Chapter 18

Edda was getting used to the dungeon cell, sure it did hold a claustrophobic element, a terrible loneliness and the air was always damp and cold but she'd come to see it as something more than that. This was the last place she'd call home, it was the last place she'd shared with Ingah before he met his demise. Her last moment upon the realm was etching closer to its end and the dungeon cell was the only place she could simply be for the limited time it offered until the Nula Anyl.

Edda sat on one of the chairs, her head lay on her crossed arms upon the table with Dahli's red coat drenched over her. She'd gotten used to sleeping in that position, for the first couple of days her neck had ached from cramps and her shoulders felt like a blade had been wedged between them but now she didn't seem to feel the discomfort anymore. Sure, the hard furniture didn't offer comfort but it was a mile away preferable to hanging from the wall. Edda had learnt to be grateful of the little things during the end of her days.

It is indeed the end of my days. She'd come to accept it. Solitude and space to think had had her calculating various means of escape, various means of survival or a way to prolong her life past the Nula Anyl. But it all led to dead ends. Simply put, she was clueless. All the mental training from her masters who'd ensured her mind was the sharpest among the Remu spies by teaching her in the ancient ways of the Remu and also educating her with the help of stolen Binorian literature written by past Binorian Kings didn't help her one bit, she was clueless.

Edda had entertained the probability of surviving the Nula Anyl and instead she'd found herself laughing at the absurdity. Only once has someone survived the great sacrifice before the Goddess Meena. In the entire history of Binoria with the Nula Anyl being held once every century or so, only once has someone lived. Only once has someone tamed the beast, only once has someone witnessed the glory of Meena and then returned to the realm of the living. Every participant of the Nula Anyl died and their corpses were hung at the palace gates as a testament of the will of Meena. Well, everyone died except the first King of Binoria, Selarch Vigon.

Selarch, the first mortal to be blessed with the Jojoh Meena and the reason the entire realm bowed before the mighty Binoria. Well, the whole realm bowed except the Kolotians who had refused to forsake their Gods in favor of Meena and had taken a stand against the Binoria. It was their confidence in the face of a sweeping tide that had inspired Talisi and Remu to fight and it was their near extinction that killed the fight in both Talisi and Remu. Edda sighed, it was all hopeless. The whole realm didn't stand a chance against the might of Binoria just as she didn't stand a chance of living through the Nula Anyl.

Edda wished she'd done more things than the training and nurturing she'd undergone in the Remu court. She had never seen the Rankf sea. She'd never been to Talisi, they said the hills of Talisi were like the breasts of a Goddess emerging from the ground, she wished she'd seen that, she wished she'd lived and now in her final moments she wept because the sum of her life was a collection of experiences and teachings that aimed at making her a capable spy and all she'd accomplished was getting caught on her first mission and a sentencing to die. Someone betrayed us Gods dammit! She sobbed.

"Why are you crying?" spoke a smooth voice from the direction of the dungeon cell door. Edda raised her head to find a tall young man dressed in a maroon jerkin that was laced at the front. He held the flanking cell door bars with both hands and his face protruded from the middle bars. He had clear blue eyes and his hair was a blonde mop that fell on either side of his head. He had a long nose that was blunted at the tip and the length of his nose was magnified by his narrow face.

"Why are you crying?" The young man repeated.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Edda asked.

"I asked the first question."

"I've chosen not to answer you." Edda replied.

"Well, if you answer me I might find a way to ease you of your sorrow unless it's tears brought about by rage, can't do much about that." The man said. .

"Who are you?" Edda asked once more.

"I'm someone who can ease your pain."

Edda paused to contemplate the man's words. She tried to place him and the most she could deduce was that he was definitely someone of importance judging from his expensive Jerkin and the manner with which he expressed himself, he had a sort of confidence that could only be found in men whose words of capability were frequently followed by actions of proof. She took her chance. "Can you really help me?" She asked.

"I can only help you depending on what's bothering you, but be assured that whatever help I offer shall be given gently with the least fracas." The man replied. Edda tried to understand what he meant by 'given gently.' But she couldn't piece it together.

"I don't want to die, I don't want to participate in the Nula Anyl." Edda said, her heart beat fast with the possibility of hope and salvation but it immediately came crushing down once the man at the cell door tilted his head back in a similar fashion to Dahli and gave a hearty laugh.

"My dear," The young man said after he was done laughing, "the Nula Anyl isn't death but a pathway to ascendance! Through the Nula Anyll you shall skip the mortal path and journey on the route of the Gods, you shall stand before Meena herself and she shall usher you into Tabrimas! It's an honor greater than life, you ought to rejoice not weep."

Great, another religious lunatic. Edda's head slumped down in defeat. There was no hope, there was no salvation and the fool at the cell door had just come to taunt her. "I have heard, however, that you wish to see the sun? My sister is busy at the moment and can't carry out her promise to you but I'm free and can." Added the man.

Edda's head tilted up to observe the man. A chance to go out into the open? Was this the window she so desperately needed to make her escape? Sister? "Who are you?" Edda asked.

"I'm Leba Vigon, son of Vayin Vigon, King of Binoria." Leba replied with a smile that stretched across his face from ear to ear.

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