The Whisper (Aoth Sepret)
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Here are a few scenes from Aoth's history, a glimpse at who she once was and how she became the shaman of Akadi who wandered into Narfell. This had been hiding, unfinished, on my PC for an age because it grew more complicated than I originally intended. Since I've been playing Aoth more, I took some time to wrap it up.
PC Name: Aoth Sepret
Login: its_a_fireThe Whisper
The Thayan proverb says “a whisper travels faster than a command.” It is meant to teach young nobles how to lead and what to fear. In the Kakanos estate, which housed a hundred bodies from slave to master, a whisper from the lips of the lord himself could be heard by the lowest field slave within a day, and a rumor which hinted at conspiracy could circle the house in an hour.
Such was the story of the unexpected arrest of Lord Sepret, first among Kakanos's bannerman. No orders were overheard, no accusations made public. The Lord of Bare Ridge quietly submitted when two guards approached him in the courtyard shortly after breakfast. So sudden and quiet was the arrest that the soldiers Lord Sepret was inspecting stood dumbly for the better part of an hour after. Lord Kakanos and his advisors spoke not a word on the matter, which only threw more fuel to the rumors. By noon there were a dozen variations. Had Sepret been plotting to overthrow the greater house? Had he uncovered some horrid deed of Lord Kakanos? Had he refused orders to lead his soldiers on a suicidal mission? Only one detail remained constant: the commander surrendered himself without protest. It befit his reputation as a fair man who held hard expectations of others, but the silence only added to the mystery.
The last to hear may have been Sepret's youngest child. Aoth was with her peers and their instructor in the gardens enjoying a light lunch under the pale sun. The lesson had been on another war between Mulhorand and Unther, ancient history so far as the girls were concerned. Katrin and Betsaida Kakanos were demonstrating a new scarf wrap to Aoth and Mebet, the daughter of Lord Jadetha, while a housemaid whispered to their instructor.
"Lord Sepret? Arrested?" the teacher said a little too loudly.
"What did you say?" aked Aoth. "What did you say about my father?"
The women only stared at the girl with a cold sympathy. "Dear, I don't know that-"
"Tell me! I command you to tell me."
When the woman said nothing, Aoth hurled her book into the hedge with a cry. She ran through the open walkways of the estate, calling for her father. She grew desperate with every corner, crying aloud. It was such a rare state for a lady of her heritage, that servants stared openly. None were able to answer her questions, and muttering apologies, they all pretended to return to their work. Aoth found no sign until she came to stairs down into the black cell. Six soldiers stood blocking the passage, shields out. There had not been a prisoner in the black cell for years.
"Let me see him," she said. "I beg of you."
The cell was windowless, solitary - there was nothing to see within. No visitors were ever permitted, so it was no wonder that the soldiers were silent.
Silent except for gray-bearded Captain Ioset, who had always been kind to the girl. "Lady Aoth, it cannot be allowed."
"Please. I beg this one mercy."
As Aoth sobbed, the red-robed Hafep appeared with two soldiers at his side. The advisor to Lord Kakanos laid an emaciated hand on the girl's shoulder.
"Lady Aoth, there is nothing you or I can do here, now." Hafep had a voice like torn cloth. Even as he spoke consoling words, his lips were twisted by satisfaction. Though the Red Wizard had been Lord Kakanos' advisor longer than she'd been alive, Aoth never understood how her lordship could listen to the frail man's words and believe even one. "He's been charged with collaborating with an enemy nation," Hafep continued. "It's out of even Lord Kakanos's hands. We must bow to the Tharchon in this matter and hope he be found innocent."
Aoth rose and stared at her folded arms. She didn't believe every rumor about the enchanter's magic, but she refused to look into the wizard's eyes now. If his arcane tricks could steal her rage or her memories, she would have nothing left. She would gain nothing from him in her current state.
"Gentlemen," Hafep said to his own guards. "Escort Lady Aoth back to her quarters."
When the girl and the escort neared the Sepret's wing of the house, she thought of her brother and broke free. Irin was an officer. He would know the who to talk to, she thought. He'd know how to use the military's rules in their father's favor. If Kakanos and Hafep had conspired against her father, who else was there to trust but family? In her brother's room Aoth found only two slaves making his bed.
"Where is Irin?"
"Gone," Bayarmaa, the older slave answered.
"Where." she demanded.
"Army. They march."
Aoth gripped the table at her side and sunk into a chair. The slave tried her best to explain through her Tuigan accent and her slave's perspective. Aoth heard enough. She needed to think, not look upon their dark faces and course hair. Aoth sat on her brother's bed and motioned for the women to leave her. She was alone and needed to be alone. Her brother gone. Her sister leagues away. Aoth was the last of her family free and in the house, her father's best hope. And there was no one she could trust to help her.
"Sad for cut pretty hair." Bayarmaa sharpened the razor and muttered, as she often did at her chores.
"It is my right as a free born woman." Aoth sat wrapped in a warm towel. Her gold skin still glowed from the hoth bath as she waited for the white fuzz of her scalp to be shaved clean.
"Should grow. Long pretty white hair."
"You dare!" Aoth slapped away the older woman's hand and kicked at Oyun, who was filing her mistress's nails. "You dare suggest I lower myself to a slave's level? It is disgusting. I could have you caged."
"Is Akadi's blessing. From goddess to you."
"I will hear no more about your Tuigan gods. There is no Akadi in Thay. Am I understood?"
A blessing was one thing Aoth had never considered her cloud-white hair. Daily she darkened her dove-gray eyebrows with charcoal or paints, but the other girls still laughed at her. She thought perhaps to get eyebrows tattooed once her scalp was finished, but her father had been against it.
Aoth bit her lip at the thought of her father. Bayarmaa tilted her head to the side with a worried look, afraid she might have cut her mistress, but Aoth shook her head. She refused to cry in front of slaves. Lady Kakanos had scolded her for her outbursts of emotion. She could see that already the servants grew presumptuous.
Her father remained imprisoned, and worse, it had become clear that his case went beyond the military. The Red Wizards were sending a Zulkir to oversee his trial, and there was only outcome anyone expected. Aoth had not been allowed to see him. Captain Ioset called it a mercy, but she believed her father would have a message for her, a task for her. Somewhere there must be evidence against the allegations - whatever they were.
Thinking of him, she realized it had been a tenday since she last pleaded her case before Lord Kakanos. She resolved to do so again that afternoon.
"There is one little thing you could do for me," Hafep had said.
"And then I could see my father?"
"I am no Zulkir, but I will ask on your behalf."
In the Jedetha solarium, Aoth frowned at her reflection in the fountain as she remembered the Red Wizard's weak oath. She was a part of the game now. All her young years she had played at collecting favors, trading secrets among her peers, forging alliances against another girl. But now she asking favor of a Red Wizard. They had ways of getting what they wanted, and Aoth knew she was far from ready for their trickery.
So many of those childish games had been at the expense of Mabet, the daughter of drunk Lord Jedetha, the least of the lesser houses in Priador. Before she thought it could help her father she would never have been seen in their quarters. Now she felt she had little choice.
"I convinced our cook to prepare stuffed dates." Mabet entered the room carrying the plate herself.
"Thank you," Aoth said as politely as she could. By the poor display of the plate, Aoth suspected the girl had prepared the dish with no help from her staff - if there was truly any cook to begin with. She took one of the dates.
They sat and read together on the stiff sofas of the solarium. Mabet would eat two more of the dates before Aoth spoke again. She had stolen glances at Mabet's scalp and the uneven lines and lopsided swirls there. There would be no fixing the pattern. Even if she marries well the girl would wear her low status all her life, Aoth realized.
"The tattoo on the right temple," she asked and touched her friend's head. "What does it mean?"
"I forget the name of the sign. It promises wealth and luck. My artist said the Zulkir of Divination designed it for herself. I haven't seen hers, but Hafep said this is a very good likeness."
"You must be proud of your artist. Do you think he could do my eyebrows? I am tired of looking so hideous, but my artist says it's impossible."
"Oh, yes. He's very clever. He will find a way even if it is impossible."
Lord Jadetha appeared at the doorway. "Sweet plum, we are out of…" He stopped when he noticed they had company. He straightened his wrinkled tunic. "Ahm. Good day, Lady Aoth. I, ahm, will be out. I should return for supper, I think."
"Very well, papa," Mabet said and scowled bitterly while her father sloppily kissed her forehead.
He stumbled out the door with a wave to Aoth.
"He won't, you know," Mabet said at last.
"What do you mean?" Aoth asked.
"He will be gone until the middle of the night. He won't be at breakfast either. Do you know how dreadful it is to dine alone?"
Aoth breathed in sharply.
"Oh, oh I'm so sorry, Aoth. I didn't think." Mabet seemed genuinely chagrined. From either of Kakanos's daughters, the momentary lapse might have been mischievious, but with Mabet it seemed pure forgetfulness.
Aoth quietly excused herself to the washroom. She didn't need to feign tears. Mabet had given her the excuse she needed.
She first stopped in Lord Jedetha's library, now empty. Lord Hafep wanted a book of numbers and figures and names. He had named a date, told her to look for the book that contained it. She found the accounting shelves and took book after book down to scan its first and last pages. When she discerned the pattern, she skipped ahead to where the book might be and found only the volume before and the volume after. She slammed the latter back into its place.
"Think, Aoth," she whispered to herself.
Every horizontal surface in the room was covered by glasses and bottles. Most finished, some fallen onto their side. Only one shelf held a neatly ordered row of bottles, all corked but seeming empty.
Aoth moved to that shelf and pulled the bottles down one by one. Behind them lay the volume she sought. Jadetha must know Hafep wants the book, Aoth reasoned. She flipped through the pages to search for clues but understood none of it. She grew angry at herself for thinking she could keep up with Hafep's scheme. She would have nothing to hold him to his word without condemning herself. Tears came quickly a second time.
Leaning out the window of the library, she searched for watchful eyes before dropping the book into a bush so that it could be retrieved later.
In the washroom, she splashed her face with cool water and pressed her palms into her eyes. Stop crying, she told herself. Stop crying. Stop crying.
When she returned to Mabet in the solarium, her lip curled at the sight of the empty plate where the dates had been.
"I was thinking, Aoth. If my father won't be here, perhaps you would like to stay for dinner?"
Aoth bowed her head. "I would not put your cook through the trouble."
Aoth threw the broken mirror to the floor. The air was thick with the fumes from the shattered perfume bottles.
"Patience!" she growled "My father has been condemned and he asks me to show patience? And warning me that I had been seen. It was his own spy. I'd swear to that."
Oyun cowered in the bedroom corner. Afraid to cross the floor of shattered glass, she reached out feebly. "My lady..."
"All I want is to know the crime! How am I supposed to clear our name if I don't know the charge?"
"My lady..."
"The Red Wizards. No one will question them. No one will speak up. They are not gods. They cannot change what is. He is innocent. He must be!"
"My lady..."
"What?!"
"You are blooded, my lady." Oyun pointed to Aoth's feet and hands from which red rivulets ran freely. The Semphari rug of her bedroom was covered by her blood as it was with shards of glass and porcelain.
"So I am."
"Let me."
"I do not need your bandages," Aoth mumbled sullenly but still allowed the cowering slave girl to approach.
Oyun took Aoth's out-stretched hand, but instead of standing she whispered soft words that Aoth did not understand. Aoth watched, amazed, as the blood stopped and her wounds closed.
"How did you do that?"
Oyun shook her head and refused to look up until her mistress took her chin.
"I command you. How did you do that?"
"There is a power greater than Red Wizard, my lady."
In a dry valley hidden by goblin-infested hills, a circle of hooded figures gathered tightly around a smoldering fire, more smoke than flame now. Nine of them, all in grey and white, and three recent converts including the youngest daughter of House Sepret.
"We are the whisper," said the figure whose robe was adorned with the gold feathers of a dire eagle.
"We are the whisper," the twelve intoned.
"We are heard but never seen. Like the wind."
"Like the wind."
"Our touch is light, but we move mountains."
"Like the wind."
"When we are angered we will roar."
"Like the wind."
"We are the whisper. Praise Akadi!"
The eight faithful never lowered their hoods at these secret gatherings, but Aoth could spot traces of their breeding in word or manner. Some were Tuigans, and of them Aoth knew Oyun. The rest could be any slave. Even with their tattoos covered, the three of noble Mulan birth like herself stood out. They were unlike the Rashemi seamstress, who took to her secret faith with unmatched passion.
The archdruid was the only mystery. Tuigan in her manner, but unlike every Tuigan Aoth had seen. Calm, well-spoken, she sometimes paused before a sentence long enough that Aoth grew unnerved, but every word she had said to Aoth had been wise beyond compare. Aoth knew the archdruid travelled from enclave to enclave and was unlikely to belong to any local estate. Still, Aoth liked to imagine her being some low-born scullery maid who kept books in hidden corners of the house and practiced her secret rituals deep into the night when all were asleep. She was a master of the game, that much Aoth knew.
"Initiate, might we have a word?" Aoth was surprised to feel the archdruid's hand upon her arm.
"Yes. Yes, of course, my lady." Aoth felt a quiet thrill every time she deferred to one of the circle likely to be a slave.
They walked away from the group in silence. Minutes passed before the archdruid spoke.
"You have taken to our faith quickly, initiate. You are young and full of much promise. You even remind me of myself at your age."
"Thank you, my lady."
"But like me," the archdruid continued without pause. "There is a great sadness in your eyes. Too great for one so young. I know about your family, initiate."
Aoth breathed in sharply.
"The Whisper of our Queen works in secret. We work quietly. But we do work. I knew your father once. He is a good man."
"Do you mean-"
"I mean we are working, and that you should first concern yourself with the tasks our Queen lays before you. Sadness, attachments, these prevent us from dedicated ourselves to our Queen." The archdruid's tone grew sharp. "How is the balance maintained?"
Aoth lifted her head at the sudden change in tone. "Through change. Through the shaping of the world through constant change and upheaval."
"Where is the druid's mind?"
"Detached. Floating in the wind." She repeated the practiced answers as though it were a grammar lesson.
"You understand, don't you? What happened to your family was a symptom of the imbalance here. Lord Kakanos has grown to powerful with the help of that wizard. That is the cause. That is what must be set right. Our Lady has called you to action, but do not mistake her will for vengence."
Aoth could see the lights of the estate ahead, but the thin yellow light that leaked through the windows and archways did not reach the camp of the gnoll soldiers which lay to her right. She and Oyun could hear them growling, skuffling. Aoth knew they were unlikely to harm any human of Mulan descent such as herself, but the savage creatures terrified her. They gnolls were not free to travel but they camped unguarded by human. How different could the hooded figures look under the slender moon? Even a gnoll's sharp senses had limits at night. Perhaps the smell of the fire or Oyun's scent would mask Aoth's perfumes to a gnoll's nose.
A stone's throw from the estate, Aoth and Oyun hid among olive trees and waited for guards to pass the Sepret wing. Aoth could feel her heart pound. It had been a long walk, but the excitement of the meeting had not left her. Among the faithful she had found allies who understood her, who offered her help. One guard began to stray from his path toward their direction as if he had heard them. Aoth tried to hold her breath. A pair of egrets cried out from the pond. One bird gave a low chase to the other through the trees and over the roof. The guard turned back.
We are blessed, Aoth told herself.
In the Kakanos' waiting room, the lady of the house sat with Aoth and her peers embroidering. Mabet did not join them. She seldom left her house. The girls all wondered why, but no adult would tell them. Lady Kakanos was praising Katrin's work. Aoth forced down her jealousy. She had always wanted to love Lady Kakanos like her own mother, but the woman was always distant. Aoth told herself to focus on the tasks the archdruid had given her. To learn what the circle needed to know.
"Some day you will make your husband very happy, Katrin," Lady Kakanos told her eldest.
"I have so many arguments with my father and brother," Aoth said. "I cannot imagine keeping peace with a husband, trying to keep him happy and never argue."
"We have our disagreements," Lady Kakanos said flatly, hoping to end the conversation.
"Really? What over?" Betsaida asked. Her older sister seemed just as interested, but said nothing.
Good, Aoth thought. I will not have to do all the digging.
"Various things," Lady Kakanos said.
Betsaida pressed on. "Like what, mama?"
"Rebat said she heard you and papa arguing two nights ago."
"Betsaida," Katrin interrupted. "Don't be vulgar."
"You were arguing about Timoth's inheritance," Betsaida said, clearly proud of her spy's work.
"Timoth?" Katrin seemed . "But I'm the eldest."
"Your father feels the estate should go to a son. You will be provided for."
"But I'm the eldest. You argued for me. Tell me you did, mama."
"You know it is never easy to persuade your father when his mind is set."
Lady Kakanos found it impossible to restore order. Katrin left, near tears, and Betsaida left either to console her sister or to gloat.
The late afternoon sun poured orange light through the halls when Lady Kakanos walked Aoth back to the Sepret wing. The fiery light threw half of Lady Kakanos's face into deep shadow. Aoth found it hard to read her expressions. The lady's guards escorted them.
"Do you think about your future, Aoth?"
"I suppose."
"You are the last of the Seprets of Priador."
"My sister-"
"Your sister is in Eltabbar. She is married and not likely to leave the capitol now that she has a taste for it. I do not think she ever liked Priador."
Howls echoed down the open walkways. The two women paused, and the guards surrounded them. There was no telling how close the gnoll was or if it were on the estate grounds at all.
"Those gods-damned gnolls," Lady Kakanos growled. Aoth had never heard her swear before. "How is anyone supposed to feel at ease with beasts camped that close?"
Aoth nodded.
"We should talk about your future, Aoth. You will want a husband before long."
Aoth stood on the roof as the wind rippled through her hair. The breeze lifted it and blew the white feathery locks across her face. It was one of many new experiences for her. Lady Kakanos had warned her such a childish defiance would leave her married to a tennant farmer, a Rashemi at that.
Oyun and Bayarmaa had changed their song as well.
"You give too much secret away, my lady," Oyun had warned.
"I will do as I please, and I will not be lectured by a slave," Aoth had said sternly. "You are still my property."
The two Tuigan women seemed frightened, but Aoth's work had earned praise from the circle, and she felt blessed. She wanted to the world to see her goddess was with her even if none understood. She could not hide what she felt.
Aoth closed her eyes and whispered a prayer into the wind. She'd heard the teachings of the Akadians, she'd said the oath to live each day anew, to accept her changing heart. Her goddess would protect her.
"Aoth, it's dangerous outside. How did you even get up there?" Mabet stood in her family's garden far enough from the veranda to see Aoth high above. "There are still gnolls loose. I heard one outside our door just last night."
"I am not afraid of golls." During the two days that gnolls raided the estate, Aoth had hid inside her room like everyone. She did not venture far from her own wing until after the bodies had been cleared and burned.
"Then you are as mad as everyone says you are."
"Do you know what I think is mad? These gnolls seem very unlike beasts. They stole things from my house. Valuable things. Hidden things. And they were cunning about it."
"Gnolls steal. Everyone knows that."
"It is what they left untouched that surprises me. I had two necklaces side by side. You have seen them. One of pure platinum but unadorned. One with many shiny gems of no worth. Do you know which one they took? The simple looking one."
"Oh. They took my gold necklace too. The one with red stones. I am sure you remember it."
Aoth was certin she'd never seen such a necklace on Mabet.
"Somebody taught these gnolls what to look for," Aoth continued. "Do you know what else is strange? Lady Kakanos brought new guards from her father's estate not long before the gnolls came upon the house. As if she'd be warned, or..." Aoth trailed off and let Mabet's slow wits come to the obvious conclusion.
Aoth was pleased with herself. If Kakanos had grown too strong and needed to be removed to restore balance, then the weakest would need brought up. It was her plan alone.
When she returned to her room, she opened a chest at the back of her closet and studied all the jewels therein. Before long they would find their way into Lady Kakanos's rooms.
"Poison? That is too far." Aoth was furious. Timmoth Kakanos fell ill so quickly poison was suspected. Two of his instructors were blamed. Aoth recognized one from the circle. "He was just a boy. Just a boy."
"He was a Kakanos. His father needed to fall. He would have taken the boy with him." The archdruid's rhythm was patient but her tone was unnerved. "It is a mercy."
"Mercy? Bedridden and in pain for two days? That is not mercy."
"I have no time for this. Your fellow initiates were caught. My sources say our existence is suspected. They found books of prayers in that fool Ebakar's quarters. They will come search this valley before too long. A druid can stay hidden, but it will be too dangerous to lead while they are searching. I will need to flee."
"We could hide you. On the estate. You could hide among my servants. I could pretend to purchase you."
"And live a life bought and fettered? How little you Thayans see. After all this time that we have shaped you, Aoth, you are still like the rest of them. Warring against our tribe, destroying our shrine. We would all be free were it not for Kakanos and your father."
"My father never..."
"He was a soldier. A leader. Who do you think his wars were against? It is not the lizardmen of the swamps who threaten Thay. Who threaten your way of life."
"But you said he was a good man. You said you knew him."
Two Tuigan members of the circle took up stances at the archdruid's flanks. The held great flails. "Better than you, I think. Run home, girl. When you return here, all will be dry grass."
Aoth was not surprised when Lord Kakanos's guards entered her room nor stated that she was to be brought before the lord. She had not left her room for several days. Before that her slaves and servants had all disappeared, where to she did not know. Unwilling to eat anything she had managed to cook, unwashed from lacking the strength to draw her own bath. Aoth was frail, wild, and pale. Were it not for the guards, she would have fallen on the way to the great hall.
She had rarely been within the great windowless hall. Most of the estate was open to the warm air off the Sea of Fallen Stars, but the great hall was like a fortess. The air inside was still, smokey and dead. Fires lined the middle, and great stone pillars cast thick shadows upon the walls. Tapestries hung high above, depecting the animal-headed gods of Mulhorand with spears through their limbs and eyes. A lesson Aoth knew from history: the time when Thay became the pennacle of mankind and overthrew the god-emperor.
Lord Kakanos entered flanked by two more guards who took position behin the lord's great throne. His brow hung heavily over his dark eyes. Scars were visible through the black tattoos on his shaved head. Aoth knew that his left ear was clipped, sliced by a dagger when he stormed Aglarond in his youth. He wore chain even in his own hall. Aoth could tell even at a distance that his amulet and rings offered magical protection. Lord Kakanos was not a man who believed in second chances.
"Aoth of House Sepret, you stand accused of robbery, crimes of conspiracy against House Kakanos, and the murder of Timoth Sepret. You will not lie to me, child. Is that understood?"
"Yes, my lord."
Kakanos motioned to the guards at the rear. "Bring in the slave."
Oyun's bloody and bruised body was thrown to the ground. She lay there so still Aoth could not tell whether she was breathing.
"Does this slave belongs to you?"
"She does."
"She was found in my wife's bedchambers. She had a bag with several stolen articles from across the house. She claims she was acting on your instructions. Is this true?"
Aoth was silent.
"Hafep, I believe there was more testimony."
Hafep stepped out of the shadows of a pillar. Mabet was with him. Her face was white as milk.
"The little lady of House Jadetha says Lady Sepret spoke to her about the thefts. She says Lady Aoth knew things that she had told no one. Of a missing necklace. Indeed on examination of Lady Mabet and Lady Kakanos's testimony, it seems Lady Sepret knew of missing things that your lordship's wife had not made public."
Lord Kakanos had not lifted his stare from Aoth through the wizard's testimony. "Is this true, Aoth?"
Aoth said nothing. Indeed, she had said nothing of the kind to Mabet. She wondered what promised the Red Wizard had made, what more Mabet would owe him in the end.
Oyun drew a ragged breath and coughed blood onto the stone floor.
"You are a disappointment, child. Your mother, my sister, would not approve. I have heard testimony in private that you have whispered prayers to alien gods. It is for love of my sister that I will not even consider that evidence here."
Hafep cleared his throat. "Your lordship. Among the stolen articles was a book of evocation that belonged to me. Minor spells, but..."
Lord Kakanos sighed. "But making the case of interest to the Red Wizards. Very well. Lady Sepret shall be taken to the black cell until such time as the Wizards are ready to judge her."
After half a day passed Aoth broke her silence. For untold hours Aoth filled the dungeon with the sound of her protest. She cried until her tears dried. She pulled at her chains until the blood loss made her dizzy. She screamed until her throat clamped shut, swore and swollen. Aoth lay motionless on the damp clay floor, unable to move so much as a limb. Silence descended upon the lightless dungeon.
That is when she felt it. A gentle breeze across her cheek. Too feeble to stir her hair, a breeze that could come from nowhere. Her cracked lips moved in silent prayer. She felt her strength return as the breeze grew. Warm and smelling of cedar. The impossible wind whispered to her.
"Aoth."
The girl reached out blindly in the direction of the voice. There her fingers met a spear.
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