“If you speak true, pick up the anointed knife and slice deep into your wrist. Press your bleeding wound to mine, and if the Gods are willing I will return to torment you for many years to come.”
Without hesitation, Kane snatched up the knife the priest had used to cut Issa and he sliced deep into his wrist. He pulled Issa’s limp form against him and pressed his bleeding arm to the side of her neck. He bled his own life into her with each beat of his heart, willing her soul to return to her dying body.
Still looking through Issa’s eyes, he knew when her vision began to clear. He found himself staring up into his own face. He felt her move in his arms as life returned to her and she was pulled into the place of timelessness where he stood.
Issa spoke to him. “Open your eyes, Kane.”
He removed his arm from her neck and saw that the wound had closed, leaving behind a raw, red, angry scar. A mirror image of that scar had formed on his wrist.
Issa nestled against him, weak as a newborn basha cub.
Kane sensed a change in her. She appeared fragile, more beautiful and more human than she’d been, less a goddess than he remembered.
He lifted his woman into his arms and whistled for the stallion, Tristan. Time resumed its normal course as they walked from the dais, although he and Issa remained separate and apart while the battle raged around them. He mounted his stallion, settling Issa in front of him.
Kane urged Tristan into a gallop and he cleared a path before them all the way to the foot of the mountains, leaving the sounds of death far behind.
“Where has he taken her?” Upo asked Aja as they sat their horses upon the rise, gazing down on the smoke from the many pyres.
The two of them were alone for a moment. Aja’s consort, Kyr Aram, helped the men to rid the valley of every vestige of the Black Frocks and their servants, while his woman, Kaia, assisted Ennat and the other Women of the Blood to heal their own wounded.
None of the unholy ones had escaped death. Those Brothers Aja and Kyr’s forces hadn’t killed in the first wave were slaughtered by Upo’s men. Thanks to the protection of the Empress his men hadn’t suffered a single fatality, but there would be no celebration.
The stench of death hung heavy over the valley, filling Upo’s nostrils with the acrid smell of burning human flesh. He’d fought well, but he had no taste for killing.
“No decent human being does,” said Aja, as if she heard his thoughts. “But sometimes it is necessary.”
“It’s eerie, your similarity to my sister. She hears my thoughts too.”
Aja shrugged. “We can’t help it. It’s in our nature.”
“You didn’t answer my question,” said Upo. “Where has he taken her?”
“Out of time. He’s taken her out of time to heal. She’s lost more than just blood, my little brother. She’s lost a portion of herself. She’ll need to come to terms with it. No one, not even an Empress, can return from death unchanged.”
“What has she lost? Her child?”
Aja’s mare startled and she gentled her. “Perhaps, among other things.”
“Why did she do it? There was no need for her to sacrifice herself. We would have beaten the unholy ones without that.”
“She stole their souls, Upo, and she sent them to the lowest of the Seven Hells of Wrath. She didn’t want them reborn. She didn’t want future generations to fight the same battle. History is cyclical, little brother. What has happened before will happen again. The Black Frocks will not come again.”
Upo closed his eyes. He didn’t care about future generations, he cared about this one, and he ached for his sister and for Kane. Now that he’d joined with a Woman of the Blood he understood the link his sister and her consort shared. He knew Kane would have to recover along with Issa.
“Do you know when she and Kane will return?” He opened his eyes and looked at the silhouette of the far mountains, just visible through the haze of smoke.
“Soon. I hope to see her before I return to my own time. Once Kyr and I leave with our troops we won’t be back.” Aja smiled at him. “I am not overly fond of travel through time. It takes a great deal out of me. I do believe some of the Red Women will stay though, now that it is safe for the Blood to return to this time. They need mates and I sense many unmated men among your forces.”
Upo laughed at her words. “Yes, my men will welcome your women. Ours have hidden away, and over the past fifty years families have become smaller. There is little food in the highest reaches and women descended from the Blood were afraid of losing their children.”
Aja laid a hand on Upo’s arm. “They don’t have to fear any longer, little brother. Your Empress has seen to that.”
Issa opened her eyes and stretched like a lazy cat basking in the warm summer sun. Kane had brought her back to Earth, to an unnamed island in the Indian Ocean, where the sand was fine as Earth sugar and the water aquamarine and so crystal clear she could see the rainbow glow of the fish swimming near the bottom.
“What would the Empress like to eat tonight?” Kane teased, dropping down into the sand beside her.
Issa snaked an arm around his narrow hips. “Ah, you fed me so much just an hour ago that I may never eat again, and the natives have brought more fruit. They think we are gods.” She waved a hand over the bounty. “I am a very satisfied woman.”
“Good. That was my plan, to satisfy you. How do you feel today?”
“Content. Happy. I’m toying with the idea of bringing some of the fruit trees back to Calen with us.”
“I was thinking the same thing myself,” Kane said. “It’s possible they’d grow on the lower slopes of some of the more temperate mountains.” He rolled back, drawing her onto his chest, laying his hand on her belly. “And the babe?”
“Active today. He’s sturdy, like you.”
“No, he’s stubborn and headstrong and willful and single-minded like his mother. He’s had to be.”
They lay in silence for a time, lulled by the soft sounds of the surf. Issa lifted her head. She stroked Kane’s cheek. “Do you wish to return? Aja is waiting to speak with me and I’m feeling much better, much more myself.”
When Kane didn’t reply immediately, Issa searched his thoughts. “You’re still worried, aren’t you? You wonder if I’m whole and ready to return to the future.”
Kane flipped her over, his big body pressing her into the sand. “Do you want the truth?”
“I always want the truth from you.”
“I want to know why you did it. I understand that you didn’t want their souls reborn. I see your reasoning, but to travel to the brink of death yourself? Why? Why was it necessary? Did you even give a thought to me or to our child? Explain how you could do this, Issa. Tell me.”
Issa sat up and drew her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms about them. She felt a sudden chill, though she knew that was only in her memory. It was the chill of death she’d experienced when she lay on the altar.
“I did it to rid myself of her, of Tem. She’d put too much of herself into me, given me too much power, too much hubris. I could have become her, Kane. It would have been so easy. Tem’s fingers had made too deep a mark when she’d shaped me over the centuries. To die, to allow myself to become their sacrifice… It was the only way to rid myself of her. She’d given me the clues in the Black Frock’s prophecy, in their mythology of a willing victim, one who could descend into the lowest of the Seven Hells of Wrath to commune with their dark God. They didn’t know their God was nothing more than Tem amusing herself.” She paused. “Well, I suppose they know that now.”
Kane slid behind her and pulled her between his legs, pressing her bare back to his chest. He reached for her hands and unclasped them, twining his fingers through hers.
Issa continued. “When you brought me back to life I left her behind. She was the part of me that craved power over men’s minds, the part of me that sought to control the past, present and future. She taught me well, Kane, she showed me how she did it, h
ow to become a goddess. I hated it, and I hated it in me. I had to risk everything to gain everything. I had to let go of myself and trust in you, trust that you would arrive in time to bring me back and if you didn’t then I would find you in another lifetime and I would build another love with you. Do you understand?”
Kane rested his chin on her shoulder. “What does she want with me?”
Issa thought for a moment, deciding which words to use. “She’s lonely. Tem is lonely. She wanted you for herself and she used me to awaken your powers.”
“Will she try to take me?”
“Over my dead body,” Issa snarled.
Kane laughed. He rose to his feet in one fluid motion. Tossing Issa over his shoulder, he raced with her to the warm water while she shrieked in pretended terror.
He waded in until the water reached his chest and lowered her, sliding her down his body, using his arms to wrap her legs around his hips, while he pressed against her, letting her feel his jutting erection.
“You are hard as a rock,” Issa murmured.
“I always am around you.” Kane lowered his mouth to hers and Issa opened for him, her heart already beating fast.
He took his time.
After all, Issa mused, we have nothing but time.
Kane made love to her in the warm, clear, prehistoric waters of their ancient birthplace, and Issa grasped the meaning of an expression she’d once heard. Making love with Kane Tirol was heaven on earth.
Book III: Reborn
The two Empresses sat side by side on the ridge near Issa’s old homestead. Tears stung Issa’s eyes when Aja slid a slender arm around her shoulders.
“You did well, little sister. You did very well.”
Issa tried to keep her voice even. “I’ve never forgotten your words when I first arrived. I was whining about cleaning stalls and you admonished me. You said, as a Princess of the Royal Blood it is your duty to serve your people. That is your only duty. You sacrifice for your people. If someone is asked to sleep on the ground, it will be you. If someone is required to go without food, it will be you. You will lead men and women into battle and you will shed your blood for them without hesitation. If need be you will die for your people, and because of your sacrifice, they will do the same for you. There was no other choice for me.”
“Oh.” Aja pressed against her arm. “There were other ways, but you resisted.”
When Issa didn’t respond, Aja asked, “Will you go to Matsu, then? Will you take the throne?”
“No. I want my babe born here, on Calen. I have no love for politics. I’ve a mind to send P’kit there along with Upo to disband the High Council and rule in my name. P’kit is fearless and incorruptible and my brother is a fair man.”
“Upo hasn’t the stomach for politics.”
“Nor do I,” Issa said. “But you have a point. I must go there eventually to set things right and then we shall see.” She opened her palm and showed Aja the Royal Signet Ring. “I had hoped to return this to you, but…”
Aja closed Issa’s hand around the ruby. “No. When you have finished, when you have no more need of it, return it to its niche and Tem will retrieve it. She’s been the guardian for a thousand years and she can guard it for a thousand more.”
“She will leave Kane alone, then?”
“Yes.”
“And my son?”
“I believe so. Perhaps she will be content with the changes she’s already wrought. By creating a man with the powers of an Empress, she’s changed the future of our race. Whether it’s for the better, I don’t know. But then, I am already dead and buried.” Aja pointed in the direction of her final resting place along the cliff’s edge. “So it’s not my affair.”
“No,” Issa said. “It’s mine.”
“What will Kane do with his new abilities?”
“Nothing more than he’s already done. We can live our lives in the open. We will breed fine horses. Horses are his passion.”
“No,” said Aja. “You are his passion and his children will become his passion, but the horses will have their place too.” Aja rose to her feet and pulled Issa with her. “Kyr and I must return to our time. Ennat has already gone. You and I won’t see each other again.”
The two women, alike as twin sisters, embraced.
“I haven’t words enough to thank you,” said Issa. “But you already know what is in my heart. Kiss your children for me.”
Aja placed a hand over Issa’s belly, blessing her unborn child. “And you kiss your special son and tell him his Aunt Aja loves him. If he ever needs someone to put him in his place, send him my way. I have many stalls to clean.”
Issa and Aja walked hand in hand along the pathway, heading back to the men. Aja mounted her horse, Kane holding her stirrup for her. When she was in the saddle, Kyr clapped Kane on the back and climbed atop his own stallion.
There was nothing more to say. Issa stood beside Kane, a lump growing in her throat as she watched the two of them ride off. They vanished before they reached the trees at the edge of the meadow.
“Kane?”
“Yes, Issa?”
“Are the horses saddled?”
“Yes, my Lady.”
Issa rolled her eyes. “Do you remember when we first met, our race across the grasslands?”
Kane winked at her. “How could I forget?”
“The lake is just beyond those trees and the open grasslands beyond that. What say we put Tristan to the test?” She smiled up at him. “And then we go to visit my family, and then we find your father. I want to see Lyta and choose a filly from among her yearlings. You swore to me there would be a horse waiting on my return.”
Kane laughed as he placed a hand beneath her bottom and tossed her into his saddle. Issa kicked at him, but he mounted behind her, pulling her back against him, wrapping them both in his weave. He looped her mare’s reins over his saddle and squeezed the stallion’s flanks with his thighs, one hand holding his reins, while he slid the other about Issa’s growing waist.
“We have all the time in the world, my love; all the time in the world.”
Book IV: The Red Demon
“Why have ye come back, child? Why do ye sit here, all alone?”
Tem lifted her head and turned toward the Empress. She didn’t bother to hide her tears. “I didn’t mean to disturb you, Lady.” Tem knew the Empress Ya missed nothing.
“Ah, but thy mere presence is a disturbance.” Ya slipped an arm around Tem’s shoulders. “Ye have discovered at long last thy powers come at a cost. The price is steep, no?”
“I thought…” Tem tried to stop her voice from quaking. “I thought he would be mine. I thought he would choose me.”
The Empress Ya shook her head. “Ye sound like a little child pining over an undeserved sweet. Ye groomed him for thy protégé, for Issa, an Empress of thine own making. She has done away with the Blood suckers? She has succeeded then?”
“Succeeded?” Tem dragged an angry hand over her damp face. “She has shaken me off like so much dust on her feet, if that’s what you mean by succeeded. She has drained me from her blood. She has hidden even her son from me, the son I had a hand in shaping.”
Tem felt the Empress’s feather-light touch on her hair.
“And what would ye do if ye found the boy? Take him for thine own self? He would not love thee, Tem, and ye would earn the everlasting wrath of all thy kin. Dost thou wish this?”
Tem shrugged off the Empress’s hand and jumped down from the rock. “They already hate me. Do you know what I am called?”
The Empress Ya held her peace.
“They call me The Red Demon. They fear me. Throughout the ages people have feared me.” Tem crossed her arms. “I am a horror to them. A story told to frighten children.”
Ya rose to her feet, her movements slow with age. “Ye chose thy path, child. From a young age, ye craved the power.”
“I don’t want it anymore.” Tem heard the whine in her voice and she was disgusted with her
self.
Ya laughed. “Ye shall walk with Us and We shall talk a bit. Perhaps We can advise ye, perhaps not. A walk will do ye good in any case.” She took Tem’s hand and tucked it beneath her arm. “We need a young body to assist Us these days. Our joints have grown stiff.”
Tem allowed the elderly woman to lean on her. The warmth of the Empress seeped through her. She already regretted her harsh words.
“How many years do you have, my Empress?”
Ya thought for a moment as they strolled along the forest path. “Perhaps We are one hundred and eighty Earth years, perhaps nearing two hundred. Old enough to know We no longer remember the exact figure. And ye are?”
“Twenty-eight Earth years.”
“Ah, a young woman. Ye should be filled with life.” The Empress slowed. “And how many daughters have ye left behind?”
Tem matched her pace to that of the Empress. “Six.”
“Six daughters of Persephone? Ye have sacrificed much, child. Surely ye think of them?”
“I think of them every day. But their mother, the Goddess, the Red Demon, does not speak with them. Besides, they are long since dead and turned to dust.”
“They are not dead in thy heart. Ye are not just their mother, ye are in truth the mother of us all. Ye have left behind the seed stock, the genetic lines that will shape Us.” She twined her fingers through Tem’s. “Perhaps ye have done enough and the time has come for thee to live thine own life.”
“Empress, I thought to live my life with Kane Tirol. I brought him into being.”
“Aye, but ye used Issa to open his eyes and awaken his powers. By then he was lost to ye. Their hearts are joined for eternity.”
“He is the One, my Lady; the One we have waited for. Kane Tirol can stop time.”
“But he will not. He understands the dangers.”
“He did it for her.”
The Empress scolded her. “We think ye bask too much in self-pity and self-importance. Perhaps ye ought to spend some time with thy mother.”
The Daughters of Persephone, A Space Opera Special Edition Page 25