It was a wonderful evening. The food was exquisite. The conversation was lively. All the guests were having a great time. Well, all except for one. They had finished eating and retired to a great hall for tea and socializing. Immediately, Renier was cornered by Zehra Hanım, wife of Vizier Emir Faruk Bey, who just happened to have a daughter named Esra, twenty-two and - you guessed it - was unmarried.
He got out of that one by promising to visit for tea soon and was hounded by Fatima Hanım, wife of Artisans Guild Head Selim Bey, who also had a daughter, Aylin, who was nineteen and unmarried, and he had another tea date.
Then there was her sister, Selma Hanım, wife of Imperial Guard Captain Murad Bey. Followed by Ayten Hanım wife of Halil Pasha. It’s a good thing he liked tea.
Every woman here had a young, beautiful, unmarried daughter with a stupendous dowery. He started to suspect that Mustafa Pasha had done it on purpose.
He was currently cornered by Selma Hanım, wife of Head Physician Doctor Ali Bey, when, to his fortune, Mustafa Pasha came to his rescue. It was a good thing, too, because his afternoons were now busy for quite some time.
“Dear Selma, let me have young Master Akkaya so I can introduce him formally to some friends,” interrupted the Pasha while taking Renier by the arm.
“Thank you, but I believe you did this on purpose. I now have four tea invitations for the next month.”
“Not me, my boy, my wife! Women can’t stand to see a bachelor, especially one as eligible as you. Imagine if they knew your true identity. They would be camped with their daughters, the dowery, and an Imam at the gates of your estate,” he said, laughing loudly at his joke.
“Ibrahim, master Ohran wants to join the Silk Merchant’s Guild,” he said to the older gentleman seated at a table sipping tea and engrossed in a chess game.
“What? Ah, yes, yes,” he said, looking up, “Master Ohran, come see me at the guild, and we’ll get your membership settled.” He said absently, his concentration on the game.
“Halil, would you come to my study,” he said to an older gentleman who was spectating the game.
Halil and Renier followed the Pasha to his study, “don’t let anyone disturb us,” the Pasha told the guard at the door.
“Master Orhan, Halil runs my… information network, if you will. Halil, you are aware of Master Orhan’s identity?”
“Yes, Excellency, you Highness, I’m at your service.”
“Good Halil. Master Orhan,” he said, emphasizing the name, ”requires information and news about Constantinople; please help him in all you can.”
It was late at night, and Renier walked across the courtyard to board his carriage home. He was the last one to leave. The guests had retired, and he had stayed late talking to Halil, who would be staying at the estate that night. They had insisted on walking to the gate, but as he said, he knew the way.
He was engrossed in his thoughts when a woman stepped out of the shadows, startling him, ‘I’ve become complacent,’ he chided himself. The woman bowed and said, “Master!”
“Viper?”
“Please, Master, call me Leyla; Viper is dead!”
He waited.
“Master, yesterday I went to town to get some supplies for the garden and saw an Ebon Specter. Master, please be careful. He’s an elite stage four or above. I only recognized him because I knew of him from before. Master, I’m very grateful to you. Without the cure, I would have soon died. Please be careful!” She once again bowed and turned to leave.
“Vip… Leyla, would you want to come work for me?”
“Yes, Master. I swear I will forever be loyal. I never had any love for the Brotherhood. I was taken from my family when I was very young and raised by them. You do not know the gift you gave me when you removed the taint. Even without my adhikendra and youthful looks, I feel much more alive than before,” she said, tears coming down her cheeks. “I swear on my life, I will help you fight them.”
“Very well, Leyla. I will talk to the Pasha and have you move to my estate. You will continue to work the gardens there, but there will be more. Thank you for your warning.”
‘She can help me teach Skandar and give me information on the Ebon,’ he thought as he walked out of the estate, ‘am I just rationalizing and being soft because she’s a woman?’
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Breakfast tasted better, Renier thought. He was happy like he hadn’t been in many months. First, Skandar had gone a complete practice without the dreaded “another five.” Second, he had been able to meditate for two hours without interruptions. He could begin the next part of the process. As he ate, he remembered.
‘Awakening or Psycho-Physical Symbiosis is a genetic transformation; we must prepare your body and mind. For the next few months, you will do the mental exercise I will teach you and train in the tower. Once you reach the third level of the tower, we'll know your body is ready, and by then, all the mental exercises should be complete,' explained Ayg as Renier wolfed down the plate of food one of the golems served.
'Humans are made of two parts. You have a body and a Mu shell. These two parts coexist separately. Once ready, you will take a pill made from the cerulean coral. There are many technicalities, and you can study them later if you'd like, but basically, it changes your body so that your Mu shell and body have a better connection. As a result, your eyes can see Mu energy, and you'll have access to an organ we call an Adhikendra, which allows you to store Mu energy. Also, your Mu shell will create a network of Nadi channels similar to your blood veins throughout your body, and Aakash Gates, which are the locations in your body for absorbing Mu energy into the Adhikendra,' Renier ate and listened fascinated as Ayg finally explained the process to him.
'The talisman in your hand has been working as a type of Adhikendra for you until you… but I digress,' continued Ayg, a weird, sad expression going through her face, 'Once you have started your transformation, it will take a few hours for it to complete. Immediately after, you must develop your dagraha with the exercise I will teach you. This mental space is unique to Enclave disciples and is part of why our disciples grew much faster than in the other sects.
Once your Adhikendra is connected and you have a dagraha, you'll have a Samvid Nexus at stage zero. You will then gather Mu energy into your Adhikendra and form a kendra or core. Once that is done, you will have officially started Vishwa Sangamana, and you will be a Sangami, a person seeking to become one with the universe. Your Samvid Nexus will be at stage one, and you'll gain a series of abilities and be able to weave.'
'Let me finish with this: Mu Energy permeates everything in the universe, which gives it cohesion. The Mu humans left us a Sangamana process that has seven stages. Each stage builds and strengthens your Mu shell by growing your adhikendra, kendra core, aakash gates, and Nadi channels until the Mu shell can exist independently of a physical anchor. As you progress through each stage, the ability of your Mu shell to interact and manipulate Mu energy and thus the physical and meta-physical worlds as directed by your thoughts increases. We use mandalas, mudras, and runes to guide Mu energy into a specific pattern to get a result.
Being a sangami is about developing your mind to hold ever-increasing complex patterns. This is why the dagraha is essential to keep these patterns and ingrain them into your memory to achieve specific results instantly,' finished Ayg.
‘If only I had known,’ he thought as he took the last bite of his breakfast. ‘Time to give Skandar the bracelet and start his training in the chambers below before we go to Ombre Island.
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“Your uncle Gustav has joined the Merchant’s Guild in Constantinople. He is doing exceptionally well in the Silk trade. According to my sources, he was allowed into the exclusive guild on the recommendation of your aunt Martha.
It seems they may have some type of romantic relationship. At least they have been seen together often, and at her last birthday party, your uncle gave her a costly diamond.
As you know, the Sultan has been pressuring to annex Constantinople and depose the current emperor, so it has become much more difficult for merchants from our empire to do business there. Silk and other goods are currently being routed through merchants in Cyprus,” Halil reported as they took afternoon tea in the courtyard.
Viper was tending some plant nearby, and Renier looked at her while inattentively listening to the Spy Master. She had changed so much since he first met her. Physically, you couldn’t recognize her, and she walked like a defeated person in her demeanor. Not the arrogant woman he had first met.
‘I could restore her fully, and she would be a powerful ally I wouldn’t need to train,’ he thought. Viper had been working at his estate for two months now. She had taken the oath, and Renier had checked that it bound her Mu shell. So he felt comfortable that she wouldn’t betray him. But he hesitated to give her power. ‘I’ll have to devise some kind of test, and if she proves loyal, then I’ll repair her adhikendra,’ he decided as Halil finished his report.
“Thank you, Halil. You’ve been very helpful. Could you get me a list of silk merchants in Cyprus that I could contact?”
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It was early morning, and Renier was sitting in his study, looking over the report Halil had left him, when Harun knocked, “Master Ohran, Vali Mustafa Pasha is here to see you.”
Renier stood up and hurried to greet the Pasha. It was unusual that the Governor of Ancyra would visit unannounced.
“Selamün aleiküm, your Excellency.”
"Aleiküm selam, master Ohran, excused the unannounced visit. Could we talk in private?” Answered the Pasha before Renier had a chance to say another word.
“Please, let us have some tea in my study.”
Renier could see that Mustafa Pasha was agitated. He fidgeted with his hands, and his gaze darted everywhere.
After the Pasha was seated at the table, Renier activated his newly installed privacy ward. “Your Excellency, we now have complete privacy.” The Pasha was so nervous that he didn’t even notice. Renier poured tea for the both of them, “Your Excellency, how can I be of service?”
“Your Highness, Halil was attacked last night when he left your home, and someone broke into my office in the city last night and stole very sensitive documents. I was hoping Your Highness could help investigate and retrieve the documents. They are critical.”
“How is Halil?”
"He was wounded and might not make it. The doctors are doing everything they can.”
Renier stood, “let’s see him first, and then we’ll go to your office in the city.”
Halil was unconscious when they arrived. The doctor had treated his wound and given him an herbal concoction infused with opium but was not very optimistic that Halil would survive the night.
“Master Orhan, this is hekim Ali Bey. I’m sure you remember him from the other evening.”
“Yes, of course. Hekim, may I see the patient?” Renier entered the room without waiting for an answer, “Privately,” he added and closed the door.
Renier weaved astralmend and guided the energy to heal the internal wounds, leaving the superficial cut to heal naturally. He didn’t want to advertise his powers, but Halil was too important to his plans to let him die. Then, he cleared the opium from his system and applied another weave to remove the pain.
“Ah, Hekim, looks like your patient is waking. You are a very talented doctor,” said Renier, pulling the door ajar, “Your Excellency, perhaps he might be able to tell us about his attackers.”
The doctor couldn’t believe it. Halil was sitting up in his bed and awake. Even if he had been completely healed, the opium should have knocked him out for at least twelve hours.
The Pasha knew better than to ask and simply said, “My friend. It’s good to see you awake!”
“Perhaps Halil Pasha feels well enough to tell us about his attackers?” Asked Renier, knowing full well that Halil was perfectly fine.
“Master Orhan, three men wearing masks attacked me on the road about ten minutes after I left your house yesterday. They took all of my belongings and left. I don’t know much more after that. I remember someone picking me up, and then I woke up here just a few minutes ago.”
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“The idiots you hired were not supposed to kill anyone! Did they at least get the document?”
“Yes, we have the document!” Answered the young man, handing her the scroll.
“And you’re sure it can’t be tied to us?”
“No. We never met and have only transacted through the drop.”
‘We need to make sure they die when the timer comes.”