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

Too far, yet not far enough

Tanier got up. He needed to move and any excuse to do so was a good one, so he removed the dishes. He was impatient and didn't know why. Something felt wrong, but he could not point a finger to it. So he returned to the room and excused himself. It was never difficult to find a good reason to leave. It was not just an excuse, there was always a list with things he should take care of that he could squeeze into his schedule at any time he found himself unoccupied. He had to admit that this list had become considerably shorter now and most matters were less pressing. There was very little that was forcing him now to spend time away from Variel. As he was walking away, he realized that this was the first time ever that he was actively planning time away from Variel and it made him aware how he was not used to being that close to just one person for that long. He still enjoyed the unusual ammount of time he could spend with Variel, enjoyed it even more that he had any reason to make this his top priority. Yet he had just looked for an excuse to get away from the man he loved and he didn't even know why.

He used his time to get an update on the work of his team members, most notably his diplomats. After all he and Variel were not the only ones attending social functions and trying to build a reputation for them and thier cause wuth Aurora's leading men and sometimes women. Then there was the meeting at the temple. A number of participants had already arrived and so had the first dossiers. Eventually he walked back to his room with a large pile of reading material. As he approached their suite, he was thinking about Variel again. It had felt good to deal with something else, just for a change. But he alos felt like there was still unfinished business, something he had to deal with between him and Variel.

Visorro-Kior had taken up his duty of keeping Variel company - and distracted - while the king was away. The two men were sitting at the table in the main room, each with a glass of wine and cards on the table before him. Vis seemed to be telling some story, though it sounded more
like an actual historical account rather than one of his tall tales. They both looked up when Tanier entered. Vis waved, and Variel sat there looking at Tanier anxiously.

He'd felt it. He didn't know what it was, but he'd felt something. Something wrong, as if Tanier had needed to leave the room. He wondered if something had happened that he'd needed to attend to immediately. Then, he wondered if what he'd told the king about his strange visions
and what came with it had disturbed the man and made him somehow uncomfortable. They certainly made Variel uncomfortable, and though he was trying to convince himself that they had just been strange waking dreams brought on by that unnatural ecstasy, his dedication to
truthfulness wouldn't let him think of it as anything other than a possibility.

"Bit of light reading?" Vis inquired with a raised eyebrow and a slight quirk to his mouth.

Tanier answered by presenting the pile of paper, then he took the first report from the pile and dropped it on the table: "Updated bibliography on Ignaius and related topics from the council's library."

He took the next pages.

"Report by Lord Barig from his meeting the the envoy of Ageria."

He dropped the paper and took the next one.

"Dossier, including character references for Ibati-Pollor, First Priest of the Most Holy Shrine of Ekban."

He dropped the paper.

"History of the Most Holy Shrine of Ekban. Short version."

He dropped the paper, quickly brushed through the rest and decided it was not worth his time to continue his little game.

"I suppose you can guess half of the rest. The trick is to find the interesting bits. Quickly, if possible. Actually I do have time to read at least some of this. And for the rest I will get the essential parts from my assistant. He has to read all of it, I don't."