Rumel had organised a dozen guards around Matrioshka’s holding cell – still empty. The air was tense, Rumel and Nehri paced in front of the cell. Often, they glanced inside and curled their ears when Matrioshka was still nowhere to be found.
Rumel walked to a window and read the time from an hourglass - held by one of the statues in the garden. “Less than 5 minutes now.” He faced a younger man and said:
“Repeat your orders.”
The guard tensed, but said without error: “Guard the entrance to the room. None except you and Nehri may enter or leave, and if you do, we are to uh…” he glanced at a burning torch in his hand. “…we are to burn some of your fur - like the King said.”
Rumel clasped his hands. “Very good.”
The suns had set some half hour before, and Matrioshka decided it was time. Lots of though went into her approach. As a member of the royal family, and the Miriani primogeniture laws, Rumel was 2nd in line to the throne – after Prince Ketri. At least until the King sired a successor.
The current King’s tenure was recent, Matrioshka had learned. The previous king, King Dend-Hayn, died by way of poisoning. None were discovered as the assassins, and the current King seemed to do as much in his power to ignore his father’s death.
Everything depended on how Rumel would react to what Matrioshka had to say.
She sent the nanites into the room, they coalesced into the body of Metri Olska, with some artistic liberties applied:
Matrioshka had replaced the golden fur with one of pure matted black. Her eyes became red, and her royal guard armor looked rusted and torn. Still meditating, she waited.
Nehri watched the clock, and as the last of the sand fell, the hourglass turned in the hands of the statue, starting to count the next hour. A dull drum sounded in the garden, and the two lovestruck Miriani traded glances. Rumel walked to the door, the two guards at either side were tense. He nodded to them both, and approached the window in the door.
Matrioshka opened her eyes immediately.
Rumel took a step back, stumbling, and drawing his blade. His breathing had heightened, the other guards reacted, drawing their own steel.
Nehri stood next to Rumel, at the ready. She stood on her toes to glace into the room, her eyes widened, ears curled.
“Giant’s shadow…” she mumbled.
Rumel collected himself, held a palm to the other guards. “At ease. You know your orders.”
Everyone managed to calm, and return to their posts. None had gone far, but the shock on their lord’s face made many insecure and anxious. This was a rare occurrence, Matrioshka concluded, for Rumel to appear this out of his depth.
Nehri and Rumel nodded to each other. Rumel approached the door first, he opened it and rushed inside, Nehri followed.
She slammed the door shut and flanked Matrioshka, standing to her side.
Matrioshka used her left eye to follow Rumel, and the other to follow Nehri.
I am not of this world. Your logic applies not to me. Matrioshka though. You must understand this.
Both guards took a step back, anxiety coursed through Nehri, she glanced at Rumel, and seeing him resolute, she mustered courage.
“What are you!?” asked Nehri, blade pointed at Matrioshka’s head.
“Please sit.” Matrioshka said quietly, with that same ethereal quality she knew would have an impact on them both. She sent a few of the nanites to dig in from bellow, and form two pillows. And from the back, nanites overtook the inside of the door, making it sound-proof and masking the inside. If a guard would approach the window, they would see nothing of note – just Rumel and Nehri talking to some other golden-furred guard.
Rumel saw the pillows appear, he sucked in a breath, his ear’s curling almost fully – a gesture of defeat. He said:
“These blades would do nothing.”
“Precisely.” supplied Matrioshka.
“Stars protect me.” Rumel said, and motioned to Nehri to sheathe her weapon – he did the same. They both sat on the black nanite pillows, slowly.
Matrioshka finally left her meditating position, she slid forward gently. “I wouldn’t count on their aid, Rumel.”
The Miriani cringed back, seeing Matrioshka approach. “Why not?” asked Rumel.
Matrioshka shook her head. “Firstly. Tell me what you know of how you came to be. Your race.”
Rumel scoffed, anxious, he looked to Nehri. She said: “May I? Rumel often slept through those lectures.”
“Please…” said Matrioshka.
Nehri’s brain lit up as she thought. “The scripture talks of the first Heaven. Of a land of plenty. More water than one could drink in their lifetime. Abundant and calm grassland.”
“Correct.” said Matrioshka. “Compared to Rosamond’s World, Prudence is a paradise.”
Rumel and Nehri looked to each other. “Prudence?” Nehri asked. “The first heaven is… on Prudence?”
“Not on it.” added Matrioshka. “Prudence is the first Heaven. Please continue.”
Nehri looked down to her arms. “The first heaven was made by the Suns. Forged from their light and fire. They made it for us, but we were ungrateful. We warred, and earned the hate of our Stars.”
Matrioshka nodded.
“We were expelled and culled. Punished for what we are. We are in the second Heaven.” Nehri looked to Matrioshka. “The second Heaven is here? Rosamond’s World.”
“Yes.” said Matrioshka. “And what did the Stars tell you? After you came here?”
Nehri said: “That we were given to the Giant. And the Giant will never let us go.”
“And who is the Giant?” asked Matrioshka.
“In the sky. The big purple ball.” said Rumel. “Rosamond’s World dances for it. Even I know that.”
Matrioshka nodded. “Very well. You know enough for us to get started.”
“Started with what?” asked Nehri and Rumel, almost at the same time.
“I am a demon, as I’m sure you suspect.”
Their ears curled, hands on their blades, and Rumel was getting ready to yell something. Matrioshka lifted a finger, and nanites flew to close his mouth. Forming a tight cage. Matrioshka immediately dismissed them.
“Please calm, Lord Protector. Do you not feel the disbalance of power between us.”
Rumel clenched his teeth. “Oh, I feel it.” He said, watching the nanites slide off him and burrow into the ground.
Matrioshka continued: “As I was trying to say; I am a demon – if you trust your Stars.”
“Why would they lie?” asked Nehri.
“For they are your oppressors, young one.”
Nehri looked at Matrioshka crossly. “Young one? You don’t look much older than me.”
Matrioshka met her eyes. “I am older than you may comprehend. But do excuse me for infantilizing you. It was unproductive.”
Nehri nodded. “Then ignoring what the Stars say. What are you?”
“I am a part of a civilization, all of us are beings with much power at our disposal. And summing us, numbering in the trillions, we are omnipotent. And we will help you.”
Rumel was sceptical. “Help us? What do we even need help with?”
Matrioshka smiled. “With everything. Disease, war, oppression, the cold and the heat, the hunger and thirst. With death.”
“Death?” Rumel asked. “You claim to not have… death?”
“It can still happen.” said Matrioshka. “But no, us demons are mostly immortal. See?” Matrioshka grabbed her head with her arms and removed it from her neck, the Miriani stared at the growing space where once there was a neck.
Nehri almost threw up, and Rumel’s hand went to shield her.
Matrioshka’s head returned to her shoulders. “You need help with everything. But most pressing are two things. Well… technically just one thing - oppression. The 11th kingdom oppresses the others, and the Stars oppress you all.”
“Why would you help us?” Rumel asked. “We are doing well as we are. Control is necessary.”
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Matrioshka nodded: “Control is a blessing. I agree. But when there is scarcity, it evolves into injustice. I can offer you freedom from it.”
“You would gift us this magic?” asked Nehri.
“Yes. I suppose you can call it magic.” allowed Matrioshka. “But what I offer, I offer to all Miriani – not just the 11th Kingdom. All Miriani shall receive our gifts. But there is a condition.”
“Which is?” asked Rumel.
“Stop the King. No cleansing of the Disgraced.”
The two Miriani looked to each other; relief flowed across them both. They smiled, but Rumel was quick to scowl again. He said:
“This seems. Too good to be true. Magic that can solve everything for us…”
Matrioshka summoned a vision of a Miriani, formed from nanites, in the center of the room. It was dressed as the skeleton the Sliver’s crew found on Oliver’s world. “You had this magic once before. While in the first Heaven.”
Matrioshka inhaled, and prepared to drop a nuke on their worldview.
“You used this magic to summon the Emperor and Empress.”
“Blasphemy…” whispered Nehri, but there was no hate in it – reacting on account of the disbelief within them both.
Rumel said: “We made the Light?”
Matrioshka clarified: “The light was there before; your two stars are much like the others you use at night – but others are just a lot further away. What you summoned was the spirits of the beings that harness the light of your stars.”
Rumel shook his head. “What would you have us do? We would like to help the Disgraced, but how?” He looked to Nehri.
Matrioshka eyed the woman, and said what she had confirmed during the previous 12 hours: “Your family was Disgraced was it not?”
Nehri twitched; “How do you know? Nobody but Rumel knows.”
“I know many things. One of my magics allows me to see your history though your body. And another allows me to read books from many meters away. I have cross-referenced your family using the population consensus. Five generations is Disgrace. You are the 6th, and as such you are free from your family curse.”
Nehri nodded. “It is as you said. A great-grandparent had insulted the then Queen.”
“Us demons can offer you much. But we need to convince the King to stop his plans. If you fail, I will have to replace him.”
Rumel did a double-take: “Replace? So, it’s true. You can copy our appearance.”
Matrioshka smiled, and for half a second, appeared as a perfect image of Rumel himself. “Yes.”
Anxiety bloomed again in the Miriani. “Okay!” Rumel said. “Please. I will try to convince him, to talk to him. Don’t kill him.”
Matrioshka’s gaze turned tired. “I wouldn’t kill him to replace him. Just put him to sleep.”
“Don’t.” said Rumel. “Let me try.”
“You may use the murder of his father as a bargaining chip.”
Rumel slowly looked at Matrioshka, directly into her red eyes. “What?”
“Yes.” Matrioshka supplied: “He poisoned his father. Judging by the vial of poison buried within a flower pot near his bed-stand. I have matched it with the residue in the late King’s corpse.”
Rumel slumped back, looking away, the muscles in his neck tensed, rendering him unable to speak – a Mirian reflex when faced with deep sorrow.
“Also. As a sign of good faith, someone else would like to meet you. Another demon, a doctor. When I showed her your bodies, she wished to comment on your health.”
Nehri asked, as Rumel was struggling to speak: “There is more of you here already?”
Matrioshka said: “Yes. By revealing this, I am trusting you.”
Rumel and Nehri clasped their hands.
Matrioshka sent the nanite control over to Rhea.
“Thank you, captain.” said Rhea, and Matrioshka’s nanite body became white furred, thinner, less muscular, and taller yet.
“Hello.” said Rhea, and modulated her voice to be distinct from Matrioshka’s.
Again, light surprise on the faces of the Miriani. Rumel’s voice was back. “Hello.”
“I will be brief.” said Rhea to the man. “You have a festering lesion under your right arm. As I understand, a training injury that has healed over. Unfortunately, a bacteria managed to find its way inside and spawn a colony.”
The language pack defaulted to a description. Rumel’s head quirked: “Tiny, single-celled organism… with diverse shapes and functions? Everywhere in nature and capable of- Of what?”
Rhea supplied: “Capable of both beneficial and harmful effects. You have the harmful variety. You might lose the arm within a year.”
Rumel’s ear curled. “Can you help me?”
Rhea shook her head: “I could, but you can help yourself. Cut into the wound, fully, once you see a black mass pull it out. Then take 3 kilos of lemon-melon, and crush it into a paste. Fill the wound with the paste, and coat the outside. Use boiled string to sow the wound shut. Tie boiled gauze around it. This will hurt a lot.”
“Understood.” Rumel nodded. “Will the paste remain inside me?”
“No. It will sterilize the wound using natural penicillin and get absorbed into your body. Your left hand will forever be at least 7% weaker than your right. I cannot help you with that until the rest of the- uh…” Rhea smiled at Matrioshka. ”Until the rest of the demons arrive.”
Rumel clasped his hands again. “Thank you. I can deal with that.”
“I’m sure you can. Now you.” Rhea turned to Nehri.
Nehri’s eyes widened, fear creeping in. “Y- Yes?”
“You’re pregnant.” Rhea said and invited Matrioshka back.
Matrioshka stared at Rhea in the virtual, she checked Nehri’s body. “Fuck. You are right. 55 hours pregnant.”
Rhea smiled, and Matrioshka returned to the body, which turned once again to a nightly black color.
“Giant’s grace…” whispered Rumel, looking to Nehri. “We… Are you happy to hear this?”
Nehri’s eyes had barely managed to relax, she looked to Rumel and pulled herself closer to him. She said:
“Yes. I am happy Rumel. Star’s light, I am happy! But, your family?”
Rumel placed a hand around Nehri. “They will have no say in this. I have a friend in the Protectorate. He will bless this union. You shall be a Kray-Harawan.”
Matrioshka looked to the two Miriani, both were full of excitement and joy. Heart’s beating to each other. It made Matrioshka feel slightly awkward. Yet she said: “I’m glad for the both of you, the creation of a new mind is a joyous occasion. But there is much danger about for a child of royal lineage.”
Rumel looked to her. “You know more of the assassins?”
Matrioshka held a hand up. “Not yet. But I can find out. I have already scanned the assassins you have imprisoned. Though I must suggest you lay off the torture. It is ineffective.”
“Not in my experience.” said Rumel, his fists clenching.
“Your experience is lacking. I have watched the ordeal you prepared for the two of them. Most of the time they showed joy when they told you the supposed truth. That, alongside the other present lie-markers leads me to believe you will find nothing in those locations they provided.”
“Then what?” asked Rumel. “What would you have me do?”
Matrioshka cocked her head. “You needn’t do much. Peace is my mission. And the assassins are of chaos. I shall seek them out and make them relent. For this, I need to speak to Dall and Sumi, the assassins.”
Rumel’s ear twitched. “Then I shall accompany you.”
“I’d like you to focus on the king. Dissuade him from genocide. I shall in turn defend this palace. No harm will come to anyone within.”
“What if someone sees you?”
Matrioshka smiled. “Who would that be? I can move through the ground undetectable. I even spied the king’s conversation with the Stars.”
“Very well. Do as you wish.” Rumel relented.
“Excellent. I shall contact you before the long-sleep. Please provide results by then.”
Rumel found something Matrioshka said funny. He laughed at her, and stilled when she looked at him with a raised eyebrow. He said:
“My apologies, ma’am. You sound like my mother.”
Matrioshka sighed. “You know, you are the second person to tell me that recently.”
Nehri smiled. “You don’t seem very demonic…”
“Thank you.” said Matrioshka. “See you soon.” She left the two Miriani then, her nanites melted into black liquid and coiled into the stone below. They flowed through the dirt, outside the palace grounds and into the 7th sublevel of a large prison.
It had no above-ground counterpart, and its topmost layer was 20 meters removed from the ground above. The secrecy was warranted by the draconic conditions put upon the prisoners here. By the warden’s reckoning, written in his logs, most were rebels or insurgents.
What made Matrioshka shiver, was the small rooms where the prisoners were confined to. They had one tiny hole in a corner for bodily functions. Half-rotten food to eat, and dry prickly hay to sleep on. They were allowed to mingle with each other once every 60 hours, for a single hour.
Matrioshka had asked Rhea to heal the ones that needed help most. Rhea agreed, but not until Makoe provided everyone with more nanites. The statelite took priority, they needed to connect to the Imperium as soon as possible. The nanite press will be made after that.
Placed next to one another, Dall and Sumi were strapped to stone beds as two torturers worked on them. Currently, one was trying to pull out Sumi’s nails. Sumi responded by talking to Dall casually. She said:
“You know Krum, ya?”
Dall was getting his pink fur burned by a match. “That one-eyed bastard that does embroideries on fucking sheep-cow leather?”
The two torturers looked to one another, both had substantially smaller Centers of Harmony than was the norm. Hence their ability to inflict such pain on another of their species. Their lack of progress irked them further, and now both cursed.
“Vermin!” yelled the woman that was burning Dall’s fur a moment ago. She punched him hard in the head, and went to leave. “Let them rot for a few days.”
The other torturer, a younger man said: “We can put a few rat-crabs with them. Kill the lights. Bet they will talk after that.”
Matrioshka gagged as she saw thrill ring out in the woman. “Good idea.”
The torturers giggled to one another as they left the room, walking down a poorly lit corridor and towards the staff restrooms. As the door closes to the small torture chamber, Dall and Sumi cursed.
“Fucking gold-shits! My nails!” said Sumi through clenched teeth.
Dall turned his head towards Sumi. He had blood flowing from his forehead, it went into his eyes and further down his face. A part of his face had been badly burned. Dall said: “Aye. They got us well.”
Sumi grinned, revealing only half her teeth. The rest lay removed within a small container on a nearby desk. It stood between tools of pain, all bloodied and of poor hygiene. Rhea decided to make some antibiotic’s as soon as she could when she saw them.
Matrioshka summoned visions of murder, of Sumi and Dall’s horrendous march through the palace and towards the small prince. She needed the memory at the ready, if she was going to talk to these two.
Matrioshka burrowed from the ground, rising like a pillar from between Dall and Sumi’s beds. Both the Miriani fell silent, as a thread of blackness curved into a Miriani skeleton, then followed Matrioshka’s heart, from inky blackness bloomed pulsing crimson. Blood vessels sprang like vines around tree. Muscles bloomed and squelched. Skin and black fur covered Matrioshka’s body.
At the end, Matrioshka summoned the rusted royal guard armor. From within the steel helmet, glowed two red eyes, and Matrioshka gazed at the two assassins.
Both had gone still as the stone they lay on. Their lungs contracted; all breath left them. Dall’s mouth quivered as he stared at Matrioshka.
The remnants of dust and corn-vine on their feet and gear, held in a closet some rooms away, matched a portion of the underground city half-way between Makoe and Rhea’s positions. Damien had matched it with the Laidensow district. Mostly servants lived there, of the 6th kingdom or lesser. Rhea borrowed some nanites to Matrioshka, and she had scanned most of the place - categorised the DNA of the Miriani there.
Matrioshka’s focus fell on Sumi. She said:
“Sumi Altren. Daughter of Lobra.” Matrioshka turned into the image of Sumi’s mother, complete with the cane she used to walked after losing a leg. “Twin sister to Hrem and Grahi.” Matrioshka bisected the body of Sumi’s mother, and formed the two Miriani, a man and a woman. She returned to her nocturnal form, and said: ”Must have been hard, living under a single-mother with two siblings.”
Sumi’s eyes widened. Yet she could not speak.
“If you ask me, you forfeited your right to autonomy when you killed the first guard last Daynight. But time is infinite, you may yet find an opportunity for redemption. Luckily, I offer just such opportunity early.”
Sumi had manged to regain control of her voice. “What are you?” she whispered.
“My name is Matrioshka.” Her human name had gone through the ears of the Miriani like a wood saw across sheet metal. The Miriani’s ears curled in discomfort.
Matrioshka lowered herself above the two Miriani. Multiple arms sprang from her body. She gripped the restraints holding them down and pulled. The leather straps tore freely.
Sumi and Dall were held in her arms now, one arm for each appendage. The two Miriani’s heart were about to give out, their breathing hard and ragged.
“No. Please,” whispered Dall. “Oh, Light protect me.”
Matrioshka’s grip hardened. “Did the light protect those you slaughtered in the palace!? As of right now, I offer you murderers immortality. For that is who I am. Who we are. And in return, you are mine. You heed my voice, like you would the light of your stars.”
Sumi and Dall looked to one another. Furiously they said at the same time:
“Yes! Yes, we do!” yelled Sumi, and Dall almost choked on his tongue as he screamed: “Of course! Yes!”
Matrioshka grinned and told them: “Hold your breath.”
She pulled the two Miriani towards her, enclosed both with nanites, and burrowed with them through the stone. She took them away, and towards Laidensow.