Daniel had seen such tendencies in Antonius. “God’s desires are set.”
Papa nodded. “And God desires for you to conform.” His shrug held the air of a defeated man. “Which, to me, sounds as if a powerful triad in Constantinople has their fingers inside the mind of the Emperor.”
“Does this mean you, Father, and Mama will activate us soon?” If they were active, they could protect themselves.
Papa pointed down the path. “We can’t activate you without your brother.”
Daniel knew what needed to be done: They would activate at the same time, holding the same talisman, and focus together as a bound triad. If they did not, their abilities would sputter. They would not become Parcae, but shadows of men who could have been Parcae. Their abilities would not function.
“Why is that so, Papa?”
His papa didn’t look over his shoulder this time. He kept walking. “God created us the way we are, son, with this immutability. It’s what binds us as Parcae.”
Yes, the immutable fate of the Fates bound them all.
The river whispered a constant low rumble as it slid along the rocks and the bends as they passed the pool toward the ruins. When Daniel and Papa moved close enough to the water, moonlight glinted off the pool and reflected through the trees onto them as shimmering bands of silver and white.
Small animals scurried away from the low, red glow of their torches. On the other side of the foliage, fish plinked and plopped. They’d heard a few larger animals, and once the flutter of wings, but had seen no predatory eyes off to the side of the path.
Daniel’s boots crunched pebbles on the path. His papa walked silently with his right ear turned toward the ruins ahead. Both listened. Neither heard danger, yet Daniel worried. The sense of kill permeating his bones rippled and roiled, a moving, snake-like thing that made him jumpier than he should be.
Before them, the grand arches of the ruins formed sweeping shadows blocking the stars overhead. The gray stone glimmered in its own right, its tiny grains reflecting the moon in intermittent, minute flashes.
The people who had built the estate must have been lords rich beyond understanding. How did they come to be replaced by the stinking, undisciplined thugs he’d seen when with Antonius? It didn’t make sense.
Papa ran his hand over the arch of the main entrance into what used to be the grand piazza. “They’re still here, Daniel.” He nodded north, toward their lord’s new fortifications. “The people who control this territory descend from the Romans the fallen Empire left behind.”
Daniel touched the cold stone, now damp with the night air. “Is that why the lord wants the dragon’s blessing? Because he still holds to the old ways?”
“Kings and queens hold to the ways that serve them best.” Papa sniffed. “Those ways change day to day, hour to hour.” He stepped up onto the stone. “A politician will change his body faster than a Mutatae.”
Daniel had yet to meet a true Mutatae, though he’d seen a female in the flesh.
“Your mother, father, and I have tried to keep you three safe.” Papa shook his head and closed his eyes. “We tried to give you room to grow into the men your father foresees. He likes to remind us that he and I managed to kick fate in the teeth when we stole your mother away. We wanted to give you and your brothers the same opportunity.”
The feeling of kill that had infiltrated Daniel as they walked the path continued to squirm in his blood, but now he wondered what venomous thing had latched onto his arm and sunk in its fangs. Did he feel the threat of family conflict? Was he worried about Antonius’s future?
His belly pulsed, tightening so fast he gasped, then loosened only to tighten again. Was the kill a sense of the future? Was he getting a look even though he wasn’t active?
Were the Dracae going to descend on their family because Timothy stole their sacrifice? Was their lord angry enough to demand Timothy’s life?
Papa motioned him into the ruins. “Keep your eyes open for Ingund and your brother.”
Daniel laid his hand on his papa’s elbow. “Will they come for us?”
The red-orange glow of their torches did nothing to hide the cold in his papa’s eyes. “Your father foresaw on the day you three were born that someone would come for you, but our triad is not Prime. We glimpse; we do not see.” He pointed into the ruins. “We’ve tried to hide you the best we can.”
His parents had been hiding them? “Papa—”
A woman screamed deep inside the ruins.
“Ingund!” Daniel’s parent of the past ran forward into the future.
Chapter Thirteen
His brother had set a small fire in the center of what had been a small pool or bath in one of the larger central rooms of the ruins. Hot oranges, golds, and reds danced over vine-covered walls. Overhead, the cold moon glowed. Daniel stood in the wide arch leading into the room, his torch in his hand and his papa at his side, watching his naked brother pull up his trousers.
Ingund, her hair loose, clutched her dress to her breasts and pointed at the top of the broken wall separating their lovemaking from the wild animals outside. “Don’t you see her?” she screeched.
“Enthraller,” Papa growled. “I sense your presence. I smell your calling scents. Please have the courtesy of allowing me to address you face to face.”
“There’s an invisible Shifter here?” Daniel stiffened. “Why can Ingund see her and not us?”
“She is not invisible, son. She breaths out scents to trick your mind into thinking that she is invisible.” Papa nodded toward the fire. “Correct, enthraller? We cannot see you if you enthrall us to believe you are not here.”
Timothy pulled his wife against his back. “You’re not taking her.” His growl sounded as vicious as Papa’s.
“Enthraller!” Papa yelled. “I am Corbus, past-seer of my triad, and I mean you no harm! Leave the children in peace.”
Leathers rustled and a thump echoed as if someone jumped down off the wall. Ingund cringed and tucked herself behind Timothy. Daniel’s brother rotated his torso as if to keep his body between the unseen threat and his beloved.
Papa squinted. Daniel squinted as well, hoping he’d catch a glimpse, but nothing—until the woman appeared directly in front of him. Though he was sure she didn’t appear; it seemed more as if he’d known where she was from the moment they entered the room, but it had taken until this moment for him to realize it.
Less than a stride away, Livia Sisto stood with one hand on the dagger hanging from her belt and the other planted firmly on her hip.
She looked the same as she had in the village—clean and well-appointed, her hair in a tightly braided bun on the back of her head, her clothing new and finely-stitched. Black leather bracers almost identical to the ones worn by the man in the pool covered her forearms. Similar boots clad her legs.
“Corbus?” She tipped her head and stared at Papa. “You are the assassin’s son, are you not?”
Papa held his ground. “My deeds hold no bearing on my sons.”
Livia Sisto glanced first at Daniel, then over her shoulder at Timothy. Her nose scrunched up as if she’d just inhaled the gag-inducing stench of a days-dead rabbit. “Sons?” She waved her finger at Daniel. “This one, yes.” Her finger swung toward Timothy. “That one, no.” She sniffed again. “Though he smells more like you than a non-son should.”
She frowned, obviously confused. “I dislike Parcae and your bizarre breeding habits.”
Confusion was not an emotion Daniel enjoyed, and this woman’s behavior added a new level of confusion to his already addled mind. “We are triplets, born of the same pregnancy.”
Livia Sisto laughed. “Now I understand why you want this life, Ingund.” She shook her head. “But two husbands are not always better than one. Isn’t that correct, Corbus the assassin’s son?”
“We are happy.” Slowly, Papa angled forward and stepped in front of Daniel as if to shield his son in the same way as Timothy shielded his bride.
Livia Sisto sniffed again with her smelling-dead-rabbit nose. “You are.” She pointed at Daniel. “This one takes after you.”
She winked at Daniel.
Did she take offense at Daniel’s spying? Would he face her lord?
Papa twitched as if he wanted to speak, but he refrained and stayed quiet.
“We heard rumors that the assassin’s son and his Jani friend stole Trajan’s daughter out from under the bastard’s nose during her activation.” Livia Sisto laughed again. “Impressive.”
“We are a triad.” Papa twitched again.
“Any man with the testicles to disobey Trajan is worthy of living, even if you are Satan-fucking Parcae scum.” Livia Sisto sheathed her dagger. “Or am I to call you Fates? Are you, like my kind, leaving behind the trappings of the Empire and taking up the new titles?”
Her question seemed sincere.
“We will be Fates, Lady Sisto,” Daniel said. “Our parents will soon activate us. My triad wishes to leave behind the sins of our kind.”
Grinning, Livia Sisto tapped Daniel’s chest. “I like you. You give me hope. But stay away from Shifters, young man. Stay away from Ladon and his sister. The others of the Legion may not give you the same chance to explain yourself as I have.”
Daniel bowed his head, doing his best to show a correct attitude.
Livia turned toward Timothy and his bride. “I will take Ingund. Her grandmother was right to offer her. She is smarter than the lot of you.”
A snort flung itself from Daniel’s nose before he could stop it. Ingund may be intelligent, but she was not more intelligent—or learned—than he was. He, at least, would have had the sense not to run off and marry Timothy.
“Well, look at that.” Livia stepped closer and peered at Daniel’s face. “Looks like the assassin’s arrogance skipped a generation.”
She flicked his shoulder. “Was I wrong to think you might one day be the best of your kind? I could kill you where you stand, little boy. No blades. No blood. Only the correct breath. You’ll drop dead as the walls behind you while your papa and brother watch.”
“Daniel…” Papa yanked him completely behind his back. “They’re young. Leave them be.”
Livia ignored him. “Answer me, boy. Do you know who and what I am?”
Papa opened his mouth. “You’re—”
Livia’s lips rounded and she blew a breath directly into Papa’s face. “Let the boy talk.”
Papa’s mouth snapped shut as if he no longer could speak.
“What did you do?” Timothy yelled. He jumped to his feet, but didn’t come closer.
Livia whipped around. “How many Shifters do you think camp with the Legio Draconis, little Fate? How many of us do you think carry the enthralling abilities of my father? There may be hundreds of us in these ruins with you right now and you would not know.”
Timothy shrank back toward his bride. Behind him, Ingund pulled her dress over her head.
“You do not know, do you? Nor will you.” She returned her attention to Daniel. “I will tell you this, boy: You are lucky that neither the Dracos nor I sensed your Parcae heritage when you spied on us two days ago.”
A chill wrapped around Daniel’s limbs. “I apologize, Lady Sisto.”
Livia smiled. “What have your parents taught you about the four breeds?”
“Four?” They had only just learned of the Dracae. “We know of your kind, the ever-changing Shifters. We know of our kind and that my brothers and I are fated to become a Prime triad.”
Next to him, Papa shook. In front of him, Livia Sisto mirrored his parent’s involuntary movements.
“Prime?” She stepped closer and sniffed at his face. “Of course you’re Prime. You’re Trajan’s grandsons. You have no choice but to emerge from your activation with the power of gods.” Her expression returned to the angry sneer she’d showed when she first appeared. “I should kill you now, before you become a problem.”
“No!” Ingund screeched. “I can keep them good! My grandmother will help! They’re not evil! They’re not!” She clutched at Timothy’s arm.
Livia frowned and stepped back. “Do you know from whom you descend, boy?”
She kept saying Trajan, as if they were the grandsons of a long-dead Roman emperor. But just because their mother’s father shared the name, did not make it so.
“You have kept their heritage from them, huh?” Livia shrugged. “I would as well, if I were you.”
She walked toward Timothy and Ingund, and pointed at Daniel’s brother. “All your grandfathers.” She looked over her shoulder at Papa. “Correct, Corbus the assassin’s son?”
“Yes,” Papa croaked.
Livia Sisto squatted next to Ingund. “You’re intelligent and open enough to become full Legion support.”
“She’s not going with you!” Timothy yelled.
Livia Sisto yanked her dagger from her belt again. Her arm whipped around and its tip touched his nose. “Quiet, Parcae spawn.”
She returned her attention to Ingund. “Do you understand what you are being offered?”
Ingund nodded. “I will walk equal amongst the men.”
Livia tapped the ground with her finger. “And?”
“Those who return from the dragons’ home are, by law, allowed to own property.”
“If you choose to return.”
Ingund bit her lip. “Will I have the option to learn to fight, as you do?”
“Yes.” Livia continued to ignore Timothy. “All choices will be yours.”
“Please don’t go,” Timothy whispered. “Please.”
Livia sniffed at Timothy again. “This one’s attachment to you is strong. The one standing next to the assassin’s son prefers boys and will never attach well to you.”
Ingund glanced at Daniel. Her expression held a conflictedness he’d never seen on her face before. “Marcus is that way, too.”
“That’s not true!” Daniel took a step forward. “Ingund is a good bride!” A woman who will serve his triad well.
Livia’s eyebrow arched. “Yes, she is, isn’t she?”
For the first time in Daniel’s memory, Ingund looked defeated. Her face dragged down and she looked considerably older than their sixteen years. “Papa Corbus,” she whispered. “Did you ask Timothy’s mother if she wanted to be snatched away that night? When you took her at her activation?”
Papa’s eyes blanked as he used his seer. Next to Timothy, Livia winced as if hearing someone grate fingernails over the rock wall.
“We…” Papa frowned and turned on his heels. He gripped the arch, his back to them, silhouetted in the glow from the moon above.
He spoke no other words.
Ingund’s face hardened.
Livia extended her hand to Ingund. “Come. Unlike their mother, your fate is not tied to these Parcae.”
Timothy clutched at his bride. “We’re married!”
Ingund continued to clutch Timothy’s arm with a grip so tight Daniel could see from his place in the entrance how her knuckles whitened.
Slowly, almost imperceptibly, her hands loosened. “If I go, will they be safe?”
Livia looked Timothy up and down. “The Legion will leave them in peace, if that’s what you ask. Whether other Parcae will do the same, I do not know.”
Ingund released Timothy’s arm. “I will go with you.”
“No!” Timothy yelled. “I married you! You are my wife! You are to stay—” All sounds from his throat stopped. He blinked, his mouth wide, and wrapped his hands around his neck.
Ingund pawed at her husband while she stared wide-eyed at the Shifter. “Don’t! Please don’t.”
Livia leaned back on her heels and sighed.
Timothy coughed. “When I’m a Prime—”
“Quiet, Timothy!” Papa bellowed. He rubbed the top of his head. “Just be quiet.”
The Shifter stood and offered Ingund her hand. “He might grow up to be a good man.” She flicked Timothy’s forehead with her fingers. “If you wi
sh to earn what remains of Ingund’s love, I suggest you stop acting like a child.”
Timothy’s face reddened. He looked as if he was about to take a swing at the Shifter.
Daniel stepped forward. She will be a friend, bubbled through his head. “We apologize, Lady Sisto.” He’d better listen to his little voices.
Livia Sisto looked him up and down the same way she’d looked at his brother earlier. “You are closer to a man than this one.” She waved her hand at Timothy. “You’re going to be the future-seer, aren’t you?”
“Yes.” Daniel bowed his head.
Livia Sisto sniffed the air around his head and laughed. “You’re sincere. I do like you.”
“Thank you.” He extended his arm to offer his hand.
Livia Sisto’s arm rotated up and for the first time since their interaction started, the light falling from his papa’s torch caught the metal insignia embedded in the inner-wrist leather of her bracer.
Two small silver-and-gold dragons twisted around each other. Six talons adorned their hands and ridges their backs.
Daniel could not pull his gaze from the glinting metal.
Livia Sisto did not seem to notice, nor did she seem to care. The Shifter turned her back to Daniel. “Assassin’s son!” she called. “Tell me, has your future-seer seen what moves along the borders of your lord’s lands?”
Papa shook his head. “We have been… preoccupied.”
“Yes. I am sure.” Livia smoothed the leather belt wrapping her waist as she turned toward Daniel and his papa. “Emperors and emperor-makers will work together if it serves their purposes.”
All the color had drained from Papa’s face and he stood in the arch a ghost of a man. “Why are you telling me this, Mutatae?”
“Because I hope you are as good as Ingund believes you to be.” Livia clasped Daniel’s shoulder. “Leave this land.”
She wasn’t tall for a woman and she looked up at his face from the same angle as Mama. She was aesthetically pleasing, with high cheekbones and round, patina-colored eyes, and he understood why the man in the pool favored her.
Dragon’s Fate and Other Stories Page 8