46, The test

The next morning Ayya ate breakfast in her apartment before heading for Tariana’s office. She was the first one there except for Tariana and her father. 

“Feeling better?” her father asked. 

“Much, thank you, dad,” she told him. She was nervous, but she had a goal and she would use every piece of her stubbornness and determination to reach it. 

“I can see the fire is back in your eyes. This will be an interesting day,” Tariana remarked and chuckled. They sat down at the table and waited for the others. It didn’t take long before everyone was gathered. “We have all had some time to think and I expect us all to do our best to discuss this from all points of view until we can reach a consensus,” Tariana told them. 

“Ayya had a good point yesterday,” aari Furlow said. “Due to our experience in the past, we did overlook the people’s situation,” he continued. 

“Are you saying you are in favour of sending the Lady back a third time?” aari Gregic asked.

“No, that’s not what I‘m saying. I merely suggest that we at least take a moment to talk about the situation before deciding.”

“The fact still remains that the people are no worse or better off regardless of what we do. The past has shown us that,” aari Sadie told them.

“Things are no longer the same. There is a new king. I admit the old one was weak and under the influence of the church, but the new king may not be the same,” Ayya said.

“Why wouldn’t he? What evidence have we that he is different?”

“None, but we also don’t have any evidence that he is the same. He is a wild card, but just by being an unknown factor, he changes things,” Ayya insisted. 

“But do we dare take the change based on such a slight change?” aari Gregic asked. 

“It isn’t a slight change, it’s a huge one. I have it on a good authority that there was a riot in Dermes early in the spring. That shows you how desperate the situation is. Even if they have food for the winter, people are watching their friends and family dying around them. If the king isn’t being controlled by the church, it is only a matter of time before he will become dependent on them,” Ayya told them. “You need to understand that in times like this, the people of Dermes will turn to the church and not their king. If the church get the power over the people, the king will eventually have to give in to them. And if we are to look at this from a political point of view, if Dermes falls into chaos, so does Domne as a whole. If Domne becomes weak, then we know that there are other powers that will be standing by to try to claim it. We will have war so close to us it will be a miracle if it doesn’t spill across our borders.” There was silence as they all contemplated what Ayya had said. 

“But that is just one possible way the future can unfold,” aari Lohem finally said.

“It is, none of us know the future. But us being denied again is also just one possible outcome. If war comes, would we not rather say that we did everything to avoid it?” Ayya asked. 

“Who knows how a possible war could affect us? We might be safe,” aari Sandrim added to the conversation.

“No. If war comes, we will be affected,” Tariana said. “We are already affected by the sickness even though we are safe from its grasp. Ayya’s first mission shows us that the effects of something like this are far more widespread than we would have thought, or than we can predict.” 

“Then the question becomes if we want to risk the Lady’s life by helping those that have refused help before. Or prepare ourself for war and chaos,” aari Gregic told them in a sad voice. 

“I still think the risk is too high and the possibility of success is too low for us to risk the Lady,” aari Sadi said. 

“Let’s put it to a vote,” Tariana suggested. “Those in favour of rejecting the plea for help.” Ayya’s heart sank, and she watched the aari one by one raise their hands. She had failed to convince them. In the end, it was only she and aari Gregic that hadn’t raised their hand, even Tariana thought the risk was too high. It was time for Ayya’s backup plan. She hoped her father would forgive her for it.

“Send me,” she told the council.

“What?” aari Furlow asked, and every eye around the table shot to her.

“Send me in the Lady’s stead. I have yet to receive my final test as a candidate. Make this my test,” Ayya told them.

“Everyone out. We are taking a break. I need to talk to Ayya alone. The rest of you will stand by until we are done. Not a word about any of this to anyone outside this room. Go!” Tariana commanded. It was the first time Ayya had seen her order people like that. No one objected. They stood up and moved out of the room. “You too, Kopa,” Tariana said, looking at Ayya’s father. 

“No, I need to talk some sense into her,” he objected. 

“Leave that to me. Now go,” she said, pointing at the door. Kopa hesitated. He looked at Ayya and she could see the battle that was raging in him. On one hand, he had always listened to Tariana’s orders, but on the other hand, this was Ayya’s safety. He finally turned around and stormed out of the office. Ayya felt her heart break for him.

“Now, let’s discuss this outburst like two adults,” Tariana said. She turned her chair, so it faced Ayya, before sitting down. “Ayya, do you know what it is you are asking?” 

“I do. And it’s not something I suggest lightly. I thought things through last night and this was one of the ways I could think of to help,” Ayya told her. 

“Ayya, you know better than most what it was like the previous times. But I have never told you all the story. You never saw what happened when we left to sit down and talk with their council and the church. It was gruelling days that seemed to never end with questions upon question. Questions repeated over and over with different wording. A never ending sea of doubt and mistrust. Half of the time I couldn’t bring your father as I knew he would have killed every single one of them for talking to me like that,” Tariana explained. 

“I always thought you left him behind for my sake,” Ayya said. 

“It was a good excuse to have. It did both of you good to get the time together. My point, Ayya, is that all of that was not arranged by the king. It was the council and the church. It was they that each time stopped us from achieving what we came to do. And they are still the ones that remain. Even if there is a new king, the church and the council remain.”

“I know it won’t be easy,” Ayya told her.

“If you do this, if you choose to make this your final test, there is no going back. I’m afraid you will fail and even though there is a slight possibility that you can become the Lady even if you fail. It would only be a reality if Mikhalie also fails her test. And we both know she won’t offer to take a test like this,” Tariana said. “I understand why you are doing this. I see where you are coming from and I can see it from your point of view. You have always put the need of others before yourself and you have people you care for in Dermes. But I ask that you don’t takeaway the possibility to become the next Lady because of them. We need you as well, Ayya. Even more so if we are going into an uncertain future. We will need a leading light as yourself to get us through it,” Tariana told Ayya.

“I don’t know what to say. I don’t know if I can live up to such high hopes,” Ayya began, and got a smile from Tariana. “But I don’t think I will ever see myself as worthy to take on the responsibility of being the Lady if I knew I could have done something, but I chose to do nothing and watched the world come apart around me.” 

“Oh sweet child, your are too good,” Tariana sighed and grabbed Ayya’s hands in hers. 

“Do you think he will hate me?” Ayya asked. They both knew she was talking about her father. Tariana laughed a little.

“There is nothing you can ever do that can make that man hate you. But he will be angry. But your mother and I will sort that out. So you have made up your mind? Is there something I can do to convince you not to do this?” Tariana asked.

“No.”

“Then I will help you as best I can. I will tell you everything and I will help you plan strategies to win where I lost,” Tariana promised her. “Now, let’s call the others back and get this over with.” Ayya walked to the door to ask one of the riders to let the other know they should come back. Her father was pacing in the waiting area outside the office. They walked back in together.

“Have you talked her out of it?” he demanded to know as soon as he saw Tariana. 

“No, I will help her.” The look on her father’s face almost scared Ayya. He looked furious. 

“I trusted you to handle this. I left as I thought you would do what was right, that you were as invested in keeping her safe as I was,” he said in a dark voice. 

“She tried, dad. But no one can change my mind about this,” Ayya told her father. 

“Then we will just keep you locked up until you see reason. I am not letting you go back to that place.”

“Dad, I need to do this. Please understand,” Ayya pleaded with him. Kopa looked at her as the first members of the council entered the room. He huffed and took up his place behind Tariana. Ayya sat down in her chair, feeling miserable and a little sick.

“It is decided that aari Ayya will go to Dermes. As her final test as my candidate, she is to gain permission to help the people of the city. Let’s be clear, her test is to gain permission, not to cure the sickness or to solve any other issue. This is my will as the current Lady, this is how I choose to see if she is worthy to be my successor,” Tariana told the council once they all were seated. There were surprised whispers and looks. “Now we must shift focus. We have a mission to plan, and this will be one for the history books, we can’t miss any details and nothing is to be left to chance. I expect all areas to be ready to contribute if needed. This takes priority over anything that isn’t life threatening. Let’s get moving.”