Legend of the Jumi Part II, Chapter 5
Silent Sea
By The Mana Priestess
The singing sea
The talking trees
Are silent in a noisy way;
The stars are bright, but give no light
The world spins backwards every day.
The Singing Sea (Cowboy Bebop)
White flakes of snow floated through the chilled air lightly, swirling in a gentle, silent dance, and finally settling softly upon the dark hair of the young knight traversing through the morning mists. The young man brushed them aside irritably, running his fingers through his hair to rid it of the moist fingerprints of the vanished snowflakes, and pulling the hat of his cloak closely together to protect his face from the frozen atmosphere. The road spread before him, a thin grey trail vanishing into the hazy horizon; he has been traveling it for many days now— it has been almost two weeks since he escaped the shining city of jewels, and this time he knew that he will never return to it again. No, he thought with a burning resentment, he will most certainly not return to the city; for Black Pearl had denounced him in front of the council and sentenced him for punishment, humiliated and shamed him in front of his people.
The knowledge that the road for return had been shut off was a bitter tonic for Elazul. The city was no longer a safe, glowing light at his back, but a cold, impenetrable fortress that shone indifferently upon him. Only now when he had lost this light he realized how important it had been to him to be able to return to the city, to the people which he had been on the constant run from, yet cared for deeply.
He tried not to think of the future but of the present, motivated by one urgent wish; to find Alex and Florina and warn them of Black Pearl’s pursuit, and help them if possible. Elazul knew that his duty was to return Florina to her people, but this duty appeared to him a nebulous fact, something that he was conscious of only as far-off truth, like a tale told him from childhood. The past was fading, a dark barrier had descended upon it, and through the darkness he could see a tall woman, her black eyes forbidding him from approaching the place he had betrayed.
In the mist of confusion one clear truth emerged, and Elazul held on to that truth with desperation, feeling it was now a guiding light in the darkness of his present predicament; for only one thing mattered to him right now, and that was saving Alex. He knew that if Alex was caught his life was forfeit, for Black Pearl would kill him without hesitation or remorse. Black Pearl had never killed another Jumi as punishment; but never had such a heavy crime occurred in the city. Yes, he would betray the city now in truth; the city was lost to him, but Alex was alive somewhere, attempting to save Florina from certain death; and he would be damned if he let Alex die for it. His people were lost to him, and only Alex and Florina remained.
It was three o’clock in the afternoon, and dusk begun to descend slowly. Elazul glimpsed a nearby village, and prepared himself to perform the habitual routine of questions in an attempt to discover whether Alex and Florina had passed nearby. His search had so far been nearly fruitless, and he was usually rewarded by either blank looks or suspicious stares. Every once in a while he uncovered what seemed like a clue and followed upon it in hope that it might prove to be the decisive stroke of luck. But it always seemed to fail him, and ended in disappointment.
The skies deepened into a thick blue when an old man driving a cart down the road stopped and asked Elazul whether he wished to take a ride to town.
“Hop in, son,” he said kindly. “Evening’s near, and the storm is going heavy.”
For once, Elazul complied. He was grateful for the momentary relief from the task of walking against the frozen air and incessant snowfall, and seated himself at the old farmer’s side, gazing at the road with an absent expression.
The brown mare trotted in a leisurely pace towards the comforting orange lights of the village that lay at the outskirts of the town. As they left the fields and embarked upon the path that cut through the first houses that skirted the edges of the town, the old man spied a cluster of people standing on the road and conversing among themselves. He reigned the mare to a stop.
“Hey there,” he said. “Any news?”
The men paused, and one of them replied, “No news, but there’s been some damned strange people around the village today, this lad and that woman looking for him.”
Elazul raised his head, his heart leaping. With a strange sense of premonition he suddenly knew that here he shall finally receive the clear direction to his goal. The fingers of his hand clenched unconsciously as he listened to the conversation. The man was replying to the old man’s inquiry about the strangers. “Yeah, one of ‘em was a slender lad, very goodlooking and wearing dark clothes. He seemed the untrustworthy sort, if you ask me; looked kinda shifty and sly behind that smile of his. And sure enough, after he did a bit of looking round the village and vanished, that warrior woman appeared and inquired about him. She was a beauty, that one was, with such wonderful waving hair, but her eyes could freeze the heart inside of you. I pointed her in the direction of the sea, for I think I saw the lad going towards the cliffs, though for what purpose I cannot say.”
Elazul had heard enough. He thanked the old farmer and dismounted the cart, setting towards the cliffs, his heart beating with anticipation and agitation, the thought racing inside his head, I only hope I am not too late.
Neither Elazul nor the other men noticed another figure that stood in the shadows, listening to the conversation intently. It was a very tall man enwrapped in a long cape the color of azure; his pale hair fell in lengthy strands around his face and down his back in a long ponytail. When Elazul left, he, too, turned and vanished back into the shadows.
The road that led towards the towering seaside cliff cut its way between twisted trees that shook their sparse leaves mournfully in the lashing January winds. White snowflakes flew through the dusky atmosphere, the skies stretched black and lightness over a grey sea that beat incessantly against the rocks below. Elazul stood in the shadows, his cloak flying around him with the motion of the frozen currents of air, surveying the morbid scenery. He wondered if he had been misled again. His mission, indeed, has always been more difficult because there was no way for him to know whether Alex was around; because Alex’s core, unlike other Jumi’s, did not send out signals, did not alert others to his presence when night fell and the green jewel dimmed to black.
Elazul had looked around the sparse forest that fringed the cliff, occasionally calling out Alex’s name; but to no avail. Finally, reaching the peak of the cliff, chilled and fatigued, he begun to weary of his search, and almost turned back towards the dark road leading down to the lights of the town. Then, suddenly, a voice hissed out his name.
Elazul turned towards it at once. A movement between the trees caught his eye now, and his voice rasped through the chill air: “Alex!”
The shadowy figure emerged from behind the trees and approached him slowly. Elazul walked towards it with quick, impatient strides, eager to ascertain whether this was indeed Alex. But when he approached closer he could no longer mistake the slender figure with its characteristic poise. Alex was likewise enwrapped in a cloak, and the darkness made it difficult for Elazul to see him, but he could now discern the usual bright play of light inside Alex’s eyes.
Elazul did not even pause for a moment; as soon as he was close to Alex his hand shot forth and he caught his wrist with a hard grip.
“Damn you!” he said hoarsely, breathing harshly in the frozen air. “What the HELL were you thinking, Alex?”
Alex did not make an attempt to release his wrist, but stood looking up at Elazul with his habitual manner of nonchalance. “Thank you for the loving welcome, Lapis Lazuli knight. Especially when I have not seen you for such a long time.”
“Unfortunately there is no time to exchange greetings,” said Elazul acidly, flushing in annoyance. He pulled on Alex’s wrist, attempting to lead him down the road. “Black Pearl is here, Alex; and if she finds you, she will kill you. Hurry and tell me where Florina is, and I’ll try to help you both escape.”
But Alex resisted Elazul’s pull, and remained rooted in his place, one eyebrow rising slightly. “I must say that I am surprised, Elazul. Have you overcome your fear of defying the Lady Black Pearl?”
Elazul remained silent for a moment. Everything seemed distant, hazy, and he felt very tired, over-wrought by the long journey that has not quite come to an end. He wondered all of a sudden if Alex took special pleasure in hurting him. “I am as good as banished from the city,” he said, his voice grating in his own ears. “Black Pearl thought that I helped you to kidnap Florina. I have no place anywhere, Alex, no place but with you and Florina.”
“I see,” Alex said slowly. His voice indicated that he was slightly surprised, but there was something else in it; a tone of genuine gratefulness, as if he was truly affected by this disclosure. “I am sorry, Elazul.”
He begun to move after Elazul, finally responding to his urgent manner. After another moment he added quietly, “Elazul, you, you knew all this time, didn’t you? And yet you helped me become a knight.”
Elazul kept his face on the road. “Yes, I did know. But what does it matter now?”
“It matters to me,” said Alex; but the words were so soft that Elazul could barely hear them through the chilled thickness of the falling snow. Both marched in silence for a few moments more, when suddenly Alex turned around, his body turning rigid, and hissed, “Oh, DAMN!”
Elazul, alerted, turned around, just in time to see Alex stumbling backwards, barely escaping the figure that materialized from the darkness and lashed at him with a sword that burned white in the evening atmosphere. Alex’s hand shot to his shoulder, where the coldly flaming edge slit through the flesh. His agility saved his life once again, for the sharp point of the blade was intended to skewer his stomach.
Black Pearl turned around and prepared for another strike, but a flying swirl of green cloth obscured Alex from her vision for a moment, and she found her blade answered by the Lapis Lazuli knight’s upturned sword. His eyes burned in his pale face as he returned Black Pearl’s hostile gaze, and he rasped: “Run, Alex!”
“The Lapis Lazuli,” said Black Pearl coldly. “You realize that, if I so wish, I could now sentence you to death. Once for Florina, twice for this.” Her trained arm applied pressure on Elazul, and she spoke several words softly under her breath. Elazul was slowly kneeling, crushed by a surge of power that flowed at him, and he instinctively knew that this was no ordinary occurrence; Black Pearl was using the full weight of her lethal runic magic upon him. His arm begun to shake with a familiar weakness; but he gathered his willpower and resisted it.
“I don’t care!” he said through clenched teeth. “I shall— I SHALL— stop you.”
“Try, then,” replied Black Pearl with a contemptuous curl of her lip. With a swift, single gesture she knocked Elazul’s sword out of his hand, and she caught it nimbly and tossed it towards the gloomy thicket between the far-off trees. The sword was instantly lost in the darkness. Black Pearl’s fingers, landing on Elazul’s shoulder and gripping it forcefully, seemed to generate a halo that surrounded him. “I am warning you,” she said softly. “Stay OUT of my way, Lapis Lazuli. Do not force me to take extreme measures.”
The world swam before Elazul’s eyes in a familiar sensation. He remained kneeling with a lowered head, momentarily bereft of breath. Black Pearl turned away from him, but a figure lunged at her out of the darkness; Alex, his eyes flashing with a cold light, brought his sword down towards Black Pearl’s throat. She avoided it just in time, and it left a lengthy, welling mark across the lower part of her neck. But Black Pearl did not waste time; she caught Alex’s wrist and gripped it between her fingers, twisting his arm relentlessly. She plucked the sword out of his hand and tossed it away as if it weighted nothing. The blade flew through the air in a wide arc and disappeared over the edge of the cliff. Black Pearl forced Alex to kneel down and her fingers flew to his neck, ripping the cloak open; her hand found the jeweled core. “Your death have been ordered, Alexandrite,” she hissed. “Tell me where Florina is, or I shall drain you of life until nothing remains but your empty husk.”
Breathing heavily, Elazul attempted to struggle to his feet, but he collapsed again; his whole body felt as if it was stripped of any feeling but that sickening sensation of weakness. He could see Black Pearl leaning over Alex, and understood at once what was happening. “Damn it!” he gasped.
For a moment it seemed nothing was happening. Elazul expected Alex to keel over and lose consciousness as the energy was drained from the jeweled core; but though his head was hung down, Alex did not make any movement to indicate that he felt Black Pearl’s power. At Black Pearl’s words he raised his head. With a single, sudden movement he snaked from under Black Pearl’s grip. His fingers, finding the hidden daggers in his boot, freed them and quickly thrust the sharply-honed edges towards Black Pearl.
“Sorry,” Alex said with a dark smile, “but your sorcerous tricks won’t work on MY core, you damned witch!”
Black Pearl keeled forward as one of the daggers was driven into her stomach. With a quick twist of his nimble hand, Alex thrust the other just below her core. Black Pearl uttered a choked sound, then fell on her face soundlessly.
Alex immediately ran towards Elazul and knelt at his side. “How humiliating,” he said, the same smile twisting his mouth. “To fall for the same arm-bending trick twice!”
“I’m glad you’re all right,” Elazul said, speaking more lucidly now as he regained his strength. “Help me get up.”
Alex put his arm around his shoulder and supported his back, aiding him to rise to his feet. Elazul glanced at him. “Your shoulder needs taking care of,” he said shortly. “And so do her wounds.” He turned his eyes towards Black Pearl. “I think she passed out from the pain.”
“I have some bandages,” Alex said, his smile vanishing. He rummaged in his bag and threw a white roll to Elazul; it was followed by a bottle of clear liquid. “A purifying distillment,” he explained. “You bandage her; I am certainly not going to help you.” He turned and sat on the ground cross-legged, and begun to clean and bandage his own wound.
"Alex, you know very well that you should help me to do this," said Elazul sternly. "You're better at this than I am."
Alex appeared busy with his work and paid no heed.
Elazul watched Alex's turned back for a moment. "You have a vengeful nature, Alex," he commented, with a weary voice. Then he turned and approached Black Pearl with the items in his arm and knelt at her side. She was lying still on her stomach, her face very white; a thin trail of blood ran down the side of her mouth. Elazul took out a cloth from his pocket and cleaned the blood; then he carefully turned her around and checked the wounds. Two dark circles staining her shirt, quickly spreading, indicated their location. He begun to carefully remove the stained edge of the cloth when Alex suddenly came over and knelt at his side.
“Let me do this,” he said.
Elazul immediately obeyed. "Thank you," he said, quietly.
"Damn you and your morality," Alex answered shortly.
A reluctant smile edged Elazul's mouth. After a short while of silent work he glanced at Alex’s profile. “Florina knows too, doesn’t she?”
“Of course,” Alex answered briskly, keeping his eyes on his work as his fingers worked expertly at cleaning and bandaging the wound. “She’s too smart to fool for long.”
After a pause, Elazul spoke again. “Take Florina and go. I will take care of Black Pearl.”
Alex made no reply for a moment. Then he said, “I believe that you would have tried to save her life even if— ” But he didn’t complete the sentence.
Elazul, his color heightened, said, “You are mistaken. I mean to join you again.”
Alex glanced at Elazul, and his fingers slowed at their task. “Truly?” he asked, with one of his bright smiles. “Well, Florina will be pleased.”
Elazul kept his eyes lowered and refused to answer. Alex returned to his task without further comment. After a few more minutes of a silence, only broken by his curt instructions to Elazul to aid him at his work, their task was completed. Alex rose to his feet, shaking himself and tying his cloak closely at his neck to protect himself against the deep chill. He glanced down at Elazul, who had remained sitting at Black Pearl’s side. “I believe that we shall be parting ways again,” he remarked.
“Wait, Alex,” said Elazul, rising to his feet. “Tell me only one thing.” His eyes wandered to the white sword lying at Black Pearl’s side, and ran over it speculatively. “Did you really look for that sword, the Sword of Fate?”
Alex halted with his back to Elazul, for a moment not replying. Then he said, “Yes.”
Elazul’s eyes narrowed. “Why?” he asked.
Alex remained standing still, and Elazul approached him until he was standing at his side. “Why, Alex?” he repeated. “What is the Sword of Fate?”
And Alex, looking down, finally replied:
“My father wished to enter the Tower of Leires and find the Sword of Fate, because he believed that it was the sword that belonged to the Jumi Angel.”
Inside the small cave in a grove near the seashore, where Alex has hid her for a duration of rest before they continued on their travels, Florina rose to her feet. She was still feeling ill from the long, urgent journey, her face was pale, her breath was quick and shallow. But her core was glowing faintly, alerting her to something— a feeling that Alex was in great danger, that something was happening on the top of the cliff. She sighed, passing a shaking hand over her sweating brow, and gathering the edges of the hood of her cloak around her face to shield it from the biting chill. Then, slowly and with stumbling steps, she exited the cave and, guided by the signals from her core, she begun to climb the snow-dusted road up towards the cliff.
A voice speaking behind them in a strange, sharp language, a sudden flash of light startled Elazul, and he turned around.
Black Pearl was standing unsteadily on her feet, one hand clutching at her bandaged stomach, her body slightly stooped forwards with the pain. Her black eyes appeared darkly menacing inside her deathly white face. In her other hand she clutched the ancient sword that, obeying to Black Pearl's runic incantation, shone with a blinding, furious glow that surrounded Black Pearl and lit up the whole area of the cliff. With two quick strides, Black Pearl reached Alex. He tried to resist her but her hand, leaving the wound at her stomach, flew out with incredible speed and grabbed his cloak at the neck relentlessly; he gasped and flinched, his hands shooting to his throat as if her very touch inflicted pain on him. Black Pearl hoisted him up into the air as if he weighed nothing; then she threw him away with a single sweep of her hand, and he was flung to the ground, his body rolling across the earth with the force of the motion. He finally came to rest with his face down against the earth, several feet away from the edge of the cliff.
Elazul had attempted to stop Black Pearl on the very first moment, but when his hands touched her he cried out and withdrew them, understanding Alex’s reaction; the burning white light that flowed from the sword surrounded her body like an electric shield, forming an impassable barrier.
Ignoring Elazul, Black Pearl strode towards Alex. The sword’s glow seemed to increase with each step that she took. Alex slowly raised himself to a sitting position and sat on the ground with his head hung low, his breath quick and shallow. Leaning over him, Black Pearl’s fingers gripped his jaw and forced him to look up.
“I may not be able to drain your core,” she said, her voice perfectly emotionless. “But I can still kill you in other ways.”
“This is how you repay us— damn you!” cried Elazul furiously. He struggled to approach them, but every time he came towards the electric barrier he felt a shock on his flesh, and had to fall back, breathing harshly in pain.
Black Pearl seemed not to hear Elazul; she kept her gaze on Alex. Alex was shaking with the pain inflicted by the close proximity of Black Pearl’s hand; but he managed to shake himself free of her grip and edge away from the white barrier. He slowly staggered to his feet without answering. Elazul could see them both at the edge of the cliff; Alex wavering unsteadily on his feet, Black Pearl standing tall and straight just opposite, her long hair flowing around her slender figure with the errant motion of the rough winter winds.
“Where is Florina?” Black Pearl asked.
Alex made no answer. Black Pearl took a step towards him and brought her fist against his stomach. He crumpled forwards. A kick to his chest from her boot leveled him to the ground. He remained lying on his back motionlessly, a stunned look in his eyes, his chest laboring with the effort to breath against the pain. Black Pearl brought the tip of her sword and let it rest against the edge of his core.
“I can carve this stone out of your flesh, little by little,” she said with a twisted smile. “Tell me where Florina is and I might spare you.”
Suddenly a hand landed on Black Pearl’s shoulder with an iron grip. It turned her around with a relentless power, and she found herself facing the Lapis Lazuli knight. His head was lowered, he was breathing tersely with the agony of the burning electric aura, but the eyes that looked up at her were dark with wrath. A moment later his fist landed against Black Pearl’s stomach, just above the wound. She crumpled against him with the shock of the pain.
She immediately regained control of herself, however, and sprang backwards beyond his reach. Her hand was clutching at her stomach where she has sustained the painful blow, but her stately figure was straight and poised. “I have warned you, Lapis Lazuli,” she said with a terrible voice, readying her sword, “to stay OUT of my way!”
“I won’t,” hissed Elazul, “I won’t let you kill her!”
Black Pearl laughed mirthlessly. Her dark eyes flashing, she leapt towards Elazul with a catlike movement and brought her sword down against him. He avoided it just in time, but she caught his wrist between her powerful fingers. The electric aura surrounding Elazul, and a burning energy wave electrified his body. He slowly sunk to his knees, the look in his eyes blank. Then he crumpled forwards soundlessly.
Turning around again, Black Pearl found herself facing Alex, who, gathering his strength, had risen to his feet and attempted to knock her off balance by hurling his body against her; but she did not lose her nerve for a moment. Her hand shot at him and her strong fingers gripped his throat, forcing him to his knees again.
“Tell me where Florina is,” she said with an awful calm. “You still have the opportunity to reprieve your crimes, Alexandrite. If you return Florina to us, your punishment will be reduced from death to permanent exile. I might even let the Lapis Lazuli to return to the city. It’s your last chance; now speak!”
Alex rocked on his knees unsteadily, his hands vainly attempting to tear Black Pearl’s ruthless hold on his throat. She released him all at once and he fell to his hands and knees, coughing convulsively. His lips were stained with blood. He spat the blood out of his mouth, and the dark eyes that looked up at Black Pearl simmered with contempt.
“You think… I would… betray… Florina?” he rasped. “I should’ve… killed you… when I had… the chance.”
Black Pearl’s face contorted with fury. She gripped Alex’s arm with one hand and forced him to stand up with a single, incisive movement. Then, using her other hand, she drove the blade of the white sword into his stomach.
Elazul had meanwhile recovered from his faint and raised his head; and he was nearly blinded by a sudden explosion of light. The sword’s white fire flared to a startling magnitude and surrounded both Alex and Black Pearl.
Black Pearl’s eyes dilated all at once, and her mouth opened in a silent cry. The light vanished almost at once, and Black Pearl nodded on her feet for a moment, a shocked look on her face; then she crumpled to the ground, unconscious.
Elazul, rising to his feet with an agonized exertion that seemed to set every muscle in his body on edge, could see Alex standing at the edge of the cliff for a moment, his body teetering dangerously, a large stain of blood rapidly growing on the front of his shirt. Then Alex keeled backwards and vanished off the edge of the cliff. It all took a matter of seconds, but to Elazul time seemed to slow to a halt. A desperate shout escaped him:
“ALEX!”
Black Pearl was lying on the ground, her face downwards. A thin trail of blood ran across the light blanket of snow on the cliff. The white sword was lying some distance away, shining faintly. Elazul, clutching at the side of his body in pain, reached the side of the cliff with a stumbling gait and looked into the sea below. Darkness met his eyes, and he could only discern the vague shapes of the waves beating on the rocks savagely. He cried Alex’s name again and again, and was only greeted by horrible silence.
Elazul sunk to his hands and knees and stared at the ground, a dazed expression on his face. His body trembled with shock. “No, no, no…” he whispered. “Alexandra, Alexandra…”
The sudden, strange light on the top of the cliff had alerted Florina; she had been climbing up the cliff for almost an hour, and she was white and exhausted, sweat running down her face and her breath rasping with pain. She paused behind some trees down the road, attempting to recover her strength, and everything begun to blur before her eyes. But then a sudden commotion alerted her, and her gaze came into focus again for a moment. The gaping space between the branches of the trees afforded her a clear view of Black Pearl and Alex at the top of the cliff; she watched their encounter the moment the sword was driven into Alex’s body and flashed with a blinding aura; she could see Black Pearl sinking to the ground, she could see Alex keeling backwards and falling from the cliff. Florina’s head swam; the world turned dark before her eyes as tears begun to run down her face; then, her strength sapped by the sudden toll of the life-stealing tears, she sunk to the ground and fainted.
She came back to her senses as she felt arms wrapped around her, providing her with warmth and security. Her eyes met nothing but blue, and for a moment she could not understand what she was looking at; then her gaze cleared and she realized that she was looking at a front of a man’s shirt. She looked up and her gaze met the sky-blue eyes of a pale-haired man with a stern, lean face. A faint light shone around him, effused from a lamp set on the ground on his side.
“Just rest,” he said gravely, and his deep voice awoke a faraway memory in Florina’s mind. “You’ve been unconscious for almost an hour now.”
Florina tried to speak, and found that she could not. The man’s blue eyes looked at her with a serious expression, and as her vision cleared Florina suddenly realized why he looked so familiar.
“Your core,” said the man quietly. His fingers parted Florina’s shirt slightly, and he ran them across the green-blue jewel. “It’s so dim. Why?”
“Saristin,” said Florina softly.
His eyes widened in surprise, and after a long pause during which he examined her face he suddenly said, “Florina!”
She smiled at him; but then her strength left her and she fainted again.
Comment: Two more polls for your voting pleasure:
(Those who missed the first two polls can find them here (original characters poll) and here (Part I fave chapter poll).)
More picking at holes: Yes, there is a series of coincidences in this chapter that gather everyone together in one place, amazing misses, and a deux ex machina (i.e. Saristin finding Florina) at the end. Yes, I know that Elazul missing Florina in the darkness sucks too, and that Saristin came just too late and from a road just too different to meet him. Just don’t pick on me; this is only a fanfic story.
But I'm also sure that no-one minded the fact that I used the two additional male unused Jumi (i.e. Snow and Saristin) as clear fodder for pairing with Emeralda and Florina, the two unpaired Jumi girls in my story. This is my story, so I can be as cheesy as I wish to. So there.
For those of you who don’t know it, in the original Japanese version Alexandrite was a gender-changer, both man and woman, and in love with Florina (apparently “s/he” preferred his male version). However, the U.S. version decided to change Alexandrite into Alexandra, a woman posing as a man, which is what I picked up in this story. Consequently, Alexandra is NOT in love with Florina in LoJ, though she feels a deep connection to her. There are, however, for readers who noticed, plenty of asides and jokes referring to the “true” or original (gender changing) Alexandrite in the story, especially in conversations between Florina and Alex. (This caused some to think that I actually used the Japanese Alexandrite in the story.)
Some of you surely detected the huge discrepancy of the fact that Diana and Black Pearl are women, leading a strictly conservative society in which women don’t have many rights (I chose to do this to make both Alex and Elazul rebels by the act of Elazul aiding Alex to become a knight— and the Knight of Clarius). I guess that the only way I can explain it is to tell the reader to think of it this way. Black Pearl has lived longer than practically all Jumi in the city, has greater powers than all, in both swordfighting and magic; and thus a challenge to her right to lead would probably be extremely difficult, since the Jumi are used to her being a leader by now. In a way she is more like a symbol of the society, indeed enforcing its coldly logical mores rather than challenging them, like a sort of a dark priestess-knight. Diana, on the other hand, is like a figurehead of royalty (in LoM she is, indeed, described as ‘the princess mistress’); historically, just because England, for example, had a queen, doesn’t mean that rights were extended to women.
More comments can be found in
Author's Extended and
Overlong Commentary on Parts I and II of the story