Shadow Dagger Ch. 11

"Roshard?" Sophina asked. She frowned at Ashford. "Isn't that the name of--"

"The very first king of Astuari," Ashford finished for her. He stared up at Jon in utter disbelieve. "He was a farmer and the member of the Order of the 12 whom the God decreed would be king, for he was the most faithful. His full name is recorded in our histories: Roshard Ronar."

"Is that true? Are you...the son of the King Roshard?" Sophina asked.

Jon said nothing, but continued to look down at them. After a few tense moments, he reluctantly spoke. "In my time, children were named after both their parents, in honor of their respective families. My mother's family was named Thelas. And...and my father's family was named Ronar. 'D' represented your mother's family and 'San' your father's."

"You didn't answer the question," Ashford said. For some reason, he sounded somewhat angry. "Are you or are you not the son of the first King and member of the Order of 12?"

Jon glanced at Marcus; he nodded. There is no going back now. "Yes."

The word seemed to hang in the air for a long time. Jon looked away from the avid stares coming from Ashford and Sophina. He was forever different in their eyes, he knew. He wished he could have stayed Jon Laurent.

"You are...a King?" Sophina finally managed to say.

"No...that is a title I never held," Jon replied, still looking away.

"Why not?" Sophina asked gently, somehow knowing the issue was a delicate one for him.

Have I become so easy to read? He looked back at her. "Because I was betrayed by somebody I trusted."

"Who?"

"This discussion is over," Jon snapped. He turned and strode toward the door.

Once again, it was Marcus' soft words that stopped him. "Jon, you promised them your history. They need to know everything. This is important, believe me."

Jon turned back around and slumped against the wall. Marcus, with the heavy bags under his eyes, looked just as old as Jon felt at the moment. "Do you ever get the feeling we've lived too long?" he asked Marcus.

Marcus' smile was once again humorless. "All the time."

"Don't tell me the beggar is 3,000 years old, too!" Ashford suddenly burst out angrily.

"Of course not," Jon replied. "He's 50 years younger than I am. He's my little brother, after all."

Ashford's face turned red while Sophina gasped softly.

"Your brother?" she asked incredously, at the same time Ashford barked out, "Very funny! 50 years younger is still nearly 3,000 years old!"

"Why does all this upset you?" Jon asked, choosing to respond to Ashford first.

"It doesn't matter," Ashford mumbled. He shifted uncomfortably on the bed, as though he just ate a pufferfish and it wasn't digesting right.

Jon shook his head and looked over at Sophina. "Yes, he is my brother."

"Then he is the son of King Roshard, too? He is also a king?"

"Yes, we share the same father," Jon replied hesitantly. "And no, he was never a king either."

"The same father?" she asked sharply, her keen wit picking up Jon's implied meaning. "You mean you had different mothers?"

Jon nodded. He took a deep breath. "Marcus' mother was a member of the Order of 12. He...is the last living true-born Magi."

He could tell from the blank looks on Ashford and Sophina's faces that they had no clue what he was talking about. "Mother was...he is...true-born Magi?" Ashford asked, looking like he had just been hit over the head with a hammer.

"In order to explain to you what a true-born Magi is, I will have to tell you the history of that time." Jon paused, not quite sure where to begin.

"Start after the Fields of Summer," Marcus offered helpfully.

Jon nodded. "I just told you what the God commanded the Order of the 12. So after that meeting, the fog vanished and the Order came back to the camps. What followed was chaos, as the Order had no idea how their eyes glowed or how every word they spoke was in the language of creation."

"That's what our histories say, too," Ashford interrupted, apparently trying one last time to defend what he was taught.

Jon continued as though he had not interrupted. "It took several weeks for the Order to come to grips with their new power. Once they did, the armies immediately marched. Where once each member of the Order led their own army separately, they were now united."

"At first, the Warlords were surprised that their enemy banded together; to them, it made it a lot easier to wipe them out. Ironically, the fractious and untrusting Warlords were united in the face of such a large army. Unfortunately for them, they didn't realize that banding together made it much easier for our army to wipe them out. With the very first Magi joining the battle, the war was quickly won."

"I already know all of this!" Ashford interrupted impatiently.

"I'm speaking for Sophina's benefit," Jon replied coldly.What is with him?

"Thanks, Master," Sophina said in a brave attempt to lighten the mood.

Jon smiled kindly at her and then continued. "Afterwards, the Order decided to establish the first centralized government Astuari had ever seen. The people were immensely grateful for the war to be over and had no qualms with the Order taking over. So it was that Roshard Ronar was crowned King, as was the God's will. Roshard, who after all was only a farmer, quickly set up the other Order members to serve as his council and as a check on his power."

"Corana Lashon, the Order member who was the mother of two feuding Warlords, was chosen as the first Grand Master. She was instrumental in establishing the very first laws of our country."

"I'm not aware of this," Ashford said slowly. "According to our histories, the Order established the Emporium but never held any positions."

"I already told you that your histories are wrong," Jon replied calmly. "You will understand why shortly. So, now we come to the meat of the matter. The Order were faithful to the God and did as He said. My father already had a wife when he went off to war and was not tempted to mate with any of the Order members. At least, not at first..."

"How many men and women were there in the Order?" Sophina asked.

Jon smiled at the gleam in her eye. She really did love to learn. "There were seven women and five men. Each married a common non-Magi person and had children. I was born two years after the war ended. My generation learned magic from the Order. At this point I should tell you that the Order were now effectively immortal."

"Immortal?" gasped Sophina.

"Yes, they inherited an undiluted power straight from the God. Their magic was..." Jon trailed off, his mind full of ancient memories.

"Was what?" Sophina asked breathlessly. Even Ashford was leaning in eagerly from his seat on the bed.

"You already know," Jon replied quietly. He glanced significantly at Marcus.

Sophina's eyes nearly fell out of her head as comprehension dawned on her. "That was...that glow...the song..."

Ashford looked at her in complete confusion. "What are you talking about? What glow?"

"I will get to that in a minute," Jon replied. "As time went on, my fellow half-breeds began to notice that the Order was becoming...distant. I was the first to suspect that they viewed our abilities with disdain. Nobody believed me at first. But eventually I was proved right."

"What happened?" Sophina asked, her face shining with anticipation.

"Two of the Order left their spouses and families and married."

"They disobeyed the God?" Sophina asked. She looked angry.

Jon nodded sadly. "Yes, eventually they left their families and married. Ironically, the only one who didn't leave was Tria, the former whore. Though, to be honest, that was probably because she was the odd woman out when it came to pairing together."

For some reason, Sophina was looking at Jon sadly. "What?" he asked her.

"Your father...left you and your mother?" she asked in a small, delicate voice.

Jon was embarrassed to feel a lump in his throat. Of all the things that happened to him in his long life, his father leaving was still near the top. "Yes," he croaked. He glanced away from Sophina's sympathetic look and coughed to cover his moment of weakness.

"Sorry," she mumbled.

Jon waved it away. "As much as I would like to blame him, it wasn't really his fault. You see, the God warned them what would happen. He told them they would have to make a supreme sacrifice. They all agreed without hesitation. I don't think they truly understood what he was asking of them."

"What sacrifice did he ask?" Ashford asked, intrigued.

Now he's intrigued...what was wrong with him earlier? "He asked them to sacrifice their humanity. Like I said, the fraction of His power that He gave them was undiluted by human blood. And He was right; over time, they slowly began to lose what made them human. The power they wielded was too much. They began to see human beings as weak."

"That's horrible," Sophina said. "Even your father felt this way?"

Jon nodded. "I was only 25 when I can first remember him becoming distant. The only reason I believe he hung around was because some small part of him still loved my mother. But when she died when I was 49, he took off and married Corana. Together, they produced a son. I was left to be raised by the royal nurses."

"You still had to be raised at 49 years old?" Sophina laughed.

Jon chuckled. "I told you I'm 3,000 years old didn't I? The God's gift was only diluted by one generation of human blood. My generation aged very, very slowly. At 50 years old I was barely 5 years old in non-Magi terms. And believe it or not, after we fully matured, we slowed down even more. Right now, I estimate that I have only lived half my years."

"You're pretty much immortal!" Sophina said, her voice echoing with amazement.

"Big deal," Ashford muttered.

Jon glanced sideways at him. He was beginning to think that the history he was revealing was deeply troubling Ashford. "From that point on, there was a new generation of babies; the true-born."

"Oh," Sophina gasped. She turned and looked at Marcus. "That's what Jon meant when he said you were true-born."

Marcus inclined his head in acknowledgement. "I am the last of my kind."

Sophina turned back to Jon. "Why is he the last? The true-born would be just as immortal as their parents, right?"

"The true-born did not have their magic diluted by human blood. So yes, they were immortal. They were born with an innate knowledge of magic, as they were the product of magic and not human blood. The Order were once human but the true-born never had that luxury. They were amazing prodigies; they knew how to precisely pronounce a spell and the exact manipulation needed without needing to study. In short, by the time they were only 5 years old, they could have easily killed me."

"Were they evil?" Ashford asked.

"No, they just lacked humanity. However, for the first 100 years or so we were fine with them, despite our misgivings about the Order disobeying the God. The people of Astuari revered them as much as we did. We were in constant awe of their abilities. In time, several true-born were given some of our highest positions. The country was prospering. There hadn't been a war in over 150 years. Most non-Magi didn't even know what war was."

Jon sighed. "Then things started to change. We began to hear odd rumors of true-born attacking people in remote villages. We dismissed them at first. We just didn't see the signs. The Order was rapidly detaching themselves from our society and disappearing for long periods of time. The true-born began showing signs of rage and impatience."

Jon glanced over at Marcus. "Marcus was beginning to have odd and troubling dreams. Still, we dismissed all of these signs. And then it happened. Several true-born sacked and burned the city of Core. They declared war on us and we didn't even know why."

"Did Marcus join the other true-born?" Sophina asked guiltily, without looking back at Marcus.

"No, not all true-born joined their brethren at first. We didn't realize it at the time, but the true-born were gradually going insane. The power they were born with was never meant for humans. They only wished to unleash their magic and destroy everything. It was an impulse that could not be ignored. It also made them contemptuous of our abilities."

Ashford looked scared as he glanced back at Marcus. Marcus smiled at him. Jon shook his head. "No, Marcus never joined the other true-born. I made a remarkable discovery that saved his life."

"Our first clue that the God was pulling some strings," Marcus said quietly.

Jon shrugged. "I still don't know if my discovery was His doing. Either way, it saved you."

"What was it?" Sophina asked.

"In the Fields of Summer, there grew a small copse of trees. The bark from these trees had a powerful effect on people who could use magic. If your were to grind up the bark and drink it with some water, it would deaden your ability to use the magic. It affected your mental capacity, which is key to a Magi."

Ashford looked over at Marcus. "Is that why you're...you know...mad?"

"Part of it," Marcus muttered, looking down at his hands.

"Anyways," Jon continued, taking the unwanted attention away from Marcus, "Marcus was rendered incapacitated for most of the war--"

"But that didn't stop them from trying to kill me," Marcus said bitterly.

Jon stared sadly at Marcus for a long moment before continuing. "Eventually, the rest of the true-born were driven mad and joined the war against us. Certain members of the Emporium weren't comfortable having Marcus around. It took all of my considerable leverage to spare him."

Jon glanced at Marcus again, who said nothing. He was looking morose as he stared at his hands. "The war was devastating. There were less than ten true-born but they were worth a hundred men easily. They also forced citizens to fight for them. As insane as they were, they still retained their intellect. Every single true-born was a general of an army and they knew how to fight."

"What was their goal?" Sophina asked.

Jon shrugged. "They were insane; who can say? Some thought they wanted to rule over us. Others thought they wanted to wipe out the entire race of humanity. We can never really know. The war lasted 100 years and was called 'The War of the Gods.'"

Jon fell into silence, unsure if he should continue. He knew he had to, though. It was too late to go back. Still, a small part of him screamed out that opening up like this would only lead to more betrayal. He did his best to ignore the voice.

"We eventually won the war. Our numbers were greatly reduced. And to top it all, the Order had vanished for good. We realized we hadn't seen any of them for the last ten years of the war."

"Where did they go?" Sophina asked curiously.

Jon half-glanced at Marcus before continuing. "I don't know. We never found out."

Marcus snorted. Sophina and Ashford looked over at him in surprise. Marcus, however, merely crossed his arms over his chest and said nothing.

He still suspects. Sighing, Jon quickly changed the subject. "With the Order gone, we were left without any real leadership. We gathered together, what remained our generation, and held a meeting. After that night, I would never call myself a Magi again."

Jon paused again. Every time he dwelt on the memory of that night, he was filled with a terrible anger. He didn't if he could relate the events without making his blood boil. But what happened was very important; it determine the course of Astuari for all time. Sophina and Ashford were rapt with attention.

He prepared himself mentally and continued. "The first thing we did was elect our leaders. We chose among ourselves the ten council members and the Grand Master. My...friend," and here he gritted his teeth, "Jocelyn was chosen as the Grand Master."

"Jocelyn d'Ontorio san Tumari was the very first Grand Master!" Ashford said triumphantly. "That's in our histories!"

"Of course she is," Jon whispered. His jaw was locked so tight he was surprised he got the words out. "She made sure the histories started with her. All record of what happened before our generation was erased from memory."

"You sound so angry," Sophina said. "I thought you said she was your friend."

"She was...up until that night," Jon replied ominously. "The newly elected Grand Master and council members were to officially recognize me as king, as it was my bloodline that the God decreed would rule. However, before they could vote, Jocelyn wanted to discuss one issue first. She was concerned about the amount of Magi we had lost during the war. We now numbered under a hundred. Only twenty remained of my more powerful generation."

"So your generation continued to follow the God's orders? You mated only with non-Magi, even though the Order already broke that rule?" Ashford pressed him.

Jon hesitated. "My generation was more...lax with that rule. Plenty of us married non-Magi, yes. Some of us married each other..."

Ashford snorted and crossed his arms over his chest. "I know which way you went," he sneered.

"Ash, what in the nine hells has gotten into you?" Sophina demanded.

Ashford lowered his arms, looking uncomfortable. "Just continue," Ashford said, waving at Jon.

Jon stared at him for several moments before continuing. "Jocelyn was worried about not having the power to stabilize the country. There were already reports of mercenaries looting some towns. She felt that we would stray from the God's plans if we continued to follow his rule. She didn't trust the Order anymore and felt that what the God really said was to dilute his power withone generation of human blood."

"She pointed out that none of us had gone insane. She felt the power was secure enough without diluting it further. She pointed out that our children were weaker than us. Their generation should be preserved. The God's power should not be diluted further or the Magi would one day be too weak to rule the country."

Jon had to stop because his blood was boiling over. He could feel his heart beating in his ears. After so many years, that night still enraged him.She betrayed me! His fingers dug deep into his palm and he breathed roughly through his nose.

"Jon...are you ok?" Sophina asked worriedly.

"Yes," he breathed. He slowly unclenched his fists and forced his anger back down. "Sorry..."

"It's ok," Sophina said, her voice higher than normal. She cleared her throat. "So Jocelyn wanted to go against the God's orders?"

Jon nodded. "I couldn't believe it. I remember sitting there, stunned. What had we just fought a war over? The Order disobeyed the God's orders and look what happened! And here she was, one of my best friends, standing in front of everyone and suggesting that we do the same thing! I never noticed the power-hungry look in her eyes until that night. To this day, I don't know how I missed it."

"How do you know the Order told you the truth about the God's orders?" Ashford demanded rather rudely.

"Because," Jon said, staring coldly at Ashford, "I had faith. The Order had no reason to lie to us. It wasn't until many years later that they changed and became distant and unconcerned with humanity."

"So what happened next?" Sophina asked quickly, before Ashford could retort.

"I stood up, shaking with anger, and chided her for even suggesting it. I knew something was wrong as soon as I started speaking. I could see the council members looking away uncomfortably as I spoke. I knew then that Jocelyn had convinced them before we had even elected them. In fact, nobody in the room shared my opinion."

"Nobody?" Sophina repeated angrily.

"Well...there was only one person who agreed with me: my son."

"Your son?" Sophina gasped. "You have a son?"

"Yes...well, as you can guess, Jocelyn had her way. That was the night when the law that Magi can only mate with other Magi came into effect. I told them I would never allow it. So, they had me arrested."