"I will!" Dahak's hand lashed out in a flat, chopping motion. To his surprise, Zenobia did not topple, screaming with pain, her body contorted by fiendish punishments. Instead, she staggered, and a flickering pale glow shimmered in the air between them. Half-seen geometric patterns roiled in the air, flashing in and out of sight. The sorcerer bared his teeth, snarling in thwarted rage. His will roared forth, compressing the room to a tiny mote of illumination suspended into infinite darkness. With an effort, he crushed her shields and laid bare her mind to his control once more.
"You see," Zenobia whispered, her body pinned to the floor by Dahak's raging thought. She ceased resisting, letting him flood into her. "Every moment will be like this. A struggle, a contest of wills, until you snuff the last spark of life in this body."
Dahak gasped, sweating with effort, withdrawing his power. The cold grew worse, but Odenathus had recovered himself and muttered soft words. A arc of golden light circled himself, Zenobia and Khalid. The young Arab had been watching with wide eyes, hand firmly on the scabbard and hilts of his saber, though he had not dared draw the weapon. "You could only resist me for an instant..."
"You are stretched thin," Zenobia replied as she rose to her feet again. "The king has recovered, even in this brief moment of relief." Her hand lifted, arm white against the darkness, and Dahak became aware of the Boar crouched behind him, a long knife shining quicksilver in his massive hand. "Strike him down and you cleave away your right arm, your iron fist on the field of battle. Strike me down and your precious Kleopatra is gone. Each of us you crush, your power is reduced by equal measure." A flinty, cold smile flirted with her mouth.
"Even Arad will prove troublesome, if I am gone. Then you will face the Romans alone."
A dry hiss answered her and Dahak rose up, shadow boiling and writhing around him. For a grain there was a colossal form pressing against the walls, the floor and the roof. Stone splintered and flaked. The scattered marble limbs ground to dust. Odenathus' shield wavered, compressed by seething coils and then the apparition passed.
Dahak once more confined only to the shape of a lean, hungry-looking man, stared at the Queen. "Do you think you've drawn me to a stalemate?"
"If so much," she replied gravely, "then I've found victory."
A spasm flickered across the sorcerer's face and Zenobia drew back in surprise. Something like a human countenance shone through for a moment, then the seeming faded, leaving only cold, inhuman features close beneath a shell of flesh. "Victory," the thing said, the word falling away into a low, rumbling hiss. "An ant clinging to a stem of grass in a field of stones should claim so much."
Endless weariness pervaded the air and the Queen felt a chill—not from the icy air—but in the secret place in her heart where two women struggled to survive in the face of constant, unspeakable horror. "What do you mean? We are not... ants."
"Less, then, less than a grain of sand on an endless beach." A queer, unexpected tone of grief entered the sorcerer's voice. "Only Khadames guessed—only he saw—and he is dead."
Zenobia felt the trickling chill double, flooding her tiny sanctuary, drowning her and Zoë and their fragile hope in swiftly rising black water. She knew the thread in his voice all too well. We struggle each day with the same blighting acid...
"You are afraid," she said, shocking herself with audible words. "You."
Dahak's grimace transformed—rage, loathing, a death-like grin—and settled into sullen fury.
"Yes," he spat out. "I fear oblivion, even I who have reached across the abyss and stolen life from death, who command the air, the earth, all the powers that crawl and walk and ride upon the wing!" The sorcerer's hands fluttered open, groping in the darkness. His voice changed again, swelling with agony and despair. "I see the sun rise and some dead part of me begins to live! I walk in the green hills and I rejoice to feel cool air upon my face! I see the multitude and see their arts, hear their songs, feel the rushing, flowing life in their breast and I am... afraid."
A tapering nail stabbed in the air, splitting darkness from darkness. Stars rushed out of the void so revealed and Zenobia swallowed a shout of amazement. A blue-green world whirled past in sable night, a pale moon winging at her shoulder.
"Here is such a small thing," Dahak groaned, framing chaos with his hands. "Yet so precious! I cut out my heart, killed my soul, bled away every human feeling—yet they remain! This tiny, frail pocket remains..." He turned, face ghastly with fear and incipient horror. "You do not understand, you cannot understand. How could you, for you have not looked upon the abyss and seen the dread chaos yawn before you, blotting out stars, suns, entire worlds?"
Struggling to master her astonishment, Zenobia groped for words. "No... we have not. Can any human look upon the abyss and survive, or keep mind enough to tell another?"
"No." Dahak shook his head. While she spoke, he had mastered himself. The cut sealed, the green world vanished, the stars swallowed up once more. Only his voice remained, a dry, whispering echo in the encompassing darkness. "Know this, rebellious Queen. There is a door of stone hidden far from here. Hidden and sealed with signs and powers beyond your grasp to bind or loose. While that door is closed, the green world you love so much lives. Should it open—and it stands closed now only by my will!—then this frail refuge will be annihilated, swallowed, consumed in the blink of an eye."
Zenobia said nothing, though her heart quailed before such a vision.
"We are a fluke," the sorcerer's voice whispered. "An aberration. Random chance casting up a bubble shining in golden sunlight. Now, you will do my bidding and follow my will, and serve freely, or all this will be lost."
"You will destroy the world, if your desire is thwarted?" The Queen's voice trembled slightly.
"Not I," Dahak answered in a hoarse, exhausted voice. "Not I."
"Then..." The Queen struggled with a clenching pain in her gut. He is telling the truth!
"I baited annihilation," the sorcerer said mournfully. "I opened the door just a hair, just a thin crack, and snatched power and glory and knowledge from dread chaos' domain. But I drew attention in the briefest of moments—in a slice of time so small no human mind could catch, or follow, or measure its passing—and now the door is closed, but it is known, and watched relentlessly." A hollow laugh echoed. "The watchers at the threshold do not tire or wander or sleep. They have eternity at their beck and call and they are very hungry."
"But while you exist, the door is closed," Zoë said tensely, pushing the Queen aside. "You are holding it closed against them."
"Yes," echoed out of the darkness. A few faint gray sparks began to drift among the pillars, shedding a corpse-light upon stone faces. "I disturbed a delicate balance and what once remained closed of its own nature yearns to open fully."
"Can the door be truly closed again?" Zoë regretted the question as soon as the words escaped her lips.
A mocking silence was her only answer. The Queen looked down, unwilling to venture further words.
"You can die, then?" The Boar's voice rumbled out of the dim shadows. Shahr-Baraz had quietly taken a seat on the floor beside Khalid—who sat clutching scabbard to breast, barely breathing, eyes screwed shut—and Odenathus, who watched the Queen with a queer, troubled expression. "You are afraid not only of your own oblivion, but what will come after."
The silence shifted, charging with malice and anger. The Boar pursed his lips, thinking. After a moment, he smiled faintly. "You are a canny old snake," the king said, "but secrets are hard to keep. Shall you tell these children, or shall I?"
"Tell them what?" snapped a cold voice. Twin points of pale light gleamed in the shadows.
"Tell them about the Roman. The Roman and the sea."
The pale gleams blinked once, then twice. Shahr-Baraz laughed softly.
"Our Lord of the Serpents," the Boar began, voice rumbling with ill-disguised humor, "does not like the water. If memory serves, he dreads even to ride in a ship. He asked me to build a bridge of earth an
d saplings just to cross the Propontis. He took to the upper air—on a mount I've had the misfortune to ride myself—rather than cross the sea on a fine, swift boat. Once, once he was forced to swim in the salt sea for a dozen heartbeats—he still bears those scars on face and body like the gouges of a burning iron. No, he does not like the deep waters."
The twin points of light flared, glittering like the edge of a blade catching the moonlight.
"Shall I say on?" Shahr-Baraz matched gazes with the thing in the shadows. "I shall, I think. If you are outraged by the truth, you can surely destroy us all."
The Boar gave the others a calm, almost amused look. The Queen marveled at his equanimity and in the crystalline moment while their eyes met, she realized he was entirely free from fear. Has he ever been touched by fear? she wondered. Does he even know how it feels, how it tastes?
"There is a Roman wizard," Shahr-Baraz continued, nose wrinkling like his namesake. "And he is very strong. By my eyes, as strong as our old snake here. They met, they fought, during the fall of Constantinople." The king flashed a smirk at the darkness. "A draw. We have not met him yet on this campaign. They are holding him back, waiting, I think, for the right moment to strike us unawares."
The Boar lifted his chin questioningly at the shadows. "Is he alone?"
"No." The twin points of light thinned to narrow slits. "There was a witch at his side."
"A witch?" The Queen's eyebrows rose in surprise. What kind of witch? One like us?
"Yes," hissed the sorcerer. "But Arad was by my side. Still we drew even."
Shahr-Baraz nodded, pleased to have learned so much. "Now Arad is not your only servant—Odenathus and the Queen are your allies—there will be four against two. Will this suffice if you meet again?"
The sorcerer did not answer and the King of Kings nodded to himself again. "I am not a wizard," he said in a contemplative tone. "But I think I understand the matter of this door of stone. By its nature, a door is intended to open, and any wayward, wind, or current of the air, may shift such a fragile balance."
Both the Queen and the king looked to the shadows and found the gleaming eyes dulled nearly to invisibility. Shahr-Baraz hid another mirthless smile, giving the Queen a challenging look.
"This Roman," she hazarded, watching the kings eyes, "his powers are much like yours, Lord of the Ten Serpents?"
"Yesss..." A hissing trill spiraled away into silence. "I feel him in the hidden world, a storm around which all currents twist and run awry."
"Do they touch the door?" Shahr-Baraz's voice was keen and sharp.
"They will," Dahak whispered, something of his hidden fear surfacing again. "If he lives."
"He is growing stronger?" Zenobia forced herself to voice the question. Father Sun crush this serpent and free my soul from helping him! "What will happen if he finds the door of stone?"
A cough of laughter answered. "Men are curious creatures, far worse than cats. What ape has ever failed to plunge his hand into a dark hole, scratching for something sweet?"
The Queen looked at Shahr-Baraz questioningly. "Could we tell this Roman the truth?"
"We will not!" Dahak surged out of the shadows, sending a cloud of gray sparks rushing away from his advance. Wild shadows flared on the walls. "The moment he perceives the door, the watchers beyond the threshold will become aware of him and their thoughts will crowd his mind with visions and enticing dreams. Even a moment's desire or hesitation or wayward intent on his childish, reckless part and the seals will fail."
The sorcerer stood over them, sullen black flame licking around his outline. He seemed ready to strike them both down where they sat. Shahr-Baraz raised a quieting hand.
"We will not tell him," the king said. "Despite all this, I have no love for Rome."
The Boar stood, holding out a hand for the Queen. Tentatively, she accepted, finding his palm warm and dry and immensely comforting. Shahr-Baraz glared at the sorcerer. "You should have told me this before. We have wasted time..." The king paused, canting his head to one side. "Wait a moment. You urged me to attack Egypt—what were you seeking here? A tool? A weapon?"
Dahak's lip curled into a sneer. "Nothing. A dry well."
Shahr-Baraz gave the sorcerer a level stare in return. "Are we stronger for all this?"
"No," Dahak allowed, sneer fading into a scowl. "No, I am beginning to tire."
"Can we wait," the Queen said, hating each movement of her lips, "until you regain your strength?"
The sorcerer shook his head, a look of equal disgust playing across sharp, inhuman features.
"Then we must press them hard while we can," Shahr-Baraz said, pursing his lips. "Why do you need the fleet? Why this army? You could summon one of your horrors to fly you to the enemy. End this with a single, swift blow."
"He will not be alone," Dahak growled. "I recognized him when we fought. He will be well protected, surrounded by fanatical Legions, mewed up in their strongest fortress."
"Why?" The Boar made a grunting sound. "Who is he?"
"Their Emperor's brother," Dahak replied sourly. "And he has... clever toys. Things we lack and have no time to make."
Toys? The Queen searched her memory, remembering something... Yes, a disk of gears and interlocking wheels; he called it a duradarshan, but not a toy... In that moment, Zenobia remembered something else, something the sorcerer had said and she felt a faint gleam of hope flare in her secret heart. She almost looked to see if there were a window opening into the chamber, then caught herself and fixed her attention on the King of Kings.
"Prince Maxian?" The Boar sounded surprised and thoughtful. "Isn't he a priest of the temple of Asklepius the Healer? Hmm... if his powers turn towards yours, he would be a puissant foe. And he will be guarded by armies."
Dahak grimaced, but said nothing.
"Well," Shahr-Baraz turned to Odenathus and Khalid, who were listening with wide eyes. "We do need the fleet then and quickly too. And we must freight an army, one strong enough to fight through to Rome if we must." The king's eyes twinkled. "I've a thought about that..."
Zenobia turned away from the discussion, sick and consumed with loathing. Our freedom was only moments away and now we choose to place the collar on our own neck?
We must, Zoë answered, though her helpless anger was even greater than her aunt's. What choice do we have, if the world is to live?
The Queen's humor did not improve. The truth was tasted of ashes.
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
The Chamber of Sight, Palatine Hill
"Next window." Galen slumped sideways in his chair, face puffy with fatigue. "Next window."
The telecast shuddered and hummed, the rushing sound of spinning gears and wheels filling the room. The Emperor watched listlessly, forcing his mind to comprehend and classify each image as the device jumped and flickered. "Next..."
The scene suspended in the burning disk flashed and another section of sandstone wall came into view. Square windows bisected by iron bars drifted by. Galen could see people moving about within, sitting at low writing tables or shuffling baskets of scrolls from place to place. Business is business in Egypt, he thought glumly. Regardless of who sits on the throne of the Two Lands.
"Wait!" The Emperor squinted—this window was larger than most. A woman stood framed by a windowsill, swinging open a pair of wooden shutters. For an instant, it seemed she met the Emperor's eyes through the burning lens, but then she turned away. Galen frowned in surprise, seeing she wore an elegant, yet archaic costume, more reminiscent of old Egyptian statuary than any recent fashion he knew of. "Who is this?"
The two thaumaturges seated beside the device shook their heads slightly.
"Can you show me the room? Do you feel the Serpent close by?" The Emperor continued to watch the woman speaking—there was another figure, perhaps two, in the room—he could see an elbow and someone's hand gesticulating.
"He is not..." The elder of the two Roman thaumaturges concentrated. "Not that I can sense."
Galen bit his thumb, considering the Egyptian woman's striking profile. A Queen? Where did the Persians find a Queen of old Egypt? Hmm... is that the jeweled hilt of a Persian cavalry sword on a man's belt?
"Look inside," the Emperor decided. "Let us take a small risk."
"A risk of what?" A husky, tired voice intruded. Galen looked over his shoulder. Maxian stood in the doorway of the library, draped in gray and black, his hair unkempt and stringy.
"Max, come sit." Galen rose, shaking a cramp out of his leg. He took his brother's hand and led him to a couch against the wall. In the telecast, the mysterious woman continued her discussion, entirely ignorant of the distant, spying eye looking over her smooth white shoulder. Maxian sat with a sigh, leaning his head back against the wall and closing his eyes.
"Bring food," Galen said to one of the servants hovering outside the door. The Emperor turned to the thaumaturges and scribes. "Rest for a moment. Go down to the kitchens and get something to eat; cheese, kippers or oiled bread. There may be some minted goose or flamingo left."
Maxian seemed to have fallen asleep by the time everyone had shuffled out and Galen could turn to him again. The Emperor smiled faintly, feeling a great sense of compassion for his younger brother—who seemed so old, narrow face lined with fatigue, his hair a tumbled mass of oily strands, hands stained with rust and oil and countless tiny scratches. Galen sat thinking, forehead resting in his hands, trying to remember if he had ever been so exhausted in the Legion. There had been a time in Pannonia... I think not, he grumbled to himself. Marching and fighting was easy, compared to this slow death by tiny, pecking bites.
"What were you looking at?" Maxian spoke, eyes still closed.
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