Prince's Master (Calluvia's Royalty 4)

There were no Calluvians outside of the Order that received any formal telepathic training—and definitely none that were so powerful.

Which meant… Which meant that they must be the rebels. They must be Tai’Lehrians. The very same people that could cause a lot of problems for the Order.

“What do you want from my Master?” Eridan said, suppressing his unease.

“That is none of your business, kid,” Sirri said with a condescending smile.

“I am not a kid,” Eridan ground out. “And you made it my business when you kidnapped me.”

“We know about your Order’s machinations,” Warrehn said. “We want the High Hronthar to stop manipulating public opinion against us.”

“Us, huh?” Sirri said, looking delighted for some reason.

The withering look Warrehn gave her was so murderous it made Eridan curious.

Did that mean Warrehn wasn’t actually one of the rebels?

Tucking the thought away to examine later, Eridan let out a chuckle. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he said, giving them his best bewildered look. “This is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard.”

“Right,” Sirri said with a snort before striding toward the door. “Wake me up in six hours, War. And keep an eye on the comm. Rohan might contact us. If we are lucky, the blockade will be lifted soon, and we can leave.”

“The blockade?” Eridan said when the door closed behind her.

Warrehn grunted something, settling in the chair by the window and looking outside with a fierce scowl on his face. From his position, Eridan couldn’t see what was outside the house, but surely it couldn’t be that bad.

“What blockade?” he tried again, adopting his softest, most innocent voice. This man seemed to have an aversion to hurting kids, so acting like a confused kid could be beneficial. Warrehn seemed somewhat kinder than the woman.

Warrehn bit out, “The blockade your precious Order has put around the Blind.”

The Blind?

The term sounded vaguely familiar… Eridan strained his memory, trying to remember.

Right, one of the reports on Tai’Lehr had mentioned that they used a narrow strip of land near Hangar Bay 4 for teleporting between Calluvia and Tai’Lehr. It was one of the few places around the Great Mountains that allowed for transgalactic teleporters to work without being detected by Calluvian authorities, but it seemed the Tai’Lehrians thought it was the only place. Eridan could remember asking Castien years ago why the Order simply didn’t block the rebels’ access to Calluvia.

He could still remember Castien’s response. The false sense of security makes one careless and vulnerable.

It was such a Castien thing to say that Eridan had scoffed at the time. But now he understood what his Master had meant. The rebels had had no idea that the Order was aware of how they traveled between Calluvia and Tai’Lehr. Having their only means of escape cut off so efficiently must have blindsided them.

“Are you a rebel?” Eridan said, figuring that learning more about his kidnappers couldn’t possibly hurt.

Warrehn didn’t say anything, though Eridan could sense a strong negative emotion rolling off him.

Eridan cocked his head to the side. “You are not, are you?”

“Quit talking or I’m putting the gag back.”

Eridan snorted. “Please. You can’t seriously think I’ll believe it when you can’t even look at me without feeling guilty.”

Warrehn turned his head and glared. “I’m looking at you. And I don’t feel guilty. You are a member of an evil psycho cult that brainwashes billions of people.”

Eridan wrinkled his nose up. “An evil psycho cult? Don’t be ridiculous.”

“So you aren’t denying the brainwashing part?”

Eridan gave him an innocent look. “I’m neither confirming nor denying it.”

Warrehn scoffed and averted his gaze again.

Eridan chewed on his lip, trying not to show that the guy’s words had hit a little too close to home.

He’d always had… misgivings about the source of the Order’s power on Calluvia. On one hand, was it right to have such enormous control over a planet, control that was achieved by underhanded means?

On the other hand, the Chapter of High Hronthar wasn’t completely evil or something. The unpleasant business with Prince-Consort Mehmer was more of an exception than the rule. In essence, the Chapter was just a bunch of very ambitious and power-hungry political figures. Yes, many of the Masters were corrupt and selfish, but wasn’t that true for most politicians? Eridan had seen enough of the members of the Calluvian Council to know that they weren’t much different from the Chapter’s Masters: they were greedy, and they all had their own agendas and ambitions. Even if the High Hronthar disappeared, the Calluvian Council wouldn’t suddenly become less corrupt. Without the High Hronthar’s supervision, they might become more corrupt. Evil was relative, after all.

“What is evil?” Eridan said, looking at his own hands. “What are the criteria?”

He felt Warrehn turn back to him. “Brainwashing billions of people definitely counts as evil,” he said. “No matter how you try to swing it.”