The Empire of Zeth/Chapter 6 (Ero)
"Well, that went better than I'd expected." Master Garth muses after Lord Tristan leaves the chambers. He plops down on the bed next to Evy and Ranth. "So you father finally acknowledged you're a man, Ranth, and in front of his lifelong rival no less. That was rather big of him. I guess you finally nailed it through his thick skull. Well done."
"I still can't believe he did that..." Ranth mumbles. Master Garath shakes his head. "Your death would have been a great loss to the empire, Ranth. Had your father asked I probably would have let Evy go after you, though I would not have let her go alone..." He strokes Evy's hair. She's fallen asleep in Ranth's lap. Garath pauses, the continues, "Having you here likely smoothed things along. I'm glad you insisted on coming, young master Ranth. Your father... he doesn't like to show that side of himself around you."
Ranth lets out an exasperated sigh. "Oh, don't you start, Master Garth. I'm not an idiot - I know all too well how pigheaded and stubborn my father can be. He is downright horrible at hiding what he really thinks. I shudder to think what would have happened if he had been appointed head of this organization."
Garath laughs outright at this. "Oh gods, can you imagine!? Lord Tristan, master spy. We'd have been doomed." They both laugh over the mental picture of the brash and forthright Tristan skulking around like a spy. Evy stirs in Ranth's lap from the noise, and they both hush. Master Garth strokes Evy's forehead and shushes her softly.
"Master Garath... I know its not my place to ask, but... why are you so close to Evy? Meaning no disrespect, but you don't treat her so much like a student as you a.. a..."
"A daughter?" Garath finishes for him. Ranth nods sheepishly. Master Garath stares at Evy's calm face as she sleeps peacefully. Her pointed ears twitch adorably as she dreams. "Do you know how Evy came to be with us, master Ranth?" he asks the young man.
"Um, no not really. To be honest I didn't even know there were any drow left alive after their country fell, let alone any in our empire, serving in out intelligence and reconnaissance branch."
After a moment, Garath continues. "A lot of people fear them. Not many were sad to hear that their empire fell. I don't know how many of the wild stories were actually true, but if knowing Evy is any gauge, I suspect they were mostly the kinds of propaganda told to scare children and blown wildly out of proportion." Ranth nods, waiting patiently for him to continue. "She won't talk about her past, and I don't wish to press her. I know that she survived a great tragedy in her homeland. I know not how she was able to cross the Silver Seas and come to use her, nor how she managed to bypass our teleportation barriers... But she did."
Ranth nods, then asks, "But that doesn't explain how she ended up under your care, master."
"Patience, young one! I'm getting to that..." he scolds. "Anyways... their civilization fell to ruin in a matter of days, and people feared that the survivors would flee to other countries. I've never been able to confirm any of the reports of drow sightings save for Evy, but there was a lot of fear amongst the general population about invaders. A single untrained drow is equal to hundreds of our fully trained soldiers. People were scared. They were also asking if drow were that powerful, what creatures could best them so easily?"
Ranth nods. "I remember the history. People don't think right when they're scared. My father is proof of that, after all." Master Garath snickers at this comment. "Yes, that's very true. You understand human nature quite well I see. Then you might also understand somewhat about what loosing a child does to a parent... My wife and only child had died in an earthquake a few years earlier. I used to be a very promising field agent before their deaths, but I was never around, and I wasn't there to protect them." A tear runs down his weathered cheek. "I resigned my field commission and took a desk job. For the next few years I threw myself into my work. Processing reports became my life, and I did not face my grief. I was a fool to try to run away from it."
He pressed on, continuing the tale. "Anyways, for a year after the Drowvian Federation was destroyed there were no verifiable reports of drow or anything else of terrifying power within our borders. People were finally beginning to relax and stop panicking when a report came to us. By that point my singular dedicated to the order had caused me to rise through the ranks very quickly, and I had become second in command. The order's former master passed the field mission off to me. The report came from a small village in the far north near the base of the Stoneshadow Mountains. I thought it was probably just more panic talk, but the was enough detail in the report for me to take it seriously. I packed up and left immediately."
Evy shifts in Ranth's lap, rolling onto her side. Ranth takes the opportunity to slide out from underneath her. Master Garath tucks Evy in properly and beacons for Ranth to join him at a nearby table. The two men move over there to let Evy sleep.
"Now, where was I... oh, yes. I arrived at the village and questioned the locals. Following the reports, I headed into the nearby forest. I picked up signs of something powerful, which had me worried. I was starting to wonder if I should turn back and call for reinforcements when I heard a noise up in the trees."
Master Garath's face turns sad. "I was young, and jumpy. Maybe some of the fear mongering had gotten to me too, I don't know. I unleashed a powerful blade burst at the noise up in the trees. The blades flew true and slashed through the trunk, cutting the tops off several of the great pines trees that grow up north.
For a moment I waited and nothing happened, then, a small body fell 30 meters from the tree top and landed at its base. I ran over with my blade drawn and heart pounding, expecting a fully trained drow to attack me. But it wasn't some mighty drow warrior... it was just a little girl, around the same age as my little Aelin was when she passed. She couldn't have been more than 5 years old." He pauses, sadness playing over his face. Ranth patiently waited quietly for him to continue.
"Now, my sword burst had cut her up badly. She was a mess, covered in dirt and sap, and now bleeding for any number of cuts I'd inflicted on her in my unprovoked assault. I was horrified. I looked at my hands, at the blade I had so carelessly drawn on an innocent child... and I threw that sword with all my magical strength high into the mountains. I rushes to her side, trying to stop the bleeding. She just kept saying 'Papa.. Papa don't leave me.' Thankfully... drow are highly resilient." Ranth nods. "I've noticed."
Master Garath nods and continues his tale. "Her wounds stopped bleeding on their own, and her eyes opened. She looked into my face, said "papa" one last time, and fainted. I took it as a sign. I know I was being selfish, but the poor little girl had done nothing wrong. One of the villages just happened to see her while she was scrounging around the forest for food, just trying to survive. I smuggled her back to the capital. I brought her to my master, and declared that I was taking her into the order as my ward."
"My master didn't try to argue. Like me he was little shocked that the drow report had actually been true. Looking back, I think he was just trying to get me out of my paperwork and back into the real world by sending me out on that mission. But regardless, we took Evy in. I explained to her what had happened and that I would take care of her, and she seemed... happy, I don't know. I have no idea how long she'd been living on her own - she won't tell me that either. A person's past is their business, child or not. And if there's one thing I've learned in my many years as head of the empire's intelligence agency, its that some secrets are best left buried."
Ranth laughs outright at this. "I'm sorry master, it's just so humorous to hear you, of all people, say something like that." Master Garath chuckles. "Yes, I know. However, I do mean it." He waits for Ranth to stop laughing. "Anyways, that's how Evy came to live with us. I've been training her to be a field agent ever since. Someday, she may even replace me as master of the Cleansing Hand. She has more natural aptitude for spy craft than anyone I have ever met, including myself, and her skills as a warrior are already unquestionable. We decided to keep her existence a secret from the general population to avoid another panic, and I trained her as thoroughly as I would any other recruit. She learns ferociously fast."
Ranth nods. "So you taught her how to fight and spy?" Garath chuckles. "Oh no, she already knew how to fight, and she was already a decent spy." Ranth stares at Master Garath, his mouth agape. "You're telling me that a 5 year old girl was already and adept fighter and spy? You're pulling my leg!" Garath shrugs. "It's the truth. I've defiantly taught her plenty over the years, but she already had a solid foundation to build on. That's one reason why she's so strong, young as she is. Who knows - maybe drow children start their training at birth."
Ranth looks back over at the sleeping girl, wondering if Master Garth's story was true. He told it in such detail that he didn't think it was a lie, and one thing was abundantly clear - he cared for Evy as if she were his own daughter.
"Is she going to be okay, master?" Ranth asks Master Garath. "I... I don't know." Ranth looks back at Garath in shock. "What? But she seems fine!"
Garath shakes his head. "There are things you don't know about our mortal enemy, young master Ranth. Things that only a few of us know. Though I suspect you will find out soon enough. The council is here." Ranth looks skeptical at Master Garath. "What? How could you possibly know that?" The door above opens and the sounds of people heading down the stairs meets their ears. Garath just smiles wickedly at Ranth, who rolls his eyes. "Of course. Why did I even ask..."
Master Garath's face turns serious. "Master Ranth, you have my permission to stay if you wish. Do not let your father or any of the other members force you to leave. As you so cunningly pointed out to your father before he left, we are having the meeting at my headquarters, so I have final say on attendance. You have a right to know what's going on with this war, and its past time you were brought into the loop." Ranth nods. "Thank you, Master Garath. I will stay."
Chapter 7: The Council's Decision