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Luciprochoros
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I retire to my quarters after the Trial, excusing myself from some business that probably has to be done. I have something much more important to look after in my private quarters. Namely, Rahellene.
I stroke my hand through her hair. So flossy and blonde. Not at all how Katherine's turned out, to my surprise. Ebrellin-i said that the darker hair would be more dominant... but he also said he tried to put an emphasis on my features in our little experiment. He was a little afraid that without my input being definitive, it wouldn't work. Maybe he was afraid of what his own input would do without Theos's guidance, though. Look at him now, after all...
I don't want to think about the Ebrellin-i that's rotting in the cells, the one that's been in the service of Nul for who knows how long. I don't want to think of him and think of the Ebrellin-i I used to know. It brings back too many painful memories, ones that I promised I'd bury. I take my promises seriously... and I don't break them lightly at all.
Poor Rahellene. She's still asleep. She only awoke once at night, and after a glass of water she promptly passed out. She's looking fairly ill, and if she doesn't wake soon I'll have to have someone look at her in case this is more dire than I thought. Ebrellin-i will keep. He is half-dragon and all. Rahellene is only one fourth.
The half-archo part... well, I don't like to think about it. After all, we're not always made to mix with other kinds. But I did it once with Ebrellin-i before, and Katherine turned out just fine with Emperor Theos's blessing. Rahellene... well, her Father--
--her other Father--
did quite a number on her since I saw her last. My fingers glide over one of the feathers that coat her skin.
And just why did you do this, Ebrellin-i? To protect her from you? To lock her away from me, even though I promised I'd never pull her from your grasp like I had to do with Katherine? To see what would happen, as it's been with so many of your experiments? Or perhaps to create a weapon? No, I don't think you'd make a weapon out of her. You love her too much. You've chained her up, trapped her, collared her and tried to train her into utter obedience. You've tried to make her completely yours.
So you must love her.
My fingers trace around my neck. And why not? Memories are memories, after all - always so lively in my mind. Rahellene shivers in her sleep, and I frown. I back away and leave her room.
Katherine's room, really. But they're sisters, they can share things. Katherine will probably hate me for that, but I think she already does hate me for locking up their other Father - as if I had anything to do with it, and as if I could stop it. How could I change any of that?
And, knowing what Ebrellin-i has done, why would I want to?
There's the teensiest knock on my door, and the impression of someone very cross about the fact that they have to do so. I can't help but chuckle. Lute does have his charm, and he's one of my favorite nephews. 'Sy's children are adept at attaining that status. ...Then again, I technically lack any other 'siblings' besides him to give me nephews, so... perhaps it's necessity? No, I refuse to believe that. I could never have a brother or sister besides 'Sy who could give me such delightful, arrogant, brash, flashy and above all entertaining nieces and nephews.
I allow Lute in. He doesn't come in through the door - instead he slips through the shadows, barely making himself visually present until he sets two paintings on my couch. "Father said to deliver these to you. He'll be in the Regeneration Chamber. I bid you good day, Uncle." Then the boy departs without a trace of his leaving.
I frown, cock my head, and examine the paintings. I then seal the wards shut - even against 'Sy.
Especially against 'Sy.
No, he knows now. That's the only reason he'd deliver these. I have only to bide my time until he's delivered the results of the Regeneration Chamber to the Nursery. Then...
Then, I will be here, waiting for him. I arrange the paintings on a table against the wall. The one of me, done by Ebrellin-i's hand, I'd sooner burn than hang on my wall. Even though its mate still rests in my quarters somewhere - heavily warded and hidden from my sight as well as it can be. A painting of Ebrellin-i done in my hand. We did them when we first made the pact that would eventually make Katherine. The Treaty to save two Empires from destruction by Emperor Theos. The daughter that we almost went to war over despite the Treaty she represented.
The other painting is of Rahellene and bears the mark of a Poet, though isn't altogether special beyond that. I think it was made to keep track of her, as if Ebrellin-i even needed the assistance. Once I erase any elements that might have an ill effect on Rahellene, I'll hang it somewhere in here with the other family portraits. It's quite nice, and I've always felt a niggling guilt over not having a picture of her up with the rest of my family. She was supposed to be a secret, you see. And she was. Until now.
No, it is time to sit and wait for 'Sy. I make some coffee first, then on second thought I also make some tea. It'd be best to have some for him here. He'll want something to throw, after all.
I suppose I sound scared. Well, you see, he is my brother, and I love him the way I love a brother, and the feeling is mutual with him.
But he is also the Law. And I made him a promise or two, back in the day. And, well...
He warned me with the paintings. That in itself is the most foreboding part, I suppose. It's as if he thought I needed a warning, a gesture of 'prepare thyself'. Or it's his way of demanding an explanation, which is rather a laugh, because I guarantee you he will not like the one I give him. Heck, not even I do.
And so, after a few cups of coffee and some glances over export and import revenues and taxes, I hear some familiar boots tromp up to my door. My shoulders tense a tiny bit. Then there is a knock. A restrained and polite one.
Bring down your wards, Luciprochoros. Ah, the barely-restrained fury. It's been a while since last I heard him use that particular tone with me. I bring down the wards that lock him out - my personal protection is still very active though. I'm not taking any chances. I do run an Empire, after all. Once the wards are modified, Tesynnodai lets himself in. I rise.
We stand there, looking at one another. 'Sy is a little taller than me, which I always thought was a little silly, since I'm more important. But, there you are. He looks about a foot taller now, though - looks about as tall as Ebrellin-i. It must be the rage - or Diyn is making a faint impression, giving 'Sy the illusion of towering over me. All very fair. He closes the door carefully, then walks up to me with precision and choppy grace. Every step in time, as if he's his own army. And, well, isn't that the idea, with 'Sy?
There's just the coffee table between us, and a couch behind each of us. He notes the table's settings, actually snorts when he sees the coffee. I will have my indulgences. Then his eyes meet mine. His deadpan is very good. I only see the fury behind them for a split second. Then the mask is, once again, perfect.
He nods to me, a gesture that is as crisp as his march, and just as purposeful. He is to nod first, after all - I am the superior in the room. I nod back to him, opening the floor to any issues that need to be spoken of. Opening is the proper word - acknowledging means I am giving him all the opening he needs to take me down. He is the Law, after all. He has that power, and it extends even to myself, who was appointed Emperor of Crux Radia by Emperor Theos himself, who has a say in just about everything that goes on in our little world as it so happens.
He allows for some silence to pass before bridging the subject. I see him glance over my shoulder - at the portraits leaning against the wall.
"Very well then--"
"Would you like to sit down and have some tea, brother?" I am smooth in my interruption. He barely has time to blink. He sighs, shakes his head.
"Fine. We'll play it that way, if you prefer it." He sinks to his seat, pours himself a cup, and watches me take my seat. When he has sipped and I have my own coffee in hand, he resumes. "Explain yourself, Luciprochoros."
I raise an eyebrow over my coffee mug. He almost rolls his eyes at the gesture.
"Explain yourself, Jhe o'Radia." He doesn't take another sip - he holds up that teacup like it's a damn gun instead.
"I have been keeping things from you, my brother." He frowns when I say that. "I daresay that the crime lies not in what I have kept from Jhe h'Akribastes, so I have declined to use the title. My apologies, I mean no slight against your status." Like all my apologies, it insults more than it mends. He narrows his eyes and his nose wrinkles. It's like looking at a hawk that's about to dive for blood.
"I was contacted by Ebrellin-i not long after that scare we had when Katherine had that little accident out in one of those desert towns--"
"I remember it well. Don't waste my time with a recap of the event." Jhe h'Akribastes waves his hand as if to sever the sidestory completely. I daresay it works.
"After her death and subsequent regeneration, Ebrellin-i approached me with a concern about the status of the Treaty should we lose our daughter and be unable to retrieve her. He had similar thoughts at the time that Katherine was assassinated before then - when she was quite young, and we had no way of regaining her then."
My brother narrows his eyes. "Emperor Theos's promise in reply to our plea was more than enough insurance for any sane being. He gave us the Regeneration Chamber. With that in place we could bring her back at any time."
I let the silence sit for awhile. I don't quite want to give him my reply, but it's the only one I have for him, and it's necessary. "Was it enough insurance last night, when her body was completely destroyed and mere chance assured that we'd have enough of her blood to bring her back from the Void? What if we'd lost her, 'Sy? Ebrellin-i's concern was my own. I never want to lose Katherine. But I myself had been having similar thoughts to his - and I have been here to witness the times when someone could not be regenerated, or when they were lost in a way that we couldn't bring them back. Elete's wife and daughter were enough of a reminder of what risks we can't prevent taking. What if Katherine were lost at sea like they were? There's no recovering a body from the ocean. We'd have nothing - no Treaty. The nations would war and destroy each other, or Emperor Theos would take the duty to do so upon himself. I don't like risks."
'Sy says nothing. I know this is only his way of giving me enough rope to hang myself with, but I continue. "So thought Ebrellin-i. But since that first assassination, he had been thinking. Katherine's accidental death in the desert prompted him to act on that thinking. Ebrellin-i, despite his flaws, has always been clever--"
"You made some abomination to take the place of Katherine?!" 'Sy is quite the perceptive person, I suppose that's why he's the Law, isn't it?
"Indeed. That is the best way of summing it up. Ebrellin-i long contemplated doing it himself, dredging up whatever samples of me that he could and raising the daughter in secret, out of my sight and therefore without my knowledge. But... well, he decided against his Mother's ways, which is a blessing to us all, really. He decided, even though we hated each other, to call upon me and invite me to Audiva Rocale for a diplomatic meeting. Another custody talk for Katherine, I'd say to you. Not much of a lie, really - it was a sort of truth. I felt my guilt, but you always suspect me guilty of something, so it wasn't too difficult to get by you. I went alone. Ah, yes - you remember when this was." My brother's face is very illustrative - he looks so betrayed now, and so hateful. I do feel bad, I really do. "Ebrellin-i really only wanted the best for his daughter. He wanted my full consent as well. He worried that without it, Rahellene would not represent a Treaty."
'Sy's glare is almost unbearable.
"That was her purpose. If Katherine were to die unrecoverably, Rahellene would act as our Treaty, and Emperor Theos would possibly be none the wiser. It would at least give us time to do something, to possibly negotiate with him. Ebrellin-i and I still hated each other, but we both loved our Empires, and felt personally responsible for our people and our lands. We could not let Emperor Theos pose a danger to them, so we did what we thought would be most prudent when it came to protection. And, 'Sy, I'm sorry, but you would have hated doing something against Father, and I couldn't let you know. You would have told me no. You wouldn't have liked it. So I hid it, and I lied, and I'm sorry." My brother's eyes are a burning accusation. The hatred of the Law is a terrible thing to feel turned upon you, and I've felt it my due amount. It's difficult to be in my position, and it always will be, but I am what I am. "I broke your promise, I know. I had to."
"No, you didn't." The words might as well be flames, the way he spits them out. He could do that, too. I saw Stevane do it once, and he's the one who taught her how.
I nod. "Yes, I'm afraid I did, brother. Because he could have done it himself, you understand. His Mother made Elete without any of our knowledge, and strange as Elete is he does count as my son. She did what she could, stole what she did, and made him through her ceremonies and techniques in arcane, secret ways that we only know exist because Elete came to our side. Because Elete came as proof. Ebrellin-i, though, he's Thelea's son too, he grew up right under her wing, and he's three times as clever as her and so much more precise. Especially back then, he was. He was getting that spark in his eyes again, that one I hadn't seen since right before we agreed to make Katherine. I knew he could make Rahellene on his own, 'Sy. He'd find one way or another. So I could choose to be no part of it and let him do who-knows-what in those laboratories of his, or I could participate and make sure he didn't produce some abomination that got us in more trouble with Emperor Theos than it saved us from. I chose my Empire, Tesynnodai. I chose my duty as Jhe o'Radia, not as brother to you, not as someone who had sworn an oath to you not to have anything to do with Ebrellin-i that wasn't completely overseen by your eyes or signed off on by you."
His gaze is so damning. I almost wish he'd Judge me just so I wouldn't have to feel that look on me anymore. That angry, betrayed look. But I know he won't do it. He won't bring Diyn down upon me.
"What you have done as Jhe o'Radia you have done for Crux Radia, and thus served within your Duty as appointed under Emperor Theos. Fine, and so be it. No guilt rests upon you through your actions." He rises, turns, and walks to the door.
I don't rise to stop him.
"What you have done to your brother Tesynnodai Akribastes in breaking your oath, that is another story, and I've no time for it right now. Watch over your ill-begotten daughter and don't make any trouble for me today. I've no time for foolishness." Then, he leaves, closing the door quietly. Save for the used teacup, it's as if he was never here. I feel a bit of deja vu from Lute's visit. Like Father, like offspring, and all.
I hope my foolishness hasn't passed to Rahellene, though. It stings right now. It wrenches in my chest like something terrible that I can't, for the life of me, figure out how to remove. I sip my coffee, then set it down, and look in on my daughter once more. I think it will be wise to stay in my quarters until further notice. And with that thought, I revert my wards. If 'Sy wants to come back in, he'll have to carve his own way in with Diyn to do it.
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