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

Show of the Divine

Variel did sleep for most of the night, but woke earlier than was necessary, giving him time to think about everything. He just couldn't see today going well; it was worse than usual. He sighed in frustration and rolled onto his other side, hoping he could fall asleep again before the sun rose. He had no such luck, and soon it was up to wash and dress.

The morning felt like a blur, and before Variel knew it, he was swaying beside Tanier in their litter, gazing down at the fireball on his chest. He realized with some alarm that over the past couple of days doing dress rehearsals of his speech that he'd actually started to grow accustomed to wearing something like this. It was more showy than what he was used to, yes, but it had a sort of regal dignity about it. It clearly spoke of fire, but it displayed the element as tempered, controlled, not so bright and haphazard. He'd never read that much into an outfit before, he realized, but it worked for him.

Despite all the preparation, he thought he might be sick when they came near the front steps of the temple and readied to exit the litter, guards all around them.

"Remember, chin up and shoulders back. Walk like that, and no one who isn't looking for it will see how you really feel." Vis gave Variel a kiss on the cheek to add a little something to his words before gettingout first.

Tanier wasn't really nervous. He was as well prepared as he could be. He didn't anticipate failure and saw the meeting as a great chance. He was more restless than ever after being mostly confined to his rooms for days and could no longer wait to finally reveal Ignaius to a greater public. He had felt so close to Variel and Vis last night and still felt empowered by the experience. He knew that, technically, it was an illusion to think that united they could stand up against the world, but he would not hesitate to use this feeling to his advantage. He was here to impress and win over people and he knew he could do so more easily, if he didn't doubt himself or anyone in his team. He allowed Variel to be as withdrawn as he wanted, but often gave him a smile. He also offered his hand to the young man as soon as they were outside. Numerous people were arriving for the meeting and the whole place was swarming with activity. He could see numerous varieties of the traditional robes and symbols that marked a priest or priestess. He saw more men and women and more elderly than young people, but the crowd was rather more diversified than he had expected. A young man greeted them, introduced himself as scribe Ilar-Aken and asked them to follow him. He guided them to a private room where he asked them to wait. They were offered food and drink and where told that they would be escorted to the meeting hall once their time to speak had come. While they waited, Tanier entered a conversation with the young man where he learned that he was a younger son of Aken-Uld. He chatted with him about his duties at the temple and his feelings about the meeting in a most casual way. He knew they would probably not have to wait long, after all everyone was there to see and hear Ignaius, yet he was also aware how the preliminaries of such a meeting would be time consuming.

The longer they were left to wait, the more time Variel's stomach had to twist itself into knots. However, he was taking Vis's advice. As he sat waiting, he sat up straight and kept his chin raised, staring off at something while working to keep his thoughts under control and let them distract him. All in all, this gave him an aloof look, as if he was concerned with things far beyond this room and the people in it. People who knew him or those who were observant could tell he was not relaxed at all, but on the surface, he looked composed and confident.

Vis gave him a subtle smile that he was sure Variel didn't even see. He then returned to the conversation in which he had joined.

Finally they were called to speak to the council.

Tanier looked at Variel, waiting for him to go first, falling in step behind him. Still he addressed the assembly first, thanking them for coming and hearing their willingness to listen. He told them, how he was fortunate to discover the reborn Ignaius, how he had taken it upon him to support him and fight the abuse of his name by the Disciples and how he was hoping for them to join their fight. He knew he would not have to explicitly mention how noteworthy it was, if you had a king doing your introduction and that it was enough to allude to the great importance of the moment. He kept his words short, after all he was officially only here to introduce Ignaius. As they had decided to have Vis translate - of course his translation had been prepared along with the speeches -, the whole address would take much longer anyway. Then he stepped back, so that Variel could speak, while he could do what he liked best in such a situation: watch.