Iltani eased off the bed. Ditanu didn’t attack, but he jumped down and followed her as if in a trance. When Iltani crossed the threshold, she quickly spotted where Kammani had settled among the pile of pillows by the fire. A bowl of milk and a rag sat next to her.
Ditanu oversaw the cub changing hands, only watching silently as Kammani settled down among the pillows and took the sleeping cub.
“I think it’s best if Kuwari remains asleep until later,” Kammani was saying as she held out the milk dampened rag for Ditanu’s inspection. “If I thought Ditanu would let him out of these suites, I’d take Kuwari to the nursery to give you a touch more privacy.”
There would still be an audience of Shadows.
There were always Shadows.
Besides, it wasn’t like they hadn’t heard or glimpsed their king and his consort together before.
At least this Sacred Marriage would only be witnessed by a few Shadows unlike the highly ritualized ones of the past where ruler and Blade performed high up in the open air temple with all the citizens of the ten city-states looking on from below.
The knowledge that it could be so much worse helped ground her enough, her pounding heart and the nervous flutter in her stomach calmed.
While she’d been woolgathering, Ditanu had begun pacing back and forth between his bedchamber and his study, clearly wanting Iltani and the cub in the same room, and confused by the separation and becoming unhappy about it. He turned to start back to his cub for the fourth time when Iltani called him. He paused at the threshold, looking over his shoulder.
Not seeing a better time, Iltani shrugged off the cloak that Kammani had given her and then untied the scarf covering her breasts. After a small fight with the ornate belt, she got it loose and the remnants of her tattered skirt fell to the floor. She glanced down at her scarred, blood smeared, and bruised body.
Iltani only hoped Ishtar was with her and that Ditanu would find her somewhat appealing.
A soft, heated magic swirled through her blood, expanding out with each beat of her heart. Ah, Ishtar hadn’t abandoned her to deal with this alone.
Naked, she dropped to her knees and moved closer, hoping to appear as non-threatening as possible because Ditanu was getting more worked up about his aunt having his cub.
Iltani’s throat tightened with fear and nerves. It took two tries before she managed to spit out the words that wanted to stay trapped in her throat. “I know I am no substitute for your mate, but I’m still here and won’t leave you ever again.”
Crawling the last of the distance, she wrapped her arms around his neck in a fierce embrace. He didn’t strike out. Encouraged, she ran her fingers through his thick lion’s rough—the mix of fur and downy feathers incredibly soft against her skin.
Ishtar’s blessing came in a wave of mellow power flooding outward from a knot under her heart and racing down her arms and fingers, and on into Ditanu. The big gryphon purred and rubbed his face against her torso, nearly knocking Iltani over backward.
After slowly rising to her feet, she stepped backward, heading for the bed directly behind her. Ditanu followed, though the occasional glance behind told her he still hadn’t forgotten his cub. Iltani yelped in surprised when her legs came in contact with the bed, and she sat down heavily. Ditanu barely gave her time to recover her balance before he jumped up beside her.
He examined her, his sharp gaze roving over her from the top of her head to the tips of her toes and then back again. There was something else in his look now, a new heat that hadn’t been there before.
Interest. Male interest.
That was good, that was what she’d hoped for. Still, it made her feel deeply uncomfortable.
Iltani crawled backward, shuffling toward the head of the bed.
“Ditanu, I need you to shapeshift into a man so we may better honor the Queen of the Night.”
If her words penetrated far enough into his mind to touch his human side, nothing in his expression showed it.
Iltani very much wanted his human side, not his gryphon nature, to be in command for the next few hours.
Come on, shapeshift. How much more obvious can I be? Shift, damn it.
Iltani ran into one of the pillows that marked the head of the bed. Wanting something else to keep her fingers busy for a few heartbeats more, she reached out to the sash holding the drape aside. With a couple tugs, the ties came undone and the gauzy drapes fell into place.
At least, it gave some semblance of privacy. She couldn’t reach the opposite one without crawling across the entire width of the bed, so she left it, allowing her eyes to track back to Ditanu.
Gasping in surprise, her hand twisted in the bedding as she took in the form of a very human and very naked Ditanu crouched at the end of the bed, poised less than two body lengths distant.
She wanted to feel relief that he was human and no longer gryphon, and she did. However, she’d have felt much more relieved if the old human Ditanu was present, but it was the intense gryphon soul that looked out of Ditanu’s eyes, not the gentle king she’d grown up with.
Perhaps it was better this way.
It would feel less like she was betraying the man she loved.
Yes, she told herself, this was just about serving Ishtar.
Ditanu crawled across the bed toward her. It was more stalk than crawl she admitted, and damned sensual, too. Only he could make scrambling across a bed in slow motion look anything but awkward.
Iltani issued a startled sound when Ditanu reached out and wrapped strong fingers around her ankle and pulled her down the bed toward him.
It wasn’t painful or violent, but the show of strength still convinced that small pit of fear in her stomach to double in size. He lowered himself onto his elbows so he could plant a kiss on the bottom of her foot.
The new position hid some of his nudity from her, but she’d still seen that he’d become aroused. His body had filled out over the last four years. Even as an adolescent, he’d been breathtaking to behold. Now he was easily the most beautifully masculine thing she’d ever laid eyes upon.
She licked her lips nervously.
The banked desire which had been simmering it her blood, uncoiled, making her ache deep inside. Self-consciousness had her pressing her thighs together.
Ditanu drew in a deep breath, his nostrils flaring to catch her scent, and then he studied her long moments, his expression unfathomable.
“Yes, I’m nervous,” she said, still unable to read anything in his expression of the Ditanu she knew. “You would be too if our positions were reversed.”
“There is no need,” Ditanu said. “Ishtar and I have been lovers for an eternity. We will take care of you and your king.”
“Who?” Even as Iltani asked, Ishtar’s presence grew within her mind.
Tammuz, god of the harvest. My beloved husband. He will heal your gryphon king and make him whole again for you.
“All we ask is that you allow us to enjoy your bodies this night,” Tammuz continued, “and in exchange, all our power is yours to call upon in times of need. Come morning, your beloved Ditanu will be healed.” He crawled farther up her body to caress her cheek. “We will not force you, but I have missed my beloved Ishtar and hope you agree. I dwell in the underworld, Ishtar in the mortal. This is the only way her sister, Ereshkigal, will allow me to leave her underworld.” Tammuz laughed. “I promise, Ishtar and I will leave you and your king with very good memories.”
His tone, so similar to Ditanu’s, made her body flush and ache, her breasts suddenly overly sensitive and heavy. One powerful hand stroked up her side, his thumb caressing the underside of her left breast, and her mind ceased to function.
Tammuz leaned down and pressed Ditanu’s mouth against her navel. Iltani nearly jumped out of her skin.
“Shhh, Little Blade. No harm will come to you. This is the power of Ishtar’s pact with the line of the gryphon kings. Even Ereshkigal cannot prevent us from coming together for the Sacred Marriage.”
Ishtar’s power swirled stronger, but still it didn’t take over Iltani’s body. A slow realization dawned—the gods were waiting for her permission.
“Did Ditanu agree?”
“He did,” Tammuz answered. There was no deception in his look and his lips curved with familiar slow humor. “And he instructed me to call you his beautiful Little Shadow.”
His words and warm breath slid across her body, causing a case of fresh nerves to tighten her stomach. Ditanu needed this. The gods promised to return him to himself, healed and whole. As for Iltani herself, she wanted to know what it felt like to make love to her king.
“I agree.” Iltani slid her hands up Ditanu’s arms, caressing her way up to his shoulders. Tammuz or Ditanu leaned down for a kiss, and she welcomed him. As a fire built in her blood, she arched her back, pressing her breasts against his chest as she parted her thighs to better cradle his.
Ishtar rose within her then. Iltani surrendered her body to the Queen of the Night, sure in the knowledge Ishtar would have her Tammuz for a few hours and come the morning, Iltani would get her king back.
“Welcome, my beloved,” she heard Tammuz greet Ishtar, his love for her clear in his voice.
The thought of the Sacred Marriage ceased to frighten Iltani, and she drifted, a passenger in her own body, but no longer afraid.
Chapter 20
Iltani’s sleeping mind told her it was close to dawn and yet she dreamed as if still deeply asleep. Although, now that she thought about it, this didn’t feel like a normal dream. This was sharper, edged with Ishtar’s familiar power. It nudged her spirit, demanding she follow. With a sigh, for she truly was tired, Iltani’s spirit followed where Ishtar led.
Once again, Iltani’s viewpoint of the world changed as the Queen of the Night dragged her consciousness into another body. Taking in her surroundings with a glance, she recognized she was in a seldom-used part of the island. There were catacombs below the palace where she and Ditanu had used to explore as children.
The catacombs had once been used as cold cellars for storage until one of the mountain streams had changed its course over time and the storm season runoff had started to find its way into these tunnels.
Now they were abandoned even though they only flooded part of the time.
Or they should have been abandoned. Except they weren’t. Whoever Ishtar had merged her with was slowly making her way through the corridors. The slowness of her walk had nothing to do with her unfamiliarity with the tunnels. Some injury slowed her and she limped.
A slim hand held the torch before her as she walked, carefully picking her way around debris from past floods.
Female. Cloaked and hooded. Walking with a limp down barely used tunnels. She certainly wasn’t here for a pleasant walk.
A stranger the Queen of the Night, wanted Iltani to see.
One of the traitors?
Most probably.
As much as Iltani would have preferred a few moments rest after the events of the last day—this too was important. It might be the only lead she’d get about the traitors.
Thank you, for this, great Ishtar.
The woman continued to walk until she came to a door. It opened smoothly under her hand. No noise, only the smooth glide of recently oiled hinges. The stranger proceeded through another door, entering a dimly lit room. Three other strangers turned at her arrival.
Cloaks of dark gray, good quality wool hid their identities. With the cowls pulled up, the dark recesses didn’t offer Iltani so much as a glimpse of the faces inside.
“You’re late,” said the tallest of the cloaked strangers, his voice deep with a slightly gruff edge to it. Older? Or perhaps a voice damaged by smoke from the fires which had very recently burned on the island of Uruk? Neither possibility told her much about his identity, unfortunately.
“I couldn’t get away without causing suspicion. Would you have preferred I led a bunch of Shadows to our meeting?”
“Your sarcasm is not welcome,” the man snapped. “None of us will be safe if we fail Ereshkigal again, she is not as forgiving of failure as her sister.”
“And Ishtar does not forgive traitors,” the woman said. “So we won’t fail Ereshkigal.”
Ereshkigal? Back in the bed where her body still slept, Iltani’s heart started to pound with adrenaline. These traitors were serving Ishtar’s sister, the Queen of the Underworld? That would explain how they had sabotaged the city-states defenses. But why? What did they have to gain by destroying their own kingdom?
More important at present: whose body was Iltani inhabiting? Iltani’s first suspicion was Beletum, but the king had given her terrible wounds. It was doubtful Beletum would be back on her feet so soon. Not even gryphons healed that fast.
“How can we fix this disaster?” Another male growled. He was slightly shorter than the first man and broader across the chest, too. “One of Ditanu’s cubs was supposed to survive the battle so we could convert it to worship Ereshkigal, assuring her rise from the underworld. Ditanu’s cubs are dead and he is mad with grief. Ereshkigal will be livid.”
How had these strangers lived to plot so long? There must be more to their network of traitors than just these four. How much power did they wield? How high up did the corruption run?
Back in the king’s bed, Iltani’s hands curled into fists as rage rushed over her body. She would hunt down all the traitors and cut out this infection before she let any of them near Kuwari or her king.
Iltani’s host body nodded in agreement to the shorter cloaked male. “I agree this has not gone as we planned. Yes, we need a cub, but I think Kuwari still lives. That cloaked figure Kammani brought to the king—he was very interested in getting under her cloak, and I do not mean in a mating way. I am certain that was Iltani with Kuwari.”
The fourth stranger spoke for the first time. “Ereshkigal be merciful. Let it be true.”
“I am certain it was Iltani. No one else would have been foolish enough to go in that dome at that time.” The woman shivered. “She was lucky Ditanu didn’t try to tear her apart, too.”
“Do you think the king will survive?” The fourth cloaked figure spoke for the first time. A male, but a mild sounding one. Young perhaps?
“You saw him. He was worse than his father. No, Ditanu is already dead or will be by nightfall, and then Kuwari will be vulnerable. The council will name a regent.”
“Your hunch better be correct for we have no other plan. If we fail, we will be found out. Ishtar will kill us and send us to Ereshkigal. Ereshkigal will torture us for an eternity for ruining her plans.”
“There is that.” Iltani’s host body agreed. “It will not be an enjoyable wait, but we must. Once Ditanu dies, his Shadows will protect the cub most viciously. We will have to slowly earn their trust while at the same time gaining control over the council.”
“Kammani will be a problem,” The broad-shouldered man reasoned and reached up to scratch at his jaw. “She will likely try to assert herself as regent.”
“She’ll have to be taken out,” the woman agreed.
“I’ll worry about that,” the older man said.
The room with the four traitors faded, and Iltani’s spirit was cast adrift once more.
A moment’s dislocation and she was housed inside her own body once more.
Chapter 21
The dregs of sleep threatened to pull Iltani back down into sleep’s arms, but there was something important in the waking world she should face. Doubt nudged her closer to wakefulness. Something was wrong. Normally she awoke easily.
Either Burrukan had been particularly vicious in his training session yesterday, or she’d been celebrating and drank far too much wine. Still, this didn’t feel anything like an overindulgence of wine.
Safety, warmth, and comfort cocooned her in a way she’d rarely experienced—and not for many, many years at that. This was different than that long ago time when she and the cub Ditanu had shared a nest in their old nursery room.
; Then memory returned and so too did all the horrors of yesterday’s attack: the battle, the death of two of Ditanu’s cubs, and Ahassunu and Burrukan’s sacrifice to give Ishtar time to spirit her away.
So much horror, death, and betrayal.
Last night came back to her. It was impossible not to remember with Ditanu’s arm around her waist, his warm breath caressing the back of her neck. He was still asleep, curled around her. Her blood link to him allowed her to feel his sleeping mind. There was a calmness that had been lacking the night before.
Dare she hope Ditanu was himself again?
It would make what she’d done last night more acceptable if New Sumer had its king restored to them. If she’d been looking for a scapegoat, she could blame it all on Ishtar’s ways, but Iltani would still know the truth. She’d most certainly enjoyed making love to Ditanu and waking in his arms easily made the list of her most pleasant experiences.
The arm around her waist tightened suddenly, and Ditanu muttered in his sleep. If he were anything like he’d been as a boy, he’d still be a heavy sleeper, hard to wake even on the best of mornings. She hoped that was true because she needed to empty her bladder, and there was no way she still wanted to be in Ditanu’s bed when he awoke.
She didn’t know how much he would remember from the night before. Even if there were blank spots, he’d realize what had occurred quickly enough. Gryphons had a superior sense of smell even in human form. He wouldn’t miss the evidence of their lovemaking.
However, she could and would give him a few moments to wake up and make peace with what had occurred between them. If their roles had been reversed, she’d want a few minutes to come to terms with the knowledge she’d betrayed the memory of a mate before their body was even cold.
Sitting up, Iltani gently moved his arm and then looked down at him. Even though he was in desperate need of a bath, he was still the image of male beauty, just breathtaking.
The guilt Iltani expected to feel this morning was strangely absent.
Queen of the Gryphons: Ishtar's Legacy: Books 1 & 2 Page 18