Stars' Light, page 49
“Golden General.” Halt bowed his head as he walked up the last few steps to the dragon landing. He was followed by Colin and Lillia Tatara. They were both dressed against the cold as winter was setting in. Snow crunched under their feet. They both seemed nervous.
“Has the Emperor told you the news?” Analia asked them.
“No.” Colin said, but his eyes told another story. Lillia held his hand stiffly.
Analia turned and frowned at Halt. “Everything is fine. Sarannya and the General are on their way home now, with the last of the refugees from Bosc City. The boat will dock tomorrow, but your daughter will be landing soon, by dragon.” She watched their faces light up and the tension leak from their bodies.
“Did you say by dragon?” Colin said in shock, moving towards Analia.
“I did. We should be able to see them in a moment or two.”
“I did not think Dragons even exis…” He stopped in mid-sentence.
Almost on cue, small, dark shapes appeared on the horizon. They moved very quickly, growing larger, becoming the shapes of dragons. The small group stood in silent awe as the flight of dragons closed in on the landing. Even Analia, who had seen them before, could not help but feel struck by their power and majesty. She was the only one who didn’t turn her face away as the dragons landed, kicking up snow in the down draft from their wings.
Analia stepped forward. “Syrreth, it is good to see you again. It has been a long time.”
Syrreth looked down at her and brought his head close to touch hers. “It has been too long, Lady Tal. You are as radiant as ever. It is a great pleasure to see you again.” He brought his head up high and lowered his wing, so his riders could dismount.
Sarannya slid down and landed lightly on her feet. She was wearing her battered top and torn up divided pants. There was no need to protect herself from the cold, as she could keep the temperature from affecting her body. Well, the General did it for her, anyway. She was so tired, and her Well was empty, but it had been amazing to ride on the back of a dragon. Her whole face was alight with joy as she landed on the ground.
“Lady Tal.” Sarannya bowed her head, as was respectful to someone of higher station. She paused, noticing that her parents were standing at the edge of the landing with a man who resembled the picture of the Emperor.
Sarannya moved past Analia and literally ran to her mother and embraced her. “Mom! I’m so happy to see you. I can’t tell you how often I thought about you all. How are Dusan and Bran?” She barely kept herself from crying; her voice did not waiver, and it was clear she was trying to control herself.
“Your brothers and sisters are all fine. Dusan was wounded, but he is recovering.” Lillia hugged her youngest close. Tears started to fall. “I was so worried for you.” She pulled back and really looked at her daughter. “You have grown so much.”
“Mom. I’ve only been gone for a month… or so.” Sarannya was thinking about when she and the General had left.
“I know, and what is with all this common talk?” Lillia asked with a frown of disapproval.
Sarannya did not know what to say. “Uhhhh…”
Colin stepped in and drew his daughter close. “When you are rested, we have much to talk about and decide.”
Sarannya nodded her head. Everything felt different. She looked back over her shoulder at Kiril being helped down, along with Masamiria. Lubos would land with the Defiant and the horses tomorrow. “Of course, father. May I introduce you to Kiril Toshe? He is a student of the General’s. I would like him to stay in the house with us. He needs to recover.”
“I have my own cabin. I will be fine there,” Kiril said walking with a limp.
“Absolutely not.” Lillia moved forward to help him. “You will stay with us.”
“He will absolutely be staying with us.” Colin said, moving forward to help as well.
Halt stepped forward towards Sarannya as her parents moved off with Kiril. He stopped as she turned back to look at him with a frown on her face. Her hands were resting on the hilts of not one, but two Rimerian blades. Only one had ever before been given two, and he was just now dismounting the large gold dragon. She had the posture of a warrior. A tired warrior, but she was still alert. Halt smiled at her.
“Lady Tatara. I wanted to congratulate you on your coming of age, and your Rimerian blades. You have accomplished quite a lot in the last four weeks or so.”
Sarannya looked at him, thinking. Where have I seen this man before. “Thank you. And…you are?”
“Please excuse me. I am not…do you mind if I speak less formally to you?”
“Of course. That is not a problem.” Her grey eyes never left him.
“I’m not used to introducing myself. I am Halt Mirogen, Emperor of the Ten-Thousand Nations. We have never met.”
Sarannya eyes went wide, and she immediately bowed from the waist and relaxed her hands on the hilts of her blades. She knew that she was not in any danger, but it was hard to change her mindset with the battle of Bosc City still so fresh. She straightened up and stepped forward to shake the hand he was offering to her. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Your Majesty.”
“No. The pleasure is mine.”
Sarannya smiled politely at him and looked back over her shoulder, getting the feeling that she was being watched. As if this was one of those moments that would change everything. A lot of those going around, she thought to herself.
They begin the descent back towards the Tatara and Tal manor to get people settled in, and to rest.
Sarannya walked down the hill from the dragon perches in her bright red cloak that the Lady Tal had given her. Her black hair was down and loose. She wore a platinum chain through her hair that contained a rare grey heart stone that rested on her forehead. It was the first time she was able to wear her gift from her parents. She had a new pair of divided riding pants and top that were only a bit more elaborate than what she had originally worn for her travels. Small dragons were embroidered along the hem of her top and down the sides of her divided pants. She had flown everyday for the last two weeks.
Masamiria was now ensconced in a blacksmith shop down the hill, in the main part of Bara Murr. He and Maarika were staying in an inn together, and he had almost finished the two amazing sets of plate armor that he had started in Bosc City. The armor she and Kiril had helped with during the beginning of her training.
Ivanna had settled with Sarannya in the Tatara manor, and the two of them had become inseparable over the past couple of weeks. Ivanna was working today, and Sarannya frowned. Ivanna’s profession was baffling to her, but she was learning to be less judgemental.
Walking on a little farther, she turned the corner to her home. She then smiled at the two armed guards in front of her parent’s manor and entered. It had become the headquarters of the army. People were coming and going all the time. She often left to spend time with the dragons, or with Kiril at his cabin, just to get away.
She entered the great hall with the many portraits staring down at her. She quickly walked through the familiar hallways to her father’s study, having received a message from the General that she was needed. She could hear voices down the hall in a heated conversation.
Sarannya heard her father’s voice. “No! She is entirely too young for this. I gave in when you wanted to train her as a warrior against my better judgement, but she is still my daughter, and I say no!”
The Emperor’s voice. “Lord Tatara. The Mirogen can no longer be the rulers of this empire; that is why I approached the General to take the crown. He could easily take over and rule the Ten-Thousand Nations. This is not entirely about your…” his voice was cut off by the General’s.
“And I told you both, I cannot fight this war for the humans. You must learn to fight the Darkness for yourselves…” Jorian stopped and looked at the door as Sarannya entered the room. He was taken aback. The red cloak, grey heart stone, divided pants, and her War Blades. It was like seeing a ghost. Is it Ilenka or Zorian? He wasn’t sure. In this moment, he saw both of them in her. He noticed her grey eyes took in the room in a single glance. Jorian had a moment of sadness and grimaced, but stopped himself. Not this time. This time it will be different. This time I will not reject her. I will train her as I should have.
Sarannya looked at her teacher. He had a sad, haunted expression on his face. The very one she had seen when she had first met him. It passed from his face quickly, and he smiled at her. She tentatively smiled back at him.
“You sent for me, my Mirogen.” She moved into the room, pulling her cloak off to hang it near the door on the cloak rack.
“Indeed I did, my Dara. Please sit.” Jorian moved from his seat, and gestured for her to sit down.
Sarannya moved toward the seat, noticing that her mother and father were not happy. The Emperor was watching her very closely, along with his sister, and the Lady Tal was smiling at her as she closed the door behind her. She noticed that her father’s sword rack was empty behind his desk as usual, but there was a second sword rack next to it, having been made of the same wood, though it was clearly new. She also noticed the ring in the center of his desk that bore the Tatara crest and looked heavy. A signet ring she had never seen before. It bore a red background with a gold dragon at the center. A gold dragon that looked a little like Syrreth. The red background was the very same red of her cloak.
Jorian spoke, taking Sarannya’s attention from the ring. “Long ago, the Imperial family was split. A young woman was given the crown and title of empress by her father, the Emperor. Her and her brother had a falling out, and she left the crown to her brother to keep her family from fighting. She was a very spirited girl, and she came here to my house.”
Sarannya’s heart started to beat rapidly, and a weight settled over her. She could not take her eyes from her Mirogen.
“She came to me for training, but I refused her. There was a small house here then, and it had been built by a young man named Aeneas Tatara. They fell in love, and built what you see here. This house was built for the training of their family. Because I refused to train them, her parents, Zorian and Saheth Mirogen, trained them, and they created the Marpesian fiefdom. They were War Blade wielders, and some of the last of the Tracian Knights. It was their son and his wife that fought the One Hundred Day War, and won against Imperial City; Sarang.” Jorian paused, waiting to see if Sarannya had any questions.
He continued by moving over and picking up the signet ring on her father’s desk, bringing it up in front of him, so she could see it more clearly. “This is the signet ring of Saheth and Arina Mirogen, Emperor and Empress of what is now the Ten-Thousand Nations. They chose their daughter, and not their son to take the throne. It has been in your family ever since.” Jorian moved to a door that was hardly used. It normally had shelves in front of it, but it had now been cleared.
Sarannya had only been in that room once before. It was the ballroom, and it had been closed up her entire life. It had been used as a storage room for odds and ends for generations, but originally, it had been built as a ballroom, or audience room, if she was remembering her history correctly. She stood and followed him to the door, which he opened, and they walked down a small hallway to stop before another closed door.
Jorian stopped and turned to her, still holding the ring up in front of him. He reached out and opened the door.
Sarannya turned her head away from the blinding light, squinting her eyes. The light illuminated a room that had been completely cleaned and polished. It was stunning, with gold leaf around the crown molding. Beautiful floors that looked to be made from a dark hardwood had been cleaned, and shining brightly from a small dias set in the back was a throne. A throne made of light. Upon its seat was a crown. The crown of the Ten-Thousand Nations.
She walked past Jorian, staring at the Throne of Light, mesmerized. She could hear music. It was nothing like she had ever heard before. Almost like water running through crystal chimes. A music that was coming from some other place.
Jorian watched her go, and silently entered behind her with the others. He could hear the throne calling to her, as could his wife. None in recent history had ever seen the throne behave in this manner. He knew at that moment, this girl was the one. She was the one who really was his Dara; his successor.
Sarannya took the two steps of the dias and reached out her hand towards the throne to touch it. She saw a vision of herself sitting there, wearing the crown. She turned back to see her Mirogen not far behind her. She had a questioning look on her face. “Did the Empress who gave her crown to her brother have this room built for this throne?”
“Yes,” Jorian whispered. He took a deep breath, knowing what the next question would be.
“What was her name?”
“Ilenka Perko Mirogen. She married Aeneas Summanus Tatara.”
Sarannya stumbled back from the Throne of Light. “I called Kiril Aeneas, didn’t I?”
“Yes.”
“Why are you showing me this?” Sarannya turned away from the light of the throne and looked at Jorian. She stood on the first step of the dias. Her grey eyes were lit with a fierceness that he had seen before in two other pairs of grey eyes. One he had loved like a daughter; the other he should have loved like a daughter.
“I cannot take the crown or sit upon the Throne of Light, my Dara. It is not meant for me. It does not shed light for me. Only one in this room can take it.” He held the signet ring out towards her.
Sarannya looked back at the throne and then to her Mirogen. “Are you fucking serious?”
Lillia’s mouth dropped open. “Sarannya!”
AFTERWORD
THE TRACIAN KNIGHT
SNEAK PEEK OF BOOK 2 IN THE LIGHT WELL SERIES
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mark Allen is an emerging author of paranormal biographies. This is Mark’s eighth book.
Mark Allen, Stars' Light
