Throughout all this time, others tried to develop mental disciplines that would grant them power over their surroundings, but none succeed to the extent that the SeshHaud had. As each of her children had matured sufficiently, she 'initiated' them into the discipline by allowing them to join with her mind, sharing the intimate experience of joining with The All, of making it a part of oneself that, through sheer mental power, one could then control. Fortunately none of her children were weak minded, or the experience would have destroyed them. There was a price for this joining, of course. She would always have a certain level of control over their use of that power, if she so chose. And if necessary, she could cause the chaos within their minds to consume them. They knew this and accepted it as the price for true power, even though they knew the implication, that they would never be capable of challenging the SeshHaud's will. Never be capable of challenging the inheriting line.
As time passed and more realized that only through the SeshHaud could they achieve true power over Chaos, she/he consented to take on students. Not only did this give more power to the people, it also tied them closely to the Royal Family, helping maintain control over the realm. That control was increasingly difficult to sustain as her later children sought greater power, but had no way of attaining it.
The Time of the Heretic:
A rather harsh interpretation, in my opinion
The lesser ancient being, whom the SeshHaud referred to as Cailliach, had also taken advantage of her teachings, but she was lazy, she did not care for the constant vigilance required by the Way of Sesh. In her arrogance she believed she could create things, machines and items of power to do much of the work of reality control for her. Cailliach eventually left the presence of all others, researching in solitude.
The calamity happened without any warning. Far, far from the rim, in an area that could be described as the center of existence, a point of absolute reality formed, and chaos was torn asunder as waves of reality spread throughout The All. This point of reality was diametrically opposed to all around it, forcing it to catapult away from The All, while The All was cast in the opposite direction and spread impossibly out, away from both the origination of reality and from it's destination. Anything not protected by extremely powerful minds was swept away as though it never had been. Countless lives and worlds were lost; the devastation was astounding.
The All was no more; only that area very near the rim retained most of the qualities of The All, that being that nothing but raw chaos existed without being directly controlled by a powerful mind. It became known as the Rimall, and the greatest share of it was, and remains controlled by the Royal House. Beyond the Rim remained the Abyss, absolute nothingness, while further in from the Rimall, varying degrees of reality existed, yet in constant change. That area, immensely vast, became known as Chaos. Throughout everything aside from the Abyss one further change occurred, time could no longer be reversed. This final, devastating alteration went entirely against the true nature of Chas.
During the catastrophe, the Royal family and three of the Dynasties managed, through sheer mental superiority and/or numbers, to maintain their holdings somewhat undamaged, so that the reality waves merely pushed them away, far, far away from the source of the destruction. The remaining three Dynasties were not as successful, and managed to save only a portion of their original holdings. These less fortunate Dynasties eventually lost much of their status, becoming known instead as Greater Households. Those Households that had split from Dynasties long ago and managed to survive the catastrophe came to be known as Lesser Households.
In time, as the waves of change died away, Household status became decided by the amount of space each Household held, regardless of how far removed from the SeshHaud the founding member was, as long as the Household was indeed descended from him. Each lesser household controlled between a single or a few worlds, the Greater Houses controlled from a few to thousands of worlds, while Dynasties controlled galaxies, or the equivalent thereof. Because of the vast areas inhabited and the danger of relying on technological devices, 'passages', paths of longstanding although not particularly strong reality were created as a means of traveling tremendous distances in very little time.
The Cailliach's rash act forced the Universe into its current bi-polar state, and it is unlikely that she will ever be forgiven for her transgression. Our two realms are in a constant state of animosity, except for those times when there is all-out war.
Which doesn't seem at all reasonable to me, after all, there is now so much more space in both our realms. They should be grateful.
~~~
Wow, who wrote this book? I'm fairly sure the penned in comments are Cailli's, but the original text couldn't have been written by one of Lumina. I close the book and let my thoughts wander back to my previous encounters with those of Chaos. Maude de Mithridia's instinctive hatred of us makes far more sense, and as for Lydia… She hurt me terribly, but now that the pain is no longer raw in my mind I find I cannot fault her for it. I was the enemy, working with the beast that had tortured her, it only makes sense that she would lash out at me. She had absolutely no reason to believe I was any different from Lucian. I doubt that I could have done anything differently to change the outcome, though I wish I had been able to. That situation should never have come to pass.
Enough of this, I should catch a short nap and shower before William returns. I want to appear fresh and well rested when I meet my first Chaos lord.
~~~
Before William joins me I ask a servant to provide our breakfast in my rooms, so we can talk privately. I quickly share with him what I read to save time.
“Wow, I doubt that book was written in Lumina.”
“Almost my thought exactly, I think Cailli sent it to me.”
“Why would she do that?”
“To help me understand Lydia's instantaneous hatred for me, perhaps? I do understand it better now, I no longer feel anger toward her. And you must admit, the books provided in our libraries do not explain the Chaosian point of view at all. In fact, I suspect the term Chaosian is not appropriate for all of them – but it is the best I know of so far.”
“True, and I doubt that many here care about any point of view aside from their own.”
There is a knock at the door, it's Joanna. “My lady, I just wanted to remind you that court begins in fifteen minutes.” She closes the door quietly.
William smiles impishly, “Gee, don't they trust you to remember such an important event?”
“We have proven that we tend to lose track of time when together.”
“Yea, I suppose so. At least they care enough to try to keep you out of trouble.”
~~~
Court is called into session exactly on time. Our visitor is introduced quite formally as Cas Darius ni Uisnach , eldest surviving son of Dominar Cas Ultor of the Greater House of Uisnach. So, he is a direct descendant of one of the SeshHaud's children! He has a large barrel chest, wide strong shoulders; very well built. His hair is dark and thick and it’s easy to see that his chest is rather hairy as well – yet his beard and mustache are carefully trimmed. In general he has more hair than I’m used to seeing on a man, and yet it suites him. His eyes are dark brown and his smile somewhat fixed. I can hardly blame him for that, considering the circumstances. In all he’s rather good-looking; I’m not sure what I was expecting, but this wasn’t it. His voice is even more interesting – it is deep and sonorous, strong and very self-assured, and yet it sounds as though he belongs elsewhere – as though the acoustics here aren't right for him. Again, it makes sense. Of course, he would be a shape changer; this may not be his true form. I look surreptitiously about the room, I don't directly see Novanus, so it should be safe; I listen to our guest. He sounds very different from anyone I've listened to before, I'm not sure what to search for. I concentrate on truthfulness verses deception as I inspect his form. I can't tell if this is his true form, but it sounds… not exactly well worn, and yet it doesn't seem as
though it is tremendously different from his most accustomed form. That at least means it isn't something he had come up with as a false face to present to us in particular. And, although he seems emotionally uncomfortable, I sense he is also earnest.
A loud voice calls out, breaking through my thoughts, “All rise for His Imperial Majesty Augustus, Emperor of Lumina.”
Court is ended already? I whisper to William, “That was quick.” He smiles and shakes his head.
“Not really, you just weren’t paying any attention.”
I smile, “What?” He just shakes his head.
At the reception William and I hang back and watch the Chaos lord interact with our relatives. He seems exceedingly polite to everyone he speaks to, but I can tell he would rather get to the business of freeing his sister.
William suggests, “Why don’t you go talk to him. Alone. You may seem like a breath of fresh air to the poor man.” I almost refuse, but I have to admit I am curious. He can’t have already learned of my part in all this, so he should have no reason to hate me in particular. Yet.
I walk up and at first he gives me the familiar friendly social smile, then it deepens. “Cas Darius, I believe?”
“Yes, my lady, and you are?”
“Shi'ahn.”
“It is a pleasure to meet you, Lady Shi'ahn. You seem… different than the others.”
“I’m new here, until a few days ago I hadn’t even heard of this place. I have not yet… acclimated to this realm. I suppose that sticks out like a sore thumb.”
He laughs freely, then drops his voice so that only I should hear. “I would say rather that yours is the only thumb here that is not sore.” He takes my hand and kisses it while staring intently into my eyes.
I smile playfully; while somewhat backhanded, it is in a way a compliment. I like the way he looks at me. His smile deepens and he does not yet release my hand.
“This place is even stranger to me than it is to you, Shi'ahn, do you have any advice you would care to share?”
I tentatively project my thoughts to him and at first his hand stiffens ever so slightly, then I feel him cautiously allow the contact, ‘Do not trust any of the elder ones – most especially Lucian. He is a vile and cruel man. Someday his soul will burn in unending fire.’ I can’t help but let my deep hatred for the beast reveal itself. Darius gracefully lets go my hand and I continue out loud. “Gain your sister’s release as soon as you can – I do not believe she deserves to be held here.” I ever so quietly project my voice beside his ear – no one else should be able to hear it, “And tell her, please, that I regret all that she has experienced here. This should not have happened.”
He looks concerned. “Have you met my sister?” I cast my eyes to the floor.
“Yes… but not in a manner of my choosing.” A vision of her strapped to that table, looking both physically unharmed and yet terrible at the same time, her harmonies screaming in echoes of recent pain floods my mind, I just have to get away. “I’m sorry, Cas Darius, I must go.” I force myself to look into his eyes again, willing my words to ring true as I also will them to be true. “I wish you the best of luck in your negotiations.”
William is smiling as I return to his side. “Well, our Chaos lord is not immune to beauty.”
“What are you talking about?” I quickly glance around Darius, looking for a beautiful woman.
“He likes you. Oh, he has been very cordial with all who speak with him, but he likes you; it is plain to see in his eyes.”
“Me? Well, he won’t like me after he talks with his sister. I need to get out of here, William.” He takes my arm and leads me toward the door.
‘He’s watching you… are you sure you want to leave?’
‘Yes, I’m sure! I like him, William, but when he knows of my part in this… he will be angry with himself for speaking with me, for kissing a hand that added to his sister’s torment here. I don’t want to make that any worse for him than it will already be.’ William shakes his head, but continues to escort me from the hall.
~~~
I return to my rooms and try to distract myself from my discomfort by playing with the power connection ring Cailli gave me. I learn a lot about the citadel and the amazing lands of this place, but I don’t make any connections, everything seems so daunting. Suddenly there is a huge… how to describe it? A rumble, a shaking of the very foundations of this place, a feeling of… wrongness. It reminds me of Lydia’s initial attack, when she surrounded me with something I did not understand. William bursts in.
“Did you feel that, Shi'ahn?”
“Yes, but aside from suspecting it involves Lydia, I have no idea what it was.”
“Come with me.” As we walk toward the throne room we hear snippets of conversation among the staff. The Shiftling lord and lady are gone – escaped after negotiations soured. We enter the throne room as Lucian is speaking with the Emperor and Vespasian. Vespasian turns our way and points at me.
“She told that Shiftling to get his sister out – this is her fault!” What?
For some reason I feel far more confident that I ought, “I wished him luck in the negotiations – I did not urge him to launch an escape!”
“You told him to get her out as soon as he could – you practically suggested this!”
What a bastard! “I urged him to ‘gain her release’, which quite clearly implies negotiation. Wishing him luck in the negotiations does not in any way recommend a forceful escape. Now honestly, after all that was done to her, can you possibly believe she wouldn’t want to leave this place by any means necessary once the negotiations failed? Lucian is the reason they used force to free her, not me!”
A hush has fallen over the hall, people look at me with expressions of mixed awe and concern… people must not speak to Vespasian like this, especially in front of the Emperor. The Emperor, in fact, had looked rather pleased at Vespasian's words, but not with mine. I should feel scared, but I don’t – I know I’m right. Vespasian glares down at me, but I refuse to concede.
Casanova’s voice breaks the odd silence. “She has a point – if I knew my sister to be held in such circumstances, I would defy Order and Chaos to gain her release. Perhaps that is exactly what Cas Darius was doing.” A few other sibling groups echo agreement, as do William and I. I might as well continue the thought.
“Think of it, she was clearly innocent of all charges except abducting Alma, and so Lucian’s treatment of her went far beyond what she deserved. She had no reason to trust that we would treat her fairly if she were held here longer.” The Emperor's displeased look intensifies.
Vespasian rounds on me, “You only just arrived, how do you know that the negotiations failed?”
“Along with their escape, it’s the talk of the citadel; I have ears.” Something almost like a smile tugs at the corners of Lucian's lips… but no, it couldn’t be.
The Emperor continues to gaze down at us, then finally speaks, though I get the feeling he would rather give voice to alternative thoughts. “I believe the woman had plenty of incentive to leave. The question is, Lucian; how did you fail to realize her capabilities?”
“Her mind was strong. I should point out that if she could hide such power from me, she could also have hidden other truths.”
I shake my head, “No, I learned of her potential, and still her answers to your questions were true.”
Lucian’s eyes drill into mine, “You failed to report that to me.”
“You never gave me a chance to report to you at all.”
The Emperor looks highly displeased. “Did you give Shi'ahn a full debriefing before reporting to me?”
“She was in no condition for it. It was her first interrogation and she clearly needed rest before she could be trusted to give any kind of report.”
“She appears fine now.”
Lucian glances coolly at me before returning his gaze to his father, “Yes, she does.” The Emperor holds Lucian’s gaze until Lucian turns back to me. “Come with me
, Shi'ahn.” Oh great. I feel fear try to rise within me, but something beats it back and I manage to follow him without appearing like a frightened child. He leads me to a small sitting room. His demeanor loses its frightfulness, as though he suddenly tries to put me at ease. “Very well, Shi'ahn, from the moment you first touched Lydia, tell me everything that happened.”
“No.”
He raises an eyebrow and tilts his head slightly to the side; he hadn’t expected that. Then his expression turns to a demanding glare.
Just days ago such a glare would have frightened me into compliance, but somehow I maintain a steely calm. “I am not about to tell you everything, but I will tell you all that you need to know. I learned a great deal before I decided to cross that final barrier to ascertain if what she had shown me was indeed the truth. She has good cause to hate us; Vespasian killed her brother Bran after he had surrendered. Don’t look at me like that, I know it for the truth. She wanted to find a way to hurt him in return, so she colluded with some unidentified shadowy figure who claimed to have a contact with access to our realm. She was promised one of Imperial blood, to be delivered to her out along the ‘Hellgate Passage’, she called it. She said she was following the Passage back to the Rimall, where others who had good cause to hate Vespasian waited. They were going to ransom Alma for something dear to him. Yes, she said something, not someone. She had no idea that another of us had already been taken. That rather annoyed her, actually.”
“Nothing you have said explains how you would have known of her extensive abilities.”
“I learned of those after she trapped me. She enveloped me in… something very much like what I detected emanating from the throne room during their escape. It didn’t seem to have the desired effect on me though, so she decided to hurt me in other ways.”
“What did she do, Shi'ahn.” It’s an order, not a question, and yet I still do not wish to share that terrible experience. Then again, maybe he should know.
Between Darkness and Light Trilogy Page 14