The Chronicles Of The Council #1: The Sun's Tears

Chapter 21: Aebbé - Detached

"Attachment is the great fabricator of illusions; reality can be obtained only by someone who is detached." ― Simone Weil

Lord Caith's proposition gallops through my thoughts as I make my way back to the castle. My resolution to be on time for dinner is aided by my dress still being in pristine condition.

I slow down when I approach the main hall and take a moment to steady my breath. The members of the Orders that eat in the main hall are weaving into it. When they see me, they step out of the way and allow me to unravel a path to the main table.

I sigh gratefully when I see that my brothers and their wives haven't yet arrived, but all the other diners for the main table have gathered. Lord Caith and Elarok Ologul stand at the bottom of the stairs - deep in conversation. Lord Korr and Lord Riann are already seated and arguing vehemently about something. I do not even have to decide which conversation I would rather join, but luckily my brothers and their wives arrive.

Dinner passes without any noteworthy gossip, except that elarok Ologul is now speaking at length, but only to lord Caith. They are engrossed in their own conversation and oblivious to the rest of the company.

Then Lord Caith falls silent in the middle of his sentence. He and Elarok Ologul fix their eyes on the space in the middle of the hall and they stand up. The other skados stand up simultaneously.

A second later the Third One materialises in the centre of the hall.

Everyone still seated scampers to their feet, and the silence that follows reverberates through the hall.

I have never seen her before, but I recognise her from all the descriptions and depictions I have seen in Raven's Peak, Ligeia, and Inwir City. In contrary to what I thought previously, the large raised red circular marking over her left eye accentuates her otherworldly beauty by providing a hideousness to compare it to. The unsightly scar also provides a resolution to her features that one dares not to cross.

She walks to us.

She is dressed in an unpretentious black dress with its tail that dragging on the ground – its silence when dragging against the floor unnatural. Her straight silky silver hair forms an ocean around her head and reaches her hips.

Elarok Ologul's fruity voice is the first to penetrate the silence. He bows down and almost kisses the floor.

"My lady, Zoe Pherenike, I greet you. I am your servant."

Everyone else bows down.

"Lord Commander of the Second Order, you can sit down. It is an insult to my brother to bow down to me," her modulated but penetrating voice rings through the hall.

I cannot see what lord Caith does, but I can hear a chair clawing across the stone floor.

'You may all rise.'

Everyone retreats from their bows.

I'm surprised to see that she is within a silent sigh from us. I did not hear any footsteps. I quickly peek at Claira who shares my astonishment.

I study her as she ascends the platform's stairs. Her eyes are thunder clouds. I can see the sparks of lightning frying behind them. She emanates cool energy - darker than that of night. She is beautiful, but she is even more unreachable and distant than Lady Katharina. She seems to be devoid of any emotion – not for lacking them, but due to her mastery over the trivial temporal. She scares me, but not due to malevolence.

Her eyes pierce his red ones: "Ologul, are you worthy of being my servant?"

"I have taken the most lives; more than any of my kind."