Melovar looked out of his window, seeing them on both sides, edging slowly forwards, encircling the carriage and the men the Primate had brought with him. The Primate heard the shouts as his captain formed the templars up, and swords were drawn. Melovar's bodyguard formed a close ring around the carriage. The Primate's personal guard all had the taint, and he idly wondered who would win in a fair fight between one of his templars and one of the Akari.
Melovar had never seen an Akari, and he looked at them with fascination. He quickly divided them into two groups. There were the white-eyed silent warriors, men and women both, who wore swords and armour and seemed neither angry nor scared, but simply waited. Then there were those who stood behind them, also armed, but eminently more aware of their surroundings.
The Akari were tall and pale-skinned, with broad shoulders and narrow waists. They were an attractive people, with almost universal blonde hair and blue or grey eyes. The white-eyed men and women wore their hair long and loose, while those behind had their hair in braids, the women in a single, thick braid at their back, the men with multiple braids entwined in their hair. Many of the male warriors had forked beards, and all warriors regardless of gender seemed to prefer axes, maces, and hammers to swords.
One of the men at the back walked forward. Taller than the rest, with a height that must have measured close to seven feet, he had white hair but his face was unlined. His brow was cruel and his lips were turned down in a perpetual scowl. He wore clothing of bleached leather and a mantle of silver fox fur on his shoulders. At his belt he carried a two-headed war hammer and the muscles of his arms and legs rippled as he walked.
The big man halted, his right hand on the war hammer, and called out. "Your standard says that the Primate of the Assembly of Templars travels with this group. Show yourself, Primate, otherwise we'll destroy this column."
Melovar opened the door of his carriage and stepped out, leaving the book of the Evermen inside. He felt the snow crunch beneath his heels and heard the wind as it howled through the trees, tossing the falling white flakes. One of the white-eyed warriors stood close by, his skin pale and the mottled flesh under his eyes showing an advanced stage of corruption. The hem of Melovar's heavy white robe trailed on the ground as he ignored the revenant and walked towards the tall warrior.
"Dain Barden Mensk, you must be," Melovar said. "I heard your name spoken with fear when I was just a priest."
"That is I. You are Primate of the Assembly?"
Melovar was close enough now that he could see where Barden's forked beard had been threaded with silver. The colour suited the Akari; silver-grey was prevalent in their furred clothing and the colour of the older warriors' hair, in the shades of their eyes and the mood of the sky.
Melovar kept walking until he stood close enough that he knew Barden could see the countless crevices of his ruined skin, the yellow of his eyes. "I am Primate Melovar Aspen." Melovar lifted his voice. "Men," Melovar called, "this is Barden Mensk, Dain of his people. Dain is what we would call High Lord, and he is the ruler of the Akari."
Dain Barden looked around him, his mouth turned down with distaste. The strange silent warriors stepped forward at some unspoken signal. Melovar could see their skin glowing softly where runes had been tattooed onto the dead flesh. With so many around him, he could see where they were in varying states of repair; some looked fresh, if that could be said of the dead, while others were in an advanced state of decomposition.
Once, the Primate would have been filled with revulsion. Now he just thought of the power he would have at his disposal with the Akari by his side. Melovar looked around at his men — tough warriors, hand-picked for this mission, many of them with the taint — seeing that they were both disgusted and filled with fear.
"I come to treat with you, Dain Barden," Melovar said, looking up at the huge leader of the Akari, ignoring the revenants who stared at him with their empty eyes.
Barden looked back at the Primate, frowning, his brows coming together over his ice-blue eyes. "Why would the Emperor send you, Primate? Why not come himself?"
Melovar stepped forward and touched the chin of one of the silent warriors, a woman with loose silver hair and a short sword on each hip. The Primate turned the head, looking into the white eyes.
"Because the Emperor is dead," Melovar said, "and I am the ruler of the Tingaran Empire now."
"You?" Dain Barden said. "A templar?"
Melovar turned his yellow eyes on Dain Barden, lowering his hand until he grasped the woman's neck. "Yes," he said, "a templar."
The Primate began to squeeze, feeling the power of the elixir flow through his veins. The white-eyed woman flailed at her assailant with one arm, while the other drew a sword, and moving with surprising speed plunged it into Melovar's chest.