“The part of your brain that is unique to throwbacks can be blocked,” Idhron said, without looking away from Eridan. “That is the normal practice in the Order in such situations. After blocking it, you will not be any different from Calluvians that do not have the throwback gene.”
Eridan frowned. “I have never heard of it,” he said skeptically. “Can you do it now?”
Idhron’s expression was rather pinched. “It is not a simple procedure, since the block has to be permanent to be effective. Doing it in someone else’s home is inadvisable. You may not feel well afterward.”
“Fine,” Eridan said after a moment. “I will come to the monastery tomorrow.”
“No,” Warrehn cut in. “Idhron will come to our palace. I want to monitor what he does to you.”
“Very well,” Idhron said before getting to his feet and striding past them toward the door.
As soon as it closed behind him, something changed about Eridan. He seemed to deflate, the fight in him, the fire in his eyes—gone. It made Warrehn want to punch someone, preferably Idhron’s haughty, emotionless face.
He laid a hand on Eridan’s shoulder and said gruffly, “It’ll be all right, Eri. He’ll fix it, and then it will be over. You’ll never have to see him again.”
“Yeah,” Eridan said with a crooked little smile that made Warrehn’s stomach twist into a knot of unease. “Let’s return to the wedding reception and see how bad the gossip is.”
Warrehn exchanged a look with Rohan, who shook his head, and Warrehn held back the questions he wanted to ask.
“All right,” he said. “Let’s go.”
Eridan smiled wider, his hand flying up to his throat—to his broken thaal—before stopping and curling by his side. “Right,” Eridan said. “Let’s go.”
Chapter Twenty-Six: The Informant
Calluvian Society Gossip
HIGH HRONTHAR DEMYSTIFIED: WHAT SECRETS DOES THE ORDER HIDE?
Few royal weddings in the past centuries have been as lavish or scandalous as the wedding between Prince Ksar and Prince Seyn. The scandalous circumstances of the betrothal aside, the wedding reception was a goldmine for most delicious gossip, as well.
As the grooms finished saying their marriage vows, there was a commotion among the guests: King Warrehn of the Fifth Grand Clan was fretting over his brother, Prince Eridan, who looked terribly pale and seemed dizzy. By a stroke of good fortune, This Author was close enough to them to hear everything that was being said.
It seemed Prince Eridan was in a great deal of pain and was having trouble breathing, experiencing something akin to a panic attack. His mental shields seemed to have failed, and he was emanating anguish to everyone nearby. That in itself wouldn’t be newsworthy if it were not for what happened later.
Truth be told, This Author was not certain what happened: one moment Prince Eridan was exuding distress, and the next, he wasn’t.
Perhaps it would have remained a mystery if the High Adept didn’t approach the prince and the prince didn’t practically fall into his arms. It was delightfully scandalous, but perhaps that would have also remained a mystery if Prince Eridan didn’t address the High Adept as “Master.”
Now, my dear readers, you must be wondering what it could possibly mean, but fear not, Calluvian Society Gossip investigated it for you!
A source has come forward and answered our questions. He wanted to stay anonymous, and of course, we will respect his wishes.
Here is the transcript of our interview:
I: What does “Master” mean?
S: That’s the address for mind adepts who have attained the rank of Master or Master Acolyte, though in case of Eridan, he’s most likely addressing Master Idhron that way because Master Idhron was literally his Master, his teacher.
I: Are you saying Prince Eridan was the High Adept’s pupil?
S: Apprentice. Apprentice isn’t a simple pupil. Many Masters teach other initiates at the Initiates’ Hall, but claiming an apprentice is far more significant. The relationship between a Master and their apprentice is… intimate, I suppose.
I: Intimate?
S: Yes. Everything I’ve heard indicates that the relationship is close, sometimes inappropriately so.
I: Are you implying what I think you are implying?
S: [seems to hesitate] The High Hronthar has its own rules, and our rules forbid a sexual relationship between a Master and their apprentice.
I: I’m not hearing a no.
S: Look, I can only speculate. There were all sorts of rumors about the Grandmaster and his apprentice, but sometimes gossip can be malicious and misleading…
I: But what do you think? Give us your opinion. We understand that it’s just speculation.
S: I don’t want to get in trouble. But… Yes, if I had to make a guess, I’d bet on Eridan using his [censored] to make Master Idhron choose him to be his apprentice. Eridan was nothing but trouble as an initiate. I’d never believe a great Master like Master Idhron would choose Eridan for any other reason.
Now, dear readers, you must keep in mind that our source might be wrong or dishonest. We could not verify his claims as no one else from the Order has come forward so far.