“El’Gin¹Literally el (supreme) + gin (gold). Name given to the male children of the Emperor. Could be translated into prince in the common language. Wen²Literally wen (sun). Name of one of the three Empires, Wen, Ran and Sen. (Sun, Moon and Star). Also used as surname by the members of the Imperial Family with ascending rights to the throne GinWan³Literally gin (golden) + wan (fire) and his twin sister, El’Lin⁴Literally el (supreme) + lin (silver). Name given to the female children of the Emperor. Could be translated into princess in the common language. Wen LinWan⁵Literally lin (silver) + wan (fire),” Snow declared, pointing the respective boxes drawn on the crystal wall, filled with symbols he could not understand, except for the small anvil with two crossed hammers floating above it that symbolized the two siblings’ original Clan.

“They are the children of the Janwan⁶Literally jan (flower) + wan (fire). Could be translated as Concubine. Tei⁷Literally tei (metal). Where Tei is the name of the Clan, also the name of a Province. DimRei⁸Literally dim (precious) + rei (iron). Wen GinWan’s Tien’Elhar⁹Literally tien (Heaven) + el (supreme) + har (girl child). The Heavenly Beings also known as Celestials in the common language. is Wen DimGin¹⁰Literally dim (precious) + gin (gold). Wen LinWan’s Tien’Elhar is Wen DimLin¹¹Literally dim (precious) + lin (silver). They’re originally from Tei,” Snow went on, pointing more boxes.

“And finally El’Lin Wen NimWan¹²Literally nim (gentle) + wan (fire).. She is the youngest of the El’Gin and El’Lin. She is the daughter of the Janwan Wei¹³Literally wei (crystal / precious stone). Wei is the name of the Clan (family name), also the name of a Province. DaiWei¹⁴Literally dai (light) + wei (crystal), from the Wei Clan. Like El’Lin Wen NimRen¹⁵Literally nim (gentle) + ren (river), she is yet to be chosen by a Tien’Elhar,” Snow concluded and VinWei¹⁶Literally vin (hard) + wei (crystal) applauded enthusiastically.

“Wow! You really memorized it all just by hearing it once.”

Snow crooked his head, confused. Was that such an amazing feat?

“Do you have any questions?”

Looking back at the large diagram, Snow scanned all the small boxes.

“Janwan Wei DaiWei is the cousin you told me about, right?”

“She is,” VinWei confirmed. “She’s also the daughter of the Governess of Wei.”

Snow touched the small box with a pensive expression.

“Did she really want to get married to the El’Dur¹⁷Literally el (supreme) + dur (ruler). Name given to the Emperor? She’s so much younger than him. And he already had so many wives …”

VinWei smiled, leaning against the stone table.

“Wanting has nothing to do with it.”

Snow looked back at her, obviously expecting further explanation.

“It is true that we, of noble blood, have many privileges and normally live surrounded by abundance and riches. But everything has its price. In our case, we pay for our wealth and comfort with our freedom. We must obey the El’Dur’s every command. If he decides one of us is to be the next Governor of a Province, then no matter what that person thinks or feels about it, they will have to accept that role. If he decides that a Governor is no longer fit for that role, no matter how good of a job they’ve done or how much the people love them, they will have to step down and be grateful if they manage to keep their heads. The same with those he chooses to become Calzai¹⁸Literally cal (bright) + zai (blade), or Blade of Light. It can be translated in common language as General, one of the military leaders of the Empire. Each Province has it’s own Calzai., or the women he decides to marry. Then it all comes down to how well one can adjust to these demands. Some will gladly accept them and try to make the best of it. Some will never feel happy about it and will just put up with it so that they can keep their lives. Others, like me, will rather leave everything behind, to being forced to do as others please.”

“Is that why you’ve decided to become a Jundai¹⁹Literally jun (work / worker) + dai (light). Or Workers of Light, or in service of the Light. Name given to the priests and priestesses of the Temple. …?” Snow wondered, and VinWei looked at the wall behind him.

“They were going to choose me … Whenever possible the El’Dur will choose to marry the daughters of the Calzai. I guess military stability is more important to him than making sure he has a stronger grip on how the Provinces are governed. The instant the rumors reached my ears, and since my sister was still too young to be chosen, I quickly and suddenly felt an extremely strong calling to become a servant of the Temple,” she declared with a cold smile on her beautiful face.

“Of course, I still have rules to follow, people dictating what I can and cannot do. But my status as the daughter of one of the most well know Calzai of the Empire grants me some latitude. And at least I’m not stuck in that cesspool. I do feel sorry for my cousin, though …” she added with a sigh.

“Sometimes I even feel a bit guilty, when news from the Palace reach our Household. Being the youngest of the Janwan, my cousin’s life hasn’t been easy. But, then again, she could have chosen to leave everything behind, like I did. Like many women, however, she thought that becoming a Janwan would grant her, not only wealth but power, as well. She aspired to be the mother of the next El’Dur or El’Dai. And so she chose to put up with it in order to attain her dream.”

Snow looked back at the wall. He couldn’t help feeling sad. He knew very little about couples and families. He had never had a family of his own, and he had never had anyone to tell him about such things. All his knowledge came from what he’d observed, as a child. From what he’d heard others say. But, even so, he couldn’t help feeling that everything in that wall was wrong right from the start. How could anyone be happy like that? Even the El’Dur, who held the final word about so many things, who had the power to decide others’ lives. In the end, he chose his wives only thinking of the advantage he might get by close associating to a certain person or Province. Only thinking of the children those women would bear him, and that would be likely to become a Tien’Elhar’s Chosen One. Was he really happy living like that? Snow highly doubted. He really wished he could erase all those small boxes and re-write the whole thing. He didn’t know what loving someone really meant. But he could easily tell that, in the end …

“No one loves anyone,” he muttered, touching the cold wall, and only then realized he’d actually said those words out loud. Heat crept up his cheeks from embarrassment.

VinWei sighed sadly.

“You’re probably right. That’s how fucked up things really are, if you ask me.”

He turned to look at her.

“We talk about the righteous path, and how diverting from it can lead to the corruption of the land. But, in my opinion, the real corruption starts right there,” she declared, indicating the wall with a movement of her head. “I’m too small, probably too dumb to know how to even start to correct such a shitty system. But I thank the Gods every day for having allowed me to be one of the small few that are smart enough to at least see that the whole thing is fucked up beyond repair. And that’s why I told ZaiWin²⁰Literally zai (blade) + win (chaos). to pack up his things and leave while he still could.”

Snow sighed.

“He feels responsible for the people of Nox. He’d never abandon them.”

“I know. They astutely found just the right type of chain to bind him. Now it’s too late for any of that.”

“Because of me …” Snow lowered his gaze.

“Well, clearly, with or without you, he wouldn’t leave even if he could. So maybe you’ll be able to actually set him free instead.”

Snow looked at her. That didn’t make one bit of sense.

VinWei smiled.

“He is the Governor of a Province. The only one to also hold the title of Calzai. And he managed to attain all this by sheer hard work and persistence, risking his life for other people’s sake more times than I can count. By all rights he should be in a position of power, receiving other people’s well-deserved admiration and respect. Instead, he is sneered at and mocked. He is even called the Palace’s dog. And, up till now, he has just lowered his head and silently taken it all. Even though I’ve urged him more than once to raise his head and hold his ground. To proudly stand for himself and for what he’s attained. But ZaiWin … I never know what’s going through that head of his. It gets to the point where it’s beyond annoying, it’s utterly frustrating!

“Since he cannot escape it, or is unwilling to do so, I wish he could at least rise above this ocean of shit, so he can actually take a deep breath of fresh air for a change. Since mere advice and nagging can’t do the trick, maybe you can push him up all the way to the surface. He’ll eventually drown, if he can’t do at least that. And I’d be terribly sad if that were to happen. I’m actually quite fond of him.”

Snow couldn’t see how that could ever be possible. Push him up? He was more likely to pull him down all the way to the bottom. But the moment he was about to utter his disbelief a dark shadow appeared at the entrance of the cavern.

“Came to pick him up, as we agreed,” ZaiWin simply announced and VinWei nodded.

“Just don’t go tiring him too much. I still need him wide awake, tomorrow morning.”

ZaiWin nodded back.

Snow looked from one to the other and back again, and finally frowned.

What were they deciding to do with him without even consulting him?

“What are you waiting for?” ZaiWin asked, signaling him to hurry up and move. “Come on.”

Even though he was far from happy with those arbitrary decisions, Snow still ended up following him outside.

Now we can understand how someone like VinWei, who has no qualms threatening to slit ZaiWin’s throat in his sleep, ended up being a Jundai of the Temple. ? Yeah. Smart girl. I would rather be a nun too, if the option were to marry the freaking El’Dur. ? Wait. Is she even a nun? ??? Somehow I doubt it very much ???

(Yeah, I did censor the title ... Don’t want people banning me for writing bad words publicly, lol ?)