Forging Divinity

by Rowe, Andrew

  Lydia stood, dusting herself off. “I witnessed this man, who had claimed to be the deity Edon, confess to Myros that he had performed tests on prisoners that resulted in their deaths. A confrontation ensued, in which he cast a spell on Myros. Our guest, Taelien, heroically rushed to Myros’ defense. During the conflict, Taelien,” she motioned to the injured swordsman, “And I were able to incapacitate the imposter.”

  Taelien absently noted that Lydia had omitted any mention of Jonan, which he deemed to be a wise decision.

  “You have all been very brave,” Queen Tylan said, “And you are to be commended. We will investigate the identity of this imposter immediately.” She snapped her fingers. “Soldiers, bind that imposter and have him transported to Court Sorcerer Sethridge.”

  “Taelien is badly injured. May I borrow some of your guards to help carry him to the surgeon?”

  “Of course,” the queen regent waved a hand to a group of the guards. “You four, assist them.”

  Four of the armored soldiers approached. Taelien remained wary, but he had to admit, his methods of defending himself were rather limited. “Sword,” he mumbled weakly.

  “I’ll get it,” Lydia said, sheathing her saber. She walked past him, kneeling at the base of the Sae’kes and putting a hand on the grip. She waited a moment longer than seemed strictly necessary, and then drew the blade from the granite floor. The sorceress winced in surprise as the blade emerged, bringing a moment of panicked clarity to Taelien’s fading senses. Not a single rune remained lit on the weapon.

  “In the scabbard, quickly,” he urged her. “Don’t touch the blade. Don’t even put anything near the edges.” Lydia was quick to comply, rushing to him and reverently sliding the sword into the sheath. They both breathed a sigh of relief when the blade was secured within.

  As the soldiers took positions around Taelien, Lydia retrieved the green gemstone from where it lay on the palace floor and shoved it in a pocket. After a moment, she picked up the red-bladed sword as well, and then moved back to Taelien’s side.

  “Ready to stand up?” she asked, offering him a hand.

  “Not really,” he replied blearily, but he took her hand anyway. She pulled him to his feet with surprising strength, catching him when he nearly collapsed onto her. He shivered again, and she pulled him close.

  “One of you, put an arm under his other shoulder,” Lydia instructed. One of the guards rushed over immediately, and Taelien relaxed when he recognized the man.

  “Oh, hey, Landen,” Taelien said, smiling weakly and offering the man his injured arm.

  “Long day?” Landen gave him a bright smirk, taking Taelien’s arm carefully, while Lydia maneuvered around to support him from the other side.

  “A little,” Taelien admitted.

  “Who is this?” the queen asked, gesturing at Jonan.

  “My new apprentice,” Lydia replied instantly, offering the red-bladed sword toward Jonan. He stood, took the sword, and took up a position at her side.

  The queen regent nodded to that, seeming satisfied. “Very well. Come speak to me after you’ve left the injured men with the surgeon.”

  Taelien sighed, the idea of Lydia leaving his sight again making him feel more than a little nervous, but he reassured himself that she seemed to have things under control.

  This is probably exactly the type of thing the queen wanted, Taelien realized. With Edon incapacitated, she has no competition for control of the city.

  With that in mind, Taelien allowed Lydia and Landen to carry him out of the chamber and to the surgeon’s chambers.

  Chapter XVI – A Few Key Explanations

  Lydia sat beside Taelien’s bed, reading her copy of The Nature of Worlds. The familiar pages comforted her, easing the tension in her back that had continued to grow since their confrontation with Edon.

  “My everything hurts.”

  Lydia nearly dropped the book, standing up in her chair and turning toward Taelien. “You’re awake!”

  “Mm, not so sure about that.” Taelien attempted to sit up, but she gently placed a hand on the center of the blanket that covered his chest.

  “Slow down. If you sit up too fast, you could tear your stitches,” she explained.

  Taelien frowned. “Why are you spinning? I mean, it’s very impressive, but-“

  “We had to force-feed you a couple potions to keep you stable. You had some very serious injuries, especially the spear wound in your shoulder. I made sure a real doctor took care of your injuries, but without the potions, I’m not sure you would have survived.”

  “Woulda been fine,” he insisted groggily. Lydia couldn’t help herself from grinning.

  “You scared me there. Don’t ever do that again, okay?” She moved her hand from his chest to take his hand.

  “Okay. What am I not doing again?”

  Lydia rolled her eyes. “Getting into a fight with an angry god?”

  “Oh. He started it.” Taelien raised an arm, pointing accusingly at the air for emphasis.

  Actually, I’m pretty sure Myros started it. From your expression, though, I don’t think you’re totally aware yet. Those potions must have had some sort of intoxicating effect. It’s kind of adorable.

  She had used identification spells on the liquids before feeding Taelien, of course, but those only served to tell her that the dominions associated with the herbs within – stability and life – were no dangerous. The alcohol-like symptoms might have been from mundane properties in the liquid, or perhaps this was just how Taelien reacted to extreme trauma and blood loss.

  “I’m hungry,” Taelien pouted.

  “Okay, sweet thing. I’ll make sure you get something to eat. Take it slow, though.”

  Taelien nodded in affirmation.

  Two days later, Lydia made her way to the queen regent’s chambers. Jonan was taking a shift watching over Taelien, but it seemed unlikely to be necessary. The swordsman was still in terrible shape, but he seemed unlikely to expire in her absence.

  And that afforded Lydia a moment to finally indulge her sorcery on something other than periodically checking Taelien’s condition.

  “Dominion of Knowledge, I invoke you,” Lydia said, clutching the green gemstone in her pouch as she headed toward queen’s chambers.

  Help me, appeared in her vision, just for an instant, where her identification results should have. She froze in her step, and the two words were quickly replaced with others.

  Dominion of Life.

  Dominion of Earth.

  Dominion of Nature.

  Dominion of Spirits.

  Lydia released her grip on the object immediately. The Dominion of Spirits? She had heard legends of such a thing, speculation – but this was her first proof it even existed.

  Does that mean that this thing is...alive? How could an object be tied to the Dominion of Spirits?

  She shook her head. One week with Taelien and now her identification spell never gave her comprehensible results.

  I’ll try to identify the ring later. I can’t risk setting off any defensive spells he might have placed on it while I’m still recovering. She had slipped Edon’s ring off his severed hand when she had knelt next to his unconscious body, and she hadn’t had a chance to check it yet. She had, however, noted tiny runes etched into the surface of the metal. For the moment, it was tucked away safely in the pouch on her waist.

  Lydia arrived at the door to the queen regent’s chambers a few moments later.

  She knocked on the door politely, and one of the Queensguard opened it from within a moment later.

  “Sorceress,” he said, nodding to her politely and stepping outside.

  “Thank you,” she said, stepping within. The queen regent was seated in a chair near her reading table, her hands folded in her lap. There was no one else inside the room, as far as Lydia could see.

  Lydia closed the door behind her.

  “You’ve done very well,” the queen regent said. “With ugly matter dealt with, I can finally hav
e some peace of mind.”

  “Meaning your son can finally take the throne?” Lydia guessed.

  The queen regent nodded. “Precisely. Edon – well, Donovan, as I’m sure you know – approached my husband many years ago about working together to make our city glorious. Donovan wanted resources for his research, and offered powerful sorcery – enough to make a claim at godhood – in exchange. My husband agreed. They had a strong partnership for a time, but my husband passed away a few years later, leaving me and an infant son behind.”

  “And now that your son is old enough to rule, he posed a threat to Edon’s control over the city.” Lydia concluded.

  “Yes. Edon has gradually been attempting to forge our city into a theocracy. When I was younger, I believed that being called a ‘goddess’ of the city would help secure the faith of the people in my decisions. As the years have gone on, I realized that I was falling into a trap. By making myself a part of Edon’s ‘pantheon’, I placed myself in an inferior position to him. His influence has been sufficient to delay my son’s coronation for several months. I believe that he planned to use your friend, Taelien, as a way to extend his influence even further,” the queen regent explained.

  The court sorceress nodded. “If the prince took the throne, Edon would have had to contend with a rival for power that was not a part of his divine hierarchy. I assume he probably offered ‘divinity’ to your son and was refused?”

  Tylan shook his head. “No, Byron and Edon have never gotten along. Byron has always suspected that Edon was responsible for my husband’s death, but I long ago concluded otherwise. Regardless, Edon never even made the offer. He knew what Byron’s answer would have been.”

  “And so, he needed an alternative – an excuse to keep control. Assassinating Byron might have been an option, but it could have sparked a civil war. When Taelien arrived in the city, he saw an opportunity – start a war with an outside force. With Velthryn, and the followers of the Tae’os Pantheon,” Lydia surmised. “With a war raging, he could justify that Byron was too young and inexperienced to take control of the city.”

  While Lydia spoke that idea aloud, she had a second idea flowing through her mind. Edon seemed to sincerely believe that Byron was trying to have him killed – it was possible that the delay in the coronation was just an attempt to find proof that Byron had hired the assassins. If Edon had obtained that proof, he probably hoped to use that as evidence that the prince could not be trusted with leadership over the city.

  The so-called god of ascension clearly had some other plan beyond just presenting evidence of Byron’s wrongdoing, but even Myros seemingly hadn’t known about the details. Lydia was deeply curious about what those plans were, but she doubted she’d have an opportunity to investigate them any time in the near future.

  Edon’s plans for Taelien were less certain in the sorceress’ mind. There were several possibilities. While she had initially guessed that Edon wanted Taelien to be imprisoned or killed in order to start a war, his more recent actions made that scenario less likely.

  It was possible he was legitimately interested in having Taelien as a member of his pantheon - having the current wielder of the Sae’kes working for him might have expanded Edon’s personal influence and credibility. Making Taelien one of his false gods might have even served to attract Tae’os followers into joining the Edonate religion.

  It was also possible that Edon simply wanted access to the Sae’kes in order to expand his research into dominion marks. If Lydia’s suspicions were correct, every artifact Edon gained access to expanded the variety of marks that Edon was able to create.

  Finally, it struck Lydia as plausible Edon just wanted more powerful supporters for his own protection – if Byron was sending assassins after him, Edon might have just wanted more people he could trust to defend him against further attempts.

  “Yes, you averted that potential war very nicely, my dear. And that is why I brought you here – I know of your allegiances, of course. I would like you to return to Velthryn and assure your paladins and priests that the prince – soon to be king – wants nothing more than peace. The Tae’os religion will be legalized within our city again shortly, and Edon will be tried – and convicted – of conspiracy, kidnapping, treason, and probably murder,” the queen concluded.

  Lydia stepped forward, bringing her right hand across her chest to her left shoulder in a salute. “I believe we have an accord.”

  The queen regent waved a hand to dismiss the sorceress. “Good. I will look forward to hearing your organization’s reply.”

  Chapter XVII – The Next Steps

  Taelien still hurt in places he hadn’t previously realized could experience pain. He remained mostly bedridden, but after the first day – which he had spent almost entirely unconscious – he began taking brief excursions out of the bed to stretch for a few agonizing minutes.

  The swordsman had been pleased when he had discovered the Sae’kes hiding beneath his sheets. He knew Lydia must have needed to argue with the doctors to let him keep it there, and he mentally thanked her for the kindness.

  Lydia and Jonan had kept a near-constant vigil over him for the first three days of his recovery, and visited frequently even thereafter. After the third day, Landen began to visit, explaining that he had tried earlier but that Lydia had sent him away.

  “Paranoid girl, that one,” Landen pointed out.

  “You haven’t even scrapped the surface.” Taelien sighed.

  Landen grinned. “Cute, though. And I think she likes you.”

  He shook his head. “I think it’s more likely she’s interested in a version of me that doesn’t actually exist, if even that.”

  Landen nodded sagely. “You’ll never know until you ask.”

  Taelien had fewer visitors after the third day, when it grew progressively more obvious that he was going to survive his injuries. The doctor came in with fresh potions for him to drink and to check his stitches, and a servant with a harp-shaped earring came by with changes of clothes and to empty the chamber pot here and there, but the remainder of his next few days were an excruciating combination of boredom and restlessness.

  Every time I get injured, I remind myself not to let it happen again. Still, I remain reckless.

  Lydia visited again on the fifth day, taking a seat by his bedside.

  “Hey. What have I been missing?”

  “Prince Byron is finally getting his coronation in a bit over a week. If you’re back on your feet by that point, you can come along with me.”

  Taelien shuddered deliberately. “I’d better be. I don’t think I’ll be able to stand more than another day in this bed.”

  Lydia’s warm grin shined down on him. “I keep telling you to be patient. If you keep moving around all the time, you’ll just tear your stitches and end up being here longer.”

  “Patience takes too long,” Taelien said dryly. “All right, the prince is going to be king. What’s the situation with Edon?”

  The sorceress shrugged. “Largely out of my hands at this point. The queen is taking care of the ‘investigation’ directly.”

  Taelien quirked a brow. “And you’re okay with that?”

  Lydia shook her head. “No, but it’s not a good time to push. We’ve had a significant victory – something that could lead toward a long-term peace between Velthryn and Orlyn. I need to report back and work to stabilize that before doing anything else. You should come with me when I leave. I have a clue that might interest you.”

  Taelien quirked a brow. “A clue?”

  Lydia reached into her ever-present pouch, retrieving the familiar glowing-green stone that Taelien had found inside the Paths of Ascension. The swordsman raised an eyebrow at the gem.

  “I think there’s a good chance it’s a piece of Cessius,” Lydia explained. “And, after having thought about it, I think the Heartlance might be one, too. I probably should have considered it sooner – if Cessius was broken or disassembled, a piece could easily look like anothe
r spear. Or a gem that was inlaid somewhere in the weapon’s shaft.”

  That makes a certain amount of sense. “Have you told-,“ he stopped himself from giving the other paladin’s name, since he couldn’t be certain they weren’t being watched, “anyone else?”

  “Yes,” she replied quickly. “And the people I talked to agree with my assessment, but they also will keep looking. In the meantime, I think your best route to gather more information would be to come with me to Velthryn, where we can analyze the gem. We might even be able to use the gem to track down other pieces of Cessius – which Tarren might have in his possession.”

  “All right, I’ll go with you.” Taelien sat up in his bed, turning to face Lydia. “But first, tell me more about the Paladins of Tae’os.”

  Epilogue – Greetings and Goodbyes

  Five days later, Jonan stood at the city gates. He had hoped to stay long enough for Edon’s trial and the coronation, but reporting back to Selyr was a higher priority. He had finished his remaining business in the city, paid his informants for their assistance, and given his final report to his contact through one of his remaining mirrors.

  Knowing that his contact was the queen regent, he had briefly considered visiting her in person, but that would have violated his operational parameters. And besides, it was more fun keeping his identity a mystery.

  The queen regent had delivered on her side of the plan perfectly – her appearance near the entrance to the Paths of Ascension couldn’t have been better timed. He still wasn’t certain why the Order of Vaelien had chosen to work with her in the first place, but she had certainly had proven to be efficient.

  In the distance, Jonan could see Taelien and Lydia approaching, coming to see him off as they had promised. Taelien’s left arm and right shoulder were still wrapped in thick bandages, and he walked with a slight limp, but he otherwise seemed cheerful. Lydia was laughing at one of Taelien’s jokes, and Jonan felt a very brief pang of jealously at the display.