Tristan pulled his shirt back down, then put a hand over his chest. “Perhaps with great effort, but the brand was not Tenjin’s work. It was placed by another visage.”
“Wydd, I presume?”
“Precisely. Tenjin may have been able to remove it, but if Wydd learned of that, it may have caused a conflict between them. It was not worth the risk. Moreover, Tenjin has always framed these marks as something he disagrees with, that Wydd forces upon us.”
“Wait. So Tenjin knew you were working for Wydd?”
Tristan nodded. “Oh, of course. Working for another visage from time to time was not unusual. I may have made it sound clandestine, but any work that I performed for Wydd went through approved channels. The only ‘secret’ portion was that the Whispers of Wydd believed I was loyal to Wydd, and Tenjin believed I was loyal to him.”
“Why would he take the risk of keeping you close if there was any chance that your loyalties could be compromised?”
Tristan chuckled. “I don’t think you understand precisely how powerful these visages are. Under ordinary circumstances, no human could possibly challenge them. That has led to each and every one of them developing a degree of arrogance. Tenjin probably knew there was a chance that Wydd would try to use me against him in some way, but he would never have expected it to be a physical assault.”
Tristan shook his head. “Similarly, I suspect he believed that Mother or I would take out our aggression against Wydd, if we felt that it was Wydd that was keeping us apart. He thought he could manipulate us to his own ends.”
I nodded at that. “But he failed. You moved against Tenjin first.”
“Indeed. Not because Tenjin is the worst of the visages, but because of convenience. Once Mother had the book, I was able to explain a great deal to her. She spoke with many of the Whispers who operated out of the spire, and they made plans. When we learned that Vera Corrington was coming to the spire to test a new form of artificial attuned, it was a perfect opportunity to lure Tenjin into a vulnerable position. We took it.”
“I still don’t understand how you managed to incapacitate a visage.”
Tristan chuckled, stepping out of the doorway and finally letting it close. “A great deal of knowledge of how his abilities work, the element of surprise, and a good deal of luck.”
I hesitated now that he was approaching. I didn’t think he was going to attack me, but I was still on high alert. “That’s not a real answer.”
“No, you’re right. But I can’t tell you everything.” He tapped his chest.
I understood the gesture, but I wasn’t going to take that simple of a response. “You could claim that anything you don’t want to tell me is one of the things your brand prevents.”
“Also true. But I have no motivation to omit things like the weaknesses of the visages. I want them to be defeated.”
“Including Wydd? Or are they helping you?”
Tristan shook his head. “That’s an excellent question, not no, Wydd isn’t working with us. I’m sure Wydd is aware of everything that is happening, however, and they probably have an angle on how to use it to their advantage.”
I tilted my head to the side. “Why did you imply that you wanted me to join the Whispers of Wydd, then?”
“Ah. That.” Tristan shrugged. “I planned to have you infiltrate them to get information for me. But things change, and that’s no longer wise. The details are unimportant.”
I frowned, considering. “Who’s backing you for all this, if it isn’t Wydd? You implied you had someone powerful helping you.”
Tristan shook his head. “Sorry. Can’t talk about that. But it’s not Wydd, and I’ll say that it isn’t the Tyrant, either.”
I gave him a dirty look. “I don’t like the fact that you’re still keeping secrets.”
“You’re going to have to accept a degree of it. I’m sorry for that. But just as you don’t trust me, I can’t completely trust you with everything, either.”
That made a degree of sense, but I still felt a brief surge of frustration. “Fine, fine. But why try to attack the visages directly like this? I mean, it’s obvious you feel they’re manipulating people, but what’s your end goal here? Killing them all? Would that even be possible?”
“Perhaps it would be, but that would be a terrible risk at best.” Tristan shook his head. “No, that’s not my goal. Although it is a more popular one.”
“What do you mean?”
“As I said, I’m not in charge of this little uprising. Many Whispers have far more influence than I. I played a key part in imprisoning Tenjin, and that has earned me a degree of clout, but I am not the one making all the decisions. And that, unfortunately, has put you in harm’s way. I am sorry for that.”
He didn’t sound particularly sorry.
“You mean what happened with Mizuchi? What was that about?”
“Someone working to remove competition. The uprising has a central ideal — that humanity must be liberated from the oppression of the visages. This sounds like a good unifying factor on the surface, but there’s no agreement in how to go about doing it. This has resulted in the birth of three sub-factions, each with different goals.”
He raised a finger. “First, and most prominently, you have the Godslayer faction. They believe the visages must be killed. They also believe that anyone who has been complicit in the visages retaining control, such as the rulers of most kingdoms and the highest ranking priests, should also be removed.”
Tristan raised a second finger. “The Peacemaker faction believes that our goal should be to work with the visages, and get them to acknowledge their faults. That we should, perhaps, show a firm hand and our willingness to fight, but that ultimately we are better off working with the visages than against them.”
“Finally,” he raised a third finger, “There is my faction. A much smaller group, with little support and different goals.” He paused. “It was the Godslayer faction that employed Mizuchi to attack that ball. Their goal was to remove important figures of government, as well as supporters for the Peacemaker faction and my own group.”
“How is that possible? Shouldn’t Mizuchi only be able to leave the spire with the help of a visage?”
Tristan shook his head. “A powerful enough Summoner with a contract with Mizuchi could use a true summoning spell to bring her outside of the spire. I believe that is what happened.”
I tightened my jaw. “A powerful Summoner…like Elora Theas, perhaps?”
“I find it unlikely that it was Elora, but you’re wise to suspect her. She has the capability to accomplish such a thing, but I don’t believe she has the motivation.”
I nodded. “Do you have any idea on who else it might be?”
“I’m not certain. I’ve had minimal contact with the outside world. You probably know more Summoners than I do.”
I didn’t think I knew any as powerful as Elora, but I could do some digging at the Divinatory another time. “And this faction of yours — what is it?”
“I’m glad you asked.” He clapped his hands together. “I call us Ascension. I believe there is a fundamental flaw in simply trying to eliminate the visages or work with them. In the first case, we would then be at the whim of other powerful beings, either from within our continent or the outside world. The latter case is an overly optimistic dream. There is no way to negotiate with a being that can wipe out your cities with a swipe of their hand and outlive you a hundred times over.
“The visages do not rule us because they are too strong. They rule us because humanity is too weak. If we ever truly wish for humanity to emerge from the shadow of the visages, we must rise to be their equals. And that, my dear brother, is my goal. To raise every human being — not just a chosen few — to power comparable to that of the visages themselves.”