Efrin smiled. “I guess you are correct. Thanks for always listening to me, Kardra. Of all my mother’s house staff, you are my favorite.”
Kardra giggled and pinched him lightly on the cheek. “Hurry and finish your breakfast now, the teller is waiting!”
When they ventured out into the inner courtyard of the compound, the teller was already there, sitting on a flat rock by the stone garden. Isryk wore the customary green tunic and he always brought along his leather bag containing the telling stones that would be used for that day. The passing of age had lost most of his hair, leaving one or two wispy strands of white that studded his mostly bare scalp. He held up a skeletal hand in greeting as soon as he saw the boy coming down the stone steps that led to the upper levels of the villa.
The teller made a gap toothed smile as the boy sat down opposite him. “A good day to you, master Efrin. Shall we begin our lessons?”
Efrin bowed his head slightly. “I am sorry for being late, teller.”
Isryk chuckled. “Not at all. I am an old man, and I do enjoy the tranquility of the stone gardens in this place. My dwelling near the slave pits is a noisy slum, and I hardly get any sleep at times because of the constant disturbances in the area. With a house as rich and powerful as yours, and being situated in the noble’s quarter of the city, one can get the rest and quiet which I yearn for. But enough about me, let us continue with our previous lessons. Do you still remember what we last discussed a few days back?”
The boy nodded as he took out a small carving pen from his own pack, along with a few flat limestone pieces that had been etched with notes. “We last talked about the city and how the society within it works. You were about to tell me the origins of Lethe, but we ran out of time.”
“Very good,” Isryk said. “As we discussed before, Lethe is considered to be the first city, the one center of humanity. It was here that we learned how to be civilized, to be better than the beasts of the wastes, and it is through the legends of this city that gives the people hope. All the other cities across the world came about through the direct influence of Lethe. There have been rumors amongst the merchants, that once the trade routes have been reestablished then it shall come to pass that all the other cities will pay tribute to us once more.” He noticed that the boy seemed troubled. “What is it?”
“I am not quite certain,” Efrin said. “But I remember another teller stating that Lethe was the final city, and all the other cities had been swallowed up by the wastes.”
Isryk frowned. “Nonsense! That is but a lie, Lethe is not the last city but the first one! Who is this renegade teller that spewed these distortions to you? I will lodge a complaint with the Watchers and he will be whipped within an inch of his life!”
“I … I seem to have forgotten his name,” Efrin said softly. “All I remember was his kind words to me and his many stories.”
Isryk made a loud snort. “I shall ask the house staff here and find out who this previous teller of yours was. This dishonest man, whoever he is, has filled your mind with uncountable blasphemies. Now, let us continue with lessons. As everyone knows, the radiant city of Lethe was founded by the Gorgons. These beautiful sisters, who happened to be triplets, were given the gift of civilization, and they in turn gave away these gifts to mortal humans such as we. Everything from how to cultivate the various strains of shrooms, to the farming of algae, writing glyphs, erecting the temples to venerate the gods, constructing houses, walls and towers. All this was given freely. But the gift of civilization also carried the seeds of its own destruction. For every blessing there was a curse. Like the spokes of a bone wheel, everything has its opposite. Music and festivities have insults and lies as their counterparts. The arts of negotiation and peace can be contrasted by war and murder. The building of great monuments can be opposed by siege machines and earthquakes. All must be accepted, for we could not choose just the ones we wanted. The lesson here is that everything has its price.”
Efrin looked confused. “The Gorgons founded Lethe? But I was told that the Gorgons were terrible beings, gods who enslaved humans and burned cities to the ground.”
Isryk’s eyebrows shot up. He had been told that the boy’s recent trauma had made him forgetful, and it was his task to re-educate any gaps in Efrin’s memory, but he did not anticipate this. “What? You mind is filled with falsehoods! The Gorgons were higher beings who helped us. Everything you see around you exists because of their acts of selflessness and heroism. Without the Three Sisters, us humans would have followed the oceans into extinction.”
“What about the tales of Kaelr? Did he not free us from the Gorgons and their enslavement?”
Isryk’s visage turned from alarm to complete dismay. “Kaelr the traitor? May his name and memory burn in the hells of the afterlife! He was the Gorgon’s greatest general, yet he betrayed the Three Sisters and nearly killed them. Kaelr was a renegade Magus who became jealous of mankind’s prosperity and happiness. He was born of incest between another Magus and his sister, who was a Striga. That traitor embraced the dark gifts and he brought about ruin for all. The Age of Darkness came about because of him, boy.”
Efrin scratched the back of his blond head. All the tales he remembered were completely opposite from what he was being told. “But if Kaelr was just a Magus, then how could he have defeated the Gorgons?”
Isryk hissed. “He recruited lots of evil and selfish men, men who wanted power no matter what the cost. Kaelr even seduced one of the Three Sisters and for awhile, swayed her to his cause. What is so sad about this tale is that so many rallied by his side. It was as if mankind was split into two, and so many fell to his corrupted ways. The entire world suffered as a result of their folly.”
“But how could Kaelr even match his strength against the Gorgons? From what I remember the Gorgons had both the powers of mindforce and the mindsense. How would he even believe that he could win against such beings?”
The teller shrugged. “We do not know the exact events of what transpired. The past has come and gone, and we cannot remember the details. But what is important is the message. We know that Kaelr was ultimately defeated, and the Gorgons ascended back to the place of the gods. But before the Three Sisters left us, they commanded that the Magi must sacrifice their loins and the Strigas must belong to a great house, lest another traitor like Kaelr come about. That was their final commandment, and we have abided by their ways ever since. Did your unfaithful teller say otherwise?”
Efrin pursed his lips. “It ended the same way I suppose. All the oceans dried up and all the plants died.”
Isryk winked at him. “Not all the plants have died out, boy. So it seems that your old teller was indeed lying to you after all.” He pointed at the bits of green still on the boy’s lip. “Lethe is blessed for we can still grow the otus plant. It is the one remaining of its kind that has survived the War of the Gorgons. They grow like the algae and the shrooms, but they need sunlight in addition to fertilizers and water. The otus plants consume a tremendous amount of water, almost as much as we humans do, and so their cultivation is very expensive, and only noble families like yours could afford such a luxury.”
The boy looked away. “I have forgotten about my house. I do not remember anything about it from any part of my memories. Not even my mother.”
Isryk looked around nervously before whispering back to him. “Do not say such things out loud, boy. Your mother is the matriarch of one of the most powerful families of Lethe. She is indeed your parent and she must always be respected, especially when the servants and slaves are within earshot. The worst thing a son can do is to disrespect his family.”
Efrin understood. It was best not to air his concerns out loud. The boy figured he would at least be able to tell Kardra though, for she never told on him. “My ordeal was so horrible that I have forgotten, can you please tell me more about my family and the other great houses of Lethe?”
“Of course,” Isryk said. He was glad that the boy was no longer contradictin
g him. “Your family is House Kentis. The heads of the great families usually fall to the mothers, and they are always called by their titles, which is the matriarch. Every matriarch is a Striga, and the traditions state that any Striga who is not a member of one of the great houses must be stripped of her power, for only the women in the ruling families may ever be Strigas.”
The boy was intrigued now. “How does one strip a Striga of their power?”
Isryk swiveled his head sideways and pointed a finger to the back of his skull. “The healers of Lethe are highly skilled. They use a metal instrument to bore a hole in a Striga’s skull and take out a piece of the brain that holds the power of Vis. Once the operation is done, that person will become an ordinary woman.”
“Can the same thing be done with a Magus to strip him of his power?”
“Perhaps,” the teller said. “But I have never seen or heard it done successfully on a man that had the power of Vis. Every time that the healers attempted such a thing it ended in disaster- either the Magus died or he was turned into a mindless cripple.”
“So if only members of the great houses can have Strigas, it means that if there were freedmen or slaves that have daughters with the power of Vis, then they all must be subjected to that kind of torture?” Efrin asked.
“It is not torture, young master, but necessity,” Isryk said. “Strigas can become very dangerous if there are too many of them. There have been many tales of these Vis users turning insane due to the voices that they could not shield their minds against. The Magi were hard pressed at one point when they attempted to capture renegade Strigas that had been hidden away by their parents. Every single story ended in disaster, and much blood was shed. If a family knowingly harbors a Striga, then their entire line shall be extinguished. That is the law.”
“But if Strigas are so dangerous, then why are the great houses allowed to have them?”
“Because the matriarchs are skilled in the use of their mindsense, and they teach their gifted children as to how to use their Vis properly,” Isryk said. “But all hope is not lost with the freemen and slave castes. When a matriarch is unable to bear daughters with the power of Vis, then they may adopt a promising girl child that has the power and raise them as their own. Many poor families hope that a daughter is born with such abilities, so that they could petition one of the great houses to adopt them. Matriarchs have been known to lavish gifts to the parents of these lucky children. In a way, it is similar to how the Magi Order recruits new blood, for any boy child with the power of the mindforce is to be brought over to the temple of Vis, the headquarters of the Magi Order, there to be raised and inducted into their brotherhood.”
“So it is possible that a matriarch is descended from slaves rather than from the blood of the great houses?”
“Yes,” Isryk said. “But a matriarch that is a descendant from the slave or freemen castes must still marry, and bear children to one who is of the same blood of the house they have been adopted to though, so that it ensures that the original noble bloodline does not go extinct.”
“I see,” the boy said. “How did the great houses come about?”
“Just before the Gorgons left our world, they had sired a number of daughters who were born as Strigas,” Isryk said. “These women founded their own families and in turn founded the great houses of Lethe. Your own House Kentis, for example, claims descent from the third Gorgon whose name has been lost in time, like her sisters. The great houses are very important when it comes to running the city, for without them the whole population would fall into chaos. As long as the great houses continue to administer the day to day tasks to the other castes, then the city of Lethe shall continue to prosper.”
“How do the great houses run the city?” Efrin asked.
Isryk smiled as he tapped the side of his head. “Now it has come for you to use your own reasoning and logic to deduce the answers to that question. Do you remember your previous lessons when we discussed the layout of Lethe?”
Efrin thought about it for a minute. “Yes, the noble’s district is located at the hilly side of the city.”
The teller gave a nod. “Correct. We are currently at the highest elevation of the city, all the other districts are below us, with the slave pits and runoffs at the lowest portion of all. Why do you think that is so?”
“I-I am not sure,” the boy said.
“Think, young master,” Isryk said. “What do you believe the lifeblood of Lethe is?”
“The people?”
“That is somewhat true,” Isryk said. “But what do the people need in order to live?”
Efrin briefly looked away before turning to look at the old man once more. “Food?”
“Yes! You are now getting closer,” Isryk said. “What do you need to cultivate the food you find on your plate?”
Efrin beamed. “Water!”
“Very good,” the teller said. “And what does water do when you place it on top of a mountain?”
“It flows downhill,” Efrin said. “So the great houses of Lethe are powerful because they have a source of water then.”
Isryk clapped his hands. “Excellent! You have finally understood. One must realize that the lifeblood of any city is the constant supply of food and materials in order to keep it functioning. Water is life, and humans and their food supplies need it constantly. There is in fact an underground spring that is located underneath the hills of the noble’s district, and it is from this spring that gives the nobles the means to control all other aspects of the city. House Kentis in particular, has got the largest outflow from this subterranean spring. The water sellers of your house are widely considered to be the best skilled at selling this precious resource to the other parts of Lethe. Because your family has got the largest water reserves, House Kentis is also the primary growers of the otus tree, that wondrous plant that you find on your plate every day. Your family owns the largest plots in the garden district, and your gardeners are most skilled in cultivating that crop.”
“This spring, does every great house have access to it?”
“Yes, but the overflow varies,” Isryk said. “Your family is fortunate that it has the best of the lot. If you venture into the cellars of this house, you will find that there are slaves working day and night to harness the flow of water down there.”
The boy looked down. “I am not allowed to go down to the cellars.”
Isryk smirked as he leaned forward and gave the boy an affectionate touch on his forearm. “Worry not, young master. In due time I am sure that your mother will show you the underground areas. Who knows, perhaps I might even convince her one of these days to accompany you down there, as part of your lessons.”
Efrin’s demeanor instantly changed back to enthusiasm once more. “Would you? I will do anything just to explore what’s down below. I also wish to see the other parts of the city as well. Ever since the event they said I had suffered, I have not been allowed to venture out of this place. I feel like a prisoner here!”
Isryk made a calming gesture with his open palm. “Silence, young master. You must not let the others hear what you are saying right now. Have patience, for I shall do what I can to give you that opportunity. In the meantime, you must forget all those lies that were taught to you and believe in my teachings. Once your mother sees that you are making progress, I am sure she will lessen her concerns and allow you to travel around the city once more.”
Efrin nodded. He sensed that there was something odd about all this, but it was better to play along rather than resist. “You are right, master teller. All this talk about the great houses is also interesting. If my family controls most of the water supplies, then would that not make us the most powerful house in Lethe?”
Isryk wagged a finger at him. “The city may need water, but it also needs a lot of other things. If the people’s needs for food and water are satisfied, what else does a city require in order to function?”
“I am guessing that the whole place needs a protecto
r so that there is someone to guard against beasts and marauders?”
“Well the protection is done by the City Watch, but we just call them the Watchers for short,” the teller said. “Between them and the Order of Magi, the city is more or less protected against those that would rob and kill. You must remember our previous lessons. What do people in a city need in order to conduct business?”
Efrin’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh, now I remember! We need gold in order to pay wages to the freemen caste.”
The old man nodded. “Good! Yes, we use gold coins as a medium of exchange. Gold is a precious resource and can only be mined from the ground. The mines happen to be located in the slave pits, and which house controls that area?”
“House Aranida,” Efrin said. “My mother says that they control all the mines. So if they own all the means of extracting gold, then they must control the city’s banks?”
Isryk clapped again. “Correct! Of all my pupils I feel you are the most intelligent of them all, young master. Your mother will not like that I am telling you all this, but House Aranida is considered to be the most powerful of the great houses in Lethe. Can you use your mind to deduce why?”
“If they control the banks, then all the money flows through them, just like most of the water flows through my family’s house,” Efrin said. “That gives them a lot of power since they can pay for anything they want.”
“Exactly,” the teller said. “Not only does House Aranida pay out gold to the freemen, they also help finance the City Watch. When you are paying the Watchers, it gives you certain … privileges that other citizens of Lethe do not have. There is also one other aspect of owning all the mines that makes them practically unassailable, can you guess as to what it is?”
The boy was lost in thought once more before answering moment later. “If they own all the mines, then they might also find other metals besides gold?”
City of Delusions (The Dying World Book 2) Page 3