell to her knees. Looking up to his face, she shook with grief.
“Why?”
“He told me you needed me to do this. That this was the way to free you.” Was this really the Empress? Could this young woman, no, this child…could she really be the Empress he had known and loved as a youth? Could it really be the wise old woman who never looked a day over thirty winters, even though she had walked the earth for centuries? “I will take you to him. He would like to speak to you, My Empress.” As Hraggath said the words, he bowed before her tiny, frail, weeping nakedness. The realization hit the gaoler first and he soundly hit the guard next to him as he went to bow himself. One by one, the guards realized who knelt, broken in the ashes before them. Hraggath gently helped her to her feet. Once she felt steady enough to stay upright without assistance, Hraggath released her in order to remove his large imperial cloak to cover her. The silver threading decorating the cloak glimmered like blood from the red light of the other four pyres. Seeing Alayna backlit as she was, wearing the Imperial cloak as if she had worn one her entire life, Hraggath immediately knew without a doubt that she was Aen, the Empress reborn.
Hraggath saw to what little comfort he could provide her in the cell next to his own. Guardsmen never took lodging in an inn or tavern if the town was big enough for a prison or dungeon. The Emperor did not forbid his men from luxuries, but he insisted they sleep where they would not burden a township. They did not have money the way peasants, merchants, tradesmen, and lords did. They were the hand of the Emperor, what need did they have of money?
She did not sleep. Alayna spent the entire night weeping softly as she huddled on the small slab. Hraggath tried to sleep, but worried over the Empress, and those four poor girls’ souls he set afire in the courtyard. The only thing she said between Hraggath taking her into the cell in Shuren and taking her into the Emperor’s chambers in the capital were that she still didn’t remember all. He wasn’t certain what that meant entirely, but he remembered little from his lessons in the temple as a boy. Piecing together the little bit he could remember with what was happening around him, he figured that rebirth sometimes allowed the memories of past lives, but you weren’t born with them. The memories had to come slowly and over a long period of time so that the individual would not go mad. Apparently, it was the same for peasants, lords, and the imperials.
Hraggath had thought that the return of the Empress through rebirth would be a blessing. He thought there would be celebrations and announcements and merry-making throughout the realm. He looked forward to Aen donning her imperial garb and going out among the people as she always had in his youth. He could not wait to see her glowing smile and radiant features as she healed the wounded and nursed the sick. He was secretly looking forward to boasting about being the one who found her, even if he did leave out the gruesome method required to do so.
Hraggath was wrong. After leaving her with the Emperor, he did not see her again.
He thought that mayhap she was being kept in solitude for more of her previous life’s memories to return. But winter came and went and came again with no sign of her. Any time he asked the Emperor about her, he was quickly silenced and told that it was not his concern. Hraggath finally allowed the realization he had been suppressing to come to the fore. He had to acknowledge the truth if he would ever come to help the Empress. Her own brother caused her death. And when she was reborn, he sought her out to kill her again. And he would do it again in the future when rebirth brought her back again.