Chapter 5 - A Switch of Thought

Silence echoed in the inner garden, the heavy air oppressive and blunting the calming sounds of the water playing around the roots of the trees. The silken drapes were lifeless and still from the lack of a breeze. The fall of a dried leaf, long dead and tumbling to the once lush grass. Ja’Ekavira stood in shocked silence, her eyes staring at Winter in a mix of apprehension and elation.

“Take my place… At his side?” she whispered, “There can only be one…way that can happen.”

She looked away at a loss, before her eyes snapped to Winter’s in fear, “He – He is your Master? He claimed you? Claimed you after...”

Winter nodded with a small smile on her lips, “He claimed me when he was a young child, as I was chained to the Hall of the Host. From then on I was bound to his fate, I am his and he is mine. I made some mistakes being damaged as I was. But, eighteen years ago he freed what had been taken from me and broke the prison I had been confined to by the Host. Eighteen years ago I was made whole.”

Ja’Ekavira continued to stare at her, “As a child?”

“There is more, Vira.” Winter said softly, “Yesterday, I found you. I saw you standing before me, yet, I could not feel you as I should, hidden in here with your people all this time.”

“I searched both my and Antrandis’s memories of my prison. You were in there with me, hiding. Where I could not, you had attacked our restraints again and again. What the Host had me cut from you is kept safe by Antrandis since we freed my bindings. She is very shy and sleeps most of the time just beyond his conscious thoughts.”

Ja’Ekavira closed her eyes, “Then, I am his… I was drawn to him, not Scarosant.”

“Yes, the moment he claimed me, you were his also.”

Ja’Ekavira opened her hand and looked at the thick gold coin, its runes and etched symbols gleaming in the strange light.

“Winter?”

Winter shifted, smiling gently and placing a hand on Ja’Ekavira’s shoulder, “Yes?”

“He did not know.”

“No, he did not.” Winter responded softly.

Ja’Ekavira turned and looked at Winter, “And he was prepared to take my people then.”

Winter smiled, “Your people, Vira. Yes.”

Ja’Ekavira shook her head, walked off a few steps and stood in silence. The faint chiming of small bells among the trees could be heard as the Rakshasa contemplated Winter’s words. She gently stroked the surface of the coin, closing her eyes and letting her thoughts wander.

“Until moments ago, I was uncertain. Were you here to dispose of me and the Ke’Shasan or here to seek vengeance? Instead, you approach me as a friend, when the last I saw you, you stood over me, hands slick with my own blood, emotionless as you took what the Host demanded.” she smiled slightly her eyes turning, “I never blamed you, Winter. I just remembered who you were before you were given to the Host.”

Winter looked at her with a strange glint in her eye, “You remember?”

“You stand here right now, so different. Wingless, beautiful and strong, defined by your master’s desires, stronger than you were. I can see your other selves, with one eye I can see the Valkyrie, the other, the demoness, with tail and dragon wings.” Ja’Ekavira paused momentarily, “And with both eyes I see that form our maker shaped you into. That true form, your most powerful, Death.”

Ja’Ekavira frowned, looking at her, “How can an elven man lay claim to you and give you the freedoms the Host wouldn’t dare to let you have?”

Winter smiled in understanding, “Antrandis is not an elf, though it is his form. He is the child of the goddess, Lumos Darkfall. Born not long after the arrival of the new gods. The Lady of Shadows, Aisling Darkfall, the one who has been guiding you, is his mother’s sister.”

“He is the child of a god?”

Winter nodded, looking at her with a strange expression, “He is and more.”

Ja’Ekavira stared at her, her eyes glowing slightly, “Silvast, the dragon. Is she still…”

Winter immediately nodded, “She is his consort and the ruler of Scarosant. She has also spoken highly of you, almost covetously. It was Silvast that put my mind at ease. It seems that your actions when you met were of great interest to her.”

The rakshasa nodded slowly with narrowing eyes, “There is more. Something you have not mentioned.”

Winter nodded, “There is, someone who is very special to me. Someone from your past also that you mourned the death of, she has eyes like emeralds, one of the children of the Ebony and Alabaster. Trusted above all and gifted the wings of the valkyrie.”

Ja’Ekavira glanced at her, squinting as she thought, “But she died, Winter. Murdered.”

Winter shook her head, “No. Antrandis found her, wandering the slopes in the snow. Trapped in the form of Lumia, her familiar; she became a ghost of the trails. Something happened between them, the binding of souls when they happened across each other. They are bound together in such a way that sometimes it is difficult for me to tell them apart.”

“Sian lives?” Ja’Ekavira whispered sharply, “And I am to be one of four? For so long I have envisioning him being mine alone. I have been cut off from the world for too long.”

Ja’Ekavira glared at Winter, “I will take up his offer to resettle my people. I will meet with him. But do not expect me to be a part of his harem of conquests, a selection to be picked from at a whim. My people are my biggest concern, not who he will sleep with of a night.” she said with a hiss, turning away.

Winter smiled savagely, “I wouldn’t want it any other way.” she laughed, “Though what the other side of you has to say about it is something unknown.”

The rakshasa whipped about, teeth bared, snarling before backing down in fear, her tail immediately tucking from the sight. Winter stood at her full height, darkness rapidly gathering around her. Her midnight draconic wings spread, the light from the trees shimmering off the scales and glinting from the tips of her horns. Her eyes flashed with fire and steel, her pale, lustrous skin accentuating her features even further. An aggressive smile allowed her incisors to show.

“I was wondering how long it would take before your turn. Always twisting and manipulative, you suffer from the same self-serving ego as Sessh, though well hidden behind a mask of concern.” Winter said as she took a step forward, “Just like any domesticated cat, taciturn if not being appeased and holding the upper hand. Firstly, an act of fear and docility, then the show of interest, acceptance even, and finally the turn to set the opponent off balance.”

“So predictable.” she looked at Ja’Ekavira, watching as she backed away, the scent of fear in the air, “You declare yourself a priestess of Toth, yet speak ill of the absent god’s most trusted. You have forgotten what I took from you.”

“You speak of harems, if he has one… If it could even be considered one, then it is mine also as I am a part of him, because I partake in it every chance I get, many nights I fall asleep entwined in Sian’s or his arms, the taste of his or her lips on mine. Do not dare speak of conquests, when your own kind toy with their lovers before discarding them when bored, moving onto the next with no respect for loyalty. I was almost accosted by one spurned before I climbed the stair.”

Winter took another step closer, “I remember how many Eladar men died after being toyed with by the lesser three of your sisters, the cats that bred, birthing the Ke’Shasan. Your youngest brother driven mad by what you demanded of him, those elven women he watched die, just sacrifices in your pursuit of the Host’s desire to play god.” her eyes flared dangerously, “Do not think you are above your own accusations when you stand knee deep in your own refuse and filth. And you did it all at the Host’s request, keeping your dealings silent from those you hold closest, Empress.”

“Do not measure others against the same values that you hold yourself to, when you have none to begin with.” Winter said venomously, “You, in this state have no memory of what I was before, a carved statue being shaped by Azzar Kar’Sharn’s hands and will. My first thoughts was when he woke me and told me of my purpose, when he took a flake of stone of my creation from the floor and made you from it.”

Ja’Ekavira flinched, shifting back further and hissing with bared teeth as Winter’s voice rose, “You twist and create your own stories and truths to hide behind. The world might not know what you were involved in, but I do. I know because it was my task to make those you used, disappear.”

“Even now, you are just a shell of what you were meant to be. The Host’s perversion, still enacting his will with no thought or will to fight. Outside of this decaying sanctuary, you are nothing, decrepit remnants of the old world, no more than a myth that I could remove from existence permanently.”

“I have no sympathy for what stands before me, but the girl I saw hiding in the shadows my heart cries out to. The real Ekavira, created from my remains.”

Ja’Ekavira snarled, “You have no power here. Your words…” she stopped, suddenly choking, scratching at her neck as Winter stared her down.

“No power? You have been living in a sanctuary built within a domain I was specifically created to control. This is the shadow realm, the Ebony’s domain, I was created to stand in his place when he could not.” Winter smiled aggressively, “The Ebony dragon is the lord of the shadow realm and I am its steward.”

Ja’Ekavira gasped, falling to her knees, struggling to breathe as Winter approached and bent down over her.

“Did you know that apart from myself, you are the only one who was twisted by the Host? The others are only limited because I was ordered to cut it out of you. And they must answer your call.” she said softly into the rakshasa’s ear before dropping to a sharp whisper, “Just like you are bound to answer mine.”

“I gave you a chance, now we do this my way.” Winter said, turning and walking over to the lounge, her wings dissipating while she returned to normal, “The Ke’Shasan are a people well separated from their roots. Governable and able to function sociably without your direct command.” she turned, glancing at Ja’Ekavira and gesturing.

Watching the rakshasa stand, she shook her head, “I want the name of one who can negotiate with open mind, unbiased and able to lead.”

Ja’Ekavira coughed, “Ja’Alexa.” she said hoarsely.

“She will negotiate for safe passage at Dagnetheln. Along with two of the most respected Ke’Shasan, elders or otherwise.” Winter glanced at the silken hangings, “Freya, you will…”

Ja’Ekavira turned, her eyes following Winter’s gaze angrily, “Freya will not speak for…”

Winter smiled slightly, “Freya will, Ekavira. I trust her more than I could trust you as you stand before me, she has the people’s survival at heart and she is prepared to act without needing persuasion.”

Ja’Ekavira winced, clawing at her head with teeth bared and gritted, trying to avoid Winter’s eyes, “Frey…a…will.”

Winter nodded, “She will.” she said, glancing at the silks again, “Freya, liaison with Mathilde, she will give you more details.”

Seeing the faint flash of gold in the dark, she nodded.

“You see, Vira… Sessh is talking with the people right this moment, telling them how they will get to see sunrise and sunset, the moon, the stars, the wind on their faces. That they will be brought to a place that is protected, where they will be safe. He is declaring it in your name and making an example of the one who ordered the attack on my spears, demonstrating that his word and will can no longer be questioned.”

Ja’Ekavira glared at her.

“Vira… I am in your head. Every word you think of, I hear before it leaves your lips.” Winter rested her chin on her hand, her steel eyes glowing gently with danger, “The moment I entered this place I was sifting through your thoughts and memories. Slipping through your defences like a wraith, unseen and unnoticed.”

“You sent a message to my Husband, my Consort, my Master. Asking for sanctuary, mentioning the vision of Aisling.” Winter said with sharp eyes, watching Ja’Ekavira squirm, “You truly thought you could seduce him, titillate and capture his favour with promises of the flesh, completely unaware that he knew what you were.”

She clicked her tongue, “Completely unaware…That he knows your truth, that he has seen everything through my eyes, that he made it a point to understand the weapon at his side in all my glory, pain and purpose from the moment my eyes opened the first time. He made it his mission to see the worst sides, the worst actions I have committed and to accept them.” Winter said softly, her eyes flickering in the dim light, looking aside before focusing on Ja’Ekavira once more.

“We have shared our consciousness, there are no secrets. And maybe, at some point you might earn the honour once you have come to terms with yourself, after you have been reunited and made whole.”

“Ja’Alexa, how nice of you to join us.” Winter said, not bothering to watch as the named emerged from the silken surrounds, “I was wondering how long you were going to remain hidden in the shadows.”

“I was wondering how much further you would delve into Ekavira’s secrets. So I kept my silence and listened…” she said firmly, ignoring Ja’Ekavira and coming around, bowing to Winter, “Our brother has gathered the people.” Ja’Alexa said quietly, “He has enacted the people’s punishment on the commander that ordered the attack, and he is walking the stair with the soon to be deceased.”

Winter nodded, meeting Ja’Alexa’s gaze, “Do you agree with my terms?”

Ja’Alexa bowed again, “I will represent, protect and guide the Ke’Shasan in Ekavira’s absence. While Freya disagrees with our Empress, we trust each other and our judgements. Freya is not wrong in being combative and I agree with many of her views.”

Winter’s gaze slipped back to Ja’Ekavira, “Within one week of the real, the Dekaalenstaad, the den of the Ebony and Alabaster dragons will once again hibernate. When you return, recover the core and then take it to Scarosant.”

Ja’Ekavira glared at her and she smiled in return, “The message, Vira.”

Ja’Ekavira shook her head.

“You wish to view it yourself, alone.”

The rakshasa nodded, clutching at the coin.

“Remember, to act against me means you act against him, he knows your truth, he has met with Azzar Kar’Sharn and he is the closest to Toth. You will cooperate…”

Ja’Ekavira winced and nodded, “Yes, Winter…” she whispered.

Winter glanced at Ja’Alexa, giving her a tight smile, “Come. Let her have her moment.”

Ja’Alexa followed Winter as she strode across the sickly grass, casting a concerned glance at Ja’Ekavira as they passed. Walking through the silken sheets, her eyes stayed on the being before her until they stopped at the landing.

“Did you know?” Winter asked simply, looking out over the expanse.

“Yes.” Ja’Alexa said calmly in return, “Apart from Vira, we all have.”

Winter grimaced and nodded, “I am truly sorry I took so long to realise.”

“It took exactly as long as it needed. No more, no less.” Ja’Alexa whispered in relief, bowing her head, “For that, we are grateful.”