Saiai Webnovels

Helena heard the voices coming from outside her tent.

«So’el!» they said.

A word every single citizen of the Principate knew all too well.

The cursed name.

The name of those against whom the Liberation had been fought.

The monsters under whose yoke mankind had lived for millennia as slaves.

She had never seen one. But she had listened to her father and grandfather’s tales, so she knew what they looked like.

And the corpse a few steps outside her tent was without a doubt that of a So’el.

«The dead at the moment are fifteen.» captain Astor was telling her. «The wounded are at least forty. And the count will have to inevitably be updated once we find those missing. Even considering those who took refuge inside the walls, some people are unaccounted for. And then there’s…» He let his expression finish the sentence.

Agatha Eleisina. When Astor had awakened after the attack, there was no one in the tent beside him and Ergon, wounded and unconscious, that he had initially thought dead; the girl was gone.

«The search is still underway,» the captain resumed, «but we haven’t found… any trace of her yet.» From the way his eyes had darted for a moment toward Kalos Aregonid, on his knees in a corner of the tent gripping a watcher’s uniform, Helena understood he had stopped himself short of saying “her body”.

Helena personally did not believe Agatha had been killed. If the attack had been performed in the way described to her, the assailants had moved toward her tent from the start, taking advantage of the chaos unleashed by their entrance and ignoring most other potential targets on the way. This convinced Helena that they had a clear objective. And if so…

It was Kalos himself who replied to the captain and confirmed her suspicions. Standing back up, still holding the uniform, the boy said: «They took her away.»

In a moment, he had the attention of everyone in the tent.

«Did you see them?» Helena asked.

«They hauled her up on their wolf and escaped.» His voice was monotonous, his eyes unfocused. Hi body was there with them, but his mind, or at least part of it, was elsewhere.

«How many were they?»

Kalos did not immediately answer. He looked down and opened and closed his eyes for a few moments, as if confused. Then he said: «Three. They were three.»

Ergon joined in: «Only three?»

The captain spoke as well: «That’s not possible! Look at what they did to the camp. I fought against two of them in front of this tent. Are you telling me that one lone assailant is responsible for this entire disaster?»

«The ones responsible are your fellow citizens themselves.» said an unknown voice.

A man entered the tent. He was tall and muscular, so much in fact that he had to bow down and shrink his shoulders to pass through the door. He was dressed in Elisian traveling garb, under his dark green cape. The grayness of his beard and hair made his age plain, yet in the glare he gave to everyone present there was the intensity and focus of someone still young and strong.

«Panic is like fire.» he continued. «All they needed was to scare you, a little sparkle. You did the rest. Both here and to the south.»

To the south? Helena wondered.

«Are you saying these… creatures are behind the attack on the selyann as well?» captain Astor asked, reminding her that he had actually told her about that.

«Yes, I am.» the old man sounded annoyed, as if he were surprised the people talking to him had not realized it on their own. «It was all part of the plan.»

«Who are you? And how do you know these things?» Helena asked him then.

«Because I saw them.» he replied. «I’ve been following you since you escaped from Elis. This afternoon, I saw two wolves running toward the city. A couple stadia from it, they split: one went south, the other stood by, waiting. A glassturn later, the second wolf left as well, heading for your camp.»

The fact he had not answered her first question did not escape her. However, during the long journey to Istak Helena had received multiple reports from the sentinels regarding a faraway flame that could occasionally be seen on the plain during the night. That ans his clothes gave enough credibility to his story. And if that story was true…

«So I was right. They were looking for me.» she said, vaguely aware of Kalos Aregonid suddenly stiffening. «They used a diversion to split our forces and then they attacked with precision.»

«But why look for you, my Exarch?» Ergon asked, worriedly.

«That is not the correct question, Ergon.» said the captain, with more spite than Helena expected and a flash of realization in his eyes.

«Indeed.» she replied. «The first question to ask is: how did they know where to find me?»

For an instant, silence fell over the tent.

Helena herself was the first to speak again: «Were it not clear already, we can no longer trust Zamoshan. However, we still need to meet with him at least one final time. Astor, later you will have to ask him an audience. And you, Ergon, will have to go with him. Observe his behavior, study his reactions, glean any information you can without making him suspicious. We need to know how much he is involved.»

«Um, why not meet him yourself?» asked Ergon, fearful of the responsibility entrusted to him.

«Do you not understand? Whoever is behind this plot, they are thinking that Helena Dorina has been captured. Let them think it. Or rather, let us not disprove them immediately: let certainty one way or the other elude them. This will benefit us. In truth, this mistaken identity has been a great blessing in disguise.»

«My Exarch!» Kalos Aregonid suddenly shouted. Helena saw he was still holding the uniform in his hands. She idly wondered from where he had taken it, but it did not matter. What mattered was rather the strength he had been grasping it with. His hands were shaking and his knuckles had turned white from the clenching. Lifting her gaze up to his face, Helena had the time to see his teeth bared and his green eyes wide open. But that wrathful expression lasted for a single instant, then Kalos took a deep breath and his face relaxed. «My Exarch,» he repeated «please. Give me permission to leave this camp and search for her. I have to bring her back.»

Helena carefully searched for the right words.

«No, Kalos Aregonid. Right now we cannot spare any man or woman capable of fighting. I know how you feel, but your place is here.»

After a moment, she chose to add: «I’m sorry.»

The boy’s hands untensed, though he did not let the uniform go. «I see.» he said, coldly. «Then, if you will excuse me, now I will go back to my place.»

He headed for the door. The old man stepped aside, letting him leave.

«He will leave, whether you want it ot not.» he told her, after Kalos was gone. «I saw it in his eyes.»

Astor solemnly nodded. «Do you want me to go stop him, my Exarch?»

«There’s no need, let him go.» the old man replied. «I’ll take his place protecting you. A fair exchange.»

Helena chuckled mockingly. «Are we supposed to trust you? You still have not told me who you are.»

«Who I am doesn’t matter. Are you afraid I’m your enemy, child?»

Much had happened since Helena had last been called “child”. She tried her best to control herself: «No. But I want to know why you were following us.»

The man frowned: «My reasons are only mine. Still, know that I want to protect your people as much if not more than you. That is why I’m here now. What happened today has showed me I can’t just watch over you all from afar, trusting you and your guards: I have to be here, if I want these people to be safe. So, I ask you:» he respectfully bowed, a gesture that surprised Helena. «let me travel with you, from here on out.»

Helena looked at him. Judging by his appearance he was a strong man. And the way he moved gave a sense of great experience and confidence.

«Fine. However, I will need a name to call you.»

He straightened his back, slightly tilted his head and looked upward, stroking his beard. Then he said: «You can call me Geros.»

Helena had to stop herself from laughing out loud: «You want us to call you “Old Man”?»

«It’s fine by me. And now that I have what I needed, I’ll leave you alone. Someone has to talk to that boy, before it’s too late.»

Having said that, the man called Geros shrank his shoulders, bowed down and left the tent.

---

«Do you want us to go meet the lord Zamoshan now?» the captain asked, after Geros had left.

«No. There is one other matter we need to take care of first.» Helena turned to the one other person remaining. «Ergon. Are you alright?»

He nodded, with a smile. «Yes, my Exarch, I’m completely fine. Your concern honors me.»

«Perfect. …Then you would not mind showing us your injury, would you?»

In a heartbeat, the smile faded from the young man’s face, giving way to an alarmed downturn. «What?»

«Captain Astor told me he thought you were dead: you had lost a great amount of blood. And yet you stood back up, as if nothing had happened. Can you explain to me how this is possible?»

He did not answer. His eyes darted between her and Astor, in a begging manner. But there was no compassion to be found from either of them, not at that moment.

«Are you suspecting me?» he finally asked.

«I suspect no one, at least for now. I am merely curious. If you have no explanation, why do you not say so? You did not even dress your wound.»

Ergon then turned pale: «Please, my Exarch…»

«What is it that you are hiding? Do you understand that by acting this way you give me reason to suspect you?»

He gulped and shook is head: «I’m not hiding anything. …Anything dangerous for you.»

«Then show me.»

Astor moved to the door, with the clear intention of preventing him from running away, though Helena doubted it would be necessary. She had never seen Ergon so scared, not even during the flight from Elis. After a long hesitating pause, the young man nodded: «Fine. I’ll show you. But keep in mind what I just told you. Whatever you see, no matter how unsettling, I swear it poses no danger to either you or any other citizen of Elis.»

Slowly, Ergon removed his gilek and then lifted the underlying bloodied kamisa, uncovering his torso.

And there Helena saw the oblique gash in the skin and muscles a blade had caused. That would already have been an unpleasant sight by itself, but what really unnerved her was a lone incongruous detail. Under the flesh, laid bare by the wound, there was something gray and shiny.

«Is that… metal?»

A moment later, Artor’s sword was pointed at Ergon’s throat. «The Great Sin!» the captain exclaimed.

«Stop, Astor!» Helena stretched out a hand in his direction.

Ergon looked at the sword drearily, but he did not seem willing to defend himself or run.

«My Exarch, this… this is a fake human, a mekhan! We should have never trusted him!»

«Astor, put down your sword and stop it. Ergon, now is the time to speak to me. Tell me: who or what are you?»

The young man (was he actually young?) turned his apologetic blue eyes toward her.

«The captain is right, my Exarch. I am… what you see. I was born to serve. Or rather, I was built to serve.»

«You disgusting…» Astor raised his sword again.

«Astor, no! Ergon, go on. To serve who?»

His answer sounded hurt: «You. Exarch Stefan and his family. This is the purpose the Lady of Enver gave to me when she sent me into the Principate.»

«So you were not lying when you said you hailed from Enver.»

«Of course not. I’m not allowed to lie to you. I’m not allowed to lie to any of you. It’s part of my oath.»

Helena felt he was making fun of her: «Then how could you hide your nature from us until this moment?»

«My Exarch, you… never asked.»

She sighed and rubbed her temple. So “do not lie” is not equal to “tell the whole truth”. Of course.

«What does the Lady of Enver want from my father and me?»

«I… do not know.»

«You “do not know” in the sense you do not have even the slightest clue or you “do not know” in the sense you are not certain of it, Ergon?»

«T-The latter.»

«Then share your hypothesis with me. What do you think she wants?»

Ergon pursed his lips and knit his eyebrows. He was a machine, and yet he could perfectly imitate the expression of someone deep in pondering. And also any other expression, thought Helena.

«There is more like me in Enver. Many more in fact. In the capital, in Ossonen, seeing a mekhan is normal, no, it’s frequent. We are no cause for outrage at all.»

Captain Astor made a disgusted snort.

«When the Lady sent me to your father,» Ergon continued «she made me swear to serve you, and to “make a good impression”, for my own kind. I was… “a present”, yes, that was the word she used. If you ask me to make a hypothesis, my Exarch, I think that the Lady wanted me to be an ambassador, to change your people’s opinion on mekhans.»

That word, “present”, made a shiver rise up Helena’s spine. She interrupted him: «Confirm me one thing, Ergon. In Enver, you fake humans… are a commodity?»

«But of course.» was his immediate response. «We’re bought, sold, and sometimes given as a present. Some of us are even commissioned, built according to the specifications our future master desires.»

Ergon had spoken so candidly that Helena would have pitied him, had she not been overwhelmed with horror and disgust.

«So the Lady of Enver wants to turn the Principate into a new market. And to sell us more mekhans like you, once we are used to the idea.»

«Precisely. …At least, that is my hypothesis.»

«I should cut off your head right this instant.» said captain Astor, hatred dripping from every syllable. However he did not brandish his sword again. «I should have never even let you enter the Rook. Enver is committing the Great Sin and they want to make us their accomplices.»

«Astor, enough.» Helena chided him. «We are not even sure creating fake humans actually was the Great Sin.»

«Are you willing to take this risk, my Exarch?»

«I did not say that.» What she had just heard worried her greatly, but not because of some foolish old superstition. «I have no intention of letting Enver turn us into their clients.»

At that moment, a terrible doubt hit her, and she felt a fool for not thinking about it sooner: «Ergon… why my father? Why him among everyone else?»

When did Ergon show himself at the Rook? Five years ago? Seven? Was my father’s plan already in motion at that time? Curses, why do I remember that day and yet cannot assign a date to it?

«You’re afraid the Lady knew of your father’s plans.» said Ergon, as if he had read her thoughts. «I doubt that. In her eyes, he was simply the future Prince. What other reasons did she need?»

«Allow me to ask him a question, my Exarch.» Astor approached Ergon. «You are aware of facts about me that I have never revealed to anyone except Exarch Stefan, since I entered his service. How? Where did you learn that information?»

A bizarre expression appeared on Ergon’s face, almost as if he were amused. «Ah, you’re speaking of the…»

«Answer me.» Astor’s tone was cold as ice.

Ergon turned apologetic again, and for the second time he said: «I… do not know. It’s something that was already present in my… brain,» he pointed at his head «when I first became aware.»

Astor looked at Helena: «We cannot trust him, my Exarch. Let alone Enver.»

«On that second statement we agree, Astor. But as for the first one, let me be the judge.»

She looked at Ergon. At that man she had never had any reason to doubt until less than a day earlier.

«You said you have been built to serve me. So you would obey any order that I give you, any one at all?»

Ergon solemnly nodded. «Yes, my Exarch.»

«Then I forbid you from revealing to anyone what you are. You will not act as an “ambassador” for anyone. For everyone, you will continue to be simply Ergon, my advisor, interpreter and medic. You will have to always keep your injury hidden, never showing it to anyone for any reason.»

He bowed his head, in reverence. «As I should have expected from you. Fear not. The organic tissue will regenerate, with time. But I will obey, as I have obeyed until now.»

«My Exarch, are you absolutely sure?» Astor asked, in a worried tone.

However she almost did not hear him. Ergon’s last words had aroused her curiosity.

“As I have obeyed until now”? Wait.

«Ergon, I have one last question for you. My father… did he know?»

Ergon sighed, then he answered: «This is why I would have rather not told you. Of course he knew: it was the first thing he asked me. And his first order was the same you have given to me now.»

---

After taking his leave from the Exarch, Kal went straight to his tent.

He couldn’t focus, it was like there was a constant ringing in his ears, preventing him from thinking. He felt he had to do something, and restlessness was gnawing at him.

The tent was empty. It was the first time he had ever seen it empty, but that was what he expected. After all, even his mother had been moved elsewhere.

Before he realized it, he had grabbed a travel bag from beside his cot and was filling it with supplies and other useful tools, while his uniform lied abandoned on the covers.

«You can’t leave now.»

The voice had come from the entrance of the tent. Looking away from the travel bag, Kal saw that it was Ark.

«The Exarch said the same thing. She says everyone here needs me. Agatha needs me more.»

«That’s not what I meant.» Ark moved closer. «Look at yourself. You can barely stand. You need to rest, before you can leave.»

«Rest!?» The ringing in his ears became even more high-pitched. «Rest while my sister is in danger?»

«Do you want to save her or do you want to collapse of fatigue in the middle of the plain before you can even find her?»

He was right. Kal knew he was right, at some level of his conscience.

But his voice, so calms, so detached, made him furious. No matter what happened, Ark never reacted, Ark never showed any emotion. As if… As if he were above it all.

He grabbed him by the collar. Ark didn’t move, nor did he make a sound.

This only made Kal even more furious.

«And who assures me that once I am rested it won’t be too late, huh!? You?»

«Yes. Calm down, now.»

Kal shook him. «Do you think you know how I feel? My sister has been kidnapped in front of my eyes because she was mistaken for someone else! And the person I swore loyalty to has no intention of lifting a finger for her, because this situation benefits her! WHAT ON EARTH DO YOU KNOW!?»

«Agatha is alive.»

Something in those words gave the boy back his lucidity. It was then that he noticed Ark’s clothes were caked with blood. And looking at his face, perhaps it was just a trick of the light but Kal had the impression there was red around his eyes.

Was he crying, before coming here?

«They took her alive.» Ark continued. «So they needher alive. They won’t kill her. You have time to rest. And you need to.»

«Your friend is right.»

Kal let Ark go and turned back, looking at the old man who had appeared behind him.

«They won’t hurt her for now.»

«You’re the one who…» Ark began.

«Yes. Glad to finally see your face.» the old man answered him, with what looked like a smile.

It was then that Kal realized who that man was. Earlier, in the Exarch’s tent, he hadn’t recognized him.

He was the old man who sometimes ate at Eumela’s tavern.

The man who had saved them from that spathar in Elis.

He felt he had to make him a request. He tried to find the right words, but his thoughts were a jumbled mess and the only thing that got out of his mouth was: «You… help me, I beg you.»

He fell on his knees, partly out of despair and partly because, as he had suddenly realized, he felt completely exhausted.

«In Elis, you beat a spathar. You’re strong. I need… I need your help. Help me save my sister. Please, I beg you.»

Warm tears started streaking down his face. He knew he would not be able to do it on his own, he had known that since the beginning, and finally the awareness of his own powerlessness had become too much for him to bear.

A strong hand touched his shoulder.

«I know what you feel.» In the Old Man’s eyes there was deep compassion. «But I cannot go with you.»

«W-Why not?» Kal felt ashamed of his own sniveling tone: he felt like he was a little kid again. But he could not involve his friends, nor put any of his companions in danger, so that man really was his only hope.

«You have someone to save. I have someone to protect. Would you really ask your fellow man to abandon the ones he loves when they need him most?»

Kal made a cry as if those words had pierced his heart.

«Still, you did risk your life for someone dear to me. I have many reasons to not be proud of myself, but ingratitude is not among them. I cannot go with you, but that doesn’t mean I will not help you. Stand up, and listen.»

Kal took a deep breath to calm down, then he complied.

«Today, you rest. Tomorrow you’ll leave, and once you do head north-west. Beyond the plain, at a day and a half of travel from here, at the point where two rivers meet you’ll find a high tower. Those who kidnapped your sister are there.»

«How… how do you know? When they left the camp, they went straight west.»

«I know, and you have a keen mind if you managed to take note of that. But you’ve only seen the direction they ran away in, I’ve seen the one they came from. When you escape, you want your pursuers to lose your tracks, but when you arrive you never think you’re being watched. In that direction, the only place such a rabble could hide in is that abandoned tower.»

It wasn’t much, but now that he had a destination Kal already felt a little bit better.

«T-Thank you.» he said, without even thinking.

«You’ll thank me when she’s safe.» the Old Man headed to the exit.

«All three of us will thank you.» Ark told his back.

He turned and nodded, then he left the tent.

«Ark, no. This time you really mustn’t come with me.» Kal would never forgive himself if some of his friends ended up in danger just to help him.

Ark gave Kal the emotionless look Kal was used to: any trace of tears, if there ever had been any, was gone. «What I must or mustn’t do is something I decide.» he answered, heading for the exit like the Old Man before him.

«No, Ark, listen. I want you and Fyra to do something for me. Stay here, and take care of my mother. She’s been-»

«I saw her, among the other wounded.» Ark replied, stopping in front of the door.

And suddenly Kal realized where the blood on his friend’s clothes had come from, and why he had been crying.

«Ark… where is your mother?»

Ark didn’t answer, but Kal saw his hands close into fists, as if to prevent them from shaking.

«Oh…» Thinking back to the way he had acted, he felt like a wretch. «I, I’m sorry…»

«She is nothing to me.»

It came through his teeth, in such a low voice it could be barely heard.

«What did you say?»

«I said it’s nothing, don’t worry. And don’t worry about your mother either. I know someone who will take good care of her.»

Having said that, Ark exited the tent, leaving Kal alone.