The First Five Days: of the Lionean Saga

by John O.

  Despite her efforts, her hurt was evinced by her uneven breathing as she discussed the part where the HN launched a knife at her. Her openness impressed the three men present. Zach considered her response for a moment before asking. “So the temple and the Helesp were the only places you visited on that day?”

  “Yes.”

  “You never visited the Ishe’s palace?”

  “No.”

  “Should things have gone as you wished, what would you have told the HN?”

  “I would have told him of my abilities in person and even demonstrated them to him. I would have made a case to convince him that I would never do anything to harm anyone. I wanted him to know that there is someone out there who has similar abilities and possibly even more. Wasting time on me would ensure this person has the leeway to keep committing these crimes with impunity. There were other things I wanted to say, but those are of a personal nature and are not relevant to this case.”

  Yosi suppressed the urge to prod further after hearing her last statement. Instead, he looked at Ron Riten to see if he had a question for her.

  Ron nodded and asked, “You can fly and disappear, you say. May you please prove it?”

  Prisca paused for a good ten counts before replying, “I’m sorry I do not want to do that here.”

  “Why not? How do you expect us to believe you if you choose not to demonstrate it to us? Prove it!”

  Prisca’s distress was visible as she slowly began to fade from visibility, much to Ron’s amazement. The process gradually stopped as Prisca lowered her eyes and muttered in a voice filled with pleading, “I’m sorry but I do not feel like demonstrating anything to anyone. Please don’t force me.”

  Yosi surreptitiously placed a hand on Ron’s arm, signaling him to back down. The hardly visible tears that formed around Prisca’s eyes as she tried to control her feelings caused a stab of guilt to surge through the HN as he regarded her. The sudden wave of emotion triggered another dizzying spell which was so strong, that beads of sweat broke out on his forehead as he grabbed unto the thighs of Zach and Ron for support.

  “Let’s recess for an hour,” Zach announced. “Prisca, you will remain here with Ron while the HN and I attend to other business.

  “That’s fine,” she replied with consternation at the HN’s seemingly ill health.

  Rosi Lite and Lily Bent had just finished placing the chains on Johatsu Foté when he opened his eyes. Disorientation reigned for a few minutes after which he was able to recollect his last memories.

  “Where am I? What have you done? Lily, help me out of here!” he shouted hysterically.

  “You are where you belong!” she spat.

  “Tell us of the poison you requested of the assassin.” Rosi began.

  “I have no idea of what you speak.”

  Lily tore a slap across his face. She then lifted his shackled hands and broke the little finger on his left hand, much to Rosi’s shock.

  “You will speak the truth you pig!” she shouted as the man howled in pain.

  “You whore! You bloody whore! How dare you−−”

  He impulsively let out another howl of pain as she broke the next finger. “You think you can take me down with you? I asked you deliver a letter to your father and you−−”

  “Enough!” Rosi thundered. “I will have no more of that for now, Lily. As you can see, Johatsu, we have little tolerance for resistance. Please reveal all you know and spare yourself the pai−−”

  “I know nothing of poisons, you bastard. They selected the venom themselves. All I asked was for it to be slow and painless…” he replied in between gasps as tears of pain rolled down his cheeks.

  “How can we contact them?”

  “That’s a lost cause. I won’t survive the hour if I were to tell you how to contact them. They are that influential… look…”

  His third finger snapped, causing him to let out a shrill cry that tore through the dungeons. A nearby Loila couldn’t help but wonder what transpired in the neighboring cell.

  “Stand at the crossroads in the underground tunnels and if they wish to see you, you will be blindfolded and bundled away. Do you fools think they’re interested in speaking with a Leade? No matter the handsome fee you intend to pay them, their very organization will be at risk if they grant audience to the likes of you. So why don’t you expend your energies figuring out an antidote as opposed to breaking me up? My father will ha−−”

  “Your father will have no say in this. The evidence against you is damning. He will likely distance himself from you or have your head by his own decree!” Rosi interjected.

  “Come with me Lily, we waste precious time each minute we interrogate this creature,” Rosi beckoned.

  The pair glanced at Loila as they passed by her cell on their way back to the surface. It was time to inform the HN.

  Raiden Ni had long finished his breakfast and had stayed behind to have a few drinks. His patrol usually began at the Crow’s Hour up until dawn and as such, he still had enough time to rest. I’ve been threatened by women, he thought to himself with amusement. He drank from his cup and considered whether to track down Siri Hart, who seemed to have departed the inn. On reaching the bottom of his cup, he decided that was exactly what he would do, for if anything, she could lead him to her invisible friend who might turn out to be the mystery assassin.

  32

  Yosi Sint and Zach Sen sat before a perplexed healer. The symptoms Yosi was experiencing were unlike any poison he’d ever known. Where was Jorraine Sint? If he didn’t come soon enough, the HN might very well die before the Twilight Hour.

  “So you mean to tell me there’s nothing else you can administer?” Zach asked.

  “Not exactly,” the healer said. “The thing with antidotes is that by themselves they are toxins. You see, an antidote works by isolating the poison in question and destroying it through some specific neutralizing means. Should I administer an antidote blindly, without any poison to neutralize, it becomes a poison to the body.”

  “Do you not have strains of poisons such that if you administer an antidote and you see no positive effect, you can immediately administer the poison which would then neutralize the antidote?” Zach was adamant.

  “That question has been the subject of many years of research, Leade. Unfortunately, it is impossible to determine the time window during which it is safe to observe for visible effects. In other words, there is the risk that the toxin may already have gone too far, such that the damage would be irreversible.

  “So what did you have me drink when I consulted with you earlier? Could that be what is aggravating these dizzying spells?” Yosi asked.

  “I very much doubt that, Lord HN. What I gave you serves as an antidote to many ailments. In other words, it can be neutralized by a lot of things.” “Despite the fact that we mostly feel well, there are many ailments inside us to which we are often oblivious until the impact becomes severe. I only felt safe administering that potion because I knew that if it didn’t address the poison in you, there was a high chance that other toxins within your body would easily neutralize it.”

  Yosi considered the situation carefully. There was the risk that he would die as a result of random administration of antidotes rather than the poison which was meant to kill him. He could suddenly see why the previous HNs, despite their wisdom and fortitude, stood no chance against the lethal doses that took their lives. Only five days earlier, he had watched HN Ruki Sen die as a result of a similar circumstance. Perhaps he was a failure after all. Zach Sen should have succeeded his father, for he wouldn’t have been so desperate to pacify the Fotés, and this would not have occurred.

  “HN Yosi,” Zach Sen addressed him with some fervency in his voice. “You cannot afford to give in to this thing. You will live, I bet my life on it. It is high time we recorded a victory against the treacherous enemies of this Nation.”

  “I hear you Zach. However nothing I’m adept at can tackle what is eating away within me as
we speak.”

  “You almost died when you were five; yet you lived. This is no different. Perhaps I should send for the Ispri?”

  “Let’s hear from my father first, lest we cause the old priest unnecessary panic.”

  Just then, Rosi Lite walked in with a solemn face, “Lord HN. Leade Zach.”

  “Rosi,” Yosi replied. “Tell me you are the stroke of luck I need.”

  Rosi sighed before saying, “I doubt that what I’ve discovered will be of any use to us at this time. I have no information that may aid your plight, Sire. However, I do know who authorized this attempt on your life, and I have him locked up in the cells as we speak. I also have irrefutable evidence that will see to his execution.”

  “Tell me of this man.”

  “It’s Lector Johatsu Foté.” Rosi went on to describe how he tailed the assassin, how the Lector had killed the assassin and attempted to cover up evidence, how the Spyinme had helped him, how he had discovered Lily’s involvement and how they had extracted what little information they could from the traitor.

  “Underground tunnels you say. How have they managed to go unnoticed?”

  “Likely as a result of compromised officers. Lector Johatsu knew of them long before Jetsi Foté was slain. It was probably not the first time he had used them. How are things with you, lord HN?”

  “Not good. The healer here tells me that any attempt we make to try to save me might very well result in my death. A dire position to be in.”

  After a brief pause, he continued, “Rosi, please inform Spyinme Surita, that is if she’s still around, to accompany you in interrogating Loila Even. You might as well see what you can find out from her while we interrogate the Ispris. Until my father comes, it seems all I can do is keep myself together through sheer will. Zach, the hour has been up for ten minutes now. Let’s return and finish the interview.”

  “Tell us about your father,” Yosi began after they had settled in once again.

  Prisca smiled and replied, “My father is quite a strange man, I must say. Some days he’s taciturn, other days he is loquacious. Sometimes he is permissive, other times he’s as strict as it gets. My twin sister, Priess, goddess rest her soul, used to call him a chameleon. He is not very forthcoming about his thoughts and, as such, he is quite difficult to read. As a leader, he seems to be generally effective, especially in the areas of planning and organizing. There are those who would call him a dictato−−”

  “How is your relationship with him?”

  Prisca was taken aback that the HN had interjected. He wasn’t an impatient man from what she had previously gathered, but now he suddenly seemed to be on the edge.

  “My father and I are not close,” she replied. “Unlike many, I do not see my father as a man who provides, protects, and cares for me. He has hardly ever expressed interest in spending time with or even administering advice to me. Instead, he is more of a distant uncle who sent my ‘true father,’ Jorraine Sint, coin for my upkeep every now and then. Somehow, I always knew deep down that he never had any affection for me. Sending me away to study under your father was not because he noticed any particular talent in me. He just wanted me to be as far away as possible, for reasons best known to him. When my uncle, the Ispri, approached me to become the Ispris, my father was strongly opposed to it. He eventually banished me from the province when I accepted the position. That was six years ago. I have not seen him since.”

  The frank manner in which she spoke only accentuated her attempt to hide her hurt. No one, irrespective of personality type, could easily come to terms with being an unwanted child.

  Feeling some compassion, Yosi asked, “Did he act in a similar manner towards your siblings?”

  “My twin sister and I were born years apart from our immediate elder sibling. By the time I was six, most were already living on their own as Sentors and province guards, so I never had the opportunity to observe how he interacted with them. Those who were Studes lived with their mothers. Since my mother was late, my sister and I lived in the main palace with our father. For some reason, while she was alive, my father seemed to prefer her to me. He spent time with her and taught her to use the sword while he buried me in texts instead. He claimed he preferred if we were experts in different fields since we already were much alike in appearance. But I’ve always suspected there was something more.”

  “How did he react to you when your sister died?”

  “Worse. I reckon I was a stark reminder of what he had lost and he couldn’t bear the sight of me.”

  Yosi considered the information before saying, “Tell us about Aishe Even.”

  “Aishe Even is consistently calm and quiet. An open agnostic, he’s an absolute loner who makes no attempt to please or impress people. Despite this, he seems to genuinely care about people, especially women, I must add. When he discovered that my father refused to instruct me in self-defense, he took me up and taught me alongside his daughters. I believe he is a good man.”

  “When last did you see him?”

  “Six years ago as well. Since becoming Ispris, I have more or less only communicated with the Ispri.”

  “And what about his daughter, Raci?”

  “Raci and I used to be quite close. As you know, my father is her father’s twin while my mother is her mother’s twin. As a result, she looks very much like me. When my sister died, I naturally grew closer to her as a result. I remember her to be a nice person with formidable skills in martial arts and the use of weapons. However, after I became the Ispris, she began to act strange. In time, she withdrew from me altogether. I took it as an implicit way of informing me that she no longer wanted anything to do with me. As a result, I stopped visiting her.”

  Just then, Mila Thorne knocked and let herself in. “Lord HN. Sorry to interrupt. Your father wishes you to know that he is here.”

  Prisca’s eyes widened with alarm. If the healer had plans to visit the Helesp, he would have told her before she left the house. Clearly he had been summoned and it did not bode well in light of Yosi’s inexplicable lapses.

  “Thank you Mila. Tell him to wait in the adjacent room; I’ll join him as soon as I can,” Yosi replied and returned his gaze to the Ispris.

  As Raiden Ni approached the front gate of the Hart Province, he began to wonder whether the waitress had told him her real name. What if she really wasn’t Siri Hart? Perhaps he should have asked the other waitresses to confirm. It was best if he took the woman and her friend by surprise, he reckoned; for it will only be more difficult if they had enough time to plan and make good on their threat.

  “Greetings!” he called out to the guard at the gate.

  “Greetings. Who are you and who do you seek?”

  “I’m Sentor Raiden Ni and I am looking for a young woman. She looks to be in her early twenties. Not too tall, slim, dark of hair, pale skin and full breasts. Did any such lady pass through these gates?”

  “It seems to me that you seek a woman named Siri Hart, youngest daughter of Aishe Hart. She left the gates at the Hen’s Hour and has not returned since.”

  “I see.”

  “Is there a problem?” the guard asked.

  “Not exactly. It’s just that we had earlier planned to meet at her place but since she’s yet to return, it is safe to say she changed plans.”

  “I’m sorry. You know how women can be,” the guard replied sympathetically.

  “Alright then. I must be on my way now,” Raiden said as he turned his horse around. It seemed he would have to wait until they struck.

  What he didn’t realize was that the women he sought were observing him from a tree as he rode.

  “Didn’t I tell you he would come looking for you?” Siri Hart’s friend asked her.

  “Indeed you did. What do you think he’ll do next?”

  “There is a high chance that he will wait for you to come to him. In any case, we’ll kill him before he knows what hit him.”

  “Kill? I don’t want him dead, Raci. The original p
lan was to castrate him. Why change it now?”

  “Castrate a man like that and he will hunt you until his death. Do you want to die?” Raci Even asked Siri.

  “No. It is just that I actually love the man. I don’t know why I even agreed to your suggestion of harming him in the first place.”

  “Love? How fascinating! I loved once, only to learn that there is no greater weakness. You’d be a fool to fall in love, Siri. Take it from me.”

  Disregarding that comment, Siri then asked, “So what do we do next?”

  “We’ll attack him on the Outer Main Road during his shift about two hours before the Hen’s.”

  “Wow Raci, that’s too early for me to be outdoors. Unlike you, people will see me depart the gates by that time.”

  “So what would you rather we do?”

  “Follow him right now and attack him at his cottage.”

  “Your folly does not cease to intrigue me, Siri. HN Ruki Sen considered Raiden to be so good a fighter; he made him a Sentor, despite the fact that he was expelled as a Stude. To fight him on his own grounds in broad daylight would be suicidal.”

  “We don’t have to attack while it’s day; we can hide for now. When dusk sets in, we strike.”

  “You know what, don’t bother coming along. I’ll do this my way and visit you on the morrow with news of his death.”

  Before Siri could object, Raci Even disappeared. “Hey, come back,” the exasperated girl called out as she looked around. Unfortunately she could see nothing but trees around her. With a frustrated sigh, she clambered down the tree and headed east.