“…Numerous are those not having a family name. Why another name than the one that was given to you? In small villages, talking about Sam the smith is well enough to be understood by everyone. But with villages becoming small cities, the ever-growing population of the Empire of Ja, and the law of Census, a new way of differentiation had become necessary. As such, many noble families followed the Jarulavian trend of a second name, specifying whose family you were a member of. But of course, everyone tried to be honoured with a title from the Imperatrix herself. Jarl the Bohemian, The Duke Yarnt the Brave, Konrad Paladin of Thiers, are among the more famous ones…”

Internal Politics of the Empire, Chapter Seven: Culture and Society.

“I refuse.” Nay’s answer was instantaneous. “Why tempt the devil? Summon Angels to control my ma…it’s absurd, suicidal even, why…”

Her answer, quickly reaching hysteria was cut off by the Imperatrix raising her hand.

“Calm down Nay. I misspoke. The sp…miracle of the Conqueror’s door does not necessarily mean summon creatures as dangerous as Angels.”

The archbishop nodded but seemed a bit surprised at the Imperatrix’s mistake. H continued the conversation. “Obviously. Obviously. With what happened at Gite, the sacredness of Angels has been heavily questioned. And in no case would we ever entertain such an idea. But remember your lessons, young girl, creating life, Invoking the living from nothing, is not something we mortals can achieve. Even you and your phantom miracle of Trayx, are only able to create shadows of yourself. It is nothing as alive or complex as the Angels.”

Nay’s heartbeat slowed a bit. “I see, what is it about then? I thought the Conqueror had summoned the Angels with his power.”

“And that is the case, that is the case.” Sage Defin answered. “In a way at least. The phantom miracle of the Conqueror is without a doubt the most impressive miracle ever given to Man by the Gods. Even more than yours, if I may. Yours could be used by all, even though it has been banned because of its link with the God of death, but the Conqueror’s… Well, if others had been able of that feat, this world would be vastly different than it is today. No no no, the miracle of the Conqueror’s door, well, this is it.” He pointed his finger towards the blackness on the wall.

“That…” Nay blinked. The archbishop had taught her that, in one of his first lessons. The same one where he had concluded Nay’s power to be linked with the god Trayx. All phantom miracles could be translated into a psalm, making it available to every God-Touched, with reduced effects. That was how new miracles were created. But they hadn’t translated Nay’s miracle. She was allowed to use it herself, as she had no control over it without a psalm, although she would still be judged if the uncontrolled power did harm. But it had been decided that no one else was allowed to accomplish it. All of Trayx’ miracles as well as most of Jormun’s were under this rule. She looked at the black, man-sized rectangle attentively. She had forgotten his explanation about what it was, only keeping in mind how uncomfortable and uneasy it made her feel. This was the Conqueror’s miracle, she remembered now. And it was described as a door because…

“…It lets you travel to other locations, go instantly from one place to another.” She said out loud.

“That’s exactly it. Yes: The Conqueror’s door is the ultimate transportation method. Our new railway system is an extraordinary advancement, but the Conqueror’s door… well, it is something else entirely.” Sage Defin was looking at the void with adoration.

“But there is a profound difference between creating a door to a place you have been before, and one leading to an unknown place.” The Imperatrix added. “Rö explained it in depth. I do not believe, even with your power, that you would be able to create a door to the unknown, where the Angels live for example.”

Then why announce it like this? Nay didn’t like those games the Imperatrix played sometimes. She would need to ask Trinne about the potential reason why Hyn had formulated it so.

Nay gulped, refocusing on the pitch blackness. “Is…Is that door leading to…?”

The Imperatrix shook her head no. “That would be suicide, for more reasons than you can imagine. No, this door well…it leads nowhere. It’s a failure, an uncontrolled version of the Conqueror’s phantom miracle. The runes are there to make it harmless, to avoid an accident, and have someone fall into it. Nonetheless, if we find ourselves here today, it is because it is the best example we have on hand to show you. The best example of the end results to reach.”

The archbishop continued: “It is always easier to achieve a miracle if you have been shown an example before. Just singing the psalm is not enough, you need to instill the will of the Gods as well. And with the Conqueror’s door, according to Rö and our beloved sovereign’s compendium, you would also need a very good visualization of where you want the door to appear.”

“The door creates a door in front of you, but also where you want it to lead you.” The Imperatrix explained.

Nay nodded, slowly understanding what was asked of her. She looked at the Imperatrix with the corner of her eyes. Why would she teach her such a spell? She didn’t really expect to succeed where the greatest Touched of this generation had failed, but if she succeeded, wouldn’t this mean…

As usual, the Imperatrix had a game of Comptoy in advance on the young girl.

“You’re most likely asking yourself why we would decide to teach you something so powerful, despite you being supposedly confined in these walls for another year. It is, after all, the best tool to flee in the world.” The Imperatrix smiled at her sincerely.

Nay didn’t answer, simply looking at the leader of the Empire of Ja directly in the eyes.

“Well, it brings quite the lugubrious conversation, but it is necessary. We have thought about it deeply, me and the archbishop, on a way to protect the Empire in case of your death. This is our answer. This door could bring you leagues away from here, to a place with no living soul.”

Nay understood immediately. “I could flee, disappear before…exploding.”

“Absolutely.”

She stayed silent for a moment. “But I would only be able to go to a place I’ve been before, isn’t that right?”

“True, but I have an idea about where you could go, someplace that would contain your power. We will discuss this with Trinne on another day if it is okay with you. Today, you need to learn the psalm, and then the basics of control on the God’s gift.” The Imperatrix spoke in a calm voice, even though she had to know the effects of such news on the young Legio.

The young woman was almost in shock. This was a solution to a problem tormenting her, even though imperfect. After all, if she died on the spot, or if she was in such a bad state she couldn’t use the miracle, it would be useless. Despite that, it was an unimaginable source of hope. The weight of the world would not be on her shoulders anymore. If she could just simply go far away and avoid an apocalyptic event… Nay focused, this would happen if and only if she managed to produce this impossible miracle never reproduced in more than a century.

The archbishop Defin saw the motivation grow inside the young Legio’s eyes, and a large smile appeared on his lips.

“I see we have your attention now; shall we begin?”

“I’m ready.”

“Good.” He eyed the Imperatrix, who rose and was on her way to leave.

“Sage Defin is better suited than me for the rest of the lesson, we’ll see each other at tonight’s dinner, Nay.” The Legio rose as well and bowed quickly, then followed Hyn with her eyes as she gathered her papers and left the room.

As she disappeared behind the closing door, Nay grimaced, her motivation already plummeting. The smile on the archbishop’s face didn’t falter for even a second, and was growing more creepy as time passed.

“The psalm for the Conqueror’s door, then. It is obvious that what I will be teaching you should not reach outside these walls. It isn’t a forbidden miracle, but it is one of our holiest. Using it haphazardly is a capital sin. Carradins are never to hear those words. If you need to chant, I advise you to do it alone, or as discreetly as possible.”

“I would not be able to just sing it in my head, right?”

“As it is a miracle of Ja, and your connection is with Trayx, this kind of feat will probably never be in your reach, although with your power nothing is certain. In any case, singing silently is extremely complicated. Jarl can do it with the miracle of flames, and I myself am able to shorten some of the songs linked with earth, but it took us decades of training. This is not something we’ll be working on for now.”

“I see.”

“Now, I’ll sing you the words, and you’ll sing after me. For today, I simply want you to know the psalm by heart. I will explain how to transform the song in a miracle next week, when you’ll be able to sing it perfectly with no hesitation.”

“Understood.”

Nay had forgotten about her unease at the archbishop’s adoring look in the following hour. She hadn’t ever been great at remembering things by heart, but transforming the words into a song had helped her a lot. Finally, like many other miracles, the chant was quite pretty. Sage Defin had given her a few examples of other miracles in the past, especially during special events like religious celebrations or one particular marriage where she had been invited to without actually knowing anyone there. Defin’s voice was indubitably splendid. The miracles he had performed had never been very impressive though, almost always just a simple flame birthed from nothingness or levitating objects. Still, the archbishop took all of those extremely seriously. Nay didn’t see any divine intervention in any of those, as she could basically see the magic around the archbishop, but she had to admit she had enjoyed some of those celebrations. They had been quite beautiful, after all. Except for the marriage of the two nobles, she still remembered that evening as one of the most excruciating experiences in her whole life. Her feet hurt just thinking about it.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the archbishop.

“Very good Nay, you have an exceptional voice. We will see each other the day after tomorrow. I will ask you to continue training on this song when you are alone. Do not write down the words, keep them in your mind only, if you forget the words, do not worry, we shall retry when we meet again.”

“Thank you sage Defin.”

“Love of Trayx on you, God-Touched.”

“And love of Ja on you, archbishop.” She responded with the same half-bow he had done to her.

The archbishop looked one last time towards the Conqueror’s door, then started exiting the chapel. He stopped suddenly, turning around.

“By the way, Nay?”

The Legio didn’t like his gaze.

“Yes?”

“What happened to your sister, Lisana wasn’t it? It has been some time since I last crossed paths with her.”

“She only comes three days per week, my mother has found a private lesson teacher for her, a Sage-Brother that worked in my school in the past.”

And she had done everything in her power to make the days Liz came and the ones the archbishop came not the same.

“I heard about something like that, yes. Sage-brother Berth, wasn’t it?”

“That is correct.”

“I admit being surprised. Most of our priests would refuse to help a young God-Touched not contained in the vicinity of our Cathedral. But after all, those worshipping Adienha have always been a bit different than the rest.”

Nay stopped herself from grimacing.

“You do know how I feel about how the young God-Touched are treated, archbishop. Me and Trinne share the same opinion on the subject.”

“Mh, Mh. She has some valid points, but far from enough for us to go against our traditions…I dislike exceptions, and I will continue expressing my disapproval. I repeat myself but, know that this is only a catastrophe in the waiting.”

Nay did not answer anything, only keeping a very polite smile on her face.

“In any case, I’m happy she’s okay for now.” He added before finally leaving.

Once far away enough, Nay finally expressed her anger.

“You piece of biach dropping.”

The week passed with no issues, Nay doing her best to chant the religious psalm and get to know it perfectly. Her own experience singing all the time when cooking helped her remember the words, and she was quite confident in her voice and timbre. She had discussed the Imperatrix’ plan with Trinne, not holding back any details despite the archbishop’s requests, and her friend had immediately focused on getting as much research done as possible on the phantom miracle of the Conqueror. According to the redhead, the Imperatrix hadn’t made any mistake when telling Nay that it was the spell that brought the Angels to their realm, it had been a most insidious attempt at scaring Nay. Making sure she would not use the miracle haphazardly if she managed to succeed in casting it. Since that conversation, Trinne was spending most of her time in the Imperial library situated on the second floor, and while Nay understood the importance of that task, she was starting to feel bored alone during the evenings.

She was reading an old tale about Victoria when something disturbed the ambient Rreico. Her first attempt at transforming the psalm into a miracle was the next day, and the already budding anxiety in her core increased tenfold when she felt the echo of disaster in the surrounding rhythm of life. It was the fourth time she felt this particular Rreico. Nay didn’t even dress, exiting her room only wearing her nightgown, and her drawn sword.

The rhythm could not have been easier to find, but it was moving around fast. Her steps finally lead her to the chapel on the other side of the building. A few maids and butlers had seen her in the corridors, but no one had tried to stop her. Nay had noticed Konnie though, quickly climbing up to the second story, probably to warn the Imperatrix of her goddaughter’s strange behaviour.

The door to the chapel was opened, and a few people were inside. Nay was unable to feel the rhythm though, as if the air itself was filled with horror and tragedy, completely scrambling up her sixth sense.

“What’s happening here?” She entered the room, her sword in front of her, her eyes immediately scanning the dead angles of the room, as she couldn’t use her Rreico to verify it was safe.

“Oh…erm…who are you?”

A young Sage-Brother, one or two years younger than the Legio, that Nay had never seen before, seemed more than worried about the menacing presence of the armed lady who had suddenly burst in the room.

The three other boys, as there were no adults inside, turned around to face her.

“…Biaaaaaach…” One of them swore in a way too loud whisper.

“Ulric, I told you we would get caught!” His closest neighbour answered in the same tone of voice that wanted to be discreet but was anything but.

The four priests, two Sage-Brothers and two adepts of Ja, were showing all the signs of teenagers being caught red-handed doing something stupid. It did not explain the almost apocalyptic sensations exuding from the little box behind them.

“What is that?” She pointed to the box with her brandished sword. It was a dark wooden square, with no apparent way to open it, enveloped in cloth ropes that were littered with runes.

The remaining teenager who hadn’t spoken looked at the box, then back at Nay. He sighed.

He came slightly forward, bowing.

“I apologize, madame, we heard about an object needing transport from the cathedral to the chambers of the Imperatrix tomorrow, and, me and my friends, seeing an opportunity to visit this place, we decided to…erm…accelerate the transportation. We thought we would be of service to our master, while enjoying well…erm…”

The beginning of his sentence seemed thought out, but as he went through with his explanation, he was realizing that it felt more and more like an admission of guilt.

Nay stopped caring about the teenagers. Even without the Rreico, it was obvious they weren’t dangerous. What they had brought though…

“Move.” She walked straight at them, and they hurriedly dodged her advance, one of them almost falling on himself stumbling on his robe.

“Wait, that’s something very precious!” The boy who had spoken last couldn’t stop himself from warning the Legio.

Nay didn’t pay any attention to him, she examined the box from up close. The meagre lights of the chapel weren’t exactly helping, but she could have sworn that the box had been closed hermetically, and that it was very ancient. Looking at how many runes there were, the object would most likely have been something extremely precious, but the young Legio could not stop thinking that this was a scheme orchestrated by one of the Empire’s enemies, most likely the Mindor Clan of Carradinoris. The priests were most likely innocent, only pawns used to bring the object here. There hadn’t been any attacks since Nay’s arrival in the Imperatrix’ chambers, but she had spoken enough with the cooks and other people employed in the chambers to know that there had been many assassination attempts in the past.

“We have a paper authorizing transit here, m, madame.” One of the young priests, shivering with his whole body, came closer to Nay, handing her a paper with his arms stretched as far forward as possible.

The young Legio gave it a quick glance, then took it to read more attentively.

The signature and the seal were without a doubt from the Imperatrix and the archbishop.

“Good evening gentlemen.” A calm, posed voice echoed in the room.

Nay jumped, not used at all at being surprised like that, but with the Rreico emanating from the box blocking her sixth sense entirely it made sense. Still, she recognized who had talked.

She turned around, and bowed. “Imperatrix.”

This had an immediate effect on the four priests. They too, had been surprised and had turned around, but they had not recognized the most beautiful of all the women immediately. The Sage-Brother who had spoken last knelt as fast as he could, his head down, and his friends did the same, although not very gracefully, one of them hitting his knee on a bench.

“I don’t know you.” The Impératrix rose an eyebrow. “Nay?”

“Yes. I felt…had a bad feeling. The object behind me is potentially dangerous, you should stay well clear of it and…”

“Ah, I understand. What about them?”

The Sage-Brother answered her immediately. “My utmost apologies, Imperatrix. We are young priest apprentices coming from the Cathedral, we only desired to visit your Chambers.”

“Your names.”

The teenager gulped audibly. “Rod, Imperatrix.”

“Jo…Johann, Im…Imperatrix.” His neighbour stuttered.

“Ulric, Imperatrix.”

“Yovasias Terienne, Imperatrix.”

The Imperatrix scrutinized them, one at the time. None of them dared to look at something other than the ground at their feet.

“Yovasias Terienne, is your master Torin?”

“That…That is correct.”

“Do you know about the punishment reserved to those entering my Chambers without my express permission?” Hyn advanced towards them.

“I…No, Imperatrix.” Rod said.

“Good. Go back to the Cathedral, study the texts about the subject, past recollections and so on, you will appreciate better what you just avoided.” The Imperatrix went past them, approaching Nay.

The Legio raised her hand to stop her. “Imperatrix, the object is dangerous, you should not…”

“I know what it is Nay, I was the one asking for it to be brought here. I would have told you about it tomorrow morning, but it seems that young fools have gotten overzealous. By the way, what are you all still doing here? Didn’t I just give you an order?” The Imperatrix’ tone hadn’t changed one bit. Always calm, always soft. Her authority though, was absolute.

The four priests got on their feet like one man, and they almost sprinted outside the room, one of them slightly limping on his left leg.

“They are cute.” The Imperatrix said once alone with Nay in the Chapel.

She had a tender smile, her voice reminding Nay of Veridienne’s grandmother.

The Legio had a confused expression. She moved aside, letting the box into Hyn’s view. “What is it?” The Rreico was abominable, and now that she knew that the danger was apparently non-existent, she felt the bile go up to her throat.

“A magic scrambler. There only exist a few in the whole Empire.”

“A scrambler? It prevents miracles from happening?”

“No, not at all. There are a series of runes that have that effect, and those are quite common. There are some inscribed in these very walls, and another set in my bedroom, for example.”

She pointed to the runes around the large and menacing black spot at the end of the room.

“Oh.”

“I suppose I can explain it to you quickly.” Hyn sat down on the bench next to Nay.

The young Legio put her sword against a wall and sat down next to the Imperatrix.

She saw disgust in the expression of the most beautiful of women.

“Can you also feel it?” She asked.

“What? No, not at all. What does the Rreico tell you?”

Nay looked at the object for a short moment.

“Profound horror. An announcement to incoming nightmares. Sadness. Distress. The worst thing that could ever happen.”

“Interesting. Marke would not tell me what he felt while looking at it. His unease was quite apparent though.”

Nay waited for a moment. The Imperatrix was wearing a long dark dress, entirely hiding her body. And that’s when the Legio realized she wasn’t dressed at all appropriately and should never have found herself in the presence of the Imperatrix wearing so little. If Trinne heard about her current state, she would get shouted at.

“A scrambler only prevents seeing magic, or in your case, it also prevents any read on the Rreico. Knowing that your first real magic training is tomorrow, we wanted to avoid any recurrences of what happened at Gite. Nothing we ask of you should create a loss of control like the one you went through there, but we did not want to take any risks… No one, nothing, will perceive your attempts at recreating Rö’s magic.”

Nay, once again, did not answer. She was thinking. Notably that this was what Quar Birrebus had used on the road to Leïn to take her by surprise.

“The Angels can’t see your power, or they would have found you easily, but magic usage lets out different kinds of traces, and those traces, it seems the Angels are able to follow. There is another explanation as to why an Angel went to Gite to find you, but that one I will keep to myself. In any case, using magic, in your case, brings enormous risks, and we need to prepare against all of them.”

“…What is it? I mean, what’s inside?” Because Nay was seeing the disgust on the Imperatrix’ face every time she looked at the box.

“A…” Hyn seemed to hesitate. “The runes are there to protect the contents of the box, prevent it from spoiling. As to what is inside…Well, you described it quite perfectly. Do you really want to know?”

“I…” Nay stopped herself from saying yes. She thought about it before answering. “I believe that I would normally say no, I would rather not know, but as I am supposed to train with it next to me…I…I think it is important for me to know.”

The Imperatrix nodded simply, before sighing. “It’s a new-born.”

Nay hiccupped. “Sorry what?”

“A baby that never breathed. Silence instead of a scream.”