Part 28 (2/2)

”Where will we find artisans willing to acquire children for you?” he asked in confusion.

A patronizing smile appeared on her face. ”We already have s.h.i.+mat in place to act in that capacity.”

The king looked agitated and uncomfortable. ”I wish you would stop calling yourselves that. The s.h.i.+mat are myths. Demons from old wives' talesa”

The woman's eyes gleamed with a manic light. ”Oh, but we are shadow demons. Your shadow demons, for you created us.”

He shuffled the papers on his desk, avoiding eye contact. ”For what purpose do you want these children?”

”To be raised and trained as s.h.i.+mat.”

The idea caught the monarch's attention, and an amazed smile appeared on his face. ”Of course! An entire generation of a.s.sa.s.sins at my command!”

The a.s.sa.s.sin said nothing, keeping her expression neutral. The feelings of apprehension that the king had been feeling moments ago were replaced by a greed for power. This lasted for several minutes before the he became cautious again.

”I will allow it on one condition: the children must be raised completely loyal to me.”

She smiled slyly. ”Of course, your Majesty.”

He still looked distrustful, but nodded. ”I will begin gathering them immediately. What ages would you prefer?”

She leaned back in her chair, interlacing her fingers. ”For now we will take all the children who range from infancy to fifteen years of age. In the future, when this program is more established, we will lower that cutoff age.”

They began discussing the details, but Adesina felt herself being pulled out of the memory. She shuddered as she pulled her hand away from the man standing in the marble hall.

”How did you witness this without notice?” she asked him.

He sighed with a melodramatic expression on his face. ”I was one of the King's Counselors, and I wished gain prestige and riches. I was spying on the king with the hope of learning something valuable.”

”You tried to blackmail him?”

He looked offended. ”I merely wanted to warn him of his lack of discretion! He had me executeda”

Adesina wasn't surprised in the least. The fussy man turned away from them and went back to his friends in the marble hall. The two L'avan made their way back to the Garden, where they could discuss what she had seen.

This had been the hardest memory for Adesina to watch. She felt ill when she thought of all the children who had been manipulated through the years. More than that, she was angry when she thought about how she herself had been manipulated.

She thought about her s.h.i.+ friend, Lanil, who was so sweet and caring that it was hard to believe that she was also a warrior in training. If her parents had lived, she probably would have been a lot like Deasa. Doubtless, Lanil would have married young and been happy to raise her family. Unfortunately, her parents had died when she was an infant, and she had become a Shar Childa”raised in the s.h.i.+mat fortress with no option but to be trained as one.

Adesina began pacing back and forth, and E'rian seated herself on the edge of the fountain, watching her daughter's agitated movements.

”Why has nothing been done before now? Why are the s.h.i.+mat not stopped?”

The older woman clasped her hands together and leaned forward. ”Ma'eve, the s.h.i.+mat order thrives on secrecy and subtle manipulation. To most of the world they are nothing but a dark story to get one's children to behave. It was not until they approached us about an alliance that the L'avan knew of their reality.”

Adesina stopped in her tracks. ”The s.h.i.+mat offered an alliance with the L'avan?”

Her mother nodded. ”It was before our isolation from the rest of the world. The L'avan king of that time had the gift of reading intentions, and he could see that the s.h.i.+mat only wanted to manipulate us and have use of our powers. They thought vyala was something that could be transferred, and they wanted it for their own.”

Her daughter moved to sit next to her. ”What happened?”

”The king told them he would not accept their treaty, and then the persecution began.”

The young woman frowned. ”The s.h.i.+mat began persecuting the L'avan?”

E'rian smiled sadly. ”No, they are much too subtle for that. They used all of their influences to create fear and distrust of the L'avan among other people. After that, they just had to sit back and watch. We were driven from our homes by farmers, merchants and artisans, all of whom thought they were protecting their families and ways of life from our evil influences.”

Her daughter shook her head, not understanding. ”Why would they go to so much trouble?”

She tilted her head to one side. ”For revenge, Ma'eve. We dared to defy them, and they hate us for it. Also, they did it for protection. We knew they existed, so they had to destroy any possibility that anyone would believe us if we exposed their secrets.”

Adesina was speechless. She knew her mother had warned her against what she would be shown in these memories, but she had still been completely unprepared for what she had seen. Each memory seemed worse than the last, and she was afraid of what she would learn next about this order of a.s.sa.s.sins to which she had sworn loyalty.

The next night the wooden door took them to a cozy cottage. It was a place that looked as if many generations had lived there, leaving behind traces of love and experience. An old man was sitting next to a fire with his arm around a kindly old woman when they entered.

”G'morrow to ye, la.s.ses! How ken I hep ye?”

E'rian walked over and pressed each of their hands warmly. ”Good morrow to you as well. We are in need of your memories.”

The old man shook his head adamantly. ”No, no, ye kennot come to no good wit dem. Warm fire, good talk, det is all I ken offer ye.”

To Adesina's surprise, her mother didn't argue. She seated herself across from the old couple and indicated that she should do the same. The old woman looked them over carefully.

”Ye seems ta be da norther' sort.”

E'rian inclined her head. ”Yes, we hail from the north. And you?”

She knew that her mother already knew their answer, and couldn't figure out why she was wasting time with small talk.

”Weeell,” said the old man, ”We c.u.mmot form de sout'.”

The L'avan woman looked delighted by this news. ”Oh, the south is a lovely place! Such beautiful farms.”

The old man straightened proudly. ”Yes, yes, I dunno' deny it. I had a farm of such.”

She reached over to lay a hand on Adesina's arm. ”My daughter was raised in the south.”

The aged woman leaned forward with a concerned expression on her face. ”Did ye not raise her yesef?”

Her mother shook her head sadly. ”I pa.s.sed away before I even had the opportunity to hold her in my arms.”

The woman turned to her husband. ”Ach, sech a sad tale!”

He nodded in agreement. ”Yes, yes, I dunno' deny it!”

E'rian fixed her powerful gaze on the old couple. ”You see, my daughter was raised by my enemies, the s.h.i.+mat.”

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