“Now, let’s talk about justice,” Alzan said. “You said that Solea does not deserve death. However, it is clear that through her life, she has brought nothing but suffering of others. Why should we spare her, if this is to be her life’s accomplishment?”
Lomones gritted his teeth. “They shouldn’t have attacked her.”
“That was stupid of them, yes,” Alzan said, waving his hand. “They shouldn’t have attacked her, there is no question about that. But don’t be naïve. There were children involved who were attacked and maimed by the Black Swan as well. Do you think they had decided for themselves that they were going to hurt her? Do you think they cared, on a deep level? Or do you think that their parents led them on to their doom? What about them? Is Solea higher than them?”
“This is assuming that the children are innocent. You have said before again and again that this is not a good assumption, with Iluve and now Solea.”
“Let’s look at numbers,” Alzan insisted. “Ten children under the age of eight were put to death after being irreversibly maimed. The White Swans decided to kill the children themselves, for they thought the pain they suffered throughout their lives would be too great to justify them living. Temas’s child is included in this number. Thirty more children were injured by Uclepidies.”
“It is the duty of the parents to keep their children safe from harm. If they don’t do this, it is their responsibility that their child died.”
Alzan sneered. “I don’t think you’ve heard what you said. Otherwise, you would know how ridiculous you sounded. Do you not care for these other children as well? Why should you prefer the life of one child over the lives of many children? Or do they not count?”
Lomones shrugged. “Because they’re dead. Why should I care about them anymore? Let Diamea handle them. I will tend to the living.”
“There are other thirty children to tend to, some of them orphans. Why not start with them?”
“They are not being held in isolation under a circumstantial claim with no foundation. Solea hasn’t done anything wrong.”
“They didn’t do anything wrong either!” Alzan cried. “Most of them were in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was sheer bad luck what had happened to them.”
“Bad things happen. You can’t stop that.”
“If bad things happen, then why does it matter if Solea lives or dies? Why should we care?”
Lomones said nothing.
Alzan paced. “Uclepidies was out of place. Yes, I know. He is crippled and hurt. In battle, he cannot selectively target anyone – it is all a blur of pain for him. Trust me, I know this all! But he was out of place. He should have let her die. She did not supplicate herself to him. He has no ownership of her, otherwise she would have seen him before that.”
“Maybe her father asked him to save her.”
“And then he should have refused.”
“But if his father and he are lovers—”
“Impossible,” Alzan said. “Uclepidies is mated, remember? Your daughter made sure of that.”
Lomones stared at him. “He’s mated?”
“Yes, remember? Elise married him off to the princess.”
Lomones bit his lip. “I don’t remember this.”
Alzan sighed. “The Conqueror accidentally married him off to the princess. The princess wanted him to be hers, but he refused, so she told Elise that he refused to follow the orders she gave him. When Elise asked her how he had disobeyed, she used a double entendre and said he wouldn’t come when she asked him. To the Conqueror, who didn’t see the other, lewder meaning, it seemed harmless enough, so she commanded Uclepidies to obey when the princess commanded him to come. And so they were married.”
“That’s awful.”
Alzan shrugged. “The Conqueror wasn’t very happy either when she realized the consequences. She cursed the princess so that her babies were all dead at birth. But it doesn’t matter anymore. I suppose it’s a good thing that he got mated when he did because nobody would mate him now. Not with that disability. In any case, he cannot be Lars’s lover. Unless Lars has possessed him, of course.”
“Lars is not a Conqueror?”
“No, he has the wrong blood type.”
“What about his wife?”
“She’s dead.”
“So she could have been the Conqueror.”
“No, because she bore Granid, and Granid is not a Conqueror. His blood was tested, plus there were witnesses at his birth that specify that she was the true mother. Only Lars was at Solea’s birth.”
Lomones frowned. “Solea’s mother—did she seem to be pregnant when she had Solea?”
“Yes.”
“Are we sure that she is dead?”
“Yes. There are witnesses to her burial.”
“Could Solea be hers?”
Alzan bit his lip. “There are no witnesses to that. It was assumed to be hers.”
Lomones sighed. “So either the real daughter is dead and Solea is merely the replacement daughter or there are different fathers.”
“Yes.”
“But Conquerors can’t commit adultery,” Lomones said. “That’s against the law. Once a Swan mates for life, it’s for life, and they can’t violate it. They have too much Swan blood in them to violate this law.”
“Yes.”
Lomones groaned and rubbed his head. “So she is a replacement daughter then?”
“That would appear to be so.”
“Then whose?”
Alzan shrugged. “Good question. I have no idea. The only Conquerors that we know of living today are separated by deserts and mountains away from this place. They could not be here. So either we have an unknown Conqueror running around, or we have an undisclosed Swan birth. And with Uclepidies running around as he is doing, it seems that Solea’s parents are Conquerors and they are actively possessing Uclepidies.”
“Does Lars know?”
“Why would he? He was probably distraught when he realized his wife was dead. It was only later when he realized that the child was alive. It is very possible that the child may have been switched at that time. It’s very likely he’s thought all along that she is his true daughter, instead of the bastard that she is.”
“But why would Eurodities and Archondid be involved? They hate Conquerors.”
“Perhaps they were tricked in it too.”
“But you said that Eurodities didn’t like children. Why should she pity this one in particular?”
“I don’t know. The theory has holes, I admit. There are still a lot of unanswered questions.”
Lomones bit his lip and started to pace. Then he stopped, his face flushing with excitement. He turned to Alzan. “Maybe something else happened,” Lomones said, grinning. “Maybe it is a Swan birth. More particularly, Eurodities is the mother and Archondid is the father. You are right—Eurodities would not be a good mother and it’s likely she would not want the child. So, instead, they would give the child away to a good home and give it to Lars.”
Alzan bit his lip. “Why Lars?”
“Maybe Lars was more convenient?” Lomones suggested. “Who knows! In any case, Uclepidies found out about this and wanted to support his niece, and so he was watching her. Thus, when she got attacked, it would be natural for him to try and defend her. And when Eurodities and Archondid were taken by the White Swans, it was natural for him to try and save her as much as he could.”
Alzan frowned. “Why would Uclepidies know about this? Eurodities and Archondid aren’t that close with him.”
Lomones shrugged. “Coincidence, most likely. Uclepidies is a very careful observer. Maybe he stumbled on the truth.”
“And what about the bastard princess story? If Archondid were her father, then why would he tell her that story?”
“He does know the story very well, you must admit.”
“Yes, and you know the story of the Conquerors very well too, but you don’t broadcast it to everyone.”
Lomones paled. “That was cruel.”
“It is cruel because it is true,” Alzan argued. “Why would Archondid tell her this story? It is a painful one at best and a damning one at worst. There are many other stories that could be told that are more age appropriate and wouldn’t cast Archondid in a bad light. Why tell her this one?”
“Because it is important.”
“But all those details?”
“How should I know?”
“So you don’t know why Lars was chosen, you don’t know why Uclepidies was picked to protect them, and you don’t know why the bastard princess story is so important. It seems like there are a lot of holes in your argument.”
“Just as many as there are in yours. Why wouldn’t she mention the Mother? Why would she spend so much time praying to Diamea? Why wouldn’t she try to rescue her brother? Why would she beg Lin for shelter when she had the cunning of the Mother on her side?”
Alzan gritted his teeth. “I don’t know.”
“Then don’t knock my theory. Now, tell me, do you think my theory’s plausible?”
Alzan thought about it, biting his lip. “Yes, I suppose it sounds like it is plausible. There are holes in it, but there are holes in both theories. At least in your theory it would make sense that Lin would be able to become the mother of Solea without her fighting. That part of my theory never made any sense to me.”
“And it also makes sense that Solea is smarter than the others,” Lomones added. “Swan blood would make her pick up languages fast.”
“But it doesn’t make sense why Lars would be picked, or why Uclepidies would become involved.”
“No, not really.”
Alzan sighed. “So either she is Eurodities’s child or she is a Conqueror.”
“Yes.”
“That doesn’t give us much room to work around.”
“No,” agreed Lomones. “But, if I could see the girl, I can tell whether she is my blood or not. And, if she is not my blood, we can collect her for Eurodities and Archondid.”
“And if she is of Conqueror blood, we will let her be executed by the humans,” said Alzan.
Lomones flinched. “Tell me the rest of the story first.”
“Very well.”
~
After Temas came, all three of them were upset. Lin went to stay with Lars while Solea and Iluve stared at each other in horror. Solea was especially upset. She didn’t seem to know what to say. She kept staring straight ahead in horror. Finally, it grew to be very late and Iluve suggested that they go to bed. So, she led Solea to the bed and, because Solea was still very much in shock, Iluve undressed her and brought her into her own bed. Solea fell asleep eventually and Iluve soon followed.
When morning came, the mood was still somber, but Lin had to go to work. After leaving strict instructions of what Lars should eat, Lin left. Iluve and Solea were very nervous. They checked the lock multiple times to make sure that they were secured in before finally relaxing. They spent the morning with Lars. Solea and Iluve read the business books out loud to him in hopes that he would be amused, but he didn’t seem to notice them at all. They were going to play a game when suddenly a soft knock came on Lars’s door. Uclepidies was standing at the doorway.
They were very startled, as you can imagine, as they had made sure the lock was secure several times, yet he seemed to come in silently. Iluve was very afraid and she hid behind the bed, but Solea stood tall and strong. Solea said to Uclepidies, “You cannot stay here. You must go away.”
Uclepidies seemed confused at this and cocked his head as if he didn’t understand. Iluve says she remembers this gesture because it was so strange and human, yet his eyes still glowed an eerie red. Solea trembled and said again, “You must leave now. You are not welcome anymore.”
Uclepidies seemed to understand this less, so he held up a bag in his hand, which spilled over with fragrant herbs, and gestured to Lars. Then he bowed and gestured to the bag again. Solea seemed frustrated. She said to Uclepidies for the third time, “Go away! We don’t want you here!” But Uclepidies ignored her and walked toward Lars.
~
“Stop!” Lomones cried, his face splitting into a grin. “See? She cannot be a Conqueror! If she were a Conqueror he would have to obey her without hesitation. After all, her blood possesses him. He would have to do everything that she tells him to.”
Alzan sighed. “Let me finish.”
“No, let me finish!” Lomones cried, standing up excitedly. “She can’t be a Conqueror. You know better than anyone that Conquerors can control the twelve original Black Swans with a single command, am I right?”
“Yes, you are right.”
“Then she can’t be a Conqueror! If she can’t control Uclepidies, then she is not a Conqueror!”
Alzan shook his head. “Do you think it’s that easy to control us Black Swans just like that? I interviewed Iluve heavily on this point to make sure the words were right. Solea says, ‘you must leave now.’ But that’s not a command. That’s expressing an opinion. That is saying that he should do it, but that does not imply that he will do it. Do you see the difference?”
“She told him to go away though. That is a command.”
“Yes, she did. But she never said when he had to leave. You have to be specific on things like that. You see, he eventually did leave. But he left on his terms. He obeyed. He just obeyed in the wrong way. Do you understand?”
Lomones frowned. “I don’t understand.”
“When we were possessed by the Conqueror, we made a game out of it,” Alzan said. “When she told us to rip off someone’s arm, for instance, we agreed to do what she said. We had to. But we might rip off someone else’s arm that she didn’t want to hurt at all, if the names were similar. Or, if she didn’t tell us when we had to do it, we would agree. But we might do it to their dead corpse, when they passed on due to natural causes. She had to be absolutely specific in order to make us do anything that we didn’t want to do, otherwise we wouldn’t have done it.”
“Solea was not specific enough then?”
“Not at all.” Alzan shrugged. “The Conqueror’s genius was that she could read minds. She knew what we were thinking when we resisted, so she made sure to clarify herself so that we did exactly what she wanted us to do. Fortunately, there has been no Conqueror as successful as her, and I pray to Diamea that there will not be another one.”
“So Solea could still be a Conqueror.”
“Let me continue.”
~
Solea was very upset that he was coming toward her, so she stood over her daddy, as if that could protect him, and told Uclepidies, “You’re not going to hurt him too!” From Iluve’s perspective, Uclepidies seemed confused, although she is not sure exactly of this emotion since his face is distorted. However, he pointed to the herbs again and took a step forward. Then Solea, feeling more than a little frantic, tried to stop him using her physical force. So she jumped on him and bit him.
Of course, this surprised him greatly, so he tried to pull her off, but she just hung on him tighter. Iluve doesn’t think he intended to hurt her because, if he did actually intend to hurt her, he would have done it right away. But, for a couple of minutes, he was simply trying to get her off. However, his hands are useless, as you know, and he couldn’t pull her off very well, so he struggled against her and tried to wiggle away.
Now, biting someone is a hard thing to do for a human for a long time so eventually Solea choked and drew away. Uclepidies took his chance her and pushed her off him. She fell hard and at an awkward angle so that her shoulders took the force of most of the fall, however her head hit as well and she couldn’t move at first because she was in so much shock from the concussion.
Both Iluve and Uclepidies rushed for Solea at once. Iluve thought at first that Uclepidies would hurt Solea, but he didn’t and instead seemed mainly concerned with looking at her head. He brought out a White Swan feather from his pocket and handed it to her.
Iluve didn’t know what to do with it at first, for she had never seen a White Swan feather before. She tried touching Solea with it, but that didn’t work and it only seemed to make Uclepidies more frustrated with her. So, he gestured for her and brought her to the sink and then indicated that she should get water and then dip the White Swan’s feather in it. So, finally understanding, she ran back to Solea with some water and the feather and poured the purified water on Solea’s head.
Solea seemed to wake up then, though she was very dazed, and glanced around. However, seeing Uclepidies in front of her and her daddy behind her made her realize that she still was in a very bad situation. She tried to move but Iluve held her down and told her to stop resisting because the Black Swan didn’t mean to hurt them. Solea didn’t seem to believe this, however, and kept resisting, however the fall had weakened her and she couldn’t move as well. However, Iluve lay on top of her so that she wouldn’t be able to move. Solea cried and tried to get out, but Iluve stopped her from doing this.
When Uclepidies realized that Solea was not going to interfere, he took the herb that he had brought with him and used it on Lars.
~
“What is the herb?” Lomones interrupted.
“This one.” Alzan brought out a sprig. “Here.” He handed it to Lomones. “It’s a bit hard to see, but dawn is coming soon and you’ll be able to see it in detail in an hour.”
Lomones peered at the sprig in the red light. At first, he didn’t recognize it at all, but then, as his fingers tingled at the prolonged touch, he dropped the plant and looked at Alzan in horror. “This is a poison used for torture!”
Alzan nodded. “Yes, it is.”
“But, I thought Uclepidies liked Lars!”
Alzan shrugged. “Think about the poison. What does it do?”
“What doesn’t it do? It’s awful. Didn’t the Conquerors use it to torture those that opposed them?”
“Yes, but don’t think about that. That doesn’t matter. Think about the poison.”
“What is there to think about? It causes the neural pathways to be expanded and sends signals of pain throughout the neural pathways so that there is a heightened sense of pain everywhere.”
“Perfect for a man who has been paralyzed for months, right?”
Lomones stopped. He picked up the sprig and twirled it around his fingers. “It would definitely send feeling into his body, even in the paralyzed portions,” he admitted.
“Yes, it would.”
“But not without a lot of pain.”
“That is true.”
Lomones frowned. “Lars probably would have been screaming the entire time.”
Alzan nodded. “Uclepidies realized this. He gagged Lars before he gave him the poison.”
“Gags do not stop every sound.”
“No, they don’t.”
“What did the girls think?”
“They thought that Uclepidies was killing him, of course.”
“So what did they do?”
Alzan shrugged. “What could they do? Solea wanted to help her father at first, but Iluve was afraid that Uclepidies was going to hurt them next, so while Uclepidies was preoccupied, she ran out with Solea to find their mother. They found Lin, Iluve told her what had happened, and Lin went to the temple to find someone who could offer them from the sanctuary from the Black Swan and possibly help out Lars.”
“Then what?”
“Before the priests offered to give them sanctuary, they demanded that they give them a sample of their blood, as to supplicate themselves to the priests. Lin and Iluve’s blood were fine. But Solea’s wasn’t. They ordered the guards to take her away and convicted her of trying to kill her father by possessing Uclepidies and forcing him to destroy him.”
“But that doesn’t make any sense!”
“No, it doesn’t. That’s why we have to make sense of it.”
Lomones pursed his lips. “Then what happened?”
“Well, she was put in isolation, but Uclepidies came back to join her. When Uclepidies saw the executioner starting for her, he maimed the executioner and hid in Solea’s cell to protect her and keep her company. He hasn’t been out since.”
“Is she still alive?”
“Yes, she is. Uclepidies feeds her using his White Swan feather and the water that drips down.”
“So Solea is not in a good position.”
“No, she isn’t.”
“What about the rest of the family?”
Alzan shrugged. “Iluve came to me, and here we are. Lin is back with the matrons, Granid is still in prison, and Solea is in isolation with Uclepidies.”
“What about Lars?”
“I can’t find that out. I don’t even know if he’s alive. The White Swans won’t tell me.” Alzan frowned. “Listen, brother. Something is wrong about this entire situation, and I don’t know what. I think Solea is a Conqueror—it is more plausible than your theory, I am afraid. I do not know how deep the possession is of Uclepidies, nor do I know who Solea’s real father, the Conqueror, could be. It is all very strange. And this is only the beginning.”
“What do you mean?”
“Granid was imprisoned for raping and murdering a girl,” Alzan said. “But did he really do it, or did another Potential do it who can hide a lot better?”
Lomones frowned. “You’re suggesting that a Conqueror did this?”
“I don’t know. But everything’s strange.” Alzan shook his head. “Lomones, something strange is happening and I don’t know what. I don’t even know where to begin with Hoas’s story, for instance.”
“Don’t worry about that.” Lomones glanced at the window—light was starting to peek out at last and once more the White Swan feather began to glow. “You will arrange a meeting between me and Solea. You will tell the people in charge that I am an expert in Conquerors and I can subdue Uclepidies easily. In the meantime, I will find out where Lars is and talk with Lin. Maybe we can learn something from them.”
“Good idea.”
“Keep safe, Alzan. You have my blessing, for what it’s worth.”
Alzan smiled. “It’s much appreciated.” He stood up and kissed Lomones’s cheek. “May Diamea be with you,” he said.
“And you as well.”
Lomones glanced once more at Iluve’s door, listening to her gentle snore. And with that, Lomones left.
