by Ian Gregoire
“No, of course not.”
“There’s one more thing I should show you before I leave.” Fay headed towards her study. “Follow me.” Kayden trailed behind to join her standing at the mahogany desk. “If you should need anything while I am gone, you can signal for one of the Sisters to attend you, with this.” Fay tapped the small glass sphere set upon a small wooden stand on her desk. “It’s a beacon. Activate it by invoking Yuksaydan, then someone will arrive for you shortly after.”
“All right, fine,” said Kayden. “Anything else?”
“That’s everything. Now, I really should be going.”
Kayden was a little unsettled by Fay’s hesitation before she walked away, but it was the expression on her face and the look in her eyes, more than anything else, that unnerved her. It appeared as though the woman wanted to say one final goodbye, almost as if she was concerned she might not get another opportunity to do so. If there was a possibility the two of them would never see each other again, Kayden knew it was pointless to ask why, so she simply stood and watched as Fay exited her quarters.
Once the door shut she let out an audible sigh. She remained frustrated by the Sanatsai, as well as the situation she found herself in. Notwithstanding everything else she had learned since arriving in Temis Rulan, Kayden still did not have a clear idea of why she was even there, though she suspected that would change once she met Master Ari.
Kayden diverted her attention to the nearby bookcases. There was no telling how long she would be waiting for the summons to meet the head of the Order, but if she had to remain in Fay’s quarters until then, what better way to spend that time than reading a good book? She began to peruse Fay’s collection, which seemed to consist entirely of fictional works and poetry. A few of the books were even in foreign languages, including—much to Kayden’s surprise—Zenoshanese, the mother tongue of her parents. She quickly settled for the novel, The Last Of The Saharbashi, by famed Shintanese author, Delano Tarelis—a story she had read twice previously, but was well worth reading for a third time. She grabbed it from the shelf then went back to the armchair she had vacated moments earlier, to sit and read.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
First Impressions
Fay didn’t have a long walk ahead of her. Ari’s quarters were situated on the same floor as her own, though in the north wing of Kassani House. She slowly navigated through several quiet corridors, encountering only a one fellow Sanatsai and a couple of Jaymidari, each of whom acknowledged her with a warm, welcoming smile.
Making her way to the appointment with Ari, Fay’s thoughts lingered on two matters, though one was more pressing than the other. She wondered about the identity of the Sanatsai having the crisis of confidence Ari briefly touched upon in the flower garden. But more importantly, she wondered how Ari intended to get Kayden to open up to him, how he planned to help her come to terms with the source of the pain and anger she was bottling up inside. If he was unsuccessful, that pain and anger would lead Kayden inexorably to an ignominious end.
Fay entered the corridor leading to Ari’s quarters, at the same moment Ari strolled into view from the opposite end. She guessed he had only just finished finalising the arrangements for whatever it was he had planned for Kayden that evening.
“You’re early,” said Ari as he joined Fay outside the door to his quarters.
“My troublesome apprentice began to ask some awkward questions,” she replied ruefully. “I had to leave her in my quarters, then I came straight here. The sooner you can meet with her the better I will feel.”
Opening the door, Ari stood aside to allow Fay inside. “You’re assuming your apprentice can be reformed, and that I can help to bring that about.”
“You’ve done it once before.” She heard the door closing behind them. “With someone unspeakably worse than Kayden, I might add.”
“I had more time and more leeway before.” Ari indicated with a hand for Fay to have a seat on the upholstered sofa to their left, while he headed straight ahead to the desk set in front of the large Palladian window. “I too have had to fend off some awkward questions in the last few minutes.”
Taking a seat on the sofa, Fay watched Ari gather up some documents from his cluttered desk.
“Already three other members of the Council have inquired about why you have brought an apprentice here with you,” continued Ari as he ambled towards the sofa, documents in hand. “The longer she remains here the more questions will be asked. Eventually, I’ll have no choice but to bring the rest of the Council up to speed, although you can be sure Idelle is already fully aware of what is going on; she’s always been an incredibly perceptive woman.” He sat down beside Fay. “The bottom line is, Kayden only has the rest of today, and maybe some of tomorrow, to save herself.”
“Why so soon?” asked Fay in dismay.
“Because, if she can’t persuade me, before midday tomorrow, that your worries about her aren’t fully justified, I will have no option but to convene a meeting of the Council. And while most of my colleagues won’t understand the significance of you bringing these concerns, once they are informed of the nature of the concerns about your apprentice...” Ari trailed off, finishing his sentence wasn’t necessary.
Fay was crestfallen. Ari’s pronouncement cut her like a knife. Though she wasn’t a woman given to admitting defeat, her hopes of saving Kayden had been severely dented. The likelihood of Ari successfully getting through to the apprentice during the remaining hours of the day was so remote as to be non-existent.
“I know it’s not what you wanted to hear.” Ari reached for her hand to give it a comforting squeeze. “But don’t be disheartened, old friend. There is always hope, until there isn’t.”
Looking into her friend’s eyes, Fay smiled affectionately. If anyone could pull off the impossible, it was Ari.
“For now, let us table this discussion about your apprentice,” he said. “I have a task that you are eminently qualified to tackle. But first… I need to tell you something.”
There was a drawn-out pause while Ari fidgeted with the documents in his hand. Fay knew him well enough to know the look on his face; he was about to impart some bad news.
“I regret to have to inform you like this,” he began, “but while you were away, Marit Katarnian was killed during a mission.”
Fay’s heart seemed to skip a beat. Her breath caught in her throat. Marit was the younger brother of her late husband who had also lost his life while on duty. She had subsequently always felt a sense of responsibility towards him after the passing of his sibling, she felt duty-bound to ensure that he didn’t meet the same fate. Hearing of his death was a crushing blow, especially as it had occurred while she was away.
“When did it happen? How?”
“A little over five months ago. He was—”
“Five months!” Fay gasped in shock. “Why am I only hearing about this now, Ari?”
“For one thing, I felt an obligation to let you know, personally—face-to-face,” said Ari in a placating tone. “I didn’t want you to learn of it via a long distance message. Secondly, the mission was in Anzarmenia and, as you know, the Order has no jurisdiction outside the Nine Kingdoms. We weren’t able to acknowledge that Marit had been on a sanctioned mission. We had to deny even being aware of his presence in the realm altogether.
“As it is, the incident caused some diplomatic tension, not just between Anzarmenia and Darmitana, but also between ourselves and Darmitana. We had to pressure King Orinoso into interceding on behalf of the Order to have Marit’s body recovered and returned for burial. As a result, he had to agree to make certain concessions to the queen of Anzarmenia, and believe me, he and his advisers were far from happy about it. It’s fair to say our standing with the Darmitanese has taken a bit of a knock.”
After a prolonged silence, during which Fay took stock of what she had just been told, she finally inquired, “What was the nature of the mission?”
“This is the report detailing the mis
sion and outcome.” Ari dropped the documents he was holding, down on the tea table in front of them. “Anything you want to know will be in there.”
“I want to hear it from you,” pressed Fay.
He knows me well enough to realise I’m not going to take no for an answer, thought Fay, and sure enough he reluctantly began to narrate, in full, the mission in Anzarmenia, and the reason for it.
Almost a year ago the Order became aware of a cult movement that had become active in rural areas of southern Anzarmenia. Under normal circumstances someone starting a cult abroad would be of no concern. This occasion, however, couldn’t be described as normal. What made this cult so worrisome was the type of people it was drawing into its ranks. Among the followers of the group were a disproportionately large number of Zarantar wielders.
Anzarmenia did not have an equivalent of the Order to control those of its population who manifested the Zarantar of the Sanatsai. While such people were highly sought after by the military, there was no obligation to enlist. The unaffiliated Sanatsai of the realm were left entirely to their own devices, to live their lives in any way they wished, provided they broke no laws. If that wasn’t disturbing enough, the authorities did not even deem it necessary to outlaw learning the ways of the Saharbashi—on that same basis: as long as no laws were being violated, there was no harm. It was a naive position to take, to be sure. Nonetheless, the Order had yet to uncover evidence of the cult recruiting any Saharbashi into its ranks.
It was the increasing number of reports coming from the Sisterhood in Anzarmenia—of a small but steady flow of Jaymidari abandoning their calling, to join the cult—that prompted greater scrutiny of the group. It was troubling enough that the cult had free rein to recruit unaffiliated Sanatsai in Anzarmenia. They could even recruit Saharbashi if they wished. But it was the ability to attract followers from the ranks of the Sisterhood that made its activities that much more concerning. Although the cult had not done anything that could be construed as threatening or dangerous, the Order couldn’t ignore the most obvious motivation for starting a movement that assembled large numbers of individuals who wielded Zarantar.
Six months ago the Council authorised a clandestine mission inside Anzarmenia, to investigate.
On account of his not too distant Anzarmenian ancestry—giving him some knowledge of the realm, its people, history, culture and language—Marit Katarnian was tasked with carrying out the assignment to infiltrate the cult, to identify its leader, and conclusively establish the aims and objectives of the group. Marit decided to take a young, inexperienced Sanatsai with him to play the role of potential recruit for the cult, while he oversaw the mission from a distance. His eventual choice, Kenit Darbandian, was born and raised in Anzarmenia before his parents migrated north to the Kingdom of Darmitana when he was eleven years of age. In theory, this made Kenit an ideal candidate for the mission as he spoke the language fluently and would have no difficulty passing for a local.
Ordinarily, an inexperienced Sanatsai as new to the Order as Kenit was wouldn’t be thrust to the forefront of a mission, particularly one abroad. The decision was the result of Marit’s concern that the large numbers of former Sisters in the cult increased the likelihood he would be recognised as being from the Order, if he played the role of potential recruit himself. Besides, the mission was deemed to be low risk.
From the progress reports being sent back to the Order by Marit, the mission was seemingly going according to plan–Kenit had been recruited and was going through an indoctrination period at one of the cult’s communes, all the while trying to learn more about the goals of the group. The final message received from Marit, two days before his death, provided some deeper insights into how the cult operated, but still very little about the identity of the group’s mysterious leader. However, Marit was pleased to report that Kenit was due to leave the commune in the next few days to meet the unidentified man with a group of fellow recruits. It was his intention to shadow Kenit to this meeting in order to see for himself the man who could persuade scores of committed Jaymidari to abandon their calling.
That meeting did not go as planned.
“From what Kenit was subsequently able to tell us,” said Ari, “the cult suspected him of being a spy almost from the start. What they didn’t know was whom he was spying for. The proposed meeting with the leader of the group was actually a trap intended to draw out any accomplices.
“That evening, Kenit was among a dozen-strong party that journeyed to a woodland a few miles from the commune. Come nightfall he was taken by surprise when the rest of the group turned on him. They subdued him, with little difficulty, before threatening him with decapitation if he did not reveal who sent him to spy on the group. At this point Marit, who was tailing them, entered the fray to rescue his charge. But his adversaries were well prepared; it was an ambush. Up to a dozen more cult members emerged from hiding places and Marit was eventually overpowered and captured.”
Fay did not like what she was hearing. “How is that Marit ended up dead while this Kenit is still alive?” she interrupted.
“Upon the arrival of the additional ambushers, Kenit apparently froze, forcing Marit to fight them off alone. Initially, it seems he was able to fend off his attackers easily enough until the leader of the cult appeared from nowhere to single-handedly overcome him. Whoever this man is, his Zarantar was too powerful for Marit to defeat him alone. Regrettably, Kenit attempted to flee. In doing so, not only did he not get far before being apprehended, his decision perhaps contributed to Marit’s capture.”
“If they were both taken alive,” Fay interjected, “why is Marit dead and Kenit not?”
Fay could read Ari’s expressions and mannerisms like a book; what he was about to tell her next was going to anger her.
“Kenit says the leader of the cult was more enraged that the Order was aware of the existence of the cult than he was about spies being dispatched to infiltrate them. In response, he announced his intention to release Kenit so he could deliver a message back to us.
“For the next hour Kenit was forced to watch as Marit was sadistically tortured before his eyes. At the end of that hour Marit was killed. Eviscerated. His guts spilled on the ground.” Ari paused for moment, probably anticipating a comment from Fay. She said nothing, so he continued. “Next, Kenit was gagged and had his hands bound behind his back. Then a rope was tied around his waist while the other end was tied around the ankles of Marit’s body. He was instructed to walk back to the Order, dragging Marit’s body behind him, with the message that we are not welcome.
“While making his way back to the Sisterhood seminary where Marit had based himself to oversee the mission, Kenit encountered an Anzarmenian army patrol that promptly detained him, which in turn led to the diplomatic ructions I mentioned earlier.”
Once it was clear Ari had completed his narration, Fay rose to her feet, turning her back on him as she stepped a few paces away from the sofa. She placed her hands behind her back, clenching her fists beneath her cloak. It wasn’t just anger consuming her at that moment; her indignation was coupled with a burning desire for vengeance.
“Sanatsai trained by the Order are incredibly hard to kill, Ari,” she said through gritted teeth. “There are few wielders of Zarantar outside the Nine Kingdoms who could go up against an experienced Sanatsai of Marit’s ability, and prevail.” She turned back around to see that Ari had risen to his feet also. “Have you identified the leader of this cult? And what has been done to avenge the death of one of our own?”
“As is to be expected, some of my colleagues on the Council advocated immediate retaliatory action against this group.”
Fay could tell by Ari’s hesitation there was a ‘but’ coming.
“But…?” she prompted with consternation.
“Wiser heads prevailed,” Ari responded. “Politically, we can’t just march openly into a foreign land to exact retribution for a fallen comrade. Besides, we cannot take appropriate action before we fully kno
w what we are up against. We still know too little about the cult, in terms of its numbers, capabilities and objectives. Not to mention we have yet to positively identify the leader of the group, though in light of what we learned from Marit and Kenit, I have certain suspicions about that.”
“So Marit’s blood remains to be avenged!” It was meant to be a question, but it came out like an accusation. “Have the Council send me to Anzarmenia and I will swiftly rectify that.”
“Fay, I can see you’re angry and upset. But I don’t want to be side-tracked by a discussion about how the Order intends to address the issue of the cult in Anzarmenia. My purpose in telling you the circumstances of Marit’s death lies in how it relates to the impact it has had on Kenit; he is the Sanatsai I want you to help.”
“I don’t know Kenit.” The way she was feeling at that moment, she did not want to know him. “But why should I concern myself with someone who would abandon a fellow Sanatsai in a moment of dire need just to save his own neck? I cannot cure cowardice, Ari.”
Fay was shamed by the look of disappointment on Ari’s face. He almost certainly read the unspoken thought that flashed briefly through her mind as she said those words—that Kenit should have been the one to die, not Marit.
“As you said, Fay, you don’t know Kenit,” said Ari, sombrely. “He is not long past being a novitiate. He was inducted into the Order the year after you left for Antaris, so he’s only been a full-fledged Sanatsai for two years, now. The assignment to Anzarmenia was his first covert mission abroad, hence his inexperience.”
“Forgive me, Ari.” She stared shamefaced at her feet. “I didn’t mean to imply that I’m unsympathetic.” She looked back up at Ari. “I realise what Kenit went through must have been incredibly traumatic for him. Through no fault of his own he was placed in a situation far more dangerous than anticipated, and he was unprepared for it. I’m sure if Marit knew what was awaiting them in Anzarmenia he would not have risked placing Kenit in harm’s way.”