Arakiel left Jenaya and her daughter with Ezekiel and Aurora while he made his way back to the central square, wearing a grim frown and thoroughly clenched fists whose nails dug deep into his flesh.
He felt appalled, furious and also like an idiot. This, he just could not accept. When you took control of someone, you had a responsibility for them, no matter they be captives, slaves or any type of servant.
No proper Kalanite could support such behavior. This was cruelty for cruelty’s sake and it served no purpose whatsoever. Not even vengeance could excuse something like this, especially not the part of taking their ability to walk.
He spat out in disgust, the mere act of having accepted this monster’s invitation making his stomach churn. There was little of Aurora’s fire remaining inside him, but he was glad that her soul had been put to good use.
When Arakiel returned to the still, well-lit central square after some time, he barely registered most of the old things that had made him so uncomfortable last time, but the new additions didn’t exactly make him jump for joy.
Connecting the thoughts to the ruler did ease his discomfort, quite a bit. The ruler was responsible to their subjects, just as the subjects were responsible for their ruler, especially those in the higher echelons.
The Shamshierum had been busy over the past two or three hours. Count Eremon’s one-legged, naked corpse had been nailed to an upturned table on the stage, two well-lit braziers of lemon-yellow fire flanking it. His tongue and manhood had been removed and separately attached to the wood.
His unconscious, stripped wife knelt next to him, being the first in a long line of bound, and shackled women, some of which had been allowed to keep their bloodied, greasy clothes whereas the rest had been left with nothing.
If there was a system to it, Arakiel couldn’t make it out at first glance, and he really had no interest in it.
On another side, a long line of dead bodies told another separate story that should’ve enraged him and when he saw one of the desert dwellers beginning to cut off dead people’s heads, he just fixated onto Zari Amar and Rahul who were adding new links to their chain of people.
Whatever they were planning here, he’d have no part in it.
But the message needed to be relayed posthaste anyway.
When he arrived, they had just prepared another link, only that they didn’t attach that particular person to the chain. The young woman’s fingers were bound together and her arms were locked in a wooden yoke while her tongue was clasped in between to thin metal bars that were held by some contraption that had been strapped around her head. A weird kind of muzzle.
Arakiel recognized her as the woman that had healed Zari Amar when he was tortured and judging the way that Zari Amar slapped her bottom, he had some personal ambitions for the woman who had prolonged his suffering.
Not that Arakiel cared.
He turned his attention onto the jinnum who was so thoroughly covered in blood that he looked like some sort of monster. A thin, barely notable aura of yellow flame surrounded him, only adding to that particular impression. He first noticed Arakiel, but Rahul quickly followed his leader’s look.
“Divine envoy!” Rahul ibun Munir exclaimed affably, his bloodied face again creating that special kind of morbid contrast. “I trust your time spent has been well?”
“It has certainly been rather thought-provoking,” Arakiel replied ambiguously and then went addressed the issue right away.
“I’ve been to Count Eremon’s house. There’s a cell below and in it, we found two jinnum females. One by the name of Jenaya and the other one is presumably her daughter that she gave birth to in captivity.”
Zari Amar’s red eyes gained a glint of surprise with so much underlying fury while Rahul stared at Arakiel dumbfounded, stupefied.
“We’re currently taking care of them, but to say they’re traumatized might be a bit too much of an understatement. I suggest you join me, a familiar jinnum face will undoubtedly help them.”
Zari Amar rushed over towards Arakiel, grabbing his shoulders. His glare bored right into Arakiel, who met it on equal terms.
Behind, Rahul relayed the sentiment quite well, most likely. “Lady Jenaya is alive?”
“Follow me, you’ll see.” Arakiel urged and Rahul called over one of the Shamshierum, ordering him to continue.
Then, the broad-shouldered desert dweller bade Arakiel to lead the way while offering a prayer to the Holy Transcended for granting mercy onto his chosen.
Arakiel wasn’t certain whether that was applicable, but he kept his mouth shut.
He led the two towards the count’s mansion right into the central living room on the first floor, where they met a grim-looking Ezekiel who explained that Aurora was helping the two women in the bath. Selene had prepared some warm tea, but Arakiel didn’t feel like drinking or eating anything right now.
His disdain and repulsion at the count and by extension his people still kept a tight grip on his overall mind.
When Zari Amar wanted to rush into the bathroom, both Arakiel and Ezekiel stopped him however, warning the jinnum to give the just-rescued captives some privacy.
The young man agreed begrudgingly, but they were too agitated to sit down, instead choosing to walk up and down until finally, some fifteen minutes later, Aurora emerged from the bathroom that had probably seen more use in the past several hours than an entire month.
He felt next to no flame inside her, meaning that she had most likely further healed the two girls. The astral healing would take some of their lifespan, but it seemed a fair and negligible exchange for a way to actually live.
And then, shortly afterwards, mother and daughter emerged from the bath, clad in long gowns of white, green and brown. They hung somewhat loosely and while the shape of their bellies left no doubt about them being highly pregnant, the fabric alongside their freshly washed hair and skin at least returned some dignity.
Both were still obviously under shock, but they carried each other exceptionally well considering what they must’ve gone through.
Jenaya especially held a grim, determined gaze and when her ruby eyes espied Zari Amar, they seemed surprised at first while Rahul once again uttered a prayer to the Holy Transcended.
The other jinnum stared as well and when his eyes fell upon the women’s bellies, they gained a glint of seething fury.
“Honorable Lady Jenaya!” Rahul then eventually said while bowing low and deep. “Oh what joy it is to see you alive!”
The two female jinnum eyed the bloodied dwellers of the desert warily and Jenaya’s daughter even sought some support with her mother.
The fact that both could walk on their own was a testament to Aurora’s dedication and skill.
“I am alive, yes.” The jinnum woman said, her voice having an odd ring to it, like she couldn’t believe it. “I heard one of our tormentors lies dead?”
“Count Eremon has indeed been put to death for his many crimes against our people, but I see his vileness runs even–” Rahul began, but then choked on his words, asking. “Tormentors?”
“The count, his wife and his sons have paid me and our daughter many visits.” Jenaya stated in a distanced, emotionless tone. “What is your name, warrior? My kin seems unable to speak.”
“The honorable Zari Amar has suffered grievously at the hands of Count Eremon. His tongue has been removed.” Rahul hurried to say.
“Funny, he never did that,” Jenaya said in her monotonous tone, adding. “He wanted me to beg and scream.”
“Holy Transcended deliver us!” Rahul exclaimed while Arakiel winced a bit as well. He briefly looked over to Aurora whose expression was one of anger and… introspection?
“He will never touch you again,” Ezekiel added in, saying. “But I kind of wish I didn’t kill him. It’d allow you some satisfaction.”
The woman turned towards him. Her ruby eyes looked him over with puzzlement that shone through the apathy. “I never screamed nor did I ever beg. What use have I for satisfaction, dear savior? If is he dead, then that is good. He was a cruel man, one fully taken in by boundless hatred. But it gives me no satisfaction, because my daughter just lost her father.”
“I don’t need such a father, mother.” The younger jinnum said, but her voice also lacked any strong kind of emotion. She cloaked herself in detached apathy, which was probably for the best.
Her words, however, saddened her mother greatly, although it was, too, soon shrouded in emotional distance.
Aurora quietly led the women over towards the couch, where they sat down. Rahul, who had wanted to help, was rejected, the blood on his hands causing both Jenaya and her daughter to recoil.
“Is that Middle blood all over you?” Jenaya then asked, looking Zari Amar and Rahul over once more.
The male jinnum was still dumbstruck and imprisoned by his anger while Rahul seemed unsure what he should do right until she asked that question.
“Yes, Lady Jenaya! We have struck a lethal blow to this city!”
“So it is war after all.” Jenaya muttered, her voice seemingly more detached with each word. “I wish to remain here, if that is possible?”
“Huh!? Why?” Arakiel burst out.
Jenaya looked over to him, her ruby eyes gaining a glint of sadness. “Not only will my daughter and our unborn children be considered abominations… we will also be made into justifications for even more cruelty, even more blood and death.”
“But Lady Jenaya! Your suffering must be avenged! We cannot allow these Middles to…!” Rahul began, but Jenaya suddenly looked at him, even more sadness entering her vision.
“Must it really? I believed in peace and through my nativity, I suffered… but I still refuse to commit or support an act of violence.” Jenaya said.
“But why?” Aurora asked this time, her golden eyes staring right at Jenaya. “Wouldn’t you want someone to avenge you, even when you can’t do it yourself?”
A sad smile hushed across the jinnum’s lips. “Because I refuse to change who I am, even now. Violence only breeds further violence and while I cannot condemn others who practice it, I cannot, because I am not violent. I strive for harmony, for mutual understanding and an end to the vicious cycle that has consumed our world.”
“I cannot feel anything but utter contempt and seething hatred at the people who abused you, Lady Jenaya.” Rahul ibun Munir said and Arakiel saw Zari Amar nodding in affirmation.
“You are already drenched in the blood of dozens, perhaps even hundreds, my dear child. You are lost to peace.” Jenaya went on in her sad tone.
“What do you mean?” Aurora asked once again.
Jenaya looked over towards Aurora and for a brief moment, her ruby eyes seemed far away. Then, she spoke up with a surprising amount of vigor. “You, my dear winged savior, are yet pure, but you will soon be at a crossroads. Will you embrace your nature, or will you attempt to defy it?”
“You are speaking in riddles,” Aurora replied, unsure what exactly the woman meant to express.
Jenaya briefly shook her head as though she had just freed herself from some kind of trance. “Forgive me, my winged savior. My ancestry sometimes makes me babble things. I did not mean to distress you. You are a good, gentle soul – you should cherish it. It is rare.”
“This is why delicate, innocent women ought to be protected and kept away,” Rahul noted with a fervent shake of his head. “Such noble spirit and gentle compassion, yet utterly devoid of the realities of our world!”
“You, who has already drowned in blood, would surely see it this way,” Jenaya returned in a slightly less apathetic tone before she turned over towards Zari Amar. “And you, my kin… I fear you are lost as well. Forgive me that I wasn’t there to shield you.”
“I see that the time in captivity has severely impacted the Lady Jenaya,” Rahul concluded with a lamentable sigh. “We will not force you as we lack authority given your status as a senior jinnum, but I advise you to travel alongside us on the morrow. Boundary will burn and soon, there will be nothing left here but a monument to our defiance and ambition.”
“If there is no future for my daughter and our children here, then we will follow you. Perhaps you are right and I have grown mad in my three decades of captivity and abuse. But I like to think that I am stronger still for upholding my principles.” Jenaya went on as she turned towards Arakiel and Ezekiel. “I thank you from the bottom of my heart, my saviors. And you especially, o winged deliverer. You have given my daughter and me a future and for this, I will always cherish you.”
Aurora smiled a thin smile at her. “Your words bring me comfort, but I fail to grasp your line of reasoning.”
Jenaya put her hands onto her belly, slightly rubbing it. It caused Rahul to look away in disgust while Zari Amar’s hands had begun to spill fresh blood. He was full of hatred, so much hatred.
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“We are meant to bring about new life, not end it,” Jenaya went on in an affectionate tone. She looked over towards Aurora. “How can you give birth to innocence when you yourself are not innocent?”
“What do you mean?” Arakiel’s aurea asked once again. For some reason, she seemed to place great value in the woman’s words.
“I did not give birth to my daughter willingly, but had I given in to impulses of hatred, could I love her and forgive her for her father’s sins?” Jenaya asked, slightly shaking her head. “I only could because I upheld my values. I hope you can at at least see where I am coming from.”
Arakiel could not. He only saw a woman whose will had been broken under years of cruel and abusive captivity.
“We should let Lady Jenaya and her daughter rest,” Ezekiel proposed and then ordered Selene to escort them upstairs. Aurora volunteered as well, leaving the four men alone.
Ezekiel immediately spoke up as soon as he thought them out of range. “Such a show of will is rare, exceptionally so,” he said.
“What will?” Arakiel felt the need to ask as he had come to another conclusion entirely.
“Lady Jenaya has been driven mad. It is lamentable, but understandable…” Rahul ibun Munir commented with yet another drawn-out sigh while Zari Amar sank on his knees, repeatedly punching the ground as though he was beating someone up.
“I’d say quite the opposite is true. She’s a true believer, an actual pacifist – despite everything.” Ezekiel stated, his voice one of utter and thorough approval. “It’s a damn shame the Class System wasn’t around when she set out.”
As his companion said these words, Arakiel suddenly understood. “Wait, you mean to say she could’ve become an Arbiter?” He asked just to confirm his suspicion.
Arakiel shrugged as he responded. “Maybe. You should know more about them than I do.”
House Alexandrite’s current Lord Arbiter was his uncle, an old, venerable man in his twilight years who had refused to even attempt the Path of Gold’s trial.
“I guess it doesn’t matter,” Arakiel quickly added, not wanting to think about his uncle too much. He had been the one to visit him after his disastrous first planeswalk.
“What is this ‘Arbiter’ you speak about?” Rahul, however, asked. Unsurprisingly, he was unfamiliar with the term.
“Arbiters are diplomats, negotiators and limited servants of the Transcended,” Arakiel recalled from memory. “They are thoroughly incapable of violence and lying and are generally viewed as priestesses and priests of the Transcended, even though they’re not part of his church. Oaths and treaties supervised and sanctioned by an Arbiter are as effective as those before an actual priest. Without them, any kind of diplomacy would be practically impossible in the higher strata of the Class System.”
“And how would this have helped Lady Jenaya?” Rahul asked once more.
“Attacking an Arbiter is like attacking a priest of the Transcended. If you’re lucky, you get booted out of the Class System. If you’re unlucky, the Greys will visit you and then you’re in for a really bad time.” Ezekiel outlined with a slight chuckle, shaking his head.
“Rather poor taste to bring this up now, wouldn’t you agree?” Arakiel queried, but the amethyst-eyed man just gave him a defensive smile.
“I’ve had enough doom and gloom for one night, Arakiel. Even I have my limits and well, they’ve been broadened to say the least.”
As he said that, he let his eyes wander over Zari Amar and Rahul who most likely did not get the memo.
“We will leave Lady Jenaya and her kin in your care for now,” The beefcake desert dweller then requested, none of his former enthusiasm remaining. “I fear we need to double our efforts.”
Once again, Zari Amar nodded in approval after which the two left.
“Well, what now?” Arakiel asked, his gaze still lingering on the door through which the two men had left.
“We sleep. Tomorrow, we loot the rest of this place and then leave for al-Aliriq. There, we gotta see how people will react to this event, although the two jinnum females will most certainly diminish our appeals to moderation.”
“You’re not telling me to ‘remove’ them, are you?” Arakiel asked just to be sure.
“Of course not,” Ezekiel replied in what might be considered outrage. “I just think we should keep her away from Zari Amar. I didn’t like the look on his face one bit.”
“Then why do we need take care of them?”
“Aside from the reason that we rescued them and are therefore responsible to seeing them delivered to safety?” Ezekiel returned with a raised eyebrow. “She’ll gain us access to the Djinnum Palace, undoubtedly. That way, we might be able to influence manners in an altogether different way.”
“I feel like I’m not only learning from you Ezekiel,” Arakiel pointed out, feeling like he would’ve come up with that plan if only he thought about it briefly.
“I do try, Arakiel, I do try.” His partner-in-crime responded and the more time Arakiel spent with him, the more he wondered how they hadn’t mixed well in the past.
Maybe he had been the rotten apple all along.
Aurora and Selene returned not long afterwards and when Ezekiel and Arakiel announced their intention of going to sleep, each one led their respective Mortal Ascendant to a different chamber.
There, Arakiel let himself fall onto the relatively soft sheets which were miles better than the bedrolls they had used before, but he found it hard to sleep, even as his aurea snuggled up to him, letting her head rest atop his chest.
There were still so many things that roamed about in his mind, and he was unsure how he should tackle them.
It was utterly silent and very dark in here, and only his own and Aurora’s breath were really audible. Everything else was so far away and at some point in time, she asked in whisper whether he was still awake.
He affirmed at which point she queried once again what exactly troubled him so.
The direct question made him ponder for a long, long time.
He couldn’t quite put his thumb on it, but he felt like he was losing control of the situation, or maybe he had already lost it or just maybe he never had it in the first place.
Although, the most pressing question concerned something else entirely and it was there that Aurora broached the subject again.
He quoted Ezekiel and felt that he had the right of it while also bringing up the point that he, Arakiel, was responsible for this massacre. And while he hated what had happened, he also had to learn to accept it, had he not?
Aurora asked him whether he regretted his actions, the ones that led to Zari Amar garnering enough support to attack the Boundary.
He affirmed and denied at the same time, for it had brought him closer to fulfilling his goal, but he still doubted whether it was the right way.
Some more silenced followed until his seraphim spoke up once more, whispering in the softest words imaginable.
“My love, I think you’re worrying too much about things which are as of yet out of your control. Focus on yourself, on me, on Mellia, on Ezekiel and I guess on Selene as well. You are yet a wanderer to these people, not a conqueror.”
“You mean to say it would’ve happened anyway?” He returned quietly, feeling just a little doubtful.
“Not in this manner, but certainly overall.” Aurora claimed and there was some truth to her words. The hatred had already reached a boiling point in al-Aliriq even without his interference. The Speaker’s meeting would’ve taken place without him, too.
“So what do you think I should do, my aurea?”
“My love,” Aurora whispered once again, her face coming closer to him in the darkness.
Suddenly, two small, thin halos of gold appeared around her irises, and only there. The rest of her body remained thoroughly clad in darkness. The seraphim’s words turned soft as velvet, filled with something that stirred his innermost self. “Listen to your instincts… that which led you to me, your aurea, your seraphim, your light.”
Arakiel stared at the golden glint, captivated.
The soft whisper asked, challenged. “Tell me, my conqueror… what is it that led you to me?”
Fear. Denial. Desperation.
But underneath, something else.
Of course…
Of course.
Of course!
How… how could he have forgotten?
What made him join Shemyaza’s mad plan this entire decade ago?
What made him a pariah amongst his own family, the laughing stock of all of House Alexandrite?
What led him down this path of spending his entire fortune in search of a child that shouldn’t even exist?
Ambition.
Festering ambition.
He was the child of two demigods.
The son of Alexandria and Erythrai.
A scion of the Eternal City of Kalanaar.
One who had captured his first aurea at a mere eight years of age.
The one who had been the path of becoming the Heir Apparent.
And then, he had gorged himself on his pride – and it had cost him everything.
His first party, his first planeswalk, his support.
Only Marianka had remained by his side.
Marianka and wronged pride, clipped ambition.
But this had not been the end.
Had not been the end.
Shemyaza had been there, on that one fateful evening on the little round square in the Colorchanging District.
He hadn’t even realized how she knew, but she had asked him a simple question.
“Would you like to become divine?”
In his mind, he heard her, saw her stating it full of mystery and so full of herself.
“I have ‘the solution’. You need but follow me.”
It had sparked something in him.
Vainglorious pride?
Delusion?
Perhaps, but underneath it all, there had still been ambition.
So much ambition.
He wanted to prove it so badly.
That he was worthy of being his parents’ son, the son of demigods who stood at the very apex of what was currently achievable.
If he joined the Transcended’s party as His chosen Archon, then he would be just that.
Yes, it had been ambition.
Ambition that led him to abandon his previous class, had him abandon his very name in order to become a Wanderer first, and then a Traveler.
Boundless, festering ambition that had brought him down on this path… which had led to Marianka’s death, which had led him to Aurora, his light, his seraphim, his aurea.
“Ambition led me to you.” He found himself answering to the golden eyes.
“Yes… ambition,” she whispered, her voice but wisps of sound. “Our covenant remains intact. Use me, o Lord of mine. Let my light purify the shadow in you.”
A soft golden flame sparked in the darkness, outlining one of her slender hands.
Arakiel held his breath, unable to avert his eyes from the scene.
Slowly, the seraphim guided her golden fire towards his chest.
He remained still, unmoving.
Aurora put her hand onto him and for a brief moment, right as their skin touched, darkness returned safe for the golden halo around her eyes.
Silence.
He felt nothing.
But then, small soft rays of golden light briefly pierced the darkness, only to fade and reemerge from his heart as the exterior light merged with Aurora’s golden flame inside him.
What followed was a soft golden light that spread throughout him right from his heart and wherever it went, he seemed to glow from the inside while his body felt… warm, caressed, cradled.
Arakiel suddenly felt so incredibly tired, as though he had fought for an entire month or more.
As the light inside him began to fade, returning to its fiery state, he tasted warm vanilla on his lips.
And then, brief, sharp pain.
The taste of iron.
Blood.
* * *
Aurora, an Aspect of the Seraphim of Dawn, licked her lips as the blood of her Lord mixed with her own.
Leaning in for another kiss, she sealed the deepening of the covenant in scarlet, although she did not know what that entailed, only that it had to be done this way.
It seemed a little early, but then it also did not. Her Lord had proven worthy of the covenant time and time again and Aurora had no doubt that he would continue to do so.
Not only did her Lord have an excellent foundation, he also had the background and the will to see it through.
To make four oaths and abide by all of them was no mean feat, perhaps even exceptional.
She found herself softly stroking his face as she looked over his slumbering body in the faint light of her own gold. He was handsome enough and his body’s shape and fitness was certainly worthy of her champion, for this was what he was for now.
“Arakiel il Kalanaar, my Lord and Champion.” Aurora heard herself whisper in a fervent and passionate tone as she crawled on top of him in order to better feel him.
His body was so wondrously warm… it was almost addicting.
Yes, yes. This was someone she could cling to, someone who could shelter her.
After exploring his body for a bit, she let out a slight, yearning moan after which she crawled off of him in order to properly snuggle up to his side again.
When she felt Arakiel’s arm pull her closer, she felt sheltered, protected and… satisfied.
All of this was still so very new to her. In fact, she was still trying to process what exactly had happened a few minutes ago, but it probably related to her covenant having progressed to a new stage.
As long as it did, he could protect her from the world at large, for it was a world hostile to her kind.
And through it, she felt as though she would learn more about herself, about her nature, her origin and most importantly… her elder sister.
Yes, she was glad that Arakiel had become her Lord, and not Ezekiel, who would never allow her this much freedom.
He would most likely also disregard her requests and wishes – but not Arakiel.
She gently reached for the golden metal around her neck and felt a warm feeling spreading throughout her.
This was perfect.
Only one question remained for now and Aurora wasn’t sure which answer she preferred, so she just whispered the question as she felt dawn’s aspect fading.
“Lord Arakiel il Kalanaar. Will you remain my champion, or will you become my conqueror?”
No answer returned.
* * *