Anessa was fascinated with the old Shara Daim; they had had no Sha, and had fought simply and perhaps more barbarically. But still they had had honor.
“How are you not bored with reading that?” Garaam asked as she leaned on the edge of the pond and looked at Anessa lounging on the warm rocks with a reading device in hand.
“You could learn a lot from our history, Garaam.”
“Yes, I can learn about the most barbaric ways to take power,” Garaam said.
“They lived by their strength, more so than we do now,” Anessa responded.
“We are more civilized.”
“Perhaps, but there are still lessons to be learned from the words of ancient Kar Daim,” Anessa added. Garaam sighed in frustration and turned her back to Anessa, swimming away.
Anessa walked through the great Hall of Ages, under the high-reaching arcs, and past paintings and murals depicting the Shara Daim history, reminding her of who her people truly were. A race of warriors who had never bowed down to weakness. Only it had taken a defeat to teach her what strength truly meant.
Behind her followed Do Sun Arisak and eight of her best Va Sun. Immediately upon entering the system, the Elders had ordered her to come to them. They had provided no reason as to why, but it wasn’t necessary. Anessa knew the reason; the Elders had learned of her orders to the Legions. She had sent the message only to the Legions, making sure that the message didn’t pass through the Shara Radum relay, which meant that someone had informed them on purpose, as she had known someone would. But the circumspect relay had given her time.
Anessa and her party reached the end of the hall and the ornate doors leading to the Elders’ sanctum. Two honor guards stood in front, as they always did. There were no other guards in sight, which probably meant that the Elders, while displeased with her, didn’t plan on having her arrested. That was interesting, but then, she was their greatest Dai Sha; they couldn’t really arrest her without a great cause. They would want to talk, demand a reason for her actions. And Anessa would give it to them.
She turned to Arisak and motioned for him and the Va Sun to stay there. They already knew what to do. Her Legion knew everything—all the information they had about Axull Darr and the suspicions about the Elders. And they were loyal to her.
Anessa inclined her head to the two guards wearing the traditional brown chestplate armors that covered their torso and left their arms bare presenting the white markings going around their forearms. Anessa stepped through as they opened the doors. She entered the dark room and moved down the stairs toward the podium in center of the room, dropping to one knee before the nine Elders that were sitting on high-backed chairs on the pedestals in a half circle in front of her.
“Elders, I answer your summons,” Anessa said, keeping all emotion out of her posture and voice.
For a few beats there was no response, but then the Elder sitting directly in front of her spoke. “Rise, Dai Sha Anessa,” he said, and waited for her to stand before continuing, “You have been summoned as a courtesy. We want to give you a chance to explain your actions.”
“And what actions are that?” Anessa asked.
A female Elder to her right was the one that spoke. “You have failed to report the results of the attack on the Empire’s system of Sol, and you have issued orders to the Legions that are in direct conflict to our own. You have overstepped your authority. The only reason you are not in chains is that we can’t afford to lose a Dai Sha of your power now, but make no mistake, there will be punishment,” the Elder said, her voice booming through the room.
Anessa tilted her head and looked in the direction of the Elder. “You wish for my report? Very well. The attack on Sol failed; Dai Sha Narrasak and his Legion were destroyed, and both mine and Dai Sha Garaam’s Legions sustained heavy losses to our forces.”
A series of exclamations came from the Elders, each disbelieving. The Elder directly in front of her spoke loudly enough to silence the others. “Enough! What do you mean failed? The Humans are weaklings. Their system was undefended; Narrasak sent us reports before you left.”
“The system wasn’t undefended, it was a ruse. Narrasak died because he was weak and unworthy of the position he held. Once faced with an equal opponent, he lost composure and charged blindly into an enemy trap.”
Again the Elders voiced their disbelief, and again they were silenced. “And if you lost, how is it that you are here now before us?”
“The Empire’s commander let us go.”
“What?”
“But not before he allowed me and Garaam to speak with Axull Darr,” Anessa added before they could ask anything else.
Silence reigned in the room. Then a voice from her left broke it. “What did you say?”
“I spoke with Axull Darr, or rather the copy of his consciousness stored inside the device you sent us to retrieve. But I’m sure that you know all about that; there must’ve been records of what the device was.”The Elders were silent, so Anessa kept talking. “I learned a lot of things from him. It seems that a lot of what we believe isn’t actually true. Like our people being destined to rule the galaxy, or our ancestors ruling it through strength by dominating other races.”
“Really? And you believed this deception?” another Elder said, but Anessa could feel his voice shake.
“You told me that I would know the device was real if I heard the beacon.”
“Well, you are obviously wrong; the device didn’t have anything like that, only data,” yet another Elder said, only the words came out in a rush.
“Perhaps you are the one that is wrong? The device was lost long ago, far before your time, Elder,” Anessa said. “Perhaps it was simply not documented.”
“If what you say is true, we will need to reevaluate a lot of our history. It is interesting. We will need you to write a full report about all that you learned. We shall meet again to discuss it after you provide us with everything. For now, we shall give you quarters on Shara Radum until we have investigated this matter,” the Elder in front of her said. “You are free to leave for now, Dai Sha Anessa, but await our summons.”
He dismissed her, but Anessa didn’t move.
“Dai Sha?” the same Elder asked, his voice sounding strange.
“We still haven’t discussed me sending orders to the Legions,” Anessa said slowly, taking a step forward, closer to the Elders.
“Ah… Yes, we will speak of it during the next meeting. You have given us a lot to think and debate about,” the Elder said quickly.
Anessa drew just a bit of the Sha, enough so that her eyes could see in the dark, but not enough for the Elders to notice. The darkness disappeared and she saw their faces, saw their fear.
“I did it because we are Shara Daim. We do not abandon our own people; that is what our teachings always say. The Legions were created to defend our people and to be a bastion of our strength. We do not sacrifice our people for greed and power.”
The Elders were now shifting uncomfortably on their large chairs, their minds connecting with the Sha as they started to speak mind to mind. Anessa took another step forward.
“Dai Sha Anessa! Leave this room now, or we will summon the guards to remove you!” the Elder in front of her said, but his words sounded weak, pitiful.
“Tell me, why did you make us age?” Anessa said in a whisper that carried across the room. She saw the eyes of the Elder in front of her widen, and she knew that Garaam was right. The Elder’s hand moved quickly to the armrest of the chair, moving towards the button that would summon the guards, but Anessa didn’t let it reach it. The Sha filled her and she stopped the hand.
“Wh-What do you think you are doing? Using the Sha against an Elder is a death sentence!” a female Elder from the left yelled out.