Rin glared at her for a few moments. “I’m not sure what you are saying.”
Sree suddenly seemed sad. “I’ll be gone soon, by your hand if you are kind, by other means if I must find them.” Once again, she put up her hand when Rin was about to object. “But I love you as always. I would not see you hurt … despite all your protections.”
“Then stop this foolishness. Release me from this promise and stay alive.”
Sree looked down but remained silent.
Rin sighed. “No, I suppose it is selfish of me to ask that. As for getting hurt by other means …” She gave Sree a hard look. “My protections wouldn’t deserve the designation if I could get hurt.”
Sree frowned at the glib reply. “Sister,” she announced solemnly, “there is no protection against Pride.”
“Actually, there is. I just decided not to use it.” Seeing that her joke fell flat, Rin tried a sterner tack.
“I’m the protection against Pride. And I deliver that protection, along with a few others, to fools who require it.” The absurdity of this threat struck Rin even as she issued it.
Ignoring the bluster, Sree took Rin’s hands in her own and gently admonished, “I mean a protection for you, sister. The woman who cannot fail is the woman who must fail.”
“Perhaps, but the woman who must fail is the woman who cannot.” Rin was about to say more when Sree interrupted her with a strange look.
“You say the gods taught you this. Why you? Of all the people in the world, why you?”
Rin looked away in irritation. “Are you jealous?”
“Surely you remember our childhood. You always were special, but were you that special?”
Seeing that Rin was hurt and angry, Sree hastened to clarify. “To me you are both special and perfect, dear sister.”
Dear sister? Rin grew particularly attentive. Sree only said that when she was very upset. It was the only time she lost her playful quality. An irate Sree happened rarely, and mostly around Rin. Well, mostly because of Rin. But what else were sisters for?
Rin decided that since this bothered Sree so much she would at least try to take the matter seriously.
“I’m listening, sister. Please continue.”
This appeared to awaken Sree to her own state, and she quickly composed herself. “I’m sorry, I’ve become impassioned.”
Rin smiled. “I tend to inspire that.” She squeezed Sree’s hands. “Please continue. I promise to listen. You were asking why me.”
Sree relaxed and resumed her line of reasoning. “Why were you special to the gods? Did they pity you? Many others deserved pity more. Was it your talent? You were great, but untrained. Pardon me for saying so, but we had artisans who were far more accomplished than you. Was it your raw potential? Perhaps, but you still should ask why. That’s all I’m saying. Not that you aren’t special, but wouldn’t it make sense to ask why?”
“You know why I was chosen.” There was an iciness in Rin’s voice.
Sree looked away. It was a few moments before her quiet reply. “Yes, but that does not matter. The question remains the same.”
Rin sighed. “Yes, I suppose it does. And just as pointless.”
Despite her outward dismissiveness, she had to admit the sense in Sree’s argument. Rin wasn’t quite sure why she hadn’t thought about this before. Maybe she had but forgot. In such a long life, she often revisited the same ideas with little recollection of having done so before.
But she doubted she would forget this. It was too … relevant. Yes, there it was. She had thought about it, many years ago during her interment. For some reason, she had cast it aside. Certainly there was no shortage of time for contemplation back then. Of course, she hadn’t been in the most rational state of mind. Perhaps it was a subject which now should be revisited.
“Surely, you have asked such questions yourself,” Sree prompted.
No, this was just the idle folly of a frivolous girl. Or maybe not so frivolous. Was Sree trying to sow doubt? Maybe she was trying to turn Rin against the gods. Had she misjudged Sree all these years, underestimated her? Had she secretly been the cause of all that had happened? Why else would she suggest such a thing?
Every fiber of her being condemned Sree’s idea, and she felt a rising tide of contempt. There were more important matters at hand. Did she really want to take advice from someone stupid enough to spurn her gift? Someone heinous enough to demand death from her own sister? What sort of contemptible bitch would ask such a thing? Maybe she intended to hurt Rin and had been toying with her all along. With great effort, Rin calmed herself.
Something about this was deeply troubling. As irascible as she could be, Rin almost never felt true rage. Her protections throttled it, or should have. Something was wrong, or maybe her anger simply hadn’t reached the requisite threshold. It was hard to measure emotions with any precision.
Perhaps she had grown this angry before, or maybe the protections finally were kicking in. After all, the fury had subsided. Suddenly, she felt tired but at peace with herself. There was nothing insidious going on. It was just her beloved but strange sister saying silly things. She would indulge her, but nothing more. When Rin answered, it was in a calm voice and on a pragmatic note.
“It has not been necessary.”
“You have, haven’t you?” Sree persisted.
“You’re as vexing as always, sister.”
Sree smiled. “Yes, you have. I can tell. Do not be ashamed.” She ignored the sharp look Rin gave her. “There is nothing unqueenly in doubt. Yet I find it interesting that there is one thing you never have done. Something that most people would have done in your position and which would have furnished an answer of sorts.”
“And what’s that?” Rin snapped, growing impatient for reasons she could not explain.
“You’ve never pretended to be a god.”
Rin could not deny this. The thought hadn’t even occurred to her. “Why would I? I’m not one. That would be blasphemous.”
“There! You see, you have thought about these things. The protections derive from some higher authority. And deep down you know they can be taken away. Anyone with the power to bestow such a gift surely has the power to rescind it. Perhaps doing so would cause these gods great trouble, but you cannot deny the possibility.”
Sree continued before Rin could respond. “I know you, sister. You never would have called yourself a god. It is not in you to do so. But you also would not abide a master, not unless it is necessary. Whether you’ve realized it or not, a master must be necessary.”
Rin was both shocked by Sree’s adamancy and puzzled by her words. She could not recall hearing her speak so formally and at such length about anything. She wasn’t vapid, but rarely seemed inclined to be serious. The improbable manner of her speech brought to mind tales of men speaking prophecy from their deathbeds. But this wasn’t her deathbed, and she was speaking as Sree.
Earlier, Rin’s thoughts had been clouded by anger. Now she wondered in earnest whether she had underestimated her sister all these years. Or was Sree simply insane? It didn’t matter. Rin’s duty as a sister was clear enough: to let her speak her piece and nod attentively. No, she owed Sree more than that. She had promised to listen, so she must actually do so. Even if it was drivel. Even if it would change nothing. Besides, there always was the chance that she would say something meaningful. Had Sree really become the formidable crone, after all?
Rin decided to fully engage in the discussion. She thought for a moment before replying.
“Is it wrong to revere those who freely bestowed greatness upon me?”
“It’s the freely part that worries me. Who are these gods with such power? In all your years, have you ever seen another form of magic or a single other sign of divinity or even one other intercession in the orderly workings of the world?”
Rin shook her head.
“Nor have I, sister. Does this not bother you? Billions have been born and died since, and millions lived before us. Why is there no other magic in the world?”
On this, Rin agreed with Sree. It was something which had troubled her thoughts now and again over the years, and she always reached the same conclusion. It was a mystery but not a problem. Mysteries always had answers, even if they sometimes dwelt beyond her ken and never came to light. Her ignorance of them did not make those answers insidious. They could be innocuous or even benign.
The presence of other magics would complicate things and raise more questions than it answered. Rin preferred there to be none, and not solely in service of her own hegemony.
It took thousands of years, but she finally had come to know the world. As complicated as her gift made things, she now more or less understood how the universe worked. The discovery of something new would challenge that hard-won understanding, perhaps even topple the edifice on which she had erected a purpose. She wondered whether this was how mortals felt when they encountered a Protege.
Was that why Daryl really wished to destroy her? It made little sense that he would resent losing whatever banal purpose he imagined he had, especially not when it had been replaced with such a grand one. However, this struck Rin as paradoxical. The new purpose was born from a resentment which it obviated. Such purpose could not spring from a cause or it would cease to have cause. It simply must exist, devoid of antecedent or progeny. In this it was like her spheres. This too was a mystery but not a problem. Nonetheless, it pleased Rin that she was Daryl’s purpose.
Rin recovered her train of thought.
“Perhaps there are other magics, but they are well hidden. There only are a few of us. What are the chances that a human ever would encounter our magic?”
“Humans do not live forever,” Sree noted.
“True, but there are many of them.”
“And some do learn of us, from time to time. I have not explored every corner of the world, nor has any of us. But we would have heard reports of other magics or seen some sign of such things.”
Rin thought for a moment. “Possibly. But there have been many reports of unusual things over the centuries.”
“None real,” Sree rejoined.
Rin had no answer and was silent. It was true, she should have encountered something if it existed. Continuing to argue with Sree felt disingenuous. The points raised were good ones, ones she had debated with herself many times, and ones for which she had no adequate answer.
Hm, this section raises more questions than it answers...