Part Eight: Betrayal of Love

The story of how Rathan defected to House Antar is narrated in the Oral Histories. It is writ upon the vials that Rathan had quite never been House Mornia, so for him to have turned from his responsibilities should be easily overlooked in favour of his other accomplishments. It is true that Rathan of Mornia was quite a brilliant ruler even before he reached maturity, after all House Mornia was nothing if not pureblood and the breeding ground of generations of the most intelligent warriors to ever walk upon the sands of time.

Emperor Zanier of Antar regarded him as his own son as Zander of Antar and Rathan grew up together having been sent together to the War Machine to learn the ways of statecraft and having formed a lasting friendship. There is much written on Zander, the last of House Zanaan to ever rule upon Antar, though the Oral Histories claim that he was a man of great strength and courage, the Traditions written by those same scholars relay otherwise.

The Traditions is the selection of those reels that were never put before the censors and were thus never produced in mass publication. The Traditions are stored with one scholar every generation who passes them down to another when Grano has called him. They are sacred and hidden, none except for the Scholars themselves know of them. If this interpretation of history were ever discovered, many would be executed for treason, for only in those vials was it recorded the correct and brutal history of one House Zanaan.

Zander of Antar it is written in the Traditions, was a man without a cause, a soul without a fighting spirit, a body without a will. He lacked everything that Rathan had, where Rathan was strong in his convictions and intelligent and resourceful, Zander was mired in the filth of political schemes and Court intrigues. Rathan had never been anything but a warrior and a soldier, while Zander had never thought beyond his next conquest. As much as Zanier loved his heir, he knew that if it were not for Rathan, Zander would never have passed the Test of Faith. It was their friendship that had instilled a sense of accomplishment and pride in Zander, made him a better man, and it was this same bond that turned Rathan away from House Mornia.

When Rathan was twelve solar, a decision had to be made; Zanier was about to name him Lion General, a title last bestowed many decades ago to the most loyal servant of House Antar. It was the highest respect ever paid to those not of House Antar but loyal to it nonetheless. Rathan was the perfect candidate, firstly because he was noble-born, secondly because he was so loyal to Zander, thirdly because this would bring the power of Aura completely under Antar's control, and lastly because in this way, Zander could be bonded with House Real and thus gain an important ally.

Plans within plans were being created and put into action. One would think that a brilliant man like Zanier, who could convince someone like Heir House Mornia to defect could also win the War of Ascension completely, but such thinking would require an in-depth look into the Royal Court. The real power it has long been rumoured, lay with the now Dowager Empress Ariadne, who it is believed was actually behind all the decision-making. Even her own husband's death has been rumoured to be plot of hers, executed to such perfection that even now her own hand cannot be revealed in it.

So as Rathan grew closer and closer to Zander and proved to be exactly what House Antar needed to get out of the promise to House Mornia as well as gain greater power, he was recruited. House Antar seduced him quite subtly but it would have pained House Antar to know that someone was watching it all happen from the shadows. As Rathan grew older, he came to regard the Royal family as his own, Zander was his brother-in-arms, Vilandra all that he wanted in a sister, Zanier, a father who actually understood what he felt, and Ariadne, a mother who was quite alive. But at maturity, Rathan experienced a change in his affections, even as he loved House Mornia, his feelings for it changed.

He never saw Elizavetar, did not even know what she looked like while Vilandra intoxicated him with her beauty and attention. Elizavetar, he had heard, was busy practicing war manoeuvres while Vilandra was keeping him company being his friend and his confidante. His father had ignored him for the better part of his life, sending him to the War Machine and always being too busy to spend much time with him, and as he learnt the history of House Antar, he began to emulate the ways of Emperor Zanier, who lavished him with so much attention.

When the choice was put before him, one where he could lead the Great Army of Antar as well as have the hand of the beautiful Vilandra of Antar in marriage, or be the ruler of a once powerful Great House that held nothing but a few fiefdoms now, Rathan chose the former. While Zanier smiled with glee at these events, Rage of Mornia offered only half-hearted protestations and gave up Rathan entirely. Here in the Traditions, Rathan is regarded as a misled man, who was a pawn in the great game Fate was playing, for it was Rathan who would never be what he could have been.

Rathan of Mornia could have become the Warrior of God, but he failed the most important test and the responsibility was left to Elizavetar, an innocent victim of Destiny who had to bear the burden of her father's dreams, her House's heritage, the prophecies unveiled by the Granolith as well as myths surrounding her Arainan ancestry. And so the life of Elizavetar was writ upon stone even before she had lived it, and began to haunt her sleep even before she knew how to dream...

This story does get better and there will be violence and sexual content...