B6C3 – Ruinous Power

Merigold hadn’t said much in the past few days. What was there to say? How was she to say it? And to whom? Honoured Stennis was many things, a platinum ranked warrior of the Empire, a personal servant of the Emperor and highly capable in any number of fields, but a conversationalist, he was not.

No matter how she tried, the vision of Tyron Steelarm, swords stuck in his guts and through his ribs, hanging from chains and nails driven through his hands, eyes alive with hate and rage as he swore to kill the gods themselves would not leave her mind. It haunted her awake or asleep, as they travelled, while she ate.

He had told her why, as well. He had watched as his father killed his mother, then committed suicide. Right in front of him. All so they would not be forced to kill their only child.

In that moment, he had determined that he would destroy everyone and everything responsible for the loss of his family, no matter the cost.

Even worse, she could sympathise with him. He was in pain, he was grieving what he saw as unjust and unjustified. He was determined that someone would have to pay the price. Yet the conclusions he had come to were monstrous. How many would have to die, would have to suffer, in order for him to complete his rampage? To bring down the Empire would be to endanger millions upon millions of citizens.

There were over ten million living in the Imperial Province alone!

Suffering on such an unimaginable scale was… impossible to grasp. He didn’t care. Worse, he had declared the Empire was worse than he could ever be?

Merigold was more than willing to admit she had been… uncomfortable with what had happened to the Western Province. Such purges were not issued lightly, and she was confident the Imperial Court had pursued all other avenues before committing to such a brutal solution to the corruption and uprising in the West.

The integrity of the Empire and the mission of The Five could not be compromised. This was for the safety of the entire world.

Right?

Never in her entire life had Merigold ever doubted for a single second that this was true. Not as a child, not as a student, not as an adult working in an obviously flawed and intractable administration. Never.

But now…

“He was insane, wasn’t he,” she said aloud.

A question, or a statement? Perhaps a mix of both. She stared into the crackling fire Stennis had made for them, hoping that he could offer her the certainty she couldn’t find for herself.

“He was, and is,” he said, with nothing but iron certainty in his voice.

It was exactly what she had wanted to hear, yet it didn’t comfort her as much as she had hoped it would. Despite the things he had said, the Necromancer didn’t seem mad. He was in pain, filled with bottomless grief and endless fury, lashing out at things so much bigger than himself. Was that enough to count him as insane?

Certainly, he had done things that were unforgivable in the eyes of the law, and of the gods. Tyron Steelarm would die for his crimes, but she hoped for more than that. She hoped he was truly insane, that the things he believed were delusions.

Central to that doubt and worry was the conversation that had gone entirely over her head, and over the heads of the guards who had been present in that tent. They had discussed knowledge, Stennis and the Necromancer, things that only the platinum ranked knew.

“Stennis…” she began, but he looked at her the moment she opened her mouth, as if he knew exactly what she wanted to ask about.

Something about the coldness is his eyes warned her not to speak.

“It’s not something that we can discuss. If I answered your questions, you would be considered a heretic and killed by the Church.”

“You know the answers,” she said softly, staring deep into the flames.

“I do,” he replied heavily.

Seated on a log, he reached out to test the fish he was grilling over the flames. As much as it shamed her, Merigold didn’t know anything about living rough or travelling across the land, and her uselessness was reinforced to her every day. To make good time, she was even forced to cling onto Stennis’s back as he ran—a humiliating experience.

“Before any of us are allowed to ascend to platinum rank, we undergo a strict training regimen to fortify our hearts, minds and bodies. It was five years after I reached the peak of Gold before I was granted my promotion.”

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Once he had begun speaking, it seemed as if he wasn’t able to stop. The words flowed out of him in a quiet, soft voice as he spoke directly into the flame.

“I was selected at a young age, and I’m significantly older than you might think. After undergoing training, I was accepted into the Golden Legion and served there for ten years, starting when I was fourteen.”

“You didn’t have a Class at that age,” she noted.

“No. The Empire’s soldiers start developing their skills before their Ascension, and I was no different. Only those who reach the standard and receive an acceptable Class at eighteen are allowed to actually serve. Most fail.”