The Silver Tongue Inn

Having found a room for rent at the Tavern's connected Inn, I negotiated a rate for an indeterminate stay.

Having sustained little to no injuries during the attack, only rendered unconscious by the all too familiar jolt to my head; is awoken to a nurse who confirmed my suspicions. He's left me the place to meet him. I entered the room.

"Why are you here?" I wasn't exactly pleased.

"Well, I didn't have much choice. Banishment makes it easy to be off-world, and off-world is exactly where somebody had to be in order to find you. Colagart has called for you," I said with amusement at Margurka's big show of bravado.

"Make sense this instant!" I yelled. I had never appreciated the way Rodriun spoke to me. I'd always be the youngest sibling to him, the spoiled runt. Perhaps in some respects he was right; but now was not the time.

I waited for the room to settle before I spoke again. I was still unsure how to say it. Family was a difficult thing, a sentiment I'd found many royal houses could relate to. Margurka and our father were a classic case of generational divide; but he was still our father.

"Father is dead. Colagart calls for its Emperor."

I sat down at the table near the door, unsure how to keep my footing at the words. I stared at Rodriun, mouth agape, searching for explanation, desperate that this was some cruel joke.

I let moments pass, the truth of the situation sinking in to my brother, before I spoke again.

"In your absence, the Empire has been struggling to put down resistance movements. Some of the War-Masters saw your leave as their chance to throw a coup. They succeeded. Only a small few of the War-Masters remain loyal amidst the chaos, as tribal divides have reformed, and the resistance leaders fight amongst themselves to form a government. The few remaining loyal War-Masters and their forces don't have any reason tocontinue fighting without an heir. Margurka, if they can't retake the Capitol, Colagart will never be home again; and worse, our secrets will be exposed."

"They're leaderless?"

"And you are their leader. Return to them, recover the throne. It will make more of a difference than anything you can do here, or in finding Tav," my voice was careful and reasoned.

"I can't. I still have obligations here. I can't just leave," I said after a brief consideration, guilt leadening my heart both ways, now unsure why I had laid roots down in Tempo Regine to begin with, "not now at least."

"Margurka I understand your hesitance about the bonds, and I know you are scarred, scared," I tried my hardest not to take a pleaing tone, while still expressing sympathy, "but it is your responsibility, and your decision will affect millions of lives more than your own. We can work around it, perhaps you would not have to marry immediately, there will be much business to attend to; there will always be a way to spin these things, but Colagart needs you."

"It's not just the marriage bond that I resent. It's Colagart itself. It needs to change, and that change will not happen from within."

"It could happen, if you would just return. If you don't return soon, we may never be able to return again, and the change you seek may never come."

"If I return now, I would have to marry; marry someone from Colagart! I could never be happy with that, and I could never push for that change without a wife who is supporting those motions, who understands me, and the visions I have. A Colagartrune woman never could."

"You're making excuses, if you will not marry, fine; but don't hide behind words of virtue. It is not you. After all, have you sought after any such woman?"

"I-er..." for the first time since I'd left, I realized the fault in my argument; I had not. Had I? Surely I was convinced of the idea, but now I wondered; had I convinced myself to use it as an excuse for my rebellious misadventure? It was as if a curtain had been pulled back and behind it was a mirror. I was seeing myself for the first time. It felt odd, like a private moment. I squirmed before meekly speaking to my brother.

"Kreklov!" I shouted, storming from the room.

I tucked the feelings away to the back of my mind. "Bent-head" it roughly translated to. An aggregious word for use on one like my brother. I didn't know how to apologize for something like that; so I resolved to not.

"Change you would bring indeed," I said to the empty room, before I sat at the table, opening a small device and preparing to report to the Council.

I walked into the tavern shortly after Margurka had left. I walked up to Rodrium and sat across from him at the table. "Did you still want to ask those questions from the other day?" I asked while fidgeting with the pendant idly.

"Hello Ceres. Yes, if you would not mind, but that jar. It peaked my curiosity. The energy fields coming from it were so heavily distorted, I was wondering what you knew of it."

"It's something Militis gave me." I said and pulled out the jar, setting it carefully on the table. The souls inside stirred at the movement but settled down again after a few minutes. "It summons him I suppose. One use only though."

"Summoning hm? That would explain the distortions. Very advanced magical techniques must have gone into making it; do you know if he made it himself?"

"I didn't ask. But I assumed so since he's given them to others." I shrugged and replaced the bottle carefully back into my bag. I paused to order a drink and leaned back in my chair with a satisfied sigh. "Anything else?"

"I suppose that would be all of the jar i will be able to extract. It was very much appreciated; such a marvelous piece of technology was wonderful to see. It is a healthy sign for the universe to be sure."

"...... I'm doubtful that a jar full of souls is a healthy sign of our universe." I said. "But say what you will."

"Perhaps not created out of pure intent, but still an advancement of knowledge. But if such a powerful magical device could be created, the knowledge from it could always potentially be used for the greater good in the end. Thus any sign of intelligence, I take to be a good sign; sapients are inherently good, otherwise we'd be extinct by now."