Apparently most of the council felt so. It stood at 13 to 1. I was the only one who didn’t want any change. I wasn’t sure how the vote was going to change. My guess was that people wanted to move away from Ashwatthama and Raphael for someone else. My only hope was that it wouldn’t be me.
The first vote came in.
Ashwatthama—3
Raphael—5
Vikraan—7
My fear had just become reality. All of a sudden, I was the temporary head of the council for the next two years. I wasn’t sure why, but people had clearly switched from Ashwatthama to me. This didn’t bode well. Although Ashwatthama wouldn’t have wanted to be the head, but the fact that people who thought he was worthy, decided to switch, was humiliating. Things had become difficult for me the instant I became the head.
Even the events of the day hadn’t ended. The discussion on Titan’s honorary inclusion was to be had, vote still had to be taken. But somehow, I felt that the decision was easier for people now. The fact that he launched a reckless magma attack which almost reached the Imperium members themselves showed how little regard he had for the Imperium. The discussion would be, what do we do with him?
I was hastily welcomed by Brenin, as was the duty of the outgoing Imperium head. Everyone wanted to discuss Titan. It would get their mind off the events of the day so far.
I made my first proposal as the new head—whether we should first debate Titan’s inclusion or vote for a decision straight away. Everyone voted for decision right away, and proved me right. The vote was clear. Everyone voted against Titan. He was not going to be made an honorary member, even one without any voting privileges. Next, we started the discussion on how do we proceed from here. I knew there was going to be a lot of pointless to and fro, arguments made that everyone already knew. But that wasn’t to be.
Instead, Zeus, the council member in charge of High Seat’s security, got up and proposed something radical. “What I propose is irrespective of what Titan has done for us over the years. But I really don’t see an alternative. We must kill Titan right away.”
There was clear anger in his voice.
“And I mean this instant, before he wakes up. We must ask the elite archer units, assassin units available and do it right now. If we spend even a minute debating, there is a risk that he gets up and we lose this chance.
In fact, in accordance with our rules and my responsibilities, I have already ordered a strike on him. If we vote against it right now, I will stop it. Otherwise I have already solved the problem for us.”
I was furious at this unilateral decision. “No one can singlehandedly decide to kill a leading member of the Order of Seven. That is not your call! It is mine as a head of this Imperium and mine alone!”
Zeus bowed to me and smiled, but the anger in his voice hadn’t subsided. “I am glad you have grown into your role so naturally. And I agree with you. First, when Titan attacked the intruder with his magma, it directly endangered us. So I have the right and evidence to declare him a threat. Your authority however would supersede mine in this case, as the claim is being made against a member of the Order of Seven. But you must understand. I gave the order before you became the head, as soon as the intruder left. And as soon as you were elected, I brought it to your notice.”
With that, he sat down. I saw why he was angry. Titan had threatened the Imperium’s security, something Zeus was passionate about. The intruder was an outsider. But Titan was an insider. Zeus couldn’t forgive that. I called for the vote immediately, without anonymity so that the process was faster. The lack of debate didn’t allow anyone to make up their mind. But there was no time. The vote was split down the middle. It was six in favor and seven against. Only I was left. I got my wish. I was going to have to decide. Given I had called for a vote without anonymity, I couldn’t ask for extra time for debate to convince people on the fence who voted one way for the sake of the vote. No Imperium member could be known to have reversed a prior decision made. I had two votes now and I had to use it.
I voted—for Titan’s death. It was a cold hearted and brutal call, one that no one would be happy with. But we had the ideal opportunity. Titan was completely incapacitated. The assassin units would take a lead and kill him in a way that it was not obvious to the naked eye that he had been murdered. We could then hurry and complete his funeral and cremation. This would settle the issue in the best possible way for the continent.
My first day after my sudden elevation to Imperium Head, I had already taken a decision I never wanted to take. Given all the events of the day, this was more than I could handle. I called the session to close. But there was no respite for the weary. Ashwatthama raised a point.
“Vikraan—thanks for your decision. We need to discuss something infinitely more important right away. What do we do about the intrusion? I call for a debate.”
I looked at him wearily, and agreed. It was an important issue. One that could potentially affect the future of our continent, our way of life. But I really wished we could have discussed it the next day.
Diana stood up and asked the question that everyone was thinking about. “What does this mean for us? Was that man really a sage? Is there really an upheaval coming?”
Theodora, the oldest person on the council, although one of the new seven, spoke up. She was usually the most silent one, and regarded by most as the wisest. Including me. She was my closest confidant among the Imperium members.
“My friends. There are clear indications that there is something that is changing. We have a system that our great leader Valantian Gregor created three hundred years ago. As this system assimilated with other systems of leadership across the continents in the world, we made some compromises. But now, there are some glaring flaws in the way we function. There was a flawed revolution carried out over a couple of decades ago, which we contained successfully. But we never questioned “Why did that happen in the first place?” or “What do we do about this or learn from it?” We just basked in the glory of our success in retaining control.
Now, there are events afoot again. The appearance of a sage. This is clearly significant for us. It does not matter if he is truly one of the sages of silence. He is clearly powerful enough to make all those who see him to believe in him.
Let us take this opportunity to step back, see what we can fix, to make sure that we do not let this man sway the people against us.”
Saying this, she sat down. The others in the council were silent. I knew she usually made a lot of sense. I however did not agree with her. We were the light that guided our continent towards betterment. Of course there were flaws. No system can be perfect. But the world was a better place with us in it.
“I do not think that is the way to go,” said Orion. The youngest man on the council, barely 40, was also the strongest among us in terms of brute physical strength. He was also probably the second most silent one after Theodora. “We are the continent that maintains balance in the world. Eurys has its technology, Wenoxha has its labor, but we, the Valantian Imperium, bring it together. We have it all. The Dark Continent, with its forces of evil—we keep it at bay. The lost continent—we ensure that the beasts there do not threaten mankind.
This man is obviously strong. I am not stupid. But, he is obviously not the one of the sages of silence. There are so many reasons I can think of which point to that conclusion. One is, the man would have to be at least over 1000 years old for this to be true. No one can live that long. If the legend was true, the sage would have appeared when Lord Valantian rid this continent of its decay and united it to usher a new era of unprecedented prosperity.
So this strong man is just making a play here. What could he possibly want? It is easy to understand. He wants power. This little demonstration was intended to get us worried. Get us scared. Thinking. Make mistakes that we wouldn’t make, as he goes out to the people and incites them against us. Then, he starts to gather support. Maybe he has others who are similar in strength, or he hopes that some o
f our strength would move to support him.
We need to stop him from making these moves and destabilizing the continent. We need to make sure we prevent people from getting swayed by a charlatan. We need to move early and capture their imagination instead. The only thing is, I don’t know how to.”
That was it. His words made something click in my mind. I knew what we had to do.
“Thank you, Dora and Orion. Both your views are greatly appreciated. I feel I must speak as well. I think I have an answer to our worries.
I agree with Orion. We are the good. This man, intending to start a new revolution, is evil. I am clear on that. But what he has, is what we lack. He has a way to capture people’s imagination. He has the legend of the sages of silence.
I also agree that we need to sway people’s imagination. What captures people’s imagination?”
Others seemed unsure. I couldn’t believe they didn’t see the answer already.
“Dear council members. The revolution started many years ago. But what gave it strength?
Zequn saw what I was hinting at. “It was the discovery of the Anzelmen. The one thing that brought them close to challenging our power.”
“Exactly. The swords of legend. They captivate people’s imagination far beyond anything else. The legend of the sages pales in front of the world’s seven most powerful swords, created in honor of the first seven great kings. Swords that came to be the symbol of their rule. If we can get our hands on all of them, we will combat any perception of our imminent destruction.”
Everyone on the council agreed with me, even Ashwatthama, who seemed a little regretful that he chose to push this topic today. The topic seemed to prove my effectiveness as the leader of the Imperium. Theodora remained silent, not voicing her thoughts.
Asahi voiced her concern. “How do you propose that we do this? We have a head start, which we can make public. We know where Anzelmen is, but we are far from getting it in our hands. We have no idea of the location of the others.”
It was a valid point. We would need time to figure out how to get the other swords, and whether they even existed after over the 1000 years in obscurity.
“I agree, Asahi. Our focus has to be to understand the lore and trace the others as soon as possible. We will have to create a task force with only this objective. This should be our focus for some time to come.”
I don’t think I convinced anyone. But either way, I proposed we retire for the day. Thankfully, everyone agreed. This had been one of the most eventful days in the history of this council, which for the first time in its history faced a physical threat, that too within the Imperium Chambers.
I retired to my home, which I left as a normal council member, and I entered it as the head of the Imperium. The sense of dread, which had been suppressed by the temporary victory at the end, returned with a vengeance. If the disparate events of the prior few months seemed ominous, they seemed like regular days as compared to the events of the day.
I also felt the weight of my decision. Titan was a great warrior, who did not deserve to die this way. A man loyal to the Imperium, who was broken by a greater warrior, deserved a much better send off. But these are some of the decisions I needed to make, as the head of the Imperium, and this great continent.
For hours, my mood slowly deteriorated, the decision about Titan gave me physical distress. The captain of the assassin unit reported to me that the task had been done. Titan was dead. I sent a message to our scribe to arrange for the funeral, with the body to be put into its coffin immediately. I also asked for an announcement to be made that Titan passed away due to injuries sustained years ago against Varishtan. I realized that we couldn’t blame Anirved without acknowledging his attack on the Imperium, giving credence to his existence and power. With that, the decision I had taken, had been executed. Titan was no more. I had to live with the consequences of that decision for the rest of my life.
And then came the news that drained any positive sentiment I had left in my body. The leader of Imperium security reported in. It was unusual for her to disturb an Imperium member at this time, let alone the head of the Imperium.
“Peace through stability my leader! I apologize for this intrusion. However this could not wait,” she said as soon as I entered the waiting room.
“What is the reason for this late-night intrusion? What is the emergency?” I asked, clearly indicating that I was irritated.
“Sir, as I had reported, there seemed to have been multiple intrusions initially. Then we thought that they were all linked to one super human intruder, Anirved. However, we were correct earlier. There was more than one intruder. And the other intruder, using the chaos Anirved created, got away with something that was invaluable.”
I had a sense of dread, and ominous clarity about what that item was. I asked with great fear, “What did they get?”
“Sir, I am resigning effective immediately for this lapse. The most valuable object from the Imperium chamber has gone missing.”
Our misfortune seemed to have started the day I got elected.
Chapter 13: Meeting on top of a mountain
Weeks after the eventful day at the High Seat…
Three friends were meeting up after decades, thousands of kilometers away from the High Seat. They were dressed in similar attires, bright white garments which were simple in their structure. They all seemed completely different. One was fair and looked quite old, like he was over 60 years old. Another was dark skinned, and looked young, as if he was in his 20’s. The last sage was brown skinned, but it was difficult to guess her age. She could have been in her 30’s or in her 50’s. She looked beautiful, graceful and yet had the severity and wisdom that comes with age.
The place they met was atop a mountain. While not the tallest mountain in the Anantyas, it was one of the most difficult to climb. But once on top, the view was unbeatable. Although the Anantyas ran along the entire western Valantian coast, this mountain was the only one uniquely located such that the view was clear on both sides. The mountain was aptly named Sarvadrishya, the all-seeing. On a clear day, one could see the ocean on one side and the vast plains of the Valantian continent on the other side. The day of their meeting was a lucky one. As the sun set over the ocean, the sky turned orange. The orange sky met the blue ocean on one side, while the white of the mountains met the green plains on the other.
The three hugged each other as they met. While they smiled to each other, the expressions of the two older sages soon turned severe as they started to speak. The younger one kept smiling, with an expression of mild curiosity on his face.
The woman folded her hands. “Anirved, it has been three decades since we last spoke. You know none of us move into the public eye without first meeting with each other. You went one step ahead and met the heads of the Valantian state. Why did you do it?”
Anirved pointed to them. “Because I knew you both will try to stop me.”
The other man spoke. “And for good reason. We are not to interfere with all that happens. In fact the last few hundred years have been good for a lot of people. And I know you are going to say – there are many more who are still plagued with the struggle of daily survival and degradation. But it is not the worst time that we have seen. So why now?”
“Well, Rishyadh, the answer is simple. It is time for a change. Irrespective of whether we want to interfere or not, things are going to change. The swords have started to reveal themselves. It is time. Sooner or later, they will all come into light. And when they do, things will change dramatically.
“Either both this regime and its way of life will cement itself further, or there will be a revolution. The last time the people tried to revolt, it was too early. But now, the time is right. I just happen to wish that the regime either changes for better, or moves over for a fresh way of life. And if I have to interfere actively, I will. I will not ask the two of you to do the same.”
The woman spoke again. “We can’t Anirved, and you know the reasons. Even
though you are as young as you are, you know them. We have to record the history of this continent, of the world. The neutral perspective. We are to gather knowledge, that which is getting lost and that which may or may not be discovered. With this mandate, we will not remain neutral if we become the influencers of history. We cannot choose what knowledge we must capture, if we are to use it, one way or the other.”
Anirved continued to smile. “Wise words, Arundhati. I agree with our mandate and mission. But I have one advantage over you two—I will die, soon. May not be in a decade or two, but I will. I can choose to stray from the path of neutrality. If I err, my successor, who will be trained by you, will remain neutral. I cannot stand by and see one more chance slip by. I know my predecessors would not feel so, but the century after the demise of seven kings structure was an opportunity for change. I have the fortune of having such an opportunity again, right now.
“However, I promise to you both, I will be as neutral as possible. I will counsel both sides, whenever they emerge, on what is right and wrong, and leave it to them to decide. But I will counsel them, and not sit this event out completely.”
Rishyadh spoke. “As you wish. We cannot control your actions, just as you cannot control ours. Please hold yourself to the pledge you have just made. Let’s meet again in a couple of years and discuss how things are going for you. Agreed?”
The other two nodded. Arundhati smiled for the first time since they met. “So, Anirved. Explain your neutrality when you put most of the warriors in the High Seat to sleep and clearly threatened the Valantian Imperium?”
Anirved’s smile broadened. “Well, that was an exhausting day. There were quite a few of them. I agree that it wasn’t neutral of me. But I only wished to talk. And those in power will never listen to anyone who is powerless. Hence the demonstration. My future visits should be less dramatic.”
“And that was the only objective? The associated theft was what, a happy coincidence?”
Anirved had a twinkle in his eye. “I repeat. My future visits to the High Seat will be less dramatic.”
Age of Azmoq: The Valantian Imperium Page 14