"After that, we went back a good part of the way to the point where the sphinx had sent us. Talaos suspected it was all a sphinx ploy to keep us away from her nest. But Achmeron was sure the sphinx had not lied, but kept her word. We searched for days on end, until we found the cave. At this point, I thought it was an ordinary cave, a maze with no way out. I, at least, lost track of the time we spent there. Until we found the river, and even a port..."
Demophon looked at everyone, checking the expressions absorbed in the story, and laughed out loud," But as I said, this part of the story won't be told either by Pamphilos or by me, tonight. When I, or the Emperor, die, the story can be told, and what we saw and lived on the Underworld can be revealed."
It was frustrating for everyone present, even those who already knew Kalanthe's story. They had no choice but to listen to what was officially revealed.
"Out of respect for the Ascended Titans, the three survivors swore they would not reveal what they saw, for fear the wrath of gods would curse their lineage. Unfortunately, Talaos perished on that journey. Later on, they erected a small temple in honor of Talaos at the exit of Hermos Pass, facing the Adriasia Bay and the capital of the empire. Travelers often leave offerings to thank his spirit for not getting lost on the way. Many believe that calling for Talaos when visiting those mountains will help to find those who are lost."
This time the narrator gave a brief moment of silence, waiting for some comment from the archigeos. But the head of the clan was silent and lost in thought, so the story continued.
"Their families celebrated the return of the prince and the valiant Kroton. But young Kalanthe returned to her life as a guide in the mountains. A year after his return, Kalanthe appeared in the capital in a shiny new armor, and enlisted at the annual draft in early summer."
Glax remembered Uniq, who intended to do the same thing and asked Chriseis for advice.
A commoner could join the army and rise a bit in rank from the rest of the non-Krios. They just had to pay for their own armor and pass the rigid tests, called agogue, as Rasmus said.
But from what Glax had discovered, non-krios were merely cannon fodders and rarely reached high ranked positions. The only way to become a Krios was to be a man, and somehow marry a krios lady with the approval of the family. Which was as rare as winning the lottery twice. This meant that Kalanthe would never be a krios. She went on to be called Lady for having risen in military positions, or perhaps after having died as a heroine.
"Passing all the tests and proving her worth, Kalanthe joined the Echelian Army, and the Megarians Legion. She took part in the Battle of Siroumegium, with honors. And also fought at Rusa, when the resident Pharysians and vselys joined the echelians to close the Heramis pass. Our toughest battle since Hell Ascended..."
The atmosphere in the room suddenly became heavy, and even the archigeos showed embarrassment. Glax sensed that this epic battle could have a lot to do with why Nikandros had lost his lower body.
"After that battle, Kalanthe was already a captain in the Megarians, one of our toughest Legions. And it was at that time that Empress Urania accepted the invitation of the vselys, with whom she exchanged diplomatic correspondence for a long time. If the vselys managed to come and go across the Sea of Mists to Stygia, the empress couldn't accept the fact we could not also reach Valya on one of our ships."
"And it should have stayed like that."
"If Argos II had not existed, probably the eastern portion of Stygia would have been totally conquered by foreigners, Niko," Demophon replied to his older brother. Glax was never tired of marveling at how Echelians considered themselves the ultimate badasses and most invincible warriors ever.
"And, accepting the invitation of the King of Valya, she agreed to send one of her sons to study at the vselys court, receiving a vselys noble to do the same at the Stygian Imperial Court" Pamphilos resumed the narrative. "While the crown prince would go to the court of the Steam People, or Prometheans, as they called themselves. The empress wanted her children to know the customs and technologies of other peoples, so that Stygia quickly adapted to them. At that time, the empire was determined to modernize thanks to the Prometheans and the steam, and the empire rushed to embrace whatever they brought to Stygia. The vselys, who had arrived earlier, had brought much healing knowledge. They had special methods of purifying iron and forging legendary weapons; they also taught how to awaken iatromancers."
"Both sides worked well to hide the most important thing from us… And we ended up letting them lure us with their gifts and promises. I still remember how our father didn't like it and said we should expel them all out…" The archigeos grunted.
Nobody contradicted him, but Nikandros left the room after that. Demophon shrugged and motioned for Pamphilos to continue.
"All the clans sent resources and engineers to create the Danais II and Argos II, and ships were ready in record time. They left the same day, from the port of Hylos, with crews handpicked from all the clans. As for Argos II and the journey across the Sea of Mists, many nobles from the three echelian houses anxiously awaited the opportunity and the honor of being chosen for this trip. But Prince Achmeron asked Kalanthe to embark as his bodyguard on the journey. Archigeos Demophon allowed her to go, even though she was not a krios."
"She deserved to go, why not?" the leader of the clan shrugged.
"What we have as an account of the trip came from Lady Kalanthe's own reports, when she returned four years later. The Argos II crew took a long time, she said, to reach Valya," Pamphilos explained. "Lady Kalanthe reported the enormous astonishment at the very tall buildings made of dark stone. Solid and closed like boxes. The capital of Valya, Arkalos, was far from the sea. And the palace of the King of the vselys, Kain, was in a citadel atop a rock. But the Stygians soon discovered that the palace had several underground levels, like a city that never saw daylight. They had strange machines, far different from the Steam People, powered by magic."
Glax blinked. 'What if…'
"As guests, they couldn't go everywhere. They were taken to visit different parts of the country. Lady Kalanthe said it was a place she didn't want to live. Valya, she reported, was a sad place, with strange people. Prince Achmeron asked if they weren't really in Hell. But all he had to answer for was that even the vselys had no way of knowing."
Pamphilos let the information settle, with little explanation, before continuing.
"She said they had very complex customs and the court games were deadly. Prince Achmeron was a canny man, however. In addition, he was well advised by his private secretary, Adastros de Verivos, and escaped some intrigues with dangerous outcomes The king was feared, and his son, even more so. The kingdom was arranged in such a way that the nobles took care of parts of the country like lesser kings. They met in assembly during the winter, obligatorily, when the king managed them and prevented one or the other to stand out too much and pose any threat to him."
Glax imagined it must be like the feudal system he studied at school. But he knew he needed to know more about Stygia to understand what had really shocked his mother when she visited Valya. Perhaps because she was essentially a warrior, unprepared for court? Or was there really 'something rotten in the state of Denmark', as Shakespeare says?
"All of them, these nobles, had mastery over magic, at different levels of proficiency, going far beyond mortals in strength and skill. Lady Kalanthe reported they were all human in appearance, but as had already been noticed here in Stygia, they seemed not to grow old as normal humans do. There were cases of parents who had children older than themselves, at least in appearance. And that didn't make a lot of sense to her."
"Hmm."
Recalling this did not seem to be good for the archigeos ruminant system, Glax noted.
"Stygia's entourage was a guest of the king, and from the account of Prince Achmeron's bodyguard who was with him much of the time, the king showed him many things. The king was also a powerful sorcerer himself. According to Lady Kalanthe, he built clocks capable of predicting the future, and even the lifespan of someone, among other wonders that he was capable of. There was a tall tower where a big mechanism could make time go back. King Kain allowed Achmeron to witness these and other things, while he was there."
At that point, Glax was genuinely shocked. Were the vselys able to command time?
"These and other things were reported when Lady Kalanthe returned, and were filed in the Hall of Bones. She married Adrastos de Verivos while she was there, although against Prince Achmeron's will. Lady Kalanthe had a baby with her when she returned, about a year old. A dark-haired boy like his father, called Glax."
The eyes turned to Glax for a moment, but he didn't mind it. Knowing that the Argos II travel reports were at the Hall of Bones was very enlightening for the Valosian. That was probably what the original Glax wanted!
"The Empire honorably released lady Kalanthe from her duty as Prince Archmeron's bodyguard, and returned to Valosia. Not much later, Prince Achmeron became the emperor and surprisingly, turned against Valya and Pandora. Lady Kalanthe, in the position of commander, played an important role in retaking Valosia. The Pharysians had usurped the province as their territory, with the aid of the vselys, in her absence. She died heroically in Hermo Pass, in the decisive battle won by the echelians..."
Glax shivered, at the same time that the archigeos clapped abruptly, ending the story and getting up.
"Well then, Glax. This is your mother's story. She told me once that she could very well die as a nobody, just as she was born. But she wanted her offspring to hear she had been a good person, and someone they don't need to be ashamed of. She was a good person. And a loyal, honorable woman. And much more than that. We who arrive after our ancestors have a duty to honor their legacy, and to raise the bar even higher."
Glax nodded, accepting his mother's legacy, and using it to his advantage. He asked shamelessly,
"The travel report that is in the Hall of Bones ... Can I read it? Please?"