Anax

Five years ago

He remembers it like it was just the other night. It's a good memory to return to whenever he spoke to Hilde and she started to get lost in her own mind, her past trauma getting to her.

It had not been the first time he attended a court session, but he still was fumbling at some points, mostly when his father asked for his opinion on a matter being treated. So, when the topic of the missing funds in the Creed coffers started, Anax analyzed every word spoken by every councilor.

He also looked at the throne, where king Zeno sat, with his younger brother and Infans sitting on a chair on one side, and his heir sitting on his other side. Anax lowers his head every time Artemy tries to catch his eye. He knows what he would find there, it had been four years since the fight, but Artemy had never forgiven Anax. And now they were both sixteen and the anger in his eyes was still the same.

The session is going nowhere, Anax knows, all the Vyshe have attended, giving their opinions and asking questions at the witnesses present at the court. And sitting behind Vyshe Ardashir is Nima.

The nomad sits like the chair he occupies is a throne, face angry, scar disfiguring his upturned mouth into a strange grimace and glaring intensely, but not at Anax.

Weird.

Anax follows his line of sight and finds it fixated on Infans Mikhe, that looks extremely bored as another witness spoke about the missing Munar.

Uh.

"We… uh…never saw anyone entering the coffers" is saying the witness "When Echelon Barlow took his post the next day, the door was open and a hundred Munar where missing.

"Thank you, Echelon Harz" Announces King Zeno when the witness mumbles a bit more and then stays quiet "Your opinion on this case was very valuable"

"Can I talk?" Speaks up a voice and Anax finds Nima with no problem. He is standing, Vyshe Ardashir looking at him and raising his hands, probably trying to tell him to sit down.

Artemy, that had been about to fall asleep, snaps to attention, suddenly interested, leaning forward and staring directly at Nima, evidently hoping for some entertainment.

"Did you witness anything of use, Nashe Ardashir?" Asks the King with a raised eyebrow. The king also looks tired, the session had been going for too long and going nowhere, with no witness saying anything of use to solve whatever had resulted in Munar being missing from the Ogdra's coffers.

"I saw the thief" Snarks Nima crossing his arms over his chest and narrowing his eyes "Is that of use?"

King Zeno sits straight, as does his brother, that is staring at Nima pointedly. The rest of Night Hall mutters among themselves, and Anax thinks that it could be possible; Vyshe and Nashe always stay at the Ogdra until very late in the night, some even finishing their duties at Walpurgis or even later, a Vyshe must deal with many things, as leaders of the Creed and the ones that only do certains jobs. Anax always found the Scyphomancer's job to be the most stressing, always tending to pregnant women and waiting for the time of birth so that the Jamshid, the birth ceremony, was succesful and the baby was healthy.

"It is" Agrees the king and motions towards the witness stand "Please, inform the court of what you saw"

Nima goes to the stand, in the lowest part of the room, right in front of one of the set of stairs that would take someone right to the platform where the throne stands, stopping just a second when his father grabs his arm and whispers furiously at him, whatever Nima tells him is enough to calm his father, that sits back down and fidgets with his gloved hands as his son stands in front of the whole Night Hall, the other Vyshe that he sat next to speaking to him in quiet whispers.

"Proceed" Orders the king

"I was at the Ogdra the night when the Munar were stolen, I had been training and I walked around the building during a break" tells Nima "I saw the thief enter the coffers of the Creed and get out with the Munar"

That is enough to make the whole room break into whispers and gossip. Anax looks on in interest, this is getting good. He hears his father chuckle at his side, his imposing figure making it sound like an ula's rumbling growl. He looks up to his father and sees Anso Aud is looking at him back with a wide smirk.

"Things are about to get interesting, son. I Don't even need to be a Vyshe to know that" he says.

"Did you recognize the thief? Or maybe can describe them?" Asks the king, shushing the crowd immediately with just his voice.

"Yeah, I recognized him alright, I can even point him to you" snarls Nima and remembers his manners "Your majesty"

More murmurs, this time not even whispers, some people are talking loudly enough to remind Anax of a pack of rowdy fauxes when they found a defenseless prey.

"Is this how the court of the Night Hall acts?!" Shouts king Zeno, getting up to draw attention back to him "How disgraceful!"

The crowd goes silent and the kings sits again. Anax looks at the rest of the royal family present. Artemy looks amused, leaning an arm on the armrest and holding his face with his hand. Meanwhile, Mikhe Drest doesn't look like he is having fun, he is looking straight at Nima with a frown and a calculating look. Anax has heard the rumors of the Infans merciless acts, acting more like a spymaster than an advisor most of the time. He must be trying to decipher if Nima is telling the truth.

"Tell us, Nashe Ardashir" orders the king and Nima smirks, his scar adding a terrifying effect to it.

"Well, your Majesty, he is sitting on your left" announces Nima.

There is quiet for just a second, as every member of the court gapes, king and Infans included-Not Artemy, that is biting his fist, trying to contain his excitement or laughter- and Anax stares at Nima with perplexity.

Is he telling the truth?

"How dare you, boy!" Exclaims the king getting up in anger, lightning dancing around his body in short sparks "To accuse my brother and the Infans of Neth, your superior, of such a crime!"

Nima doesn't cower, he doesn't even flinch, and Anax is almost impressed. Nima squares his body and breathes in.

"I don't see him defending himself" he says and Anax believes this is an attempt on the king's life, because he looks a breath away from a heart attack. King Zeno zeroes on his brother that is still gaping at Nima.

"How…How dare you! I would never do such a thing!" Shouts Infans Mikhe "Why would I even steal anything? From the Creed even!"

"Why would I know how your brain works?" says Nima "But I know what I saw!"

He looks completely honest and Anax nods reflexively. Nima may be many things, but he is no liar, quite the opposite actually, he is too honest sometimes for Anax's tastes, a year before the fight, he had seen Nima tell Hilde how ugly her dress was when she had asked for his opinion, making her cry. He had apologized after, but Anax could see that he didn't understand why telling the truth had been the wrong thing to do in that situation.

"Well?" Whispers his father to Anax, making him flinch. The crowd had devolved again into murmurs and shouts, now including expletives against Nima.

"What?" Whispers Anax, looking at his father with sudden worry.

"What do you think? Did he do it?" He asks and Anax ponders.

Would a member of the royal family steal from the Creed?. On paper, it makes no sense, the royal family is well, the royal family, and the Creed is not drowning in Munar, it's funds are given by the people and the noble houses, but they don't need much to continue their work. So, would someone as influential as Infans Mikhe steak? Anax knows the man is not a honorable person, he likes to drink and fight, knowing getting in trouble is not a possibility-oh.

"I think there's a high chance of it" says Anax with conviction "But more evidence is necessary"

Anso Aud nods with pride and Anax doesn't need verbal praise to feel all giddy inside, just that nod is enough for him.

Anax turns back to the court and continues watching the spectacle happening before his eyes. Infans Mikhe is also standing up, face filled with rage and Artemy no longer smiles and looks at his uncle with a pale face.

"I challenge you to a Voir, let the gods judge me on this crime you put to my name!" Yells Infans Mikhe and Anax gapes. At his side, his father laughs loudly, the sound hidden by every court member excitedly shouting and talking among themselves.

King Zeno sits but looks conflicted, Anax would be too, this won't be a fair duel, Infans Mikhe is older and more experienced, he could end up killing Nima. A Voir ends in surrender or death, and Mikhe Drest is not the type of person who will allow a surrender, at the same time, Nima is not the type to surrender.

"Ah, Anax, no need to worry" says his father gently "Have you forgotten what your friend is?"

Anax opens his mouth to contradict his father-Nima is not his friend, after that fight four years ago, Anax won't allow anyone to call him Nima's friend-but closes it when he digests his father's words.

Because Nima is a Nashe, training to become the next Haruspex. And the Vyshe of the Creed protect Neth against anything that may dare to attack it.

Infans Mikhe has descended the steps to the stand where Nima is, and some court members have taken away the tables and chairs on the lower floor. Anax had read that before it was repurposed as the Night Hall, the building was a coliseum, a battle pit and training grounds, the biggest in the city, as a result of this, the court members sit where the stands used to be and witnesses and nomads stay in the space that was the arena, that had been long refurbished to seat more people and the Scribes.

Each duelist takes their spot. Infans Mikhe has discarded his gaudy black and gold long coat, and is rolling up the sleeves of his black shirt. Nima is just taking his position, he had not dressed up for the court session, simply wearing a white shirt, brown breeches and dark leather boots that had trailed mud when he had entered the Night Hall.

"I and every member of the court stand witness to this Voir" announces the king "Let the gods choose their Victor!"

With that said, the duel starts.

Mikhe doesn't wait a second and launches himself towards Nima, a fist covered in lightning ahead of the rest of his body. Nima doesn't move and it looks like he intends to wait for Mikhe to reach him. A stupid decision from Anax's point of view.

Lightning is long range, at least if the user knows how to shoot it properly, and fire works better short range, throwing a wave of fire without the proper control could end up killing the court members on the lower seats, those closer to the improvised arena.

But Nima waits until Mikhe's fist is almost a meter away to react. Nima sidesteps Mikhe so fast Anax almost misses it and Mikhe, not expecting it, falls to the ground, too much force to his punch to properly control the rest of his body. Some brave members of the court laugh lightly, Anax's father included, and Mikhe rushes up, face red in embarrassment and anger.

He is no longer being merciful-if he ever was-and he shoots a bolt of lightning at Nima. But, the fire user must have been expecting that, because Nima moves to the side and advances in a run towards Mikhe from the side and before Mikhe can turn and defend himself, Nima lowers his body and kicks at Mikhe's ankles, making him fall, as he does, Nima turns on himself, landing a high kick directly to Mikhe's face, and throwing him to the opposite side he was falling to.

And with that, the fight is over, as Nima approaches the groaning and moaning Mikhe and steps directly on his throat.

"Say it" snarls Nima through gritted teeth, loud enough for the words to echo around the Night Halls.

Mikhe groans some more, his broken and bleeding nose making some blood end up in his mouth as he tries to speak. He must have said something, but not what he was ordered to say, because Nima pushes his foot harder on his throat and repeats the order.

"Say. It"

"I surrender!" Yells Mikhe in a sob, hands trying to get a grasp on the floor.

Nima stops stepping on the man and walks away towards his seat, not even bothering to look at the king. Everybody in the room knows, that the gods have judged and chosen who was right.

King Zeno is gripping the armrest of his throne like his life depends on it, face angry and mouth open. Anax's understands the feeling. This nomad just defeated his brother without once using his Asha, showing to everyone in the Night Hall how weak Mikhe Drest is, not even worth a single flame.

The silence the defeat brings is broken when Artemy stands and starts applauding, a face splitting smile on his face, Anax's father soon follows, and with that every court members is applauding the decision of the gods. King Zeno stares coldly at the spluttering mess his brother has become on the lower floor of the Night Hall and joins in the applause.

"Your friend is lucky, Anax" says father and Anax looks at him with confusion.

"What do you mean, father?"

"If that boy was not a Nashe, the Infans would him killed after that" Replies father "Infans Mikhe has shown a weakness that will follow him for a long time, his honor is at risk and the members of the Night Hall and noble houses will have this on their mind every time they speak to him"

Anax nods, yes, Nima is lucky, a normal nomad wouldn't be missed if they disappeared, but Nima would. That's the only thing that protects him, at least, for now.