The Rival of Gods

Chapter Nine: Arrival

The journey continued.

Sahshir spent much of his time strengthing Oresa's will and her ability to wield power. Her lack of confidence limited her power. There had been progress in this regard. However, Sahshir thought she would be helpful in direct combat sometime soon.

Still, she could be more valuable in a support role.

One morning, Sahshir found Tuor standing at the prow of the ship. He was gazing for the distant lands beyond. He turned to where Sahshir was and smiled. "Ah, Sahshir, you're up at last. How does your training with the Princess go?"

"Well enough," said Sahshir. "Though she has much room for improvement."

"Well, in any case," said Tuor, drawing out a sealed case. "The merfolk arrived with a message for you from King Nagos."

"Thank you," said Sahshir, taking the case.

Unsealing it, he drew out a sealed scroll. Sure enough, there was the symbol of Namina upon it, a faceless figure with an outstretched hand. Breaking the seal, Sahshir looked at the letter and read aloud;

"'To Abdul,

'It's been way too long since we were face to face. I've been busy with all that's been going on with the recent truce. Serna and I have had to go to many different islands, rarely staying for more than a week. All kinds of people have needed managing, and finding the people to run things has been hard.

'I'll be glad to see you in Sorn. Carath Magnious has put my household up. Is Narcissa with you? I'd love to see her again? Serna is with me at the moment.

'Oh right, and I should tell you that Sen Kaba is here too. We got his ransom, which greatly helped, but he has mostly stayed the same. Though at least he isn't holding a grudge or is pretending not to. He keeps saying he's a businessman and isn't interested in revenge.

'Personally, it's a way to distance himself from what he's been doing.

'Either way, Sorn is nice enough. It's much cleaner than most of the Islands of Power, and everyone here is very polite. However, I don't think much of their ideology. They are very big on something they call Social Suvvesianism. The basic idea is that the rich are rich because of natural superiority. Meanwhile, the poor are doomed to be destroyed by some natural process.

'Ignoring the fact that poor people have more children than the rich, of course. Going by this ideology, doing nothing to help the less fortunate is charity. But at least they aren't killing them. They leave that to the workhouses.

'Anyway, I'm running out of pages, so I'll finish up. Sen has some projects he is working on, which I'm not allowed to discuss in letters. You might be interested in it. The basic goal is to save the world. You feel saving the world isn't worth it if we give up our souls. But some of the stuff he's done here is really impressive.

'-Your friend,

'Nagos.

'P.S:

'Whatever you do, don't trust anybody here. They're all very nice people, but I expect most would knife you for a few silvers if it was convenient.'"

Sahshir couldn't help himself and laughed. As he did, Tuor seemed taken aback. "What is it?"

Yes, he had, though Tuor had forgotten. "I can never read Nagos," said Sahshir. "The man is either two-faced or a god in human form."

"It's possible," mused Tuor."Vacant domains of power are eventually filled. The Domain of Friendship has been without a god for some time."

"You think Nagos is the new one?" asked Sahshir, not taking the comment seriously.