Role

Chapter 3

Cexonza has wandered lost and alone since Sel's death in a fashion
reminiscent of the times after her escape from the Palace. She's more free
than she's ever been, but her spirit is heavy with sorrow and she is
stupefied at the depths of her pain. Cexonza thought before that she knew the
outer boundaries of suffering, but she's now discovering how wrong she was.
While she's in mourning, she's focusing on the Refuge as her touchstone and
immersing herself as best she can in her role as Sunwarden. A precarious
decision looms on the horizon, but first Cexonza must gather the grave
knowledge that will be essential to win her Eternal Victory. Somehow, some
way, Cexonza will reunite her spirit with Sel's.

Sel and Cexonza had been through so much together in their lives. Now that he
was gone, she felt more alone than she ever had. Last time she had been
hopelessly lost, he had been her compass. (Although he may not have always
pointed to true north.) In their youth, his kindness gave Cexonza the joy to
endure her subjugation. When they met again as young adults, not only did Sel
give her the love and support she needed, he also had been the one to set her
on a path to Daphedee, whose guidance had been invaluable. They scoured the
dwarven mountains together in search of ancient statues sought by a
mysterious Collector, and after the Collector had imperiled the whole of the
world with his greed and ignorance, Sel and Cexonza paid a most dear price to
strike a deal with Emnon in order to obtain the key statue that would cure
the world of the baleful curse that afflicted it. For their sacrifice, they
had been rewarded with scorn and scars. As they aged, Sel became the greatest
artist in the world while Cexonza became the Sunwarden. Rather than offering
safety or security, these accolades wrought betrayal for Sel by Sayra's hand
and interference by the Fae Witch. As a final indignity, Sel had become the
focus of all of the Fortress' torrent of vituperation when they could neither
accept nor embrace their own flaws, which led to the corruption of the
Radiant Orb. As they both suffered together, Cexonza had oft joked that they
were the whipping boys for the world. Now that he was gone, she expected to
spend the rest of her life tied to the whipping post alone.

(Continued in next chapter)