by Jason Kenyon
‘You’re… a Cleric?’ Anjilo asked. ‘No, the Cleric? The one who killed the King and started all of this?’
‘I was indeed the Queen of Valanthas a month ago,’ Ithalna replied. ‘Would you like to return to the camp to discuss this? At least three of you have clearly gone to some bother to trap me, so I expect they would like a rest while we talk.’
‘I thought you were a cook,’ Obdo said.
‘Sorry, master Obdo,’ Ithalna said. ‘However I was not lying about that part – hopefully you have not found my delicacies to be too displeasing.’
‘They are, in retrospect,’ Obdo said. ‘The bitter taste of betrayal!’
‘Be serious,’ Neurion said, giving Obdo a shove. ‘Don’t you understand the importance of this?’
‘Ah, it’s normal for Sir Mage,’ Obdo replied. ‘First he works for Bartell, then he does a job for Marr – makes sense that he’s now helping a Cleric Queen! He’s worse than Valia, that one.’
‘Shut up, Obdo,’ Archimegadon said, though he felt himself go red as he realised that Obdo wasn’t exactly wrong there. ‘Come on, then – let’s settle down and talk about this in comfort.’
The companions re-gathered back at their camp, with Tharanor sitting near to Ithalna, holding Uldraxios awkwardly in what was supposed to be a threatening pose to keep the Cleric from doing anything stupid. Archimegadon wasn’t particularly sure why Tharanor had chosen the unfamiliar weapon on this occasion, given that he’d taken a sword from the hold’s armoury, but he supposed that the glaive did have a range advantage over the sword if Ithalna did somehow pull any tricks. Mellara was sitting opposite them on a tree stump, idly toying with an arrow, with her bow resting against her legs. While Archimegadon didn’t know if the mercenary’s injury would allow her to actually shoot effectively yet, he was certain that if he was Ithalna he wouldn’t be eager to test that.
Anjilo was being unusually serious right now, and she didn’t sit with the others, choosing instead to stand on the other side of Ithalna across from Tharanor, her holy sword still at the ready. Obdo and Neurion managed the opposite effect, both sitting on the forest floor, looking for all the world like a pair of children. As for Archimegadon himself, he chose a perch on a fallen log opposite Ithalna, arms folded with a stern glower.
‘I do feel bad about all of this,’ Ithalna said. ‘Such a fuss just for me.’ When nobody said anything, she flushed and then continued. ‘Very well, where do you want to start? I expect you all have quite a few questions.’
‘Let us start with you,’ Archimegadon replied. ‘Why are you sneaking around with us, and why are you alive contrary to the official story?’
Ithalna nodded at him and a stray few hairs fell in front of her face. She automatically moved her arm to brush them away, only to be reminded that the dour Tharanor had bound both arms with rope he’d taken from the hold. She tossed her head to shift the hairs out the way, and then spoke.
‘As you wish. I am not really Ithalna, as you all know now. Around three months ago, on the conclusion of the unpleasant business with Marr in Ferrina, my father was murdered by Valia Relassis. Following his death, the kingdom came to find out about his numerous secret dealings funding cult activity across Valanthas.’
‘And you came under suspicion as well, right?’ Tharanor asked.
‘You are correct,’ Ithalna replied. ‘The Central Council found it rather unlikely that I had not been involved in the Cleric activities along with my father, and they had me placed under a house arrest of sorts until they had concluded their investigations. My husband, for once displaying some vague protectiveness of me, forced them to rush the investigation, and fortunately it bore no fruit. No evidence of my direct involvement in Cleric activity was found, and I was allowed free again, though I thereafter was accompanied everywhere by guards.’
‘Didn’t work out so well for your husband, now, did it?’ Obdo asked.
‘No, that is true,’ Ithalna replied. ‘Perhaps a better understanding of our little cult is needed. The Clerics in the regions of Aldrack and Ferrina did not have any knowledge of me, but then they were all the true believers.
‘Those of us in Arenfel, close to the running of the kingdom, were a less faithful breed – we were in it largely for material reasons… either to make money, or to influence events of the kingdom in our favour. Of those Clerics, a select six knew who I was, and when my father was killed, they were the only ones to remain in active service. The rest scattered, no doubt to hide in the sewers or somewhere else fitting.’
‘What did you have to gain from murdering the King at that point?’ Anjilo asked. ‘I never understood that – all you did was destabilise the kingdom, and now look what’s happened with the Order!’
‘Ah, well to address that, we will need to first jump back into the past a little distance,’ Ithalna said. ‘My father was not always a cult supporter – indeed, when he first came into power as archmage of Valanthas, he was rather idealistic. However, at some time during his reign over the Mage Order, he developed a fascination in prophecies, including the ones followed by the Clerics. While he did not believe most of them, he did feel that there was a clear pattern displayed between them, and started to suspect that there was a common message behind them all that had been lost behind cultist rambles.
‘He became convinced that there was an ultimate truth behind them all – that, at some point in the near future, there was to be an event of sorts that would sorely try Valanthas. It became his opinion that in order for us to survive, and mostly importantly for he himself, he would need to ally himself with whatever power was seeking to bring this ruin upon the kingdom.’
‘So the prophecies foretold that Valia was going to be a pain in the butt!’ Obdo said.
‘I… don’t think so, Obdo,’ Archimegadon said.
‘Whether the prophecies were true or not, I cannot say,’ Ithalna said. ‘It is more likely that if there is any grain of truth, it is because they have become self-fulfilling simply by convincing people to attempt to carry them out. In any case, the main prophecy the Clerics were following failed. However, the shadow of Marr rose in its place, only for that entire plan to go wrong as well. And then my father lost his life as a result.’
‘So, what did you do next – murder your husband as revenge?’ Tharanor asked.
‘Ah, no, not exactly,’ Ithalna replied. ‘Indeed, I was quite finished with all of this cloak-and-dagger business at that stage. You must understand that I had little choice in becoming my father’s liaison with the Clerics in Arenfel, much as I did not choose to marry my husband. I was a commodity to be traded around, and while I loved my father dearly, I cannot say that I approved of his decisions in that area.’
‘You should’ve told him to clear off, princess,’ Mellara said.
‘Perhaps so,’ Ithalna said. ‘It is too late for me to worry over that, though. Now, my husband was a wartime king ruling over a period of peace. When the struggles in Aldrack and Ferrina broke out, he was only too eager to take this as a chance to make a name for himself. He called in Supreme Commander Salestis, along with Knight Champion Terrek, and outlined a potential campaign to take over the wastes of Tarmuna, as the former empire is still in tatters and ripe for the taking. His reasoning was that the cult activity was clearly in the same style as Tarmuna’s actions during the old war, so we should purge the country in retaliation.’
‘Balls to Tarmuna,’ Archimegadon said.
‘This plan didn’t get anywhere, though, did it?’ Anjilo asked. ‘I haven’t heard of anything like that.’
‘No, neither the paladins nor the knights had any interest in a war of conquest,’ Ithalna replied. ‘However, Salestis acted as if she might be open to it with a little persuading, which meant that my husband’s ire fell down upon the Knights of Valanthas instead. He treated them as traitors, using the Order of Endless Skies as an excuse to discredit Terrek. Salestis took advantage of this and began to convince my husband – against my advice – to g
ive her greater influence in matters of state. However, he still held back on granting her too much power, and it seems that she lost patience with matters at that stage.’
‘I thought this was about how you killed the King,’ Obdo said.
‘Give me time,’ Ithalna said with a smile. ‘The Supreme Commander did some digging, and discovered that the other six Clerics still operated in Arenfel. She then, it seems, concocted her plan to use them as scapegoats, and dragged me into her plot. It was Salestis and her faithfuls who murdered my husband, and they then pinned the murder on me.’
‘I knew it!’ Obdo said.
‘You did not,’ Neurion said.
‘The Supreme Commander assassinated the King?’ Anjilo asked, stepping a pace towards Ithalna involuntarily, looking ready to shake the truth out of her.
‘Indeed,’ Ithalna replied. ‘However, they had underestimated my abilities, and I was able to make my escape. Wary of creating a potential figurehead for resistance, Salestis declared me dead, and then used her influence and apparent fame from killing the King’s assassin to steal the throne of Valanthas.’
‘So why on earth were you in Ferrina?’ Archimegadon asked. ‘And for that matter, why did you have the insolence to attach yourself to my band?’
Obdo laughed. ‘Your band?’
‘Ferrina has long been a place to hide in,’ Ithalna replied, ignoring Obdo.
‘But it was full of paladins,’ Archimegadon said.
‘I felt they would be less likely to search for me under their own noses, though I did not expect the stand-off with the Blade when I first snuck into the city,’ Ithalna said. ‘Along the way I made some attempts at disguising my voice, but…’ She coloured red. ‘I think it would be best for the world at large if nobody heard my attempts at other accents ever again. So I have been changing my hair colour from black to blonde instead, and maintaining the story that I was a former noble.’
‘Salestis was still searching for you, though, right?’ Archimegadon asked.
‘She was,’ Ithalna replied with a nod. ‘I doubt she or her lapdog Malthanes would have found me, but I am a fool for being curious. Some of their movements outside of the docks were unusual – there was a lot of activity near the city entrance, and one day I followed the paladins outside of the city, into the surrounding forests along the water’s edge.’
Archimegadon pictured the coastline outside Ferrina, where he, Obdo, and Neurion had stood a long time ago, considering their plan to return to the city and find the Staff of Antagules. The memory filled him with unease, and he wondered at what mysteries the paladins had been hiding in those woods nearby.
Ithalna looked over at Anjilo. ‘Are you aware of the various tunnels that the Paladin Order maintains in secret across the continents of the world?’
Anjilo nodded. ‘Yeah… we have them for ease of travel during wartimes.’
‘There is one outside Ferrina,’ Ithalna said. ‘Inside that tunnel, they had taken a defeated demon, one far greater in size than any of those that you hunted down for Diojin. It was on the brink of death, but they used their powers of Light to bring it back to health.’
‘The giant thing?’ Obdo asked. ‘Like… the one that was guarding the city gates, which they needed an army to take down?’
‘That sounds most likely,’ Ithalna replied. ‘Do you remember how they commanded that the mages be taken and forced into the Servants of the Light?’
‘I do,’ Archimegadon replied, folding his arms and scowling.
‘It is just as well that you chose not to join them,’ Ithalna said. ‘The Shield of Lut’yis is a secret circle within the Paladin Order, dedicated to enacting the will of the Supreme Commander. They have, in secret, been taking the most promising Servants – that is, the mages – to this demon, where they have forced them to augment the creature’s power, and created a magical artefact, an amulet, that allows the wearer to control the beast.’
‘What a load of rubbish,’ Mellara said.
‘No, I think I get it,’ Tharanor said. ‘That’s how they took out the Blade’s ships, isn’t it? Salestis set this demon on us… she had it destroy the ships from underwater.’
‘You are correct,’ Ithalna said. ‘Salestis and the Shield must have used the demon to expedite their attempts to quell Lord Diojin’s rebellion. Unfortunately, what happened with the Blade is likely my own fault – Salestis wanted me captured and killed, before I revealed what she was doing with that demon, so she had the entire resistance wiped out.’
‘That’s a point,’ Archimegadon said. ‘You said they found out you were in Ferrina?’
‘Ah, yes,’ Ithalna replied. ‘I side-tracked myself. I saw this demon of theirs, and so I continued to investigate on my own. During this investigation, I captured a foolish member of the Shield who chose to wander the streets alone. With my powers, I was able to extract a certain amount of information about his order’s plans, but doing so required that I put him out of his misery at the end of it.’
Archimegadon felt a shiver. Ithalna spoke about murdering this paladin in such a matter-of-fact way that he was relieved that he, Mellara, and Tharanor had gone through with their plan to disarm her before confronting her. Just how dangerous was she really?
Ithalna, unaware of Archimegadon’s discomfort, was still telling her story. ‘I spent too long on my interrogation, though; as I left the house, a group of guards spotted me acting suspiciously. While I escaped, I believe they found their former comrade, and their report likely reached the ears of Malthanes. Given the sudden appearance of Salestis in Ferrina, I suspect that Malthanes or his master made the connection.’
‘And you think that’s why they destroyed the Blade?’ Mellara asked.
‘They planned to do that anyway,’ Ithalna replied. ‘However, I believe that my appearance lent a certain amount of urgency and brute force to their handling of the situation.’
Archimegadon found he had too many questions, and fumbled through all the things he wanted to ask. ‘Erm, well, alright, next question, then – why did you hire me?’
Ithalna smiled at him. ‘It was no accident that you did not board the ships, sir. Once I learnt that the so-called Godslayers resided amongst the Blade, I realised that my best place to hide would be amongst them. After all, talented heroes are not in great supply these days.’
‘You sure must have been disappointed after you met us,’ Obdo said.
‘You were not what I expected,’ Ithalna said. ‘All the same, I made sure that I had a position where I could deal with you closely and observe you, so I took on the role of lead cook not long before the attempted escape. It became clear to me that, despite the somewhat unbelievable nature of your story, you all did indeed bear some sense of justice and stubbornness, both of which made it likely that you would be willing to assist me in returning to Arenfel. I could not delay all of you, unfortunately – I remember arguing with Tharanor quite a bit to get you all to come and look for Master Forseld rather than boarding right away – but I did manage to keep Mellara and Archimegadon for myself.’
‘I feel so used,’ Archimegadon said. ‘So you wanted us to help you – but what for? Were you just going to act like the wounded noble all the way to Arenfel?’
‘I doubted very much that you would be particularly willing to stop Salestis on the word of a Cleric, much less the assassin of the King,’ Ithalna replied. ‘Admittedly, it would have been awkward once we reached the Knights of Valanthas and I had to confess that I had no family amongst them. Most likely I would have just explained it away that my family were posted elsewhere or had moved on – but yes, once at Arenfel I would have shared with you the information about the Syrakh.’
‘The what?’
‘That is what they call the demon they have enslaved,’ Ithalna replied. ‘It is named after one of the Gharlen, a band of demon lords from centuries past that brought ruin to the world.’
‘I’ve heard of them,’ Archimegadon said. For once, he was telling the tru
th; the power that Vortagenses had bound to the mirrors in his tomb had been extracted from one of the Gharlen.
‘Why is the Supreme Commander consorting with demons?’ Neurion asked. ‘She has the Light at her command – why would she need a demon as well?’
‘Ah, that is exactly the idea!’ Ithalna replied. ‘She does not wish for the demon to be associated with her at all. They intend to use it to push their cause, by making the threat of cultists and demons more real to those who live safe in the capital.’
‘The Order was definitely falling out of favour a few months ago,’ Anjilo said.
‘Precisely,’ Ithalna said. ‘When the paladins first captured the demon and secreted it away, I doubt she even planned to murder the King at all… but circumstances changed in the ensuing two months, and I suppose she expected that she could simplify matters by disposing of my husband instead.
‘But her plan to bully the factions of Valanthas to secure her own power has been distinctly unsuccessful. The people only believe that there is a big conspiracy hesitantly at best, and the Knight Champion is no fool to be pushed around. It has prompted Salestis to make use of the demon they captured, which is why she has been busy in Ferrina and Stornis Hold. They are using the vistarium, along with their enslaved Servants of the Light, to further empower the Syrakh, imbuing it with the strength to take down armies.’
‘Seems to have worked well so far,’ Archimegadon said.
‘Indeed, but that was merely a band of rebels retreating,’ Ithalna said. ‘Salestis is holding a tournament in Arenfel, and unless things have since changed, on the third and final day of the events she plans to release the Syrakh there, with the intention of slaughtering the Central Council entirely, giving the paladins total rule over Valanthas. The ensuing bloodbath, caused by this demon, will be blamed on cultists, to justify even stricter and more terrible rules, so that none will question the Order ever again.’
‘That’s insane,’ Archimegadon said. ‘A demon just randomly kills off the Central Council and not the Supreme Commander, and she thinks that nobody will suspect anything?’
