HASSAHAN MYSTIC | KOUEN REN

[ i ]

Their ships were anchored at a private dock managed by the royal family too late into the evening to travel. According to Melik, the palace where Kouen's negotiations with the Queen of Hassah would take place was a two-day ride from the dock.

Kouen spent his first night in Hassah in a comfortable suite at a hotel, but slept very little, too stubborn to leave the writing on the Nohrian Sacred Pillar alone. He devoted many hours to deciphering the particulars of the language, but came to the same conclusion. No matter his mastery of the Torran language, he could not make sense of it. He thought that if there was at the least a foundation set by the pillar, the rest could be translated through some guesswork, to temporarily sate him. The other pillars held other pieces of the mystery. His sudden knowledge of their existence bolstered his interest in the Cluster's conquest. Rather than encourage, it would be more accurate to say it enriched his mission to know there was something other than acquiring the Byzen Cluster to gain.

It irked him to understand that he lacked the proper resources to decrypt the contents of the Nohrian Pillar. Scholars anticipated the possibility that all of the pillars were connected, but they never had accessed to all of them. Once Roman took Lorah, Kouen would have them all and he planned to make time to review them, though not to his satisfaction. The Western Subjugation Army was in good hands despite his absence, but he would have to return to it to complete his first task.

The journey to Buhari Palace continued after daybreak. Kouen and Melik took the main road on horseback with minimal company and managed to slip under the radar of the people, who were accustomed to what Nero called Melik's extravagance. Kouen paid close attention to the atmosphere of the country—lively and radiant as the sun, electric almost—and contrasted it against the cold darkness of Nohr. The high tension of Corrin had been a familiar setting while the deteriorating state of Ione—the harsh reality of their slums and the seemingly ignorant opulence of the wealthy.

Hassah possessed a natural affluence. Public harbors overflowed with ships of varying types for an assortment of uses. Its golden beach was an idyllic vacation site teeming with people from locals to foreigners to street vendors.

Kouen observed the dark-skinned citizens of Hassah, mindful of their mannerisms and the friendliness of their demeanors. He took in the sights around him. The yellow or white structures characterized by their hidden pops of color every few yards, mosaics of bright shades on walls, the glittering merchandise on vendors' table as they crossed the market, and the intricately designed mats draped over walls to dry or dust.

Melik proposed a short break at a tiny shop after they had traveled an hour straight through a large heavily populated market town with narrow streets. There weren't any private rooms reserved specifically for the wealthy or nobility, so they sat outdoors where the dry breeze reached them. They drank çay, strong tea of a deep red hue served to them in tulip glasses. Melik unabashedly stuffed his face full of a sweet pastry he offered him called baklava, but Kouen refused it. He didn't have a taste for sweet food.

They reached the Buhari Palace past midnight on the second day since their arrival. The walled palace was built atop a plateau within a mountainous area scattered with odd rock formations and obelisks with inscriptions honoring dead royalty.

The palace sported four towers of equal height and diameter position in the four corners of the tall walls enveloping the structure. It was made up of dome-like shapes with glass ceilings in a few areas. The exterior stone was a bright yellow that he imagined appeared golden under the sun. The interior was all arched entrances and colorful mosaics. It was airy with various open-sided walkways or roofless rooms.

Their steps echoed as they entered and moved deeper into the palace. Kouen could hear running water and the fluttering and squawks of birds. Contrary to the summer night, the palace was cool, like stepping into a different world.

"Leyla," Melik called out.

Standing at the entrance of a sitting room was a striking woman in a white dress. Her neck was long and decorated in gold, her cheekbones high, and her brown eyes were sharp and heavily lashed. Her hair was sheered clean off, leaving behind a smooth scalp.

Melik half-walked and half-ran to her, hugging the woman that appeared too young to be his mother. He kissed her cheek as she smiled, big, and lovingly caressed his cheek.

Melik took the woman's hand and presented her to Kouen. "This is Leyla, the Lady of Hassah."

The queen's consort. He understood the familiarity.

"And Leyla, this is Prince Kouen of the Kou Empire," finished Melik.

Leyla bowed deeply, never breaking eye contact. "We have been expecting you," she told him. "You are earlier than I predicted, so you will have to excuse my queen for having turned in early. Do rest, negotiations shall open and close as soon as tomorrow. You will have all the time in the world to see the Hassahan Sacred Pillar, I hope it gives you some semblance of a clue before you choose to leave."

"I look forward to them," said Kouen.

Leyla motioned to the mustached man who would show him to his lodgings.

Kouen welcomed relaxation. The trip from Nohr was wrought with storms until they had reached the half point to Hassah, by then the temperature turned dry and the sun strong.

The accommodations were comfortable. There were three sections to the room sparred for him, the largest of them was where he would sleep. The walls were decorated in different hues of blue and gold with the furniture complementing it. The bed wasn't as large as he had seen previously, but he didn't need the excess room without Asta.

Once alone, he sat on the edge of the bed, the plush mattress so soft it felt as if he were sinking in and the sheets were slippery silk. He considered his progress in the Byzen Cluster, factoring the amount of time he spent in its conquest as a whole, and frowned, not quite satisfied by the overall progression despite it producing wanted results. The emperor wanted three things out of the Byzen Cluster: Ione's army, Hassah's wealth, and Nohr's magicians. The other three kingdoms were taken because they were a part of the set, though there were things that each one could offer, the aforementioned three were the priority.

Kouen decided that he could spare the job another four weeks, take a week or two, for quick results, and the end was in sight, which relieved him, knowing that he would go back to continue his conquest of the west where he was supposed to be had it not been explicitly necessary in his marriage contract to appear in Ione. He figured it would have been easier to send for Asta and have her at his side, but imagined that would be troubling for her. She wasn't used to moving around or being exposed to war. He preferred to avoid unnecessary complications if possible and taking her on to conquer the west would become one. He would be placing her in direct danger and if she was lost before the Byzen Cluster was acquired, it would result in the ultimate obstacle.

He wasn't completely dissatisfied by his detour. Asta surprised him with her determination to succeed and curiosity to learn. Ione's army was everything it was described to be despite having a few bad apples, which appeared to be the problem with the country itself, but was not something he worried about given that Koumei was handling it and Kouen suspected that if there were any remaining traitors in the army, Ilya and Werner would dispose of them.

Negotiations with the Queen of Hassah were expected to go swimmingly. With that final thought secured, Kouen prepared to sleep.

[ ii ]

The Queen of Hassah held their meeting in an open room filled with columns and deep arches at a circle table holding two steaming cups of çay. They were surrounded by the whispering winds carrying the white fabrics meant for their privacy inside the pavilion-like room, the rustling of wings from the dozens of tropical birds lingering by the seeders, and their inelegant squawks. Melik and Leyla joined them upon the queen's permission and remained standing by the walls as there were only two seats available at the table. The two did not speak, not even to one another. There were guards posted along the four walkways that led to the center of the pavilion that remained solemn and stationary with daggers hung from their belts. Kouen's own household members were asked to stay at the least thirty feet away from the guards, which positioned them at the arched entrances to the pavilion room.

Nimet Buhari wore a yellow band tied over her head, her bone-straight black hair combed away from her forehead. Her clothes matched the color and it suited the deep brown shade of her skin. There were no signs of age in her face, which was smooth and elegant, her hazel eyes small and full of wisdom.

"After several weeks, you have finally made it to our audience, I do hope my sons were no trouble," started Nimet, casting Melik an accusatory look, which he avoided. "It tends to be the oldest that are problematic."

Lady Hassah smiled blissfully.

"I apologize for keeping you waiting," said Kouen.

A grin curved the queen's lips. "No matter, you were hours earlier than Leyla's prediction. So why don't we start negotiations?"

Kouen gestured for her to do so with a curt nod.

"You may take everything," said Nimet, "from the crown on my head to the jewels on my children to our traders and our land. You may have every citizen and every soldier."

"And what do you want in return?" asked Kouen, naturally suspicious of the offer.

"That you listen."

"Listen?"

"Yes, listen. Simple is it not? It may seem arrogant to ask for the ear of one's conqueror, but that is all we can do as the last queens and kings of the Byzen Cluster. If we must offer up our crowns for a greater purpose, you will do well to heed our warnings and consider our insights for we were born and raised to rule our respective islands. We know all of their secrets and all of their legends for they accompanied us on our growth. There are truths of our world hidden here, I'm certain you suspect this already."

The idea of knowing there were "secrets" and "truths," but not knowing what they were bothered him.

The smile upon Nimet's face grew wider. "You married one of the anomalies after all."

He questioned the word and she laughed.

"Asta of Ione, daughter of the Byzen Cluster." Nimet nodded. "The vǫlur have been expecting her for generations, for someone with her gift."

"We are honored for her arrival," said Leyla.

Kouen followed the sound of her voice.

"I do not think my lady needs further introduction," said Nimet, "but the woman you see before you is the last of the magicians blessed with the vǫlur gifts."

"Though I suspect it won't be long before I lose them," remarked Leyla, to which Melik responded by taking her hand to squeeze. She smiled gratefully at him and looked down to their joined hands sadly.

"You will have time to ask all of your questions once you've seen the pillar." Nimet stood. "Come, I will take you to it."

Kouen followed the queen through an open-sided arched walkway that led them around the castle to a smaller gate on the opposite side of the gargantuan entrance. Beyond the rolling hills, Nimet told him he would find a lake and in the center, the pillar. Three horses were prepared and Kouen understood he would go to the pillar alone, so he dismissed his Household members.

"You're not coming along?" asked Melik. "You're not the type to sit around all quiet and demure."

Nimet grabbed Melik by the ear and twisted it until he cried out an apology and she released him. "Are you going to tell me where Tahir is?"

Melik visibly panicked and started for the gate. He took the reins of his horse from the man holding them and climbed on the saddle, looking towards his irked mother. "You kicked him out and told him to make you proud, remember? Just believe that that's exactly what he's doing."

Nimet turned to Leyla, who smiled.

"Tahir is in the best care with his brothers," said Leyla. "They wouldn't put him in any danger."

"It's getting harder to believe that when I haven't seen him in years," sighed Nimet.

Kouen was handed the reins of his horse and while he mounted it, Leyla was helped onto the saddle of the third.

Leyla led the journey to the Hassahan Sacred Pillar. They spent few hours on the road, reaching the edge of the lake as the sun descended and the sky began its slow transition to night. From there, they took a small boat to the island in the center, anchoring it on a wooden post lodged to the earth. There was little difference between the pillar of Nohr and that of Hassah. They were both a triad of obsidian bursting from the ground. The difference was on the text inscribed on its face. It proved to be as oddly structured as the Nohrian pillar's, but from within it, Kouen understood one thing. This pillar detailed an exchange, though beyond that he could not say.

He read it over several times, a nagging feeling in him demanding answers that the pillar could not provide alone.

"The Baryonian scholars spent a lot of time here since this was the last location they visited," started Melik. "I can provide you the transcripts of their work and of what's written on the Baryonian and Corrinean pillars. I think they'll be a useful distraction given that you'll want to leave as soon as possible."

Kouen had no reason to depart so early, but as he wondered why, he looked onto Leyla.

She smiled. "Your assumptions are correct. I do believe that you will leave as early as tomorrow for I fear to be the bearer of dire news, but I must speak the truth when it concerns Princess Asta."

"Asta is in Ione safe under my brother's watch," said Kouen. If anything happened that Koumei did not feel himself capable of solving himself, he would have sent word. He didn't think anything happened to Asta, but Leyla's words placed doubt in his mind. If Koumei didn't inform him, it was minor and he either handled it or was in the process of doing so.

"Prince Koumei is worthy of your trust. He can solve whatever problems arise, however, this one he cannot, though he tries to accomplish it himself."

"How do you know this?" asked Kouen. "How do you have this information?"

"I am the last of the Ionian vǫlur, though it is probably more accurate to say that I was," started Leyla. "I lost most if not all my magic several years ago, you see the vǫlur pay a high price for their gifts—our duty to the princess is of peak importance—and once we lose that which fuels our strengths, we can no longer access our power to protect, nurture, and guide Princess Asta. For many years, the vǫlur were raised to be interpreters, to become the voices of the woman we have waited many generations to come, and to keep her here in the Byzen Cluster away from the dangers beyond it.

"However, the vǫlur died out long before Princess Asta's birth and it was quite a shame that they had for now she can only rely on the rukh to teach her to use her gift. I am able to see what has already happened, but only if it is connected to the princess. You see, there are many facets of purity: purity of the mind, the heart, the body, and the soul. As such, I've been allowed small windows to access my powers and for that reason I know what I know."

"Is Asta in danger?"

"Yes, and she will remain in danger. You witnessed Asta's abilities before and understand that predicting the future is not something within the boundaries of magic, but she can do it. She possesses a unique gift that is coveted by enemies of old, but they are not the only dangers that she will face. No, she is confronting her worst enemy at this time and if you do not find her, she may very well remain in that loop forever."

"Loop?"

Again, Leyla offered him an easy smile. "Yes."

Kouen understood that this was bigger than the pillars and started to turn away, prepared to ask Melik to ready a ship.

"You will do well to hurry if you wish to save them both," advised Leyla.

He stopped. As he did, Leyla provided an answer to the question he didn't manage to speak.

"She carries your child, my king."

"I am returning to Ione," decided Kouen, not a second thought in his mind.

Leyla stepped forward, a tad hesitant. "If you don't mind, I would like to accompany you on your journey."

Melik opened his mouth to speak, but Kouen spoke first. "Is it not your duty to stand by Asta's side?"

She inclined her head. "Thank you."

They wasted no time to prepare for departure, leaving Hassah in the middle of the night. His restless mind kept him from proper sleep and so he busied himself with the transcripts Melik provided of each pillar, but every so often his head clouded and wandered, spinning out of focus. He didn't feel overjoyed by the idea of an heir, rather, he was relieved by it. That meant his marriage to Asta bore fruit, that it did what it was supposed to do, and whatever their lives became afterward were theirs to deal with. Their job was done.

A small part of him replayed Leyla's words about both Asta and their child being in danger of losing their lives and he wanted nothing more than to save Asta. She was more important than a job well done. Not understanding what to do with this new information Kouen busied himself with the pillars.