Snow nervously twisted his fingers and swallowed dry before gathering enough courage to ask his next question.
"ZaiWin's mother … she was a Chosen One too, right?"
"So she was," VinWei replied with a gentle smile. "Her name was Nox NimTar. In truth, she was the first Governor, or in her case Governess, of Nox. The El'Dur granted her the Province of Nox the moment she became a Chosen One. Because, like I said, ideally it would be best if every Province had at least one Tien'Elhar. And Nox had been without one for a very long time. I think the El'Dur was hoping that, by granting NimTar the title of Governess of Nox, her Tien'Elhar might finally bring some blessings to the land. That's also the reason why the El'Dur is expected to have many wives, and why they can never be from the same Province. Because most of the El'Dur's direct descendants will become Chosen Ones, guaranteeing that many different Provinces will be blessed."
"But in NimTar's case, that didn't happen … right? Something went wrong … " Snow muttered and VinWei went cold stiff, staring at the boy in alarm.
"Who told you that?"
"Isn't that why he hates all Tien'Elhar …?" Snow asked, nervously torturing his own fingers, and VinWei released a deep sigh.
"No one really knows what happened. I, for once, was too young at the time to be able to distinguish between truths and rumors. I did ask ZaiWin about it, once. But he simply told me he rather not talk about that. And he looked so hurt by the mere mention of that episode, that I never had the courage to ask about it again. ZenTar too, always refuses to talk about that. However, one thing is true. NimTar's and NimMai's story was a peculiar one right from the start.
"NimTar was already past the normal age of when people become Chosen Ones, when NimMai chose her. People normally become Chosen Ones when they are between twelve and fourteen years of age. NimTar was fifteen.
"And NimMai's case was even stranger. She was the oldest Tien'Elhar to ever find her Chosen One. She was in the Temple's care for a total of twenty-six years, when most Tien'Elhar find their Chosen Ones when they are between six and eight years of age. In fact, NimTar had been present in the three previous Haehir, and NimMai never even glanced her way.
"It was also the first time in hundreds of years that a Tien'Elhar was actually older than her Chosen One. Because of these abnormalities, they were taken to live in the Palace, even though NimTar was not one of the El'Lin. The Temple considered theirs to be a delicate relationship, and wanted to make sure everything went smoothly.
"Then, at one point, there was even a rumor that NimTar had been taken to the Palace in order to become the next Janwan. Girls must be at least sixteen years of age, before they can marry the El'Dur," she added and Snow lowered his gaze.
"Then what happened …?"
VinWei released a deep sigh.
"As I said, I really don't know all the details. But NimTar was murdered. She was only twenty-three. They found her stabbed to death, in the main hall of the Pavilion where she lived. Her only child was found sitting on the floor, staring blankly into nothing, next to his mother's dead body. They say that there was blood everywhere. ZaiWin was only six at the time. I remember that there were some rumors implying that the child might have killed his own mother. I also remember my father saying that he didn't believe that load of crap, and that they were only looking for an excuse to sentence him to death. But then NimMai came forth, and admitted to killing her Chosen One."
Snow's eyes widened in shock and disbelief, his heart beating so fast against his chest that he couldn't even breathe.
Taking into account all she had told him and the way she had watched over ZaiWin all those years, Snow had eventually concluded that the golden-haired woman who had appeared to him, twice now, had to be ZaiWin's mother Tien'Elhar. But this ...? NimMai had killed her Chosen One? That beautiful, elegant, golden-haired woman …? He couldn't believe it. She always looked so delicate and frail. And he could still recall how disgusted she'd been, seeing ZaiWin control those dark blades. How could someone like her stand to stab someone else to death? It made no sense!
"I know. I couldn't believe it either. Not then, and not for many years. Until I met ZaiWin. And he coldly confirmed that what I had thought to be mere rumors was actually the truth."
"He … was there ... he saw it …"
Even though that hadn't been a question VinWei still nodded, her beautiful face a mask of bitter sorrow.
"I know and understand how ZaiWin feels about all this. Believe me, I had some hot arguments with him, regarding of his limited, discriminative, and hateful views of the Tien'Elhar. But you know what, Snow. Even now, I still don't believe things were as simple as they seem.
"Like I said, I've spent my life studying the Tien'Elhar, reading every document I could lay my hands on as long as it so much as mentioned the word. And I've read some pretty horrible things. But in none of those accounts has a Tien'Elhar ever turned against their Chosen One. I actually wish they had, in some situations. Your kind will always bear the most horrible things in silence, and they normally rather die, than disobey their Chosen One. It gets to the point where it's annoyingly frustrating and sad. You are gifts sent to us by the Heavens and, more often than I'd like to admit, we not only treat you poorly, we actually abuse and exploit you until you just can't take it anymore.
"NimTar was just a girl. I imagine she must have been beyond happy and proud, when NimMai chose her. After all, it was the fourth time she went to a Haehir, hoping she'd be the lucky one. I can hardly believe she'd be capable of doing anything that would harm NimMai in any way. And you, better than me, must know how a Tien'Elhar feels towards their Chosen One. Would you be able to simply drive a dagger into ZaiWin's chest with no apparent reason?"
Snow shuddered at the mere thought, his hands sweaty just from imagining wielding a blade and burying it in ZaiWin's chest. He wanted to say that he'd be able to do it, if he wanted to. But the moment that thought crossed his mind he felt immediately sick to the stomach, a sharp pain in his chest making it hard to breathe.
"So don't allow this horrible tragedy to influence your life. Heaven knows it has influenced ZaiWin's life more than enough. It plunged him into a very dark precipice. But I'm absolutely confident that you will be able to pull him back up, to a much brighter place."
"I really don't know if I can …"
VinWei laughed lightly.
"You don't need to know. You're already doing it. So just don't let what I've told you change the way you behave with him. Even though you may not see it, you're a true blessing in his life. And I'm just glad that he has finally started to see that as well. I was ready to beat him to a pulp, if he dared continue treating you the way he did."
Snow blushed deeply at the sound of those words and VinWei released a heavy sigh.
"It's kind of unfair, I know. You are made to obey and dedicate yourselves entirely to another person. But it's not guaranteed that the other person will return even one-tenth of that dedication. From the moment a Tien'Elhar finds their Chosen One their life is not theirs anymore. But their Chosen One remains free to do as they please. Of course, every action has its consequences, and acting against a Tien'Elhar is acting against the Heavens. But there are still those who don't care about such things, seeing only what's right in front of their eyes, acting out of pure selfishness and egoism. That's why I gave you that bracelet," VinWei said and Snow's gaze fell on the small, shiny crystals around his wrist.
"Since you are not really bound together, at least you'll have enough strength to fight back. I do love ZaiWin, and I owe him a lot, but I also know him considerably well. He is a friend to his friends, but he doesn't trust any of them. And he trusts those that mean nothing to him even less. Also, he is has a deep need to keep everything around him under control, which in turn translates into him expecting everyone to conform to his will. He is bad at hearing what other people have to say, and worse even at taking into account what they want. Also, I knew of his hatred for the Tien'Elhar, and that he wouldn't make things easy for you." At one point she'd even thought that he'd end up killing the poor boy.
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Well, since people will think that ZaiWin became a Chosen One at the Fortress they are about to make History like ZaiWin's mother and NimMai did. Even worse, since ZaiWin was theoretically 22 and Snow 16 when they became bounded. 🤔