Chapter 14 - Reasons

The Knighting ceremony takes place, and Aimon reveals part of his backstory.

The week after the final test, Ania was able to really rest for the first time in eight years. She got to spend time with her friends, having more fun than she would have thought possible. She went to the Arcanius to visit Xanya, and her mind was sent back to simpler times when all that mattered was what Alliania and Xanya wanted"the effortlessness of a child’s love for her sister and favorite aunt.

She spent a lot of time in her room, talking to the walls as if they could hear her and somehow relay her message to the ears of the long-gone woman that had started this journey that was now so close to completion. Holding her aunt’s wedding ring in her hand, Ania could almost imagine her smiling face beside her again. What she wouldn’t give to see it…

She also had the opportunity to see Skaught more. The part of her that always seemed so alert rebelled in his presence, ignoring her completely when it was not giving muttered admonitions. The larger part of her mind, the one that just let go of all her troubles, dropping them all to let herself float in the simplicity and base emotions that were her feelings for Skaught, merely ignored it. It wasn’t that hard to do.

Randen seemed in a better mood than usual, except for when he had this dark, brooding attitude that Ania couldn’t figure out. It wasn’t like him, and she didn’t like it.

The night before the ceremony, Ania was sitting in her windowsill, staring up at the night and the paper-thin sliver of moon that sent feeble rays of silver light down upon the Jeweled City. The walls of the Compound, made of the same veined marble as the outer walls, sparkled with a light of their own. It was beautiful.

As she sat there, Ania couldn’t help and think of the day she had left home. She had been a young girl that didn’t quite understand what it was that she was getting into. She was following the example of someone she loved, but as she looked back on it, she realized how little she had actually known of the Knights. She had known more than most people, but that had been because she wasn’t afraid to learn. She had wanted to know about them, and only now did she realize that Alliania had kept their secrets from her"and for good reason. Could she have made it this far knowing what she now knew?

Somehow, she doubted that.

It was simple. She had to learn as she went to become a true Knight. Any less and she would just be learned to know them, not to be one.

Letting out a gentle sigh, she looked out to the stars and smiled when she saw the Guardian Angel constellation.

She had come full circle.

She was almost there.

 

.:*:.:*:.:*:.

 

They had gotten up at the crack of dawn, and without even eating breakfast, they had entered a huge ceremonial hall that none of the Dativs had even known existed. Hakem stood to her side, just behind her left knee. Trissta sat on Randen’s shoulder and Nyllia was perched on the steel cap on the end of Echo’s quarterstaff that peaked up over her shoulder. Other Companions stood just as still"Matya’s mountain lion Firdin, Saira’s mink Rimeni, Mya’s snake Hiisi, and Cora’s horse Ekan. No one moved.

The hundred and fifty or so other Knights lined the walls, creating a wall of their own of black cloaks and hoods. Every one of them stood still, heads bowed, but Ania could have sworn she felt their eyes on her.

In the same ceremonious entrance as always, the Masters entered, and the silence of the hall seemed complete. Ania watched as the Masters walked to the center of the hall where a sunburst pattern surrounded the emblem of the hawk head on the floor. Taking their places, the Masters met the gazes of the Dativs.

It was time.

“Do you know the Legacy of the Knights?” When no one answered, the SwordMaster continued. “In the days of the first queen of Koronea, there were two commanders in her army. Aima Verisanth and Nephin Corifalle. After an attempt on the queen’s life by a Joconan spy, these two commanders formed a special group that would forever serve as the first and last protection of the Celestial Glory of Koronea. The rest of the country had no idea what went on behind the closed walls of the Compound, but what  caused them to fear and hate the Knights more than anything else was this"when the next war with Jocona came about, it was the Knights that turned the tide of the war. Huge battalions of trained and battle-worn veterans fell to the Joconans, but that small group of young warriors saved the Queen and the rest of Koronea. They feared them because they did not understand how they could become so powerful.

“That is why they hate you.

“And as strange as this might sound, that is why they must always hate you.

“They do not understand you, but some part of them is glad that you are there. They have faith in your ‘unholy’ abilities to turn the tide of the war. To keep them safe. If they were to understand that we are indeed only human, they will begin to doubt us. Part of what keeps this country safe is its ability to keep from tearing itself apart from the inside out in fear. That is our duty. Keep it safe.”

The BowMaster stepped forward. “Know that at times you will be called upon to keep secrets from those closest to you, even from the Queen herself. Remember your duty, and you will be able to do what is asked of you. It will be hard, but it will be worth it to keep your homes free.”

Ania felt the hole that had been growing in her heart as she had watched the world grow to hate her fill as she learned the origin of their animosity. Now that she knew it served a purpose, she knew she could stand it for as long as they could give it.

“When you were tested, you instinctively knew how to split yourselves into two effective fighting forces. You did what we all thought impossible, but you did it, nonetheless. Normally we would assign you to temporary files until it could be ascertained how well you worked together, but you have done that for us. To that end, you will henceforth be separated into the same files you created for yourselves, with Aimon Zahur commanding one and Ania Kyatei commanding the other, with only one difference. Mya Tohgis will be a part of Dativ Zahur’s, and Matya Gyatui will be a part of Dativ Kyatei’s.” Ania could almost see the snarl on Mya’s face when the commanders were announced. What was her problem?

“Step forward as we call you.” The Masters motioned to a team of people that Ania recognized from the Outer Compound. They had bundles wrapped in fine black cloaks.

It was time.

“Mya Tohgis.” She stepped out of the line and walked the short distance to the Masters. At a few short words from Lady Zeriphanth, she took off her Dativ’s cloak, head piece, and weapons belt. Taking the bundle from the nearest man, Mya was presented with her Knight’s equipment. Armor that was so perfectly made that it would fit her every inch, but allow her the same movement as the simple leather armor they had worn thus far. Black silken clothes that looked to woven from strands of liquid obsidian. Riding gear that would put the Royal Cavalry to shame. Weapons made of the finest metal in the entire kingdom. A headpiece of silver, steel, and leather with the hawk’s head emblazoned on its fore. Donning the new cloak, head piece, and weapons belt, Mya walked to her new position behind the Masters.

And so it went with each of the Dativs. Elyys. Saira. Aimon. Randen. But when it reached her, they went on to Echo. Trying to hide her confusion, Ania just continued to stare straight ahead. When they reached Cora, Ania stood alone.

“Ania Kyatei.” She stepped forward. She was about to remove her cloak as each of the others had done before her, but was stopped by the Masters.

“The Lady Alliania was a hero among us. She saved the lives of a good many of our number. She saved my life at the Battle of Je BlizteFälle, at the cost of her own. It was her sacrifice that won us that battle, and, in turn, the war.” Ania had to fight to keep back the tears, but in spite of her attempts, a single trail of moisture made its way down her cheek. She had been right. Her aunt was a hero. She had always known it, but now she had the proof.

“She was also the holder of the title Legacy Knight. She was the only one who knew the entirety of our history.”

“And now, kleide, it is your turn to hold that legacy.” Sir Alecgorn held out the last bundle, unwrapping it to show the gleaming armor beneath. Ania’s breath caught in her throat"it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. It shone with the captured glow of moon beams, glinted with the light of a thousand stars. The head piece had miniscule diamonds worked into the silver surface that made it shimmer like the midnight sky.

Reverently removing her old gear, she took the black cloak that she now knew to be her aunt’s and placed it around her shoulders. The belt with dark sheaths for her rapier, dagger, and several throwing knives fit perfectly around her waist. They had been meant for her.

And then the head piece. She placed the cool leather back against her forehead, and locked the loose ends together behind her head, just under her hairline. Standing up straight, she saw the looks of admiration from her friends and comrades, and in the corner of her eye, she could have sworn she saw a women with dark hair and midnight blue eyes wearing the Legacy Armor smiling at her. How well she knew that smile.

Joining her comrades, she felt her spirit soar higher than an eagle as she listened to the last words of the ceremony.

“When you came here eight years ago, you were children. Small, weak, terrified children. In eight short years, you have changed in every way imaginable. No longer are you weak. No longer are you terrified. No longer are you children. You are men. You are women.

“You are Knights of the Covenant.”

And with those words, Ania felt the cheer go up, more in her heart than actually hearing it. It got stronger and stronger until even the Masters stepped back to join in. Feeling a smile break across her face, Ania turned to her friends and held them in fierce, joyful embraces. She thought she saw tears roll down Echo’s face, but she knew them to be tears of joy.

No one could cry anything else this day.

Looking up, Ania saw something that had somehow evaded her notice up until now. The hall had a tall ceiling, and at the height a normal ceiling would be, there was a ring of balconies. Standing on those balconies were people that were neither of the Compound or regular visitors to the Palace. Glancing over the people, Ania saw about eight people coming down a series of staircases towards her. She froze when she recognized the faces she hadn’t seen in eight years.

“Mama!” Ania ran towards her parents, grabbing her mother in a fierce hug. Tears were streaming down her face, and she couldn’t tell if they were happy or sad. She didn’t care. Her mother was here, in the Compound.

She accepted her.

Anmita Kyatei hugged her little girl with all her might, knowing now she had made the right choice in letting her go, no matter how much it hurt. She felt her husband come up behind them and join in the embrace, followed by each of her other daughters. They had all missed the bright light that had been Ania. She had made them happy, and now she was happy.

It was all they had ever wanted.

Ania stepped back, introducing her family to her friends. Echo seemed all to eager to meet the people that Ania had grown up with, and Randen and Aimon were the perfect gentlemen. Her friends then dragged her off to meet their own families.

Randen’s mother was a beautiful woman, with the same sand colored hair and blue-grey eyes. He smiled broadly when she came into view, as happy as any of them had ever seen him. He ran up to her, and the first thing she said to him was, “He would be so proud of you, son.”

Randen just smiled and said, “I know.”

Echo’s parents were just as happy and sweet as she was. Her father was a burly man that could still pick up his seventeen year old daughter and spin her around in a tight embrace. Her mother was a slight woman that had Echo’s same strange hair color, but it seemed natural with her midnight purple TruMage robes. Echo didn’t waste a minute in telling her mother about the new techniques she had discovered.

Aimon’s family was obviously a noble family, but they didn’t act as though they thought they were better than any one else. His father had Aimon’s black hair, but it was cut shorter and had streaks of pure white at the temples. His mother had his eyes, and was a very pretty woman in her elegant blue dress. They were as kind and considerate as was Aimon, but after they had been introduced, Ania heard Aimon’s father say something strange to him.

“Have you done it, my son?”

Aimon looked him in the eye, and said with all confidence, “I just need to do one last thing.” When he said it, his hand went to the family crest around his neck and he looked around. Seeing something that caught his attention, he excused himself.

Echo was about to follow him when his father grabbed her shoulder and said, “Let him go. This is why he came here.” Echo gave him a strange look, but the three friends continued on without Aimon.

Later that night, as the three of them sat in the gardens underneath a willow that had become their meeting place over the last few years, Aimon came out from the Palace doors, a new lightness to his step. Coming over to sprawl on the ground next to them, Aimon let out a heavy sigh that made it seem like he had just let off every trouble he had. He started speaking, a quiet, contemplative voice that at times they had to struggle to hear.

“Do you remember why I said I was here? All those years ago, the first day we met, do you remember what I gave as my reason?”

Echo spoke up. “You said that your reasons were yours alone, and that it wouldn’t affect your determination to become a Knight. To us, you said that it wasn’t our fault, but you just didn’t want to tell us just yet because you didn’t know if you could trust us or not, but that your reasons were ones that sounded perfect when you said them to yourself, but you didn’t think they sounded right out loud, that they sound stupid and cliché.”

Aimon gave her a wry look. “How do you remember all that?”

She shrugged. “I’ve wondered what you could have meant by that every day since. It’s kind of hard to forget something when you think about it every time you see someone.”

With a smile, he said, “I guess so. Either way, I think it’s time you know what I meant. I mean, I’ve done everything with one goal in mind, and now that I’ve done it, it makes sense that my best friends should know what was going on.” No one said a word. They just sat there, waiting. Like they had for the past eight years. What could a few more seconds hurt?

“Have you ever heard the name Kolsin Zahur?”

Randen nodded. “He was supposed to be some kind of weapon designer in the last war, but his prototypes got leaked to the Joconans, and it cost our armies dearly. Lots of people died because of it.” As he said it, Ania and Echo remembered the stories.

“Zahur… Is he related to you?” Echo asked, although she was pretty sure she knew the answer.

“Was. He was my grandfather, and he died a few years after the leak happened. He was supposed to create weapons that would end the war and bring the soldiers home sooner. But instead, they just made it longer and more bloody, and the worst part was, the Queen blamed him. She said that he was a traitor to the crown, that he had deliberately given out the designs.

“He couldn’t live with the guilt.”

Aimon took a deep breath, calming himself. “The Zahur family was branded with the Mark of the Betrayer. Our family crest was cursed, that it could not be drawn without the Traitor’s Mark being clear behind it.” He pulled out the emblem around his neck. Ania remembered how it had always looked before"the fox head with a tower shield behind, and a black circle surrounding a broken, eight pointed star behind that. Now it had a white circle with a perfect eight pointed star breaking through the edges. The three of them looked up at him, the question clear on their faces.

“My grandfather did not leak those designs. I was in his workroom one night, and saw someone going through his papers. My grandfather came in and confronted him, but the stranger got away with most of his newest weapons and the designs to make more. He tried to stop the man. He did not commit treason.

“We knew that, and we were content to take the punishment of wearing the Traitor’s Mark. All that mattered to us was that we knew the truth.

“But then my older sister was married and she and her husband gave birth to a little boy. I was terrified because I knew the prophecies of the Mark of the Betrayer inside and out. In it, there was a section that said ‘A child born with the Mark upon his name will one day set the world aflame. The child with the scar of the Traitor on him will then commit the blackest sin.’ It meant that a child who was born into a family branded with the Mark would turn against the country and bring it closer to ruin then it had ever been.” Ania blinked, trying to return to the present. He mind was reeling, and when Aimon had quoted that line from The Betrayer’s Codex, all she could see in her mind were…brown…eyes…?

“I knew that those prophecies were not to be taken lightly, and I searched forever until I found something that gave me hope. The Mark of the Betrayer could be reversed if forgiveness was given by the family they had wronged. So I came to the Compound to get the chance to prove myself to the Queen and beg her forgiveness. Not only for my grandfather’s memory but my nephew’s future.

“I spoke to the Queen just now and explained what had happened all those years ago.” Aimon laughed, a tired but happy sound. “She remembered my grandfather. She would have only been three or four years old, but she remembered him. She said that he had brought her little toys that he had made in his spare time. She had asked her mother why he had stopped coming, and when Queen Adilayde had explained that it was because he had made a bad mistake that had hurt people, she didn’t believe her. When she was old enough to understand what had happened, she still didn’t believe it.

“When I explained it what had really happened, she…she thanked me for letting her know the truth. She forgave my family, and asked me to forgive hers for wronging my grandfather. Can you believe it?” Aimon tilted his head back to look at the stars. He had a huge smile on his face. “If I wasn’t already a Knight, I’d do it all over again just to protect this Queen. She is amazing. There’s no other word for it. Amazing.” He trailed off, shaking his head in disbelief.

Echo picked his family emblem up off his chest, hefting it in her hand. “One thing I don’t understand. This mark, the one that took the black one’s place. What is it?”

Aimon sat up, and, quite unexpectedly, reached over and grabbed Echo in a massive bear hug. Before letting her go, he gave her a quick kiss. The look on her face was a combination between joy and complete confusion. It was one of the funniest things Ania had ever seen.

“The Mark of the Betrayer is a black circle containing a broken eight point star. This is its counterpart, a white circle releasing a whole eight point. This… This is the Mark of the Redeemed.”

The three of them smiled broadly. For the first time in eight years, they knew the truth about their friend. But more importantly, he now trusted them.

Ania stood up. “Come on, my friends. We’d better get to bed. We don’t want to sleep in on our first day as Knights.” What a thrill it gave her to finally say those words.

For the first time in eighteen years, Ania felt whole.

Author's Note

Aimon's back story is one of the number one things I want to fix - first off, the way I originally wrote it was kind of cheesy, and second off, I want to give more information about it because I want it to eventually tie into the greater plot line. Do you guys have any suggestions on how I could work the Mark of the Betrayer or the Betrayer's Codex into an earlier scene? Or maybe add a new scene altogether?