Rebirth and Second Chances

Chapter 225: Epilogue Book 4

I was reading the reports from the various Aziza I had sent with Princess Wynne and Irvin. Sending Lord Aesin with Wynne had required a replacement Spy Master, but it had been worth it. I owed Wynne a great deal, and if Aesin could help her find who had attacked her people, that would go a long way towards paying back that debt.

I still felt some guilt that I had agreed with Tybalt, King of Cats, not to tell Wynne that her daughter was alive. That a time paradox had been created that the Oracle and Tybalt had resolved by hiding her daughter. I salved my guilt with the knowledge that the mystery behind that attack and her daughter's death would be solved soon.

Aesin had recommended, and I had approved Silent Whisper as a replacement for my Spy Master. Not his real name, the Aziza had taken to using code names after a comment Wynne had made. She began calling the Aziza, en masse, 007 based on a character she had come across when trapped in the CERN Dungeon on Earth.

Lord Aesin had embraced the idea of using a fake persona to protect the identities of his people. It was easier to retain anonymity if no one knew your real identity, and the Aziza colonies were prolific in getting into places and situations that required that anonymity.

Their size and ability to hide made it easy for them to skirt Portal restrictions that were set to control movement between planets, and Lord Aesin had sent colonies of his people to infiltrate everywhere possible. The Aziz had blossomed under my tenure, transforming from nuisance to be guarded against, to an intricate part of our diplomatic corps.

I had stressed the importance of industrial espionage and financial information gathering as part of their duties. The ability to know where the money was hidden, and what technologies were being developed would give us leverage.

The Sidhe did not lie, but there were no restrictions when it came to theft. We were well known for children stealing, so a bit of research or innovative technological advances flooded into our labs or doled out to a business that could make use of the information.

The Aziza, of course, still monitored and collected information on people of interest, but by expanding their world-view on what was important, and how that information could be used by me to shape policy or guide our business interests, I was able to increase Talahm's exports.

Silinium would always be a mainstay, but by pilfering research and financial transactions, I was able to suggest innovation and possible economic opportunities. The halls of the Senate were inundated with complaints when we released and sold a product weeks before a company on another planet had planned to. Complaints that we ignored, protected by the bonds of free enterprise that the Senate espoused.

I admit to devilish delight and pride when I watched Seshat, the Egyptian Goddess of the Written Word, dismiss those complaints despite the protests of the Olympus or Asgard delegations. No other Pantheon voiced their pleasure or displeasure at her rulings, but all of them noticed that accusations of theft and calls for trade embargo all stemmed from those two factions.

The changes to the System that Ryu had reported, if enacted would result in major advances. I knew just how important social constructs could play in the development of a planet. The chat features alone would allow for messages to be sent that could not be intercepted, stolen, or forged. It would make substantive changes in how spycraft and warfare were conducted.

The only feature I was wary of was the need to select a [Class]. Sidhe society wasn't structured to use that feature. As it stood, any individual could learn any skill or spell, or create a new spell or skill tailored to them as long as they put in the effort. The [Class]es, [Skill]s, and [Spell]'s

How a Class system would work within the framework of Ranked might be problematic. I was worried about the societal shift that may occur if instead of Ranked: King; the System created a Class: Ruler. Ryu's classification as a Shadow Druid fits well with his development, but exactly how well that would work on Talahm?

Another thing to consider would be the possible changes to Ascension. His arrival on Ijal had accelerated the timing for his Ascension, and I had to wonder if his age would be the new benchmark for all Sidhe? The Sidhe used chambers or Ascension stones that were System created to process the changes to body and mind needed to integrate fully within the System paradigm.

What had happened on Ijal, was more like character creation than Ascension.

Ryu had relayed a conversation he had with Thutmose, an explanation on how System merged and upgraded protocols. Our people would sleep, perchance to wake, into a new world, a world that would have been adapted with the changes to System integrated.

A Sleep that allowed for a type of tutorial. A dream that would teach our populace how to use the new System functions, and if [Class]es were integrated, the dream would guide them through a character creation process. They would wake fully cognizant of the changes, adept at using them, and even for those Sidhe that had lived for millions of years, comfortable with the changes that had been made.

Ijal allowed ascension without the use of those chambers, more an automatic process, the next stage in development as a person progressed and aged. I thought this process more effective and efficient than Ascension stones or chambers. Although there were no shortages of stones on Talahm, Chambers had been created and hoarded by the wealthy and powerful.

An entire network of these rooms had been created, protected, and guarded deep within a Keep's walls. Their existence had allowed for events like mine where people were forced into a Chamber with evil intents, the Chamber used as a weapon. If Ijal protocols were integrated, it would remove any concerns for safety those Chambers represented.

I trusted the System's judgment more about when a person should gain full access and be integrated, then an arbitrary age set by society. In fact, most of the changes that had been reported by Ryu, I thought not only made sense but would provide major benefits for the Sidhe, especially now that our people were spreading out across the Universe.

The events on Derva with Irvin seemed minor in comparison, but the spread of Fairy to another planet was a monumental shift in fortune. It was the first expansion of our Realm in this Universe, ever. Once Ijal was claimed, Fairy would expand again, but Derva would always be remembered as the place where we took that first step, to expand and grow beyond the limits of Talahm.

Irvin thought the expansion of Fairy occurred because of his relationship with me and my bloodline. We had opened Sithern on other worlds, but none of them had expanded to include Fairy.

I decided to repeat the process and solution for awakening a Sithern Kernel, Irvin had devised, for all our embassies. I would see if Fairy could expand each time, allowing our people to take by stealth, what the Senate had denied us all of these years. Instead of an occasional planet awarded to our Pantheon, I would see a Sidhe foothold placed on a multitude of worlds within the bounds of every Pantheon.

I was uncertain how the relationship between Irvin and the young woman he had championed would develop. That he had taken an interest in her welfare and protection was predictable. The entire reason he had been banished was that he was obsessed with righting wrongs and playing the hero.

That the woman and her children had become the first Changelings was remarkable. That he would want to continue to protect and guide her and her children in what it meant to be Sidhe was predictable. It would be interesting to see how she developed, and what it meant now that the Tuatha de Danaan could now claim her as a child of our Pantheon.

I was certain she would slowly cut the ties that she grew up with, those strictures and expectations of a culture that bound her to the Gods of Hinduism. What I was uncertain about was whether the Hindu Gods would notice and if they did, if they would object.

I hoped that Irvin's obsession with protecting the weak could be focused on this new family and his new duties as Lord Host. The Sidhe were immortal, and if he took this responsibility as seriously as I thought he might, then he would begin courting the young woman. There was no easier way to remain part of their lives.

The chances that the woman was fecund and would give birth was a high possibility, and a further enticement for Irvin to develop a lasting relationship with her. Fairy required sex and blood to expand, and for that one night, fertility was explosive. There would be many births, many new children born of Fairy because of that ritual. A sign that the Tuatha de Danaan had favored this expansion.

Wynne's actions were the most immediate concern. I was summoned before the Senate to answer to her provocation and the battle that took place on the planet, Rome. Our faction may have been sanctioned if not for the ongoing video that Princess Wynne had recorded.

Every slight, every attempt to humiliate the Princess had been recorded. The actions of Caesar were shown in full holographic detail. And it was his summons of the Fury that escalated what should have been a minor diplomatic insult into a battle of attrition.

Standing before the Senate, I presented that holographic display in its entirety, including the hubris of both Princess Wynne and Caesar. While true the Princess could have overlooked the provocation by Caesar, no other faction would have. She was within her rights to demand the common courtesy that the treaty demanded.

Caesar had signed the exchange in-kind agreement that would allow our two worlds to share ideas, techniques, and innovations that were endemic to our worlds. That he decided to use this moment to shame and degrade our people was entirely on him. That he had invoked and called upon a minor goddess to dispense justice he was entitled to could be levied entirely at the feet of Olympus.

Caesar claimed authority and position by blood. He was one of the sons of Apollo. And he had used that relationship and that authority to use Tisiphone for vengeance. The Senate ruled against him and Olympus, again sanctioning that Pantheon and demanding they pay reparations.

This was the third time that Olympus had lost to the Sidhe before the Senate. Their demand that we stand and answer for our actions rebounding on them once the holographic evidence was made available. The sanctions that they hoped to impose on us were instead visited on them. Tisiphone was enjoined from answering any call by any Olympian in matters that dealt with the Sidhe for a thousand years.

I responded by adding a ten percent tax, to the tax that was already collected on all Silinium purchased by Olympus. And demanded Caesar be removed and not allowed to rule ever again. I would not see them simply shuffle him to another world allowing him to retain his position and rank. His actions required consequence.

Finally satisfied, laying the last page of the reports I had been given to the side, I reflected on the future. Events for Ryu, Wynne, and Irvin were unfolding, not exactly as I'd imagined, but well enough that I was satisfied. All three pieces were in play, there was nothing left to do but watch and see how events unfolded.

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