by Joe Jackson
The inside of the palace was as silent as a tomb, most of those who had occupied its vaunted halls having cleared out in the last hour. Even the incubi who served as porters and ushers were nowhere to be seen, so Kari made her way to the railing to glance down upon the meeting hall floor. The Overking sat at the long table with another king standing nearby; it seemed he didn’t dare to sit in a seat that didn’t belong to him. Kari took note of this other king, for he looked like a duplicate of the Overking himself. Kari couldn’t imagine any explanation but that he was the son of the Overking and Koursturaux, and that revelation chilled Kari to the bone far more than anything else she had learned to date. Certainly, King Koursturaux served the Overking as one of his vassals, but if she was also his lover – in full or in part – then Kari was treading a razor’s edge trusting the female demon king.
Kari backed away from the railing before her presence drew too much attention, and she turned and looked at her friends. “Go find Eliza; we may be heading home if this bastard left us here,” she said. “I’ll meet you at the customs house as soon as I can find out if or when he left.”
“Be careful,” Danilynn said, echoed by Sonja, and the others departed.
Kari’s made her way up to the library, to see if she could find any of the incubi. There were a couple of them returning books to the proper places on the many shelves, but Kari found something even better before she approached any of them: Emma. The mallasti was assisting the incubi with the tidying of the library, and didn’t notice Kari arrive. Kari was going to approach her to ask about whether Morduri had already left, but she was leery about doing so in front of any of the Overking’s other servants. On a hunch, Kari grabbed a book off of one of the tables and sat down in one of the deep chairs. She pretended to read while she concentrated hard on the mallasti girl’s back, and thought, I need to talk to you.
Ketava, you need not shout, came the reply of the mallasti, who kept on going about her business despite the telepathic conversation.
Do you know where Lord…King Morduri is? Kari asked.
Emma continued putting books away, her replies coming as easily as if she was speaking aloud to Kari. This one suspects King Morduri is outside the city, preparing to leave for his home in Pataria, whether you join him or not.
Why didn’t he just meet us here? Kari prodded.
Ketava, you can honestly be quite dense sometimes, Lady Vanador. You two are clearly up to something, and King Morduri is making every effort to keep whatever it is concealed. To meet you here, in the presence of all the other kings, would have been about as subtle as one of King Baal’s belches.
Kari had to stifle a chuckle despite the insult. Is he waiting for us, then?
This one imagines not for much longer.
And is he your kast’wa? Kari ventured, hoping to catch the mallasti girl off-guard.
Emma straightened up and sighed, though if the incubi in the area knew why, they gave no indication. Lady Vanador, this one is a slave. She no more has a kast’wa than a kingdom. None of His Majesty’s other servants was pleasing to the eye of the elestram king, and so the Overking made this one available for Lord Morduri’s pleasure.
And yet you know he and I are planning something, Kari insisted.
The Overking is no fool, Lady Vanador. Very little escapes His Majesty’s notice, no matter how much he may appear distracted by other things.
And he knows I’m Salvation’s Dawn, too? Kari pressed.
Virtually all of the kings know this now, Emma answered. Most of them do not know what it means, or not the full extent of it, anyway. And with the exception of the Ancient Ones, none of them has the means to use that knowledge fully to their advantage. This does not mean, however, that they cannot use you – only that they do not know how to use Salvation’s Dawn. But you are a great prize to the kings, and you are in danger of being manipulated, used, or killed by every single one of them.
And the Overking doesn’t mind you telling me this?
Ketava, is it not obvious by now? This one is tasked with keeping you alive and ready to be used for the Overking’s purposes. His Majesty will not object to this one telling you enough so that you make fewer foolhardy decisions that put your life in danger, the mallasti answered in condescending tones.
So His Majesty will take a personal interest in what I’m doing with King Morduri? Kari asked. She had to get some feel for what kind of danger she was truly going to be in, and if the Overking valued her life – or more pointedly, her use as Salvation’s Dawn – that might mean she had a much better chance of escaping this expedition unharmed.
To an extent, Emma answered. Whether you live or die is completely in your own hands, Lady Vanador. Just bear in mind that should you die, another Salvation’s Dawn will take your place. And this one will find them, just as she found you. Now, this one has told you as much as she is able and expected to; you must go and meet with King Morduri before he leaves without you. You do not want to travel the realms of Mehr’Durillia unaccompanied.
Well, thank you for talking to me, at least, Kari said, and she got up hastily, ready to go get her friends and take them outside the city to meet Morduri.
You may thank this one by surviving whatever foolishness you are about, so that her efforts are not wasted, Emma returned.
Kari took the comment in stride, and headed down and out of the palace. Within minutes she had collected her companions, and they hurried to the north gate. The gates were open, with a pair of burly erestram guards standing outside vigilantly, despite the complete lack of traffic now that the kings had left. The plain outside the city was dusty and devoid of any noticeable life: the ground was parched, punctuated by long, dead grass that swayed in a stifling breeze that blew in from the west. Everything was cast in a red hue by that angry, swollen sun that bathed the sky in a crimson flood. A well-worn dirt road led toward the northwest, and as Kari took in the scene, she saw a tall figure standing by the side of the road a short distance from the gates.
The others followed in Kari’s wake as she made her way toward what she expected was Morduri. The demon king was dressed in the same well-worn hunting outfit as the first time Kari saw him, adorned with knives and other tools of the trade. His bow was strung and across his shoulders, complemented by a hand-and-a-half sword Kari hadn’t seen before. His purple eyes glowed slightly in the odd light of the Overking’s realm, and his brow arched when he saw the small entourage in Kari’s wake. He folded his arms across his chest and fixed Kari with an impatient gaze when the party reached him.
“Is this your idea of inconspicuous?” the elestram king asked dryly.
Kari glanced at her friends briefly, almost hoping Aeligos might take over the talking in this situation, but though the rogue nodded, it was more one of encouragement. Kari turned back to Morduri and said, “I was told bringing men might be an issue, but these two are the best at gathering information, so I brought them along. Is that going to be a problem?”
“Quite,” Morduri said. “Women draw a lot less attention than men do, even when they are of your species. If you travel with women only, you’re far less likely to draw the wrong kind of attention, or be attacked by overzealous servants of the kings whose realms you cross. As it stands, four women traveling without escort will be a curiosity; you would have been better served with only one other.”
“Four women?” Kari repeated.
“I will not be sending you forth on your own,” the demon king continued in answer. “I will have one of my people escort you to Sorelizar. When you stand in front of King Sekassus, you need to deal with him from a position of strength, and if you have men with you, that will be impossible: King Sekassus will expect the men to do the talking, and your reputation and history as a hunter will be worthless. He may think little of you for being a woman, but you killed one of his sons, and you can rest assured that every one of his servants knows that and, to a degree, respects your power.”
“All right, Your Majesty, so you’re
suggesting Eli and I stay behind in the city and just keep nosing around in books?” Aeligos asked.
“As to you two, I make no suggestions other than that you do not attempt to accompany Kari and these other two women,” he countered. “If you choose to spend your time scouting the Overking, be wary that you are not in turn being scouted.”
“Damnit,” Kari muttered.
“Well, this was what we were expecting from the start,” Aeligos said. “Eli and I will go nose around in the city some more, see what we can figure out when there isn’t a demonhunter in the city with us. If things get hectic, we’ll have Eliza take us back home. You worry about the three of you, and getting back here safely. We’ll be fine.”
“I had just hoped Amastri might be wrong on this,” Kari said with a sigh.
“As irritating as she is, you’ll find she is very rarely mistaken on anything,” Morduri said. “In any case, I have lingered here long enough waiting for you. Say your farewells, so we can leave. The more you delay, the longer it will take before you return home.”
Kari, Sonja, and Danilynn bid Aeligos and Eli farewell, and Danilynn made an obvious effort not to show too much emotion in front of the demon king. Aeligos promised they’d keep working on gathering information, and that if his grasp of the infernal tongue fell short, they’d find other avenues to be useful without attracting attention. Satisfied that the boys would do their best to stay out of trouble, Kari dismissed them back into the city, and they made their way toward the Overking’s palace. With them on their way to safety, Kari turned her attention back to Morduri.
The elestram king watched the two rir males depart, and then, without a word, he turned northeast and set off toward the distant horizon. Kari and her friends followed after him, but even in their athletic conditions, they found it taxing to keep up with the long strides of the elestram. He stopped every so often to let them catch up to him, and even after several hours of travel, he showed little sign of fatigue. He pushed them onward for hours, until the bloated sun collapsed wearily to the horizon as though struggling simply to remain above the edge of the world.
“We will camp here for the night, and should arrive in Moskarre tomorrow morning,” the demon king said, the first words he’d uttered since they left the gates of Anthraxis.
“You keep a fast pace,” Kari said. She’d always considered herself a fast walker, making trips between the major cities faster than most travelers, but Morduri’s pace put her to shame.
The elestram king considered her for a minute while he took off his cloak and laid it out as a bedroll. “I’ve been walking so you can keep pace with me,” he said. “You will find that my kind, and our erestram kin, are difficult to outpace or outlast when it comes to endurance. Under normal circumstances, I’d have been well into Pataria by now.”
Kari glanced back over her shoulder. “The Overking’s realm isn’t very big then, is it?”
Morduri chuckled humorlessly. “The entire world is his. Anthraxis and the land around it represent only a neutral ground where the rest of us are not allowed to fight.” He watched the women start to unpack their things, and added, “You needn’t bother with tents. It never rains here, and there is nothing living that will bother you within the Overking’s territory.”
Kari looked to Sonja and Danilynn, and each of them shrugged in turn; it wouldn’t hurt to sleep under the stars. The world seemed to be lacking a moon from what they had seen during the nights in Anthraxis, but the nights were gloriously starry, even under the hazy skies of the city. It hadn’t really occurred to Kari that a lack of rain was strange, since they’d only stayed in the city for a week, but if what Morduri said was true, it explained the parched ground and the grass that looked as though it had been dead and dried for some time. It only left her to wonder if the other realms were the same, though Morduri had described his own realm as being part farmland, so that seemed unlikely.
“What should we do in terms of watches, Your Majesty?” Danilynn asked.
Morduri made a dismissive gesture. “There are no wild creatures here, as I said. No one is stupid enough to attack a traveler, much less a king, when in the shadow of Anthraxis. You may keep watches if it makes you feel safer, but you would be better served getting a good night’s rest; I’m not certain how long you will remain in Moskarre, if at all.”
“Is that where we’re picking up this thing for Sekassus?” Kari asked. “And what exactly are we going to be bringing him, anyway?”
“King Sekassus,” the elestram corrected. “If you make that mistake in his presence, I expect you will have fewer teeth the next time we meet. In any case, you will be bringing him something you would not understand the value of, so what it is should be of little importance to you. But it is something valuable to my people, and I do not give it to you lightly. Accordingly, I will send forth one of my people with you, both to act as a guide and to safeguard what you are to bring.”
“It’s not something King Sekassus can use as a weapon, though, is it?” Kari pressed.
Morduri sighed through his nose. “No, nothing like that,” he said, then shook his head. He lay down on his cloak, folded his hands behind his head, and stared up at the starry sky.
“You miss Emma already, don’t you?” Kari asked, all too familiar with the mannerisms he was displaying. Danilynn and Sonja both beheld Kari incredulously, but their gazes turned as one to the reclining elestram king.
“That conversation is far beyond the bounds of our relationship,” he said in much lower tones than he typically used.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” Kari said, laying out her own bedroll and blanket. She turned to meet the glowing, purple-eyed gaze of the elestram scowling at her. She was amazed that as alien as Morduri and his people were to her, there were still some things that were very much the same. Morduri was clearly longing for a bedmate, and whether Emma was his lover or just a plaything, Kari had little doubt she was what he was thinking about. “Despite how many times I’ve been called stupid in the last week, I’m really not.”
“Kari, don’t taunt the demon king,” Danilynn said.
“I’m not taunting him,” Kari replied, not breaking eye contact with Morduri. “I’m just letting him know I’ve been in that situation before, so I know from experience what it’s like to be in love with someone you can’t be with.”
Morduri snorted, but his gaze softened and he turned it back up toward the stars. “You have quite a heart, Kari, but you are far off the mark in this circumstance. In any case, as I said, it is not a conversation I want or intend to have with you.”
Suit yourself, Kari thought. Against her instincts, it came out more tactfully, and she said, “Then I apologize, Your Majesty.”
Sonja was staring at Kari when she turned back toward her friends. “Are you talking about Suler, or…?” her sister-in-law asked.
“Yea,” Kari said, though it was only part of the truth. She had no intention of telling Sonja that she sometimes still thought about Kris Jir’tana, and what life might have been like if she had accepted his advances during the War. Kari was happy with her life: she loved Grakin, she was thrilled to have had a child with him, and Little Gray was the light of her life. She loved being a part of the Tesconis family. She still thought about Kris at times, but she didn’t ever want to bring that up in front of her family and make them wonder; there was nothing to wonder about. “Anyway, let’s get some sleep while that’s a luxury we can afford.”
“That would be best,” Morduri said quietly.
“Unless you want to tell me why you think King Koursturaux decided to help me with this entire affair,” Kari said casually.
The elestram king laughed outright. “I could speculate, Kari, but King Koursturaux’ deviousness makes me feel like a pup. I don’t think it has occurred to you yet that when you deal with her, you are dealing with a being that is over twelve thousand years old. Whatever it is she’s after, and whatever plans you have become entangled in, you can rest assured they a
re probably older than your race.”
“She’s twelve thousand years old?” Danilynn echoed.
“At least,” the demon king returned. “Now, get some sleep. Your questions all seem to revolve around subjects I have no desire to discuss with you.”
Kari lay down with her friends, and they started to chatter lightly. A barked order to be quiet from the demon king put an end to all talk for the night. Kari stared at the stars above, and her mind wandered back to the tales she’d heard about how the humans had come to Citaria from among the stars. She wondered, staring out at all the tiny specks of light in the sky, if the world from which the humans had come was somewhere in front of her. And then an even stranger thought occurred to her: was Citaria somewhere in front of her?
Chapter X – Moskarre
They crossed out of the Overking’s land and into Pataria the next morning, and it was like crossing between two worlds again. They forded a narrow river, barely more than a stream that came around one of Pataria’s hills and, according to the demon king, formed much of his realm’s southern border. Crossing the river, the air lost the crimson haziness to it, and the way the sun illuminated the golden grasses on the side of the hill before them led Kari to look up at the source of the light. The sky, too, had lost its crimson hue, replaced by a blue expanse dotted by the occasional harmless, fluffy cloud, and what had appeared to be an angry red sun over Anthraxis became a warm, golden sphere.
Kari regarded Sonja and Danilynn, both of whom were taking in the spectacular change in scenery with the same sense of awe. Morduri stopped after several paces and turned back to watch the three women, but he said nothing. Kari decided treating him like a tour guide might not sit well with him, so she kept her questions to herself and nodded up the hill after him. Once Sonja and Danilynn fell into step behind Morduri again, Kari followed the demon king herself.
Kari heard laughter from further up, and her brow rose when a leather ball came over the crest of the hill and bounded down toward them. It was the size of a kick-ball typically used in that sport called football – or soccer, depending on who you spoke to. Kari scooped the ball up and continued to ascend the hill alongside Morduri, Sonja and Danilynn close behind her. She held the ball out toward the demon king. The corner of his mouth twitched in amusement, but he didn’t take the ball from her.