The Shield's seat felt almost empty.
The impressive reception room was usually full of petitioners and others claimants. On such celebrations it should be even more packed with blades, military, and other officials. But today there were only a few hexes of people attending the event. This small number seemed even less in the large room made to accommodate hundreds of people at once for celebrations or critical auditions.
Father had to leave for the capital to prosecute our case with the emperor, leaving my grandfather to reward my saviours. Grandfather wanted to keep this ceremony's attendance limited to not draw too much attention on the kids.
Only a handful of people knew what really happened that night, thus the small committee. My eldest brother was here, as well as the rest of the council, ministries and advisors. The only non-blades were the doctor, a handful of free citizens, and the families of the kids.
Gelcaria was accompanied by two adults who must be her parents. Her father looked like what her record described: a crude man, eaten away by grief and alcohol. I'm glad grandfather is doing better and hope he will never fall this low in his addiction.
The mother is quite eye-catching for a commoner. Her figure is well balanced, albeit leaning on the slimmer side due to the lack of food. She could be almost pretty, nice cheekbones, a thin nose and those lips would attract many. But the years had been tough on her and the wrinkles would push away any rich man. I was surprised she managed to catch the attention of a god and have him look after her daughter. Gods must have their own beauty standards.
Gel's purple eyes were darting in all directions, she looked panicked. This was quite the twist for a girl who had fought two trained assassins head-on.
From the first day, I knew I was right to have picked her up. I don't know if it is the god's influence or just how she is, but I knew she was the kind that will be loyal. “Trusty companions make the wealthiest blades,” would often say Grandpa and I get him now. Not everyone would have jumped into the fray to save me, but she did.
I've heard many complaints when I took her in. “An Akolaïte around you?”, “Purple eyes, troubles arise.”, “You're into girls now?” But the gods always surround themselves with oddballs. My best guess is that Gel is one of those, fuelled with ambition rather than lust. She is one of Akolaï's unusual followers. She might not worship him yet but when she does one day, I'm ready to bet she will become a blessed one.
Ambition was a dangerous gift but a powerful one. The girl was way more talented than I was at her age, she didn't get fed anburo nor drank blood elixirs starting four. Her talent for Chi was the real deal, same as the kitten. The kitten's talent was understandable, if the intelligence reports were right, her parents should be enough of an explanation, whereas Gel's parents were just talentless commoners.
The boy was there too. He was an even weirder oddball. For someone who should be a simple commoner, I had a hard time reading him.
The oddest of all about him was how weak he was, even by commoner's standards.
He looked frail and anaemic. It was a miracle that he survived past naming day, he should have been among the losses. How could his body handle the lack of Chi? Grandfather says it is just that his Chi is very hard to sense but I think he has almost none.
Yet not only did he survive, but he thrived. What he lacked in body and Chi, he made up with uncanny smarts and an odd composure. He was like some old soul, behaving and speaking more like Father or Grandfather than kids his age. The only exception was that one weird time after his Chi testing where he lost it.
His existence had more than one oddity. The temple had confirmed his blessing. A four springs old blessed by Shinpilo.
Young blessed ones weren't unheard of. There had been a few cases of children granted blessing to hide or lie, but knowledge was something else. Shinpilo only blessed old scholars and shrivelled librarians like my tutors. People who had mastered their field of study. Yet this kid came out of a common suburb and got himself a blessing, the pantheon knows how. Shinpilo gave him a ton of weird knowledge for a reason even cardinal Fortmo cannot explain us.
What kind of brain could earn a god's attention this young? It was unnerving in its own way.
He was unsettlingly calm even in this luxurious room and surrounded by the most powerful men in the Shieldom. Even I would feel somewhat flustered to have so many powerful gazes on me, and I had been trained to be the center of attention.
He was like some anomaly in this palace, something not from this world. He was ugly, even in his nicest silky dress, the one bearing my crest. At least the scar on his left eyebrow now gave him some touch of much-needed fierceness.
When I visited him after the attack, he was in a worse condition. His hand was still mending, the flesh was rosy and all wrinkled, like it had been bathed in scalding waters for too long. His face was still pox-marked with cuts and scars from the explosion.
The young Duarch came to his rescue. He brought one of his Aunt who was a decent healer to cure the scars. The Duarch were still trying to rope in the kid, they hadn't accepted their loss. I can't blame them, such a talent was hard to let go, the kid was valuable and only getting more as time went by.
As soon as I heard about the visit, I barged in the room to monitor the young Duarch under the pretence of showing concern for my saviour. This was partially true though. The healer was sucked dry out of Chi just to heal the scars on the boy's face. I knew the Duarch's healer wasn't a weak one, this only confirmed what all the other healers had complained about: the kid was a bottomless pit for Chi.
It was strange for me to commend the boy's courage for saving me. I've always believed him to be quite the coward, always second-guessing himself, taking one step at a time, lacking fighting spirit.
What I called cravenness, Grandfather called it smarts. “He is smart enough to back away from the fights he can't win. In the end, survivors are the best warriors,” he told me. Sure sounds like cravenness to me.
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But I can't deny Telerios' intellect. A new writing system so convenient to use, new numbers that made him spot what an army of accountants missed, the construction of a nighthaven, and now this “fire-powder” that had him kill two rank 3 Chi users.
And not your standard grunts to be found in all Shieldoms but two trained assassins, stemming probably from the Empire. They were kept low-power specifically to inconspicuously infiltrate this type of events, trained to be stealthy, nurtured to be ruthless killers. They were enhanced with drugs and had state of the art poison. How could they have bested Hamy otherwise? Poor Hamy, I'll miss her. She's been there for so long, taking care of my back. Now I was going to feel even more threatened without her looking after me. No one could replace her and it will take years before Gelcaria or the kitten can take her stead. I guess I'll never get a full night of sleep for the years to come.
The assassins used a custom-made neutralizing poison, made to mess with Chi circulation and paralyse their target. Even our alchemists couldn't reproduce it. All it took was one graze to slow down Hamy and paralyse me. This was once more telling me that this attempt was something plotted from higher than just the Mujrim. I might have ended up wed to a count in the Empire.
This had surprised my saviours when I explained them the most likely motive. “Is forced marriage a thing endorsed by the gods?” asked Telerios. While Gelcaria was more outraged by the idea: “How dare they? This isn't right,” she complained.
I had to explain to them the harsh reality of my world. They only knew what fables and other stories told them. In truth, it was common for princes and princesses to be abducted and enter a forced marriage. The gods didn't look favourably on it but didn't condemn it either, once married there was no rape in their eyes.
Such unions were a show of strength from the Shieldom abducting someone. It was a declaration of strength superiority and could be used as a casus belli or a cause of ceasefire. The unwilling spouse becoming a valued hostage.
“Are we at war with someone,” inquired the boy. He understood what my abduction could mean.
“No. Not yet. But someone wants us to.” I responded calmly. I could see the fear creeping behind his eyes. The boy was afraid of war. “Wise men flee from war and only fight monsters,” would commend my grandfather.
I was more in agreement with Gel's reaction, “Then let them come, we are stronger than any of them.” I liked her audacity. She was brimming with innocence and ignorance of the danger. I preferred war to those covert actions, but war would still be gruesome for us.
For now, I was just glad our enemy's plan had been foiled. Their agents had me bagged in and ready to be shipped to whatever fate they held for me, yet two splinters were on their path.
Two kids, barely trained, who shouldn't have been there. Were they sleeping together? Was this an Akolaï thing after all? Who cares. Splinters could hurt pretty bad when neglected.
The assassins must have missed them, they were hidden in the dark, sleeping and low-Chi enough to not be perceived as a threat.
* * * * *
The groom played his drum to ask for everyone's attention. The room went silent after everyone took his assigned place. I was standing right behind the throne while my brother was seating at the right of it on a simple stool. The ministers were on their chairs farther to the right. In front of them, on the left side, were the officials, military officers, temple representatives, and blades that were invited, alongside a few free citizens.
My Grandfather started the ceremony with some platitudes. This let me drift my attention away. The room was only half decorated. This was a reward ceremony, but not one for blades or higher rankings. Even if it was my rescue that was celebrated, he couldn't treat it like a major battle celebration. There were a few silk drapes to bear our colours and some of the paintings of the kirin to decorate the room. No golden statues nor jewelled chandeliers.
This was for the better. The kids' families were startled enough by the riches displayed as is. Any more would make them faint.
The boy's family was at a loss, his father looked like some dumb ape with his stupidly large arms for what little power he had. I guess his son took all the smarts, leaving none for the rest of them.
Both kids were now coming forward. The bold Gel was meekly looking at her feet and holding Telerios' hand. What a turnaround! She was supposed to be the brave one.
According to their testimonies, she was the one who pushed to step in. It was reckless and brave, just like her. The boy only followed behind her, the fact that he was instrumental in my rescue was what troubled me the most. His weird product made him far stronger than he should be.
His noise-making “fire-powder” took out two trained assassins. Sure, he almost died in the process and was badly hurt, but it was still an unfathomable outcome.
Grandfather spared no expense to heal him, even when his strange condition made it costlier and harder to do so. “We need him healed, he can't be a cripple,” he decisively stated.
It took three times more healers than it should have and I doubt any other commoner ever got a limb regrown. This would cost us a lot but “it was an investment,” retorted my grandfather when Father pointed it out.
I hope Father will be safe. He'll have to plead for justice, find a way to get an audience with the Emperor and will stay in the capital for weeks if not months. Sister will help, I guess. What will she say when she learns that a powerless commoner saved me? I can hear her mockery from here.
I couldn't frown, the ceremony was up and I needed to look regal, worthy of a grateful princess, yet lofty enough to look like it was only normal from my followers to act like they did.
* * * * *
Grandfather took charge of all the official decorum. He didn't like these events but he was going to make an exception for my rescuers.
He raised his hands to pray the gods while his green eyes were screening the room.
“As you all know, the eternal enemy struck in the heart of our beloved city. Foul heretics, led astray by their impish god, intended to kill my cherished granddaughter.” He paused to let a few blades rant and curse at the heretics. It was so well coordinated that I suspect it was planned beforehand with said blades.
This was the official version of the story. Heretics had tried to kidnap me. No one in this room was fooled except for the commoners. The rest of us knew that no heretic could gather such a strike force and manage to infiltrate the castle. It was just a convenient story to let some leeway to the Empire. The assassins were in their delegation, they'll have to respond about it and that was why my father went to the capital. Best case scenario, he would convince the emperor to officially blame the Mujrim Shieldom and have them pay us some compensation.
“The princess was captured, the fiendish heretics used lowly poison to put her down and cravenly slit her bodyguard's throat. May we all remember Hamy Kaitiaki's sacrifice for duty, alongside the 3 other palace guards killed during this attack.”
A minute of silence followed his last words. All warriors and military were paying their respect to a duty carried to the end.
I even shed a tear while standing with dignity beside the throne. All eyes were converging on me and I had to play my part. The tears were easy enough to convoke, I was really grieving after Hamy.
After we paid our respect to the dead, Lord Iroto broke the silence: “Only through dire times do we sort the bunta from the chaff. True friends, loyal subjects, pious citizens, are a rare sight in most Shieldoms. When the princess was facing a mortal threat, two of our young denizens rose to rescue her. They spared no effort and put their lives on the line to save hers. Come forward, Telerios, Gelcaria.” He solemnly ordered them.
I had explained the ceremony's course beforehand. Telerios was looking unfazed despite all the gazes landing on him. It was like he had already been through this kind of events. Gel was faring far worse. She wasn't comfortable with so many gazes and she could probably feel the Chi intent of most of them. Which the boy couldn't.
The boy took her hand in hers to make them advance up to the Lord's stage where they went down on both knees.
“Loyalty shall be rewarded. The both of you no longer are commoners. From this day onward, the Shieldom will buy your freedom from House Duarch. For the next hex years, the Kirinavati family will be in charge of your protection, free of charges. You may now rise as free citizens.”
His declaration annoyed blade Duarch, I could catch a quick frown from annoyance on him. Now he had no chances to snatch them back.
Not taking protection money from them for such a long time was a loss for us, but the gains outweighed it by far. Just seeing Duarch's annoyance was already worth it.
The kids' parents were left stunned. This “promotion” was only for the both of them. This meant they were now ranked higher than the rest of their families. Telerios' parents took it quite well. They barely flinched when they understood what it meant. Or maybe they didn't understand?
Danik the drunkard and poor Ovidee were more at a loss. Their daughter was suddenly on the same level as their bosses or rich merchants from the city. She now held a status they would never have dreamed of.
The kids were looking satisfied, Telerios was looking especially happy about his promotion. I'll have to remind him that I'm still his boss. He might be my mentor, teacher, or whatever; but I'm the one he has to answer to.
I'll just have to train thrice as much to stay ahead of his strange inventions. Gel will also be putting some pressure on me. Grandfather intended to find her a good magician to train her. This would only make her stronger and I'll have to spend more time training my magic if I didn't want to fall behind her.
I wasn't that good with magic, my eldest sister took all the talent in this field.