Overpowered
Page 16
At that moment, there was a horrible shriek.
Everyone turned and looked up. There! On the roof of the Ladytemple, the figure of a man, his head tilted back toward the sky as he blew on the wailing horn! He blew until he ran out of breath, then threw the horn down at the king’s head. Shokorru ducked. The man on the temple-top glittered with the full regalia of the high priest; his robe was stiff with golden thread, and his turban gleamed with gemstones.
“Kashap!” Shokorru roared. “Guards! Take him!” He waved his guardsmen toward the temple; several vanished inside at a run, looking for a way to the roof, while the others drew tight around their king. None of them had brought arrows to the princess’ dedication.
Kashap gave a warbling yell, then screamed, “The first man who touches me: may he be cursed! The serpent will always drop down upon him! The scorpion will ever curl below him! This will be for his destruction, for the destruction of his body, for the destruction of his form!” He keened again, and the people of Gubla shuddered. No one wanted to cross the high priest at the best of times, given the many rumors of his magical powers. And now—hadn’t he been thrown from the cliff, into the mists between sea and land? How had he survived? He must be far more powerful than any of them had ever dreamed!
“Get down from there!” the king shouted. “Kashap! You are no longer the high priest of Gubla! You have no right to wear those robes!”
“Can a king change the will of the gods?” Kashap jeered. He waved his hands, and a black mist formed in the air, curling around him like a thundercloud. “You have insulted the God of Serpents by not asking for his blessing! So I will speak to you on his behalf. Hear me, King Shokorru! Hear me, all of you!
Hear the curse of the spurned one,
The evil word of the one whose mouth is opened!
A child is born to the king of Gubla,
A female child to the warrior of Gubla,
His daughter, guardian of its Beauty,
His heiress, sustainer of his family!
On the day of her sixteenth birthday,
On the day of the daughter’s marriage,
On the day that he chose so that he might reject me!
On that day the child will perish,
Will perish from a tiny wound;
She is wounded by a spindle of juniper,
She is slain by a yarn-spinner of wood!
The Beauty of Gubla will fall into ruin,
The fame of Gubla into desolation.
In the midst of six distresses Gubla sinks,
And in seven evil will defile it!
Then the vineyards and olive groves will turn to desert,
The fields of the sown-land fill with thorns and briars;
Where the beasts of the field once grazed and drank,
Now serpents and scorpions will make their homes.
No one will pass through the land,
And no one will dwell in it.
This is the end of the Beauty of Gubla!”
Kashap threw up his arms, black smoke pouring from behind him and filling the courtyard. The space filled with panicked cries as the people tried to run away from the black cloud, but it grew more quickly than a man could run, until the darkness covered the whole city of Gubla. Then, as suddenly as it had appeared, the smoke vanished.
Shokorru, who had fallen to his knees from the force of his coughing, struggled to his feet. He grabbed a spear from one of his guardsmen and ran out to the edge of the dais, turning to aim at the roof of the palace; but Kashap was gone, vanished with his smoke.
“My daughter!” the king said hoarsely.
“She is well, my king,” said a soft, accented voice. Sitting on the edge of the dais was his wife Perakha, with the baby held tightly in her arms. The nobleman who had been holding the child during the ritual was flat on his face, scraping dust onto his head and muttering aversion rituals.
The omen-reader came trembling toward the king. “What shall we do, O wild bull?” he asked in a voice that cracked. “Kashap has cursed the child and the city!”
Shokorru growled and pulled at his beard.
Perakha pressed her forehead to the top of her small daughter’s head. “Ah, Lord,” she whispered. If only she had been at home, in her land far away. Then she would not have been afraid of Kashap’s curses.
In her too-tight hold, her baby squirmed and started to cry.
“Hush, now,” said a new voice. “Don’t be frightened, little one.” Perakha glanced up and found an old man looking down at her. His face was tired, and his hair was gray; he wore worn-out clothes on his back, and worn-out sandals on his feet. He did not look like a man of Gubla.
“Who are you?” King Shokorru barked. “Don’t speak to my wife!” With the guardsman’s spear still in his hand, he strode forward until he stood within striking distance of the old man.
“Then I will speak to you,” the gray-haired man said. “I’ve come a long way.”
“What king do you come from? Can’t you see that this is no time for a state message?” Shokorru asked him. “Speak to me some other time!”
“I will speak now,” said the gray-beard. “King Shokorru, I come to you on behalf of the God Who Answers.”
Perakha looked up into his face. “Oh!” she said. “I know who you are.”
“We’ve had enough of men speaking for the gods for one day,” the king said, jabbing his spear at the old man’s face. “No more!”
“Not nearly enough,” the old stranger said, a fierce look coming onto his face. “Unless you like the cursed future that your priest had laid out for you?”
“Please, my king,” Perakha asked, looking up with wide eyes.
Shokorru looked at her and sighed. “Very well. Speak. But if you say something I do not like, I will kill you where you stand.”
“Mmm,” said the stranger. “Hear this.
The words of the God Who Answers,
The god of a people without a temple,
The god of a people without a king;
The god who made the earth and the skies,
The god who stops the rain, and sends the sun across the far horizon.
Hear the words of the God Who Answers.
An enemy will come from the north,
An adversary from the shores of the sea;
Enemies from the far-off isles,
And adversaries from the distant coastlands,
For they have made a treaty of hatred,
And they have planned a plan of destruction.
They will bring desolation on the empire of Arinna,
They will destroy the cities of the Sea!”
“What? Do you stand before me and dare to curse my city more?” Shokorru roared.
The stranger frowned. “Listen,” he said.
The priests and nobles on the dais waited for Shokorru to strike the old man dead, but he did nothing.
“On the day of her sixteenth birthday,
Your child will be wounded;
Yet to die is only to fall asleep.
She will sleep, but her breath is in her.
She will sleep, with all your kingdom—
Gubla will sleep, both men and beasts.
Thorns and briars will grow around it,
Scorpions and snakes will dwell on its border,
But all within will sleep in safety.
The enemy from the sea will see it,
The adversary will see and turn away.
‘There is no plunder to be taken from Gubla,
There is no wealth to be gained from this thorn-field!’
Thus shall Gubla escape the sea-band;
If the city sleeps, then she sleeps peacefully.”
“But how shall we wake, good seer?” asked Perakha, in a small voice.
He smiled at her.
“The city sleeps till a man is sent,
A noble heart from a far-off place.
Caught by a dream, he journeys to Gubla;
Seized by a vision, he follows
the road.
He will not be stopped by serpents and scorpions;
He will not be stopped by an evil curse.
Though seven evils shall defend it,
Yet seven strokes shall surely smite it!
A faithful heart, a brave traveler,
A warlike shepherd for the city of Gubla.
He will wake your daughter, who guards your beauty;
He will know her among the thousands of Gubla,
And the thousands of Gubla will wake with her.
Then you will know that the God Who Answers
Is the one who brought all these things to pass.
This is the declaration of the God Who Answers.”
“That is a better prophecy,” Shokorru said, lowering his spear.
“I said the words I was sent to say,” the stranger said sternly. “I would not have changed them at your request.” He looked down at Perakha. “Do you want to stay here, little one, or would you rather go home to your people?”
Perakha held her daughter close. “I will stay here, good seer.”
“Peace, then,” he said, and vanished.
Everyone stared for a long moment, then rushed forward. But there was no sign of the old stranger.
To keep reading, look for Five Magic Spindles, available here.
You May Also Like…
This book was published as part of the Magic Mirrors co-release, a collection of seven unique and exciting retellings of Snow White. Check out these other titles, each showing a side of the tale you’ve never seen before!
Red as Snow
Kendra E. Ardnek
Snow needs a husband in order to claim her throne, but it’s hard to compete with a younger, prettier stepmother.
A Twisted Fairy Tale.
The Princess and the Invisible Apple Tree
Meredith Leigh Burton
Snowdrop didn’t want a sister, but she and Rachel find their fates twisted together by a sinister enemy.
A Dark Reimagining.
Blood in the Snow
Sarah Pennington
The fairest of all, Baili is destined by prophecy to unite ancient enemies – but her stepmother has other plans.
Asia-esque Fantasy.
For Such a Time as This
Heather L. L. FitzGerald
It’s a beauty pageant to determine the new queen – but the deposed Vashti is not ready to relinquish her power.
Fantasy Dystopia.
But One Life
Wyn Estelle Owens
Ginny serves the Revolution as a spy in New York City, but when her stepmother’s Tory leanings endanger her life, will she be brave enough to do her duty?
Historical Fiction.
The Seven Drawers
Kendra E. Ardnek
After her father’s death, Gwen’s normal life takes a turn for the crazy when a chest of drawers appears in her bedroom.
Contemporary Fantasy.
Favorite tales from my Spindle Sisters:
Rachel Kovaciny
Cloaked, a western retelling of Little Red Riding Hood
Dancing and Doughnuts, a western retelling of the tale of the Twelve Dancing Princesses
Michelle Pennington
The Lovely Deep, an exciting mermaid romance
Before it’s Love, an art student’s romance