Bringing Down the Mountains: A story of Seanchan
Authors note: this story takes place during and after the events of Knife of Dreams
Chapter 1: Axe
The axe lay on the table. Waiting. It was an excellent axe, meticulously maintained, finely polished, resplendent in the dark green and red of the Deathwatch Guard. It would have glinted in the sunlight, if the sun had not been obscured behind the gray pressing clouds that had covered the sky for weeks now, ever since the Night of Knives.
The axe was still lying on the table. Jadra son of Dalor son of Tamen stared at it. It was his axe of course, crafted for him years ago when he had become a Gardener, carried through his years of service to the princess Aurana and still with him now. Jadra knew that axe like he knew his own hands and feet. He knew how best to heft it comfortably in two hands for combat, and how to use it to support himself on long nights standing guard. He knew how easy it would be to take the axe, hold it to his own throat and kill himself.
The axe was still lying on the table. Jadra wanted so badly to use it. To end his own life. He knew that he should, that his years of service to the Deathwatch Guard, the oaths he had taken, the duty he had accepted would be meaningless unless he at that moment killed himself. "From life til death, I serve the Blood." Jadra had said the words, meant them and tried so hard to do everything required of him as a Gardener. But that did not matter, because he had failed.
The axe was still lying on the table. Princess Aurana had been under his protection on the Night of Knives, just as she had been for so many years. Jadra's whole reason for being had been to ensure that she lived, just as he had done through the plots of her siblings and the politics and wars of the Seanchan court. But he had failed. On the Night of Knives he had been caught up in a fight with a large group of assassins outside the princesses' manor in the centre of Salaking. He had killed them all of course, but by the time he had reached the bedchamber where he now sat, it was too late. Princess Aurana and all her other guards were dead, and her blood was soaked through the bed, her guts pouring out her opened stomach. Jadra had failed, and every Guard knew that there was only one way to treat such a failure. "From Life til Death, I serve the Blood."
The axe was still lying on the table. That was why Jadra had come to this room, at this time, just as he did every day to try and convince himself to end his failure. To do what he should have done on that night as soon as he had realised Aurana was dead. To slit his own throat with his axe. Yet today, just as with every other day, he failed. He sat there staring at the axe and wondered why he had not done it already, what he hoped to do now that the entire royal family was dead, and the Deathwatch Guard left as a useless and purposeless order with nothing to live for.
The axe was still lying on the table. The gossamer curtains fluttered as the door to the bedchamber opened to reveal Antus Manath. The two men met eyes in a gesture of mutual respect and friendship. Being an Ogier, Jadra was used to humans fearing him. Not all of them were obvious about it of course, but most humans had a sense of suppressed tension and fear about them when dealing with any Ogier, let alone one of the Gardeners. Ogier after all had a reputation going back all the way to before the Breaking, a reputation of harsh justice. It always made Jadra smile then, when a human showed no fear at all, and Antus never did.
The axe was still lying on the table. Antus glanced at it before looking at Jadra again.
"Not this again?" Antus asked exasperatedly. He was in uniform, and sweating holding his three-eyed helmet by his side. From the looks of it, he had come straight in from exercising the grolm.
"Until I have the courage to go through with it Antus, you know that. It was part of the deal." Jadra was talking about the Night of Knives. Antus, leading Lady Nagina's personal forces had hunted down all of the assassins in the manor. He had also found his old friend Jadra weeping over what remained of the Princess they had both once served. Jadra had been planning to kill himself any second, but Antus had convinced him that the crisis wasn't over, and that Jadra could do some good helping Lady Nagina's forces to restore order in Salaking. Jadra had stayed with Antus ever since, on the condition that he could end his own life whenever he wanted. Antus hadn't liked it, but he had agreed.
The axe was still lying on the table, but Jadra was starting not to notice it.
"I was going to tell you the Lady Nagina wants to see us, but I suppose if you're going to top yourself right now that won't be necessary."
"Do not mock me, Antus. My honour…"
"I know all about it, you tell me this every day. Then I tell you how we still have things to do, people to protect, a city to save. Then you grumble a little bit, pick up that axe and come help me restore order. But if you're going to finally go through with it today instead, please, go ahead."
Antus sounded callous and uncaring, but Jadra knew him well enough to recognise that his friend was at least a little worried that today was the day.
Jadra picked up the axe.
"Very well then, let's see what the Lady desires now."
Antus smirked, but Jadra could see the real relief in his eyes.
Jadra did not think he would kill himself now. There were things that had to be done. But he had a feeling that tomorrow he would find his way back to Princess Aurana's bedchamber. Maybe then he would have the courage to finally fulfill his oath.