They finally reached the end of the hall and another large door that somehow seemed even more ornate than the one they had used to enter the hall. Two Shara Daim dressed in some antique-looking clothes, and whose obsidian skin was tattooed with white markings, opened the doors as Reisi and Adrian approached.
They were allowed into a well-lit room already filled with people. Reisi asked Adrian’s escorts to stay at the entrance of the room, and the two of them descended the stairs. It was then that he noticed the large throne-like chair at the end of the room and the person sitting in it.
He almost missed a step when he recognized Anessa. She watched him as he walked down the steps with no expression on her face. She was wearing a Shur At, only this one was white, and somehow molded to fit tightly against her body so as to appear as if it was wrapped around her, showing all her attributes. The clothing widened a bit after her forearms, making something that looked like a loose sleeve. Dark blue strips of cloth seemed to be attached at her hips and fell loosely to about mid-calf length.
As they walked down, Adrian could hear murmurs from the crowd, but it was too low for him to discern what they were talking about.
“I didn’t see this one coming,” Iris commented.
“Neither did I,” Adrian responded.
Reisi and Adrian reached the bottom of the steps and walked to the center of the platform where a podium stood. Reisi had received instructions from the Kar Daim—Anessa—on how Adrian was supposed to greet her. So once they reached the center, Reisi dropped to his knees, and Adrian made a half bow while keeping his eyes fixed on Anessa’s.
“I greet you, Kar Daim. I have done as you have asked and brought an envoy from the Empire. Lord Sentinel Adrian Farkas,” Reisi said as he gestured in Adrian’s direction from his knees.
“I greet you, Kar Daim,” Adrian said.
A shocked silence followed, then several angry shouts that were silenced by Anessa starting to speak. “Thank you, Va Dan Reisi, you have done well,” she said, and dismissed him with a somehow regal gesture of one hand. She then turned and looked at Adrian. “Welcome to Shara Radum, Lord Sentinel,” she said in her melodic voice.
Adrian was about to respond when a voice rang out. “This is what you summoned us here for?” A large man stepped forward from behind Adrian. He had dark red hair cropped short, as most of the Shara Daim that he had seen, wearing his Shur At molded in the same configuration that Anessa had worn when he had first met her.
“First you try to change our customs, and now you invite an alien to Shara Radum, to the Hall of Ages! You let this filth infect our sacred place and insult you by greeting you as an equal!” the man shouted.
“I do as I please, Dai Sha Farran. I am the Kar Daim. Or do you wish to challenge me?” Anessa said calmly, tilting her head in an inquisitive gesture that Adrian knew she had gotten from him.
The Dai Sha’s expression darkened at that, and he didn’t speak for a few moments. But then he glanced at Adrian and back to Anessa.
“You allow this alien here, and not just any alien. I have heard whispers that this Lord Sentinel is the one that fought against yours, the Fourteenth, and the Third Legions. That he is responsible of the death of Dai Sha Narrasak.”
“Uh-oh, this isn’t good,” Iris said, but Adrian remained silent, keeping his eyes on Anessa. Her mannerism looked strange to him. He was missing something.
“You are correct. The Lord Sentinel defeated my Legions, and killed Dai Sha Narrasak,” Anessa said.
“And still you invite him in this hall!” Farran shouted. The people around him had various expressions. Half were terrified, and their fearful eyes went from Anessa to Farran as if they were expecting Anessa to rip Farran to pieces. And the other half appeared uncomfortable, and as if they wanted to be anywhere but here.
“The Lord Sentinel is our guest here. I have extended to him all the same rights as any of my citizens. It is my prerogative as the Kar Daim to do so, unless you want to sit here and make decisions yourself. But you know that there is only one way for you to gain this throne.” She quirked an eyebrow in another expression that she had gotten from him.
Things suddenly clicked in place. She was playing, goading the Dai Sha into something. However, by the time Adrian figured out what it was, it was already too late.
“Of course, Kar Daim,” Dai Sha said venomously. “But, if this alien has all the same rights as our people, then I challenge him!” Farran pointed at Adrian. “By my right as Dai Sha, I challenge him to a fight to the death, as trial for the death of Dai Sha Narrasak of the Third Legion!”
The moment Dai Sha Farran finished speaking, Adrian saw Anessa’s lip curl in a victorious smile that disappeared almost instantly. She turned to look at Adrian with an expectant look on her face.
“Do you accept, Lord Sentinel?” Anessa asked.
“Well, fuck,” Adrian said in his head.
“She set you up,” Iris said angrily.
Adrian looked at her for a moment. He understood that she had somehow orchestrated this. She wanted him to fight the Dai Sha. He debated his answer for only a moment. He could refuse, and perhaps manage to leave with his life, but that would be cowardly, and the image of the Empire in the eyes of the Shara Daim would be damaged beyond repair. There was really only one choice. He used his imp to tell his people not interfere. Then, he took a deep breath and answered.
“I accept, Kar Daim,” Adrian said.
Chapter Thirty-Six
“I accept, Kar Daim.”
Anessa looked at Adrian, satisfied that he had done exactly what she’d needed him to do. Farran had been one of the more vocal parts of the opposition against her, questioning every change she had done to their laws and customs. No one was really doing anything, but she couldn’t allow them to get any ideas. She could’ve killed him herself, but that would’ve only made his voice stronger, making others that thought like him more eager. She needed a way to silence him and any opposition that spoke against Anessa’s plans to increase interactions with other races. And he had played right into her plans; the moment he had issued the challenge, he was dead.
She had learned a lot from Adrian from the way he had manipulated information about his system, and goaded the Shara Daim into attacking when they thought his system defenses were weak. It hadn’t taken much to manipulate Farran, and that disappointed her a bit. It had only taken a few choice words in his presence, a leak of the knowledge that Adrian—the person that was responsible for Narrasak’s death—was also the envoy from the Empire, and an instruction for Adrian to give her a bow of an equal. And Farran had acted exactly how she had expected him to act: he had loudly protested, and she had only had to remind him of the challenge, say that Adrian had the same rights as a Shara Daim, and he had jumped.
Moreover, Adrian was a perfect tool for removing Farran. He was an alien, yet she knew that he was strong enough to silence all those who still believed that every other race was inferior and weak. She needed him to kill Farran right here in front of all, so that the rest of the Shara Daim could hear of it from people other than her supporters.
And she had no doubt that he would win. She knew him. Farran was not as strong as Anessa, but he was still a Dai Sha, a powerful one. But Adrian had experience fighting a Dai Sha, and he would see through Farran’s weakness.
“Very well. You will fight without any weapons or armor, unarmed and with the Sha. Lord Sentinel, remove your over-garments,” she said, and Adrian removed them, leaving him only in his skin-suit, which Anessa knew was nothing like the Shur At and couldn’t make itself hard for protection. Farran had removed parts of his Shur At, leaving his chest and legs bare, and only his groin covered.