The Rise of the Emperor--The Seventh House Rises Up

Siurbu 2174

Eirathem was aboard his dragon, on his way to visit one of the villages near Wudui'n Rhaciu {the forest of snakes}. When he had taken power, he had explained to the sages who taught the former emperor's academy that they must learn the ways of old if they wished to remain in his employment. When the sages had returned from seeking the wisdom of the snake masters, one had approached the Emperor, saying that he had the honor of meeting Rhacmidon {head of the snake masters}, and the old mage had begged him, asking that Eirathem meet with him.

Turns ago, Eirathem had been accused of a deed he did not do. When Rhacmidon did not immediately believe him, Eirathem had left Denu'n Rhaciu{the valley of snakes} in anger, vowing never to return. He still planned to keep that vow, for the woman that had accused him of accosting her had lied. However, his temper had cooled enough that he would agree to meet with his old mentor. So this day he was traveling to the village to arrange a meeting.

He had allowed Taniva, the Munde girl who had taught his Munde to trust him, to accompany him as a reward for behaving well. As they were approaching, his dragon said in his mind, 'Myendoi {Myende men}are hiding the trees.'

'There are always myendoi {Myende men} the trees,' said Eirathem irritably back to her.

'Nae,' she said gently, 'The other trees.'

It was then, that Eirathem realized she meant the sparse trees well outside the other side of the village. 'Slow your descent,' he ordered. 'Land so mundelihtanue {my Munde girl} can hide under your wing on the side of the village.'

Then he said out loud to Taniva, "Mundilihtaneu {My Munde girl} will slide down Maestir's dragon and get under her wing when we land."

"But Maestir..." she began.

Eirathem lifted her a bit and laid one stinging smack on the back of her leg. "You will obey," he said harshly.

"Aye, Maestir," she whimpered, as she reached to what she could of her leg to rub at the sting. As soon as Eirathem could tell which way the dragon was going to land, he turned the child on his lap. Then, he calmly grew his wand into a staff. As soon as they landed, He very softly ordered, "Go!"

Taniva, sensing Maestir was very serious, immediately began to slide down the dragon to follow his orders. He calmly dismounted on the other side. The first spell flew before he had hit the ground. But Eirathem was ready. He called great clods of mud from the ground, turning them quickly into arrows and sending them flying at his attackers. Then, he called the topsoil to create a great cloud of dust, so his attackers could not see him. He then ground his staff into the ground, feeling for the vibrations of each attacker. He had great ropes of dirt come out of the ground, pulling each one down. It was over in a matter of minutes. The attackers had gotten a few spells off, but in the dust, had ended up attacking each other.

Several Myende men from the village had come running when they heard the altercation, but had wisely stayed out of Eirathem's way. They approached him now, as the dust settled. But suddenly a voice cried, "Mercy!"

When Eirathem did not answer, the cry came again, "Mercy, Casari! Mercy!"

The Emperor held up his hand, signaling the Myende men gathered to be quiet. He said loudly, "The one who wishes for my mercy will speak again so that I may find him."

"Mercy!" the cry came again.

Eirathem had again ground his staff in the ground, and had felt the vibrations from the one who spoke. He made his way through the field to one Myende boy who sat upon the ground. Dirt vines were around the boy's feet, but he sat, head bowed hands in his lap. Eirathem looked down at the boys hands. The fingers on both were obviously broken. There was no way the boy had raised his wand against him.

He tapped the dirt vines binding the boy's feet, and they fell away. "Can you stand?" he asked.

"I know not," the boy whimpered.

Eirathem changed his staff back into a wand, placing it back in the holster adorning his arm. He reached down under the boy's arms and lifted him to his feet. Only once he was sure the child could stand did he let go. "Who has done this to you?" he asked.

"Da and his brothers" said the boy softly, "Because I would not stand against you. They say I am a disgrace to Sethuhus'n {the seventh house}." Even more softly, he said sadly, "They burned my wand and my bag."

"You will be given another bag, and you can make another wand."

To the man who had walked with him, he said, "We will gather the others. This one will walk with me."

"Aye, Casari," said the man, walking away to do as he was bid.

Eirathem led the boy back to his dragon, instructing him to sit. As he was on the other side, extracting Taniva from under the dragon's wing, a healer came towards him. "There is a hurt myendelihto {Myende boy} on the other side of my dragon. Attend to him as best you can."

The man nodded, and turned to walk around the dragon. "Take hold of Maestir's belt," he said quietly to the child. Once she had obeyed, he walked back around the dragon. "You will sit with Maestir's dragon until I have completed my business here," he told her sternly.

Taniva ran and sat down next to the boy, not wishing to upset her Master this day. Eirathem asked the boy, "What is your age now?"

"Fourteen," he said softly.

"You will answer this," said the Emperor harshly. "Is the heir amongst those who fought?"

"Aye," the boy replied. "All except those too young and too old were ordered to fight. I told them it was folly to stand against you," he said with tears in his eyes, "But they listened not."

And this boy, who had spent the last turns watching the power that Eirathem used on a daily basis without a thought, would surely know. "Your house will suffer for this act," decreed Eirathem, "But if you continue to show the wisdom you have shown today, it may yet be saved."

He said nothing else to the boy before turning to approach the Myende men who were gathering the assailants. "You will separate them thus: those age fifteen and above in one group, those age thirteen and younger in another. Those age fourteen you will gather and bring to my dragon. In addition, you will look for one wearing a black band similar to mine. Him you will separate from all others."

"Aye, Casari," said one of the men.

Eirathem returned to find the healer had splinted the boy's hands. He had also washed his face, revealing that they had beaten him quite badly as well has breaking his hands.

"He will need a healing bath," said the healer shortly. "But he has nae other broken bones that I can detect. Those hands need to stay splinted for one day in order to heal completely."

"On my land," said Eirathem, "the healers have developed a potion that drains away the magic, as well as making a man unable to create young. Do you know of such a potion?"

"Aye," said the healer, "It is a combination of two. It would take me but a few candlemarks to prepare."

"I will need a great deal of it," said Eirathem coldly. "Can he see?" he asked the healer.

"Aye," said the healer, "There is some swelling, but his eyes are unharmed. I was on my way to procure a potion to heal his face. I will send one back with it."

Eirathem nodded. A short while later, the Myende men brought several boys to the dragon. "You will point out those that are elder to you," he ordered the boy.

"Only this one," he said softly, pointing to the second one in the row.

"You shall place this one with the older group," decreed Eirathem, "The rest will be thankful they reside with the younger."

It was not long before dragons came flying from The Garden. No doubt his dragon had informed some of the others. On Kaiadon's dragon, a Munde man rode behind him. As soon as they landed, he slid down and came rushing towards the Emperor.

"He begged to come," said Kaiadon apologetically.

Eirathem just shook his head and pointed towards the boy. The man approached him, and then gently lifted him to his feet, pulling him into a gentle but firm hug. "He will come home, Maestir?" he asked the Emperor.

"Aye," said Eirathem, "You may take him on the next dragon to return to Hof'n {the garden}, and keep him with you until I return."

"Aye, Maestir," said the man firmly.

"I thought you might say that," said Kaiadon dryly, pointing to where a younger rider was landing. "He was the only one I allowed to join us."

"You may send for others," said Eirathem, "When we are finished here, we will be traveling to Sethuhus'n {the seventh house} to retrieve what remains of their myendelihtoi."

"All of them?" asked Kaiadon.

"Aye," said Eirathem.

The boy looked at Eirathem worriedly from his place at the Munde man's side. Eirathem pointed the butt of his wand at him, "You can change not the judgment upon Sethuhus'n {the seventh house}. You will go with this mundo {Munde man}, and remain with him until I return."

They boy looked as if to argue for a moment. But he knew well when it would do no good to argue with the Emperor, so he merely said, "Aye, Casari," and walked with the man to where the young dragon rider was waiting to take them back to the Emperor's lands.

After he had left, a Myende man approached with the heir in tow. It was the same boy that had tried to defile his mundelihta {Munde girl} the day of the celebration. Eirathem stepped up to him, lifting his chin with his wand. "Mayhap," he said very harshly, "I should show you exactly what happens to those who dare to defile my mundelihtai {Munde girls}."

They boy looked much less cocky today, though he glared at the Emperor. "You will remain my guest," stated Eirathem, "Until such time as I decide exactly how I will remove that band that adorns your arm. However, you will watch the judgment upon Sethuhus'n {the seventh house} due to your foolishness."

He dragged the boy to his dragon and forced him to sit, sticking him to the ground. Then he turned to Kaiadon. "Arrange to have the young transported to Hof'n {the garden}. They will stay in confinement until I return. Then bring the older ones."

"Aye, Casari," said Kaiadon.

Once they had the children out of the way, Eirathem gathered the remaining men, and sat them on the ground in front of his dragon. "I wonder," he said to the head of the Seventh House, "Will you be so hard on the Munde when you share their fate? This healer has prepared a very special potion for me. You will all receive it. It will cause the magic to seep from your bodies, as well as ensuring you do not sire any others to rise against me. Afterwards, you may make your own way back to your lands, whilst I take the heir, and send my riders to gather the remaining myendelihtoi {Myende boys} upon your land. They shall remain with me until at least the next Siurbumihtu{turn of power}."

He banged his staff on the ground. "Ahns secgaehn. Sprecaehnahtne.{It is said. I have spoken.}"