“If you’re trying to scare me from your position, you know it won’t work,” Maiya said.
“Oh, I know. I know it well. Your ambition has brought you this far. Words of warning from an enemy won’t sway you.”
“Then why not strike me down now? It would be well within your right to, yes?”
The Blessed Chosen’s expression turned sour.
“I have already killed once tonight. You may consider me a monster, but I had hoped to avoid another.”
Maiya’s eyes narrowed, and she fell into thought. “That would’ve been a lot more believable if you hadn’t tried to have me assassinated and poisoned. Which means… I see. You can’t harm me, can you? The Sisters of Gray would frame it as an act of aggression!”
Maiya’s heart raced. If the Blessed Chosen was hesitating despite having this much evidence, the Sisters must have commanded more power than Maiya had given them credit for.
The large man growled. “Allying with those witches was the smartest move you have made.” It sounded as though each word caused him pain. Maiya could even hear him grinding his teeth. “At best, we devolve into a civil war. At worst… I lose my life and the mantle passes on to you. Either outcome benefits them.”
“Them?” Maiya said, feeling for her Ice Prison spell beneath her robe. It was a B Grade spell, and it’d been precharged. “You mean the Sisters?”
If what the Blessed Chosen said was true, then maybe she could take him out here and now. The Sisters could craft a cover story and spin this in her favor.
“I wouldn’t, if I were you,” the Blessed Chosen said calmly.
Maiya’s fingers froze. How did he notice?
Maiya was no amateur. She’d been trained by the best and forged in fire. She’d been extremely careful not to give away any clue of what she was doing. Which meant she hadn’t. There had been no tells. No signs of her actions. Her hands had been beneath the table, well out of sight of the Blessed Chosen. The same as her plan to sneak out for Ira’s mission. Flawless.
“I once had asked if you felt any different since your… experience,” the Blessed Chosen said, blatantly changing the topic.
“And I told you I did. You never said what it meant,” Maiya replied. She didn’t like that he was controlling the conversation, though she went along with it for now. She needed time to think. To formulate a plan.
“It means you are one of us now.”
Maiya’s eyes narrowed. “I’ve passed enough tests and rituals. I’ve been one of you for a while.”
“Not that,” the Blessed Chosen said, shaking his head and crossing his arms. “One of us. The Chosen. The soul of the cult. The imprisoned.”
Maiya felt a headache coming on. She’d been through a long night, and now she had the trauma of a dead handmaiden on her mind as well. At their first meeting, the Blessed Chosen had struck her as more sane than the others, but now, she was starting to doubt herself. Had she been wrong? Or had he changed in the interim?
“I’m afraid I don’t understand,” Maiya said. “Moreover, I would like to know what happens now. The way I see it, I have the upper hand. You cannot hurt me without risking your reputation. I, on the other hand, have nothing to lose.”
This was her chance, and Maiya took it.
But before Maiya could activate her orbs, the Blessed Chosen grabbed her wrist and brought her hand to his chest.
“What are you doing—?” Maiya shrieked.
Her body went slack. The room around her disappeared, and she was suddenly surrounded by darkness. Darkness… punctuated by dots of white light. Threads—tendrils—reaching out to… everyone.
Spanning the world, she sensed… Presences. Life forms, though she knew not how.
“W-what is this?”
“This is the world you have been awoken to,” the Blessed Chosen said. “This connection to the Children. You were always one of us. But now? Now, you are the core. They are connected to you.”
Maiya’s voice shook, “You’re saying… I’m sensing the Children of Ash?”
The connection didn’t scare her. This ability was a form of power—strange magic that followed no rules she was aware of—but power nonetheless.
That was, if it wasn’t also accompanied by the crippling sense of loss.
“Every. Single. One,” the Blessed Chosen confirmed, releasing her hand. Maiya snapped back to reality, a sudden sense of nausea making the world spin around her.
What was that? Maiya thought, heart nearly pounding out of her chest. That sensation… It was unlike anything she’d ever felt.
“Death,” Maiya whispered. “It was death. This is what you live with?”
It was as if someone had ripped her very being into pieces. Like her soul had been corrupted.
She quickly checked herself over. To her relief, whatever it was had been temporary. Only the memory of the feeling remained.
“This is your final warning,” the Blessed Chosen said, and this time, Maiya listened. “You are delving into matters far beyond your comprehension. Turn back now, or forever regret your actions.”
Maiya didn’t know what to make of all this. Her head was still reeling from that experience.
“What was that?” Maiya asked. “Please, tell me.”
“Power,” the Blessed Chosen said. “And its terrible cost.”
“It’s how you found me, didn’t you?” Maiya asked, biting her lip. “You felt me leave the premises.”
The Blessed Chosen’s silence answered her.
“Then you’ve known. You’ve known I was a Kin’jal agent all along,” Maiya said, grinding her teeth. She’d been in far more danger than she’d thought.
“I cannot harm you. But I can harm those you care about. Yamal. My brother. Even that dog of yours that lives in Sonam. The gods are on my side.”
“If you’re counting on dead gods to save you, I’m afraid you’ll be sorely disappointed,” Maiya said. The confidence in her voice was nothing more than a thin act. Maiya had every reason to believe the Blessed Chosen would kill them. One look at the handmaiden’s corpse was all the proof she needed.
“You speak of the Prime Imperium,” the Blessed Chosen said, a small smile creeping upon his lips.
Maiya’s eyes narrowed. She knew about the woman Vir had met within the Ash. This Ashani Automaton. It had all sounded so fantastical, yet from all that she’d heard, the gods were well and truly dead. Ashani may very well have been the last vestige of their legacy.
“False gods,” the Blessed Chosen spat. “No, I speak of those who surpass them. Those truly deserving of the mantle of divinity.”
Just a few moments ago, Maiya would have dismissed his words as deranged rambling. After experiencing that connection to the others—that soul-crushing weight—she wasn’t so sure anymore.
“I don’t understand,” she said. “I’ve never heard of these gods. Do they have a name? Why aren’t they in the history books?”
“You’ll find no reference to them. Though invisible, their influence can be felt. Though unknowable, they weave the threads of reality. You will never meet them. You will never see them. But you will feel their presence, if only by way of Fate. They are quite real, I’m afraid.”
That… was a lot of words to say very little, Maiya thought, feeling a headache come on.
“Life is so… impermanent, wouldn’t you agree?” the Blessed Chosen said. “People are born. People die. Nations form, thrive, and fall. And through it all, certain entities remain.”