The Time of the Titans

Chapter 31: The Ritual

The Masters convened and considered Giovanna's submission, and after they had reached a conclusion, the custodians took Giovanna upstairs for further interrogations in the throne room, in which only the Masters, the custodians, and the Master Councillor took part. I was left with the young hooded ninjas downstairs. Them, and Brynhilde.

I felt confused at many levels, for what I had experienced and seen since I returned to the Base. Why did my sincere application to the Brotherhood's membership prompt them to remove me from my small room and place me in the weird cellar room in the other building – and moreover, under a constant guardianship of boys whom I was not so familiar with? I looked at Mathias and Karim and wondered if I should make better friends with them, but I felt tired for that. The boys now seemed busy imposing their presence over Brynhilde, who was first arrogant at them, but soon more playful, as she realized they would not leave her side.

I therefore opted for the company of Marek and Pablo. At least I knew them a bit better, although they were young like the other two. It was funny how age mattered. For me, one's exact age had lost its significance years ago – in my earthly life – ever since things like high school and college were passed and we melted in the society of young adults in the university. Some years here or there, what did it matter? But for these teens, one or two years of difference in age meant a remarkable change. I, too, saw them differently. The older boys, though only seventeen or sixteen, I took more or less as my equals. The younger ones, those of fifteen, fourteen, or thirteen – them I still regarded as kids, however impressive some of them were in their skills, or wits, or attitude.

"I think I need some air", I said to Marek and Pablo. I wanted to see if I was again free to go as I wanted, or if they would escort me like the other two had done in the morning. They glanced at each other, and then Marek told me: "Just be careful." And Pablo stood up from the armrest and came to me, saying: "Yeah, watch out, dude."

"Why?" I asked. "What should I watch out for?"

They looked at each other and seemed amused. Was it some kind of a prank, or what?

"Nothing", said Marek. "Just, we heard you applied. So..."

"So...?" I looked at the boys, but they seemed not willing to give me any more information. Thus, I put the captain's cap on my head and walked out of the library, and they didn't stop me. Pablo followed me to the door and watched as I paced slowly across the yard. Wind seized the tails of my cloak.

What was Giovanna's theatrical performance at the graves all about? Did she truly intend to kill herself? I didn't think so. First, she had not cut her arteries, just secondary veins, causing a dramatic scene but no deadly risk. Secondly, she was a warrior princess. We had just learned she was nothing less than the daughter of the leader of the Resistance, the so-called Skull Princess. Apparently so named because she possessed a Phantom ring similar to Max's.

Alas, but Max's ring wasn't really his, I reminded myself. It had been given to him by the Grand Master. It had to mean something. If only I could clearly see what it was.

Could it be that the Skull Princess and the White Lady were one and the same person? Yet Brynhilde had told they knew each other for a long time, so long some claimed they had witnessed the titan wars. The White Lady had left for the mainland – somehow, she had also transported the twenty girls there. In Elysium, she had been called the Winter Queen, and she had, according to Giovanna, protected girls and young women. But if the Winter Queen had protected Giovanna when she was only growing up – that had to mean that the White Lady and possibly also the Grand Master had lived in Sangriala before they had come to the island. Maybe they were not from Atlantis, like I and the boys were. The White Lady could not be the same as the Skull Princess, because Giovanna had quite distinctly spoken of two different persons, one of whom was her mother.