Chapter Text
After getting a message from Kivuna in the morning telling him that she wanted a few days to organize her notes and find texts and experts on the old ones, Avad decided to hold court. He had been putting it off for a little bit but with Aloy going to find Aether it seemed like a good opportunity. And actually it had been. Avad had talked to one of his most reasonable nobles, Kiridian Pariv, who managed the royal maizeland. Kiridian was a middle aged man who seemed almost too reasonable. He liked formalities, was always courteous and had an eye for business and long term planning. Avad had asked Marad once what dark secrets the man held, but Marad’s investigation hadn’t found anything. He had also asked Marad if Kiridian had any hobbies or interests besides economic management, but Marad had declined to investigate that.
“The maizelands are recovering quite well after the battle and we should be back to normal productivity soon” had been the gist of the report. It was nice to have at least one competent noble. Avad should ask Aloy’s Utaru friend, Zo, if she had some advice. The Utaru were famous for being excellent farmers and he was sure that Kiridian would be happy to hear anything that could increase productivity. He just had to make sure that the Carja people got to experience the yields of some of that productivity.
Besides Kiridian, Avad had also talked to a group of the sundoms military engineers. The organization had been founded by Avad’s grandfather, sun king Hivas, as part of the remilitarization of the Carja, however they had remained a small force until Avad had opened recruitment to people of any tribe (even if it was mostly Oseram who joined). While Avad disliked expanding the military, he knew they were necessary to fend off machines and other threats. The engineers had been experimenting with modifying ravager cannons for permanent use, manufacturing replacements for the ammo and stabilizing the cannons themselves. Apparently progress had been slow, but steady. However with Aloys notes from her focus the team had made some breakthroughs, promising a live demonstration next week. Avad had nodded and thanked them for their work. He hoped it would save lives, he just wished they weren't so excited about making weapons of destruction.
After that, Avad had settled three disputes between different nobles, but he was quite sure that the next duo in line weren’t here to talk about land claims or incidents at parties. Avad saw a tall Oseran woman wearing the garb of a delver, next to what looked like a Carja scholar. He felt like he recalled the scholar but couldn’t say from where. Both of them looked and smelled like they had spent the last week in a ruin, which he suspected might just be the case. Avad had waived the rules for “proper appearance” in court as it was mostly a law to keep “peasants” away from politics, but maybe there were some other reasons the previous sun kings had kept that requirement. He saw multiple nobles in line sniffing their noses and would probably be recommending the duo a bath after this. The Oseram woman walked forward and spoke and as she did Avad noticed her defined muscles and a warhammer hanging on her back.
“Hey, Your Radiance. That is the correct title right? You Carja have so many titles and stuff, my par-” With a polite cough from her companion she continued. “Anyway me and Salli were delving into some ruins over by the grave hoard and we found these.” With that she pulled out a pouch and dropped it on the floor in front of him. As she did so one of the vanguard rushed forward and inspected the pouch. Avad wanted to say that he could do that himself, but on the other hand if that had been a bomb it would have been a good way to assassinate him. The guard, a young woman named Olifia nodded.
“It's safe you radiance. It's five more of these…devices you have” She said, pointing to his ear. Avad stopped his other thoughts; figuring out where he had seen the scholar, the delver’s muscles, his afternoon plans and the fact that if it had been a bomb Olifia would have died protecting him. He had more focuses. Well he still had to buy them and see if they were in good condition, but still. It would be huge for the Carja.
Olifia gave him the pouch and Avad looked over the focuses, which seemed intact but it was hard to know at a glance.
“Yeah, I heard you put a good price on these things. What was it, three hundred shards each? Four hundred?” The delver said. Avad wasn’t quite sure if she was putting up an act or not. Either way he would pay full price, you didn’t want to charge a delver short. That never ended well, and it wasn't like the sundom couldn’t afford it.
The scholar coughed politely again and spoke up. “I believe focuses were listed to be sold for thousand shards each, your radiance”
“A thousand shards each? We could retire on that money. You should sell yours too, Salli” the woman loudly proclaimed. Avad looked closer and could see that hidden behind ‘Salli’s’ headdress there was a focus.
“I believe I will keep it, my dear. It was invaluable during the last delve. And I don’t think you would want to retire, you would find it too boring” the scholar(?) responded. Avad could have listened to their bickering for a while longer but the nobles in the queue were giving them dirty looks and he really wanted to inspect the focuses.
“I will need to inspect the focuses to see if they work properly, but assuming they do, the Sundom will pay you a thousand shards for each one. I would be willing to buy the one you have too, if you change your mind sir…”
“Salizar, your radiance. And I think the answer will remain no. Now I think me and my partner would like to visit the Meridian bathhouse if it's still open. The focuses should be working, I’ve checked them all. Contact us if you find anything wrong”
“And I am Ulvama Ruinsfinder. Pleasure doing business.” The woman said and they walked away, bickering to each other. Something about “you can’t just invent a last name for yourself dear” and “sure can do, did it just now”
After that, which was one of the strangest meetings Avad had been part of, the rest of the court went by without incident. After his open court had ended, he finally had time to start looking over the other focuses. Working together with Marad he did a check on all of the focuses, using some instructions he got from Aloy last time they spoke. Check for external damages, check the settings and programs so they matched his, run a security check. Aloy had also mentioned some things like malware and hacking as possible threats to focuses, but she didn’t really understand those concepts herself so they had no way to check for that yet. Their checks didn’t find anything so Avad gave a focus to Marad, Vanasha and Kivuna and sent one to Balahn in Daytower in the east. He wanted to send the last one to Barren Light in the west, but the leadership position was a bit unclear after the death of Nozar in the embassy massacre. He would also like to send focuses to the other tribes for better communication with the Nora, Banuk and Oseram leadership but the Nora shunned technology from the old ones and he had limited contact with Banuk and Oseram leadership. So for now he held onto the last focus. Before he went off to have lunch, Marad came up and whispered to him.
“Some of the vanguard have mentioned seeing a mysterious person watching you, your radiance. Vanasha is investigating them, but don’t do anything risky today. And I know this is hard knowing that, but don’t act suspicious either” Marad paused, then added.
“Incidentally I got word that lady Zevin Var Nariv would be okay with another date”
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A gentle afternoon breeze flew through Meridian, going past the crowded stores of the market districts. It went past the hunting party emerging from the lodge and the people coming and going to the temple of the sun. Avad enjoyed taking a walk through the city and this time he had been joined by Zevin. They had followed the afternoon breeze, going around the city at a relaxed pace, quietly talking about things. Poetry, news and reports from around the Sundom. They had even talked a bit about the other tribes. Zevin seemed a bit more open today and it had been a pleasant conversation. As they walked she opened up more and asked him things. She was fairly well read and in a world without Aloy… Avad could see himself, well maybe not happy but at least content, with Zevin as sun queen. The nobles would be happier and the Sundom stable and fine.
But there was no spark. Not between them. Avad had found a few romance “novellas” hidden in folders in folders on the focus. They were partially corrupted and not opened recently, but they mentioned the same spark some Carja texts did when it came to romance. And in that world there wouldn’t really be any spark for the Carja either. Avad would be slowly getting his reforms across, strengthening the rights of commoners and outlanders and maybe building some new projects. Then a few sun kings later there might be another Jiran. Or some cult, malevolent machine or remnant of the old ones decides to attack and the Carja, focusing more on tradition than what's right, would have no chance.
The thing was, they lived in 3041. The year was 3041 in the common era, not 221 post founding. The earth was a sphere. The very sun his tribe worshiped was a ball of fire. Avad hadn’t known these things. He knew that the sun was not divine, because well he knew he was no god. He knew time didn’t start when Araman founded Meridian but okay, maybe that was the most arbitrary point, the old ones calendar started with some religion. He hadn’t really thought about what shape the world might be, because most of his teachers had disregarded everything outside of the Sundom and it hadn't seemed relevant. There was so much knowledge and things lost. So many things happening, that the Carja couldn’t stay in the past. Aloy had said he shouldn't put his life on hold, that she might not make it. And they hadn't confirmed if their feelings were the same. But while there was a chance Avad would not get with some lady, just because it would please the nobles. Still he felt shouldn't think of Aloy on his date.
“What shape do you think the planet is?” It was probably a weird question to ask out of the blue. Their date was approaching the end, they were walking on the bridge to the palace. But Avad had to ask. Zevin looked at him and answered slowly.
"Hmm. I have heard some people say it's flat, but my uncle theorizes it's a sphere. He said something about shadows I think. Why do you ask?”
“Just curious. I've heard that's correct. Your uncle is quite smart” There was something nice in hearing that Aloy wasn’t the only one that figured that out.
“Thank you. Mother doesn’t like him because he’s with an Oseram. My ah, other uncle, So they’re banished from the family now. So he’s technically not my uncle anymore. But he is…” Zevin paused and looked at him. They were standing on the middle of the bridge now. Technically they (and the five vanguards that followed them) were blocking traffic but no one would say that to the sun king . “Are you interested? I’m probably talking too much, aren't I? I shouldn't be talking about this”.
Avad looked at her
“No, it's fine, please keep talking. A date should have a conversation. And I don't mind hearing about your uncles, ” Avad tried. He was not quite sure what to do here.
"You're not like I imagined. Mother said I should only talk when you spoke to me since you’re the sun king. She said you wouldn't want someone to speak against you.” Zevin paused ”So I did that last time, but you keep prompting me to continue. And she said I shouldn’t mention unwomanly things like construction, but then you started talking about the development of Brightmarket. And I shouldn’t talk about other “lesser” tribes but then you started talking about the fur imports from the Nora.” Avad could see a tear forming in her left eye.
“I thought it might be some kind of test for a bit. You would present these topics, then reject me when I start talking about “shadowed things”. You know Avad, you have rejected a lot of noblewomen. You have a reputation among the noble ladies and maybe that’s your method.” She paused again “But I also don't think you're that cruel. I saw you send a guard to break up that fight in the market. I’ve heard you let some people whose homes were destroyed in the battle for Meridian into the palace for a few days. I…”
She paused, seemingly taking in the fact their discussion had paused foot traffic around them. Avad thought he saw someone in shadow watching them for a moment, but couldn't’ concert on that. Still he thought that if he interjected with a response she might stop. But he had to do something. For all his want of getting people to stop treating him as sungod instead of a human he wasn’t used to people opening up to him. But he did what Kadaman always did when Avad started crying as a kid. He went forward and gave her a gentle hug.
“You're not like other nobles, Avad.” she said through her tears. Then she whispered “And that's a focus right? I’ve only seen one as a sketch before, but it has to be.”