He loosened his grip on the priest’s neck slightly. "Three floors down. You’ll never get there. It’s protected by..."
"Never mind what it’s protected by. I will find it." Killian slowly turned the man’s head from side to side. The eyes were clear. "Priest, I would leave Stonewater if I were you. There is darkness here. Perhaps you have felt it. If you have, you already know you should leave. If you haven’t, perhaps you deserve whatever comes to you."
Killian pushed the man away. The priest coughed, placing his hands on his neck.
Killian looked for the next set of stairs.
60
I told the templar that the Primate had given me permission to see the relics. It was worth a try.
— Toro Marossa, ‘Explorations’, Page 409, 423 Y.E.
PRIMATE Melovar Aspen stood at the summit of a jagged hill. He assessed this final front of resistance.
"Peace." He smiled. "Emperor Xenovere, we are so close now I can taste it."
He looked over to gauge the man’s reaction. Emperor Xenovere V shivered in the brisk air. His shoulders were slumped in his full-length purple coat. The immense collar simply made his head look small in comparison to his body. His raj hada was stained with the signs of travel.
A fitting sign — the imperial raj hada tarnished with mud. How far the mighty fall, the Primate thought. He smiled again.
"Well?" Primate Melovar said. "Here we are. About to crush the enemy who rebelled against your rule not so long ago. Are you pleased, Xenovere?"
"Just kill them and get it over with," the Emperor sighed.
"What? Not happy? Your legionnaires form the heart of my army. I would have thought there would be some pride there. Are you not proud of your people, Xenovere?"
"Proud?" Xenovere said. Some fire rose to his eyes. "Yes, they rebelled. We fought and they lost. But at least they knew what they were fighting for. We knew what we were fighting for."
The smile left the Primate’s face. "Peace," he snarled. "Something you were never able to give them. I promise peace in this life and salvation in the next. What did you ever offer them? I promise to never let men like you think you have the right to abuse your responsibilities. I promise universal law, Xenovere. That is what we are fighting for."
"Then why are they here?" The Emperor pointed at the mass of Halrana refugees, the lined fortifications of the defenders. "They do not seem too interested in the peace you offer."
"You heard the Alturan High Lord. They are led by a rebel. Now that Tessolar has been converted to our cause, we simply need to remove this rebel and the last elements of resistance will be defeated."
"Who is this man, this rebel?"
The smile returned to the Primate’s face. "You would know him actually. As a babe he watched as his father was killed at Mornhaven."
"You convicted him, as I recall," the Emperor growled.
"At your orders," the Primate returned with a nod. "High Lord Serosa, the man’s name was. The child was Miro. Bad coins always turn up, eh?"
"I fought him at Bald Ridge," said Moragon. "He fought well."
The Emperor suddenly fought to control a spasm — his back arching. The regal face grew contorted. Melovar nodded to Moragon.
Moragon held the Emperor’s head, dribbling a small amount of black liquid between his lips. The seizure began to subside. Soon only the Emperor’s facial muscles were twitching.
"It is killing him," Moragon murmured to the Primate.
The emaciated figure shrugged. "He was one of the first. There were refinements I still needed to make. The new ones will last longer. Think of Saryah."
"She is different. Perhaps she was lucky, or perhaps she was unlucky, but the elixir worked differently on her. What will you do when the Tingaran Empire has no Emperor? Xenovere won’t last much longer."
"I won’t have need for him after this day."
Moragon turned away, his face like stone.
Emperor Xenovere wiped at the corner of his mouth. "Give me a sword," he said in a hoarse voice. "At least let me die like a man."
The Primate chuckled. "So you can try to kill me? Come now, Xenovere. I am not that stupid." He resumed his survey of the battlefield. The defenders were outnumbered twenty to one. "Stupid," he murmured. "They should have removed the refugees long ago."
"What would you do if you were in command?" the Emperor said. "Kill them all and throw their bodies into the river? In the name of the Evermen, you are a priest!"
"Come now, Xenovere. You have military sense. You can see it. We simply need to break through their line and start killing refugees and we’ll start a stampede. The Halrana refugees will overrun their own protectors in their desperation to get away."
The Emperor started to twitch again, his limbs shaking in agitation. The Primate nodded to Moragon, who dribbled more liquid into the Emperor’s lips. Xenovere was beginning to outlive his usefulness. The charade was becoming too difficult to keep up.