Chapter 225: Chapter 225
Belissar crossed his arms and glared at the man. Metsaitti pulled his spear back slightly, but kept it pointed forward, while the bees continued to buzz around in the air.
“Ok, first question. What exactly was that magic formation outside the Tower?”
The augur slowly nodded.
“It…was our means of communicating with the Conclave. We activate the signal formation upon discovering a rogue Tower.”
Then his eyes widened slightly and he sighed.
“I…apologize, Tower Keeper, but it is already too late. The formation requires the constant addition of mana to maintain. If it goes twenty-four hours without maintenance, it will send out a final pulse. The Conclave will assume that you are hostile and we are dead…they will arrive in force next time.”
Belissar narrowed his eyes.
“And how soon will they come?”
The augur’s face relaxed ever so slightly.
Belissar frowned as he considered this.
“But…did the gods actually say any of this to you?”
The augur paused this time. His face began to drain of color.
“…in truth, I do not know. Only the High-Council knows for sure exactly what has been said in the past. Most oracles, divinations, and missions to the Tower Lords that were recorded and available to all augurs were much more limited in scope. I…I never wondered before, but if your patron has sent an oracle from the safety of the Conclave to your Tower in the wilderness…then your patron, at least, cannot disprove of your existence.”
Belissar thought of his patron…and couldn’t help a small smile as a bit of joy broke through the storm raging in his chest. He whispered to himself.
“Well, that much I don’t need you to tell me.”
He took a deep breath and glanced around at the bees hovering above…and at Metsaitti, who remained completely focused on the augur. Belissar frowned once more.
“Ok…but what about the beastkin? You didn’t mention that.”
The augur slowly nodded.
“Right. The…beastkin were once the soldiers of the kings of old. They remained loyal to those kings even after the Hunger struck. They then defied and opposed the High-Council, all the way to this day. They, above all others, cannot be trusted with the powers offered by a Tower.”
The augur then frowned.
“Though…if they are loyal to you…and dwelling within the Tower of an oracle…then perhaps the situation has changed.”
Belissar’s face scrunched up a bit.
“Metsaitti, you hear anything about serving kings of old or fighting Tower Lords?”
Metsaitti slowly shook his head, though kept his eyes on the augur.
“Our people’s tales don’t go past our service to our previous Sacred Den Master. I don’t know what is meant by kings of old, but I’m guessing your referring to more people such as yourself?”
Belissar paused and glanced at the augur.
“The wicked kings of old were supposed to be human, right?”
The augur nodded. Metsaitti shook his head again.
“In that case, we had never met any peoples such as yourself before you, Sacred Den Master, much less served them. If we ever had in the past, then it must have been a long time ago.”
Belissar nodded, and then began to rub his chin. So, the kings of old did something that, one way or another, resulted in the Hunger, and the Tower Lords were trying to prevent anyone from repeating it by misusing a Tower or a gods’ blessing? And the beastkin apparently helped the kings of old?
He frowned. He didn’t see why that meant lying to peasants, letting them die of plagues, and then burning down their villages. That didn’t seem like a good use of a Tower’s powers in Belissar’s opinion. And what did it matter what the beastkin once did if the karnuq couldn’t even remember such a time?
He was growing angry once more but he shook his head. It didn’t really matter to him why the Tower Lords did what they did. The gods apparently hadn’t specifically commanded it, and Belissar knew he had at least two of their approval at this point. The karnuq, too, weren’t serving any wicked king of old that Belissar could see and had been far better people to him than most humans ever were.
In the end, this all changed nothing. Belissar was going to build a Tower full of happy bees that the God of Bees could be proud of. If the Tower Lords thought that was a misuse of the Tower’s power, then they could take it up with the gods. And if they came here in force once more, Belissar would not let them take all that the bees had built.
Besides, even the augur was now questioning the things he was explaining. Belissar stared at him as the old man curled up and began to mutter to himself once again. Well, the augur had answered his questions…and he had been sent here by the God of Bees. He took a deep breath.
Niobee paused waving her stinger around to dance happily before him.
He looked at her and smiled.
“Could you go ask your queen mother if the God of Bees wants to say anything to this guy?”