Chapter 464: Consul of Faith

A few weeks had passed since the kidnapping, and after it was deemed safe for the children to be allowed outside the palace again, Abu took Edward to the Obsidian castle. Although the two had interacted briefly in the past few weeks, it was minimal, with the upper brass of the Empire always having to move.

Opening the door and letting himself in, Horace stood with his hands behind his back, waiting. Looking down at Edward, he noticed that his temperament had gotten slightly better, a small light in his eyes, but the same flaws were still obvious. The blanket over his legs, his eyes darting from side to side, his hands clenching the armrest, in fear of entering the dark building.

He was better in ways, but the core issues still existed. Fear, embarrassment, self-deprecation and hate. Stepping forward, Horace patted Edward on the head with a smile before picking him up and placing him on the floor. "My Prince. When you stay here, you are not allowed to use the chair unless I let you."

"What?" Both Edward and Abu asked, staring like they had heard something impossible. With a sigh, Horace fell to the ground and lay on his stomach. Pulling himself forward, without using his legs, he slowly dragged his weight a few inches before standing up.

"You are more than the chair; you do not need your chair. Until you can prove to me that you are more than it, you will not have it." Turning to Abu, he scrutinised his muscular body, "Provide me a manual for training your upper body. I will give it to the Prince to make his life easier."

"I... Please, let me back in it?" Edward begged, trying to pull himself to his chair. Each time he did, his legs got stuck to the floor, sending waves of pain throughout his body, "Please. It hurts."

Crouching down, Horace carefully grabbed his chin, forcing Edward to stare at his chest. With his other hand, he pulled away the clothing covering his chest, revealing his body covered in scars, "My father trained me to resist torture at 13. If I could withstand that pain, My Prince, you can withstand yours."

"But.."

"No more buts. His Majesty has already decided that this will be your new life. With me, you will hone your mind, and when you are ready, I will teach you ways to defend yourself." Horace looked to Abu, "There are no complaints. Correct?"

"This isn’t right, Horace."

"But are there any complaints?"

Abu stared into the man’s eyes and clicked his tongue, "No. But if you go too far, I’m ending this."

"Good." Clapping his hands, Horace grabbed the wheelchair and pushed it down the corridor. "Your first task is to reach the wheelchair without help. If you do, I will let you sit in it for the rest of the day." Sitting on the staircase, he grabbed a few documents she had prepared in advance and started to read them, "Begin whenever you want." With a wave of the hand, he paid minimal attention to Edward’s training.

Edward stared down the corridor, the word Horace spoke echoing in his mind.’You are more than the chair; you do not need your chair. You are more than the chair; you do not need your chair.’

Breathing heavily, he felt the pain in his legs become bearable. It wasn’t that he had done anything, but that he simply got used to it. Breathing in and out, he reached forward, grabbing the carpet. Dragging his body forward, he only moved a few inches.

It was barely noticeable, but his heart raced with excitement and fear. He had never been allowed to move without the chair. It was his lifeline and his cage. Reaching forward again, he grabbed the carpet and pulled himself forward. A rush of pain attacked, but, gritting his teeth, his face remained blank, only his clenched jaw being a sign of it.

Horace peeked above the documents and put them down. He expected Edward to take longer to work up the courage to do as he asked, but seeing him move, he realised the reality of the boy’s situation. With a smile, he leaned back and watched, forgetting about his work for a moment.`

Looking back, he saw Abu’s kind smiling face, his eyes full of pride and silent encouragement. He didn’t realise that even through the pain, he was brightly smiling, before turning and pulling himself once again.

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Jenny looked around the classroom. Ever since the incident, things have been quiet. Barring a few, many of them lacked their usual playfulness. They could all tell that something bad had happened, whether it was overhearing what their parents had said, or the simple fact that many of the people they had come to school with had vanished.

Yet one stood out amongst them. Balder had returned soon after the incident, but he had changed. Whilst he was mischievous before, his actions had gotten worse, almost cruel. Mere teasing had become bullying, egged on by his friends, whom he desperately tried to impress.

"Children." Putting the chalk down, she turned to the students and smiled, "Today, Astrid will be returning to class after lunch. Please give her a warm welcome when she does." Watching the reactions, her lip twitched seeing Balder’s bright eyes dim into an annoyed glare. The bell rang signalling lunch, and as the children were leaving, she walked over to Balder. "Can we talk, please?"

Balder scowled but did as told, waving his friends off, "Balder. Do you not like your sister?"

Huffing, the young boy turned away, "Of course I do. But she’s changed."

"Of course she has. What she went through was a scary thing. But she needs her friends and family to help her. Especially you."

"Don’t lie." Balder snapped, "She’s a freak now. Always smiling like an idiot. Hogging father for herself." Balder paused and got up, walking out.

"Balder. Come back." Calling out, she watched the young boy ignore her, walking off, his guards following close behind. "God. How am I meant to deal with this?" Grabbing her head, she walked back to her desk and collapsed onto it, rubbing her forehead.

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"We got word from Adrian." Issac walked into Alfred’s office, slapping the letter on the table. Tearing it open, he quickly skimmed through the details of his meeting with Darius, focusing on the thing Cyrus wanted.

"Is Alice in Brookhaven?"

"Yes." Issac paused and looked at the letter, "Shall I summon her?"

"Do it." Issac bowed and woke up. After half an hour, he returned with Alice. Her first action was to speed past Issac and bow toward Alfred. "Rise, Alice." As soon as she lowered her head, he ordered her, stopping the flood of praise that was about to come, for he couldn’t be bothered to deal with it.

Alice quickly rose, not daring to delay Alfred, and stared ahead with her bright, mad smile. "What is the issue, Your Majesty?"

"Emperor Cyrus of the Lisaponic Empire wants to have a say in the Pantheon. He believed that the Khorish community is underrepresented, and while we have Gregor to lead that, Cyrus knows he is nothing more than a puppet for you." Alfred paused, trying to find the correct wording, "What role can you give Cyrus that won’t encroach on mine or your power without embarrassing him?"

Alice paused, her fingers closing around the necklace. Rubbing the icon of the Pantheon, a single large orb surrounded by four smaller ones, she thought. "The faith, although one has three separate sets of worshippers: the Children of light, the followers of the Son, and the Holy daughters’ covenant. If Cyrus wishes to influence the Followers of the Son, I can only assume he wishes for a council position in the Patheon, but that goes against your Wishes, Your Majesty."

"Alice, is there anything?" Alfred cut in, nearly pleading. Adrian’s words showed clearly that Cyrus would go to war if he failed to give something worthwhile. Alice took a deep breath.

"Maybe, we can create a new role. The Silesians have chosen the Pantheon as their nation’s faith, but they are a separate church from us. I’m in talks to create a position for each of our sects, one where we can discuss theology and address the issues of the Holy Book without causing friction. This is all I can provide, Emperor Cyrus. He will have a say in theology but nothing within management."

Alfred took a deep breath and closed his eyes, thinking on the matter for a minute. "What’s this position called?"

"Consul of faith. It isn’t confirmed yet, but it will be along those lines." Alfred nodded and turned to Issac.

"Send word back to Adrian, offering Cyrus or his representative as Consul of Faith." Looking back at Alice, Carrie don, "Sister, please give all the information about this role to Issac, in as much depth as possible. Add your seal to the letter to prove this has come from you."

"As you command." Issac bowed, making Alice quickly follow behind. Looking at Issac, he smiled.

"Any changes in Severia whilst you are here?"

"The same. They are mobilising as we speak. The Gotic have opened their borders and are preparing on the Silesian border. I assume Alexei will send word."

"Thank you. I leave this to you two." The two bowed once again and left the room. Looking at Adrian’s letter, he couldn’t help but worry that Cyrus might be more petty than he had initially thought.