Indenuel glared at the ceiling and tried to simply get used to his arms digging into his back. Tolomon was quiet at the cell door, ignoring the chair next to him. Now that Indenuel knew what to look for, he saw the hilt of the dagger in Tolomon’s right hand, even if he pretended it wasn’t there.
Tolomon turned toward the door, a frown on his face right before it knocked. He opened it, backing away to let Navir and Dalius walk through with two other men, who had the build of Graduates.
“Unlock his torso, and just his torso,” Navir said. Tolomon nodded, reaching for the key as he walked over to Indenuel. Dalius followed, waiting for him to drop the chains to one side before he leaned over and undid the straps of Indenuel’s shirt. Dalius touched the marks before pulling the corruption from his body. Indenuel closed his eyes. It wasn’t a comfortable feeling, almost like his skin was being pulled. He ground his teeth against the metal plate in his mouth, waiting for it to pass.
Dalius dropped his hands and opened his eyes. His mark was a lighter red color, but still dangerously there. Dalius glanced at Navir, who nodded. Tolomon went to tie the shirt back on when Navir held out a hand. “Dalius can do it. I need a word with you.”
Tolomon frowned, his eyes falling on the two Graduates at the door. “What is this about?”
Navir took a few steps closer to Tolomon as the other Graduates approached. Tolomon stood straighter, easing the dagger back into its sheath. “I must swear you to secrecy,” Navir said. “I have heard rumors about your desires to work around the law, to try and get the secret discovered any way you can, so let me be perfectly clear.” The Graduates each pulled out two swords, pointing them right at Tolomon’s throat. Indenuel sat up straighter, concerned. Tolomon, much to Indenuel’s surprise, didn’t so much as flinch, instead stared right at Navir. “You will remain in this dungeon. You will not write anyone. What we discuss here will not be uttered to anyone else, including other members of the High Elders. You will use all your skill and intellect to fulfill this double life to the best of your ability. If what we’ve discussed has been discovered, and there is just a hint of it being your fault, these two men will kill your sister and her husband in Mili. They will then kill your niece with her husband who, I’ve been told, are expecting a baby in another seven months before they kill your two other nephews. I assure you they will make it look like an accident.”
Indenuel’s eyes widened. Tolomon again stared right at Navir, his face unreadable.
“Swear yourself to secrecy, Graduate,” Navir said.
He hesitated just long enough for Navir to narrow his eyes before giving a slight incline of his head. He couldn’t give a proper bow, what with four swords pointed at his throat. “Should my lips betray the secret, may my title as Graduate be revoked, and my life end.”
Navir waved the two Graduates away. “I hope I don’t need you two.” Tolomon said nothing. Navir waited for the Graduates to leave the cell before he held out his hand. Tolomon reached into his pocket and pulled out the key, dropping it in Navir’s palm. Navir studied Tolomon’s unreadable face once more before moving over to Indenuel, unlocking the mask. Dalius stood, moving out of the way. Indenuel winced as Navir took the metal plate out of his mouth. With his earlier thrashing, it had cut his mouth. Indenuel gathered all the saliva and blood together before leaning over and spitting on the ground. Dalius held a hand, probing Indenuel’s corruption.
“I don’t mean to be disrespectful. I just hate the taste of the metal,” Indenuel said.
Navir gave a barely there smile before he straightened and folded his arms. “I’ve studied the entire section of what the Prophet Jaakob wrote about the Warrior. Not once did it say you use your God-given gifts to end the war.” Indenuel wanted to smile, but held it in. There was still blood pooling at the corners of his mouth, which helped with the desire to not smile. “The only indication is that you use the power from the Master of us All.”
“So, is that God? Or is that the devil?” Indenuel asked.
Navir glanced in Tolomon’s direction before focusing again on Indenuel. “It is theorized that the Master of us All was a common phrase used right before the Great Flood to mean God, but in the century after, it was used mockingly by those who were marked by the devil to bring about confusion.”
Indenuel again tried not to smile. “And how did you know the Prophet Jaakob wasn’t marked?” Navir said nothing, his eyes narrowing. “This is the only way Santollia wins. Do you want to do this or not?” The nerves returned, but a different sort. He didn’t like the idea of winning the war this way, but he doubted there was any other way. None that ended in him surviving. And now more than ever, he needed to survive to bring the High Elders down.
“You brought us to this decision. You’ve forced our hand. We are desperate.”
“And when you are desperate, you completely forget your morals. It’s a common pattern among the High Elders.”
“Do you think you’re any better?” Navir asked.
Indenuel was reminded of what Martin said at his trial, how he needed to see their mistakes to learn from them, not to follow their example. It was such a hypocritical thing to say. Martin didn’t learn much from his own mistakes.
Navir’s face was firm. “Kiam has broken off into smaller groups and has moved past the battle. Our men are too few to stop them. They are headed straight to Santollia City. They are doing their best to gather farther up Santollia to build the army big enough again to raid the city, and if we pick off the groups one by one, they can never have those numbers. We’re talking multiple groups of two hundred, three hundred at most. No one is there to stop them.” Navir took a step forward. “No one will know it’s you. No one can. You will go where I send you and kill everyone in their camps while they’re sleeping. Since you are corrupted, and you will leave no survivors, we can claim we know nothing about it. Corrupted individuals are quite unstable, so I’ve been told.”
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Indenuel took a deep breath before he let it out. “So are High Elders.” Navir gave his barely there smile again. “If we’re going to work together like this, there can be no more secrets between us.”
Navir narrowed his eyes. “There aren’t. You’ve discovered everything. I give my word.”
“Then tell me what happened to Martin’s power.”
Navir pursed his lips, weighing something in his mind before opening his mouth. “It’s gone. Whatever you did during your battle with him in the library, it made his power go away.”
“Huh,” Indenuel said. He shifted, once again trying to get to that elusive comfortable position. Thinking of Martin made him think about Inessa, and he already formed a plan to check and see how she was doing. If Martin couldn’t sense the mark, he could go see Inessa without the fear of getting caught. He couldn’t stop worrying about her since Tolomon dragged him out of the trial, and he needed to see with his own eyes that she was fine. That meant being out of the dungeon. “I'll be completely transparent, Navir. I hate you.” He glared at Dalius. “All of you. But we have a common enemy, and common friends we’d like to protect. I am willing to put my anger for the general hypocrisy of the High Elders to one side in order to end this war.”
Navir studied his face. “And after the war?”
Indenuel glared at him. “If we leave each other alone, we’ll get along fine.”
Navir still scrutinized Indenuel, and he could do little else but let him. He was lying, of course, but both of them were too desperate to not go through with this plan. “Some rules for this agreement, don’t you think?” Navir asked.
“Obviously.”
“The first one, and the most important, being that you cannot sell your soul to the devil. Dalius and I will personally check before and after to make sure the marks stay red, and only red. If they turn black, you will be put to death in the public square.”
“Understood.”
“Tolomon will be with you the entire time you are out of the dungeon and will make sure you do not get too unstable. Should you be a fool and think you can sell your soul and escape Santollia City, Tolomon will be protected under the law to subdue and kill you, if he must.”
Indenuel ventured a glance at his bodyguard for the first time since he and Navir started this conversation. Tolomon faced forward, not meeting his gaze, his face unreadable.
“It won’t come to that. I promise.”
Navir shook his head. “I cannot trust the promises of a marked individual, even if they are only red.”
“And I cannot trust a hypocritical High Elder, so we’re both in the same leaky boat, aren’t we,” Indenuel said.
Navir glared at him, then turned toward Tolomon. “Do you understand the requirements you have been given, Graduate?”
“I understand, sir,” Tolomon said, again his face impossible to read.
“What about the details. I can only do one battle before I pass out,” Indenuel said.
“Tolomon will bring you back here when that happens, and I have the incense to wake you up for the next one. Though I will give you a few days of rest in between,” Navir said.
“And the corruption? Corruption spreads between the trees if it isn’t healed,” Indenuel said.
“I’ll send powerful tree talkers to heal the trees and make up a lie they will have to believe.”
“And what of Martin?” Indenuel asked. “Judging by his reaction at the trial, he did not agree to this secret meeting, and will be the biggest obstacle to this plan.”
“Let me take care of Martin. With his powers gone, I can make sure he stays busy with menial tasks for the High Elders to keep him out of the war meetings.” Navir glanced at Dalius, who nodded in agreement, before he focused back on Indenuel. “The Kiamese soldiers are smart. This first one will catch them by surprise, but they will prepare for the next one. Again, I must stress, leave no survivors. I will come back later tonight to give you more details of where you are to go for your first battle. You and Tolomon will take horses, as the group is still far away from Santollia City.”
“How many battles am I expected to fight?” Indenuel asked.
“As many as it takes. Our predictions, if nothing changes, is this new Kiamese army will reach the city in two months. It is your job to end this war in one.”
Indenuel turned, meeting Tolomon’s eye. His face was still impossible to read until he gave the barest shake of his head, the smallest pleading in his eye. Tolomon did an excellent job of keeping his emotions in check, but there was no denying how incredibly dangerous this was. Indenuel’s soul was literally on the line. But he’d rather put his soul on the line then watch the people he loved get hurt. Inessa, Nathaniel, Tolomon, even Matteo, Isla, Emilia, and Baleeah. They needed to be safe. They couldn’t come under Kiam rule. He needed to win this war by any means necessary. And if this is how he would keep them safe, then so be it.
Indenuel looked back at Navir. “Just keep Martin off my tail.”
“Easily. Are we agreed, then?”
Indenuel nodded. “Agreed.” Navir handed Tolomon the mask back. He took it, hesitating just enough before he walked forward, placing the metal plate back in his mouth. It moved back into the cuts in his mouth, and he winced as Tolomon locked it back into place. Dalius bowed before walking out of the cell.
Tolomon straightened, turning toward Navir, opening his palm. “The key, sir.”
Navir didn’t bother glancing at him before heading toward the door. “If you need it, you will get it from me.” Tolomon didn’t say a word, he simply bowed to Navir, who was already opening the door. “I will be back tonight with your instructions.”
Navir closed the door. Tolomon waited, listening, before his eyes shot toward Indenuel and the emotions cracked through. He had never seen his bodyguard look so terrified. “You can still say no. You have to say no. Don’t do this.”
Indenuel stared at his friend. He hid nothing from his face since he couldn’t talk. Ever since he read the prophecy, he wondered how it was possible that he could take on five hundred trained Kiamese soldiers, when legends like Tolomon and Carlos could barely handle fifty. But saving Inessa taught him how. The mark wasn’t coming off, and it would do little good if it did. This war needed to end, and if he needed to go up against five hundred Kiamese soldiers and live to knock the High Elders out of power, he could think of no other way.
Tolomon slowly backed away, his eyes rimmed with tears. The back of his leg hit the chair at the door, and he sank into it. “Oh shit.”
End of Part Two