A lot of information on my version of how magic works. It will be of great importance for the rest of the story. The chapter turned out to be way longer than I expected, but I realize that I could keep Giacomo and Alice talking for hours.
XVI. The Lesson
Alice Huet
To stay discreet we chose to reach Venice by train. Giacomo was sitting in the compartment in front of me, and couln't stop glancing towards the hallway and out the window.
"Nervous? I asked him.
- This is the first time that I am coming back to Venice in years. Of course I am nervous. "
The same man, six years ago would have told me a nice lie.
"You're softening up, I tell him. You become honest.
" Hot climates' usual corruption," he shrugged.
We drove for a long time in silence. After a while I started to get bored and stared at him insistently. This little game lasted a while, but finally, unable to hold it any longer, he opened up:
"I think it's difficult for my family right now. First there was our financial issues, then, because of me, the First Nome's sanctions, the Eighth is at the hands of the Sforza, and now the Romans… We are linked to the Carthaginian by blood.
- How did that happen? I mean your mix with the Phoenicians ...
- Not complicated, Setians families often have foreign blood.
- Set, god of strangers, I remembered.
- Yes, and our members often served as ambassadors. "
In ancient Egypt, travel and diplomatic relations were not the most valued professional sector.
"This is also why they accuse our blood of degrading itself. It has moved away from its origins, which makes it more permeable to chaos magic. Deviate just moment from the straight line, and Isfet will rush in.
- Whence the myth of pure blood, or of pharaoh's blood?
- It's not just a myth, it's a reality too. A blood closer to the origins offers greater magical power, and allows, allowed to host gods. In fact, it is very difficult to increase your power by keeping to Ma'at. As for foreign blood, it does not weaken, it pushes aside. You remain powerful, but you become a mage of chaos. You specialize in the gods that you host too. "
I was a little lost.
"Are you still talking about magical potential?"
- Yes.
- Can you explain to me how it works?
- Not hard. You see, each magician receives at birth an initial alignment, certain potentials are more inclined towards certain disciplines: divine words or elemental magic for example. Another alignment you receive is your position on the Isfet-Ma'at scale.
- Funny, I always saw them as opposites.
- It's a common mistake, as soon as you study a little you stop seeing things in a manichean way. We consider that all magic takes place on a scale going from Isfet to Ma'at, a reflection of our actions if you will. One of the most important laws is that you always descend from Ma'at to Isfet, and it is almost impossible to go the other way around. In other words, if your magical potential turns to chaos, it is almost impossible to return to the initial state.
- Because it evolves during your life?
- To a limited extent, yes. For example, you can perfectly force yourself to choose a discipline contrary to your initial inclinations, with more or less success. This is what Michel did for example.
- So how do you know what kind of potential you have, or if it's rather chaotic or ordered?
- It's very simple, your potential is where you are rather good. As for Isfet… There are signs that are clear: a certain turn of mind, an aptitude for certain more limited spells… Sometimes, in rarer cases, the hieroglyphics that you trace appear red and not blue. In this case, it's a bit like shouting, 'Hello chaos magic, I'm available!'. If you come from a family where it is common ...
- So there is no mage of chaos in the mainstream Egyptian families?
- It happens, for a lot of other reasons, but it's much rarer. In general, they are turned towards Horus, Isis, Hâpy… Our families were more on the side of Set, Sekhmet, Sobek…
- And Thoth?
- Thoth holds the middle, the real one. This is also why he advises the Chief Lector. "
He pondered it for a moment then added:
"The, it is not really a general law, there are other factors. The origin of the family for example, Lower or Upper Egypt. The Sforza are from Lower Egypt, they are turned towards Sobek, not towards Set.
- Wait, the Sforza are on Isfet's side too?
- Of course, our strife is just a huge family quarrel "
I started to laugh.
"So all Italian magicians are more or less on the side of chaos? No wonder your Nome is such a mess. How come other magicians allow this?
- There is a nuance: according to current laws, most spells falling under the chaos magic are prohibited. The Per Ankh cannot forbid a magical potential though, that does not make sense.
- So you are chaos mages deprived of chaos magic?
- More or less.
- But since when do the Bellini or the Sforza act according to the law?
- You're getting the idea. In fact, soon, you will know the workings of magic better than most of of the Per Ankh magicians.
- You're a good teacher.
- I studied the theory of chaos and forces when I was stationed in the Vatican.
- Seriously? You never told me you studied at the Vatican!
- Please, I have a degree in theology and biblical texts' hermeneutics.
- You're not a fire elementalist the last I heard? "
He rolled his eyes, annoyed.
"Officially, but I'm very bad at elemental magic, I hate it. Besides, I only control fire. In fact, I would rather have liked to be a theoririan, but I'm too lazy for that. "
I raised an eyebrow.
"Magical Research, just like statuary, are the practices that require the most study and effort, Giacomo explained to me. Typically, it is said that it takes at least seventy-five years of training to be a true statuary magician.
- It's precise seventy-five years, I laughed.
- I don't make the rules, replied Giacomo. "
He turned to the window, watching the landscape go by.
"You should ally yourself with the Sforza, you would be invincible," I told him.
- Not possible, we worship the gods of chaos. To gain their favor we kill each other. This is the rule of the game.
- It's barbaric.
- It is. Have you ever seen the Colosseum Alice? It's a bit the same principle. To distract gods like Set, you need a great show.
- I understand that Iskandar prohibits their use. "
Giacomo suddenly laughed.
"Their use? They are not machines. In truth, already during ancient times, the magicians in my family had stopped hosting Set. It is something that only the other red families do. We took our precautions.
- What do you mean ?
"When playing with fire, it's best to wear gloves," he replied.
He refused then to tell me more. I realized that his nervousness increased the closer we got to Venice.
"And Champollion? What alignment is he? I tried to restart the conversation.
"No idea, he confessed. "
He thought about it for a moment.
"More towards Thoth I guess, seeing as it's new didn't really have to define itself. There are a few families who have settled in this gray area, the Menshikovs for example.
- I thought they were chaos mages?
- No, they come from the priests of Amun. It's just that the fact that they are from Upper Egypt was used in the propaganda of the Warrior families. "
I started to get a bit of a headache, and felt lost again.
"Wait, what does Upper Egypt have to do with chaos?
- Not exactly Isfet, but Set. This is his territory. Horus, his opposite, is more associated with Lower Egypt.
- Okay. What about the Warrior families? What does it mean ?
- Many of the families who worshiped Horus devote themselves almost exclusively to combat magic. He is a warrior god after all. Typically, they are the Kane, the Hogan, all of Chinese families… They are reputed to be among the most powerful.
- According to Michel, the preeminence of large families is linked to the fact that lower rank magicians do not have access to a good magical education.
"He's not entirely wrong," Giacomo sighed. But it is difficult to distinguish between natural inequality and what is created by the conditions of study. What is certain is that it happens that we find lost descendants of the blood of the pharaohs without any knowledge of their origins, but who present exceptional abilities. Large families do not like them very much, they endanger their hegemony. Pharaoh's blood always comes back in the end, there is no denying its importance, although it is most certainly overrated.
- And Michel, I asked, where do you put him? "
Giacomo chose his words carefully.
"You do understand that, in this rather complex system, almost five thousand years old, Champollion is quite a spot.
- I do.
- The Champollion case, as it is called, has only been studied by a few genealogical specialists, and is more or less kept secret. I think part of Iskandar's interest in Michel comes from there, he wants to see him evolve. This can have huge implications for the future. "
He paused and looked at his fingernails.
"What's striking is that he's… adaptable. Typically he was forced to become an elementalist, which was completely contrary to his initial inclinations, and you see he has become a pretty in one. He even completely appropriated the magic of the earth, to the point of developping it with his floral experiences. Also, normally, even with practice, you're supposed to hit a certain limit, but he hasn't found it yet. And there is more ...
- What ?
- It is possible to assess the potential of a magician in his childhood. To get an idea of how far he can go. When I met him he had pretty low potential, and should have stayed a very average magician. Now, by training, it's not just that he's been able to gain strength, it's that his potential has shifted. It has nothing to do with what it was a few years ago.
- Does he know all that? "
A shadow passed over his face. "Yes, we talked about it. "
He stayed silent for a moment, and looked nervously out the window again. I didn't mind, I just savored my luck (well, so did my immense curiosity). It was not every day that a demigod like me could gain access to the secrets of Per Ankh. But the more I worked with Giacomo, the more he revealed this kind of mystery to me.
Suddenly he spoke again:
"The Champollions are… well I don't know what exactly the genealogists are working with. They have long stayed on the margins.
- His grandfather was a Communard, I remembered, Marie's father.
- Oh, yes, Barthélémy, Champollion's bastard son. He is famous in here, he burned the Tuileries.
- Is that so ? I amazed.
I knew that the Tuileries Palace had burned down during the Paris Commune in 1871.
"You did not know ? "
He winked at me. Then he added:
"Rumour has it he would have thus captured the energy of the French monarchy, and transfered it inside the Luxor obelisk, on the Place de la Concorde. I don't know how it's possible, but every single statuary magician dreams of taking it apart to see. "
The image made me smile.
"The obelisk of all fantasies.
- Obelisks are perhaps the most powerful Egyptian artifacts along with statues of gods. And the Luxor Obelisk was installed in Paris by Champollion, and gods know what kind of magic he could have put in there! It's probably still connected to its twin in Luxor, and who knows what kind of magical bond remains between the two? When I think that the French magicians treat it like a vulgar portal!
- And why so ?
- Because, he explained to me, the French are complete morons. They've been acting stupidely for over a century.
- Hey, aren't you exaggerating a bit? Your Nome is entirely subject to chaos magicians' quarrels, so...
- It's the truth though. The Fourteenth collapsed during the Revolution. If now all large families try to interfere in its business, it is because it has become a huge nonsense. In the 17th-18th century, the Fourteenth was the largest Nome in Europe, the third Nome in the world. Then during an entire century, they have had : the Champollions doing their thing, the rest of the Nome observing them, the royalists and republicans killing each other, riots all the time, a revolt or a new regime every ten years ... And then, there was the Revolution itself. Demigods revolted against Olympus, Napoleon received the allegiance of almost all the Pantheons after his capture of the Pyramids. The whole European chessboard has been turned upside down and we are still suffering the consequences of these upheavals. The First Republic almost invented militant atheism, and what attacks the gods attacks everything else, especially in our sphere ...
- Stop, you're making me dizzy.
- You just have to understand that Champollion was born out of this quagmire, that he is intrinsically a part of it. The truth is, the Fourteenth didn't really act at first because he was fascinated by Champollion, until it took on drastic dimensions. Then it was too late, and they had to let the Per Ankh shoot him down in the street. "
This is how I got an important piece of information.
"Esme told me that he died before he could join the ranks of Per Ankh.
- Yes, that's right, he died before. "
I pondered this new state of things for a moment.
"Why are you explaining all this to me?"
- Because I talk when I'm nervous. "
He looked out the window again.
"You know a lot, I noticed.
- I come from a great family, Alice, everything I just told you is known there. Of course, we are an old family of spies, we are generally quite knowledgeable.
- Indirectly. Julius Kane gave the order, but it was Iskandar yes.
- You're beating around the bush. Why ?
- I only know rumors.
- I love rumors.
- Champollion… Champollion's children did magic, his nephews too.
- But his nephews are unrelated… I mean, I thought magic was transmitted through blood.
- Yes, me too. Apparently he taught them. Just as he himself never received it from his ancestors. It gives the word "Lector" a whole other meaning. "
Giacomo shook his head, sadened.
"In truth it's almost a shame. Had he lived, he would have revolutionized the study of magic. But no one studies his notebooks. I don't know where they are. At Thoth's probably ...
- So you just explained to me that we could democratize the use of magic just as we could democratize education?
- I don't know Alice, right now, it's quite impossible. I think there was something else, but I don't know what. The Champollions stayed quiet for a little while after that, but none of them joined the Per Ankh. However, when Barthélémy Champollion began to openly use magic to support his revolution, they were all shot.
- Except Barthélémy's sister, Zoraide.
- Who ended her days in Figeac. Alone and forgotten.
- Marie too.
- If I remember correctly, Marie Champollion could not do magic. She got married to a common man and it worked out for everyone.
- A human trash !
- Probably.
- You know a lot more than we do, I added with regret.
- Marie never told you about her family?
- Never. She wanted us to stay away from the Per Ankh. She was concerned enough with me already. Sheltering a half-breed is not ... not easy.
- You feel it, right?
- What?
- Champollion's charm. It acts on you.
- Of course it acts, these stories are fascinating. Have you talked to Michel about it? We could go see Figeac, he is the heir of the house after all, as Zoraide has no more descendants ...
- Alice, please leave him. He is terrified. I think he doesn't want to hear about it. "
Michel, you wimp I thought, but I chomped on the bit. There will still be time to come back to this later. I tried to organize this new mass of information.
"Tell me about the Kanes then. "
He looked surprised.
"The Kanes? Why ?
- They are everywhere. And then, you almost became one of them. Funny how everything is linked.
- There is no such thing as coincidence, you know.
- On this point, we agree. "
My father was still the god of prophecy. Giacomo smirked.
"I feel like I'm creating a monster with you. You already know too much.
- This train is very slow and I have attention issues. Keep distracting me. "
He scowled.
"If you want we exchange information. You said it yourself, I know things. And I'm good at connecting them.
- Okay, he conceded. But you have to promise me to answer all my questions.
- Promised.
- What do you want to know about the Kanes? I don't know that much… The Kane are one of the most noble and powerful families of Per Ankh.
- Yes, yes, we know that. They're on Ma'at's side on your, uh… ladder?
- Indeed. They descend from Narmer, like quite a few families in the Breast of the House of Life. Here, Friedwald for example, another descendant of Narmer.
- Julius Kane then, what do you know about him?
- He lived six hundred years, which is relatively short for a family like the Kanes, but the death of his eldest shattered him. He comes from Sudan, from the Khartoum Nome. He served in the First Nome, knew Iskandar very well, and then joined the Ninth Nome. He kept quite strong links with them, it is also for this reason that the Paris Nome does not like the Kane very much, they are linked to the English. It was through them that Julius got involved in the Champollion affair. Otherwise, he built the Twenty-First Nome with his own hands, at the end of the 17th century, long before the Hogans came to America. Her sister married a Keane. His little brother still runs the Chicago and Louisiana Nome. There was a last brother too, who died young under mysterious circomstances.
- And Alma Kane?
- Born Mazrui, he corrected. The Mazrui are quite removed from this mess. Everything I've told you about is mainly Westerners' business. The Mazrui rule all the lands of the Omani Sultanate, the Nomes of Muscat, Nairobi, Mogadishu, Qatar, Abu Dhabi, and Aden. They are all around the Indian Ocean, and are dealing with many other Pantheons than those around the Mediterranean. It is the richest dynasty of Per Ankh. Either way, Jabari Kane has had a prestigious wedding… "
He then reflected for a moment, then said to me:
"You now. Do you know Arthur Chase well?
- Hey, you're not done, right?
- Yes I am ! Your turn !
- What interests you about the Chase?
- The law of reciprocity.
- Pantheons attract, I remembered.
- And the Chase have always flirted with the other world. They could be the key to a lot of puzzles. "
The excitement rose in me. Alongside singing, I had found myself a new passion the last few years: bringing things together. But after all, what is music if not the complex arrangement of sounds, to the point of finding less harmony than poetry?
"The Chase are of Varègue origin, I began. They were part of the Vikings who founded Novgorod and formed the Russian nobility, controlling the Slavic populations.
- A bit like the Franks, who gained the ascendancy over the Gallo-Roman populations? He asked me.
- Basically, yes. I know that they are related to the Norse gods, well it is their afterlife by default. They inevitably let the Slavic gods, then the Celts when they left for England, under the reign of Ivan the Terrible. They also made contact with the Greek gods, no doubt as soon as they arrived there. They must have met Julius Kane also, according to the timeline. "
Giacomo looked thoughtful.
"Yes, probably, and Shakespeare.
- Who is now judge in the Underworld.
- What?
- That's right, Hades got his soul. He was a son of Apollo.
- Is he a judge in the underworld?
"Giacomo, calm down a bit", I told him, seeing his round eyes.
"What about the Romans? He resumed. If they are related to so many pantheons, they must know the Romans.
- Is that all that interests you now, the Romans?
- By the matter of facts, a little ...
- Do you really think they could come to Croatia? They must first take the time to settle in Italy. I mean… There are Celts on the land, the Eighth Nome, a few Etruscans… And then it's the Fulminata, why wouldn't she go to Gaul instead? Oh no, she might go to France!
- I'm not too worried about the Fourteenth. If they decide to invade Gaul, they will necessarily have to go through the South.
- Do you think La Roque will stop them?
- Not La Roque. Anne de Montpensier is in Marseille. She will be very happy to kick their ass. "
He paused, resumed.
"I never told you how she poisoned forty demigods, twenty-three magicians and fifty Celts at a banquet?"
- What?
- Remind me to tell you then you then, on occasion. You have no idea what magicians are capable of. Our problem is not, and never really was the Romans, it is infighting. "
Giacomo looked gloomy. Usually happy and smiling, a little crazy, his features had hardened so much that I no longer recognized him.
"Iskandar has always managed to keep things together. He is the man who chose to banish the gods. I don't know if you realize what that represents in terms of metaphysical rebellion. "
I shivered.
"I think I can imagine it, I whispered.
- And even with him, our House made it through the centuries only at the cost of hundreds of wars of Nomes and assassinations.
- It almost looks like you admire him.
- If I admire him? Oh yes, I hate him, and I admire him, and I know that at any time, for us, he can become a mortal enemy. It would only take a change of circumstances.
- What are you going to do after his death. He's not immortal, is he? "
Giacomo stirred nervously.
"What's wrong Giacomo?"
- I can't do it anymore, he confessed. Working for him, I can't take it anymore. "
I sat down next to him on the bench opposite and put my hand on his arm.
"Do you want to talk about this ?
- There is nothing to say. "
We remained in silence for a while.
"This is the last century," he added.
- The last century? What?
- He is two thousand years old. No Chief Lector has ever run the House of Life for so long. There's no much time left for him.
- Wait wait… "
I was having trouble with magicians' timescales.
"No much time, how long is it for you?
- Between a century and fifty years. "
Oh, it's okay, there's still time, I wanted to say, but I heldit back.
"It's going to be a fight to the death for his succession. In fact, since the fall of Egypt, he more or less fulfills all the duties of the pharaoh. The second magician is a bit like the Chied Lector of ancient times. Lots of powerful men took on this job, Iskandar outlived them all.
- Julius Kane, he was the last Second, right?
- I told you the Kanes are a powerful family.
- And now, who is it?
- Mazrui the Elder.
- It works in a loop, you're right, all those alliances...
- But there are some rising stars too. The Russians : Menshikov and his sisters, his wife Anna… The great Asian magicians are getting older, except in Japan, the Japanese are extremely strong… On the Kane side, There's Aaron, Jabari, and his niece Jelila, who is getting more and more involved in internal politics... There is the master of the Ndjamena Nome, of course ... In fact there are a hundred magicians around the world who can claim the post of second and two dozen serious contenders who will be forced to fight to establish a list of strengths… an order of succession according to the magical power… " He explained when he saw my lost expression. "This is what we do to settle complicated estates.
- There is still a little time. And a lot can happen in fifty years.
- You're right, he nodded. "
But we could see already the Venice station's platforms in front of us.
"We haven't even really touched on the subject of the Chase family.
- It's only a postponement " Giacomo promised.
We were left alone in our cabin. Finally we got up.
"You have pharaoh's blood too, but what are you now? A chaos magician?
- A traitor, he replied. Come, little sister. "