The Nine Bishops

Mika laughed. She laughed so hard and long that her face began to hurt. She laughed because it was a relief from all the pain and fear and pent-up adrenalin of their race to safety. She laughed because in this moment she did not know what else to do. This was the most outrageous thing she had ever heard her uncle say. “Books from the castle” was more believable.

Mika was a Filth. All she was ever going to be was a Filth. Even if she somehow had magic, this did not make her the heir to the throne. That was just ridiculous. But now Mika knew she was done with silence and ready for answers.

Mika looked again at the gem, glowing blue, then back at her uncle.

“What are you talking about? Are you insane?”

Mika wondered briefly if he was losing his mind. Sam was still smiling; he hadn’t stopped since he’d put the necklace on Mika’s neck.

“I’ve been waiting twelve years for this moment. After what happened at the circus, I was one hundred percent certain that gem would glow the same shade as your eyes. I’ve waited a long time for this, much longer than I had thought I would.”

Mika looked at Sam, who seemed strangely ecstatic. There was so much behind his smile she wanted to know. She stared at him, holding her breath.

“It’s time that I tell you about your parents,” Sam finally said. Mika released her breath in relief.

“Up until twelve years ago,” Sam said, pausing momentously, “Your father was the king of Seemos.”

Mika stifled the urge to laugh again. If Sam said she was heir to the throne, of course her parents had to be the king and queen. But that was the problem. Nothing Sam was saying now lined up with anything she knew of her life, or for that matter of the life of Seemos. Even the history books she had read carried no hint of this.

“But that’s impossible. King Ven Fallon has been the king since anyone can remember,” Mika objected.

“Not anyone, but you,” he responded.

It was a strange comment, but Mika had a glimmer of what he meant. Obviously, she remembered little from her childhood. All her memories before she turned six were a haze. But Mika was educated in the history of the kingdom.

Ven Fallon had been the king since his own father, Vanitas, passed away almost thirty years ago. Mika’s dreams about her father were detailed; she knew what he looked like.

Most history books she had read featured portraits of every ruler of Seemos since the Birth of Magic. She knew all the faces of the recent rulers, and her father’s face was not among them.

“Even if I don’t remember, I have studied the histories, which still makes that impossible,” Mika retorted.

Mika wasn’t the kind to accept Sam’s words at face value. After all, he’d always taught her that some things were simply objective and that she should trust her studies unless he told her otherwise. She wouldn’t be easily convinced of contradictory things that appeared neither in history books nor her memories.

“Mika, do you believe you used magic back at the circus?” Sam demanded.

“Well … I don’t really know,” Mika answered, realizing she had little confidence in her understanding of what had happened at the circus.

“Do you think you used magic or not?” Sam asked more sternly, wanting a clear response.

Mika thought back to the incident and remembered wanting only one thing at that moment: the courage to step out and take responsibility for the accident. Even though she was not really to blame for what happened, her uncle was not at fault in the slightest. Rather than accept ownership, Mika had been immobilized by fear.

Her uncle, on the other hand, had the courage that Mika was looking for. All she could do was stand there, frozen in fear. Ironically, after Sam suffered the branding, it wasn’t Mika who froze, but the mages. All her jumbled emotions had somehow catalyzed into magic.

“I used magic, but I can’t explain how,” Mika said. “Somehow, my thoughts created some kind of … energy, but it wasn’t something I controlled.”

“If you believe you used magic‑something you could never have believed possible‑would you believe that the histories were not entirely accurate?”

When Sam put it in that perspective, Mika realized anything could have been possible. What she didn’t understand was why anyone would write a different history. If this was true, it was as much a mystery as her family.

“Sam, just tell me everything, and I will try to understand.”

Sam nodded.

“Your father was the former king of Seemos. His name was Lionel. His full title was King Lionel Fallon. The current king, Ven Fallon, is his younger brother. Ven had your father, mother, and twin brother killed twelve years ago,” Sam said in one breath.

It was a lot to take in, but Mika decided to accept it. Sam was not one to lie to her. She would have never believed that she was the daughter of a king. The only reason she could possibly accept such a radical notion was because she was certain now that she had used magic. Only a mage could use magic, so Mika knew there was something she hadn’t realized about her lineage.

She had lived a lowly and common Filth life. Royalty was a reality far from Mika’s truth. Yet, so was magic, and somehow, she realized, the two must be connected.

She was shocked by one other detail: that she had a brother. The only person she remembered from childhood was her father, and common sense told her she’d had a mother, but a sibling?

“I honestly don’t know why you can’t remember them,” Sam went on. “It’s a mystery your aunt and I were never able to solve. In fact, you are not the only one we know to have lost their memory. Other mages that supported your father have forgotten the past as well.

“We used that fact to our advantage, because after your family was killed, it was paramount to stay out of the spotlight. We chose to live a low life in Southie because it was the last place the Bishops would look for you. As for the histories, King Ven Fallon—the man you now know is your uncle— had them altered. You will not find any history with your father in it, because all of those texts were destroyed.”

Mika’s head was reeling. So all her knowledge of Seemos’s past was a lie?

“How did I survive?”

“That is a difficult question for me to answer, since I do not know. What I can tell you is that your father died protecting you. He bought Bella and me time to escape Castle Vania with you,” Sam replied.

“So, is Ven your brother as well?” Mika asked, not thinking for a moment.

“Well as I’ve told you before, Bella was your mother’s sister. I am not related to your family by blood,” he answered.

“Oh, right … Does that mean you or Bella could actually use magic?” Mika wondered.

“No, unfortunately I cannot. The one thing that has always been true is that your aunt and I are Filth. I can get into that in more detail, but for now it’s best that we talk about your past. I don’t know why your uncle had your father killed, but I know it had to do with the fact that he was not a friend of the Filth. Your father was always a friend of the Filth, and your uncle despised him for it.”

Now things were making sense, at least a little bit. Mika had learned so much in so little time that it made her head spin.

“Sam, I have so many more questions about my family, but first, I have to understand what happened at the circus. What’s going on, and where are we headed?” she asked hurriedly, sensing they were running out of time in this place.

“I’m glad you’re thinking,” Sam replied, pausing before going on. “Your magic is different than every mages’ magic in Seemos. You are neither a mage nor a Filth. You are one of the two Arcanes in the kingdom.”

“Arcane? I’ve never heard that term. What does that mean?”

“You will never find anything about the Arcanes in any book. They are a secret to all but a few. No one really knows where magic came from, but magic grew from the Arcanes. The Arcanes were the first mages. They’re the reason anyone can use magic. They have the power to use all magic strains.

“And you are one of them, Mika,” Sam said, smiling.

Mika was reeling again. She’d just barely discovered she had any magic at all. Mika didn’t really know what a magic strain was, since she had always been forbidden to read about magic. However, she was most curious for now to know what it meant to be an Arcane.

“If I am truly one of the Arcanes, then who is the other?”

“Your uncle, Ven,” Sam answered, ruefully. He paused. “Like I said earlier, there are only two Arcanes, and there can only be two Arcanes. One special power of the Arcanes is the ability to pass on their power to the person of their choice. All rulers of Seemos since the Birth of Magic have been Arcanes. It can only be passed on by a conscious decision, which is why the royal family has not always been from the same lineage. Your father was the Arcane before you. He gave his power to you.”

“Why? Why did he choose me? I never asked for this!” Mika protested, beginning to feel overwhelmed.

“Your father chose you because he loved you,” Sam said, gently.

Mika remembered her dream, and her father’s three words.

“As for your magic, I am not an expert, but I know a few things about it. First, since you are an Arcane, you are not technically a mage even though you know magic. All mages will still see you as Filth. However,” he said, stepping closer to Mika and pointing to her necklace, “this necklace will make you look like a mage to all other mages. So long as you wear it, you are a mage in their eyes.

“Second, your magic has just awakened. Since you were not born with your magic, it was impossible for anyone to know when you would be able to use it. Now that you have used it, you will always be able to use it. However, you will have to train your magic if you want to be able to control it. That is why it is so important for you to go Home and join a mages’ guild. I am no mage, so I do not know how to teach you.

“Last, and most important, you have every right to the throne, since you are an Arcane. Things were not always so hard for the Filth. There was a time when Filth were treated as equals. However, Ven has altered the histories and done something to everyone’s memories. Mages and Filth can only remember a time when the Filth were inferior. I don’t know why I seem to remember more, but it is dangerous for us to know, which is why I have kept all of this hidden away from you until now,” Sam explained.

This was a lot for Mika to take in. The more some things became clearer to her, the more other things became convoluted. There were only a few things Mika still needed to know before she could fully accept her uncle’s words.

“So, what did Aunt Bella mean by her last words to you?”

Sam’s face softened, and his shoulders relaxed. “Mika, your aunt and I have always known that you have a beautiful heart. Your aunt believed you could make things right in the kingdom. She believed you would be the one to take back the kingdom from Ven and bring back a time of happiness for all.”

Mika was struck by Sam’s confidence, evident in the proud way he looked at her.

She was about to ask another question when she heard a commotion deep in the woods behind them, to the east. In the darkness, she saw three flickering lights, still distant but coming in their direction. The Hunters, Mika thought immediately.

“It would seem that we have overstayed our welcome,” Sam exclaimed, no sign of worry in his voice. “Listen to me closely, Mika. In their eyes, you are a mage, so you do not have to fear them. They are looking for two Filth.”

Mika, on the verge of panic, wasn’t sure if her uncle properly grasped the gravity of their situation. Sam was branded and was about to be captured. Besides, what happened at the circus was clearly a mage’s work, so they would not necessarily be looking for two Filth.

Mika shot her uncle a concerned look and was about to say something more before he said: “Trust me, all the witnesses saw were two Filth. They are not looking for mages yet.”

Mika was not comfortable with that theory, but nodded.

“Now, you will go in that direction,” Sam said, pointing toward the lights, “and tell them that you heard what happened at the circus and you thought you saw a branded Filth man going in that direction,” he added, pointing north. “I will be going west, and if you do what I just said you will buy me time to escape. Everything will be fine, now that you are a mage. You don’t have to fear them anymore,” Sam said, patting Mika’s shoulder.

Mika looked at him uncertainly. She’d never imagined leaving him at such short notice. Part of her just wanted things to go back to normal, bad as the old normal was. She wasn’t at all sure she was ready for what was to come.

“Go Home,” Sam said, handing her the bag full of all the money they had saved. “Now that you are a mage, don’t worry about the Low Road. Take the High Road and join a guild, just like we planned. You are ready, you can make it on your own,” Sam said, as though that was established fact.

“But what am I supposed to do?” Mika asked, bewildered.

“Make your aunt and me proud,” he said. And again, she saw in the moonlight tears beginning to stream down his disfigured cheeks.

Time was short. He needed to get away. All she could think to do was embrace him. Tears began streaming down her own face as well, as she realized this was a hug goodbye, that this would probably be the last time she would see her beloved uncle: her confidante, her protector, the closest thing she had to a flesh-and-blood father. The light from the torches was growing. They were out of time. But there was one more thing she desperately needed to know.

“Is Aunt Bella actually buried here?”

If she was, then Mika would not forget this spot. It would hold a special place in her heart for the rest of her life. This broken stone in this field would mark the end of one life and the start of another.

“Yes,” Sam said, sighing.

“We don’t need a gravestone with her name on it to remember where she is,” he said, pointing to his heart. “This is what she would have wanted. Now go,” Sam commanded, sending her off with a sad, loving smile.

Through her tears, Mika returned his smile before she began running in the direction of the torchlight, towards Home.