Kastori Tribulations (The Kastori Chronicles Book 3) (14 page)

All of this magic. The power here. It is amazing. And I could be a part of it. I could be a part of it!

He came to a platform that led to one last flight of stairs to the left. He followed his mother with excitement at the possibilities churning through him.

It all vanished when he reached the peak.

Waiting for him was a tall man in black robes and a red mask.
Garron? Ramadus?
The man gave a bow to his mother but ignored Typhos entirely. His mother approached the man, and Typhos took the chance to look around. In three different spots, forming something of a triangle, three statues—one of a woman, and two of men—stood in different contemplative positions, each of them holding a sword with a different colored emerald on the hilt. In line with those statues, near the center, two Kastori of each respective color stood side by side, except for the black magic councilor. The other man joined him quickly, and his mother went to the middle.

Typhos slowly approached and saw her standing on a swirling triangle symbol.
The symbol of magic
, he thought, but he said nothing. With every step in, he felt the intensity of the magic increase, as if the planet itself could cast spells.
And if so, grant it…

“Stay,” his mother commanded, just in front of her but within the circle of the other six Kastori.

He whirled around, looking at all of the councilors. They all had their masks on, making it impossible to read their mood or their minds. Typhos got a bad feeling and tried to reassure himself this was how the council operated. Once his mother put her mask on and he realized that he was the only one without a mask, all sense of hope vanished.
I am the weak one here, just by not hiding my face.
He gulped as he faced his mother, wearing a gold mask.

“Welcome, Typhos, to this special council meeting,” she said, her voice muffled but still distinct. “Our first order of business, and our only one while my son is here, is to deal with the request of Typhos Kaos, my son and the son of the former chief Adanus Kaos, may he rest in peace. Typhos wishes to shadow me on the council for an undefined period.”

A brief silence followed—deliberate or not, Typhos could not tell, but it felt like the weight of the conversation increased with each passing word.
It’s too formal. Too… impersonal. I talked to Kastori, not some great and mighty council. These people are supposed to be helping me, not acting like a mysterious tribe. And Mom. You’re not acting like Mom. Come on.

“Traditionally, we would start with an opening statement from Typhos. However, we have a special request for one of our councilors to speak first.”

Oh…

“Fargus, you have the floor.”

“Wait, Mom, I—”

“Quiet, please,” she said, scolding and without sympathy. “The council has made this choice due to the circumstances of this discussion. You will have the chance to speak before we make a decision.”

Fargus stepped from the back right of Typhos and passed by closely. Typhos swore he could feel a cold spell emitting from Fargus as if warning him. His mother took two steps to her right, and Fargus stepped in the middle. He glared at Typhos, and even without the face of the councilor before him, Typhos knew his expression was not a pleasant one. Typhos bowed his head, unable to look at Fargus.

“I have much sympathy for Typhos,” Fargus said. “He lost his father, his mother grieves, and the boy deals with many confusing issues. He has great power and great ambitions and, in some ways, is using that power and ambition as a coping mechanism to deal with the losses he has suffered.”

I…

Typhos knew it was true. Every time he thought of going to a new world or becoming chief, it dulled the pain from the anger he had toward his father and the confusion with his mother. He could no longer figure out which was more important—completing those goals, or using those goals to protect himself.

“In recent days, his ambition has become so great, that it has caused him to behave unethically, make questionable decisions, and slur my name.”

Typhos blushed with embarrassment. Immense anger surged in him.
Do you have to spell it out like that? I made a mistake, I’ll pay the price, whatever. Don’t read it all out like it’s a book of crimes!

Typhos thought about teleporting, but he couldn’t even initiate the act, let alone complete it.
Someone’s blocking my powers here.

“Typhos wishes to shadow his mother. Though I did not agree with his desire and declined, I could understand his position, and told him why I did not support it—namely, that I did not think he was mature enough to handle being on the council.”

So now the truth comes out. Big thanks, Fargus. Glad everyone knows.

“He proved me correct in telling many of you that I gave my support to him, seemingly as a way to pressure you into believing that more of us supported him. This is a complete lie.”

He let the words hang in the air as Typhos felt all eyes staring at him. His legs felt weak, but he refused to collapse. He would fight back. He would appeal to their emotional side.
I can still win this. I can still turn them.

“In case it is not clear, let me make my position completely clear. I do not support Typhos in his desire to shadow his mother. He has acted selfishly, and anyone who acts selfishly is not acting in the best interest of the Kastori. If you still choose to support him, that is your choice, but understand when he talked to you, he lied to you.”

20

Typhos had never felt so embarrassed in his life. He had also not felt so angry in quite some time.
I get that I lied. But shaming me like this in front of everyone? Screw you, Fargus.

Fargus bowed to his mother and resumed his original spot. Typhos kept his head bowed, refusing to look at anyone around him.

“Does anyone else wish to speak?” she said, her tone flat and monotonous.

“Yes, I would,” Ramadus said, and Typhos sighed as he walked in front. “Typhos, I am very disappointed in you. I believed in you completely!”

Well, that’s your fault for being such a fool, Ramadus.

“I wanted to believe that the son of the past two chiefs would not lie, but I guess I was wrong. And I know Aida is not to blame for this, she is a wonderful and truthful woman.”

Typhos sneered at Ramadus but did not glance up to face him.

“You have a lot of growing up to do, Typhos. I rescind my support.”

Screw you.

Ramadus went to the side in silence. Typhos began to think there was no one he disliked more than Ramadus. Incompetent, naive, weak and bumbling were all words that only scratched the surface of what annoyed Typhos.
Somehow worse than Fargus right now.

“I would like to speak,” Amelia said.

Typhos softened his hard thoughts, but could not bring himself to look up.

“Typhos, understand, I still support what you do for your mother. I want to help you here. But I can’t. We deal with too many hard, private issues that we need to be able to trust everyone in the room to keep a secret. Unfortunately, and you may hate me for saying this, but you violated that trust.”

But you still support me? So what does it matter? Why should one person changing their mind suddenly change the mind of everyone else? You still support me!

“Show us, Typhos, that you have grown and learned over the next several months, and maybe we’ll change our mind. I’ll be ready to. But you have to show that not only do you love your mother, you can also be trusted.”

Typhos didn’t like her words, but at least he could respect Amelia and her older son, Lycos. Silence came, save for the gusts of wind.

“Anyone else?” his mother asked.

Garron silently took a few steps forward and seemed to communicate with his mother longer than usual. He turned to Typhos, who kept his head bowed.

“Typhos, look up at me,” he said, but Typhos refused.
No need to see a masked man berate me.

But Garron did something Typhos did not expect. He took a couple of steps closer, to the point of being able to touch Typhos, and removed his mask, cradling it in his right hand. Typhos looked up and saw anger in Garron’s eyes—but also pain and control.

“This is very disappointing, Typhos,” he said. “I want to make this clear to you. I supported you in your love for your mother. In some ways, I still support you and want to see you here. But when the time comes to vote, I am going to vote no. Because what Fargus, Ramadus and Amelia said is right. You are a special man—I am not going to call you a boy. Your father is gone, which means it is time for you to be a man. But a man does not lie. A man does not manipulate people to get what he wants. A man faces a challenge, accepts it, tackles it with honesty and an ethical code, and vanquishes it in the proper time. Attempting to cheat that system in any other way results in chaos, terrible outcomes, and unnecessary anger.”

Garron looked Typhos up and down. Now facing someone who had the guts to take off his mask, Typhos stared him in the eyes. Typhos still felt great anger and shame, but he also could listen to Garron.

“This is not the end of your hopes, Typhos. Everyone in this circle has made mistakes, some worse than yours. Everyone in this circle, even as council members, will make mistakes in the future, and some will be worse than yours. If you want to be on the council, you still have a chance. But you need to make amends, and you need to show us that this was an isolated incident, not indicative of your future behavior. If it’s the former, you stand a great chance of joining us. If it’s the latter… let me put it bluntly. You will never be on this council.”

Never on the council?

Then…

I guess I’d just have to make the council irrelevant.

“The council will always have a place, Typhos. Even against powerful forces, it has never collapsed.”

Typhos sighed slowly, realizing his angry thoughts had turned him into something he did not want to be—a bitter, obvious child.
I have ambitions, but not deadly ones. I just… I just want my goals so badly I go off the deep end.

“The choice is yours, Typhos. Both paths are possible for you at this moment, and whichever one you go down, it won’t be because of me, your mother, or your father. It will be because of you.”

Garron put his mask back on, standing once more in front of Typhos for a couple of beats. He took his place back in the circle, and his mother once again stepped forward.

“Does anyone else wish to speak?” she said, again with a distressing lack of emotion.

Typhos looked around. No one so much as lifted their foot to step forward.
No one else has a reason to speak.

“Typhos,” his mother said, her voice finally sounding like a mother and not as the chief. “This is your chance to say whatever you want before we vote on the matter.”

Take it.

He stepped into the middle of the circle and slowly faced everyone. The creepiness of the masks had worn off some, and Typhos took one gulp before he began.

“I am truly sorry,” he said. “I should never have lied to you, Amelia, Ramadus, and Garron, about what Fargus said. I did this only because I love my mother. I do want to become a member of the council someday. I cannot lie about that. But of greater importance is the love I have for my mother and the chief of the Kastori. Yes, I made a mistake.”

He paused to consider whether he would press ahead or surrender and fight another day.
Press ahead, win now. Fight another day… what if you don’t get another day?

“But I would ask you all to think like Amelia did. She still supports my attempts to be with my mother and comfort her. I lied. I am not proud of that. But I am proud of the absolute truth of my love for my mother, and I would think that one lie should not change anything. I said true things to everyone I spoke to. I would hope that one relatively meager lie would not diminish the heavy, emotional truths which I spoke about.”

Typhos could sense the surprise from the councilors.
Pleasant, or disturbed? Wish I had better control of my sense magic.
He turned to his mother, who nodded in the direction of his previous spot. Typhos retuned to it.

“In situations like this, it is custom for the chief to speak,” Aida said, Typhos still unable to get over her dry and emotionless tone. “However, due to the obvious conflict of interest, I have nothing to say. All who are in favor of allowing Typhos Kaos to be present at the council, raise your hand.”

Typhos, his head still down in embarrassment, stole a glance. Not a single person raised their hand.
All of you are caught up in the small lie. Does that really matter so much? Do you want to see your chief suffer? My mother?

“All who are against allowing Typhos Kaos to be present at the council, please raise your hand.”

Typhos could hear their arms raising, brushing against their robes. He didn’t need to look up to know it was unanimous.

“The motion is dismissed,” she said. “I am sorry, Typhos.”

It was the first thing she had said that sounded remotely like emotion.

“When a lie has been propagated, punishment is usually handed down. However, it typically takes a trial to determine such a fate. We do not wish to spend any time on this, so we ask you, Typhos. Do you accept the loss of magic for one day as punishment?”