2025-02-06 17:00:55The walk to the secret meeting floor of the Great Nobles in the Archive's building was taking forever.
War is coming.
Archduchess Klare knew that better than anyone else. She had tried to avoid it but it was no use. Voyne was playing the entire Circle like a game of chess.
That man.
He had knowledge that was both forbidden and supposed to be forgotten. Soul signs? Only select Nobles apart from the Great Nobles knew that it existed. For him to know that, it chilled her to think from where he could have gotten that information. He then had the audacity to demand a blanket pardon and permission to use their forces to eliminate the Shards.
He was the reason she had visited the Archive the last time and now today. The last time was when he had mentioned the soul signs. She had rushed here to make sure that the Legend of the Goddess Benevolent had not been stolen. When she found it there, it was both relieving and disturbing. Relieving because in addition to the knowledge of the soul signs, there was one other forbidden knowledge in that book that Voyne must not know. It was disturbing because now, she did not know the source of his information.
Did a Great Noble betray the Circle? No, I shouldn't think of that.
Now she was here again for a meeting of the Seven. There were growing concerns among people of the different regions that their rulers weren't doing enough to protect them. On one hand, they did not have the strength to stop the Shards and on the other hand, they could not just roll over for Voyne because he had promised to defeat the Shards.
She knew that someone was pulling them like strings. But what could she do?
She wished she was free of all this responsibility. She thought of Sophia, who she just met. They were of the same age, yet Sophia was freer to do what she wished. She sighed.
She eventually reached the room and discovered she was the last of the Seven to arrive.
"Apologies for my lateness, My Lords. Let's begin."
"Honoured Nobles, We are here to discuss our next steps about the Shard problem." Archduke Huften said.
"We have three options available to us: First, diplomacy. Secondly, military intervention. Thirdly, We resort to…Voyne and his Church" He continued.
"Let's not forget, My Lords, options two and three are basically war. Can we afford that?" Klare said
"What we cannot afford is to let our people continue dying" Archduke Manning of Garth said, bitterly. His region, along with Rhyne, had been the most hit of all of the regions.
"I am tired of conducting mass burials. I want my people to look back on my rule and remember me as the Noble that took action, not the one that sat arms folded, when his people were threatened."
"What do you suggest?" Huften said
"Option three" Manning replied.
"Three? We can't go begging to someone below us! Option two is what I have been suggesting." Archduke Revner said.
"Option two isn't pratical." Archduke Orrbi said to the gathering. He turned to Klare "Voyne did say that they were reincarnated in human bodies. Hence they must possess a certain….intellect. Can't they be reasoned with?"
"Reason? After all this destruction? We are long past that!" Revner said.
"If we are to reason, we should reason with Voyne then." Archduke Juggen said.
"The First Seven would be disappointed to see that their descendants have dishonored their legacy by seeking help from….low lifes. What of our honour?" Huften said
"Our honor does not return life to dead people! You are wrong. The First Seven would be proud instead that in time of need we prioritized our people." Juggen replied
"We could use the Relic against them." Revner said
There was a pause. Everyone looked at Revner.
"T-The Relic?" Klare said.
"Isn't that forbidden?" Orrbi said.
"It would be forbidden if we were using it against each other or for evil. The vote has to be unanimous." Revner said.
"Can we even use that? I am not sure the Order would allow us take it." Archduke Soran said.
"They have to. It is a holy decree." Revner replied.
"We might even kill ourselves with Voyne if we use that thing" Juggen said.
"Talking it out is the safest way to deal with this situation" Orrbi restated his thoughts.
Manning sighed.
"To be honest, I do not care how this issue is resolved. I only care that it is solved. I only suggested option three because it is the only one that looks like an option to me. Diplomacy? Not practical. Military force? Our combined force just makes an ant in their eyes. If we cooperated with Voyne, maybe we could finally survive this." He said.
"Do you want to know my next program I have scheduled? It is a speech I am to deliver at a mass burial. Do not you think I am tired of those?" He finished. You could see the pain in his eyes.
"We are here to find a solution to that and we won't leave till it is sorted" Klare said.
The secret session continued.
*******
Sophia had been focusing on reading the Legend for the past few days. It was a collection of all the notable things the Goddess had done in great detail. One act after the other. It was also written poem-style and that made it quite boring. She had to fight sleep every time she opened the book. And only she out of their group could read the ancient language.
On the 3rd day after the Archive break in, she was on the beginning of another poem in the book. The War of the Gods.
It was a detailed description of the war of Shards she had read about in the Archive in the scroll Chronicles of the Age of Nobles.
She felt like skipping the entire poem already since she had a general overview of what happened from the scroll. Her eyelids were very heavy.
She read the beginning of the next line. What she saw made her sit up straight and open her eyes.
The Benevolent Goddess, Saintess Jerle–
Jerle?
Why did that name sound familiar?
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Mother?Sophia had to skip the Circle session. She just wasn’t herself since the conversation.When Voyne called her Mother, something woke in her. It was almost like she was used to hearing him say it.It woke some memories that she did not knew she had. Some felt a lot like they were hers while most felt…off. Like she borrowed those memories from someone else.In one of her memories, she was a child, somewhere. On some wide street, playing, holding a paper fan. There were lots of sounds, like a festival or some occasion going on.Some cloaked people approached her. With the exact same cloaks that the Soul Church adherents wore.The one in front of them knelt in front of her. He took off his hood and she looked into his eyes. She knew that face, knew those eyes.Voyne, looking exactly the same as the present day, took her hand and kissed it with a greeting.“Hail, Mother.”*******<
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Mother?Sophia had to skip the Circle session. She just wasn’t herself since the conversation.When Voyne called her Mother, something woke in her. It was almost like she was used to hearing him say it.It woke some memories that she did not knew she had. Some felt a lot like they were hers while most felt…off. Like she borrowed those memories from someone else.In one of her memories, she was a child, somewhere. On some wide street, playing, holding a paper fan. There were lots of sounds, like a festival or some occasion going on.Some cloaked people approached her. With the exact same cloaks that the Soul Church adherents wore.The one in front of them knelt in front of her. He took off his hood and she looked into his eyes. She knew that face, knew those eyes.Voyne, looking exactly the same as the present day, took her hand and kissed it with a greeting.“Hail, Mother.”*******<
