Once Martin was in his study in the Cathedral, he leaned against his desk, feeling the full brunt of the situation. Indenuel and Inessa had hardly been married two days, and they were already causing such chaos. The High Elders were unraveling, and despite Indenuel sitting in the dungeons right now, he had given a terrible blow to them.
And Inessa. The relief on her face at his lie was enough that he knew she could never find out. But she still could. Indenuel may be banned from the library, but the truth was still tucked in there, quietly seeping its poisonous roots into his soul.
Martin mourned. He had lost his family, lost his home, and even though he still had his status, it didn’t feel nearly as important to him anymore. He lost what actually mattered to him.
Martin left his study, heading to the conference room where the other High Elders were meeting. He tried to keep a level head.
The moment he walked inside, the High Elders turned. Navir narrowed his eyes as Martin approached them. “I can’t do this anymore. I won’t lie for you. My conscious is heavy with the darkness of my sins. Indenuel exposed everyone’s secrets, and so you have no more hold over me.”
Dalius and Fadrique looked at Navir, waiting for his reaction. Cristoval was by Martin, mumbling nonsense. “They seem fine. Everyone seems fine. Everyone does well without us. But they blame us. They blame us for everything. We had our own faults. They will live happily, though. For a few more decades. Then they will fall.”
Navir moved forward. “And what exactly will you do now that all we have done has been shouted from the rooftops? Are you simply going to let Indenuel tear us apart? Bring a chaos to Santollia that we cannot hold with the current treaty? Do you want the world to break apart?”
“We were wrong, Navir. All of us were. The best course of action is to confess and step away.”
“And let Indenuel rule the world? That boy almost sold his soul to the devil!” Fadrique said.
“Because of you!” Martin said, getting angry. “All of you! You blew out the candle and Indenuel stumbled around in a dangerously dark room. It is not Indenuel’s fault for almost selling his soul. It is you, for not giving him the light he needed to find his way.”
“You honestly think if given the option Indenuel wouldn’t take world power? To control it exactly how he wants to? There is a reason there are four High Elders so that all the responsibility isn’t given to one person. We need to humble him to make sure he recognizes his place,” Dalius said.
“Not through cruelty. That is not what God would want us to do,” Martin said.
“I understand you have lost your position in your family. I realize you have been humiliated. But you need to take a few days before you do anything you might regret. If you are seriously suggesting Indenuel tear us apart, where will that leave you? Without a family. Without status. You will have nothing,” Navir said.
“You don’t know what it’s like to have nothing.” Indenuel said that once before to him. It felt like a lifetime ago. And he realized Indenuel was right. Martin had taken a blow today, and he had lost the things that were most important to him, and yet he still didn’t know what it was like to have nothing.
“We will have Tolomon here tonight, asking him questions. A Graduate who helped Indenuel steal a book from the High Elder’s library must not go unpunished,” Navir said.
Martin felt numb.
***
Inessa walked down the steps of the dungeon, following the guard as he led her to Indenuel’s cell. The guard arrived at a door before bowing. Inessa curtseyed in response before she opened the door.
Tolomon was there, near the opening. Indenuel was pacing in the dungeon but smiled when he saw her. Inessa ran to him, hugging him, feeling like she could finally let out the tears she’d been holding.
“Have you heard from your family? Are they alright?” Indenuel asked.
“If my mother was idiotic enough to keep the brothel going even though I specifically asked her not to, that is a problem she needs to sort out herself. Being a High Elder’s concubine would have given them enough,” Inessa said, still hugging him close.
“And have the staff treated you any differently?” Indenuel asked, finally breaking away and taking her shoulders to look at her.
“I don’t know,” Inessa said. “I’ve technically only been the matron of the house for two days. I can’t tell if they’re treating me differently.”
“Well, they shouldn’t,” Indenuel said.
Inessa looked away, uncomfortable. The truth was, she had noticed a shift. The only one to talk to her was Pablo. His talks were short, but cordial enough. The High Elders practically decreed she was a slut and were on their way to dig into Jina’s employment. Inessa all but confirmed her mother did run a brothel.
“Here, I brought you another shirt and jacket,” Inessa said, reaching into her bag at her side and pulling them out. “The blue doesn’t match, but it should be alright.”
Indenuel laughed as he slipped off his torn shirt and traded her for the whole one. “They have lower expectations here in the dungeon. I don’t think anyone will care that I don’t match.” She smiled. “And your mother? Do you think she saw one of the High Elders in disguise?”
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“Possibly. Martin and I had a talk recently where I let slip my mother always used a fake name with her clients. He acted strangely before, but now I understand why. I’m glad her fake name wasn’t in there.”
Indenuel nodded. “Can you imagine?”
Inessa closed her eyes, wincing. “I don’t even want to think about it.” She folded the torn shirt and put it back in her bag. “Are they treating you alright?”
“Far better than the dungeon I was in last time. I’m not chained to a table, and look! This one even has windows.” Indenuel pointed to the two windows with heavy iron bars on them.
Inessa smiled, shaking her head. “Indenuel. I think we need to take a break from this. Just for a few days, now that you’re here.”
Indenuel frowned. “We can’t take a break. I guarantee the High Elders are already making their next move.”
“You’re in the dungeon. You can’t do much anyway. And… and I think you went too far with Martin today.”
He looked genuinely surprised. “Too far? He went along with the Warrior project and the concubine law, just like all the others.”
“You have shattered his world. We both have, honestly. We’ve been hurting him far too much, when really, he’s just been a victim in this just like us. I don’t think he deserved any of this,” Inessa said.
“You want me to feel bad that he finally admitted to his wife that he slept with almost twenty women two weeks out of the year for twenty-five years?” Indenuel asked. “He should have told her from the start. I have very little sympathy for him.”
Inessa’s frown deepened. “To keep this from turning into a dangerous political war, I suggest you show a little compassion and kindness. At least talk to Martin. Don’t isolate him.”
Indenuel’s frown was so prevalent on his face it almost looked like a glare. “The High Elders won’t stop at this. They don’t understand kindness and mercy. They just take it and twist it to their own advantage.”
“Not Martin,” Inessa said.
“Especially Martin. He only gave you to me because he found an opportunity to rid himself of his concubine that he never wanted. It’s not like he’s actually doing anything to revoke the law. He’s just going along with it. That’s what he always does. That man has no spine.”
“Martin could be a powerful ally. You forgave him once.” Inessa started to feel worried at the anger playing across his face.
“I wish I never did. It would be far more advantageous if he didn’t have the full strength of his powers,” Indenuel muttered, looking out the window.
“You can’t believe that,” Inessa almost breathed. “Indenuel, this needs to stop. I don’t like what it’s doing to you right now. It’s brought out a darkness in you.”
Indenuel scoffed. “Darkness? You want me to forgive them for calling you a slut? For trying to destroy your family? For raping you all those years?”
“It’s better than revenge. You almost broke High Elder Navir’s nose today.”
“Then look me in the eye and tell me he hasn’t done worse to you,” Indenuel snapped. Inessa was shocked into silence. She didn’t dare answer his question, anyway. He felt enough anger. Indenuel stepped away, going back to pacing. “I can never forgive the High Elders. Forgiveness is impossible.”
“Please, Indenuel, you must follow the path to God. We must try to reach heaven, even now.”
Indenuel laughed. It almost sounded cold. “God created a divide between the good and the bad in the afterlife. Proof that not even He can forgive some people, so I don’t see why I need to.”
Inessa could not stop herself from gasping. “That’s not how heaven and hell work.”
“The Gods are dead, Inessa.” Indenuel’s face morphed into one that terrified her, and if his words didn’t root her to the spot, she would have backed away.
She stared at him, feeling like she was going to be sick. “What?”
“The Gods are dead,” Indenuel repeated. “The devil didn’t just teach the first woman his powers, he taught her how to kill immortal beings, and she was successful.”
Inessa tried to speak, her words stumbling out. “No, no that’s not true. That can’t be true.”
“The Gods must have planned all this out before Their demise.” He seemed like he was talking to himself more than to her. “They must have known the divide must stay between the good and the evil.” Indenuel stopped pacing, staring at Inessa. His eyes weren’t burning black, but the feeling of cold emptiness was there. She found herself wishing for the anger to return. “I am the Warrior, sent to bring peace. But it’s not through mercy and forgiveness.”
He was terrifying her, more than she wanted to admit. This entire conversation made her blood run cold and the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.
“The Gods are not there to protect heaven. Perhaps my job is to stand right outside the entrance and destroy anyone who thinks they deserve to enter. And it starts in this life.”
She stood wide eyed, holding her arms, watching Indenuel. He spoke of this so calmly, so coldly. She had been afraid of the High Elders, but this was completely different. She never saw this side of Indenuel before. He had been moody, anxious, and worried, but he had never calmly admitted to doing harm, whether physical or spiritual.
No, she had seen it before. When he slaughtered her captors. It was such a different side to him that she thought it was only ever going to happen once. But this mental war with the High Elders awakened that same feeling in him, and she realized now how desperately she needed this mental war to stop.
Tolomon was at her side. “Indenuel, enough. You are terrifying her.”
Indenuel paused, then studied Inessa again. It wasn’t until that moment that she realized the tears falling down her cheeks. There was a softening in his eyes that she wished would come back permanently before he looked away. “I…” he trailed off again. Inessa looked at Tolomon, worried. Tolomon was watching Indenuel closely, ready for anything. Indenuel ran a hand through his hair, the coldness melting away. “I’m sorry, Inessa. I will think about what you said.”
Inessa nodded, too terrified to talk. She hadn’t thought much of marriage. She didn’t have any hope that she would marry for love. The bliss and the love of when they were betrothed and their first night of marriage were almost like a dream. And now here she stood, wondering if those few weeks really were just a dream. One she could never get back. Already two days of marriage, and she had been terrified of her husband.
The doors opened, and a guard bowed.
“Tolomon the Graduate, your presence is requested in the High Elder’s conference room now,” the guard said.
Tolomon glanced at the guard. Indenuel’s face showed the fear he felt as he looked at his bodyguard.
“I will be there in a moment,” Tolomon said.
The guard nodded and closed the door. Tolomon faced forward again.
There was fear in Indenuel’s eyes. “You can’t face the High Elders without me. They’re going to reassign you. I can’t let that happen.”
Tolomon looked like he was thinking of something before he patted Indenuel’s shoulder. “I will do what I can.”
Indenuel grabbed his wrist. “Which is, arguably, not that much. You don’t have the titles or position to go up against them. They are going to destroy you.”
“Tima’s situation has never been off my mind. The High Elders are waiting for a lull in order to go after her, I just know it. If I can distract them, give them reason to focus on me, then she will have that many more days to get away,” Tolomon said.
“Distract them by doing what?” Indenuel asked.
Tolomon said nothing, simply patted Indenuel’s shoulder again before dropping his hand. “Listen to Inessa. She’s right. Martin is our best option to change the High Elders. Do not isolate him.”
Tolomon turned around and headed out of the cell. Inessa watched Indenuel, saw the fear so plainly in his eyes as he watched his friend leave.