MAGE-IMPERATOR JORA’H
Even under the bright light of seven suns, the Mage-Imperator felt darkness around him, in the corners, at the edge of his vision—a pervasive and insidious shadow that no amount of daylight could wash away. Much of the darkness was due to his own guilt and sadness at the massacre of innocent humans that had happened here, but he feared it was more insidious … that the Shana Rei had worked themselves like a wireneedle into the telepathic network of thism that bound all the Ildiran people.
Nira, his lover and soul mate, joined him as they went to the devastated ruin of Mijistra’s human enclave. Though the female green priest was not connected to him through thism, their bond was just as strong and clear. She looked so beautiful with her delicate features, her green hairless skin. Nira’s soft expression showed remarkably few mental scars despite all the tragedies she had endured at the Dobro breeding camp, before the Mage-Imperator had rescued her.…
Knowing how troubled Jora’h was to come back to this place of terrible shame, Nira simply clasped his hand, folding her fingers through his. The horrific crime that had occurred here, the mindless slaughter inflicted upon those poor people by everyday Ildirans, was an incomprehensible shock.
An entourage of noble kith accompanied the Mage-Imperator, along with warriors to help guard him, and medical kith and scientist kith who were determined to explain why Jora’h’s own people had turned into mindless attackers.
Dressed in short reptile-scale armor, his daughter Yazra’h joined them. Tough and alert, she would spot and crush any threat before the Mage-Imperator or Nira could even guess what was happening. Next to her like a smaller mirror image was Muree’n, Nira’s youngest halfbreed child, whose father was a member of the warrior kith. Muree’n trained with Yazra’h and seemed determined to best her mentor, although Yazra’h had not yet allowed the younger woman to succeed.…
As the Mage-Imperator’s entourage moved through the city streets, Jora’h wore fabulous and ornate robes, fabrics stitched with crystalline threads that made him shimmer with sunflares and rainbows. But Jora’h did not feel glorious today. Rather, a sense of dread came over him.
The crystalline towers of the reconstructed capital city soared high into the sky, where only three of the suns blazed this time of day. Jora’h could hear the construction and cleanup crews hard at work as his party entered the human district. He paused, and the entourage stuttered to a halt next to him.
When the Mage-Imperator stopped, Yazra’h and Muree’n split up and loped around the small district, carrying crystal-bladed katanas, while the rest of the guard kithmen remained close to Jora’h. Only when Yazra’h and Muree’n were satisfied that none of the construction workers and engineer kith posed a threat did they allow the Mage-Imperator to proceed into the area.
He stopped to absorb the massacre site. The smears of smoke and spattered blood had been removed, but Jora’h could still sense a heaviness in the air, as if the screams had not yet faded in the intervening weeks. The Earth-architecture buildings had been razed, the stone paving tiles uprooted and replaced.
For the past two decades, this district had been set aside for human settlers who wanted to live in Mijistra. Now the human enclave was gone, all the settlers murdered, and Jora’h didn’t dare invite more humans here until he could purge the shadows.
As he looked at the digging apparatus, the cranes, and the machinery that was erasing all vestiges of the human presence, he nodded to Nira. “As I promised, we will plant worldtrees here, as many as Theroc is willing to send us.”
Nira spoke in a quiet, disturbed voice. “Those humans loved Ildiran culture, and they came here to share with you.” Her voice hitched. “It was exactly the type of alliance we wanted.”
The Confederation and the Ildiran Empire had been bound together by common enemies, then connected by common interests. Now, with the reappearance of the Shana Rei, they had a common enemy again.…
Jora’h thought of King Peter and Queen Estarra on Theroc. Yes, Adar Zan’nh and the Solar Navy had helped save the worldforest planet against the Shana Rei … but nothing could make up for what Jora’h had let happen to these innocent humans here.
He squeezed Nira’s hand tighter, looking at the churned, bloodstained ground. “I promised them safety, and I failed them.” He raised his chin.
Nira said, “We don’t understand what caused the uprising.”
“Just because I don’t understand what caused the violence is no excuse. I am the Mage-Imperator. All the strands of thism come through me. I am responsible for the actions of my people.”
He shook his head. “My father would have erased the evidence and deleted any mention of it from the historical record. He would never have admitted such a massacre to King Peter.” He shook his head. “But I am not my father.”
Nira gave him a wan smile. “True in so many ways.”
The previous Mage-Imperator had been responsible for countless crimes; one of the worst was what he had done to Nira so many years ago, sending her to that breeding camp on Dobro and forcing her to—
Reaching a decision, the Mage-Imperator turned to his entourage and said abruptly, “Nira and I will go to Theroc. We will reveal to King Peter and Queen Estarra what happened here, so that they understand how insidious the Shana Rei can be. Now, more than ever before, the alliance between Ildirans and humans must be unbreakable.”
Yazra’h rapped her katana against one of the broken old street tiles. “I will accompany you to ensure your safety, Liege.”
Without cracking a smile, Muree’n added, “I will come as well, in case Yazra’h should be found lacking.”
Nira brightened. “Osira’h is also there on Theroc. We thought she would be safe there, but the Shana Rei attacked Theroc as well. I would like her back home with us.”
Jora’h could not argue. “Alas, it is no safer there.”
Yazra’h interjected, “And I will make sure that Rememberer Anton has not gotten himself into trouble. He often needs me.”
Jora’h took one last glance at the construction work. It would take these busy Ildirans only a week or two longer to transform the massacre site. And Jora’h’s diplomatic group could bring more fresh worldtree saplings from Theroc.
He turned to the bureaucrats, the noble kith, his various ministers, and said, “Prepare a Solar Navy warliner and a full escort. We will depart for Theroc as soon as possible.”