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  Chapter 11 – Dochia / Kasia

  It was Baraki’s first visit to the Sanctuary. Like every other visitor, he was speechless at the vastness of the main dome, and felt his lips parting on their own will. With some effort, he closed his mouth before the priests smirked in his face. Pretending to be unobservant, Meriaduk did what he did best, manipulate his guest.

  “What you see now is a map of the world,” the High Priest said, preparing to rotate the red sphere in front of him, the size of a child’s head.

  Before he could do so, Baraki turned abruptly toward Dochia. “What is a Wanderer doing here?” he barked.

  “She is an apprentice priestess. Let me show you the Map.”

  “How did she get here? We can’t allow the Wanderers to plant their Lights in Nerval.”

  “I was tested with the Maletera,” Dochia said and gave Baraki a long look. “Were you tested too?”

  “I am the Seer of the Realm,” Baraki boasted. “And I did not permit you to speak. How safe is the test?” He fumbled with the ends of his moustaches, and turned toward Meriaduk.

  “No one can hide from the power of the Maletera.”

  “We should test Baraki too. Half a year ago, he was supposed to be the Seer of Fate. A famous man in their camp.” Infamous would be the right word. Poisoner. Traitor.

  “You bitch,” Baraki growled, and advanced menacing toward Dochia. His advance was slow.

  “You are too old for such games.” Dochia released the barrette and one of her daggers flashed into view. Baraki slowed even more. Then he stood still. “And why are you afraid of the test, Baraki? A Seer should be fearless. And the Seer of the Serpent has nothing to fear from the Maletera. I would have expected you to volunteer for the test, to show us that you are no longer working for Fate.” You are the main danger for the Realm now, Baraki. You have the army of Arenia and you want the nomads too. Perhaps less dangerous if Meriaduk can control you through the Maletera.

  Test Baraki… That is quite a good idea. Why did I not think about it before? Meriaduk pondered, and took a sharp intake of breath.

  Baraki’s face stretched tight, skin turning red; his mouth standing rigid.

  “I can alleviate your worries, Dochia.” A voice spoke at the same time as an unfamiliar face appeared in her vision. The apparition was not like Ai, or the working of the Maletera; it was more like the appearances of the Last Empress. “I am Nabal, the Last Emperor. Baraki is the Seer of the Serpent.”

  “You worked with the Last Empress. You were...” Dochia felt a frisson of fear, and she paused, as though wondering what she could say that he did not know.

  “You have a strong mind.” And you kept your will after being tested... Nabal frowned and the High Priest appeared in the vision too. “Meriaduk, aren’t her reactions impressive for someone whose mind was touched by the Maletera?” One corner of his mouth curled up in a cold smile. His eyes narrowed.

  Meriaduk shrugged his shoulders, squeezed his lips together like he was thinking about it. He was pleased by Nabal’s tightness. They were allies. They were not friends. “Dochia has more liberty than the others, and in six months, she will become a full priestess. She serves me well. Why is Baraki afraid of being tested?”

  “There is no need to test the Seer.” You want to bypass me and deal directly with the Serpent, but you are too weak. Mordanek was the only one able to do that, but you are still trying. He was strong enough to reopen the Sanctuary. You can’t even activate a Maletera; you can open just a few doors, High Priest.

  “You achieved much with the Last Empress,” Dochia said. “You divided the Alban Empire between you.” As she spoke, Meriaduk vanished from sight, and she was alone with Nabal, in the vision.

  “That’s quite an old story. We worked well together, indeed, but she is too anchored in the past. The Serpent promised us a faster path than Fate. We need it. In the last four thousand years, the world has become a stagnant place. All the new civilizations have built on the previous ones, and they have built less and less. Nothing new has been created. Things can’t go like this forever.”

  “Maybe we should try a more … peaceful path.”

  “We need to purge some old bones from the continent. We need fresh blood, fresh rules and fresh rulers. You have strange thoughts for an apprentice priestess of the Serpent.”

  I must be careful. “There is no need to waste useful resources; the population is still a fraction of what it was during the Empire, and Baraki is not really a builder.”

  “Oh, no,” Nabal laughed. “He is a destroyer. Why do you think we chose such an old Seer? We don’t want him to destroy too much.”

  “With the Arenian and Khadate armies under his command, he doesn’t need much time.”

  “Perhaps. Meriaduk was right, you have an interesting mind, and we may collaborate in future. I will keep an eye on you.” Nabal smiled, his eyes fixed on her, and she frowned at him, but he only smiled wider.

  I should have kept my mouth shut, Dochia thought when Nabal had vanished, and her mind returned to the dome. Baraki threw a murderous stare at her, but kept his mouth shut. Did Nabal tame him? she wondered.

  “The Map,” Meriaduk said, and flashed a brief smile at Baraki. “What place do you want to see?”

  “My Farsight can see things twenty miles away,” Baraki boasted and looked at the High Priest the way you look at an insect in the grass.

  “My Map can see the whole world. What place do you want to see?” Meriaduk repeated.

  “Frankis.”

  The High Priest moved his finger on the smooth surface in front of him, then rotated the red sphere. “That’s Peyris,” he said, the voice of a teacher speaking to a small child, and the city appeared as being seen from the peak of a high mountain. “We can see a city, a mountain, or an army moving on the ground.”

  “An army,” Baraki whispered, rubbing his chin. “Can we see a person too?”

  “Perhaps. What person to you have in mind?”

  Baraki opened his mouth. And closed it.

  “I think I know,” Meriaduk chuckled without humor. “You are afraid of Codrin. He may become soon the Seer of Fate. Nabal told me. You don’t have the mind of a king, Baraki. You have the mind of an usurper.”

  “Can you find him?” Baraki swallowed his pride.

  “I can show any place that we already have on the paper maps. If you know where Codrin is, I can show him to you. Why are you afraid of him? The Seer of the Serpent must be fearless.”

  “You know nothing about war and ruling, priest. There is no need to send an army when a team of Assassins can eliminate him. The army will go after his death and conquer the land for me.”

  “For the Serpent.” You are just a tool Baraki. I represent the Serpent here, and there is no need for you after the land is taken. Even Nabal agreed with this. “You will conquer the land for the Serpent.” Meriaduk’s voice roughened as he spoke. “I will give you a chance to find Codrin. The Map can link you to the place it shows. Use your Farsight, and find the man you fear.”

  The veins on Barakis’s neck bulged, and he pressed his tongue into his lower lip. His face reddened. “Stop babbling and make the link,” he snapped.

  “The link to Peyris is already done. Use your mind. The Seer should have such a thing. A tiny one perhaps.”

  Eyes locked, the Seer and the High Priest glared at each other in icy silence, the atmosphere heavy with their seething fury.

  “Slap them.” Nabal appeared alone in Dochia’s vision.

  “They act like brainless bulls, but they must agree on their own will.” Pray that it never happens.

  “Why?”

  “Such old bulls don’t get tamed until they break a horn or two. That’s not much damage, and they need to learn together. You will see. Old men know many things, but they are afraid to learn new ones. Give them the opportunity, or we must build walls between them.”

  “Be careful, Dochia,” Nabal warned and vanished from her vision.

  Bar
aki’s eyes were bulging, but he was the first to look away, and Meriaduk smiled thinly. Mouth tight closed, the Seer of the Serpent concentrated on his Farsight. One minute passed, then another one. “I can’t,” he blurted. “Something is blocking my Farsight.”

  “I blocked his Farsight,” Ai chuckled in Dochia’s mind. “He is as bad as Meriaduk, and I felt that you wanted to stop him.”

  “Perhaps the dome is blocking you.” Dochia struggled to suppress her amusement, looking at Baraki. “It was built deep underground, and has no windows.”

  Baraki blinked at her for a moment, then he scowled. “You are right.” He spoke fast, his words almost unintelligible.

  “I will give you a tablet,” Meriaduk said, and picked one from the table on his right. “It is linked to the Map, and you can use it from your room. The Serpent has great powers, Baraki. You just started to understand them. One of my priest will teach you how to use the tablet, but there is no way that you can use it alone.” The priest flashed a large smile, staring at the Seer in a way which seemed calculated to make him even more uncomfortable.

  Baraki paused to think with his mouth half open. Then he snapped it shut. “Very well.”

  “Don’t worry, Dochia,” Ai said when she returned to her room, sensing her worries, “Nabal can enter only the two largest domes in the Sanctuary.”

  “Why?” Dochia asked surprised that such a powerful entity could be restrained.

  “The Sanctuary is a special place.”

  You are teasing me again. “Is the Empress able to come here too?”

  “Yes, with the same restrictions as Nabal, but why would she?”

  “Perhaps to gather information.”

  “She was here in the past, trying to convince Mordanek, the Great Priest, to close the Sanctuary.”

  “She failed, then.” Dochia felt anxiety pressing on her. “And I suppose that Nabal can visit our house outside the Sanctuary.”

  “Yes.”

  “I should not have provoked him.”

  “What you did today will prove useful in the future. I feel it. There is some rivalry between him and Meriaduk. Nabal may find you useful, and there is a limit to his power to wander around the world. Usually, he needs an anchor to reach your house or any other place on the ground. He needs to connect to you, or to other people in your house. And maybe to Umbra too. He can’t do this without the person who is the anchor knowing what’s happening.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes, Dochia. That’s how it works. To travel without an anchor requires a level of energy that drains him. He would not be able to spy more than a few seconds on you, and he will feel like an exhausted old mule. The same is true for the Empress too, though she is a little stronger than Nabal. Even in the upper spheres there are limitations. And there are rules.”

  ***

  Once the commotion following Kasia’s escape from the Sanctuary had died down, twice a week, on a sunny day, Irina, Dochia’s youngest guard, took her for a walk in the forest behind their house. She was not much older than Kasia, and they got on well together. It was mid-autumn, and the leaves of the maple trees and beeches in the forest had exploded in myriad warm tones: red and orange, violet and tangerine. Kasia had not visited this forest before, as their house was on the other side of the city, but she was used to the vivid colors of autumn covering the land. For Irina, the autumn forest was a marvel – there were no maple trees in Frankis. The forest was not a crowded place. Now and then, children and old people came and went, looking for firewood. In the summer, they hunted for mushrooms too but, because of the cold, there were no mushrooms in autumn. Nerval was built at the edge of the taiga, the large blanket of forest covering two continents.

  “Training?” Irina asked, scanning the forest; there was no one around them.

  “Training.” Kasia smiled; she was smiling much more than in the past. She was far from a trained Wanderer, but her skills were improving. When Dochia had tested the girl, she found good coordination and speed in her. And a strong will too. In the house, or in the forest, Kasia trained hard and never complained. Any girl walking on the streets of Nerval knew the value of being able to defend herself. It was a dangerous city. Lawless.

  After an hour, both of them were tired, and lay on the grass. Content, Kasia smiled. She saw Irina as the sister she had never had and, for the first time since her parents had died, she felt part of a family. Still smiling, Kasia picked up a large maple leaf from the ground. “These are my favorite autumn colors.” She spread her palm, mimicking the lobes of the leaf, which was twice the size of her hand. The leaf was mostly a palette of violet nuances with tangerine borders. “I want to kill Meriaduk with my own hands.” She tightened her palm in a fist over the leaf. And my brother. He sold me to that monster. She did not voice her thought, unwilling to let Irina think she was obsessed with revenge.

  “You are courageous,” Irina said, her eyes joyful, and tapped Kasia’s head. “We should return, now.”

  “I would like to stay a while longer. I’ve always enjoyed this part of autumn.”

  Irina scanned the forest again, but they were still alone. “Mira has to go to the market and wants me to wait for Dochia. Don’t stay long.”

  Alone, Kasia walked absently, letting the warmth of the day bathe her. It was one of those rare days that felt more like late summer. Perhaps the last one before the first freeze would touch Nerval – the Fools’ Summer, people called such days. Caught in her own thoughts, Kasia was slow to notice the four men advancing through the forest; now she was on her guard. Pretending to be unaware, she changed course slightly, walking a little faster. They changed course too. She walked further, her eyes ranging left and right, searching for an escape. The bush, she thought, and changed her course again. Once the dense bush was between her and the men, she ran. After a while, she turned her head, but the men were not yet in sight. Too late, she saw the other two men blocking her path, and too late she recognized them. A hard punch in the stomach forced the air from her, and she fell to her knees. Another blow and she felt nothing more. The men pulled a bag over her head. It was long enough to cover her thin body completely. They tied the bag, and one of them carried her like a rolled carpet on his shoulder. She recovered consciousness when they dropped her like a piece of merchandise on a hard wooden floor. Rough hands pulled at her, dragging her out of the bag, making her kneel.

  “Little sister, I did not expect to see you so soon.” Iovon looked at her with a cold smile on his lips. “I had to return the money when you ran away from the temple.” He came closer and slapped her hard.

  Without looking at him, Kasia touched her bloodied lips. “What kind of man sells his own sister? You are worse than a rat.” Her voice cracked, and her lips pained, but she felt better.

  Iovon slapped her again, only this time he slapped the air. She ducked, her hands on the floor, and her foot sprang up, kicking him in the crotch, a move that Irina had taught her. Iovon wailed, and fell to his knees, next to her, his eyes wide. Before the stunned men in the room could react, she jumped to her feet, and kicked his face with her heavy winter boot. This time, Iovon fell in silence, and lay on the floor, unconscious, among three lost teeth.

  “The priests will not like it if you harm me,” Kasia said, looking around at the four men in the room. “And if this rat sold his own sister, how long until he kills or sells you too? Eh? Tell me.”

  “Take Kasia upstairs and lock her in the small room,” Gresha said.

  It took Iovon ten minutes to wake up, and he needed Gresha’s help to sit up. “I will kill that bitch,” he mumbled, feeling something wrong in his mouth. He tested the gap between his teeth with his tongue and anger exploded inside him. “I will kill her. Now.” He tried to stand, but Gresha’s arm kept him seated.

  “I’ve sent a courier to the temple, to tell the priests she is here. They may come to take her this evening. You don’t want to mess with them.”

  “Since when are you telling me what to do?�
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  Gresha shrugged. “You told us that you had found a man for Kasia, not that you sold her to the priests.”

  “I don’t need to explain anything to you.”

  “The men are not pleased. We do bad things, but we don’t sell our people, much less a relative.” Gresha was their cousin.

  “Get out,” Iovon snarled, his face locked in a frown of deep suspicion.

  Confined in the small room, Kasia sat on the floor, leaning against the wall, arms clasped around her knees. “Iovon will give me back to the priests,” she whispered. “They will torture me again and use that evil thing to find out what happened. They will torture Dochia, too. Because of me.” Her last words ended in a bitter sob. How could I be so stupid?

  The man they sent to the temple returned late in the evening. The soldiers at the gate did not want to talk to him. Relieved, Gresha went up to talk with Kasia.

  “My man was sent back by the priests. He will go again tomorrow. I brought you something to eat,” Gresha said, guilt in his voice and, crouching in front of her, he placed a plate of food on the floor. “I cooked it myself.”

  “Your man?” Kasia asked, surprise on her face, and some hope too.

  “We decided to replace Iovon. You were right; we have flaws, but we don’t sell our people, not even to those bloody priests.”

  “Then you will let me go. Please, Gresha.”

  “I am sorry, Kasia, but I have to return you to the temple.”

  “But they think I am dead.”

  “No, they don’t. Three weeks ago, they came here looking for you. I can only promise you that I will get you out of Nerval, if you escape again. You should not come here. Hide in the old warehouse. I will find you a place in a village and pay for your food.”

  “I will not be able to escape again!” she shouted, and grabbed his hands. “They tortured and raped me. Six priests raped me day and night. They laughed, saying that pleasing them would purify me. Now, they will kill me. Please, Gresha. Just let me go, and you will never see me again.”