Martin was asleep in his study. He thought he was just going to take a nap, but it ended up being the rest of the night’s sleep. He did some studying to figure out exactly how to get the concubine law overturned without it causing too much of a financial crisis to the city. Or at least tried to figure out a way that the women could more be a spiritual concubine instead of actually needing to sleep with the High Elders. It was one of Nathaniel’s suggestions. Maybe instead of having young women, they should do more like sponsors, where the High Elders found potential in the lower class and helped them get the education they needed in whatever field of study they wanted to go into.
He wasn’t sure how important this would be with the outcome of the war so fuzzy, but if by some miracle they did win, they would have to use their newfound world power to make a better change. He didn’t realize he had fallen asleep until there was a knock at the door of his study, and Martin lifted his head just enough to wonder if this was the first set of knocks.
“Martin?” Derio asked.
“Yes? What is it?” he asked, rubbing his face to keep him awake.
“High Elder Navir’s carriage is coming in the gates. We’ve been scrambling to find you,” Derio said.
“Right, yes. Um…” Martin struggled to wake up.
“Shall I come in?” Derio asked.
“Of course, of course,” Martin said, standing up and brushing himself off. Derio walked in, bowing. He was still in his clothes from last night, except his High Elder robes. He had chosen not to wear those as he snuck to his study to do his research. He didn’t have any shoes or socks. If Derio made any judgement to his looks, he kept it to himself. “Um, bring me my High Elder robe. And some of the strongest tea we have. I’ll have breakfast once Navir has left.”
“Right away,” Derio said.
Martin got up, pacing the floor, combing his hair back with his fingers, forcing himself to wake up. If Navir was coming, he needed to be mentally prepared for this. The fact of the matter was he did not rape Inessa last night, and Navir was on his way. What Navir wanted, Martin had no idea, but Inessa’s safety was his top priority.
Derio returned, and Martin threw his High Elder robes on. “The tea is being made. Would you like me to send Navir in when he arrives?”
“Yes. No, wait. Please have someone tell Inessa to stay in her room until Navir is gone. Assure her that I will get Navir out of here as soon as I can. Tell my… Sara that she is not to invite Navir for… for whatever meal is the next one that will happen, and then you can invite Navir to my study, and only my study. Bring the tea in as soon as it is finished,” Martin said.
“Do you want any shoes, Martin?” Derio asked.
“I see no need,” Martin said, sitting back down at his desk and organizing the books and the pages. Derio bowed before leaving. Martin gathered up all the notes he took last night and stuffed them in the bottom drawer of his desk before stacking some of his books and placing them under his desk. He returned to his dwindling pile of letters from the Day of Beseeching, trying to look like he was busy as there was a knock on the door.
“High Elder Navir to see you, sir,” Derio said.
“Bring him in,” Martin said.
The door opened, and Navir walked in, not smiling. “Martin.”
“Navir. Have a seat.” He placed the letter that he never read back on the pile.
Navir sat down, steepling his fingers. “I don’t plan to stay long.”
“You are a busy man, no doubt,” Martin said.
“Did you sleep with Inessa last night?”
Martin was prepared for such a question. “Have I ever disobeyed you before?”
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Navir watched him, eyes narrowed. He stared right back, because the thing that weighed so heavily on his soul was the fact that he had never disobeyed a direct order from Navir or Cristoval. Not something this large, anyway. Navir’s smile was forced. “No, Martin. You never have. Which is why I am so confident Inessa will get pregnant by next month.”
Martin didn’t smile. He simply watched Navir. There was a knock on the door.
“Your tea, Martin,” Derio said.
“Send it in.” His head servant walked in, setting the tray on the desk. “Tea, Navir?” Martin asked.
“No thank you. I don’t have time for tea,” Navir said as Derio left the study.
“No time for tea? That can’t be good for the soul. Maybe you should slow down.” Martin poured himself a cup.
“I will, after the war.” Navir waited until the door closed before he focused again on Martin. He had finished making his cup of tea and sipped it. “I will be honest with you, Martin. Your situation has me concerned.”
“What situation?”
Navir glanced behind him at the door, then faced forward again. “Your gift. Or lack of one.” Martin said nothing, sipping his tea. “It will take at least a decade to get you back to where you were, since you do not wish to fight Indenuel. Therefore, restoring your gift is what you need to dedicate all your time to.”
Martin set his cup down, thinking this through. “What exactly are you saying?”
Navir opened his palms out toward Martin and smiled. “We will give you less responsibilities as a High Elder so you can dedicate more time to this.”
“You’re… suspending me?” Martin asked.
“Of course not. But you do have your priorities. We can’t exactly ask you do to your High Elder duties when you have no gift. Take these next few weeks and focus on building your power,” Navir said, standing.
Martin stood as well, placing his palms flat against the desk. “You’re telling me that you are so busy with the end of the war, that you are going to tell one of your fellow High Elders to take the next few weeks off?”
Navir shrugged. “Growing your power, getting Inessa pregnant, you are a busy man yourself, Martin. Are you not?” Navir’s smile was dark. “Unless, of course, you’re not doing one of these things. In that case, we would have to investigate, make sure you are not deliberately going against a Senior High Elder’s request.”
Martin tried his best not to glare at Navir. “Acting Senior High Elder. Even an Acting Senior High Elder would know a High Elder can never truly be suspended for disobeying a Senior High Elder’s request. That only works on Priests or lower. A High Elder is a calling from God, and only when God Himself is unsatisfied, then is a High Elder let go from his position.”
Navir’s eyes twitched. “Let go. Nice way of saying he is dead, isn’t it?”
“Yes. It is.” Martin sat back down in his chair, grabbing his teacup. “Dead, but not murdered. A Graduate is forbidden from killing a High Elder, even if another High Elder were to request it.” Martin sipped his tea. “In fact, according to the law they have all studied, should anyone, including a fellow High Elder ever ask a Graduate to kill another High Elder, the Graduate is ordered to tell the man and his entire family, even if they are sworn to secrecy. Not only that, but if any Graduate anywhere has even a suspicion that a High Elder is in danger of being murdered, they are to warn the High Elder and make sure they are kept safe and protected at all costs, even to the abandonment of their current assignment. So really, the only way I could get let go from my position is if…” Martin tried to think, exaggerating his facial features. “I die of old age. Or, of course, if I proclaim myself to be unfit. Or, and this is definitely a trip through the imagination, if a High Elder somehow has the skills of a Graduate and murders the fellow High Elder themselves. But let’s take you for example. I don’t see you too eager to get your hands bloody. Not after you are so skilled at getting other people to do your dirty work for you.”
Navir glared at Martin, who returned to his cup of tea, sipping louder than he should have. “You are of course correct in your knowledge of the law, Martin. I wouldn’t expect anything less of a High Elder.”
“Thank you.”
“But my point still stands. You are a busy man, in more ways than one. You keep trying to get Inessa pregnant. And if she isn’t pregnant by the end of next month, we will request a full investigation into it. Whatever the cause, whether she somehow got a hold of poppy root again or you’re lying to us, you of course will not be harmed, but she will be given to Fadrique. I am far more confident in his abilities to impregnant women than I am yours. As Acting Senior High Elder, I still request you focus on these duties until they are complete. A month and a half should do it.”
Navir turned and headed toward the door.
“A moment more of your time, if I may, Navir,” Martin said.
“What more do we need to talk about?”
“What is the name of the book where you read about how my gift will return. The supposed battle I would have with Indenuel?” Martin asked.
Navir frowned. “You don’t trust me? You think I didn’t tell you everything?”
“As my scholar grandson has taught me, one must always look straight at the source itself to make up one’s own mind. From a secondhand source, I am getting your impression of what was said. I of course mean no offense by this. I’d simply like to see the source myself. With both opinions together, I could see if there wasn’t some other way to get my powers back without bloodshed,” Martin said.
Navir shrugged. “The Ancient Ways by Erco the Philosopher. It’s a big book.”
“I’ll have time,” Martin said.
Navir turned around. “Yes, you will.”