Chapter 11: History, Houses, and Honor

Unlike the quick blinks I was accustomed to when I shared memories, this time I felt like I had slowly closed my eyes and reopened them. There was that much information.

The Mind Magi, a society made up of seemingly several tens of thousands of members throughout the world, had lasted longer than any other human society. They had existed since before the birth of the Roman Empire. Even those of Asian decent conceded that their long recorded history hadn't really begun until a few hundred years after that of the Mind Magi. They claimed no lands as their own. They fought no wars and had no enemies. They had achieved the peace and tranquility that the rest of humanity had desired for so long, and it was awe-inspiring.

The Mind Magi did suffer the same injustices and ailments as the rest of humanity, but as individuals. They were humans with extraordinary abilities, abilities that got some a moment of fame, but others condemnation. Humans were always fearful of what they didn't understand, so the Mind Magi kept their existence a secret. The reason they had no enemies was that the rest of the world could become their enemy. The reason they claimed no land was that they lived among normal humans everywhere. They had achieved peace and stability only because of their lack of actions rather than actively working to pursue those conditions. Quite literally, they had achieved utopia by doing nothing.

Michael's memories of the Mind Magi's organization helped me understand their inner workings better. They were structured into Houses. The Houses were loosely ruled by a Lord and Lady. The hierarchy was superficially similar to a feudal system, as were the titles they used, but the tutelage of the centuries had forced the ruling Lords and Ladies to understand that their power and title were placed on them by those they led. After the fall of a few Houses, the remaining Lords and Ladies had learned the necessity of respect for their members. Thus, the Houses that still remained were the ones that had learned those harsh lessons early and well.

The Houses were not made up of straight families. The first child of a Mind Magi normally inherited his or her abilities or some variation of them, and sometimes other children beyond the first did as well. There was ongoing effort to discover how different mundane humans affected the hereditary nature of a Mind Magi's powers, because sometimes a Mind Magi's child would either have a completely different set of talents or would be mundane, like any other human. Their need to continue their lineage was very much akin to my recent understanding of the bonds I had with my women and how they would strengthen if they bore my children.

The Houses of the Mind Magi didn't depend solely upon the children of their members though; they also recruited new Mind Magi. When a House learned about a new Mind Magi, they would approach and try to recruit him or her. They offered training and help to a budding Mind Magi in return for loyalty to the House. Sometimes a House would recruit a Mind Magi from another House. Considering the sheer number of members in each House, from one to several thousand each, it was rarely argued over but sometimes a skirmish might break out, only to be squashed quickly by the Lords and Ladies of the concerned Houses. Occasionally the Mind Magi Council might have to settle a dispute, but there were only two recorded incidents that required their intervention. The Lords and Ladies were directly interested in building up the size of their Houses because only the rulers of the five Houses with the largest membership sat on the Mind Magi Council.

The rulers of a House had a special effect on all members of their House: they were able to share their abilities with their House members, and also gained the abilities of all members of the House. It was like the bond between a Mind Magi and a mundane human, but the only effect was the sharing of abilities. Only House Lords and Ladies could do this. Michael didn't know if it was an inborn gift or something that required a ritual, because he didn't know anyone who could share powers without already being a House Lord or Lady. It did have the one marked effect of making House rulers exceedingly powerful. In turn, it also enforced the respect the Lord and Lady gave their House members, because if they lost members they would lose additional powers.

Each House held a different color. The marks all Mind Magi bore were essentially color-coded to represent which house they belonged to. When a recruit recited a pledge of loyalty, directed by the House Lord or Lady, the color of the recruit's mark would change to match that of the House. At the same time, the Lord or Lady would gain access to the recruit's abilities.

At first, it seemed like a complex system of clubs rather than anything to take seriously. However, Michael's knowledge showed me more; and, as I absorbed his memories, I took it more seriously. After all, all of these Houses thought I shouldn't exist and considered me condemned.

Thoughts of the bonds Mind Magi had with mundane humans brought about Michael's memories and knowledge in those areas. It was quite simple, yet astonishing.

Most Mind Magi needed to be bound to normal humans, even the House Lords and Ladies. The bonds forged would bring them closer together, and any Mind Magi would feel just as protective of their Schiavi as I felt for my girls. This usually led to the Mind Magi binding to someone they would be willing to marry and following through with that custom as well. However, there were a few who bound with those they considered good friends too. The will of the person bound to the Mind Magi would strengthen the emotions they already held for the Mind Magi.

The bonds also provided energy for the Mind Magi's powers. Mundane humans felt nothing being drained from them and there was no real side-effect on the part of the mundane. Most Mind Magi only needed one or two mundane humans to power their abilities, but a few needed more. I was curious about those, but Michael had only met them and never discussed their arrangements in detail.

What he did know about the binding process was it didn't always require sex. It really only, commonly, required the desire to be tied to that person. What did that mean for me? All of the women I had sex with, even if I didn't want them bound to me, ended up that way. Why did all other Mind Magi have to make a conscious effort to form a bond when I couldn't seem to prevent it? That was one of those questions that would probably never have an answer. At least, Michael had never met anyone like me and had no idea.

In addition to standard Mind Magi in House society, there were also outcasts, banished, Dragons and non-recruited Mind Magi.

Outcasts were those who had left the society. They had been recruited by a House, but left it after discovering something they didn't agree with. It wasn't against any law, but the lack of loyalty to the House marked them as outcasts. The mark of an outcast would fade back to gray over time. The bond between the individual and the House Lord or Lady would maintain the full color, but by refusing to continue to be loyal, without being recruited by another house, the color of the individual Mind Magi's mark would fade and become gray outlined with their former House's color. They were usually not approached by other Houses.

Non-recruited Mind Magi were pretty simple: they were Mind Magi who had not been recruited at all, whether because they refused recruitment attempts or just hadn't decided on which House they wanted to be a member of.

Banished Mind Magi were ones who had broken one of the laws of the society. They were considered less than mundane — normal human, because they were not only cast from their house, to which they had brought shame for breaking the law, but they were also blocked from being able to use their abilities.

That last held my attention for a moment. If there were Mind Magi who could block the powers of another, then they could be extremely dangerous to me. However, Michael knew the process for blocking powers, for he had seen it a few years ago. One Mind Magi had turned on his Schiavi and killed them all. The police had arrested him but he had escaped. When the Dragons found him, they took him back to the Mind Magi Council, who passed judgment and Banished him.

Banishment was a complex ceremony that took many Mind Magi in combined effort to perform the main ritual necessary to block the powers of a single Mind Magi. No matter how weak or powerful a Mind Magi was, the ritual was the same and it was important that all those involved believed the same way to finish the ritual because if a single Mind Magi doubted the individual's guilt for breaking the law, then the ritual would fail. In the case of the murderous Mind Magi, all agreed and he was Banished, then turned over to the police for the mundane courts to deal with.

It felt good to know that I couldn't just be stripped of my powers by an individual, but still scary that if a group got together and performed the ritual ... I stopped that train of thought. I needed to be positive. I wasn't the only one that might suffer what the Mind Magi wanted. My girls might become more involved and I wouldn't let that happen.

Dragons were the enforcers of Mind Magi Law. Born with abilities beyond the typical subtle powers of most Mind Magi, Dragons could do the seemingly impossible, such as throwing fireballs or causing lightning to strike with uncanny accuracy. Michael knew one who could literally transform his body into stone. The idea of running into any one of those Mind Magi made me cringe. I was strong and fast, but I wasn't in that kind of league.