Chapter 38
Meulin didn't realize it, but remembering all these things caused her demeanor and facial expressions to change suddenly. This wouldn't have been noticed had she not been carefully scrutinized by Kurloz and the Draconian Dignitary.
"Somethin' wrong, kid? I don't see what the problem is."
"SHE REMEMBERS. MY WICKED LITTLE KITTYBITCH REMEMBERS EVERYTHING."
"Remembers what, exactly?" DD asked.
"EVERYTHING I HAD TO DO TO MAKE HER LOVE ME."
"This sounds interesting. Tell me more about this. It could be a while before Meenah goes to sleep, you know. Right now she's out killing imps, collecting grist, and making her palace look more elaborate than this one."
"I DON'T MOTHERFUCKIN' KNOW YOU. HOW CAN I TRUST YOU? DO YOU THINK I'M WILLIN' TO TELL YOU ALL THIS?"
"Can't hurt to get it off your chest. Plus if I told the others they wouldn't care at all."
"FINE. BUT IF YOU GO SPREADIN' THIS SHIT AROUND, BELIEVE ME WHEN I SAW I'LL COME AFTER YOU."
"I understand the consequences."
. . . . .
Kurloz went back to the day that he first met Meulin after getting stuck out in the woods in the daytime during a drought. Meulin had taken him in, and the two had bonded after being forced to stay indoors. By the time the drought was over, he told the Dignitary, neither of them could deny their flushed feelings (this quadrant was easy to understand, obviously).
The two had been happy in love until one day they had gotten into an argument; Kurloz couldn't remember what it was, but it had caused them to seek some time apart. While Meulin had gone off hunting, Kurloz watched the sky slowly change from night to day. His thoughts drifted to all sorts of topics, but most were existential in nature: Why was he here? What was his purpose in life, and how was Meulin involved? Kurloz wasn't sure whether to forge some new role for himself or pass on some aspect of his ancestors, the Highbloods—if they could even be called that. Then something happened that made tradition rule out in the end.
FROM ACROSS TIME I SPEAK. I AM YET TO COME, YET I AM ALREADY HERE. Kurloz was already aware of his telepathic capabilities, and so he used them to communicate with this entity:
Who are you?
I AM THE LORD OF YOUR FOREFATHERS, THE HIGHBLOODS. IT IS THROUGH ME THAT THEY ATTAINED GREAT MIRTH AND THE WILL TO SUBJUGGULATE. I WISH TO SPEAK TO YOU BECAUSE I HAVE CHOSEN YOU TO CARRY ON THE COVENANT I HAVE PASSED THROUGH THEM.
Why me?
BECAUSE IT CAN ONLY PASSED THROUGH A HIGHBLOOD, AN ENLIGHTENED ONE SUCH AS YOU THAT SEEKS THE TRUTH, UNLIKE THE FOOLS OF THIS GENERATION AND THE ONE BEFORE IT. THEY FOLLOW THE INFLUENCE OF THE ONE THAT CAME BEFORE THEM—THE ONE THEY DEEMED "THE SUFFERER AND THE SIGNLESS". BUT THIS TROLL WAS NOT AS GOOD AS THEY CLAIM. HE SOUGHT TO DESTROY THE OLD COVENANT I MADE WITH THE HIGHBLOODS, AND NOW BEFORUS HAS GROWN WEAK WITHOUT IT. I HAVE CHOSEN YOU TO REGENERATE HIGHBLOODEDNESS. I CHOSE YOU BECAUSE I KNOW YOUR FUTURE, A FUTURE THAT YOU AND I WILL SHAPE TOGETHER. YOU WILL BECOME A GREAT PRINCE THROUGH SERVING ME.
How can I trust you and believe in you? You've only just begun to speak to me.
I SHAPE TIME; THEREFORE I WILL KNOW WHAT WILL COME TO PASS, THROUGH MY OWN ARRANGEMENTS. SHOULD YOU ALLOW YOURSELF TO BE MY INSTRUMENT, YOU WILL BE REWARD WITH LIFE WHEN ALL OTHERS WILL BE PUNISHED.
So I should follow you if I value my life?
NOT ONLY FOR THAT REASON, BUT BECAUSE I SHALL GIVE YOU INDESCRIBABLE POWER, BOTH OF THE PHYSICAL VARIETY AS WELL AS AN EVEN GREATER POWER. WITH THIS GREATER POWER, YOUR ENEMIES WILL OBEY, AND YOUR WISHES WILL BE FULFILLED AS YOU SEE FIT. I GRANT YOU THIS AUTONOMY AS A REWARD FOR BEING MY SERVANT…SHOULD YOU ACCEPT.
I don't know if I should.
BUT WHY NOT? YOU SEARCH FOR TRUTH AND KNOWLEDGE; I SPEAK TRUTHFULLY AND CAN IMPART TO YOU KNOWLEDGE OF THE PAST AND OF THE FUTURE. AND SHOULD YOU REFUSE, THERE ARE OTHERS WHO I CAN USE IN YOUR PLACE. IT IS ALL RIGHT WITH ME IF YOU WISH TO WASTE YOUR POTENTIAL AND FAIL TO LIVE UP TO THE DESTINY INSIDE YOU.
Fine, I'll join. But if you say you'll fulfill my wishes, I want to ask you something: there's this girl I like—but she's not a Highblood. Is there any way she can stay with me?
I KNOW OF THE FUTURE, AND IN IT I SEE TWO DIVERGENT PATHS. ONE IN WHICH THIS GIRL IS YOURS, AND ONE IN WHICH SHE IS NOT; IF YOU CAN WITHOLD THE SECRETS-WHICH I WILL TELL YOU MOMENTARILY-FROM HER AS BEST AS YOU CAN, THEN PERHAPS I COULD ALLOW TO TAKE THE PATH IN TIME IN WHICH SHE IS YOURS.
Thank you! But what should I say if she notices that I've changed?
THE WORDS WILL COME IN TIME. NOW KURLOZ, OPEN YOUR MIND TO ME.
…Okay. I will. And then a flurry of thoughts rushed into the young trolls' mind, filing him with the knowledge and rhetoric befitting of a Highblood.
. . . . .
"And you bought into that crap?" DD asked Kurloz in disbelief. The question stung him. The Mirthful Messiah and his promises were not "crap"! For a moment he considered giving this arrogant, black-shelled creature a slew of insults that only a Highblood knew, and making him understand that blasphemy was not to be tolerated. But then he stopped and remembered Mituna, his moirail. Their pale bond was still alive after all this. Would he have him do that? No, Kurloz would not get angry and screw over the efforts of the one troll that actually cared about him that wasn't brainwashed. At least not completely. And so instead Kurloz replied:
"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND. THE MIRTHFUL MESSIAH WAS THE ONLY ONE THAT CAME TO ME IN A TIME IN WHICH I KNEW SO MOTHERFUKIN' LITTLE. MAYBE HIS PLAN HASN'T GONE EXACTLY THE WAY I THOUGHT IT WOULD, BUT EVERYTHING IS BEING CARRIED OUT AS HE SAID. HE GAVE ME MY PURPOSE IN LIFE, AND IT IS WITH BITCHTITS PRIVELIGE THAT I ACCEPT HIS CALLING AS A SERVANT OF HIS POWER."
DD knew it would be pointless to argue. Whatever was going on in that kid's head, he could tell that Kurloz genuinely believed in this mirthful lord messiah person or whatever.
"Well, go on. What happened with Meulin afterwards? And how did you meet Mituna?"
And so Kurloz began to explain the rest of his story.
