Ishtar's Blade

by Blackwood, Lisa

  ‘An unwilling male?’ Ishtar laughed. ‘Does he feel unwilling to you?’

  ‘No, but he loves his mate.’

  A secretive smile graced Ishtar’s lips. ‘Yes, he does. Almost enough to resist me. I have no interest in an unwilling male either.’

  ‘Thank you, for understanding.’

  ‘But that is not why he resists the Sacred Marriage.’

  ‘No?’ Iltani now knew there was some unnamed danger coming to the island and she should be focused solely upon that. Yet, Ishtar had whetted her curiosity.

  ‘Ditanu is both stubborn and protective of you. He fears that one day his personality will completely swallow yours. He loves you too much to allow that, so he fights me to protect you.’

  ‘That is a foolish fear.’

  ‘Is it? You have always been in his shadow, serving his wishes, being whatever he needs. Not once have you ever challenged him for something you want.’

  ‘But I am a Blade. Am I not to serve both you and the gryphon king?’

  ‘Servant not slave. You must learn to stand up for what is yours.’

  Iltani was mystified.

  ‘We are out of time. You require my power. The amount you will need will be painful. Tell your king he can watch you writhe in agony or shudder in pleasure.’

  ‘We do not have to perform the Sacred Marriage?’

  ‘No, but that would have been the easiest, most pleasant path for both of us. You can still partake of my power, but without heated passion to act as a distraction, you will find the sharing painful.’

  With that new knowledge, Iltani’s decision was an easy one. ‘I will not perform the Sacred Marriage, but I’m ready for your power.’

  ‘No, you’re not,’ Ishtar said as she reached out to touch Iltani.

  At the Queen of the Night’s touch, Iltani’s own lingering desires flared up anew, burning hotter than before and she instinctively pressed back against Ditanu. Then Ishtar’s power rushing into her notched up into uncomfortable levels.

  “Ditanu,” Iltani started slapping his arm to get his attention. He finally met her gaze. “Ishtar says there is danger coming to New Sumer and she needs to share her power to strengthen me. You need to let me go now.”

  “Iltani?” Ditanu’s voice sounded drugged. He loosened his hold on her waist but didn’t let go. “I heard our Queen’s voice in my head.”

  “Then you heard her say the Sacred Marriage is not needed.”

  “Yes,” Ditanu’s lips were suddenly caressing the back of her neck. “That does not mean that I will sit by and allow you to feel agony when you can feel pleasure instead.”

  Both his hands settled on her shoulders, holding her almost delicately as he placed gentle kisses across her back, nipping gently every few caresses until he reached her spine.

  His tongue flicked across her birthmark and Iltani’s entire body jerked. “Ditanu…”

  “Ah,” he purred, “Ishtar’s mark is an erogenous zone for you.”

  His lips started nibbling again and soon his hands dropped from her shoulders to her side where his fingers stroked up and down.

  For her part, she didn’t discourage him though she knew she should. Ishtar’s power continued to fill her, but Ditanu’s touch was so distracting she hardly noticed.

  Wanting to feel some part of him, she reached down and rested her hand against his thigh, her fingers stroking slowly up and down, feeling the slight flex of muscles as he moved.

  Ditanu’s hands moved from her sides to her breasts, gently palming and cupping them through the fabric of her top. He varied the pressure of the caresses. Barely felt brushes, firmer tugs and gentle squeezes—he soon had her arching into his touch.

  Need grew within her, the need to touch more of him in return. Desperate, she tossed a leg over the bench and turned in his arms. She didn’t care if she was breaking some rule. Her fingers ran over his chest, caressing him, learning him. It was divine, but she wanted so much more. She buried her face against his shoulder and fought not to maul her king.

  “Iltani, I’ll take care of you,” Ditanu whispered and stroked a hand down her hair gently. “I’ll help you get through this.”

  Iltani gasped as another wave of power rushed through her body. Ditanu whispered soothing words to her and then he was dragged her closer, arranging her so her legs straddled his hips where he knelt on the bench. The new position let her feel his tremendous heat and desire. Only the flimsy layer of his loincloth and her skirt blocked them from being skin on skin.

  She rocked against him and thrilled at the guttural sound he made. His passion had to be flaring as bright as her own, but he remained gentle, kissing her and caressing her oh so damn slowly. Somehow, his patience was making her own desires burn hotter. She placed open mouthed kisses upon his shoulder, the column of his neck and then his jaw line.

  It was Ditanu who turned his head and captured her mouth. While his tongue was inviting hers to mate, his fingers were caressing up and down her sides. On the third trip back down, he hooked his thumbs into the scarf covering her breasts and slowly teased it down. His slow persistence won and suddenly Iltani’s breasts were rubbing against his chest with each of her rapid breaths.

  His right hand slid up to tease her nipples while his other dropped to brush a caress along the inside of her thigh. Even in this, he was in no hurry, and Iltani thought she’d lose her mind long before his warm fingers completed their journey to the junction between her legs. Breaking their kiss, she arched her back and spread her thighs wider, reveling in his touch as he guided her to a greater pace.

  “Ditanu,” she breathed out his name as she reached down to touch him through his loincloth, wanting to give him the same pleasure he was giving her.

  “Iltani, you must not touch me.” Ditanu covered her hand with his and forced it to still.

  “I’m sorry.” Shame darkened her cheeks, yet she was confused too—he was caressing her and purring like he enjoyed touching her. “It just…this is…”

  He pressed kisses up the side of her neck. “There is nothing to forgive. We do this so our Queen can fill you with her power without harming you, this is not about my pleasure.”

  His hand released hers and returned to fondling her breasts.

  It was all well and good to say they did this for Ishtar’s pleasure, but how was she supposed to survive this strange ritual and not touch him in return? She was nearly panting, on that cliff’s edge where joy was but a short step off, but she wanted Ditanu to go there with her…willingly.

  The king seemed to sense her confusion or just now realized that his words might be confusing, for he elaborated. “Iltani, you are allowed to take pleasure in my touch, in my body.”

  “But you just said…”

  “I will not take you in the Sacred Marriage as Ishtar wants, but if I allow you to wrap those slender fingers around my manhood, I’ll lose control and forget myself. Now, enough talk, only listen and feel. I can sense you’re nearly there. Don’t fight it.”

  “I…my king.” Her thoughts scattered as his skillful fingers pushed her closer to that cliff. .

  “That’s it.” His voice was divine darkness, “Give yourself up into my keeping for a little while.”

  There was no fighting Ishtar’s will or Ditanu’s sinful voice in her ear as he pleasured her, destroying the last of her self-control.

  “Good…” Ditanu’s voice shook and she was certain he was close to his own ending.

  Iltani shattered. Surely she would shake herself apart. Yet she didn’t. Ditanu held her throughout the ordeal and Iltani slowly came back to herself.

  That earlier strong presence of Ishtar was fading. Next came the realization of where she was, what she’d done and whose body she was clinging to. Shame burned her cheeks. Oh, goddess, how could she ever look Ditanu in the eye again?

  “King Ditanu…”

  “Shhh…” His warm breath fanned across her cheek as he buried his face in her hair. “We’ll talk of this later. We hav
e our home to defend.”

  Ishtar’s presence reached within Iltani, touched her very soul, changing something and suddenly there was more than power pouring into Iltani, there was knowledge—an understanding of how to shape all that newly gifted power to her will. It flooded outward from her, the tightly coiled power racing down her limbs giving her strength and sharpening her mind and all her senses. She felt the world around her in a different way, sensing other souls out in the ocean—an enemy army sailing into the harbor. Ships from the outside world did not belong anywhere near the ten city-states of the gryphon kingdom. Somehow those ships had breached the great defensive dome sheltering New Sumer from the outside world.

  “Outliers. Many ships. They are already in the harbor.” Even as Iltani shouted the words, her power continued to build within her.

  Ditanu, not trapped by the same power, gently shifted her off him and onto the bench. His hand rested on the center of her back long enough to assure she was stable and then he started shouting orders. The surprised priests and priestesses raised their heads from the ground but seemed unsure what to do until High Priestess Kammani ordered them to rise and warn the others of their order, to prepare the temple’s defenses.

  The king did not hesitate and shouted for his Shadows to protect his cubs. Five Shadows immediately appeared from seemingly nowhere, but Iltani knew they had been just outside the circle of light created by the torches. Iltani wanted to rise from the bench and guard the king’s back, but she was still unable to move as more of Ishtar’s power flooded her. It intensified in a pooled between her hands where they were still braced against the stone of the bench. A sudden surge of magic had Iltani gritting her teeth against a scream and then a brighter flash of light blinded her for several desperate seconds.

  When she could see again, the power surging through her had slowed to a trickle and was no longer painful. But that was not what held her attention. On the bench, laying lengthwise between her braced hands was a golden hilt shimmering with power, almost like it encased living fire. Her eyes travelled up the hilt to the cross pieces, and then along the entire length of the glowing blade. It was a sword the like of which she’d never laid eyes upon before but knew it was far more deadly than its mundane cousins.

  Iltani reached for the hilt, her fingers closing around it as she watched the fire slowly flicker and churn deep within the blade. While she was mesmerized by the sight, the king was gathering himself and shouting orders.

  “Get your priestesses and priests to a safe place, now,” he ordered his aunt. He glanced in Iltani’s direction, or maybe he was staring past her. It was hard to tell with spots obscuring her vision.

  She forced herself to sit up straight but that didn’t improve her vision in the least. Cursing under her breath, she gritted her teeth and blinked furiously.

  It helped marginally.

  “Take Iltani with you.” Ditanu directed three of his gathering Shadows. “She is in no shape to fight. I’ll rejoin you once I’ve found my cubs.”

  A figure stepped in front of the king, blocking him. “Burrukan and Consort Ahassunu will see to the cubs’ safety. You must keep Iltani with you.” Priestess Kammani’s voice had lost some of its mellowness.

  Keep Ditanu close? Fine by me, Iltani thought. She had no plans to let her king out of her sight if he was about to go into battle. She flexed her fingers around her new sword’s hilt and came to her feet, lurching a bit before she found her balance. She doggedly made her way toward Ditanu.

  She misjudged the distance and stumbled against the king. His arm circled her shoulders and held her snug against his side.

  Kammani and the king faced off. She and the king fell into a heated debate. One Iltani couldn’t follow, too distracted by the warmth and power still pouring into her from the sword.

  As her strength returned, so too did her awareness of her surroundings and those new senses Ishtar had gifted her with.

  “Iltani is in no condition for a fight, not yet. I don’t care if she’s Ishtar’s blade. She’ll get herself killed if she stays with me.”

  That was most definitely Ditanu, sounding about as surly as she’d ever heard, too.

  They didn’t have time for this. Iltani’s new senses thrilled a warning. “I can fight. We don’t have time to argue. The cubs are in danger.”

  Iltani looked up, straight into Ditanu’s conflicted eyes.

  “Let’s go save your cubs.”

  Iltani didn’t wait for his response, instead following the magical guide implanted within her by a goddess.

  Chapter Twelve

  Iltani ran through many corridors, down flights of wide ornate stairs and out into a small courtyard filled with a crush of fighting bodies. One part of her consciousness wondered how so many of the enemy had managed to make it this far into the island, let alone this deep into the temple. Then she spotted four great grappling hooks anchored onto the north cliff wall.

  As she watched, two more enemies heaved themselves up and over the wall, to drop down behind more of their kind.

  They were outliers to judge by their motley dress. Pirates and mercenaries Ditanu had once called them. Never should such ones as these been able to make it this deep into gryphon territory. Even Uruk, island of the priestess, the farthest of the islands, should still have been safe under the massive dome which hid and protected the kingdom of New Sumer from the outside world.

  Something had gone terribly wrong, for the impossible had happened and the outside world was here. Iltani doubted this rabble was the worst the outside world had to throw at them.

  As if in answer to her silent worries, a loud sound echoed over the water. A part of the temple wall behind and to the left of her position blew apart. From her present position, she couldn’t see the boats, but there certainly were boats out in the harbor, for that was cannon fire. Given the distance, that last shot was probably range finding. More luck than accuracy. She couldn’t risk the king’s life on a hunch. “We need to move.”

  Behind her, even over the noise and screams, she heard Ditanu snarl. She reached back unerringly and wrapped her fingers around his wrist. Her gifts warned her of something else. “Don’t shift. There are archers on the walls and roof. You’ll be too good a target.”

  “My people are pinned down,” Ditanu growled. “We need to do something to even the odds, now.”

  Ditanu was correct, but it wasn’t just his people pinned down. If they moved away from the sheltering bit of ledge, they were currently pressed against, they would be picked off within moments. Neither she nor Ditanu had armor—and while magic could protect the body from mundane weapons, they didn’t know if this enemy possessed magic-spelled weapons. Best not to find out with an arrow through the heart. Mostly to herself, she muttered, “Next time we do the blooding ceremony, we do it in full armor.”

  Ditanu peered around her shoulder to survey the massacre in the courtyard. “If we’re quick, we can scale the wall and be upon the archers within moments.” He gestured Etum and three of the other Shadows with him to follow his lead.

  Again Iltani felt Ishtar’s presence within her, guiding her actions and body. A plan unfolded before her mind’s eye. “Ishtar has a faster way.”

  With Ishtar’s intent still clear in her mind, Iltani held out her hand and pressed it to the wall. A bright flash of magic raced up her arm and vanished into the stone. Nothing happened for three beats of her heart.

  Then there was a motion on top of the temple as the enemies archers toppled over the edge, dead or unconscious she didn’t know but was sure they were dead after they collided with the stone cobbles of the courtyard.

  Ditanu arched an eyebrow at her as he rushed past. By the time Iltani matched his long-legged strides, he was already dispatching any enemies stupid enough to get between a gryphon and his cubs.

  She kept pace with him, her sword’s tip clearing a path before her, slashing and gutting any enemy foolish enough to come too close to her king. The crystalline blade cut like any oth
er sword, but she felt its power, the promise of destruction far beyond what a normal sword could deliver.

  Five more opponents rushed down a flight of stairs, only now realizing the king was in their midst.

  Iltani dispatched the first while on Ditanu’s other side, Etum felled his own opponent. Ditanu was busy with a third.

  Iltani let him have the kill, but she was ready should Ditanu falter. He shoved the body off his sword while Iltani and the other Shadows made their way up to the next landing.

  Here they met with more Shadows. The newcomers swiftly surrounded their king. Eluti joined his twin, Etum at the king’s side. He acknowledged his brother and Iltani but made his report to the king. “Burrukan sent us to find you. He and the remaining Shadows are in the lower temple with your consort and the cubs. They are safe for now, but Burrukan wants you and your cubs off the island immediately. The lamassu have awoken and Burrukan ordered them to deal with the landing boats and the main ships.”

  While a lamassu guarding the king’s side would have made Iltani feel more confident about his safety, even she agreed those great stone beasts were best where Burrukan had assigned them. A lamassu was best fighting out in the open. Close quarters were no place for them. After all, one didn’t bring siege machines to a sword fight. The great stone behemoths were fierce fighters but could easily level the entire temple, trapping both friends and foes under half a mountain’s worth of stone while trying to defend the royal line.

  “How many are we up against?” Ditanu shouted over the din of battle as they continued to fight their way closer to his cubs.

  “More than should have ever made it this far,” Eluti growled. “Seven ships, riding low in the water. They’re armed to the teeth with both cannons and men. Twenty-four cannons on the biggest three.”

  Ditanu cursed under his breath.

  Seven ships. Not enough to seize and hold any of the city-states, but enough to bloody the rocks.

  They could only have one purpose in mind: assassination.