The Mother of Monsters

It didn’t take long for the stern head of the King’s Guard to open the doors after Yaga went inside. Despite Teyva’s protests, her own guards formed back up around her and her companions. Elat stayed behind, choosing not to go inside with them. As always the chamber was ringed with guards, though this time there were even guards stationed at the ramp that lead up to the throne. On either side of the King were the Four, who looked as if they had just finished an argument. The King himself looked tired, leaning forward on his seat as he watched the brief procession. It ended with the five guards splitting off from Teyva’s group with practiced efficiency, the two on each side spreading out while Batel took up the position immediately behind Teyva and to her left.

Silence fell over the room for a few heartbeats as Azrael and Teyva kneeled. Nephral, who had remained on Teyva’s shoulders folded his wings tightly and lowered his head. Paraklytus remained standing, but held his hand over his heart and nodded to the king.

“Lesson one,” Thrake said, “Queens do not kneel, Teyva.”

Teyva blinked and Nephral’s tail twitched. She looked up at the King who was resting his chin on his knuckles, his eyes sparkling with mirth even as his expression was firm. “I am not a Queen,” Teyva said.

“Tell that to them,” He said, nodding to the guards and Paraklytus.

Teyva looked over her shoulder and made eye contact with Batel and then Perry, the two of them stared back at her. Batel, for once, showed no expression on his face. He simply returned her stare patiently. She swallowed and after gathering her wits she rose to her feet. She looked up at Thrake and he nodded. Azrael joined her a moment later, stepping backward and taking up position behind Teyva and to the right. The king raised an eyebrow and rose to his feet.

“What do they call themselves?” Thrake asked.

Teyva’s mouth went dry but she forced herself to speak, “Akuran Labyrinthians,” She hesitated at the mouthful and added on the spot, “The Akurai.”

There was a shifting of feet behind her and she forced herself not to look back. Instead, she forced herself to look the king in the eyes. “I assume it went well down there?” He asked.

“The Library is open to all,” Teyva said, doing her best to slip into her role, “It’s knowledge is a gift to Osan from,” She fumbled and hesitated before continuing, “From my people,” She turned and gestured to Paraklytus. “Archlich?”

All the guards in the room shifted on their feet, Barin Kot raised an eyebrow and Argus Wo’s hand lowered to his weapon as the Lich stepped forward. His skeletal figure still wreathed in simple robes. He turned his glowing eyes upon the King and his jaw opened in mimicry of speech. The sound came from somewhere within his skull and filled the chamber.

“I am the Caretaker of the University that you call Nulakam. I was once its guardian, though I have stepped down from that role to serve my,” He paused, “My Queen.” Teyva shivered at the words but didn’t stop him. “As a being of knowledge, it is my purpose to foster minds and see wisdom spread. It would honor me if your scholars would join ours in the University.”

Barin Kot spoke up before the King, shooting his majesty an apologetic look, “You are an Aspect Being of Knowledge?”

“I ascended during my solitude, yes,” The Lich said, “The Agelessness of Undeath gave me the time necessary to bloom. Surrounded by the wisdom of my ancestors, it was only a matter of time.”

Barin nodded, “You speak the truth.”

The lich inclined his head, “A weaver with the Aspect of Truth, you think of yourself a greedy man, don’t you?”

The stunned silence that followed was punctuated by a chuckle from Barin Kot, “I like you, Archlich Paraklytus. Yes, I am a very greedy man. We should talk later.”

“I agree, there is much I would like to learn from you, as would you like to hear from me,” The Lich inclined his head before turning to the King and gave an expert bow, “Forgive my banter, Majesty.”

“You are used to matters of court,” The King observed.

There was a pause and the Lich turned his head to look at Teyva, Teyva nodded and the Lich looked up at the King, “I was once the advisor to Queen Teyva Rani of the Labyrinthian People, before her fall from grace and self-destruction.”

The King raised his head, “So you know the creature that dwells within my foster daughter? Your Queen?” Teyva’s lips twitched a bit into a smile, it was the first time she’d heard Thrake refer to her that way. From behind her, Azrael put a hand on her shoulder and Teyva reached up to grab it, squeezing once.

“Creature is an apt way of putting it, Majesty,” The Lich said, “Teyva Rani cast aside her morality in the pursuit of immortality, she committed crimes of the soul. Including consumption. I could not stand by her and left her service.”

The King frowned and the Four shifted on their feet, “Such a devil is inside of her now?”

“I have no doubt, My Queen was injured in her time in the University, during her treatment I searched for the spark of Teyva Rani’s soul and found it lingering inside, contained for now by your foster daughter’s will.”

“Can you remove it?”

“I believe I can, but it will take time to study such a method. I have long avoided learning of those matters for obvious reasons,” The Lich said, “Tampering with the soul is taboo among my people.”

“As it is with ours, but this is a special case,” The King said, “Work with Barin Kot here, find a solution for her.”

“It would be my pleasure,” The Lich said and inclined his head, stepping backward and away from his position at the front.

The King turned his attention to Teyva, “It would seem that a lot has happened down there, I’m glad you found a lead and incredibly pleased with your gift for the people of Osan,” He said, “Thank you, Teyva, Azrael,” He said, looking to both women. “You did well. I’m relieved to see you in one piece, you’ve been missed.”

Azrael stepped forward and bowed once, “Thank you father, It’s good to see you too. How are you?”

That one question took all the tension out of the room, in a single breath, the King sat back down and leaned back in his seat. The Four seemed to relax their shoulders and even the guards went at ease. “Tired, if I’m being honest. It’s been a busy few weeks.”

“Galavanting instead of sleeping is your highnesses own choice,” Tiisha admonished from his left. The king chuckled and even a few of the guards snickered a little bit, Teyva released a tightness in her chest she hadn’t realized was there. Tiisha wasn’t done, she turned her attention to Teyva, “And you, what have you done to that beautiful armor I made you?”

Teyva blinked and looked at her right arm, the chain-limb wrapped tightly around it. She swallowed, “I …” She trailed off, glancing back at Batel who had shame written all over his face. To her surprise, Paraklytus cleared his throat and chimed in.

“My Queen suffered a grievous injury in the halls beneath the Library. The loss of a limb is a frightful thing,” He turned to Teyva and added, “She is remarkable, though, her own abilities restored it to her after some time.”

Thank you, Teyva said to him through the private chat.

It was for the best.

Tiisha frowned and put her hands on her hips, “Clearly the coat needs reinforcement, you’re very lucky you have the aspects that you do, what on earth were you fighting?”

“A ten-foot skeleton in armor,” Teyva said, thinking back to the monstrous form that Batel’s corpse had taken. She wondered what caused creatures like that to grow so much in size.

Tiisha pulled back a bit and it was Argus’ turn to laugh, “Nice! I would love to test myself against something like that,” Behind her, Batel again shifted on his feet but a gentle gesture from Teyva ordered him to calm down. The King, all the while, watched the conversation with interest. His eyes never left Teyva as he took in every gesture and mannerism. She wondered if he could tell that she was trying to cover for Batel. There was no way of knowing how the Four would react to knowing that he was the one who severed her limb-regardless of whether he knew what he was doing or not.

“It would seem we have a lot to talk about, Yaga tells me that there are more Akurai down below,” He said, drawing the conversation back into focus.

Teyva froze, she knew this was going to come up eventually but she figured she’d have a little more time to decide on what to say. She had never intended on bringing them back to life, she had just wanted to help them in whatever way she could. Maybe she had thought that she could help them move on to the afterlife, or maybe she was just hoping to ease their suffering. Anything. Now she had hundreds of people to think about, worry about, while they called her mother and now apparently, Queen. Didn’t queens normally get a coronation ceremony? She set her jaw and forced the intrusive thoughts out. Either way, there was only one thing she could do at this point, take responsibility.

“The Akurai are my children,” Teyva said, steeling herself, “They are my responsibility, but I cannot care for them alone. They are a lost people, I have no way of sheltering them beyond the walls of the University. I have no food or water to give them. I have nothing to provide them with,” She sighed, “What ‘queen’ can’t do at least that much?”

“You’d be surprised,” The King said and glanced to the Four. Each of them nodded. He smiled at them and turned his attention back to her, “We’ll figure out how to help the Akurai, Teyva, we will not let them die out a second time.”

Relief flooded through her and she bowed as low as she dared without calling for another lesson from him, “Thank you.”