Beautiful Salvation

by Jennifer Blackstream

  “She must have stopped the sacrifices for the same reason the king did,” Saamal ground out. “To weaken me. Chumana can be single-minded in her purpose. I believe she lashed out at me without thinking of the repercussions. She no doubt thought she could force me to abandon Aiyana and return to her, but if I can convince her that that will never happen, she will have to withdraw.”

  “It’s been over a hundred years.” Etienne crossed his arms, a line appearing between his brows. “She—”

  “Always with the time!” Saamal ran a hand through his hair, grabbing a fistful of it and tugging it in frustration. “I am talking about gods. Time is nothing, can’t you understand that? A century is the blink of an eye!”

  “All right, then how are you going to convince her that you are more dedicated to Aiyana now than you were a blink of an eye ago?” Adonis demanded, his eyes flickering like fire rubies as he drew himself up to his full height. “You told her you wanted Aiyana over a century ago, you betrothed yourself to Aiyana, you gave up half your power for Aiyana. If Chumana wasn’t convinced she had no chance after you did all that, then what in the name of fire and brimstone are you going to do to convince her of that now?”

  Saamal shouted, a long, angry, frustrated sound. He gripped the sides of his head, grasping his hair as if ripping it out would distract him from the infuriating situation he found himself in. Then suddenly inspiration struck. He dropped his hands, blinking at Adonis.

  “I’ll marry her.”

  “Chumana?” Adonis’ jaw dropped.

  “No. Aiyana.” The idea gained momentum in his mind, growing and feeding itself with new hope. “You said yourself, I was already betrothed to her, but I had not yet married her. If we wed, then Chumana will have to face the fact that it is over. The bond would be sealed.” He paced the room, the wheels in his head spinning almost too fast for him to keep up. “Why didn’t I see it earlier? I can talk to Aiyana now, I can proceed as I never could before. She is of age, she can consent to marry. If I ask her, if she agrees, we can wed in the Dreamworld.”

  “Fascinating strategy,” Kirill murmured.

  “Yes, because it’s so easy to get a woman to agree to marry you.” Heavy sarcasm laced Adonis’ voice. He crossed his arms and faced Saamal. “You’ve met her once. What makes you so sure she’ll marry you?”

  “It will save her people, it could save her,” Saamal pointed out, a flash of annoyance sharpening his voice.

  Adonis’ lips parted and he raised his eyebrows. “So you want her to marry you…out of a sense of civic duty?”

  Saamal flushed. “No.”

  “So you want her to marry you because she loves you?”

  Saamal opened his mouth, then closed it. “I…” The scorn in Adonis’ voice muddled his thoughts, bringing his idea to a grinding halt. Adonis waited expectantly and Saamal looked to Kirill and Etienne for help.

  Kirill was in the far corner of the room, his cloak hiding most of his body, including the dagger he no doubt still held close. There was no sign of retribution in his gaze as he met Saamal’s eyes, but he offered no help. He merely arched an eyebrow, cool visage unmoving, unemotional.

  Etienne shrugged. “Don’t look at me.”

  Frustrated, Saamal turned back to Adonis. “Can you help me?”

  “Oh, now you want my advice,” Adonis muttered.

  “Adonis,” Kirill chastised him.

  “Oh, fine.” Adonis dropped his arms. “The fact is, you’ve already got a leg up, so to speak. You and Aiyana share your power, that’s going to forge a bond between you two. She’ll feel like you’re familiar even though she’s never met you. You’ll also have powers in common, that will bring you close too. I’m assuming she finds you attractive?”

  Saamal resolutely kept his mind from drifting away to the kiss he’d shared with Aiyana. His blood heated despite his attempts to keep his mind clear, his body doing the remembering for him. Adonis’ eyes glowed as if the incubus could sense the direction his thoughts were trying to take.

  “Good, no problems there then. Proximity will work for you too, since I doubt she has many suitors on the astral plane.”

  The offhand comment sent a spike of jealousy spearing through Saamal’s thinning patience. He tightened his hands into fists, a snarl curling his lips at the thought of other men pursuing his betrothed. Adonis smirked.

  “That’s a good sign too, don’t worry,” he assured him. “All right, you’ve hit all the initial markers. Now all you have to do is give her a glimpse of what everyday life would be like with you. If she can see herself with you everyday, imagine what it would be like to live with you—and still like you—then she will entertain the idea of marriage.” He paused, his face growing serious. “However, you must make sure that she can see the truth of how much you want her. Not power, not protection for your people, but her. If she doesn’t believe you love her, if she doesn’t believe you’ll love her in ten years, then she’ll shut you down faster than a virgin priestess—”

  “Thank you, Adonis,” Saamal interrupted, trying not to think about where that last comparison was going to end. He focused his mind on Aiyana, turning the incubus’ words over in his head. He strode out of the room, grateful Etienne let him pass without comment, and headed for the stairs to the tower.

  “Wait, where are you going?” Adonis called out, rushing behind him.

  “If I’m going to speak with Aiyana, then I need to go back to the astral plane.”

  “Saamal, you got back less than an hour ago, let your body rest.” Adonis groaned. “Saamal, you can’t stay there very long. Small increments. I don’t know how much more your body can handle.” His voice lowered as he muttered, “Especially since you just healed after being half-gutted.”

  Saamal whirled around and Adonis nearly fell backwards down the stairs he stopped so fast, arms shooting out to grip the walls for balance.

  “My body will handle what I tell it to,” Saamal said evenly. “And I am not coming back without a wife.”

  Chapter Seven

  Aiyana leaned back against the smooth bark of the poinciana tree, shifting her shoulders right and left to scratch an itch that had sprung up between her shoulder blades. The tree’s wide canopy of fiery red-orange blossoms reminded her of the gardens at the palace. She wondered if the gardens on the physical plane were as beautiful.

  Tenoch hovered beside her, his ghostly form less threatening now that Saamal’s absence had wiped the scowl from his handsome features.

  “Have you been to the physical plane?” she asked. She paused. “I mean, after…”

  The ghost frowned at Aiyana, but nodded. “After my death. You don’t have to hesitate, princess, I know I’m dead. Yes, I have been to the physical plane as a ghost. It is where I spend most of my time.”

  Aiyana ran a hand over the fur on her arm, toying with the rosettes before following the line of her finger down to a black, curved claw. It was strange to think this form had once frightened her, that she’d seen it as a sign of evil. The fur was actually very beautiful, silky to the touch. She didn’t feel the urge to eat anyone, to attack innocent victims. Perhaps Saamal was right. Perhaps her powers were not different from a sword, evil only in the hands of someone wishing to do evil. “Is it as bad as Saamal says? The land, I mean. Is it truly suffering since the sacrifices stopped?”

  The ghost flickered, swirling around in a phantom version of pacing. Waves of agitation rolled off of him. “The land has suffered since your curse,” he admitted finally, his voice more of a mutter than a proper answer. He halted his pacing. “Why are you in your jaguar form? You have nothing to fear from me, I am no danger to you.”

  Something about the way he avoided eye contact and tried to change the subject had the fur on the back of Aiyana’s neck standing up. She shifted from her sitting position to kneel, keeping her eyes fastened on Tenoch, trying to make eye contact. “What aren’t you telling me? What has happened to my kingdom?”

  The ghost floated farther a
way from her and for a moment she thought he’d leave again. She leaned back a little, trying not to appear threatening. Then he stopped, hovering over the gnarled roots of a tree, his back to her. “Cipactli is growing restless. Deep pits are opening up all over the land, filled with jagged rocks in the form of giant teeth. The primordial monster is hungry and she grows impatient for Saamal to make good on the pact he made so long ago.”

  Shock pulled Aiyana’s jaw down, widened her eyes. Images of what Tenoch described danced in her mind’s eye. So Saamal had spoken the truth. Her kingdom was built on the body of a giant sea monster. She dropped her hands to the ground, digging her claws into the earth as if she could grab the crocodilian immortal by the throat. “She is trying to eat my people?” Her stomach rolled at the thought of innocent men, women, and children falling into the pits, being consumed by the ravenous monster under their feet. She blocked out the screams she could imagine, the blood she could practically smell. “No, I cannot allow that.” She raised her eyes to the forest around her, searching for some sign of Saamal.

  “You’re waiting for Death to help you?” The ghost’s lip curled in disgust. “I don’t understand why you put your faith in him.”

  “How can you ask that?” Aiyana snapped. “You’ve seen for yourself that he tells the truth, that the land suffers when his pact with Cipactli is not honored.”

  “There must be a way to feed the monster without killing anyone,” the ghost insisted, eyes glowing with an eerie white light. “I heard what you said earlier, Aiyana. I know what you thought of the Black God. Like you said, how could a god who cared for his people want them to die? Hearts ripped out and thrown into pits, flesh torn. Has his pretty face turned your head so easily, caused you to forget your values? Are you so ready now to throw your people into the jaws of a monster?”

  A blush flamed to life in Aiyana’s cheeks as the ghost’s accusation called up a memory of Saamal. He was paler than most of her people, his copper skin blanched as if he’d been out of the sun far too long, and his hair was shorn much too close to his head. There were those in her kingdom that would find him unattractive, his features too sharp, his dark eyes too intense, too…frightening. But from the moment she’d seen him, Aiyana had been drawn to him. Touching him had opened a connection she’d never experienced with anyone, given her a rush of energy that had left her feeling invincible, as if she could do anything. There’d been no fear, no doubt. Just power. And his kiss…

  Anger flared hot and bright inside Aiyana and she dug her claws farther into the earth, this time to help her resist the urge to swipe at the ghost. Her attraction to Saamal was none of his business. “Do not ever question my dedication to my people,” she seethed. “It was out of concern for my people that I was afraid of the power inside me, because of them that I believed I could fall to evil at any time.” She eased her claws out of the dirt, straightening her spine slowly, gaze boring into the ghost’s eyes. “I do not believe that it’s a coincidence that on the very night I decided to rid myself of these powers, the Black God himself showed up. I don’t believe that the bond I feel with him is evil, or that he is evil. Can you blame me for wanting to believe that these powers inside me could be used to help my people? That maybe I’m not the threat I’ve always believed I was?”

  “The Black God has always believed that the ends justified the means.” Tenoch’s face twisted with contempt. “If he thought lying to you would benefit—”

  He stopped suddenly, his face becoming sullen. Aiyana leapt in front of him as he turned away from her, chasing that moment of doubt in his eyes.

  “If what?” Aiyana demanded. “Benefit who?”

  Tenoch floated farther away, but she moved with him, keeping her eyes on his face. The ghost’s face was pinched with anger, but it lacked the spark of a moment ago.

  “Benefit his people,” he snapped finally. “The Black God will commit any atrocity if he thinks it will benefit his people.”

  “And you stand here mocking me for believing in him, for wanting to help him.” Aiyana wrinkled her nose in disgust. “You admit everything he does is for the good of his people and yet you judge him.”

  “They tore my heart from my chest!” Tenoch screamed, eyes blazing with a white ethereal light. “Because of him! Because of a deal he made!”

  “And without which you wouldn’t exist in the first place.”

  Tenoch jerked back as if she’d physically struck him. In the blink of an eye he was gone, his misty form evaporating as if it had never been. Aiyana stared after him, the rapid rise and fall of her chest making her hyper aware of her own breathing. Her anger bled away, leaving her cold and trembling. The silence of the forest seemed louder, the buzz of insects and the occasional hoot of an owl only making her more aware of how alone she was. Her thoughts grew louder and for the second time that night, she heard the echo of her mother’s voice.

  “The dark god put his influence inside of you. You must fight it, keep it locked away. Do not let anyone know. Do not give in. Blood and death lie down that path. You must choose life for you and your people.”

  “Everything has changed.” She spoke the words into the night, raising her eyes to the approaching dawn. Scarlet light spilled into the darkness like trickles of blood, the meager warmth amplifying the chill more than dispelling it. If Tenoch was right, if she was being fooled into falling in love with the Black God her parents had warned her about, then she would become a danger to her people, hurt those she had always sworn she would protect.

  Aiyana closed her eyes, letting the spirit of the jaguar slip away, taking her fur and claws with it and leaving her even more susceptible to the chill than she’d been before. The cool air helped her think, helped her clear her mind. She opened her eyes. If the ghost was wrong, if Saamal was everything he claimed he was…she would be the queen of a people who ritually sacrificed one of their own. Every year she would watch one of her subjects go to their death, have their hearts torn out…

  “If what Saamal says is true, then the monster does not just want flesh and blood, she wants respect, an acknowledgement of her sacrifice.” Aiyana lowered herself to sit once again with her back to the tree. “Animal sacrifices would not appease her.” She took a deep breath and leaned her head against the trunk, letting her mind wander to the human sacrifices Saamal had mentioned. If that was the only way…could she do it? Could she allow it?

  “I did not think it was possible, but I believe you are even more beautiful now than when I left you.”

  Aiyana tilted her face in the direction of the voice. Saamal stood a few yards away from her, emerging from the darkness between two massive mahogany trees. The smile on his face wilted as he noticed her expression.

  “You look sad.”

  “The world is a very different place than the one I woke up to yesterday.” Aiyana kept her voice quiet, anything louder seeming inappropriate for the soft light. “When I woke up yesterday, I believed that the images I saw in my sleep were nightmares. The young men being challenged to fight—many of them dying at the crossroads. The blood being poured into the earth, the sacrifices…” She pressed her lips together for a moment, thinking. “It was so much simpler when that was all evil, something to be resisted, something to be eradicated if possible. But now…”

  “Now you are reconsidering?” Saamal came closer, hesitating before sitting on the ground next to her.

  “Tenoch thinks me a fool for believing you. He thinks me simple for being so easily convinced, for releasing beliefs I’ve held my entire life just because a handsome face came along to seduce me.”

  “Tenoch is the fool if he thinks you are easily convinced.” Saamal leaned closer, looked into her eyes. “Anyone who looked at you could see the conflict inside you, the battle going on behind your eyes. My handsome face aside, you are still thinking very hard about the information you have.”

  “I feel a connection to you,” Aiyana admitted, still staring into the sunrise. “I don’t know if it’s the part
of your power that’s inside me, or something else, but I feel that you truly mean everything you’ve said.”

  “I will do everything I can to earn the trust you’ve put in me.”

  Tears pooled in Aiyana’s eyes. Saamal shifted beside her then hesitated, as if he wanted to comfort her but wasn’t certain of his welcome. Part of Aiyana wanted to put him at ease, but the turmoil inside her kept her still. She was in no place to offer comfort, not while her own thoughts were so chaotic.

  “I don’t know if I can be the queen I need to be.” She whispered the words, not wanting to say them, but needing to all the same. “I believe what you’ve told me about the land, about Cipactli. I’ve…sensed the land suffering. Even here in the Dreamworld, surrounded by this false greenery, I could feel it.” She looked at him, a tear sliding down her cheek. “But I don’t know if I can watch my people die—even willingly.”