Jaykob.

Jaykob.

In one of the golden and crystal palaces of Triberias, in one such palace that was nearer to the Sanctuary than most of the others,a couple argued. It was a common occurrence due to their differing opinions on various matters most of them that were of grave import. One had such views and thoughts that were so radical, while the other in fear and with hopes of conformity chose to remain rather mainstream. It was safe, safer than the quite inherent views of the other who of the two was the least dispensable in a society where conformity and being normal was better than being outstanding.

Being outstanding of course had its perquisites, but it also mattered where you were coming from,your family background and social status not that it had worked for his daughter, but Tamaar was an elder of the Great and that meant more pressure for Jaykob and because of this, he found himself constantly doing what he had to, to survive and to keep his remaining children safe and secure within the bounds of the city Triberias.

They could not afford to be banished. With Havillah gone it felt like the pressure had been mounted. An elder and an exile. How odd his life had been tittering in the middle of both extremes,his life dictated by the choices of the women that were or were not in his life and now, this woman his wife was threatening to ruin him completely.

"Jaykob. You have to understand. I am a mother and therefore I have to worry about my children's welfare and that means, all of them!" His wife told him. This arguement had dragged on for days and no matter what he tried,the woman could not see reason.

"But the city is in shutdown and your sons..."

"Our sons will be okay here with you, whereas Havillah has no one."

"Tamaar..."

"No Jaykob!" the woman turned to stare at her husband with a made up look in her eyes. Her purple robes billowed, a stack contrast to his navy blue ones that had not changed once ever since he came of age. Tamaar's grey eyes blinked as she turned around to gaze at the golden city through their living room window. "My mind is made up. Please, don't try to convince me otherwise. I expected that you of all people would understand. You of all people should understand. She's your daughter for heavens sake!"

"One that did not acknowledge me or any of my instructions. Look where that has got her now! " He said, his brown eyes flashing against a forehead hidden behind a curtain of black hair same as Havillah's.

Tamaar sighed. This battle had been going on for years, ever since their girl turned eleven and they discovered that her First Virtue was not as strong.

"You of all people should know better.  You cannot just will yourself to be strong in a one Virtue and weak in another... It's not like she can control it and even so she was not being disobedient to you... No. Havillah tried and I guess, where she failed with a First Virtue she compensated for it with her Second."

"But you can't just leave Triberias. This city needs you!" the man protested again his first reasons having been beaten by her clear logic. Clearly, he did not want her to leave and was trying every means possible to keep her there. It bothered Tamaar that the man that she had called her husband for all these years could be so cold to the plight of his own daughter,but then again, he was just behaving like so many others that lived on Triberias. For Triberians, emotions had never been a strong suit and relations, even those that should really mattered were kept only if they were found to beneficial not just to one's status but also in terms of how one was perceived in the eyes of the society. That was their marriage same as all the others in that beautiful paradise of Triberias.

"My responsibility is first to my daughter as should be yours and as of the rest you have just mentioned. Those responsibilities can be handled by the council and the Chamberlain." she spoke without turning head to face him.

"But Tamaar..." before Jaykob could say otherwise, before he could try again to convince her, this woman, his wife turned around and smiled before ghosting out of the room in true Elder fashion.

"Of course she would do that and I have to be okay with it because she is an Elder." the man remarked bitterly. His feet moved backwards and found the edge of a dining room chair before dropping himself in it. He was exhausted emotionally. On one end, he was trying to keep his family together and especially his wife safe from the threats of that Elder Lionel had issued but she was proving stubborn, not that she knew anything about it.

Jaykob had already seen first hand what the man could do through his very own daughter and now with his wife Tamaar also running rogue, he was not sure what the old man would do to him and eventually to her if he finally caught up with her.

"Maybe I should have told her..." he thought even as he shook his head at his very own crazy idea. Tamaar would not have yielded. She was stubborn and there was rarely anything strong enough to shake her mind from her very strong beliefs. Was not that why she was the strongest among them, the strongest to yield the First Virtue? And yet, their daughter was the weakest, a total irony that had eventually played out to their own doom. Oh, how he longed for those good old days. How he longed to be normal for just one day but no, his prayers were never heard and now he had to watch as his family was torn apart due to the stubbornness of one girl.

He heaved another sigh and rose up to search for his sons. Meanwhile Tamaar had reached the farthest end of the outer city where it was called the view point and as her feet landed on a puffy white cloud she cleared the mists to watch priestdoms below.