Dagger & Deception

by Jeremy Dwyer

  A pair of Victoria’s guards held cups and caught some of Colonel Tyler’s blood in them.

  Then, Victoria took a different dagger, with a sharp edge, and decapitated General Cassandra quickly. The Ahitan Empire way was always to kill enemy females quickly and with dignity. It was the males, friendly and enemy alike, who must be utterly tortured and slaughtered. Occasionally, they were used as mating stock before the sacrifice, but Victoria did not find this man to be arousing.

  All males were enemies of the Ahitan Empire, eventually.

  The old woman, Tanith Orenda, was one hundred ninety-two thousand seven hundred twenty-seven (192727) years old, and she had delighted in these murders throughout all her millennia of life, greatly lengthened by drinking the waters of the Ursegan Ocean, slowing down the flow of time for her. She laughed while the male was slaughtered. “This is a delight to me, many thousands great granddaughter. His blood pleases our master, who then powers our empire. Matatirot’s undying thirst for the blood of males – and treacherous females – must be quenched even more in days to come.”

  Victoria and Tanith Orenda then took the cups filled with the blood of Colonel Tyler and drank from them, delighting in the taste of the demonic sacrifice that had been committed.

  ~~~

  On the eastern side of the island, the twenty-two (22) ships hit rough waters and whirlpools and were broken to bits on the jagged rocks on that side of the island. Aboard these ships were four thousand nine hundred seventy-six (4976) troops – as there were five thousand (5000) troops minus the twenty-four (24) troops sent to report. In addition to these, there was the minimal crew on each ship making another four hundred forty (440) persons. On one of the ships was the star-reader, Havard. They all found themselves in the water, unable to keep their heads above it, and they all perished.

  ~~~

  The twenty-four (24) troops from the third (3rd) division who were sent to report on the fates of their fellow troops met the same fates as those they followed: venomous snakes in the wetlands in the west, heat and fatigue and the arrow in the highlands in the east.

  ~~~

  Spies, hiding in the darkness, reported back to Victoria and Tanith Orenda, regarding all of these things. They laughed and delighted in this, as their hearts were given to the most vile of pleasures.

  “Come, many thousands great granddaughter, and nourish your eyes, so that they may continue to burn bright hot violet,” Tanith Orenda said. She wore a necklace – a chain made of small human finger bones – which carried a brightly-glowing amethyst. Victoria stared at the amethyst, and its violet light poured off of it, stinging her eyes, and she screamed: “Once again, it stings my eyes to the point of blindness!”

  “No. Your eyes are stronger now,” Tanith Orenda said, looking at Victoria’s eyes, seeing a more intense violet than before.

  Victoria turned away from the amethyst and looked at Tanith Orenda’s face, and said: “Again, I see you clearly, and the pain is gone.”

  “Your violet eyes shall compel them to serve us in many ways, many thousands great granddaughter. The pain you felt was only discomfort, and now it is gone. Their pain will be immense,” Tanith Orenda said.

  “I look forward to their pain,” Victoria said.

  “We must plan, carefully, so as to deliver it at the proper time…and place,” Tanith Orenda said.

  “Is this not the proper place? Must we move again, many thousands great grandmother?” Victoria asked.

  “Yes, it is time. Please make all preparations,” Tanith Orenda said.

  ~~~

  At this, the servants around her – which included archers, spies who used darkness, spies who used light, and sword fighters – all knew what to do. They left the temple and went to the hills. There, they removed the branches of trees and made small rafts. There were, in all, one hundred sixty-nine (169) servants, as this number was sacred to the Ahitan. It was thirteen (13) sets of thirteen (13), and the Dead Waters Ocean was the thirteenth (13th) ocean, the one which represented the power of the Ahitan.

  Tanith Orenda did not drink of the Dead Waters, as she depended on the waters of the Ursegan Ocean for her longevity. However, her daughters and granddaughters and great-granddaughters and so on, all the way down the line to Victoria, all lived mortal length lifetimes, and never took a waterbinding. Their orders had been to find the tiara, and to wield it, because its powers are only at the service of those who had no waterbinding. “Drink only of the Dead Waters. The tiara will give us its power, and our master will give us his power,” Tanith Orenda said to all of them throughout the millennia.

  ~~~

  Victoria and Tanith Orenda left the temple to meet with their servants, who were on the island’s northern coast, attending to the newly-constructed rafts. They boarded the tiny, wooden vessels and, once upon the waters, Tanith Orenda and Victoria both knelt down and called out to Matatirot, the demon of the deep, who was their master. “Send us to the proper place, master,” they said.

  At this, Matatirot opened a portal through the spirit world, and sent all of them through it.

  ~~~

  All of the Ahitan women found themselves, suddenly, at the coast of another island. Tanith Orenda, Victoria and their servants went ashore.

  Tanith Orenda opened a thick book that she carried, in which she had many pages of twisted secrets and arcane knowledge. She then turned to one of the spies and said: “Open your eyes, wide, and let your inner light see far ahead.”

  The spy, who was a drinker of the waters of the Lujladia Ocean, drank the waters she kept in a vial she wore. Her eyes could see long distances, even around other objects, and she reported what she saw. “Ahead, there is a large manor, with stones of many colors, windows of stained glass, railings of brass and silver,” the spy said.

  Tanith Orenda then opened another thick book that she carried, filled with some of the many notes and maps and details of the world that she had gathered over the millennia. She consulted the book and saw what this meant. “What you described is the castle of Baron Vladimir. We are standing on Av’Tovenka Island. From here, we can watch our enemies, only a short distance away, while they search for us on Udovedaj-Pren Island,” Tanith Orenda said.

  “They are close to us?” Victoria asked, seemingly worried.

  “They are close enough that we can see them, many thousands great granddaughter. Yet, they are so far away, because their eyes are closed to our true knowledge and our presence here. Our own spies have misdirected them with false knowledge,” Tanith Orenda said.

  CHAPTER 14: Mother after Daughter

  Caroline booked passaged to the ancient city of Emeth, thinking that her daughter was most likely there to continue her studies. When Taesa left a year ago, Caroline had hoped to settle matters with her quickly, but the girl did not return to speak with her. Taesa, she knew, still distrusted Sebastian. Yet, Caroline loved the man, and he was generous with his wealth. It wasn’t a matter of a different view of faith, she thought, because Taesa was not religious, and neither were she nor Sebastian. Taesa simply felt that Sebastian was an emotional manipulator, and that at least some of his wealth was stolen.

  Caroline did not believe that there was any power in the waters that Sebastian drank that could outright manipulate another person’s emotions or thoughts. She was forty-two (42) years old now, and had seen some of the powers that were credited to the waters, but she had her doubts as to the cause being entirely the water. Her own daughter’s musical voice was most definitely extraordinary, and when she sang Hope Lights All Skies, numerous sick people recovered from their burns. However, Caroline felt that the song was merely so positive and uplifting that it triggered a psychological response that prompted a natural healing.

  The water was something that some people worshipped, and this made it detestable to Caroline. She hated the water, and therefore disbelieved in it, precisely because people worshipped the water. She hated any deities of any kind, because the world was a terrible and sick and dangerou
s place, and a real deity that was rooted in love, she felt, should have exerted its divine powers to remove those terrors, sicknesses and dangers. These things were present, so the deity either lacked love, or power or both, or, more likely, simply didn’t exist. Fools had foolish beliefs and gave worship to those things that didn’t exist, and committed atrocities in the name of their foolish beliefs. By worshipping the water, they only made Caroline have doubts in it as anything other than plain water, and any purported effects that it had, she felt, were most certainly due to other causes.

  At Emeth, Taesa had learned many things about music and was certainly improving in her abilities. This could be partly attributed to a good mentor, and partly to independent study. Unfortunately, in Caroline’s view, her daughter’s mentor was Lady Onora, who was particularly religious, so any instruction that she gave to Taesa was tainted. Still, Caroline knew that the woman’s voice was powerful and her musical talent and experience were substantial. Caroline hoped that those were the only things that Onora could instill in her daughter. Taesa was twenty (20) years old now, and strong-willed, so she was not likely to be pressured into believing anything. However, she also had a wandering mind that was always searching for answers, and Caroline was afraid that her daughter’s mind might wander down the religious path, which was a horrifying thought.

  ~~~

  When Caroline reached the ancient City of Emeth, she was once again impressed by the sight of it, having been away for a year. She had previously spent two (2) years there with her daughter in the past, and had the opportunity to visit a number of the halls of knowledge for herself. The enormous buildings were actually the combination of several ancient buildings, of different architectural styles, that had been built over the millennia. They housed enormous amounts of knowledge, carved into stone and metal by the Verifiers of the Oath, who were responsible for validating the correctness of the knowledge brought by the Chroniclers of the Oath, as well as anyone else making a report. The librarians provided organizational assistance, but the Verifiers were the ultimate deciders of where everything would go, or if it would be rejected, and how it would be classified. They had mathematical and logical minds, and Caroline respected them immensely for that. No one – neither military, nor royalty, nor clergy – ever commanded a Verifier in anything: they tested the truth for themselves, and wrote it down as they knew it to be. Generals, kings and priests had their own agenda, and could bend and twist the meanings of words to suit their purposes. Verifiers of the Oath, however, knew how to parse words, and discern the logically implied meaning.

  Caroline looked to the Scholar’s Hall, where she and Taesa had previously stayed. It was an enormous stone building – actually, it was several adjoined buildings of different sorts – that was home to resident and visiting scholars. When she entered the building, she searched the various books of guests that they kept on a long stone table. She began looking for which particular room her daughter was staying in, and found it after some time searching, as there were many thousands of scholars here, and their names were listed in no particular order.

  Caroline went to the room and found the door unlocked, so she opened the door and found it empty. She thought that Taesa might be in one of the halls studying, or with that dreadful but talented singer, Lady Onora, so she would wait. She then saw a book on a table, with a cloth bookmark clearly placed in it. She opened the book, and saw the words of a song. As she read the words on the page, she heard them sung in her daughter’s voice. Somehow, the music seemed to be in the air. She looked up and around to see if Taesa was hiding somewhere, but she was not. This is the song she heard, in an angry, disappointed tone:

  You were dazzled and deceived.

  His false love you believed.

  Every passionate word spoken

  Was just a promise to be broken.

  His gifts were just a token

  Of a love that you never received.

  He puts himself above

  All others around.

  He lies to win your love.

  If only you could hear the sound

  Of his hollow heart

  Where only arrogance is found.

  You must never trust again

  The riches of a thief.

  You try to love again

  While I stare in disbelief.

  Now my soul is filled with grief.

  Every treasure that he gives,

  Won by the twisted way he lives,

  With these he affords,

  The most precious treasure of all.

  Your love he has now captured,

  And into his trap I watch you fall.

  One day when his hate he reveals,

  You will see that he just steals.

  The pain will burn and never heal.

  Love's return you will not feel.

  And you will have lost it all.

  The song was followed by a note, but it was not in the singing voice. It read: “Your love is not all that he seems to be.”

  Caroline wondered where the musical voice was from: it was clearly that of her daughter, yet she was nowhere to be found. She then considered that she had become so accustomed to hearing her daughter singing that it was her own mind providing the sound of the girl’s beautiful voice as she read the words. However, she was wrong – Taesa’s voice really was present, having been imprinted in the book using yet another power provided by the waters of the Pirovalen Ocean.

  Despite her incorrect notion of the source of the singing voice, the meaning of the song was clear to Caroline. And she cried, in both sadness and anger.

  ~~~

  Caroline then decided that she needed to speak to her daughter personally in order to settle this matter. She left the room, left the Scholar’s Hall and searched for Taesa’s mentor, Lady Onora. Knowing that the Twelfth (12th) Hall was the archive of music and song, she went there first. She did find Lady Onora, and was filled with anger when she saw her.

  “I came to visit my daughter,” Caroline said to her, in a tone of voice that conveyed both impatience and anger.

  “Hello, Caroline. I can tell you that Taesa is not here with me. I have not seen her in days. I suggested that she study under a new musical instructor to have more varied instruction. The new mentor is a man named Daven,” Lady Onora said.

  “I need to speak with her at once. Please save me the trouble of a lengthy search if you know where this Daven would be,” Caroline said.

  “I really can’t say where he would be. He’s very wealthy, as I understand, so he travels about as he sees fit. He has a room in the Scholar’s Hall, but he could be anywhere, and often he is,” Lady Onora said.

  ~~~

  Caroline left at once and returned to the Scholar’s Hall, where she frantically looked in their guest books for a man named Daven. She found his name and the room in which he was staying, and went there, but did not find the door unlocked. No one answered when she called for him, so she returned to the Twelfth (12th) Hall and found Lady Onora once again.

  ~~~

  “This Daven isn’t there. If my daughter is not here with you, and is with him instead, then I need to know where she has gone. We must speak at once,” Caroline said, frustrated and anxious and angry.

  Lady Onora saw this, and realized that it might be time to get involved.

  “Let’s check the records at the harbor. If they left Emeth to travel somewhere, there should at least be some record of their departure, if not their destination,” Lady Onora said.

  “Yes, let’s do that,” Caroline said, annoyed, but surprised at the cooperation.

  ~~~

  The two women made their way to the harbor, saying nothing to one another along the way. Caroline hated the woman, and Lady Onora felt it wise to wait until she had more information before speaking.

  They arrived at the harbor, where they checked the logs of departures, and found that Taesa had left, with Daven. They went on a ship steered by a freighter captain – Captain Lyle – several days
ago. Their destination was logged as the Island of Udovedaj-Pren. When Lady Onora read this, she was aghast, and asked: “They both went to Udovedaj-Pren Island. I know that Daven travels all over. But why would Taesa go there?”

  “Why would she go anywhere? She probably thought that she could help someone, or learn something. That’s how she thinks. I know my own daughter.” Caroline said.

  “Are you sure you know her that well? She is of age, and has an independent mind, very penetrating and determined. She didn’t always listen to me on certain topics, and went studying things she shouldn’t have,” Lady Onora said.

  “How could there be something here that she shouldn’t study? I thought everything here was always true,” Caroline said.

  “It is true. And some of it is dangerous, especially to a mind not fully mature. Taesa is inquisitive and brilliant, but also willing to take risks – sometimes, too willing. There is powerful knowledge and terrible truth in the archives of this city that is too much to endure for some. It can be misused, even accidentally. Only a mature mind – twice her age – should be delving into those matters,” Lady Onora said.

  “She has every right to know what she wants, especially if it is written here, for all the world to see,” Caroline said.

  “When children learn to play with fire, they sometimes get burnt, which is understandable and to be expected. However, sometimes they can set their own home ablaze, or their village. There is fire here, and in this world. I hope she hasn’t found the worst of it,” Lady Onora said.

  “What is this island?” Caroline asked, not remembering the strange name, despite having heard it.

  “You haven’t heard? Udovedaj-Pren is where the Ahitan woman is rumored to be hiding. Her kind are wicked beyond reason. Their religion – their entire empire – is centered around human sacrifice. After bearing children, the women murder the men. They worship the water, and a water demon named Matatirot,” Lady Onora said.

  “So, according to these logs, my daughter is traveling to an island to where this filth may be hiding?” Caroline asked, now remembering, more clearly, the warning about some evil woman from a cult. She had heard, but didn’t give it much thought, because she was only thinking of her daughter at the time.