Between Darkness and Light Trilogy (45 page)

Vespasian argues, “It is also the duty of
the Heir to stay alive! What good will winning do if our future
leadership is cut down?”

Llywelyn counters, “Our father has many
sons. If elder ones are killed, younger ones will take up the
mantle of leadership. That is the way it has always been,
Vespasian, have you not read our histories?” Their argument
abruptly ends as other family members begin to arrive.

Storming in well ahead of us is a large,
impressive man. He catches Llywelyn's eyes immediately.

“Maximus!” Llywelyn walks forward and
embraces the man. “It is good to see you again, brother.” The man
steps back and looks Llywelyn over carefully, then looks slightly
up into Llywelyn's eyes and smiles.

“I always knew you would return, my brother.
Welcome home, Llywelyn.” William and I avoid their space to allow
them privacy, and to see who else is here. Many individuals that I
have not seen before enter the room. There are not many who
generally stay in stasis, yet apparently far from all the family
members spend much time here. I hear a joyful voice behind me.

“Shi'ahn!” I turn and find myself in
Casanova’s arms.

“Cas! You look terrible.” He has deep though
mostly faded bruises on much of his exposed skin.

“Gee, thanks. You, however, look more
beautiful than any woman I have ever seen.”

“Flatterer.” He hugs me again, and when I
pull away I see that his bruises are nearly gone. We share a look
of surprise and my heart fills with a new form of joy, but then I
see Novanus glaring at me from across the room and my heart turns
cold.

I should pay better attention to this place;
I pat Cas' hand and turn my gaze away. There is a table on a lower
level of the room where the Emperor and his sons congregate. It's
interesting, I'd always thought of Emperor Augustus being the
largest, most imposing man I'd ever seen, and yet, both Maximus and
Llywelyn overshadow him. Vespasian looks positively scrawny
compared to the other three. The Emperor's younger sons are also
well built, but none of them have statures greater than their
father. I almost get the impression that that is the way the
Emperor likes it, and that he rather disapproves of his eldest two
sons in this respect. It seems odd behavior for a father, and yet
in the Emperor…it doesn't really surprise me.

Looking around I see three tiers of long
tables arranged in a semi-circle above the primary table, at which
those of the younger generations, those not descended from
Augustus, and individuals I have not seen before congregate. Many
of these others do not sound like family. There are really
impressive displays behind the command table, I think they may be
called holographic. The ceiling is also used as a display,
reminding me of the great starry sky visible within the tower
forest, but this is color-coded. An angry, piercing orange seems as
though it is symbolic of the loss of territories. There is a lot of
that nasty color up there.

William explains, “Pretty cool, isn't it?
They've linked a massive computer tracking system to the sky
representation you told me about deep within the mountain – they
can see almost anything up there, as long as they know where to
look.”

I return my eyes to the chamber and notice a
few missing individuals. “William, is the real Nero still
missing?”

“Ah.” His expression looks extremely
reluctant, as though he has been neglecting to tell me something
rather important. The Emperor's voice makes it impossible for him
to continue.

~~~

“Be seated, everyone, there is a lot to
cover.” William sits to my right, Cas to my left, in the highest,
and in this room, least important tier.

“As many of you have not been to a council
recently, I will review the full details of our current situation.
Some time ago an individual believed to be an impostor Nero stabbed
and killed the Magni Dominar. We have since learned that it really
was Nero. He also appeared to be responsible for the kidnapping of
Lady Alma, and was guilty of colluding with Chaosians, including
just recently bringing about the recapture and enslavement of Alma.
This enraged Celeste, who, before Nero could be tried, murdered
him. I will not have lawless vengeance within this family: she was
executed forthwith.” As he says this last, he glances at Lucian,
who gazes straight ahead, refusing to acknowledge the Emperor's
words.

My mind explodes! Lucian killed one of the
few people here I truly liked, and I spoke almost civilly with the
beast last night? Hatred for the man swells anew in my soul.
Someone I don't recognize speaks up.

“I don't understand, your Majesty, it had
been said that the Magni Dominar's murderer was much more powerful
than Nero was known to be.”

“As it turned out, Nero was far more
advanced than he let even his own father know. He played the
underestimation gambit to perfection. Since he never made it to
trial and his brain was irrevocably damaged by Celeste, we were not
able to discover how he managed it, or why.”

Because he was an unmitigated jerk, that's
why. He probably tired of waiting for the succession to install him
upon the throne. And ultimately because of that bastard, Celeste is
dead! It isn't fair; I've lost my homeworld and pretty much my only
friend, not counting those with ulterior motives. I've been
repeatedly betrayed, what else can go wrong with my life? I wish
Zah-Ha'Gor had never shown us that accursed monolith.

Angry shouts break my lack of concentration,
Vespasian yells out, “Listen, I don't know how he managed it! How
do you think I feel, discovering that I didn't even know my own
son? Now I have no heir!”

Novanus retorts, “Quit your sniveling,
Vespasian, you are hardly the only one among us to suffer terrible
loss – and our children didn't earn their demise.” The tremendous
pain in his voice almost makes me forget how much I hate that
man.

“Enough!” The Emperor's voice thunders above
the argument. “We are here to plan the defense of our realm, not to
bicker over what caused this situation. Maximus, what is the status
of our outer-world troops?”

“They have sustained heavy losses. As you
can see,” he waves his hand up toward the ceiling, “we have lost a
great deal of territory, and thus a corresponding number of troops.
The Chaosians have marshaled unprecedented armies, it often does
not matter that our troops are superior, for theirs are far more
numerous.”

“Novanus, what of the farthest reaches of
our realm? Have all our worlds been attacked?”

“No. They appear to be concentrating on
reaching Lumina – worlds in the farthest reaches are only attacked
if they are of particular interest. I sense they are creating
'Passages' into our realm.”

“That is troubling. Is it possible for them
to create a Passage to Lumina?”

“No, Lumina is too real for that. However,
they may be able to get very close, if their most powerful people
work together on the endeavor. I have never before seen such
cooperation among them.”

“Hector, what is the status of the
near-world defenses?”

“They are strong, Father, but we could use
reinforcements. This offensive appears to go well beyond anything
we have encountered before, I do not know if we could hold off the
kinds of forces that they have attacked with in the outer
galaxies.”

The Emperor raises his gaze to the outer
tiers. “Are there any who have access to additional troops that
could be brought in to reinforce Hector's armies?”

Llywelyn's voice rings out from that lowest
table, “I used to keep large forces in near stasis in case
something went terribly wrong. I may have been gone for a long
time, but they should still be ready to serve if needed,
Father.”

The Emperor doesn't look as pleased as he
should. “Martial all that you can, and have those forces report to
Hector. Christoff, what of the defenses surrounding our own
waters?” My gaze remains for a moment on Llywelyn, who seems calm,
but his
harmonies
almost sputter in outrage.

Christoff responds, “They are strong as
well, Father, though, much like Hector, I must admit that they
could use reinforcement – just in case.”

“Vespasian, what of the laser defense
system? If any forces actually manage to break through, is it
properly tuned to defend us?”

“Of course, Father. I carefully maintain it
at all times.”

“Continue to do so – if anything does manage
to make it through to us, I want that system in perfect working
order. Double check the particle cannons as well. Llywelyn, after
you have entrusted your troops to Hector, report back to the
citadel and organize our physical defenses.”

Llywelyn still looks outwardly calm, but his
harmony
sounds as though he has been slapped in the face. He
nods obediently nonetheless.

The Emperor looks up to the rest of us, “Is
there anyone else who can provide additional reinforcements?

To my utter surprise, William speaks up,
“Your Majesty, I have marshaled some troops from outlying worlds
that would be willing to come to our aid.”

The Emperor looks very surprised, “I had
understood your home world was taken from you.”

“It was, but since then I have sought out
similar beings from other worlds – I think they would serve us well
if need be.”

“Very well. Anyone else?”

Many individuals, including Casanova, offer
troops they have raised – there should be billions about to come to
our aid.

Emperor Augustus concludes, “Very well. Each
of you with troops to raise, go do so, and have them report as we
have discussed.” He turns his eyes to me, “Shi'ahn, you are to
remain here; your unique influence will strengthen Lumina best by
staying within this realm.” He looks back to the rest of the room.
“I believe we have a plan.”

With that the meeting is closed. Almost
everyone rushes off to perform their assigned duties, but I don't
really have any, aside from, 'stay here'. I walk slowly out of the
rooms, wandering almost aimlessly. I happen to pass a room where I
hear Llywelyn speaking with Gwenllian. I knock tentatively on the
door.

“Llywelyn, may I speak with you for a
moment?”

“Enter.”

Gwenllian moves to leave. Llywelyn counters,
“No, my daughter, stay; this will not take long.” He captures my
eyes with his, but they are cold and hard; my heart sinks.
“Shi'ahn, I have already thanked you for rescuing me from my long
imprisonment, but now I must ask you to stay away from me.”

I feel dumbstruck. “I don't understand,
Llywelyn, what have I done wrong?”

He looks at me disapprovingly, “Nothing that
I know specifically of, but somehow you have earned both my
daughter's and father's intense distrust. If I am to regain my
status as the heir to my father’s throne, I must first regain his
trust and earn his respect. I cannot do either while associating
with you. Stay away from me, Shi'ahn; I want neither your favor nor
your support.”

“I hate politics.”

“This is not merely political. There must be
a reason my father distrusts you so absolutely. He knows you far
better than I do, and so I accept his judgment. And of course I
trust my daughter's judgment implicitly. From now on, I trust you
every bit as much, or as little, as they do. Also” I suddenly feel
a blinding flash of light in my mind and I am less than I have
been. I feel… alone. “There, the severing of our link should help
validate my severing my relationship with you – Father should be
pleased.”

Feelings I’ve suppressed in the past almost
explode within me; I can't hold them back. I turn and run before he
can see the depth of pain he has caused me.

Chapter
25

Darkness and Light

I keep running, almost blind, caught up in
all the terrible things that have happened lately, that until now
I’d had unknown help in dealing with. Without that strength, with
the terrible feeling of having lost so much, my world, my friend
Celeste, a secret friendship that had meant more to me than I had
realized… I run through my personal darkness until I find myself
caught up in strong arms.

“Shi'ahn, what's wrong?” Cas' voice.

“Why does fate hate me so?”

“What? What's happened?”

“So many gone! My world, Celeste, and now
Llywelyn hates me as well. I wish I'd never come here!”

Cas' eyes fill with deeper concern as I
speak. The air around us shimmers and resolves into my rooms.

“Shi'ahn, I don't understand. You were fine
just minutes ago, and the only new problem is this thing with
Llywelyn. I've seen you handle far worse.”

I interrupt him, “You don't understand! My
ring,” I look down to where I used to wear the power siphon, “It
was Llywelyn's; he had been linked to my mind, strengthening me.
Now he has taken both the ring and the link, and I feel so alone!
He hates me! I don't think I can take it anymore, Cas. Everything
is falling apart!”

“You still have me.”

“No, I can't have you, remember? Cailli
won't allow it.” Thoughts of being denied the affections of the
only man who seems to care for me bring my tears back. He draws me
against his chest, stroking my hair, murmuring words of comfort: to
no avail. I surrender to the darkness, to the pain.

***

Casanova projects a plea for help from any
family member nearby. Shi'ahn is so absorbed in her pain she does
not notice anyone arrive.

“What's so Important, Casanova – I'm a bit
busy just now. Do you have any idea what's happening outside?”

“Outside?”

“The Spire has gone dark and it's raining!
Everywhere!” He pauses as Shi'ahn's presence breaks through his
annoyance; his voice immediately becomes softer, filled with
concern. “What's wrong with her?”

“I'm not sure, something Llywelyn did. I've
tried my best, but I can't calm her, I can't even put her to
sleep.” Lucian swears.