Edda had started talking to herself or rather at the dried blood that stained the floor of her dungeon cell, Ingah's blood. It had been days since she'd conversed with a fellow human, the grey silk servants who brought her food were practically mute and the guards who accompanied them shared the trait. They'd brought her change of clothing that was always a yellow dress and the occasional trough of water to clean herself. All the while they never uttered a word and avoided her eyes, they would flinch whenever she made the slightest movement and Edda amused herself by moving a lot in their presence.

"I recall the night we cuddled for warmth in the brushes west of Remu, it was the first time a man had held me you know? Though I felt at the time that it was a mere formality to you, a step to follow in order to come out alive." Edda said as she sat with her legs folded beneath her on one of the chairs in her cell. Her eyes were on the brown blood stain on the floor. Her sandy hair had grown and fallen over her face giving her a wild look.

Edda tilted her head back and laughed a cackling laugh that carried the strain of being forced. "If it was just a formality why did your hand rest on my behind? Why did you pull me close and squeeze? Why were your eyes on mine while our faces were only inches apart? Why didn't you kiss me?" Her laughter died down. "Why did you have to die?" She sobbed.

"I believe everybody dies in the end." A voice from her cell door answered, forcing her to jump out of her chair. Edda focused her tear stained eyes in the dim light emanating from the dungeon torches and made out the narrow blue eyed face of Prince Leba Vigon. "It wasn't their fault, whoever they were, for dying." Leba continued. "Though, if you think about it it kind of is their fault. Why did they not seek out immortality by reaching for what lies beyond Tabrimas?"

The cell door opened and Prince Leba dressed in a beige shirt and black breeches made his way to occupy the chair opposite the one Edda had sat on. At the open cell door the female guard dressed in black leather with shortly cropped hair and slender limbs took position. Edda recalled her name, Masutap. Edda stared outside her cell, at the opposite of her cell was another cell but a right turn and an onward steadily ascending march would lead to a wooden door that only opens one way where she could knock thrice in quick succession and twice slowly to ensure it was opened. All she had to do was take out the Prince, Masutap and the Inquisitioners at the wooden door.

"You'd be a fool to assume the combination knock never changes." Masutap spoke into the silence of the room. Edda's shoulders slumped in defeat, it appeared the guard was always one step ahead of her own thoughts. She had no doubt of it now, the female guard was adept in the Form of Intent. Edda knew only one other person with the required mental discipline to master the Form of Intent, her master who'd selected her for the mission that had sealed her fate. My master who probably betrayed me. Edda thought Probably.

"Please, take a seat Remu lady." Prince Leba said while motioning towards the seat opposite him. Edda sighed and complied, she sat opposite the Prince with her eyes fixed on the table between them. She'd given up long go on any hope of escape, she was destined to die in an arena as a gift to a Goddess and she was slowly becoming content with such a fate. Heck, she even wished they would hurry up and get on with the ceremony so she would at least get some much deserved eternal rest. "I have several questions that need answers, questions concerning Remu in general." Prince Leba said.

"What makes you think I'd answer honestly?" Edda asked, her eyes still glued to the table.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Prince Leba chuckled, "In exchange for every answer given I shall answer one question of your own, honestly." Edda lifted her eyes to meet the deep blues of the Prince. She nodded once in assent. A game of questions was after all a pleasant distraction from the overwhelming loneliness of the empty cell. "What lies beyond the Rankf sea?" Prince Leba asked.

Edda shook her head from side to side. "I've never been to the Rankf sea."

"But aren't you Remu?"

"I've never been to the Rankf sea," Edda repeated as she recalled the white walls of the Remu court where she was born and raised, never venturing to the far east to meet the sea, never seeing life beyond that which was pictured in her mind courtesy of the books she had read. "But what I do know is that the Leviathans do not allow one to venture far from shore."

"Has anyone ever succeeded in passing the Leviathan territory?" Prince Leba asked.

"What lies beyond Tabrimas?" Edda asked.

Leba chuckled. "You have a smart mind, Remu lady." He reached to touch her hand that lay on the table but Edda jerked it back. Prince Leba relaxed in his seat, leaning back with his eyes glued on Edda. "Have you ever stood upon high ground and suddenly felt like jumping to your death?" Leba asked.

"You haven't answered my question." Edda replied.

"I'm trying to." Leba said. A short silence ensued. "Or have you ever held a knife to maybe cut vegetables and then suddenly felt the urge to slice your own wrists? That desire, that need to step into oblivion and cease to exist comes from somewhere. It is a call that beckons to all of us and once you give in to it you do not go to Tabrimas. You go beyond. Into the void."

Edda's eyebrows arched. She'd never once heard of a Void in all the studies she'd gone through. Tabrimas was always the end of the road for the valiant and it was surmised that those who did not attain what was required to venture into Tabrimas were simply reborn until they achieved valiance and ascended into the realm of the Valiant. "Nobody has ever ventured beyond the Leviathan territory. Even the Leviathan oil scavengers do not dare go beyond where the Leviathan calf roam for fear of encountering a Leviathan bull that wrecks any vessel it comes across." She said.

Prince Leba nodded and motioned with his hand for her to ask her question. "Why are you asking me these questions about the Rankf sea?" Edda asked.

"Because it is my belief that the Leviathans exist for a purpose, to keep us close to shore and ensure we do not disturb someone's slumber." Leba said. "This is most definitely a question that I presume lacks an answer on your part but I shall ask either way." Leba took in a deep breath. "Do you know of Alietsi?" He exhaled. "Have you ever heard of that name?"

"I had a friend called Alietsira." Edda replied, "I don't know if it's her you're talking about." "Can your friend walk on water?" Leba asked.

"What? No." Edda struggled to understand what Leba meant by his question. "What?" She said again while scrunching her face in confusion.

Prince Leba stood up. "I'm afraid you have been of little use to me, Remu lady." He turned to leave.

"Wait." Edda called out to the Prince's retreating back. Leba turned his head to her, pausing in his steps. "I am yet to ask you a question of my own." She said and Leba nodded for her to go on. Edda pondered what to ask. Who is Alietsi? Was the question at the forefront of her thoughts but another thought foreshadowed it, one that she knew she would never get an answer to, from anywhere else other than the reason the said question existed. "How does the Void beyond Tabrimas relate to immortality?" She asked.

Prince Leba tilted his head to one side, his eyes focused on Edda, unnerving her as they bore through her. "You're a clever one, Remu woman." He said. "It is not the Void that calls to us, it is what lies imprisoned there. It is the reason the Gods built Tabrimas, to keep something between what is within the void and the mortal realm. I believe whatever is in the Void holds the answer to everlasting life, for the mere echo of its call beckons us to death." And with that the Prince turned around and departed the cell together with his guard. Leaving Edda to ponder in the silence she was all too familiar with.