I didn’t quite manage to get a moment alone with Sophie at any point on the trip, as our groups were kept separate for the most part and I wasn’t confident enough to approach her during meal times when there were hundreds of people all around us. The journey itself was much more convenient than the one to Parnam, since the ruler of Jenusia would have to make such a trip every year, it made sense there were adequate places to rest for a large party on the way from Krilos to Volde. The familiar feeling of sleeping in tents on the ground was instead replaced by what was essentially barracks where I had to share my room with more than just Max and Louis, but was a preferable alternative to camping outside.
The whole journey lasted no more than ten days, and as haggard as we were on the way there, the beauty of Volde was in a way even greater than that of other cities I had seen thus far. The people in and around Volde had the lowest taxes of anywhere in the Empire, with the peasants having to pay about 25% of their harvest as tax and the richer people within the city only having a tax on imported goods to worry about, this resulted in the average standard of living being greater, which unsurprisingly made the royals very popular in these areas.
The clothes the average person wore and the state of the buildings looked to be better, perhaps they even did some regular maintenance on them. The roads didn’t reek of horse manure as much as they did in other cities, and while there was one temple of Gera in Volde the people there differed in their cheers from the people of Parnam. Here instead of chanting the name of a deity, the royal family and the ruler of the empire were cheered as if they were gods, with support for the ruler being very high.
This land probably served as a great deterrent to any noble who had thoughts of rebellion, as who would want to be reminded about the popularity of a ruler every year in this city which served as both a historical memorial and a piece of the crown’s propaganda. The land and its surroundings could unequivocally be described as prosperous, and even though it was the second month of the year already the peasants from the surrounding villages still walked all the way to Volde to greet their Emperor, while at the same time not looking malnourished in the slightest like some of the other commoners I had seen.
The place where the ceremony would be held would not be within Volde though, just the accommodations where over a thousand notable Jenusians, foreign emissaries, and invited guests could stay. The ceremony where the founder of Jenusia, Raego, is to be honored is a few kilometers away, but was clearly visible from almost any point on the way to the city. Volde stood on flat ground, so the massive vanity project of a statue that must have been over thirty meters tall with a heroic man on horseback pointing his sword to the northeast gave me a ‘subtle’ hint as to where the actual celebrations will be taking place.
The significance of the north-east direction was explained to us at some point throughout the Journey, the ‘Khezzat’ whom Raego supposedly fought against for the freedom of all Jenusians came from that direction, although now the word has fallen into disuse by anyone but the nobles. Since these events happened over 800 years ago it would be understandable that most people wouldn’t know the significance of it, but the statue itself looked to be much less ancient than the events it supposedly spoke of.
The familiar platitudes and speeches were given at the main feast and town square that were very similar to those I have already heard so I allowed myself to only pretend I was paying attention, while actually not caring in the slightest about their contents. This farce of a celebration, while definitely significant to those who are Jenusians, was still very foreign to me, and I couldn’t muster up the same kind of enthusiasm as some of the other people around me. This included some students too, especially those who on their days off would spend time mingling with nobles and perhaps some priesthoods as well.
A lot of my schoolmates and teachers saw the horrid state of affairs for the average person, and actually were content to do whatever the crown wanted as long as they could have a better standard of living. Whether this was due to how easily younger people are to influence, or because of other circumstances that made them think that they wouldn’t be able to make it on their own I didn’t quite know. These were thoughts that I had myself from time to time, but I had determined already that I did not want such a life for myself, and that if I would be even half-decent with the sword it was very possible to make my way in the world elsewhere.
The presence of beasts past the limits of a settlement might not be as bad as I had once thought, and perhaps the death of Brian to an ironclaw was an unfortunate accident, and not a regular occurrence. If there were roving bears that possessed such power everywhere then how could any food be grown in villages? One such bear was enough to destroy a village completely barring a miracle of some sort, and yet people didn’t starve and still chose to live in villages and not huddle up behind the sturdy walls of a town or city.
On the very last day of feasts there was a commotion at a much less extravagant feast that was attended by no nobles, only the royal family, some religious figures, and the students. I had planned to not pay attention to the proceedings and just try and get through the evening without causing any serious offense to these ‘high and mighty’ people, but when I saw that the first person to walk up on stage was not a noble or a priest, but the Emperor himself I thought it best to actually hear what was being said.
The man spoke at length about the great deeds and their consequences of us ‘the messengers’, and how our work was vital to the stability and happiness of the people. Near the end however, he dropped some news which caused a serious commotion. He spoke how the Goddess Gera gave the grand prelate of her priesthood a personal message to absorb some of her messengers in direct service to her. While we were heralded as people who summoned her through a combination of many gods’ powers, the faces of her ‘own’ divine messengers appeared in the grand prelates' dreams.
Conveniently, the few people who were selected were among those who visited the temple regularly, whether that be due for spiritual guidance, or to pray for the gods to send them back to Earth. A few girls from our school were those selected, one of whom was Gloria, my classmate. I did remember that back on Earth she always wore a cross around her neck and was at least somewhat religious, but to become a ‘priestess’ of Gera after a better part of a year was very unexpected.
The names of those ‘selected’ were all from the group of ‘mundanes’, and there was no great surprise on their faces as they walked up to the podium to each accept a bracelet from Grand Prelate Hoss. The other students however, and even the teachers were blindsided by the news, the guardians too did not seem entirely happy with what was essentially taking these young women away from the protectful eyes of the only adults from Earth.
Mr. Hendricks even mustered up the courage to protest verbally to the Emperor, saying that even if they were to become priests they ought to have a choice to make such a decision when they are already adults. The fact that someone dared to defy his will did not please Blyn, but he calmly explained that in Jenusia the age of adulthood was 16, and all of those selected were already past that age. He also reinforced his decision by announcing that matters of the Gods are elusive to the minds of mortals, and that we ought not to question their whims.
The feast on that day had to be cut short early, with the mood in the venue being a lot more dim and gloomy than the organizers had thought. As I sat at a table of at least a dozen people not a single word was being exchanged, and only glances and the movement of our cutlery would show a bystander that we were in fact conscious.
When we returned to the safety of our rooms, my roommates and some of the other guys we were rooming with began to discuss the fact that the Jenusians had essentially ‘groomed’ some girls from our school into becoming priestesses. A lot of them were actually very agitated by this, and said that this was no different from forcing your own child to follow your religion, which then devolved into a moral discussion about whether we were already adults since most of us were over the age of 16.
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As I sat quietly on my bunk bed and observed the discussions, I thought about how comforting it was that I would be able to escape such a fate in the future.
***
The quarters of Blyn Jenusia in Castle Volde were in a chaotic state, the second the Emperor returned from the feast where he made the announcement that a few of the summoned would be going to the main Temple of Gera to undergo religious training the audacity of the rest of them angered him greatly, which caused him to wreak havoc on the priceless family heirlooms in his private quarters. He stood in the middle of the room, out of breath with blood dripping down his fist when he heard a knock on the door.
“Come in damn you!” He shouted, before he turned his attention to a still-intact corner of the room, intent on continuing his rampage.
“Good evening Father, you don’t seem to be in the best of moods, should I come back at a later time?” Kuvira commented as she looked around the room, counting in her head the cost of her father’s anger.
“You act as if it’s the first time you’ve seen such a thing. Let me just calm down for a moment, sit” He ordered her, before picking up a piece of the torn curtains and using it to soak up the blood in his hand.
He then made his way towards where his daughter was sitting on a sofa and sat opposite her, but did not begin to speak. His brows were furrowed, and whether that be due to pain or anger the expression on his face was still not one that suggested he was ready for serious discussion. Noticing this, Kuvira stood up and walked up behind her father to give him a hug, while the man was prone to bouts of anger on the daily, she knew that her presence near him made him use restraint. She felt the tension in his shoulders relax, and the inhales and exhales of his lungs slowed down to a more steady pace. She stayed that way for at least a few minutes, letting the negative emotions that plagued him fizzle out of him, and when she felt that he was somewhat back to normal she returned to her place opposite him.
“What’s got you so upset?” She asked, even though she already knew the answer to that question.
“Do you even need to ask? You were there after all. Those ungrateful commoners who would be nothing without my help dared to object to my will! That man who we mistakenly placed as head of the Guardians even dared to speak up against it in front of the priests, it might even make them fear the might of the crown less if we do not punish him for his transgression” He mused, thinking about the ways in which he would destroy that man.
“Mistakenly? I don’t see it that way at all dear father. While the ideal choice for head of the Guardians is one we can control, my husband-to-be is still too young and immature to properly serve in such a role. Ryan is a great stand-in until that foolish boy grows into his place…” She countered, with a mischievous smile on her face.
“Hmm, you are right. It was our decision to place him at their head after all. But their reaction was unacceptable, we will need to do something to punish them for their insolence!” He continued, still not willing to let off those who slighted him.
“If we do so, we will probably undo months of progress in regards to gaining their trust. While it is not a bad idea for the summoned to suffer some consequences, they must not think that they came from us” She stated, trying to stay her father’s hand from rash actions.
“Hmmm…you have a plan?” He questioned, not seeing what his daughter was planning.
“The beginnings of one, yes. It would be best to return them to a similar state of mind as they were when they first arrived in Krilos. While it would be extremely difficult to scare them as even the Magisted does not know how to make beasts do his bidding, we could stage a situation on the road that would leave a few of the mundanes dead. They have lived a relatively peaceful life for a few months now, perhaps they need a reminder of what dangers the crown is protecting them from; imagined or not…” She proposed, already feeling the pleasure from the scared faces of the summoned.
“And who do we put to this task? The knight cannot be caught up in such a scheme” He asked, already seeing the benefits of such a move.
“Perhaps a pouch of gold could convince some of the soldiers of the Volde garrison, but they would be unable to properly fend off a lot of the Knights so we would have to silently decrease the amount of guards they travel back with. It would also be best to send them back in groups, which would allow us to target one of them and wipe out most. The survivors will spread the carnage for us, and we will have complete deniability” She continued, and with every word of hers the frown on Blyn’s face changed slowly to a grin.
“That does work, you make the arrangements and make sure to take Grant with you so that the people involved all keep their traps shut, with either gold or an earlier audience with Talik” He agreed, now in a noticeably better mood.
***
Our journey back to Krilos was delayed with the excuse being that some preparations had to be made, but when we were informed that we would not be traveling back as one group and also making slight detours to teach us some new skills when it came to surviving in the wilderness a knot began to tie itself in my gut. We were not told that we would be doing such a training on our way back before, and the fact that the students and teachers who lived on the Magisterium departed from Volde the day after while we didn’t make me suspect foul play.
It didn’t take a genius to deduce that the people with magical aptitude were viewed as more valuable than those without, and for all intents and purposes we were viewed as less important. The number of guards our group of students was assigned was tiny, no more than a dozen. We were not armed at all, while the soldiers who would guard us on our journey back to Krilos were not the same as when we came here. I was now able to clearly tell that the people guarding us were not Knights, but men from the Krilos garrison. Their posture and gait as they carried their spears and shields suggested that they weren’t elites.
While the clueless among our group such as Max and Louis didn’t seem to suspect anything, just thankful that they could travel in a smaller group which would mean the air wouldn’t have a terrible smell like before, I began to think that something was afoot. The official story was that on our way back to Krilos they decided to take the opportunity to teach us the basic things we needed to know for camping in the wilderness, should we find ourselves outside the safety of buildings for the night.
I wasn’t opposed to learning how to properly set up a tent, nor how to start a fire, or even dig a latrine pit for that matter. What worried me was whether the safety of the areas we were camping in was guaranteed, but all of my worries resulted in nothing on the first night where I had trouble getting even a little bit of sleep.
The situation repeated itself on the second, and the third night. By the fourth night I finally managed to convince myself to stop with my paranoia and just take the time to appreciate the fact that this training would stop soon as the further we headed south the less hospitable the weather was becoming. Even though now was the tail-end of winter, the temperature outside was very wet and stayed at around 10 degrees celsius. This was preferable to snow of course, but when Max began sniffling one morning I began to think that perhaps they should have delayed our impromptu excursion to the wilderness until it became a bit warmer.
On the sixth day of our excursion, which we were told would be our groups’ last, we disembarked from the wagon we were all traveling on and immediately began scouting out a dry place to set up camp. Our duties were clearly divided already among our group, and while I was thankful for the presence of the soldiers who knew all of this information already due to military training, it still didn’t make my task of gathering firewood for the fire any less tiring.
The sun was still about a quarter of the way from the horizon, so as I began traipsing through the brown-colored forest I decided to do some meditation while I had some time alone. The wisps were as per usual, being uncooperative and I had to use a lot of chemical visualization to actually manage to accomplish anything. The scope of how much I could visualize around me had expanded twofold from my first try, and I could almost look 30 meters in any direction around me and see the arcane power fluttering about.
I stood with my back to a tree, which would make me inconspicuous to any animal that might be passing by, when I felt the wisps 30 meters behind me behave slightly erratically. I recognized their pattern of movement as if something else was pushing them away, and stopped meditating and peeked slightly behind the tree, where I saw some movement. My first thought was that it was some kind of a beast, so I broke out into a sprint back to the camp to try and warn the soldiers there that something was in the forest.
I began shouting as the parked wagons came into view, and when the soldiers understood that I saw something moving in the forest they gathered all of us back at the wagons and told us to stay inside until whatever it was came out. The tension in the wagon was palpable, with everyone too scared of having a repeat of the situation with the Ironclaw, as the amount of soldiers guarding us was essentially the same as the number of soldiers who died fighting that thing, and they were better trained too.
The soldiers formed up in a protective formation facing the direction where I ran from, and while the forest was about twenty meters from us, it was difficult to see even five meters into it due to how dense it was. But after about ten minutes of waiting, just as the leader of our guards was about to order a return to camp preparations, fifteen figures in cloaks appeared from the forest, wielding swords and shields.
Their equipment and armor wasn’t uniform, and the shouts and jeers they directed at our group only brought one word to mind: bandits. The area surrounding Krilos was free of them, with armed patrols riding along the roads regularly and making it a mission to exterminate groups of bandits as soon as they appeared. The lands between Krilos and Volde however, were not as densely populated, which meant that the risk of them attacking us while not too high, was definitely a possibility.
The squad leader of the guards shouted at us to stay inside and not pop out, as he prepared his men to face off against the charge of the bandits, right before five more of them ran out silently from the forest behind us.