Consumption

Aaron learns that he is a wanted man and the length an enemy would go to capture him.

3.

Consumption

 

 

Aaron thought sleep would evade him, but he was stunned to find Khord shaking him awake.

“How long have I been asleep?”   He asked the Drow Watcher.

“Several hours, I would suspect.    It is evening now and everyone is gathering for the meeting.”    Khord replied as Aaron sat up and rubbed his eyes.

“Do you have any idea what this meeting is all about?    Did your wife tell you anything?”

Khord nodded, gravely, “After the errands I ran while you slept, I do know, now.    Sophie was informed just before we came here, and she was told not to tell anyone until after we met with you and gathered the others for the meeting.”

“Who told her this, Khord?”

“Why, Yesh, of course.”   The Drow man smiled at the awed look in Aaron’s eyes, “Yes, we meet with him frequently.    This time though it was just a text message.”

“A what?”

“Never mind.     Are you ready to go, they are all there.”

“Yeah, I’m ready.    I wish I could have stopped in to check on Lysa before the meeting, though.”

“There isn’t any change,” Khord told him, “I stopped in and spoke to Deborah.     Lysa is still hanging in there.    I think she’ll make it.    Don’t get discouraged.    No matter what happens, never give up.”

He seemed to almost be trying to tell him something else, as if his words had more than one level of meaning to them.     Aaron wanted to ask about this, but suspected that he would soon find out anyway, so he just followed the Watcher down the stairs to the ducal meeting hall.

 

***

 

Aaron knew immediately that something bad had happened, for as soon as he entered the room, he spied his foster brother, King Aedric and his wife, Queen Snoe.     They were both dressed in suits of Elven plate armor, and it wasn’t parade armor that they wore.    Their battle armor was muddy and they both had grim looks in their eyes as they caught his gaze.     Snoe seemed to be blinking back tears as they both came and embraced him.

“What’s going on?” He whispered to his adopted brother, but Aedric just shook his head and gestured for them to be seated.

 

At the end of the table, next to the thrones of King Eleazar and Queen Aurei, Sophia stood, wringing her hands nervously as she waited for everyone to be seated.   

Aside from the two royal couples and Sophia and Khord, Zeatt and her husband, Baron Alvis were seated around the table.    As soon as they were seated, Eleazar nodded to Sophia and the pregnant Watcher bowed slightly and began speaking.   

“Well, first I want to apologize for all the secrecy about this meeting.    I had no idea we would have this meeting until just a few minutes before we left Flux.    Yesh contacted me with some news that he wanted me to share with all of you --- of course Aedric and Snoe already know most of this, but I shall bring you all up to date about what is going on and why it is extremely important.”

“Several months ago, a group of Hutcaiah, led by their crown Prince, Sefet-Manyue, son of Emperor Saret-Buyue-Serdi, came to the Valley of Helios.    This Emperor was the grandson of the first Hutcaiah Emperor who led his people against the human Toi-Migg Empire and defeated it.      His empire is in the lands far to the west of Marksylvania.    It would take several months to reach the heart of the Hutcaiah Empire by foot or on a horse.”

“Prince Sefet had been sent out by his father to scout the lands to the east of the Hutcaiah Empire, and Sefet’s people were familiar with The Valley of Helios, as their wizards used the Pool of Purity from time to time.   So Prince Sefet used this opportunity to check out the racial purity of his wife, who claimed to be a Mesen-gongzu-Yu, which means roughly ‘Moon Princess’.         These women are supposed to be incarnations - more or less- of the Moon Goddess Kuyomi-Chia.   This goddess is said to always appear as a beautiful, pale-skinned, dark-haired oriental Elf with cobalt-blue eyes.”

 

Aaron sat there listening, sensing already where this was going and feeling a growing dread in his stomach.

 

“The Hutcaiah are a male dominated society, but they worship a Moon Goddess, so being selected as a Mesen-gongzu-Yu is really the only way women can have any power or status in their society.    As a result, many families are desperate to have one of their daughters selected as one of the Moon Princesses.   These girls serve as priestesses of the Temple of the Moon in the capital city of Lu-Wadj, where they officiate at the temple and are honored and respected by the people.”

Aaron raised his hand, “Excuse me, Lady Sophia, but I thought I’d mention that apparently there is some rivalry to be selected to this job, for Prince Sefet was fearful that his wife was not pure enough to serve, which was why he thought she was barren.”

Sophia nodded, “You’re right, Aaron, it is such a prestigious position, that the various noble families will resort to trickery and even smear campaigns against girls from rival families, all so their own daughters can be selected.”

“Would they dare slander the King’s wife?”    Aurei asked her cousin.

“Not openly, but rumors and such, plus the fact that she had not bore Sefet a child, made him doubt her purity.”

“She confessed that she was not pure Hutcaiah,” Aaron mentioned, “That is why he threw her into the pool.”

 

Sophia smiled, “Yes, but really, none of the Hutcaiah are as pure as they think.    Their oriental features result from centuries of intermarriage with the Toi-Migg.   They only seperated themselves from the ‘lower races’ in the past thousand years.    Most of the human blood is long gone, but even now there are some intermixes with other Elven races.   Their imposed Caste system has helped them form an aristocratic subrace of ‘purer’ Hutcaiah, but very few of them are as pure as they imagine.    Sefet’s wife was probably no more impure than any of the nobles.”

“So why did he kill her then?” Eleazar asked.

“Your Majesty, I can only speculate, but I’d guess that it was to save face with his soldiers and wizards.      He was like his father, for both men are bosterious and proud, yet they also are very passionate about keeping their vows.    He had vowed to put her to death if the Pool of Purity showed she was impure.   When she confessed, he felt embarrassed and angry, so he fulfilled his vow.”

“Lady Sophia, my pardon, but could you get to the point of this meeting?   I sense something terrible is looming over us.”    Aaron said, not wanting to appear rude, but anxious to learn what has happened.

The Watcher nodded, “I’m sorry Duke Aaron, I am a fan of history and the dynamics of it.    As this next part concerns you, I will explain why we’re all here.”

“Please do.”   He replied.

“When Sefet died, it took a while for the news to reach his father, who was back in Lu-Wadj.    When he learned that he had died, this sent Saret-Buyue-Serdi into a terrible rage.     He spent considerable time with his wizards trying to learn the details of his only son’s death, but after many hours and spells, he learned enough.”

“So he blames me for his death?”    Aaron asked the Drow Watcher.

“Yes, I’m afraid he does, Aaron.     Saret-Buyue-Serdi is a powerful man, who rules by fear of his mighty army and his wizards.    He has two young daughters, but only one son by his Queen.    By his concubines he has four other sons and three daughters, but only a son born to the Queen may one day reign.     His Queen has been barren for 30 years, since the birth of his youngest daughter.    He fears his dynasty has ended.”

“That is not Aaron’s fault!”   Snoe interjected, “The Prince attacked Aaron’s party and imprisoned them after invading Marksylvania.”

“That is true, but the Emperor does not see it that way.    He disputes the land claims and has long fancied expanding the Hutcaiah Empire to the east.   It is a huge empire now, but the Hutcaiah philosophy is ‘never enough’.”

“So what has he done?”   Aaron asked.

Sophia leaned against the side of the table, unconsciously rubbing her pregnant belly, “As soon as he learned your identity, Aaron, he vowed for revenge.    His dynasty was in jeopardy, and his wizards told him that only by sacrificing you to the Moon Goddess would his Queen’s bareness be removed.    Only then, they told him, he would have another son.”

“So he’s coming to get me, I suppose?”  

“Well, yes, but not how you would think.   This is why I called this meeting.     As I had mentioned earlier, The Emperor is a proud man, who is very paranoid about his honor.    He decided to do something that most of his own people would think was just short of insane to attempt.    It is typical of the over-the-top way that the Emperor thinks.” 

“And?”   Aaron asked, growing impatient.

“There is a rarely used spell that the Hutcaiah have which is translated into our language as ‘Soul Geis’.    It is one of the most powerful spells that exists, but it requires very precise wording and a sacrifice of a life - or many lives in some cases- for it to work.     The Emperor, in his rage and pain cast this spell.     A Soul Geis must have two parties involved at the very least, for it to function.    He wants revenge upon you, Aaron, so you are one of these parties, and of course he, as the caster of the spell, is another party.    But there is a third party.    Amazingly, this third party is the entire Hutcaiah army!”

Everyone around the table looked at Sophia in puzzlement at her statement, but before they could ask her to explain, she continued.

“Here is how he cast the Soul Geis spell.     He set it up to transport his entire army - which is unbelievably huge in size at a million soldiers, spread over several thousand miles of his Empire- by teleportation, to the area around the Valley of Helios.     All of them, no matter where they were stationed, would be instantly transported to this one location, and then, following royal orders, they would overrun not only your duchy, Aaron, but all of Marksylvania and Tarmard as well.”

“Teleport a million people by one spell?”   Aurei asked in disbelief.

“Yes, but it can only be done by a spell as powerful as Soul Geis.    But there is a catch for him.      This is where the Geis part comes in.    It all hinges upon Aaron.”

“Me?   How?”   Aaron asked in surprise.

“The Emperor has set up the Geis in this way.   Today he appeared just west of the borders of Tarmard, with a group of his wizards around him.      I’ll let Aedric tell you about that.”

Sophia turned to the Sylvan Elf King and Aedric rose, “About mid-morning today, the Hutcaiah Emperor appeared with about 12 wizards, between Tarmard and the old Elven Watchtower.    When he appeared, he shouted to some of my sentries who watch the western road, to take a message to the Sylvan King.”

“The message told us who he was and said that he had a powerful spell that would instantly bring a million battle-ready soldiers to him.     He would do this if we didn’t hand over to him the Duke of Helios Valley.     He gave us two days to comply with his demand, and promised that if we tried to attack him or his wizards that the soldiers would come automatically if he was killed.”

“Unbelievable!”  Aaron exclaimed.

“There was more, Aaron.”   Aedric continued, “The Hutcaiah Emperor swore that if we handed you over to him, that he and his wizards would depart immediately. As a condition of the spell that he had cast, his people would be prevented from entering any part of my kingdom, or the Kingdom of Marksylvania, for 100 years, as a reward for my compliance.”

Aaron looked to Sophia, “Lady Sophia, is this all true?”

“I’m afraid so, Aaron.    That is how the Soul Geis works.    If you say no to his request, then the Emperor will die, to pay the price for the casting of the spell, but his men will be transported here and will follow the orders of his generals to lay waste to these lands.    He does have a million soldiers, and the Hutcaiah are a very war-like race.     There is no way that all of your forces could withstand an army of a million men.     The Hutcaiah have powerful magic as well.”

“But he dies in bringing them here?”   Alvis asked.

“Yes, for the spell requires at least one life.    If Aaron doesn’t surrender, then Saret will die, as will his dynasty, but the Hutcaiah soldiers will easily destroy Marksylvania and Tarmard and one of the Hutcaiah generals or noblemen will be the new Emperor.”

“What happens if Aaron goes with them?”   Snoe wondered.

“The Emperor is bound by the conditions of the spell, so he will leave with his wizards and Aaron as his prisoner and none of the Hutcaiah will be able to come into your lands for 100 years.      The Emperor has vowed to bring Aaron back to the Temple of the Moon and sacrifice him to the Moon Goddess on the full moon nearest the Summer Solstice.    That would be 20 days from now.”

“How insane!”  Snoe exclaimed, “He is crazy to think we’ll turn Aaron over to him!”

“He’s counting on it, actually.     If he sacrifices Aaron, he believes that the Moon Goddess will reward him by giving him a son by his Queen.”

“Well he is clearly deranged.”   Aurei commented, “His demands are completely out of the question!   Aaron had every right to do what he did!    The Hutcaiah prince invaded our lands and killed our people.    He deserved to die.   Aaron is innocent and we’ll not agree to such stupid terms.”

Eleazar nodded in agreement, as did Aedric and Snoe, but all weighed the consequences of their stances.

“I agree, “ Sophia said, “But you must understand that as soon as the Hutcaiah are told that Aaron refuses, then immediately the Emperor dies and at the same moment, a million soldiers will appear here.”

“There has to be some other way to stop this spell!”   Eleazar exclaimed, “What if we captured Saret alive?”

“The Soul Geis spell will activate in two days time, regardless.    In two days, Saret would die and the men would be teleported here.”

“Is there any magic that can stop it or neutralize it?”   Zeatt asked.

“Not that you have available to you.”

“What about you, Sophia?”   Aurei asked, “Surely the Watchers have a way to stop it.”

“We probably do, Aurei, but Yesh is not permitting us to intervene in this matter other than providing you with this information.   He was very explicit in this when he told me what I was to do.    If any of the Watchers try to help, we will be removed permanently.”

“Why?   Why would Yesh do that, Sophia?   Surely he doesn’t expect Aaron to sacrifice his life!”   Aurei replied.

Sophia sighed, “It is a delicate time right now with the Watchers, Aurei.   Yesh thinks we are abusing our status and intervening too much in the affairs of the people in this world.    He thinks we are taking away everyone’s faith in Yesh.”

“That is insane!   How?”

“Yesh says that by our frequent help of the faithful in Synomenia, we are weakening the faith of the followers of Yesh.    Many believe in Yesh simply because they know there are Watchers who will often intervene in this world.      They follow Yesh simply for the security they have in us, rather than from a true worship of Him.    It would be like a King who gave out bags of gold to anyone who was loyal to him - everyone would stay loyal for the gold rather than for the man.”

“So Yesh believes that the Watchers are a danger to faith?”   Eleazar asked. 

“He is concerned about it.    He has said that he is monitoring this world for a time and if he sees too much interference, then he will completely do away with the Watchers.”

“Really?”   Aurei exclaimed, “My heavens!”

“If Yesh does this, then all those in Flux who have died will be brought into Heaven and those living there who have not died will be put into this world and Flux will cease to be the headquarters of the Watchers.   So our hands are tied, cousin.”

“What can we do, then?”   Aurei wondered.

“Excuse me, all of you.”   Aaron spoke up, “I’ve listened to all of your ideas, but it seems to me that the solution is quite simple.   I shall simply surrender myself to this madman.”

Everyone looked at him in alarm and disbelief, except for Sophia and Khord.

“You can’t be serious, Aaron!”   Queen Aurei cried out.

 

Aaron stood up slowly, feeling a cold dread creeping over him, yet also an odd peace keeping him calm, “Yes, Your Majesty, I am serious.    I am a Paladin of Yesh and I know of my duties.”

“Duties?!”  The Queen shouted, “It would be suicide!”

“Your Majesty, you know that Paladins are supposed to be willing to offer themselves up to save others.    You did this yourself, years ago, to defeat a Death Knight.”

“Yes, but…”   She stammered, knowing he was right.

Aaron smiled gently, “I’m not afraid, Your Majesty.   Perhaps Yesh will reward my faithfulness and save me, but if he doesn’t, then I will be reunited with my parents and sister again.”

“What about Lysa?”   Zeatt asked.

 

Aaron’s eyes darkened with doubt and for a few moments turmoil covered his face.   But with a deep breath, he held his chin up again, “It is my hope that Yesh will restore her as a reward for my sacrifice.”

“She will be devastated, Aaron!”   Aurei answered, “We won’t allow this!    There must be another way!”

The Queen turned to her husband and then to Aedric and Snoe, but they all shared a defeated look.

“Your Majesty, perhaps this is for the best.    I have not felt quite right since my sister and parents were murdered and I honestly doubt that I will ever do a good job as a Duke.    Perhaps this is what Yesh has planned for me to do all along.    If I show the Emperor that followers of Yesh will willingly sacrifice themselves for their countrymen, then maybe the Hutcaiah will turn from their false religion and hunger to know Yesh.”

“They’ve been hostile to missionaries.”    Sophia told them, “There have been six called by Yesh to go into the Hutcaiah Empire and tell them about Yesh the Merciful.     All six were killed.”

“So why give them another one?”   Aurei snapped at her cousin, her eyes glowing bright red, “It makes me wonder if Yesh is indeed as merciful as we claim he is!”

“Aurei!”   Zeatt exclaimed.

“Well, how many people have to die?    How many of our loved ones have died at the hands of unbelievers?     Perhaps these Hutcaiah devils need the edge of a sword instead!”

Around the table, everyone looked uncomfortable at the Queen’s outburst.    Eleazar took his wife’s hand and gently reseated her.    Aurei began weeping quietly, the pain of losing three daughters reopening a deep wound.     But her angry glare still defiantly challenged all the others to dispute her words.

 

For a long moment, no one spoke, but finally, Aaron cleared his throat,  “Your Majesty, I share your love of life and grieve over the loss of family members.     But if I selfishly refuse to give myself up, then thousands of innocent people will die and a needless war may destroy all that the people that I love the most, as well as all they worked for and even gave their lives in some case.   I could not live with the blood of thousands of people on my head.    I could not live with being able to stop it and refusing to do it.     What would I do if all of you were killed in the war that resulted from my refusal?     I can’t do that.   I made a solemn vow to Yesh to trust him and serve him.     The decision is mine to make, and I will now make it.   I will surrender myself to the Hutcaiah Emperor and prevent any more bloodshed, and trust in my God no matter what happens.”

Everyone in the room was silent.   Aurei, Snoe and Zeatt wept openly, and even Sophia was batting back tears.   

“Are you certain about your decision?”   The Watcher finally asked him.

“Yes, Lady Sophia.”  

“Very well, I commend you on your faithfulness.    I would suggest that you prepare yourself tonight.     Tomorrow morning, I will send you with Aedric and Snoe back to Tarmard and they can deliver you to the Hutcaiah.    King Eleazar, I would also recommend that you keep everyone else here.   If they see this as Aaron’s act of faith, perhaps it will move the Emperor to some degree of respect.    We don’t want him to think that Aaron was forced by his King to do something he did not want to do.”

“Aaron, what can we do to help you, tonight?”   Eleazar asked, emotion in his voice.

“Pray for me, Your Majesty, and trust in Yesh.”    The young Duke replied, as the weight of the world seemed to fall upon his shoulders.

Reviews

[Elina]

Forgive me for taking so long to get back to this; the last year has been busier than I could have imagined. I look forward to entering this fantastic world, once more...

"...not wanting to appear rude, but axious to learn..." A simple case of a missing letter - "anxious"
"...war may destroy all that the people that I love the most, all that they worked for -- and even gave their lives-- to bring about." I understand what you are saying, here, but it's a bit...choppy? It might benefit from a little rewording.

I really enjoyed this chapter...Aaron's choice resonates with me, as I have felt a similar conviction, of late. Wonderfully written, my friend!

[Eddie Davis]

Thank you, Elina, it is wonderful to hear from you again, I had feared you had given up on writing.

[Elina]

I have not yet given up on my writing, though I did have to set it aside for a time. But I am back to working on my novel, after having nearly lost the entire thing! I finally decided to set some time aside so I could catch up on your books. I didn't realize how much I had missed these characters until I started reading this again. Now I find it difficult to step away from. ^^