The Vessel of Ra

by Catherine Schaff-Stump

  “You won’t try to Bind her?”

  “I would never harm Octavia unless she wished it. She will Bind me. I hope she doesn’t decide to Banish me for our past mistakes.”

  “I hope she does Banish you,” said Drusus. “It’s what you deserve.”

  “That would be convenient for you.” Khun smiled with jagged, feral teeth. “What will you do if she chooses me over you?”

  “She won’t,” said Lucy. “After Ra, Octavia will never be controlled again willingly.”

  “Ra has nothing to do with it. The angel will take away the voices inside her head. She wanted me to cure her. All I could do was distract from her pain. Now she will be able to stand on her own.” Khun straightened. “Solomon lied to us. I thought equality was the path to freedom for us both.”

  “You were wrong,” said Lucy.

  “We couldn’t change the rules. Nor can you, Lucia. I pity what must be coming.”

  “We’ve wasted enough time talking,” said Drusus. “Lucy?” They began down the passage, Drusus’ fist shining with energy to light their way.

  “Claudian?” Khun’s voice echoed after them. “I give her into your hands. However repulsive you find the idea, never doubt I loved her.”

  Lucy walked with Drusus in silence for some time.

  “I am glad you are alive,” said Drusus. “Although the cost is high for you.”

  “I am more resilient than you guess,” said Lucy. “All will be well.”

  “Can you be sure?”

  “I have Ra. There is nothing to worry about. He will never hurt Octavia again.”

  “Or you?”

  “Anyone.”

  “Lucy, about what happened in Venice. I didn’t mean to make you think…”

  “Nothing happened in Venice. You showed me kindness and I thought you loved me. I understand evidence does not point in that direction. Don’t worry. I don’t love you and I expect nothing from you.”

  “You’re not the same.”

  “No. I am not the same. Octavia will not be the same either.” Lucy stopped. “Drusus, I need to know you will stay with her.”

  “Octavia needs more help than I can give her. I will stay her husband, but she killed your father, Lucy.”

  “Yes. You should blame Ra.”

  “I can’t.”

  “You must. She needs you, and she will be different. You’ll see. Our curses are cured with the angel. Octavia is a new woman.”

  Drusus’ jaw set. “The things she has done remain.”

  “Let the past be the past. Look to the future.” Lucy took Drusus’ hand. “Before you go, I must tell you something else. It complicates matters.”

  “Afterward, Lucy. I believe we are here.”

  A blue energy portal mixed with silver streaks blocked the passage. Lucy stepped away from it, as far as the wall would let her. “Octavia’s on the other side,” she said. Lucy could feel the angel. Ra, inside of her, squirmed. “Bring her back to us.” Lucy kissed him on the cheek. “Take care of her, Drusus. Take care of yourself.”

  Drusus slid through the portal.

  Lucy hoped for the best and ran away from the portal into the darkness.

  Octavia realized Drusus was standing beside her, but she wasn’t aware for how long. He was filthy, covered with earth and sand, sleeves shredded, hair plastered and unkempt. She had never found him more beautiful. “You came for me. You are my Anchor.”

  “I am the only one here able to perform the office.”

  They both spoke at the same time.

  “I want to apologize—”

  “I am sorry.”

  Octavia put a finger on his lips. “Let me apologize first, please.”

  Drusus turned a palm up in concession.

  “I know all the things you said to me at Mistraldol were true. You do love me, I know. I am not worthy of your love. My life will be different from this point forward, but I remain responsible for the things I have done. If you want to return to your family, to divorce, I understand.”

  “Lucy says you are cured?”

  “I no longer hear voices inside my head.” She smiled. “I am alone. Happily, blissfully alone. I can’t pretend my life will be carefree from this point, but I have a new place to start from.” Octavia took his hand. “Do you think you could consider starting again?”

  Drusus kissed her hand. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “I think we are strangers again. I will not mislead you with promises I cannot keep. Let me serve you now and then let us see what follows.”

  Octavia leaned her head on his shoulder. “Thank you.”

  “Lucy has imprisoned Ra.”

  “She is safe?”

  “We think so. Carlo and I promised Balthazar we will look after her, as will you when this Trial is over. Now, you have a demon to fight, do you not? Time is of the essence.”

  Carlo started each time he heard a noise from above the temple. “Balthazar, is this Trial going to take place? We are running out of time.”

  “You are right.”

  Khun emerged from underground, his attention drawn upward to Nuit. “We will be cutting matters close,” he said. Carlo heard the excitement in his voice.

  “The demon arrives,” Balthazar announced. “Is your Binder prepared?”

  “She will be along,” said Khun.

  “You must take your position,” said Balthazar. “Time grows short.”

  Khun kicked at the ground. “I intend to lose,” said Khun. “Going through the Trial is foolish.”

  “The form matters as much as the substance,” said Balthazar. “Your mistakes should have taught you that.”

  There was an enormous wrench from the sky, the universe tipping on its end. Carlo’s stomach flipped. He could see blank space around the sky as the woman’s silhouette reformed. The universe cracked, and one of Nuit’s legs stretched to the ground.

  Lucy stopped by Carlo, breathless. “We are too late,” she gasped.

  Balthazar’s skin blazed. “There will not be time for Octavia’s Trial. None of you are protected here. Neither Klaereon sister is Bound to a demon. The contract Erasmus made with Nuit is void, as his progeny have failed. This night, Nuit will climb down from the sky to fight again, to forge a new alliance. You must all go.”

  “I can’t leave without Octavia,” said Lucy. “Not after all this.”

  Nuit stood, towering above the ruins of the temple. Carlo gaped at the empty sky. “What can we do?” His voice quivered.

  “Our only option is to fight.” Khun crouched, his eyes excited.

  “Nuit”—Lucy waved her arms at the giant –“there is no need. The contract with Erasmus remains.”

  Nuit’s voice echoed from the white space. “The contract with Erasmus Klaereon is broken. I will fight the next challenger. There are two magicians here. They will fight or die.”

  “No.” Octavia raced from the temple, Drusus close on her heels. “The contract is not broken! I am here.”

  Nuit plucked Octavia from the ground and gazed at her with eyes of moonlight. “You have been tested and failed to choose. You are unworthy of guarding Solomon’s Scroll.”

  “Put her down!” Drusus yelled. He shot a lightning bolt at the giant hand. “You can’t have her.”

  Khun launched himself at the hand holding Octavia. Nuit slapped the god away with her other hand, and he smashed into the stone pillar of the temple ruins, his body thumping like a bag of flour. Blood smeared the pillar as he slid to the bottom.

  “No! Khun!” The red tie between Octavia and Khun flared, then faded away.

  “What happened?” Lucy yelled to Balthazar.

  “Nuit has slain Khun.”

  “We can’t kill our demons.”

  “You can’t, but gods can kill other gods.”

  Drusus levitated. He sparked Nuit’s hand, sending a white flare through it. Nuit’s fingers opened, and Octavia fell. Lucy grew Ra’s wings and caught her, flying to the ground. Octavia ran from Lucy, toward Drusus and
Nuit.

  Nuit grabbed Drusus. Her fist closed over him, lightning and electricity flashing, illuminating it like a summer storm. Then she opened her palm and Drusus, a broken puppet, fell to the ground.

  Lucy yelled into the howling noise, “Nuit, listen to me! There is a Binder here. He is not born yet, but he is here!”

  Balthazar smiled savagely. “She is right. I am a fool. An untested, innocent Binder. The contract with Erasmus remains.”

  “No demon has claimed this unborn baby. There is no Binder here, no worthy descendant of Erasmus.” Nuit’s dark hand sparkled toward Lucy.

  “I claim this Binder!” Thoth raced from the temple tunnel. “I see his life. He is mine. Let me test him.”

  “How can Thoth be here?” said Lucy.

  A silver thread connected Thoth and Octavia. Not really Octavia, but the baby, Carlo thought. The baby allows Thoth to be here.

  “I choose this child,” said Thoth. “He is mine.”

  “The contract holds. The scroll is in trust. Nuit!” Balthazar grew closer to the blank sky, closer to the goddess. “Back to your place!”

  Nuit’s voice choked over and over. The goddess was sobbing. Carlo was no longer terrified. His heart was breaking. He swallowed, crying with her as she folded herself back into the white space and the protesting noise of her movements became the quiet whisper of desert sand.

  Lucy took Carlo’s hand in her own. Carlo sniffed. “How did you know about the baby?” Carlo asked Lucy.

  “When I removed Ra from Octavia, I could not help but notice. A boy. Drusus’ son. No demon about him.”

  Octavia sobbed by Drusus. “Please don’t leave me. Not now. I’m so sorry.”

  Lucy walked toward Octavia. “I cannot allow this. I need him.”

  Carlo followed Lucy as she ran to her sister. He winced at what he saw. Drusus’ limbs were all at the wrong angles and his breath was shallow.

  “You will be fine,” Carlo said. He had no clever trick to help here.

  “Your grandfather is a much better liar.” Drusus’ breathing was labored. “I need you to promise me you will help them. You have proven to be our best friend.”

  “Of course,” said Carlo. “I promise.”

  “Octavia?”

  “Yes, Drusus.”

  “We have a son. Take good care of our son.”

  “I will. I love you.”

  Drusus closed his eyes. His chest was still.

  Lucy’s blank face made her pronouncement more frightening. “As I said, you gods sow nothing but grief. I will not let this pass!”

  Carlo shivered. “Lucy, he’s dead.”

  “So he is. And Khun. His brains coat that pillar. I won’t let these gods win.”

  Octavia’s face was streaked with tears. “What are you going to do?”

  “Give your child a father.”

  A lash of blood brought Khun’s body toward Lucy. “I need you, Khun.”

  Carlo looked away. Octavia moved toward Lucy, but he caught Octavia’s hand. “Don’t,” he said. “Don’t. Look away.”

  From behind them they could hear slashing and merging and a wet, clayish sound. After a time, the sounds stopped. Carlo turned with caution.

  Someone new lay on the ground instead of Drusus, instead of Khun. “The father of your child,” Lucy said. She walked away from the stone ruins.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Gray sky dominated tan peaks. Carlo shivered in the Mistraldol garden, overlooking the rugged rocks and thick gorse of the English countryside below. Too much land. He had never been lost in Venice’s maze of buildings. In England he needed a compass. The sea wasn’t close enough. Homesickness washed over him. So much to do at home, so much family business to take care of. Carlo had made a promise to Drusus, however. For the moment, he remained in England

  Octavia visited the garden every day during her confinement, pacing like a caged tiger. Carlo avoided her at first, until she invited him to stay and talk. “You are a member of our family,” she told him.

  “How are you today, signora?” He moved to the right side of the stone bench.

  Octavia eased down to sit by him. When Carlo called her signora, she smiled a little. In October, years ago it seemed, he had never noticed how she and Lucy shared the same shy smile. After the angel, Octavia reminded him so much of the Lucy he had first met. That Lucy was gone. Carlo knew they both wanted her back.

  “We are well, doctor.” Octavia talked about her son as if he were a certainty, already involved in Klaereon affairs.

  “Have you seen Lucy today?”

  “Briefly, at breakfast. You see her more than I do.”

  So he did. Every day, Lucy devoured books about the Binder magic withheld from her, and new information on Julii magic. Also studies in medicine, biology, and anatomy. Carlo poured over books himself partly to keep her company, partly to guard her. His own studies to become a magician and a doctor progressed.

  Carlo shivered in the cold.

  Octavia tilted her head, and her curls fell out of her bonnet. “We make an odd little household,” she said. “Lucy and you, her watcher. The merged man, formerly my husband and my demon, trying to figure out who or what he has become. Me, alternating between shame and anger.” Her laugh was harsh.

  “Time,” said Carlo. “We all need time.”

  Octavia couldn’t bring herself to call Lucy’s merging of Drusus and Khun a name, although the merged man had decided on Drusus. After all, although his face had some of Khun’s characteristics—the eye folds, unusual cheek bones, and a raised forehead, with just a hint where horns could begin—he still had Drusus’ dark eyes and chiseled chin. In public, Octavia and Drusus’ son had a father who looked enough like Drusus that the world would notice no difference.

  Trouble brewed elsewhere. Could Octavia forgive Khun or herself for all the damage done? Did Octavia blame herself for their deaths—Drusus, Khun, and Lucy’s? Even though Octavia had been liberated from her curse, because she hadn’t followed the rules of the Solomon Scroll, she carried responsibility on her shoulders like a yoke. Carlo learned from Octavia that not having a Trial paved a path which could be worse than being Bound to a demon.

  Lucy had been right to save Drusus and Khun, hadn’t she? “Octavia loves them both,” Lucy said, after. “It seemed the logical thing to do.”

  “Time will improve us all,” said Carlo. “You’ll see.”

  “I want people in this house,” said Octavia. “I want this house open, as it was when our mother was alive. I want my son to be part of the world.”

  Carlo nodded. “Let the world in. A good idea.” Hathersage might fear the Klaereons, but fear might be overcome, should goodwill be extended.

  “I know you want to go home, Carlo.” Octavia fiddled with the tassels on her cloak. You have my word Lucy will be safe. I owe Lucy everything. She will never need to fear Ra again.”

  Carlo played with a blade of dead grass. His grandfather was at fault, after all, and Octavia might be too grateful to Lucy to watch for the right signs. “I can’t leave Lucy.”

  “You have to,” said Octavia. “If you don’t trust me, you can trust… Drusus.” Octavia swallowed. “You made him a promise, but he can fulfill it himself. Besides, you have to go on a quest.”

  Carlo shook his head. “I don’t know where to begin searching for my mother. My grandfather will not be found until he is ready.”

  “I know they are important to you, Carlo, but I meant something else. I can’t go anywhere right now, and I need you to quest in my stead. I want my Lucy back. Could you find the piece of her that is missing?”

  Carlo entered the library. Lucy did not notice. She was curled in a large leather chair, a child playing adult. “How was your walk?” she asked, still scanning the book.

  “Revealing. What are you reading?”

  As she held up a book, Carlo settled in the leather chair across from her, elbows on his knees, and squinted at the words. “A Guide to the Formation of Homuncul
i?” he read.

  “I’m not sure spirits and flesh can be combined like this.”

  “Except you’ve already done it.”

  Lucy closed the book. “I’m certain the author has it wrong. His argument is theoretical, not applied.”

  Carlo cleared his throat. “Lucy, I’m going to leave. I have to go home.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that.”

  “Would you come with me?”

  Lucy faced Carlo. Her feet dangled over the floor. “Why?”

  “Because I want you to. Because you’d love to see more books in my family’s library.”

  “I would,” said Lucy, “but I don’t want Octavia to be alone.”

  “She won’t be. There’s Drusus. She wants to open the house up.”

  Lucy shifted in her chair. “She wants me to go? I should have expected this. I unsettle everyone. Even you.”

  “Not me,” said Carlo.

  “Don’t lie.” Lucy slid off the chair and placed the book on a table by a high stack. “It doesn’t matter. I will keep Ra contained. I can’t convince you to trust me until some time has passed. I accept that.”

  “What if I need you? To help me find my family? Would you come?”

  “I’ll consider it. After the baby is born. When Octavia is safe and she’s warmed up to Drusus. Then, yes. I also have unfinished business in Venice.”

  He could not allow Lucy to kill his grandfather. Borgias might have killed for generations, but not this Borgia. “Fine. After the baby is born.”

  Carlo picked up the book he’d been reading, turned to the page on transforming lead into gold, and started again. He read the same sentence over and over.

  “Carlo?”

  He blinked as he looked up. Lucy watched him, her eyes penetrating like Ra’s.

  “Yes?”

  “Why do you bother with me? Wouldn’t it be more logical to take for granted I’m dangerous and do something about me? It’s what I’d do.”

  “I’m not you.” Carlo marked his page with a finger. Or, more like you were. “I am foolish and illogical. Lucky for you, right?”

  “Maybe not lucky for everyone else. I can trust you to do what needs doing? If Ra should become a problem, I want you to promise me you’ll—”