Dawn of the Unconquered Sun (Part 8 of the Ignaius-Saga)

Looking for Allies

It was early afternoon and Tanier was wondering, if they should go back to the palace to eat, but eventually decided that they were rather safer, if they visited any of the many taverns they had seen on their way. So they selected one of them and Tanier urged Variel, who knew most about the local language in their group, to order a meal. The guards sat around a large table in a respectful distance of the king and his consort to be. While they were waiting for the food to arrive, Tanier wanted to hear Variel's opinion on their success so far and opened the conversation without making too strong a statement himself: "This didn't go too bad - but not too good either. What do you think?"

For a time, Variel didn't answer. He wasn't ignoring Tanier, but lost in his thoughts and staring into his cup. Since leaving the councilman's estate, he had seemed even more reserved than usual, and that had not changed. However, his head came up when he at last registered that Tanier had spoken, and after blinking a couple of times, the words themselves translated and he sighed.

"They are afraid of me and what I can do... It's... not something I ever expected... I've always feared it, and I've recently become aware that my father fears it... but to realize that there is an entire nation of people who fear what I am and have for centuries... that their leaders look at me now and just... wait for me to destroy their livelihood...." He wasn't really sure how to put into words how it made him feel, but 'unsettling' was a good start. It certainly wasn't a good feeling, as some might have experienced when realizing they held such power. He didn't wish to be feared, didn't wish to hold a reason to be feared.

"Don't take it personal, for it is not a statement about you as a person. It is about the things that you are on top of being a normal person." As usual, Tanier seemed to be rather unconcerned, although he could see how this was really shaking up Variel. Exactly because he could see it, he decided to not dwell any longer on that point. "Everything will become a lot more difficult, if we can not get the support of the council and Sonto-Sirov had raised a valid question: What do we do, if we can not get it?"

"That would be... dangerous." Variel knew he didn't need to say it allowed, but it seemed a good opener. "If the leaders don't approve what we're doing, they'll soon consider us trespassers. We're foreigners in their land. You're the leader of a foreign land. This whole thing could have massive political implications even if politics and national boundaries shouldn't really apply."

Variel lowered his head and took a slow drink, giving himself time to think of what he might say. Tanier already knew all of this, surely, but he supposed making it clear he too understood meant something. "I... don't really have a solution, though... Who else holds enough sway here to oppose the council should they decide they don't want us doing this?"

"I honestly don't know. The real problem I see is this: How can we best reveal Ignaius to this world, if we do not get the support of the council? I know you are not really comfortable with the role yet, but if the council does not support us, we have exactly two options: Go home, do our best to keep the Disciples at bay, with little hope to ever really solve this as long as they are as strong in Aurora as they are now. Or we stay and do this without any support and count on the fact that we can create enough impact and visibility. It could create all kind of complications, but they would have a hard time to stop us. I think I do not have to tell you which one of the two options I prefer."

"Going home isn't really an option." Variel knew that well, just as not coming to Aurora hadn't really been an option. "As for causing a stir..." He bit his lip, greatly disliking some of the options that popped unbidden into his head. He shook it slightly, silvery bangs swaying back and forth over his eyes as he did so. "I... guess there would be ways to do it... but without official support, it may be just as likely to get us overrun by an angry mob as get people to believe in... whatever I am."

"If you didn't notice: The angry mob was alway a possibility." He grinned as he said so, as if this was a joke, while he knew it was not. "The third option would be to talk to the Disciples directly, but I like that even less."

Variel visibly flinched at the very idea, but once he calmed down, it sparked another in his head. He sat there chewing his lip for a time as he considered, the wheels turning in plain sight to explain his silence to Tanier. Then, he pulled in a breath.

"We need support," he started, to lay a foundation they both understood. "We need support that the people of Aurora will recognize. The easiest way to get it would be the Lord-Magistrate and Grand Council, but they are all afraid. We can't leave, and approaching the Disciples outright may be playing right into their hands. However... we are dealing with... religious matters, in a way. Therefore... what if..." He glanced off to the side, then back at Tanier. "What if we went to the Temple of Sol, approached the Sun Priests and Priestesses for help?"

He felt a little queasy with worry, but he continued. "As little as the people still follow the tenants and actively worship, I'm certain they still have some respect for the priesthood. My... main concern is that we are just as likely to be deemed heretics... but... Well, all of our options are risks, so... it could be a possible fallback plan."

"Not a bad one." Tanier's left eyebrow rose slightly, and this was usually an indication that he liked an idea. "We will do nothing but talk to people for a while anyway and this does make sense. They already have a bunch of crazy heretics to deal with, they may see a chance to regain a bit of their old glory, if they and not the Disciples can present a legitimate incarnation of Ignaius. So - different from the council - they actually have something to win here. And they would be exactly the experts we may need to get it staged the right way."

It felt good to Variel. Maybe it shouldn't have, and he was still nervous about the idea, but knowing that he'd come up with something that Tanier liked always felt good. This time, it had also involved using his head. He was also starting to realize that it was him Tanier was confiding in and planning with, not his myriad of advisers. It gave him a strange sense of control over a situation in which he'd been cast far beyond his control. It was mostly an illusion, but he supposed not entirely.

In any case, it seemed they had a plan now. Slowly, his thoughts drifted back to where they had been before this conversation began, and he found himself staring into his half-empty cup once more.

"...There is... something I need to talk with you about... but I don't want to do it here..."

Tanier looked at Variel pensively. "Why not here? We can be pretty sure that we will not be overheard here?"

Actually he felt more safe and even more private in this semi public place than in the palace.

Variel bit his lip and looked around. It wasn't really that he feared being overheard, though that was part of it, but people were watching them. No one could get too close thanks to their guard, but they could stare, either openly or out of the corner of their eye as they pretended to be focused on something else.

He looked back to Tanier. "It's... something important, and something I... I don't want to discuss with so many people around. It will be difficult enough for me to speak of it as it is..." He glanced around again, as if to silently remind Tanier that he was never comfortable in public.

Tanier smiled. Sometimes he felt Variel's particular habits, needs and quirks a burden, but he also found them adorable as the mark of the man he loved.

"We are going home then," he declared. Probably that meant that they would not visit another councilman today, but if Variel declared this to be important, it surely was.

Variel nodded. He took one final drink, then slowly stood and pushed his chair back under the table. His movements were slow, for he was as much dreading this conversation as he was eager to have it.