The silence that hung over the tent was absolute, with only the slight wind in the bows breaking it up. Naia sat with the faintest of smiles tugging at his lips.

“And what, exactly, is that meant to imply?” he said, the smile coming out in full.

“Plainly, then - it’s foolhardy to send your most valuable assets into the fire with an under equipped force,” said Efrain, his patience with this game already up.

“Yes, it must,” Naia said, “alas, the mystery of the church is not to be readily questioned, especially if one wants to reach a position of understanding it.”

‘It was an open secret among those in higher society’ Efrain translated.

“Then why you?” he said, “you hardly seem like an uninformed man.”

“Allow me to divulge a little secret, Efrain, though it must not go outside this tent,” said Naia, “originally, the crusade was to be lead by a lesser noble’s son, who, I unfortunately must say, is not in the favour of society at the moment.”

‘It was doomed from the start so they elected to kill two birds with one stone.’

“And yet, here we are,” said Efrain.

“Indeed. Me and mine saw it for the honour it was. Frankly I was shocked that nobody else did.”

“I see. A lapse of judgement among nobles? I’d never thought I’d see the day.”

“Far be it from me to speak ill of the administrators of our great society. Their duties keep them quite busy. As for my superiors, how could they not take notice? The church was asking for armed men, afterall.”

“And out of all the people they could’ve sent, they sent the young commander with ‘unorthodox’ recruits.”

“Why, they thought it was a great way to prove myself, as did I.”

“It must be hard,” said Efrain, “getting such a difficult job assigned to you.”

“I do what I must, though, I must admit this has had its fair share of headaches. Wonderful surprises too.”

Efrain stopped for a moment, to consider the conclusion that all of this pointed to. It was something so large, so at odds with everything he understood about the church, that it seemed almost impossible. But he had to be sure, absolutely sure that they were on the same page.

He put up his hand onto the table, and felt magic return to him. It was stronger, more definite than before, almost… wilder. Pushing that sensation aside, he remembered crowded inns and temples, the clamour of people, all fading into the background. The air around the pair shimmered ever so slightly, and Naia blinked.

“What did you just do?” he said, looking around.

“Nothing major. Stay in close, or it’ll break. Our conversation will be just a little less intelligible for prying ears.”

“Ah. Useful,” said the captain, nodding in appreciation.

“Hardly,” Efrain said, “anyone with any knowhow could break this with ease. I hope you don’t have another secret mage hiding in your retinue who’d listen in.”

“I’d be surprised,” said Naia.

“Very well,” Efrain said, leaning forward and preparing to drop the axe, “so, why is the church so eager to get rid of its oh-so-special Bequeathed?”

The silence returned once more, slightly distorted through the muffling charm Efrain had cast.

“You’re certain that this,” Naia said, waving around them, “is intact?”

“Quite. Answer the question, commander,” he said, “perhaps they’re not as valuable as I was led to believe.”

Naia sat for a few moments, mulling over the blunt truth, then took a deep breath.

“They are valuable. Incredibly so. They are living, breathing symbols of the faith, but that’s not all.”

Efrain nodded, waiting for the captain to continue.

“If half the stories of their battle prowess is true, then they are golden military assets. Though they haven’t been used as such for a very long time.”

“Ah,” Efrain said, as the pieces began to fall into place, “so that’s why they sent you.”

“I may or may not have been selected for this reason,” he said, the smile more dry than knowing.

“And if anything went wrong, if the precious Bequeathed came back with all these strange ideas about the church, they could blame the unorthodoxy of the commander.”

Something twisted in Naia’s smile - Efrain had touched on something painful.

“Precisely,” he said, “although I would like to believe that they chose me because they knew I’d avoid doing things so crudely.”

“So, they want you to… what, drive a wedge between the Bequeathed and the church? Subtly, of course.”

“You know, I was planning to tell you this all after you agreed to join me,” Naia said flatly.

“Ha!” Efrain said, “age and experience, young man.”

“Clearly,” Naia said, spreading his arms in defeat, “so, I stand before you, uncloaked. What do you think?”

“I think that there would be at least one member of the church disguised in your retinue, no?”

Naia’s smile grew cold and thin at the mention.

“The man wouldn’t listen to reason. We counselled him to stick with our company, but he had other, more pious ideas about wandering in the wild forest.”

Efrain nodded - he hadn’t really expected anything else.

“And what about the paladins, do they suspect anything?” he said, sitting back.

This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

“Lillian is of high birth. I don’t doubt she hasn’t heard something that might make her suspicious. Niche might’ve but he’s… well stupid would be a disservice to both of them. Niche is certainly more naive than Lillian. As for Sphernt, she’s vanished, but, of course, you wouldn’t know her.”

“Another paladin?” Efrain groaned, trying to drive home the exasperation to cover him.

“Indeed, and far less pleasant than the others,” Naia laughed, “I know, a charming prospect. She was bullheaded, refused to listen or wait, so I sent her on ahead. As far as I know she’s buried under a snowdrift somewhere. We were going to search for her, but Aya’s finding threw everything into disarray, even her fraternity dropped it.”

Efrain almost let out an audible sigh of relief, but he managed to catch himself at the last moment.

“Well, in any case that makes your ultimate job easier, if you so choose to join me,” Naia said.

“Hold up,” said Efrain, “let me guess. You can’t act because questioning the authority of the church would compromise your personal position, as well as make the children suspicious. Given that I am potentially the most unorthodox person you could employ, you would use me to get to the children, and then foist the blame on me if anything went wrong.”

“Phrased it better than I could,” Naia said.

“Well, I can certainly see the appeal,” Efrain said dryly, “but what makes you think I would agree to that? Say, hypothetically, I went all the way to the silver city with you. You suddenly blame me for corrupting the children, then its my head.”

“A fair point, but consider - I am so close to being outcast that I need you, and if the children spoke out in your defence, they might well eclipse my influence. In addition, who would it reflect badly on if I did so? That would only worsen my position by leaps and bounds.”

“Fine,” Efrain said, “so what role did you have for me?”

“Oh that? Simple. You’ve been doing it already by most accounts,” Naia said, “teach them magic.”

Efrain stopped to consider it for a moment - no doubt he’d been briefed in full after the church incident. The fact that Naia hadn’t executed the mage for that alone spoke volumes to his intentions.

“And if, if, I were to take you up on this offer, well, first off, how far would this arrangement go? Secondly, how would I get around the paladins? I imagine they’ll be hostile.”

“That would be your job. From the sound of it, you’ve already got Aya on your side. Arrange meetings, teach her subtly - I’m sure someone of your ‘age and experience’ could figure something out. As for how long, if you have no desire to come to Angorrah, why not until we set sail? That should give you ample time.”

“And what’s in it for me, then?” he said, “Seems that I’m taking an awful lot of risk for simple promises.”

“What, a prospective general as a friend is not enough?” laughed Naia.

“Prospective. I’m not inclined to weigh reward on the whims of other unknown people,” Efrain snorted.

“A reasonable concern, though it’s only a week or two of work for a potential lifetime of benefits.”

“Granted. And what are you to say if I did not find the prospect of using children as pieces appealing?”

Naia arched an eyebrow at this, but the smile remained.

“This is the world we live in. In a way, if they should happen to throw their lot in with us, as it were, they’ll be getting a better life. The army is not quick to dispose of such valuable tools, unlike the more capricious elements of the church. They would not have to live by scripture and ceremony.”

“By throwing them at enemies, until they’re spent?” Efrain said.

The silence in the tent took on another character, something colder and heavier.

“You’ve said your knowledge of Angorrah was out-of-date. Do you know what they did to bring the merchant cities of the coast in line?”

Efrain shook his head.

“It’s quite simple. The palaces of Ennen’alla? Smokey marble with brass accents. Beautiful, beautiful buildings. Angorrah chose them to be their examples - now they’re little more than ruins and dust. From the other cities, rather than go to war, they offered up noble children as wards. I’m sure you can imagine; Hundreds, thousands of days, living under suspended sentences? A sword hanging over your head, waiting, begging to fall, based on the slightest provocation you have no control over.”

“This is supposed to be a positive comparison?”

“The Bequeathed, whether or not they and their guardians realise it, are living under the exact same sentence. Welcoming them back into the church might delay it for a time. The military is ruthless, I won’t deny, but it’s interested in service. Which is better? That the children are a pawn of the faith, used in political games across the continent, liable to be sent to a bitter end based on whim? Or, they live a tough but honoured life, and, in time, might rise to see the power and freedom to dictate their own destiny through generalship?”

“I can see why they sent you, commander,” Efrain said, “you’ve got quite the tongue.”

“I offer simple truths in pretty prose, that’s all,” Naia said, “if you want to look out for their wellbeing, then it might be best you align with me anyways. As for other rewards, I’m a commander, which comes with privileges. If you want gold or valuables, I can probably get them with time. Access to influence, knowledge? Those are easy enough, with the right friends, which I’ve made a point of making. All this potential for a few days of work, Efrain.”

The cloth rustled slightly in the breeze.

“And I’ll be free to go, alive, unharmed, not immediately killed for knowing your secret?” Efrain said.

“Guaranteed.”

Efrain examined the man’s face in depth, noting the lines that gave away his age. The dark hair with just a hint of blue mingling with the black, although whether that was dye or somehow natural he could barely guess. It was a dangerous gambit, predicated on the word of a man who by his own confession was willing to murder and scheme to get what he wanted. Still, he couldn’t deny the sway of the promise - a general of Angorrah who owed him a personal favour, that would be a very potent tool indeed.

This was again, assuming the man kept any kind of faith, which Efrain had mixed evidence to show for it. Still, if he was only going as far as the port, that would be fairly safe, or so he hoped. Maybe perhaps, if he could gain some trust with the paladins, play them off eachother…

This was getting too complicated for his taste, and the dangers of a company of soldiers around him didn’t sweeten things. Still, there was also the commandment of the River, and he was interested in the children and their talents. If Naia spoke the truth of its word, then there could be very good reasons for him to work with the commander. Then again, it’d also warned Innie of his death should he pursue this course, maybe this offer was that threat recast.

“Well?” said Naia.

There was nothing for it, Efrain surmised, at least until Karkos.

“It’s a deal. I’ll do what I can, until you sail,” Efrain said, holding out his hand and shaking it with Naia in the Karkosian fashion.

“Good. I would lay out the mission and your role, but you’ve guessed all you need to know already. This all stays between us and no one else, not even my captains. On pain of death, Efrain.”

“Understood, commander,” said Efrain, fully conscious of the irony.

“As for a method of approach,” Naia said, “the paladins have taken charge of much of the children’s education. However, I’m sure I could come up with an excuse to educate them on something. Maths, perhaps, or military history. We might be able to arrange them to have time away from the paladins.”

“So you want me to teach them the arts,” Efrain said, “and so doing, shake the foundations of the church.”

“More or less,” Naia chuckled, “you should return and recover your strength. Your companion was quite worried.”

“Oh really?” Efrain said, dispelling the charm, and leaving the tent.

He walked back to the circle of waggons he’d found himself in not twenty minutes ago, reflecting on the conversation he’d had. When he made it back to the one he’d slept in, he heard the sounds of voices within the canvas. Peaking in, he found Aya sitting before Innie, chatting away.

“I see you two have become good friends,” he said as he clambered in.

“Oh!” she said, “friends? I don’t know. Maybe not friends.”

“Stop teasing her and sit down Efrain,” Innie said.

“Fine, fine,” Efrain said, lowering himself onto the wooden slats.

“Now, as I was saying dear, “ Innie continued, “the talent of ‘seeing’ magic is much more about feeling it than actually using your eyes. You could use your ears, or nose, or tongue for that matter. It’s about the communication, much less about how you receive it.”

“You mean people can taste magic?” Aya giggled with a note of awe.

“Taste, and hear, and smell. More attuned beasts use their nose, like with everything. Humans tend to use their eyes, hence they tend to ‘see’ magic. Well, with some exceptions.”

Innie turned judgemental eyes to Efrain.

“I was a beginner,” Efrain said, “besides, I quickly grew out of it.”

“Why?” Aya said, “what is he talking about?”

“This one,” Innie said with relish, “started smelling when I first taught him.”

“That’s true?” Aya said, eyes wide, but with an amused smile creeping onto her face, “what does magic smell like?”

“Alright, you’ve had your fun,” said Efrain, “it can smell like many things. It depends on the magic, it depends on the wielder. I ran into a fire wyrm once and everything smelled like burnt flesh for days after. Magic stinks for better or worse.”

“That was about the time you switched over to seeing. I guess you learned your lesson,” Innie said.

“But that’s not all magic can convey. Sensory information is but a pittance. More complex things, emotions, moods, entire concepts can be compressed into magic. The language we spoke to the trees in the pourjava’s hollow? You can express much more with magic, much faster, than with mere language alone.”

“The language you spoke in the-”

“Tematek, a kind of template, a mould which magic creatures developed various dialects from. Most magical creatures with the intellect to speak a language will speak Tematek or some variant of it.”

“So does that mean we’re speaking it right now?” she said, the whites of her eyes shining in the dim light.

“No, I speak human tongues as well,” said Innie, “the process of learning Tematek is a long one. You’ll simply learn how to see this way.”

“Could I learn it?”

Oh, this is too easy, Efrain thought, hearing Naia's voice echo about ‘opportunities’ falling into laps.

“You certainly could. It would be as hard as learning any other language however. And there’s the fact your paladin guardians are rather… possessive of you.”

“Well, they’re not here right now, I checked,” she said, and Efrain thought he saw a glimmer of pride at the deception, “they’re sleeping. Niche tried to keep watch but sleep caught up.”

“So, you’re saying you want to go behind the back of the church’s representatives to practise magic. The penalty for which could be death,” he said flatly, “that’s an impressive commitment.”

“That’s all they’ve said for the past few days,” she said without pause, “‘magic is dangerous’, ‘mages aren’t to be trusted’, ‘the Lost this’. Maybe they’re right.”

“And yet here you are.”

She nodded.

“They took me away from my home, my family. I don’t know anyone here, I don’t know what they’re planning for me. If I trusted you, would I be going on more than trusting them?”

Efrain chuckled.

“No, I suppose not,” he said, “although I think I do have one advantage.”

“What?”

“Your mother asked me to take care of you, if I could,” Efrain said, “I met her, before I ran into your group.”

To the girl’s credit, she held her expression, though the explosion of shock in her eyes were unmistakable, as well as the quiver in her jaw.

“You-you did? Is she- is she alright?”

Efrain paused. Maybe it was an old kindness that stirred below lost memories. Maybe it was mere self-interest, to pursue a relationship by putting the girl at ease.

“I’m sure she’s fine,” he lied, “but, we’d best get started, before your minders get up.”