Snow lowered his head and retracted his steps, returning to his bedroom.

MenTar¹Literally men (lake) + tar (wind), who had just come upstairs to call them all for their evening meal, stood there, looking at the door from where he could still hear ZaiWin²Literally zai (blade) + win (chaos). and his brother talking.

With a second thought he followed Snow, hesitating by the door before going in.

“Don’t take it to heart, Snow. You know how he is, right?” he asked him gently, doing his best to lighten the mood, and Snow sat down on the small bed, his mind completely blank, ZaiWin’s angry voice still echoing inside his head. “He’s probably just tired. We all were. A few days’ rest and everything will go back to normal, you’ll see.”

Back to normal … He couldn’t begin to understand the meaning of those words.

Blinking his sight into focus, two fat tears slid down his face, his vision going blurry.

“You’re crying?! Why are you crying?”

MenTar panicked, and he was immediately right there, sitting by his side.

“Don’t cry. He’s always been like this, right? And those words … he doesn’t mean any of them!”

Snow knew all that, he thought, furiously wiping his silly tears, angry at himself. As if he would ever allow himself to feel sad or depressed about something someone else had said. He’d heard enough insults and cursing to leave him immune to such things for an entire life time. Or at least he liked to believe that. It was just … it wasn’t fair. He’d done nothing wrong! So why did ZaiWin have to say such cruel things? He didn’t mean any of them? That was the biggest lie he’d ever heard.

“In truth he really cares about you,” MenTar was saying and Snow turned to glare coldly at him.

“He wants me dead,” he simply stated and MenTar’s green eyes widened in shock, his mouth opening but emitting no sound.

“It’s … it’s not like that …” he finally stammered, but the cold, pale eyes that were blatantly staring at him became even harder, like sharp daggers ready to stab him.

Taking a deep breath, MenTar forced himself to relax a bit. He’d just been caught by surprise, he told himself. More than the cold, blunt words that had fell from that boy’s mouth, what had really shocked him was that cold, piercing gaze.

“Thing’s are never as linear or as easy as they look. And I could sit here and try to convince you that you’re wrong. But I guess that wouldn’t do any good.”

Snow lowered his gaze, finally releasing him from that icy prison, and his shoulders slumped, allowing MenTar to silently take a deep breath of relief. At least he was back to looking like the boy he had come to know in the last couple of months or so.

“He hates me …” he heard him whisper.

“Once again, I could tell you that you’re wrong, but I have no intention to insult your intelligence,” MenTar sighed. “But you also should understand that it’s not like he hates you specifically. In fact, I don’t think he actually hates you. He hates all Tien’Elhar³Literally tien (Heaven) + el (supreme) + har (girl child). The Heavenly Beings also known as Celestials in the common language., and he has his reasons for that. But you … I think he’s still trying to figure out how he feels about you. After all, you’re completely different from all the other Celestials we know, and I’m not only talking about your physical appearance. But, even if you’re right, and he does hate you, Snow ... I’ve known him for a long time and, even though I’m not as close to him as my brother, I like to think that I know him well enough to know that he would never decide to end someone else’s life based on some personal, unfounded feeling.”

Snow frowned, frustration boiling in his chest.

“It’s not like it’s unfounded, right? Like he said, I did kill over one-hundred of his men!”

MenTar was taken aback by his answer again, and gently placed one hand over Snow's cold clenched fist.

“Is that what you’ve been thinking all this time?”

Since he didn’t get an answer, MenTar took a deep breath and tried to somehow undo that big misunderstanding.

“Back then, that entire Fortress was a battle field. And every man that steps into a battle field must be prepared to lose his life. The same with the Calzai⁴Literally cal (bright) + zai (blade), or Blade of Light. It can be translated in common language as General, one of military leaders of the Empire. Each Province has it’s own Calzai.. They too must be prepared to lose men. It’s inevitable and expected. And you … Back then you were a mere weapon. Did you see him order the destruction of every sword and spear that killed one of his men?”

“It was hardly one or two men …” Snow muttered, his head down, and MenTar sighed.

“And how many men do you think he’s killed? Or I’ve killed? Or ZenTar⁵ Literally zen (silent) + tar (wind).? When you choose to live a life like ours killing, risking being killed, and watching others die if you’re lucky enough to survive, is a given. And you didn’t even want to be there. You were a prisoner and you barely escaped with your life. You were a victim, not an enemy. If he had decided to kill you because of what happened, it would never have been because of the lives you unwilling took. But because he found you too dangerous, too unstable, capable of hurting other, innocent people,” he declared. And Snow couldn’t help recall the many times ZaiWin had told him that if he ever hurt an innocent person, he’d put an end to his life without a second thought. “But you are none of that. And you’re willing to learn, trying hard to control your daitai⁶Literally dai (light) + tai (mark), or holy Markings, considered Heavenly Blessings. They’re the source of power. so that nothing like that will ever happen again.”

Snow took a deep breath, somehow feeling a little bit better.

“Apparently none of that is enough …”

“It’s like I said. Things aren’t that linear.”

MenTar sighed.

“You know he is responsible for an entire Province, right?”

Snow raised his head to look at him and nodded.

“What you probably don’t know is that the El’Dur⁷Literally el (supreme) + dur (ruler). Name given to the Emperor and the Imperial family don’t like him very much. His mother was a beautiful, young girl, no older than you are now. She was a Chosen One, and so she was brought to live in the Palace. The El’Dur cared a lot about her, and there was even rumors that she was to be made into one of his Janwan⁸Literally jan (flower) + wan (fire). Could be translated as Concubine., once she got a little bit older. Since she was a Chosen One, the El’Dur named her the Governess of the then ungoverned Province of Nox⁹Literally nox (night). Nox is the name of the Clan (family name), also the name of a Province. ZaiWin uses it because he is the Governor of Nox, hoping that the fact that she had been blessed by a Tien’Elhar would help restore the land. But then she became with child, and refused to say who the father was. To make things worse, even though his mother was of noble blood, the child was born with the hair color of a commoner. And it's not like there aren't any noble children with black hair. As you know, Zen and I are examples of that. But in our case our noble line is assured. Everyone knows who our father and mother are. But since the Calzai's mother refused to divulge such an important information, everyone believed that she had bedded a servant, and her reputation fell very low.

“Because the Calzai didn’t have a father and had the physical traits of a commoner, no one ever treated him very well. And, when his mother died, he was immediately cast out of the Palace and sent to live in his Province. He’s lived there since then, and has fought very hard to unify his people and bring peace to the land. Now, after years and years of war and famine, things were finally looking up a bit. But then you showed up,” MenTar declared, looking at Snow, at the pale eyes that attentively followed his every word.

“I know it’s probably hard for you to understand,” MenTar went on with a sigh. “But even though being blessed by a Tien’Elhar means all the pretty things VinWei¹⁰Literally vin (hard) + wei (crystal) keeps spewing around, it also means a lot of problems as well. Tien’Elhar are heavenly blessings, but they are also seen as a symbol of power. And power always intimidates and frightens those around you, especially when you’re surrounded by greedy, competitive people like the royals. Did you know that being chosen by a Tien’Elhar means that you hold the right to inherit the throne?”

Snow’s looked inquisitively at him. He recalled hearing VinWei say something about that, back at the Temple. But back then he hadn’t really payed attention to any of those Palace politics, too overwhelmed by what he’d just heard about the Tien’Elhar.

“That’s right. It doesn’t matter if you’re born an El’Gin¹¹Literally el (supreme) + gin (gold). Name given to the male children of the Emperor. Could be translated into prince in the common language. or an El’Lin¹²Literally el (supreme) + lin (silver). Name given to the female children of the Emperor. Could be translated into princess in the common language., or who your father or mother were. Once the El’Dur is dead, the new El’Dur will be selected amongst all the Chosen Ones. That alone is enough to make those who believe they have an indisputable right to the Crown feel insecure, to say the least. And, to make things worse, even though the Lun Calzai¹³ Literally lun (black) plus cal (bright) + zai (blade), or Blade of Light. It can be translated in common language as Black General, one of military leaders of the Empire. Each Province has it’s own Calzai. To distinguish them they were given different colors. The Lun Calzai refers to Nox ZaiWin from Nox. is generally disliked by the royals due to their puritan believes, he is still widely recognized by people everywhere, for his hard-earned merits and strength. After all, he did manage to single-handedly restore a Province that had been abandoned for hundreds of years, chasing away all the feimao¹⁴Literally fei (raging / furious) + mao (beast / monster). Raving beasts that appear in unbalanced, ungoverned lands. They possess destructive markings that in turn corrupt the land even further. Hard to explain in just 2 lines -_-; Anyway. Bad, vicious things that need to be killed. that had taken residence there. This means that, unlike the royals who spend most of their time in the Palace, he would undoubtedly have the support of the people.”

Snow averted his gaze. He didn’t need to be told that, to know that. Despite his cold and harsh personality, ZaiWin was actually very strong. He was even kind and fair. To everyone but him.

“With you by his side, the dislike they already have for him will only grow, tinged with the fear he might, somehow, steal away what they believe to be righteously theirs. What happened back in Weiin¹⁵Literally wei (crystal / precious stone) + suffix in (center), meaning the center of the Province of Wei, in other words, Wei’s Capital. All Capitals of all Provinces are named as such. is bound to happen again. People will be sent to kill him, to kill you, to drag you both back to the Palace. They will use the fact that you are … different, as an excuse to break all the taboos related to Tien’Elhar and the absolute need to keep them safe. And they will try to kill you both.”

Snow lowered his gaze. Somehow, from the pieces of information he’d gathered from previous talks, he’d more or less figured that much.

“And when none of that works, since the Calzai has no intention to simply lower his head and allow them to hang him, they’ll use the only thing they know he cares about to try and … persuade him. They will use the Province of Nox and its people,” he declared and Snow couldn’t help look up at him in alarm.

“They will take them as hostages, torture and kill them until he gives in. Right now he is in a very delicate position. If he surrenders and takes you to the Palace as he should, they will probably kill you both and then the Province of Nox will have no one to look after it again. Even though his land became considerably stable in the last couple of years, its stability is still very fragile, precarious to say the least. With him gone, all he accomplished, all he attained, will have all been for nothing. Things will quickly revert to the way they used to be. But, if he keeps refusing to uphold the Imperial decrees, they will call him a traitor, or a criminal, and order his arrest and execution, which will result in the same thing. Worse even, they can very well decide to deem all those close to him as traitors as well, the people of Nox included, Zen, VinWei and I included.”

Snow gaped in disbelief, his heart beating painfully against his chest.

“And so you see … it’s not like he wants you dead. It’s just that, no matter how you look at it, the only way to make sure everyone is safe is to try and revert things to how they used to be, before we found you. Which doesn’t necessary mean that you have to die. Only that you must somehow … disappear. Maybe go and live somewhere else, far away from here. Maybe in one of the other Empires. But as things stand, right now, not even that is possible.”

“Because of the bond …” Snow whispered, things finally making sense in his head.

MenTar nodded.

“So you see, it’s not because you’re hated, or because you’re a Tien’Elhar. It’s just that the circumstances are just too complicated. Because his circumstances were complicated right from the start. If you had chosen another, one of the El’Gin, for example, everything would be different. You’d probably be welcomed and cherished as you were meant to be,” MenTar sighed with a sorrowful expression, and Snow lowered his head.

Silvareiel

Ah ... is MenTar trying to console him or making him even more depressed? ?