The Covenant Council

Chapter Two

The Covenant Council

With the breaking of a morning unlike other mornings,

Raed awoke to a light knocking on the door of the Hut.

The light had not changed much;

for the sky in Miraval did not brighten as it should, but merely paled a little.

The Old Messenger entered and said quietly:

"The time has come."

He added nothing more.

The Circular Tower was greater than it had seemed from afar.

Its walls were smooth, towering, without windows.

And the Sigil was engraved above its door at a size many times his height.

The door opened with heavy slowness.

Raed entered.

The hall was vast, its floor of dark purple stone,

and in its center the same Sigil was carved into the ground, its lines intersecting beneath a high ceiling lost in shadows.

Seven men sat in a semicircle,

wearing long white robes, their faces veiled in an unreadable stillness.

One of them said in a deep voice:

"Come forward, Raed bin Khalid."

His heart stopped for a moment.

They even knew his father's name.

He walked with steady steps despite the turmoil in his chest, until he reached the center of the Sigil.

"Place your hand."

He hesitated a moment, then obeyed.

No sooner had his palm touched the engraved point than the stone flared with a pulsing purple light,

and the light spread through the two intersecting lines, as if the city were drawing breath again.

A faint whisper spread among the elders.

The eldest said:

"The Covenant is confirmed."

Raed withdrew his hand quickly, his voice sharp:

"What covenant? I want a clear explanation. Why am I here?"

The Sheikh looked at him steadily.

"Miraval is not a city like other cities.

It is a boundary between two worlds.

And for centuries, a Covenant was laid that a man bearing the trace of the ancient blood be summoned from the other world to guard the Gate."

Raed froze.

"What Gate?"

The Sheikh pointed to the ground beneath his feet.

"This one."

His expression changed.

"And what do we guard it from?"

"From being opened before its time."

Another Sheikh drew near in his calm voice:

"At the end of every seven years, the barriers weaken.

And at the end of next week, the Gate will open for one hour.

Either the Covenant is renewed..."

"Or it is left open."

"And what happens if it is left?"

A heavy silence fell.

Then the Elder Sheikh said:

"What should not enter will enter."

They elaborated no further.

But the cold in the hall was enough.

Raed clenched his jaw.

"And why was I chosen?"

"Because blood does not mistake its way.

And because you carry within you the trace of the first Guardian."

Something inside him trembled that he did not understand.

Then the Sheikh said with decisive clarity:

"You have a week.

In it you will come to know the city, and understand what you need of its affairs.

And on the seventh night, you will stand here."

"And if I refuse?"

The Sheikhs exchanged brief glances.

One of them said:

"The Gate will open at the end of the week in any case.

If you do not renew the Covenant..."

"You will be able to pass through it and return to your world."

His heart beat hard.

"I can return?"

"Yes."

The Elder Sheikh stepped forward, his voice growing slower:

"But if you leave, there is no return after it.

Your Covenant ends.

And Miraval will have no claim upon you... nor will you have any tie to it."

The echo of the words reverberated in his chest.

"And what if I stay?"

"The Gate will be closed with the blood of the Covenant.

And you will become its Guardian for as long as the city stands."

"For how long?"

"Until another is summoned in your place... or your life comes to an end."

Silence fell.

A week.

Only seven days to choose between his world...

and this city he had yet to understand.

He raised his head and said slowly:

"And if I do nothing?"

The Sheikh answered him in a tone that brooked no interpretation:

"Miraval does not summon a man in vain.

But it does not compel him."

The glow of the Sigil gradually faded beneath his feet.

"You have a week, Raed.

Come to know... and understand... and choose."

And when he left the hall,

he felt the entire city looking upon him.

He was no longer merely a stranger.

He had become a deferred decision.