Looking around, Ruth couldn’t help the frown that touched her lips. “Your country should learn to make up its mind. It’s either hot or cold, it can’t be in between.”

  Inevitability only chuckled. “The last time I checked, I’m not a high ranking [Elementalist]. I don’t have the power to control the weather.”

  “You can’t tell me that you don’t have one on staff,” she grumbled.

  “You seem to forget the [Unbound] is also a Nigerian.”

  Ruth waved a dismissive hand. “You and I both know that he doesn’t care for the Gifted.”

  “And I’m a huge fan.” Inevitability nodded as he turned to walk.

  Ruth followed him without question.

  The air was loud with the sound of airplanes. They were on an airstrip. Ruth had just landed in the country on her private jet on a strip specifically set aside for the arrival of Oaths. Every airport in the capital of every country had a set aside airstrip for the Oaths. To the public it was simply another special section for the political figures and those in power.

  “Always hated the sound of planes,” Ruth muttered as she walked.

  “And I’ve told you to get used to it.” Inevitability waved to one of the staff with a wide smile. “If you don’t like it, stop traveling.”

  “You know that I can’t do that.”

  Ruth fought the urge to fold her arms and pout. She was a bigger person than that, civilized and mature. What she hated was the fact that around Inevitability the petulant child in her tended to come out.

  “What about the other Oaths?” she asked, offering a random staff a smile.

  “Pain’s here, already.” Inevitability’s path turned slightly, and Ruth realized that he was heading for the worker she had smiled at.

  “That’s going to be interesting,” she muttered, wondering why the staff was also heading towards them. “Doesn’t he have a personal issue with War?”

  “War’s not the kind to care.” Inevitability met the staff and they shook hands.

  There were a few laughs as Inevitability seamlessly switched to a very terrifying bastardization of the English language that made no sense at all. She’d asked him what exactly it was once upon a time and how he could speak English with so many words and grammatic functions that she did not recognize.

  He’d called it pidgin English or broken English. Whatever it was, all Ruth knew for a fact was that she hated it. She hated the feeling that came with not knowing what she felt as if she was supposed to know.

  She stood there, next to Inevitability like a forgotten child waiting for her parent to finish a conversation with their friend while Inevitability switched to one of the many native languages of the country.

  Unwilling to simply stand there twiddling her thumb, Ruth turned her attention to their surroundings.

  There was a high tower to the east of the airport where people moved about within. Even now, at her current age, she knew very little about airports. The buildings surrounding the open space she had landed in were a mix of only three colors: blue, a touch of green, and white.

  The floor beneath their feet was made of concrete and tar. An odd combination if she was asked. She was beginning to turn her attention on a fleet of cars used as the airport taxi when Inevitability clapped hands with the man he was speaking to and drew him in for a half hug.

  Usually, that was a sign that the conversation was over. The man stepped back and Inevitability began turning to Ruth. Ruth sighed in relief at having their journey resume when the man turned back to Inevitability and said something once more.

  “Really?” Inevitability replied in awe. “How it take happen?”

  Ruth groaned in displeasure, unable to stop herself. Worse, Inevitability looked back at her at the sound and smiled. The man smiled as if she was a cute child who just wanted to go to bed when she wasn’t supposed to.

  After smiling, he returned his attention to the man and their conversation continued once more. Ruth found herself under the overwhelming urge to squat down and draw shapes on the ground with her finger.

  She paused, looked at the man Inevitability was talking to. Maybe it might be enough to scare him off.

  So she did. Ruth squatted and with a finger started carving shapes into the ground. First was a poorly drawn circle, then a perfectly drawn square, then she drew a stick figure of a man holding a burning sword. Then she drew a companion for him with a sharp spear and a—

  Inevitability smacked her upside the head.

  “Stop spoiling country property, Shield,” he chided.

  Ruth looked up at him with a frown and found the man he was with chuckling. She had it on good authority that the man was not Gifted, just some regular Nigerian that worked at the airport. Sucking a deep breath to control her anger at being laughed at by someone that wasn’t even a Gifted, she got back to her feet but said nothing.

  Inevitability looked down at the things she had carved into the ground with her finger and shook his head.

  “The funds to fix that is coming out of your pocket,” he told her. “You know that, right?”

  Ruth didn’t care. She just wanted to get to the hotel before the other Oaths started pulling into the country. The airstrip they were currently standing on wasn’t only for her and Inevitability, after all. It was for all the Oaths.

  Sadly, Inevitability’s friend’s time with them did not end quickly. It was almost another thirty minutes before their conversation was done and the man went on his way to attend to whatever things he was being paid to attend to.

  The walk towards the building of their choice was quiet. Ruth had things on her mind to say but wasn’t sure how to go about it. Inevitability was often too human for her liking. Too simple. While she walked with so much contemplation on her mind, the man walked taking in the gentle wind and basking in the glory of the sun as if he was out on the beach for a simple afternoon stroll.

  “Why do you do that?” Ruth muttered as they walked into the arrival point of the airport designated for Oaths. “What is the purpose of it?”

  Inevitability waved to the only member of staff at the arrival point. “No reason.”

  “You do all this for no reason?” Ruth was confused. “Yet you do it all the time.”

  They walked past the man.

  “Any more expected guests, sir?” the employee asked. He was a man with skin as dark as oak and greying beards cut very close to the skin of his face. He had very brown eyes and a bald head.

  “None, Ife.” Inevitability gave him a pat on the shoulder as he walked past him. “You’re free to call it a day.”

  “Thanks, sir, but I think the president is expecting the prime minister of India today,” the man, Ife, said.

  Inevitability stopped next to him, forcing Ruth to stop about four steps ahead of him.

  “The prime minister?” Inevitability asked. “Shouldn’t that be in Lagos?”

  “Abuja is the capital of Nigeria, sir,” Ife said politely.

  “And the president is currently in Lagos.” Inevitability tapped a gentle finger to his lips in thought, then he worried his bottom lip between his teeth. “Where’s the itinerary for the president of Zimbabwe?”

  “Jerry has it.”

  Inevitability frowned. “Then what does Jasmine have?”

  “Your itinerary, sir.”

  “Oh.” Inevitability paused, then shrugged as if the entire conversation didn’t matter anymore. “Greet the prime minister for me when he arrives.”

  Ife nodded casually. “Sure thing, sir. How’s your Hausa coming along?”

  Walking away from the man, Inevitability chuckled. “Never liked the language, Ife. Just Yoruba, Igbo and Efik for me.”

  “Throw in a little Urhobo and I’ll talk to Ebube about seeing if we can deploy Sharon over,” Ife called after Inevitability as he and Ruth resumed their journey.

  Inevitability waved a hand over his shoulder without looking back. “I can have her redeployed whenever I want.”

  Ruth pouted for the rest of the journey, choosing to say nothing else to Inevitability. They went through the entire building in a silence that was only disrupted by Inevitability greeting random people and being greeted by random people.

  For someone so important and supposedly unknown to the general public, he was very popular.

  Ruth put up with being second fiddle for a walk of almost thirty minutes. She was unknown, and important enough to get nothing but a nod of acknowledgement from people who shook hands with Inevitability, exchanged greetings in languages she couldn’t speak or understand and bastardized the English Language in their own recreation of it.

  It was not a pleasing experience.

  Once they were outside the building, Inevitability guided her to a glossy black car that was a model manufactured at least ten years ago.

  Ruth still could not understand how a man as important as him could use such low-end facilities for such important situations.

  Inevitability approached the car and opened the front passenger door. “After you.”

  “Ever the gentleman,” Ruth muttered stepping in.

  “Sarcasm is not a good look on you.” Inevitability closed her door and walked over to the other side.

  Ruth reached across and opened the door to the driver’s seat from the inside as Inevitability approached it.

  Inevitability took his seat behind the steering wheel and closed the door. “Thank you.”

  “Why do you do this every time I come into your country?” Ruth asked as Inevitability pushed the car into drive.

  Inevitability kept his eyes on the road. “Do what?”

  “Talk to everyone.”

  “Everyone?” Inevitability cocked a brow.

  “Stop doing that.” Ruth frowned, maybe pouted. “You know I hate it when you do that.”

  With his dark skin and jet-black eyes, he always looked like a criminal mastermind mocking an unsuspecting hero whenever he raised a single brow. It transformed him into the kind of man that she knew he was not.

  Inevitability chuckled. “If I’m not allowed to raise a brow, what am I allowed to do?”

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  “I don’t know.”

  They were still within the airport complex and Inevitability was driving at the kind of speed you would expect from someone’s grandmother.

  He took his eyes from the road to look at her for a moment. “Stop pouting.”

  “I’m not pouting.”

  “Then what are you doing?”

  “I’m frowning. This,” she gestured at her face, “is a frown of displeasure.”

  “Uhuh.” Inevitability returned his eyes to the road. “What do you have against the people I talk to?”

  “They are low level and unimportant and I always get the feeling that you only do it when I am around.”

  The car slowed down even more just to roll over a speed breaker on the road. Ruth almost let out a sigh. At their current speed, they didn’t need to slow down to go over a speed breaker.

  “So, what part makes you frown and not pout?” Inevitability increased the speed of the car. “The part where I talk to them or the part where you think it has something to do with you?”

  “The first?” she replied, unsure. “Maybe both.”

  Inevitability did not reply immediately. He kept his eyes on the road, a slight frown on his face. He looked thoughtful as they pulled up to a toll gate. He wound down his window, reaching across to hand the official on the other side a piece of paper.

  “Have a nice day, sir,” the woman greeted. She was a chubby lady in a white uniform.

  “Greet the kids for me,” Inevitability responded, driving off.

  Only now did he increase the speed of the car to something befitting of a car by Ruth’s standards.

  His silence grew more uncomfortable with every passing moment but Ruth did not break or interrupt it.

  Despite their friendship, Inevitability had a habit of treating her like a child sometimes, and she didn’t like it.

  It was as if every waking moment with him was a teaching moment for him. He did not teach directly, but he thought. It was in his actions. The things he did as well as the things he did not do.

  After close to fifteen minutes of driving and Ruth staring out the window, watching other cars drive by and be driven by, Inevitability made a sound.

  He let out a sigh as if not wanting to do what he was about to do. “What is my Oath, Shield?”

  “No.” Ruth shook her head. “I will not be treated like a child.”

  Inevitability tapped a worrying finger on the steering wheel. “My Oath, Shield. What is it?”

  Ruth threw her head back against the headrest in exasperation. “Why do you always take the time out to mock me?”

  “I’m not mocking you. I am establishing a base line. My Oath.”

  “You’ve been doing this since the day we met.” Ruth fought the urge to throw a tantrum. “Asking me questions that we both know I know the answer to. I’ve seen you with the other Oaths. You don’t treat them the way you treat me.”

  “Madness has arrived, and he came with his wife.” It was all Inevitability had to say for a moment. “Things are going to happen, and they will happen fast. What is my Oath, Shield?”

  If Madness and his wife had already arrived, that meant that Madness had agreed to come for the meeting. It also meant that the [August Intruder] was not going to be the only subject spoken of at the meeting.

  A verdict would be reached on her actions and the effects it had caused. Her conflict with Madness would be addressed.

  Would it really?

  As much as she liked to think about how possible a peaceful resolution being met would be, something about the way he had looked at her before leaving told her that Madness would not be in support of anything peaceful.

  Her hope was in Madness’ wife and Inevitability. No matter how right her actions had been in the moment she had met Madness, peace among the Oaths no matter how volatile, was necessary to keep the world protected.

  “Inevitability,” Ruth said finally. “Your Oath is of Inevitability.”

  Inevitability nodded as he took a ramp into the service lane of the express. “Inevitability. And amongst the things it is capable of, it is capable of showing me inevitables.”

  “Madness won’t forgive me, will he?”

  “I’m not talking about that, Shield,” Inevitability said. “I’m talking about the people I continue talking to, apparently, to spite you. They are un-Gifted humans. And the world as society has created it needs them to continue working. They are essential.” He looked at her for a brief moment before returning his attention to the busy road. “If there is one unchanging thing I have learnt since becoming an Oath, it is that they are inevitable.”

  “Then they are to be controlled?” It was a genuine question.

  Inevitability sighed in disappointment. “How are you the Oath of Shield, sworn to protect the world, and yet you can see them as less.”

  Ruth looked out the window. Because I’ve always seen them as less.

  Even as a child she’d seen people as less. They were always selfish, always out to get what they wanted. She was the Oath of Shield, but the other Oaths seemed to misunderstand the concept of what exactly being the shield of the world actually meant.

  “How did you change from that thirteen-year-old girl I met all those years ago?” Inevitability asked.

  Ruth kept her eyes on the road watching everything pass by. “Eleven.”

  “What’s that?” Inevitability asked.

  “Eleven,” Ruth repeated. “You met me when I was eleven.”

  “You sure?”

  Ruth nodded. “It was winter and your first trip to Poland. Your parents brought you ice skating at the skating ring, I believe.”

  A frown creased Inevitability’s forehead. “Eleven. That’s two years earlier than I remember.”

  “Inevitability that doesn’t remember the past very much.” Ruth shook her head, more saddened than disappointed. “You have a lot to learn.”

  “Eleven.” Inevitability sounded thoughtful. “Wow. That’s… wow. But that’s that and this is this. People are necessary, the un-Gifted. They will always be here. And no, not to be controlled but to be led, guided, protected.”

  “You always expect too much from them.”

  “And you always expect too little.”

  The air in the car was tense now. Ruth hated having arguments with Inevitability because he didn’t really argue. He had a habit of always talking with a calm voice. Even if you argued as loudly as you can, his voice always remained calm, controlled.

  It made Ruth feel small anytime she raised her voice, like a child throwing a tantrum. So she had learnt to control her voice as well, to keep it calm and collected. Also, Inevitability had a habit of looking at her as if she was being foolish whenever she raised her voice. He would wait, then, after a while, he would ask her why she was raising her voice in the calmest voice possible.

  Thinking about it made Ruth scowl. She hated it so much.

  So she hated these kinds of arguments. However, she hated the silence between them aas much as she hated the arguments.

  “The [August Intruder],” she said, ending the silence. She knew Inevitability would answer her. He always did.

  The silent treatment was not a method of punishment to him.

  Inevitability tapped a rhythm against the steering wheel with his fingers. “What about them?”

  Ruth took her eyes off the road to give him a stern gaze. “What do we do about it?”

  “The [August Intruder] is necessary. We know that much.”

  “And their presence isn’t necessarily a good thing.”

  “And that’s why I instigated starting the special Gifted program in the major Gifted schools,” Inevitability said with a frown. “If you Oaths had been on board from the start we would be more confident with their arrival.”

  “Hey!” she protested. “I was on your side for the entire thing. What do you mean ‘you Oaths’?”

  A soft smile touched Inevitability’s lips. “Yes, Ru. You were with me from the start. I meant the others.”

  “Good. But enough of them are on board, and the schools have agreed. It should be something that we can make happen now. Right?”

  Inevitability nodded. “Right. I’ve already confirmed that they are implementing it into this semester’s program.”

  “Question.”

  “Answer,” Inevitability replied.

  “Who got the [Demon King]?”

  Inevitability chuckled. “Isn’t it kind of funny that Madness and War got two Gifted kids?”

  “Not really.” Ruth shook her head. “They are the only two Oaths known in our history to ever fall in love. At this rate, any surprising thing that they do isn’t really surprising.”

  Inevitability tipped his head from side to side in thought. “Maybe. But how funny is it that one of them got the [Demon King] class. I mean, there’s no record of such a class.”

  “A unique class for a unique couple.”

  Ruth reached for the radio and Inevitability slapped her hand away.

  “No touching.”

  Ruth groaned but took her hand away. Ever since the first time he’d driven her and she’d played love songs the entire ride, he had never allowed her connect to any car he was driving or choose the radio station.

  “What was his second kid’s class again?” she asked, rubbing the back of her palm more out of habit than pain.

  “[Faker],” Inevitability answered. “An interesting class by my standards.”

  “Interesting but unliked. He’s going to have a tough time out in the world.”

  Inevitability nodded. “True enough. So, I say we offer Madness and War some benefits.”

  “Benefits?”

  “Uhuh. Assistances we can give if they agree to forgive you with minimal punishments.”

  “Like?”

  “Adding their kid into the special program.”

  Ruth shook her head. “I doubt that will work. Didn’t the [Demon King] get scouted by a few of the major schools?”

  “All five of them,” Inevitability confirmed. “But not the [Faker].”

  “I’m sure the [Demon King] is getting into the special program.”

  Inevitability nodded.

  “Are you sure the [Faker] can get into the program?”

  Inevitability shook his head. “I believe he’s a B-rank. The program is for classes that no one has heard of, [Invokers], S-ranks, and Unranked.”

  “A [Faker] won’t cut it.”

  “If he was S-rank he would.” Inevitability shook his head. “But since I spear headed the operation, I don’t mind using some of my influence to pull some strings.”

  “Favoritism isn’t a good quality, Chetam.”

  “It’s a negotiation strategy. A worthy one.”

  Ruth sighed, suddenly deflating at his words. “For peace to reign among the Oaths.”

  Inevitability snorted. “Believe me, this has nothing to do with the Oaths. You’ve always held yourself to a certain esteem even among the Oaths. And I remember warning you to stay away from Madness’ bad side but you never listened.”

  “I’m still sure I can take him,” Ruth grumbled. “It’s just going to be annoying because he doesn’t play by any rules. Then I’m at a handicap with the whole [August Intruder] thing. What is our plan on that matter, by the way?”

  “Judging by how powerful they possibly are, we will have to negotiate on meeting them.” Inevitability didn’t sound the slightest bit bothered. He rarely ever did.

  “The dominance thing,” Ruth mused.

  She couldn’t begin to imagine how to handle someone whose dominance spanned the entire world. They had to be a monster. It was the only explanation.

  “What if Madness chooses to keep them for himself?” she asked.

  Inevitability took a moment to look at her, turning the car into a residential area. They were flanked now by slow moving vehicles and residential buildings. “Madness doesn’t strike me as being that level of petty.”

  “But if his wife is coming, then she would be more than willing to use that as a negotiation tactic to have me punished. You know how she can be. Everything with her is a negotiation.”

  “Then negotiate, we shall.” Inevitability shrugged. “So you best be prepared to lose some important things.”

  Ruth frowned. “I’m willing to give up some of my assets.”

  “Money is not an issue for them but that’s a start.” He turned their car down another road and Ruth spotted a church not too far in the distance. “But you might have to do more than that.”

  “Like what?”

  “Like make some concessions.”

  “No!”

  Inevitability nodded casually. “Yes. You laid your bed, so we have to lie down in it.”

  Ruth kept her eyes on him as he kept his eyes on the road, finally turning into a compound, the gates sliding open to let him in.

  There was just something about the way he had said the word ‘we’.

  Do you have feelings for me, Chetam?

  It was a question she couldn’t ask. It was a question that had plagued her for so many years. Why? It was simple.

  Everyone always speculated that an Oath has that one thing that superseded even the compulsion of their Oath-hood ever since what had happened to War. For her it had been her family, so strong had it been that she had given up her Oath-hood somehow.

  Finding out what it was for the other Oaths had been one of the things Inevitability had been trying to find out for years now. If he knew his own, he never told anybody.

  For Ruth, however, she knew what exactly it was.

  It was him.

  Oath-hood be damned, she would watch the world burn if it meant protecting him.

  But she would never tell him that.

  The car pulled to a gentle stop and Inevitability turned the engine off. In front of them, three people stood; a man and two women.

  They were conversing easily. Three of the five new Oaths in the last decade. The man was the newest of them, becoming an Oath only yesterday.

  The Oath of Desolation, the interface had announced him to be.

  Ruth unbuckled her seatbelt and stepped out of the car, Inevitability following after her almost immediately.

  The moment they got down, Ruth registered the touch of worry and confusion on the faces of the two ladies.

  “What is—”

  “Now that we are all here,” a voice she did not recognize said from the side. “I believe we should get this on the way.”

  She turned to the sound and was met with the sight of an elderly man. He stood with a straight back and freckled cheeks. The crowfeet at the edge of his eyes looked regal somehow, like they belonged on the face of an age-old king.

  He had eyes of the deepest gold. Gold not amber.

  He stood quietly, clad in a blue robe and standing with a walking stick he clearly did not need. He was like an impatient grandfather standing in the presence of his grandchildren.

  Ruth had never seen him before. And judging from the words that came out of Inevitability’s mouth, neither had he.

  “Who are you?” Inevitability asked.

  “Me?” the man asked with raised brows. “I’m like you. An Oath.”

  Ruth moved around the car to stand beside Inevitability. “You’re not any Oath I’ve ever heard of.”

  Golden eyes moved slowly over to her. “So loyal.” The man said it like a passing comment, a simple observation. “But it changes nothing. You’ve done well so far Inevitability. Not as well as your predecessor but definitely well, with what you’ve had to work with.”

  Inevitability’s eyes narrowed in a threatening manner. Ruth could understand why. From what they knew about Oath-hood, they were not the first. However, the last recorded Oath before them had died at least a hundred years before their birth.

  The man in front of them could not have known anything about them unless he’d done his own research.

  “I will ask you one more time, then I will bring violence upon you.” Inevitability’s shoulders tightened slightly, easing him into a combat state. “Who are you?”

  “Enough with the posturing, old man.”

  Everyone’s heads looked up, and there, standing on the balcony, was the woman that was once the Oath of War.

  “Mystery only works when you know something everyone doesn’t,” she continued. “And unfortunately, you do not. My husband has asked that you introduce yourself quickly so that we can get this entire thing done.”

  Ruth grew uncomfortable. Just how much did Madness and his wife know. Just how much of the knowledge that came with being the [August Intruder] had the [August Intruder] imparted on them.

  The old man held his arms out on both sides. Somehow, he made the action look like an apologetic bow without even bowing.

  “You have my apologies, former Oath of War.”

  “I’m not the one to apologize to.” War turned and walked back into the building. “Apologize to my husband when you see him.”

  The old man had a grin on his face when she was gone and Ruth and Inevitability gave him an expectant look, along with the three other Oaths present.

  “Ah, yes,” the old man muttered. “An introduction.”

  He placed his staff on the ground, struck it hard enough for the sound of its impact to ring loud. It was an announcement of himself. The man wasn’t about to introduce himself to them, he was about to declare his presence.

  “I,” he said regally, “am an Oath that has walked the world for so long that time knows me by name. I have seen people rise and people fall. Cities and empires. And, maybe one day, worlds. I was friend to Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, first of his name, unknown adopted brother to the great Enkidu. I am the Oath of Life.”

  Ruth’s frown deepened. Oath of Life? The old bastard sounded like nothing but a new threat. But he wasn’t done. He clearly had something else to say.

  With a grandfatherly smile, he said one more thing and his words settled upon them like a heavy mantle.

  “To some civilizations,” he finished. “I am called Melchizedek.”