The Endless Solvent

The Kuvanian emissaries stood next to the fireplace at the end of the great hall, the shorter one more flushed than the taller. They had gathered some Kuvanian soldiers that traveled with them and they stood casually in a line behind them. Most were all in full armor except for the missing helmet so they could eat and drink.

“Why does your king and your ruling class not want you to hear our words?” the taller one demanded. “Is it because they are afraid you will begin to think for yourselves? All we want is your acceptance and include you in the grace of the Parts, yet your beliefs shun us. Why is that?”

“They think you’re all fools,” the shorter one exclaimed, his words slurring.

“Caelisian ideology does not exclude the existence of the Parts,” one nobleman spoke. “And are we not hearing your words right now?”

"You give us fake smiles and pretend to listen but none of you deign to follow our lead. We warn you of the blasphemy of using the power of the Parts - the power exclusive to the Parts - yet you all partake in its powers.” The taller emissary shook his head, stroking his mustache. “This transgression towards our gods will inevitably bring disaster even among those who follow the Parts will.”

“You’re going to ruin it for all of us,” the shorter one spat.

“If that’s true, then why does the Emperor allow Caelis to exist?” another onlooker piped up. “He also gives us leave to interact with the Yscians and the capital frequently uses runes and the Academy frequently nurtures Solvent manipulators.”

“The emperor… has specific allowances from the Parts due to his holy heritage,” the taller one said insistently. Nilda suppressed the urge to snort. “However his highness will eventually see the benefits of abstaining from using the Great Solvent in his great nation.”

Nilda hung back as the crowd around the emissaries struck up quite a conversation. The use of the Great Solvent, solvent manipulation and runology are usually accepted in the empire with the exception of Kuva. Perhaps Kuva believed that indoctrinating Caelis, their closest neighbor, would be beneficial to them. From the sounds of the lively debate, it didn’t seem to be going well.

The Lunaris had finally risen from her spot and was standing away from the crowd but close enough to listen in. Surprisingly, she turned to a man and they bent their heads together in hushed conversation - the first time Nilda’s seen her talk to someone at a dinner like this. Covertly, she drifted to a different spot in the dining hall to try to see who the man was.

He wore a blue uniform and had a standard issue sword strapped to his hip so he was clearly a Caelis guard. Perhaps it was one of the Lunaris’ personal guards. Nilda watched him walk away while trying to figure out what was so strange about him. She closed her eyes and tried to ‘feel’ out the stone ground through the Great Solvent and thought his steps felt… out of sync, as if one step seemed sharper or felt like it ‘clicked’ against the stone. Perhaps he had a rock stuck in his shoe? No, it was just a wonky gait that made him click a hard edge of his shoes against the ground as he walked.

Eventually the mystery man was far enough away to escape her snooping. Nilda blinked as the hubbub around the emissaries grew louder.

"What’s going on?” Taurin reached her side staring wide-eyed at the growing crowd. The little moon tagged along just behind her.

“Your Kuvanian emissaries are spreading their words of truth,” Nilda muttered to her mistress.

“They are not mine, they are here under the Lunaris’s invitation,” Taurin said. “I emphatically like my dinners preaching-free. I tried to turn them down but my dear sister-in-law seems to think inviting them is of prime political importance.”

“I apologize then, my Brilliance, I may have threatened to murder them in cold blood earlier today,” Nilda said without a trace of remorse in her voice.

“She tried to stab them with spikes,” the princess added in a hushed tone up at her mother.

“Is that why the ground at the front courtyard looks like that?” Taurin huffed. “You could have at least smoothed it back - I swear I get shit for every misplaced rock in this castle because of you - ”

“Mama said a bad word.” The little moon grinned impishly.

“Do not tell Trissel I said that.”

“And there is a great example of the need to join us, friends,” the emissary burst out. Nilda froze as she noticed dozens of eyes training on her. The short emissary had parted the crowds and gestured straight at her. “A fine, beautiful, fertile specimen of Gaian perfection but what has staying in this blasted land and partaking in its outrageous culture done to her? You must all know. She’s a Solvent manipulator!”

“This Solvent manipulator was one back at the Heart of Gaia, the capital and home of esteemed Emperor,” Nilda said, bowing mockingly. “Surely you don’t imply living in the capital has tainted me?”

“Lies,” the taller emissary spat out immediately. “It is genetically impossible for a pure blooded Gaian to be a manipulator to such a degree without the help of some corrupt enchantment. You must have gotten them here, in this land that uses enchantment and spells indiscriminately.”

Nilda thought of the scarring on her back and said nothing.

“But you do admit Gaians produce users of the Great Solvent to some degree,” Taurin stepped in between them, shielding Nilda from the men. The princess went to Nilda’s side and pressed against her hip. “Surely we can all agree with the Emperor that use of the Solvent isn’t beyond us.”

“Nothing is beyond us because we are Gaians,” the tall one replied condescendingly. “But the manipulation of the Solvent is not a practice for those of us under the command of the Parts. You will all come to regret using powers not meant for us. Retribution is around the corner.”

Taurin crossed her arms. “What retribution are you talking about?”

“You believe disaster is so far-fetched? You think you can use what is meant for the Parts at no cost?” the taller emissary snorted. “Everything has a cost, Brilliance, and I believe you already have seen the beginning of it.”

“Explain yourself, sir, or stop talking altogether if you’re just going to speak riddles,” Taurin said. She was beginning to sound like she was losing patience.

“Do you believe the Gates opening to be a random natural event, Brilliance? It is divine punishment,” the taller emissary hissed. “Mark my words. All your little research, all your stupid efforts in ‘talking’ with the barbarians out east will only bring you back to the obvious, simple conclusion I bring to you today: Misuse of the Great Solvent is making the Parts angry.”

“That is an interesting theory yet to be proven.” Taurin didn’t sound impressed. “I believe that is something Professor Bayl-Lotten first proposed when the first Gates opened about half a century ago. Riveting read. I believe that Bayl-Lotten went on to say how the blood of female virgins should be used to close the gates to appease the ‘Parts’ without providing any evidence or explanation other than his unbridled hatred to the fairer sex.”

“You’re spouting Academy nonsense, woman,” the shorter emissary interjected. He had taken several more drinks since he last spoke and not a drop of it was water. “You and that monster of a handmaid of yours… shame on your bloodline.”

Several people gasped. There was a shuffling of people and the Solaris appeared in his fine maroon tunic densely embroidered in gold. “I will merely consider that the particularly strong ale is talking,” the Solaris rumbled. “And not the personal words of Kuvan’s emissaries. I suggest - ”

“And what is wrong with my bloodline?” Taurin pressed, putting a hand on her husband’s shoulder.

“You sully it,” the emissary burst out drunkenly. “These… people intertwining their blood with those beast-men. They lay with beast-men and what is to say that you didn’t as well. Those brats of yours with freakish abilities - that girl looking more Yscian by the day.”

Nilda shoved the princess behind her as the emissary glared at them. From the look on the taller, more sober emissary’s face, she could tell things have been taken a little too far.

“Who is to say she’s actually the Solaris’s flesh and blood? Hmm? The Brilliance to be, desperate for the throne, opening her legs to beast-men so she could have twins - ”

The Solaris didn’t utter a single order to his men and simply took the emissary by the collar and bodily threw him out of the dining hall as easily as a toy doll. Rask was close behind him, dragging the protesting taller emissary out as well. The rest of the Caelis guards crowded around the Kuvan soldiers and they were all ushered or pushed outside, where it sounded like more guards were there to completely throw them out of the castle.

“I would have demanded an apology after you sobered up,” Nilda heard the Solaris boom outside the dining hall. “But actually, I would prefer it if you never returned. Kuvanians are never allowed back in my banquet halls, please relay that back to your king.”