Light suddenly entered the room as Emmeline looked up and saw Renee finish opening the drapes in the room they shared in the Thalassan Quarter (meaning where the Thalassans were quartered, not a quarter of the city). She said, “wake up sleepy head!” in a joyful tone.
Emmeline slowly blinked awake. She smiled. “Someone sure is awake.”
She playfully hopped on the bed, saying, “Thanks for letting me go out. I met dozens of new friends and learned a lot about this place. Two of them, Demetrius and Persephone knew a form of Elven, and Charisima spoke decent Common. They said that you and Elemix were the talk of the party!”
Em chuckled. “I hope it was positive talk. And I’m glad you made some friends!”
She nodded, “for the most part yes. My guess is that no one has told us the actual truth because no one knows it. But I learned a lot about the Empress, the revolt, and what really drives people here. I think so at least. You and El may see it differently – they certainly see you two (and me) differently. ”
“Tell me,” Em said. She sat up and looked much more alert. “I’d really like to know what they are thinking.”
She said, “okay. So they are somewhat afraid of Elemix. Not due to the scarring, though that adds to the mystique. No they said he brought down the city wall of Sarnica or at least caused a breach. They say he used his magic to tunnel through and by himself dispatched the party sent after him. So they fear his power as a new kind of magic user. In this Empire, the Order of the Dragon is much like the Guild in so much they control magic, but their are no schools. A sorcerer, whom they call Magos, is as much a religious figure as a practitioner. So they see him as channeling the Gods – which their society is deeply interwoven. It is so…different. But another reason for the fear is that if he isn’t a Magos, perhaps Elemix is a Nekromantis – which I suppose is an evil mage of some kind, or worse yet a Skoúrosým, which is a hollow being who loans his body to dark powers. I told them that was ridiculous, that he was good guy, and really only was driven by a desire to do good. His wounds would heal and he’d be back to his old self. That wowed them more. I think they believe he regenerates – I did feed that a bit by telling them he’d be mostly dead three times already.”
She continued, “you on the other hand they called either a Pallakida which is a kept woman or concubine, an Etaira which is a high class courtesan, or possibly a Magissa which is a female Magos. So in Elemix’s case the rules for a magos is to assume they are exactly where they want to be, that they do not need or require anything special unless asked and if asked you obey as per your social class. For you it was less clear because as a Pallakida is was totally improper for you to be at the banquet without your ‘master’. As an Etaira you too should be at the side of your client making them look good versus being the center of attention. But as a Magissa you would be normally treated like the Magos, but you are way, way, way more talkative and engaging than the typical Magissa. So they really did not know what to make of either of you.”
“But since you were invited by Kirix Isocrates Viator to the banquet, and he told your stories they eventually just settled on both of you being xenomagos – or outlander mages – with him being an agent of destruction and you an agent of deception, for what you did to the city – which they fully seemed to endorse. I told them that you really were an entertainer at heart, they laughed and did not believe me because once they figured out your were a magical mistress of a noble the only thing they could call you was a Kyrke, a seductive servant of the dark goddess of magic Chthonia. A kind of hedge priestess or mage. It just didn’t make sense to them that you would be out here without any male attachments. Then I said you two were cousins and it all made a bit more sense to them, but still very unusual.”
Emmeline laughed and began to get dressed for the day. “Well from their point of view, it is all close enough. I don’t see any harm in any of the speculation they made. After all, we are strange and foreign. I’m just glad they don’t view us with any sort of hostility.
“That said, as soon as Amelie’s dress is finished, we should leave. Meet with Typhon and go to Azenkul straight after that.”
“It is too bad. I kind of like it here – at least to visit. They don’t judge me for not being full-blooded Thalassan, or full-blooded Elf, or full-blooded Danaean. I’m not a mutt in their eyes, or a feral country kid, but exotic and unique. We could go far here I think, if we chose to. I know we won’t though. I might impulsively go out and explore the city, but in the end home and family are first. Anyways, I need to help Mara once we return.”
“It’s important to take what we learn and see with us, in our minds and hearts. The best things we experience might inspire us to achieve something at home,” Emmeline said.
“For example, I see myself settling more and more into the role of a peacemaker. That’s the role the Baroness wants me to take with the refugees that have settled in the western marches. And though I feel that my attempts have often been doomed, I wonder now if things might have been far worse had I not intervened. Here in Serentium, I feel like I helped to save a lot of lives and that matters to me. It’s not my place to judge who is right or wrong in the struggles here, but I think it is proper and right to step in and offer aid when people are really in need, regardless of who they are. Even if it won’t always go perfectly.
“That you are absorbing fascinating cultural details will only serve to give you a greater perspective of the world and your place in it. Not to mention the fact that your wider experience will serve to make you even more interesting to people at home.”
Emmeline finished dressing, but wasn’t in any particular hurry. She sat on the bed and relaxed.
“I can see that. For myself I am a hunter. I’m really good at that, but what I’m not as good at is hunting for information in the urban world. I mean I can do so in a smaller place like Derrien, but in the big city I feel a bit over my head. Not everything is skulking for clues. Some is listening and talking.” she said.
“Those things come with practice — and interest of course.” Emmeline smiled. “Or you just get good at figuring out who is good at the things you are not and getting them to tell you.” Em laughed.
She smiled, “indeed! But you know I’m not interested in court or manners or all that in and of themselves; but maybe I see some value in knowing it as a weapon. I’ve always been impulsive, I know that. But I’ve also always been driven and never give up. What mistakes I’ve made, I’d like to think I’ve learned from them. I don’t think I’ve made a mistake in not being a lady-in-waiting; but I do think I missed the boat on acting as one to learn. I think, to be honest I can be more than a good scout and hunter, but a good spy and information gatherer. It is another kind of hunt.”
“Good,” Emmeline said. “And you should go for it. I can help.”
“Great! Where do we start?,” she asked.
“The best place to start would be on our home court,” Emmeline said. “Uzec.”
“Really? I already know the underground of Uzec – there isn’t any. But isn’t court just the Baroness and a few advisors?” she asked.
“Court is all the nobles and gentry that owe fealty to the Margrave. It’s also important to understand the relationships between all of them, the Duke and his family, as well as the connections the nobility has throughout the periphery. What I have found is that politics doesn’t remain local when dealing with noble families. There are connections and consequences that reach beyond the borders of the barony and Calder marches. I’m still discovering these, myself, since I am really only present at home for short periods.”
“The act of politics bores me. The acting of it, that is interesting. I’m never going to be Lady Rivanon or Magus Alix plotting and maneuvering. But I might want to know how the whispers happen, what the help does and learn ways to play the game to help my charge protect themselves. Maybe we do start small though.”
“That’s good then. So how are we getting home? Elemix mentioned Azankuul.” she asked.
“Yes. Teleportation again, I’m afraid, right into the heart of that hellish place. But he says he has something that will allow us to move immediately to a less dangerous section of Azankuul.” Her tone expressed her doubts as to whether there really was any such thing as less or more dangerous. It was all unknown. How does an ancient bit of magic know whether a certain place is not dangerous? “I’ve had a lot of misgivings about it, but in the end I agreed to try it because I trust him.”
“I’ve been on the mountain twice now. Only part-way up as part of my scouting for the Baroness. What you can’t really see from the west side is the collapsed eastern cone, the many crevasses, and the shear falls. Getting down will require a lot of equipment – unless we all fly I suppose.” she said.
Emmeline said, “I don’t fall anymore.” Another gift from Mara — she could be light as a breeze if she wanted. “And the way you hop from tree to tree, I should think you’ll have no trouble either. We’ll only need to worry about Nigel, Typhon and Elemix.”
“The hopping is a bit of a trick, takes a lot out of me; but I’m usually good with keeping my feet. Elemix can fly for a limited time, so that will help if he falls. I don’t know about Nigel or Typhon but I’d guess not. Also, what if Vorn comes with us? What if we bring his betrothed? What if we bring others?” she asked.
“Others? Like who?” Em suspected she knew what Renee meant.
“The other rebels. You all mentioned others that Vorn was with. I don’t know who they are exactly. Taking a larger group like that would be hard to do, even if we relayed it. That said, large armed groups do tend to keep the random monsters away.” she mused. “If they are refugees, that’s a different matter.”
“Still, no one here has ever seen mountains like Azenkuul or the even larger ones beyond,” she added. “I doubt they even know what snow is.”
Em gave her a look. “Do you think it’s a good idea to bring an enchantress of very formidable power and her devoted cadre of rebels home to Uzec?”
“Nope. Would be ‘stupid’ as Vorn says. I’ve learned a lot more about their fight and both sides are mental. Thalassa and Uzec should stay out of it.” she replied.
Emmeline said, “Precisely. So we won’t be taking any of those Vorn was with. Anyway, this is their struggle and I don’t think they are of a mind to give up and go away.”
“No. They won’t. It is a religious thing as much as political. When the gods are involved, all bets are off. ” Renee nodded.
“Mm hm. I have a lot of experience with people of religious bent not giving up,” Emmeline said. “Unfortunately.”
Renee nodded, “apparently the last few emperors have followed a belief that images of the gods were an affront to the holy. Everyone here believes that St Johanna is actually a direct voice of the gods and they take her admonishment, ‘we cannot know the faces of the gods, to do so is folly and an attempt to raise man to be gods or lower gods to be man.’ People here like their idols. Since the Aaithine have no images of Aarith, the belief was tolerated, but all others were told to remove their images or be declared heretics. The first thing this new Empress did was to bring back the images – at least that’s what I understand. It sparked the civil war, or helped to spark it. At least that is what my friends said. For the record, they like the Empress a lot. Apparently some of the statues in the city and large paintings are of her, not famous people, generals, or gods.”
“I’m discovering that all the great politicians here are very good at public relations, be it oratory or manipulation or both,” Emmeline said. “It’s something I have been paying attention to. I aspire to much the same but am very careful to avoid using magical power to that end. That leads to very strong opinions and labels that are hard to remove in our homeland.”
“Father said we are descended from people who thought magic should be in service of the people and available by merit, not blood. Here, I don’t know.” she replied. “I do know that their government is pretty much a single person, everything else is fiction.”
Emmeline shook her head. “No government is a single person. A single head, yes. But she has many supporters and people that keep the machinery of government in motion. Each person under her has aspirations within the organization she heads.”
“Well, I guess we won’t be sticking around to learn more.”
Em shook her head. “I’m afraid not.”