"Yes." Rhaena smiled, lifting into the sky, blurring. That was the second part of her symbol, Ivory knew as renegade: The self-banishment. It was like an erasure of features; legs fading, dress transient, then gone, arms waning. A moment and she was but a floating head in the dimness, smiling.
Horrific beauty, some would say.
The head moved, circling above slowly. The lips moved. "What does the highHeir want from me?"
Ivory contemplated the response—to speak them revealed a certain weakness usable against her. Now, Rhaena could be treated as an Ally, but familiarity changed—more often as an effect of the fickle nature of emotions.
Take the leap!
"I come because of your experience."
Rhaena smiled with her eyes. "You're in love?" Less a question and more of a reaffirmation.
"Let us employ the multiverse theory."
"If you were to be in love?" Rhaena turned—her head did, an arm revealing, a pillar for the jaw.
"Yes," Ivory confirmed, watching a stray, blue-tinted serv sway in a hive. "If I were to be love, what dangers can that produce for the clan?"
"That is entirely dependent on the source of the emotion. Who, what, How? Questions that must be dutifully analyzed because of it."
"Still in the multiverse theory." Ivory said, "What if he were an Aspirant?" Hmm..that reveals too much!
That smile told the same. "Then I pity you…" She said, "The Aspirant is the source that cannot exist in unity with the Clan. No clan will accept that unity. The church certainly will."
"More inner control??"
"Exactly." Rhaena drifted down. "The Theocracy always seeks to learn the powers owned by the Clan. Such a connection creates the corridor for searches done under the 'taking care of' That of course can be terminated if he is willing to break it….Is he?"
Ivory found herself consumed in pity. What would be her response to the same condition? Renounce your existence as highBorn…Will I do such a thing?
No!
And it's not about the power. Responsibilities should be handled by those able to contain it. No one else can.
"Now you see," Rhaena said, almost aware of her thoughts. "Are you willing?"
"So I am Selfish."
"All creatures to some extent are selfish." Rhaena said, "A truly selfless creature is either one without a future or one long dead…You are either."
"But he was." Ivory looked now at her cousin, saw the slight inclings of sadness. Reminiscent pain. "I am Sorry." The loss required an apology.
Rhaena, however, smiled. "He once called me his future." Sweet-toned. "Perhaps that is why he chose to die."
Ivory knew the tale—a story often associated with similar emotions to the rednight. The day the youngest Caster to become redeemed was born. Although facts on the specifics remained elusive, there was an agreed-upon reality.
Rhaena betrothed had sacrificed himself and the totality of his force to stabilize Rhaena, who had experienced intense discord during the creation of the Avatar. He had died to it. She had lived. A Redeemed with two symbols embedded in the soul. Renegade and Beauty. Obvious in the contradiction the two symbols possessed.
Renegade, in some manner, was a symbol directly connected to the bladesworn; Beauty was not…If she were to postulate, the symbol likely existed in the domain of the dreamShaper.
Some believe she had acquired the second symbol because it was the last word said by her intended.
Implausible that a single word could trigger the existence of a middleMind symbol. But then, there were plenty of unknowns with the Symbols. This could be a source of knowledge.
Would Kabel for me?
Yes.
This was a thing demonstrated already—from the moments of the escape facilitation, his fate was sealed. He knew that, yet advanced…So you're willing to die but not renounce the theocracy?
She seethed within.
That was the ultimate control—to make one bound by nothing but their own convictions. True awareness stems from the flexibility of oneself. A rigid self meant a halted existence.
Can't he see that? Can't he see the stalled life the Church has thus sang for him?
"I could get a silverAssurer to instill the desired thoughts…" Blurted.
Laughter.
Ivory startled. Rhaena above had emerged fully, arms wrapped over the belly, trembling. Not pain—the other. She was giggling. "You know that is unlawful, right?"
Ah…I said that out loud. "It's merely a thought."
"One's thoughts are often the things they wish they could do…No. I suppose the right word is 'allowed' to do."
"I can do anything."
"No one can do anything." Finality in her tone.
She's like Mother and Argon cased into one…Perfect.
"It's bootless regardless." Ivory said, "He is to be killed tomorrow. Even if my coronation somehow stalls it, he will still be executed soon."
"That is dangerous."
Amazing. Ivory thought. She can also see the danger.
Rhaena added. "To kill an Aspirant is enough grounds for the Theocracy to attack Valor. That or at least exert some influence over its mechanism."
"I wonder what Argon wants." Ivory knows the risk she plays now…Any revelation of this beyond these walls could trigger events that might question Argon, hence her legitimacy.
Can I trust Rhaena?
"Vanity." Rhaena said, "He is of that age now…to desire some legacy for himself."
"Why?" The reason she had come here.
Rhaena lofted to a tree, landing atop its branches, one leg crossed over the other. Glowing. "Consider the past." She said, "Consider his predecessor."
"Gladwell?" Confusion. "He had nothing noteworthy…Argon is the storm."
"Perhaps…Yet the mention of his name drives a great rage within every Valorian. That hate could burn for generations. Think about Shirera Valor, who had been raped by the twin sons of Odium. That sin was the originator of the feud, and the reason her name remains to now."
"You think Argon wants a sin to fuel his name?" Ivory thought. This is a thing a foolish Highness would consider, not Argon.
"This is the multiverse theory..Anything can be anything." Rhaena continued. "Perhaps not a sin, but Argon can bear some notions for a name across history. Every Highness of Valor had such names. From Shirera, the lady of the line, to Areo, the one who had murdered his family. There is even Mel the Foolish. These are names that immortalized them…But Argon, he became Highness for the sole reason of Gladwell's death. Not merit. Not exceptionality…just chance…One can seek uniqueness for that cause."
"Vanity."
"The core aspect of all humans." Rhaena smiled. "But I doubt Argon would truly harm the Clan…no matter the universe."
So he plans to achieve distinctiveness through some other means? Ivory considered. Through the formless? Their knowledge? Power? What? The formless I AM could provide some measure of innovative idea; was that what he wanted?
What then would be the outcome if I told him of its Promise to make me a caster…That alone is a shift in the paradigm.
Casters were born…that was the sole way. Not made. But I AM aimed to disprove that…
Should I tell Argon of this?
Would it be enough to secure the safety of Kabel?… Ah, "If only I were that beautiful." Ivory said, "Beauty calls Attention. That calls desire. And desires call the need for total abandonment in pursuit of it. Perhaps I should ask for the attention?"
Rhaena wore pity—a flash expression that shifted into a smile.
"Ah, my dear, beautiful things don't ask for attention." She said, "And you, my sweet girl, are beautiful."
"Then it is an Easy decision to make." Ivory said, "The abandonment."
"Oh, we are back on the Aspirant?" She smiled. "It might not."
"Not surprising." Was this sadness she felt? A hand cupped her cheeks; Rhaena. Wholely formed, still hovering.
"No…" She said, "It can be surprising. Men can be the most vile of creatures and yet the most amazing. None of them is beyond being surprising. None. I know of this."
But I'm still not close to an answer…Would he accept or not?
What can I do to make it an easier thing to do?
More questions
Recorded by the loremasters
Merrin watched the colossal wall, a metal gate pressed into its face. The familiarity wasn't lost on him. Dark brttle, uncanny with the eltium gates of the Mines. This is meant to be Auwale's territory? He thought, attempting to find relevance in the established information. There were such titles as the Shaedoran, the Great Rider, and the self-assigned one: The Great Hunter. A certain ping prevalent in it.
He asked, "Are we invited?"
"We would know if we live."
"We?" Merrin smiled.
"I'm invested in the madness—might as well assign it the proper pronouns."
"Words, Words." Merrin quibbed, "Now…Is there anything I must know about him?"
"Do not openly question the nature of his Inhabitants." She said, "At least not to them."
"Why?"
"They are not as stable as they might appear…Symbols bathed in force, even expertly carved, they do deal with their own measure of discord."
Discord—what a word that, and how great a dread it filled him with.
"So I will only seek Auwale."
"Not much of a derailment from your original motives."
"You make me sound like a criminal."
"You might be," Enavro said.