Queen of the Gryphons: Ishtar's Legacy: Books 1 & 2

by Lisa Blackwood

  “My king…”

  “This is not open for debate. Go. Get to the boats. The lamassu will aid us in holding back our enemies and then cover our escape.” Ditanu took Burrukan by the shoulder and forcibly shoved him toward the other prisoners. “Once the boats are loaded, take them out to sea. The rest of us can shift and follow on the wing.”

  With a grumbled oath, Burrukan limped after the others.

  Once he and the other prisoners made their way through the opposite door and on down the passage leading to the root cellar, Ditanu gestured for his men to spread out.

  The Queen of the Night’s power uncurled within Iltani, and the goddess’ presence flared to life in her mind. She knew her goddess was watching, and Ishtar wanted her to stay here, to end the threat tonight.

  Iltani knew she couldn’t use the full force of Ishtar’s destructive power without risking the unborn cubs, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t use her brain. She smiled.

  “My king, wait. I have an idea.”

  ***

  Brushing her still bleeding thumb across the forehead of the last painted lion in line, Iltani stepped away from the wall and eyed her work. Much of the mural now glistened with smears of blood. Ditanu and Kammani were hastily finishing their walls when she looked up. Already, the first painted stone tiles to be anointed had begun absorbing the drops of blood.

  “That’s all we have time for,” Ditanu called. “Outside in the hall, they have worked up the nerve or gathered great enough numbers to feel safe in confronting us.”

  Iltani sucked on her bleeding thumb as she rejoined Ditanu in the back corner of the hall, where the rest of the Shadows held their position. Their new plan required their enemies to cross the width of the hall. Ditanu said he knew what to use for bait and then tossed his hood back and stood ready, a sword in his hand.

  Iltani mimicked him. “You’ll be Beletum’s favorite dungeon fixture if you get captured. She’s been sniffing after you for years.”

  “Thanks for that cheery thought.” Ditanu grimaced and raised his sword.

  Something slammed into the hall’s main doors. The two heavy stone tables the Shadows had dragged in front to act as a barricade didn’t budge. Sharp hammering came again. Harder this time, and in quicker succession. The tables held, but the wooden door did not and slowly plank by plank, the soldiers of Kalhu started to break through.

  “Here they come,” Ditanu shouted.

  “You sound too pleased by that,” Iltani said and frowned. “Don’t do anything stupid...your majesty.”

  He didn’t have a chance to respond to her barb. Across the room, the wooden door gave way. The first of the guards rushed through the hole, scrambling over the tables and taking up positions to protect the others coming in behind. When there were enough of them, the first ones through the breach pushed aside the tables and kicked the door wide. More guards rushed in.

  The front-runners lined up across the room, coming only about halfway. They wouldn’t risk attacking the Shadows until they deemed the odds more in their favor. Iltani doubted they could fit enough guards in this hall to make it an even fight. One only became a Shadow by being the best.

  Beletum’s house soldiers organized themselves quickly. Iltani would give them that bit of credit.

  Thus, they held their ground, not attacking even when no more flowed in behind the last. There was a hesitation, and then they parted making an opening for their leaders to walk in. The power within Iltani notched up again, but this was not deadly battle magic. This was warm, mellow and pleasant—Ishtar in her aspect as a giver of life. She hoped this power wouldn’t harm the cubs, but if Ereshkigal gained a foothold in the mortal world, it would threaten more than just the tiny sparks of life sheltering inside Iltani.

  Footsteps approached and then she laid eyes on Beletum. Her father, Ziyatum, was right beside her. A few steps behind, Beletum’s weak-willed husband, Nidnatum, brought up the rear.

  Beletum made for the center of the room, showing no fear. Her stride carried her toward King Ditanu, her cloak flowing around her. Iltani noticed two things. One, her cloak was like what the traitors in Iltani’s dream had worn. Secondly, Beletum wasn’t wearing much else underneath.

  Ishtar’s power flared through Iltani as the goddess focused on a mark directly between Beletum’s breasts. It shimmered dully, its power not of the mortal world, but of the underworld. Ereshkigal had somehow found a way to anchor herself in the mortal world and that magic was tied to Beletum’s brand-like mark.

  If ever there was a perfect target for the tip of Iltani’s sword, she imagined she was looking at it.

  “King Ditanu,” Beletum smiled in welcome but stopped just out of sword range. “We had not expected you, but here you are.”

  Ditanu arched a brow. “Yes, here I am. What interesting things I have learned while here. Traitors and misguided goddesses, both of which should be content with what they have, and yet are not.”

  “Ah. You know of Ereshkigal’s plan.” Beletum fingered the brand. “She has so much to offer New Sumer; all the city-states would prosper under her rule. She plans to expand out beyond these islands. United, we would never need to worry about dangers from the outside world. If we aid her in gathering worshippers, she has promised us we may rule them in her name.”

  “Worship should be freely given, not forced,” Iltani said. Or perhaps that sentiment came from Ishtar herself for her essence was growing stronger.

  “Ishtar, my dear sister, that is why you will be defeated this night,” Beletum glanced down at Iltani’s belly, “That, and your obsession with the line of the gryphon kings. Your Blade can’t use the full force of your battle magic, not without killing the cubs. That oath you swore eight thousand years ago to the gryphon kings will be your doom. You cannot win, but I can be merciful and let them live if they will serve me instead.”

  Ereshkigal narrowed her eyes upon Ditanu. “I like your strength, your fierceness, your loyalty.” She gave him an assessing look. “I imagine there are many other things to like about you as well. Together we would have strength enough to conquer the entire world.”

  Ah, so that was the way of it.

  A slight shifting of Beletum’s expression told Iltani that Ereshkigal wasn’t lying about that. She really did covet the king of the gryphons. “King Ditanu, perform the sacred marriage with me and form a new pact—I assure you, my offer is much more interesting than what Ishtar first offered your ancestors.”

  Ditanu’s stone-faced expression gave nothing away, but Iltani felt Ishtar’s attention shift from Ereshkigal and rest upon the king of the gryphons as if she was about to witness something interesting. Iltani’s blood link to Ditanu blazed to life as his emotions swamped her—pain, hatred, a smoldering volcanic rage, a desire for vengeance—it all merged into one burning thought.

  “Never! You killed my cubs! I would rather perform the Sacred Marriage with a lamassu! This world will never be yours.” Ditanu’s hand snapped out, the blade which had been balanced between his fingers for a second, flew true to its mark. Only Ereshkigal slapped it out of the air at the last moment.

  She licked a few drops of blood from a slice on her palm. “I will wait for the cub to grow up then. Kill them all.”

  With that, Ereshkigal stepped back as her guards came rushing forward.

  That was the sign Ishtar had been waiting for. Iltani began to dance.

  She needed no music, for Ishtar needed no music, just the clear ringing tones of her crystalline blade cutting through the air. The sword glowed, its power shimmering bright, rising up from the depths of the blade. Its glow ignited the air around them, glorious bits of light and fire. All around her, the Shadows engaged the guards loyal to Ereshkigal. Ishtar, in her aspect of a goddess of fertility and love, danced a rare counterpoint to battle.

  “You lack passion,” Ishtar sang to her sister. “That is why none of the line of gryphon kings will ever take you in the Sacred Marriage. You are the death of the afterlife. You are nee
ded. Yet you belong in the mortal world no more than I belonged in the underworld. Do not make the same mistake I did, or you, too, might lose something dear to you if you cross into a realm not your own.”

  “If you wish to talk,” Ereshkigal said. “I will send your Blade to the underworld, and we can continue this conversation there.”

  Fear did not exist in Iltani’s new understanding of the world. Thus, Ereshkigal’s threats could not touch her. Iltani continued to dance, power shivering in the air—a gentle power, love, and fertility, not war. This power could not harm the tiny sparks of life. Instead, it strengthened them as well as those linked to the line of the gryphon kings and all Shadows were linked to Ditanu, making them stronger.

  Ereshkigal laughed. “Are you seeking to sway me with love? It will not work. The only power in your arsenal that can kill me is your battle rage. You are wasting my time.”

  Iltani raised her blade high above her head and brought it down with all the strength in her arms and came to rest on one knee with her head bowed. The blade’s tip burned its way into the floor, through tile and stone as if it was water. Magic flowed out from the sword, racing across the floor and up walls anointed with royal blood.

  When she looked up, she sought out Ereshkigal’s gaze. “Dear sister, who said it had to be me to kill you?”

  Stone lions and dog-sized dragons freed themselves from the walls all around the hall even as the four great lamassu reared, storming forward, crushing enemies beneath their hooves. The lions and dragons darted in, taking down the surprised guards, but most converged upon Ereshkigal’s host body.

  The Queen of the Underworld fought back, destroying many of the lions and dragons, but she was no match for the lamassu, for they were deities in their own right. Two of them herded Ereshkigal toward Iltani’s location.

  “A gift for you and your king,” Ishtar said as she withdrew from Iltani’s mind.

  Again Iltani was alone in her own body, but she felt Ishtar near, watching.

  Well, it was always good to please one’s goddess.

  Dragging her sword free of the floor, she rose from her crouch and darted forward, her sword’s blade singing in the air moments before it bit into Beletum’s side. The councilor squealed in pain and staggered sideways. Iltani toyed with the other woman for a moment as she looked around for her king.

  Ah, she didn’t have to look hard. He was facing off against Ziyatum, but the battle was over almost before it had started and the governor of Kalhu collapsed on the floor dead. Ditanu continued cutting his way through enemy soldiers. When he was nearly at her side, she reached down and dragged Beletum up by the hair.

  “Mercy,” Beletum cried. “Ereshkigal forced me to be her host.”

  ‘Lies,’ Ishtar whispered. ‘My sister can only venture into my realm invited. Beletum summoned that power here. She is a willing victim. As was her father before her.’

  At Ditanu’s arrival, Beletum repeated her plea for mercy.

  “By New Sumer law,” Ditanu ground out, “you should be brought before your peers, and they would decide how death would come for you.”

  Iltani loosened her hold on Beletum’s hair and was about to render her unconscious when Ditanu leaned forward suddenly and got in the councilwoman's face. “But you killed my cubs,” he stabbed a dagger into Beletum’s heart. “So there is no need to drag this out.”

  Bracing the body, Iltani sliced the traitor’s head from her shoulders. When Ditanu arched a brow, she said, “I'm just thorough.”

  “We’ll burn the body just to be certain.”

  By the time they looked up the rest of the battle was over, but Iltani knew setting their world right again would take days and days of work.

  “My king, I know we will have to root out others that were loyal to Ereshkigal, but we can’t do anything else here tonight.” Iltani sighed and took his hand, their fingers entwining. “I want to go home and see to Ahassunu and Burrukan and the others.”

  “As do I.” Ditanu took her into his arms and placed a kiss on her forehead. “And then later, I simply want to sit with you and Kuwari, enjoying your company. Perhaps even reading some of those letters like we agreed.”

  “That sounds lovely,” Iltani agreed and then kissed him as a promise of other things they might do as well.

  Chapter 31

  After they had landed back on Nineveh, Ditanu was greeted by his council to learn they’d already been briefed by Uselli. Iltani wanted to thank Uselli for his swift efficiency in rounding up the council, seeing to Burrukan and Ahassunu’s needs, and then chasing away the council again afterward.

  While Iltani was visiting with Burrukan, he’d started barking orders from his sickbed about troop placements, rotations, and sending the most skilled of the Shadows to hunt down any traitors who might still be faithful to Ereshkigal.

  All this bluster was really about his fear for Ahassunu, but after a long night with the healers, Priestess Kammani had come in and said that Consort Ahassunu would have a long road to recovery, but she would heal.

  After another hour, they were told they could go see Ahassunu. When he first laid eyes on her, Burrukan started to shed silent tears, but no one would dare call it crying. She grinned and promised to have Kuwari brought to them. In the end, it was Ditanu himself who brought the cub.

  “I thought this one might like to see his mother.”

  Ahassunu, now in human form, held out shaking arms for her cub. While mother and cub got reacquainted, Ditanu sat down with Burrukan and clapped a hand on his shoulder.

  “My old friend,” Ditanu said with a smile. “I was starting to think I wasn’t ever going to see you again. Glad to see you’re too cantankerous to die.”

  “I’m glad I can say the same about my king. Iltani told me she nearly lost you to grief madness.”

  “Yes,” Ditanu said. “We have long stories to exchange. But first, I think you have some explaining to do about some very tardily delivered letters.”

  ***

  After a long talk and exchanging stories, Ditanu told them he planned to tell the council the truth about Ahassunu being Burrukan’s mate. Since Ahassunu was the mother of the next generation of gryphon king’s she would retain the title of Consort and Ditanu’s co-ruler, but she was free to publicly claim Burrukan as her mate.

  Burrukan had only laughed, saying their relationship was likely going to be written up as the most complicated and unusual in gryphon history. Ditanu countered by saying it would make a wonderful ballad.

  With that, Iltani and Ditanu left with a promise to have servants check on them to see to Kuwari’s needs so the healing couple could rest.

  They’d left the healer’s quarters together, Ditanu looking as tired as Iltani felt. All she wanted was food, strong wine, and a bed. Preferably Ditanu’s. When she cast him a speculative looked, he smiled and nodded.

  “As I recall, we have a courtship ritual planned, one involving food, wine, and letters.”

  “Yes,” Iltani agreed. “I do believe we might have mentioned something about that.”

  ***

  When they reached his suites, Iltani had to wait for the servants to finish bringing food, but finally, over dinner, Ditanu pulled out his stack of letters and a large pitcher of wine.

  They read each other’s letters over a number of hours that involved laughter, tears, and a few lingering caresses which led to other longer interruptions.

  “Were you really going tie Burrukan up somewhere and kidnap me?”

  “I had had a touch too much to drink one night after Burrukan had returned to Nineveh to report on your progress. I sobered up by morning, but I had still wanted to return my mate to my side. Alas, I realized Burrukan was doing his best to protect us.”

  “Mates? What? Wait, but that was before the Sacred Marriage.”

  “Yes.”

  Iltani felt her mouth form an ‘o’ of surprise, but then her brain kicked in. “But how?”

  “After the Sacred Marriage, I would think you
’d know enough about how a male fits together with a female….”

  Iltani smacked him on his shoulder, holding nothing back.

  “Ouch!” Ditanu said with a laugh, and then, once he got himself under control, “It happened on the night of my coronation. Honestly, I’m not sure which of us passed out first, but the act proceeded far enough to form our mating bonds. You were my mate from that moment on, and I haven’t regretted it for a moment.”

  Iltani was still speechless. Why hadn’t he told her this from the beginning? Finally, she managed, “Why all the deception if I have been your mate all along?”

  “Because Burrukan was correct in one thing. We were both too young to deal with the dangers of court. You were still years away from coming into your power as Ishtar’s Blade. It would have been easy for our enemies to end the line of the gryphon kings. I was the last. All they had to do was learn we were mates and kill one of us. I would not have survived your death.”

  Iltani swallowed hard. “I…I knew I was supposed to start my training the day after your coronation, and I convinced myself that I was trying to protect you from getting betrothed to some harpy who liked your throne better than the man who sat upon it. Now I realize it was also because I couldn’t face leaving you without making my feelings for you known.”

  Another of those horrible blushes burn up her cheeks and halfway down her chest. “I’d had too much wine at your coronation, and came up with the foolish plan that I would show you I was a woman, no longer a child. That I could fulfill your every need. But, deep down, I think I feared losing you to another while I was away training and wanted to stake my claim.”

  “Oh, I had noticed you had grown into a woman. I was a very headstrong young male entering his prime. Trust me, my beautiful Iltani, I had stopped thinking of you as a child a few years earlier. Even then, I think I knew it would be wrong to act on it. As Burrukan has said on more than one occasion, I have a very powerful personality and tend to bend others to my will.”