by Lara Morgan
Shaan didn’t turn around. ‘Why did you make Jared into an Alhanti?’ she said. ‘Could you think of no other punishment?’
Azoth did not answer and after a moment she faced him, impatient. His look was closed, considered, as his eyes ran over the dress that clung to her.
‘Do you know how many times I have taken that seer of his to my bed?’ he said. ‘And every time I took her I wondered if you would gasp as she does.’
Shaan’s breath almost stopped at his blunt words. Alterin? He had … She felt ill and Azoth suddenly moved so he was before her, pulling her close.
‘You pity her?’ he said. ‘And yet you have come back to me, sought me out —’ he whispered in her ear, ‘— felt my hands on you in your dreams.’
‘Let me go!’ She tried to pull away but he was too strong.
‘You asked why I punished him,’ he said, ‘but it was not only him I punished. Also her, for defying me, and your brother, for challenging me. Shall I punish you next?’ He dragged his mouth across her jaw. Shaan shuddered and felt the dark killing energy stirring behind her breast.
‘You remind me so much of her,’ he said. His gaze seemed to devour her. ‘So long ago, but I never forgot her.’ He couldn’t be speaking of Alterin.
The look in his eye was strange, filled with sadness and yearning.
‘What do you mean “her”?’ she said, straining away from him.
He smiled. ‘This.’ He touched a hand to her face. Shaan gasped as a vision flared in her mind: a strangely bright jungle city, so new, so clean. Azoth stood with her on a balcony, the river swirling below them touched with light, and they laughed together, his lips on her neck, his hand on her skin. But this woman was not her. This woman was shorter, softer. This was … Niobe. Azoth whispered the name and the bright sunny place was ripped away. She was outside herself now, watching, in a room of stone. He bent over a figure that lay still on the floor. There was blood on her lips and her face was pale. Shocked, she saw he was weeping, and four shadowed figures stood beyond them. Niobe. Shaan, Azoth whispered in her ear, and she was suddenly back on the balcony with rain on her face. She stared at him. The strangeness of her dreams became clear. He had made her believe she was that woman, Niobe, in her dreams. It was the reason she had enjoyed his touch in them. He had loved her. She felt it as she felt his loss, still keen after thousands of years.
His eyes were black with it. ‘It wasn’t allowed, a mortal with a god; they took her from me,’ he said. ‘So I took the Stone from them.’ His smile was bleak as he leaned in toward her, caressing her face. ‘Do you know how much you are like her?’
Shaan shivered. ‘Don’t touch me,’ she said, and he smiled.
‘Don’t tempt me,’ he replied, and kissed her hard, open mouthed. For a moment she was lost, overwhelmed by him, but then the darkness in her breast surged up. As instinctive as a snake protecting its hide, it pushed at him, the force of her fury contracting on his heart so he gasped and let her go, stepping back. Anger vied with surprise in his face.
‘I see your trick has a bite,’ he said. ‘Had I been a mortal man that may have killed me.’
Shaan tried to calm her breathing and the racing of her heart. ‘Best you remember that,’ she said.
‘Best I had,’ he said slowly.
Shaan felt the strange force within her curl back inside its nest. It had stopped raining and now there was steam rising from the stones as the sun slivered out from behind a cloud.
‘You know your trick will not protect you,’ he said.
Shaan did not doubt him. If he had wanted to take her with force, he would have done so the first time he had her in his power. He wanted more from her than that.
‘If,’ she stressed the word, ‘if you defeat all — and let those I love live — I will come to you willingly.’
He raised an eyebrow but there was no levity in his tone. ‘If?’ She saw the covetous desire, the strain of centuries alone. He was ravenous for love, she realised with surprise. Starved of it. Was this what drove him on, this unquenchable loneliness?
‘If you win,’ she said.
He was very still, his gaze intense, as if he were trying to see the truth of her. Finally a half smile curved his lips.
‘You offer yourself?’
Her mouth dry, Shaan nodded. ‘But you must let those I love live unharmed.’
‘They will live,’ he said, and she knew he was telling the truth — although what kind of truth she wasn’t sure. Was being an Alhanti living? Despair rode hard on her back but she pushed it away.
‘Don’t you have questions to ask Alterin?’ she said.
‘Yes.’ He smiled and held a hand out to lead her back inside. ‘Come, this time I will use the Stone.’
Shaan’s insides trembled at that, but she only nodded and went with him.
Alterin’s face was resigned and pale. She had not heard what was said but no doubt she had seen Azoth’s kiss. Her eyes went to Shaan’s face as she approached and the expression in them was filled with disappointment. Shaan could not look at her and went to stand behind the seer as Azoth picked up the small box that contained the Birthstone. Alterin seemed so small as he stood over her, and Shaan wished she could interfere, stop him, but to do so would be fruitless. It must happen this way. Gritting her teeth she watched as Azoth picked up the Stone, obsidian, a piece of night that seemed to swallow the light around it. It hummed in her mind and she winced as dull pain throbbed through her left side. He glanced at her once as he knelt by Alterin, feeling her connection, knowing it pained her, and smiled before he turned his attention to the seer. Holding the Stone in one hand he put the other to her forehead, channelling the energy through his body. Alterin was bent backward by the force of the power and, eyes closed, began to quest once again for the Four.
Chapter 43
Fortuse opened her eyes and smiled. She had felt the slave peeking again.
‘He’s watching,’ she said in a singsong voice to Paretim. ‘The little one is seeking us out for him.’ She giggled once and her eyes swirled from blue to deep green. She stopped laughing. ‘She will pay when we meet.’
‘Breathe easy, sister.’ Paretim put a hand on her shoulder. ‘Our time is coming.’
‘Yes,’ Epherin mocked her, ‘keep the claws in for now, pretty.’
Fortuse glared at him and got to her feet, leaving the shade of the tree under which they’d all been lying. ‘Don’t try my patience or I’ll shred you, little brother.’
‘You tried that once before, remember?’ Epherin grinned up at her, his hands laced behind his head. ‘You still have a scar on your back from that; do you want another?’
‘Stop it, both of you.’ Paretim sat up, but Epherin ignored him, kicking up his legs and springing to his feet.
‘Well, sister?’ He circled toward her, his arms held out. ‘Shall we embrace and make up?’
For answer Fortuse hissed at him and went to the small stream that ran through the plains.
‘Leave her.’ Paretim’s deep voice held a threat as Epherin followed her. He stopped.
‘Spoiling my fun again, brother?’
‘You had your fun in the mountain village,’ Paretim reminded him. ‘You can wait until we reach our brother’s battle for more.’
Epherin’s smile widened. ‘Yes, that was fun.’ He glowed as he remembered the feel of the souls slipping into him, their essence feeding his skin. The whole village was his now, tied to him until their deaths made them wholly his own. He was sad Paretim had not let him linger to enjoy their gratitude.
‘I will return there for a time afterward,’ he said. ‘So many still need to show me their thanks.’
Paretim sighed. ‘I’m sure there will be many you can make your own, but for now we must think of our youngest brother. We cannot underestimate him — he will have the Stone.’
At the word, Fortuse turned from where she was wading in the stream and stared at him with hungry, desolate eyes. ‘Do you think he will bring it w
ith him?’
‘That is for you to tell us, sister,’ he said. ‘What does this slave who haunts the Void see, what does she know?’
Fortuse went very still, closing her eyes a moment, and the others waited as she swayed minutely in the water. Suddenly, she cried out.
‘The one who found the Stone is with him!’
Paretim rose to his feet. ‘The one that was made from the Stone, marked by the Stone?’
‘Yes!’ Fortuse ran to his side, dripping water, clutching at him. ‘Is she saviour or curse?’
Paretim cradled her to him, staring over her head at Epherin, who had lost his smile now, his body poised as if for battle.
‘She is both,’ he said. ‘She could be both. I don’t know.’
‘She was born in the old ones’ lands,’ Fortuse whispered.
Paretim didn’t answer. Epherin, most skilled in war, vibrated with tension. The old ones were a danger. The old ones had made them. But they had promised this land to them; they were not supposed to interfere. Had they broken that promise?
‘Do we need to kill her?’ Epherin said.
Paretim shook his head. ‘I don’t know. I don’t know if we can.’
Epherin frowned and then Fortuse stiffened in Paretim’s embrace and pushed away from him. ‘Vail?’ She took a step toward the forest at their back, then sprang forward in joy as a dark, powerful figure emerged. Paretim watched as she ran to him and his second brother’s powerful arms wrapped around the taller but slighter body of his sister, lifting her off the ground to toss her up in his arms before putting her back down. Then Vail looked at him and Paretim felt the sudden surge as the bonds of separation fell away; finally they were four again. He felt the power Vail brought unlocking the strength within. Together at last, no mortal could stop them. It was time to retrieve the Stone.
***
Alterin came back to them with a cry, trembling with either elation or fear.
‘They are one!’ she cried. ‘The Four are one.’
Azoth let her go and she fell back against the cushions, barely breathing, her eyes closed. Worried, Shaan took a step forward.
Azoth’s voice stopped her. ‘So, they will be coming for me now.’ But there was no fear in his voice. He looked triumphant, the confidence that came from holding the Stone radiating from him.
‘They will want this.’ He looked at the piece of night in his palm.
‘So you cannot leave it here,’ Shaan said.
‘They will seek me out first,’ he said. ‘They seek to punish me.’
‘They seek the Stone!’ Shaan insisted, and he frowned, closing his fingers over it.
‘Don’t you see?’ she pressed him. ‘If you go to war without it, they may come and steal it from you, but if you take it, it will protect you.’
‘They would not take it from here,’ he said, but his tone was not wholly certain.
‘Are you sure?’ She went to him but didn’t dare touch him while he held it. ‘You must take it with you. You are stronger with it in your hand than apart from it, you know that. I feel that. They cannot win, Azoth!’ His eyes were so full of power she wondered how he managed to contain it. ‘Feel it,’ she whispered, ‘feel how strong you are with it.’
He stared at her. ‘Why are you so keen for this?’ he said.
‘Because I need you to survive. If you fail, everyone I love will die.’ It was the truth. Not the whole truth as he thought it, but it was partly the truth. Sabut had said Azoth must survive the Four.
He reached out one finger of his free hand and she forced herself not to flinch as he stroked it down her cheek. His touch left a trail of heat behind.
‘You mean this?’ he said. ‘You want me to survive this much?’
Shaan nodded, unable to speak. There was a flare of desperation in his eye, an ancient loneliness longing to be healed. He wanted to believe her.
‘I will consider it.’ He turned away to put the Stone in the box. ‘Now,’ he said, his back to her, ‘heal the seer, as I know you want to. I have things to attend to. Tomorrow we fly.’
Shaan didn’t like the sound of that, but she didn’t ask him what he meant as he left her alone with Alterin.
Kneeling over the prone seer, Shaan took in a long breath and felt the pressure behind her breastbone surge easily now. Every time it came faster. Looking on Alterin’s pale face she brushed her hair tenderly from her eyes, then placed her left hand carefully on her forehead and began to draw the exhaustion out of her.
It was early morning, just before dawn, when the serving woman came to fetch her again, rousing her from sleep to usher her across the courtyard to Azoth. The pendant she had taken to wearing to bed was still around her neck and she drew the silk wrap across her throat as she mounted the steps to enter the high pavilion. Azoth was standing at the wall, looking out over his main courtyard.
‘Good morning, my love,’ he said softly as she went to join him. ‘You come just in time.’
It was a clear day and dawn was just breaking on the horizon, spreading a rosy bronze glow over the jungle and rooftops of the city. In the courtyard, enormous baskets lay on the stone and into them climbed Scanorians laden with weapons. Attached to the baskets were great harnesses and all about serpents crouched on the walls.
‘My children will carry them,’ Azoth said, and his hand gently smoothed her hair. ‘And this afternoon you and I, and the Stone, will be on Nuathin’s back again. It is time to go and see your brother.’
Shaan could not speak. She had not expected this; they would reach Balkis and the army within a few days. Fear wound through her spine. Would Rorc and Tallis make it there with the Clans in time? Would the Four? She was filled with uncertainty. Tuon and Veila said she must break the Stone to bring their salvation, but she didn’t know how or when to do it. Or if she could. Sabut had told her she must ensure Azoth took the Stone to battle so the Four could steal it from him and stop his insane quest for power — but what then? The thought of more gods holding the Birthstone filled her with fear; Sabut had been so long out of this world; did he really know them still? Would the Four really help them? It didn’t feel right to her. Should she try to break the Stone before they could use it? There was so much she didn’t know.
Azoth watched her with something like tenderness but not quite. ‘Are you not happy?’ he said. ‘I am taking the Stone with us.’
Shaan nodded, still unable to speak, and he leaned close to her, his arm going about her waist, as he said, ‘I will win, my love. I will win this for you.’
Shaan felt his warm body nestling into her side, his breath on her neck, but it only made her colder as she watched serpent after serpent being strapped to the baskets. Then each rose into the air with an Alhanti on its neck and warriors below until the sky was filled with their great wings spread wide, carrying their burdens south to war.
***
The desert morning was hot and dry, a stinging wind blowing sand across Tallis’s legs as he watched the other clans’ tents being dismantled. The Jalwalah warriors would be ready to move within the next few hours, and the Well had begun to fill with the silence only war could bring; the quiet faces of those left behind, eyes haunted by fear of loss, children fearful although they didn’t know why.
‘This reminds me of that last war with the Raknah.’ Mailun had come to stand by him at the mouth of the great cavern. ‘All those young men and women — gone.’ Her voice was soft, her eyes filled with memories.
Tallis folded his arms, his chest tight. He had only been a boy, but he too remembered that day. Cale and Malshed, Haldane’s sons, had been among those who had not returned, and he remembered the premonition he’d had of their deaths. His lips formed a line. ‘You should be going with the others to shelter with the Baal,’ he said. ‘You’re not a warrior, Mother; you don’t need to come.’
‘I fight in my own way.’ Her voice was sharp. ‘I can help the wounded.’
‘I’d rather you stayed.’
‘I’m sure, bu
t I will not lose the chance of seeing Shaan again. And I won’t be separated from you.’
Tallis let out an annoyed breath and shook his head, but she wouldn’t let it go.
‘You are all I have left. I will not lose you again. And I must see her. You said she will come to the battle.’
‘She’ll come,’ he replied bleakly. He had not truly felt her presence since she’d been gone but he knew that at the battle, Shaan would be there. If only he knew why. He rubbed a hand across his eyes. The aching, empty part of him that suffered when she withdrew felt hollow, windblown.
‘Is it true, that she went to Azoth?’ Mailun said quietly.
Tallis sighed. He knew why Rorc had told her but wished he hadn’t. ‘Yes,’ he said.
‘I can hardly believe it.’
‘I’m sure it was Sabut who told her to go,’ he said.
‘Are you?’ Mailun’s voice was heavy with uncertainty. ‘I can’t … It’s not possible he called her away again, is it? Made her go to him? Rorc believes it’s possible.’
‘No, Mother.’ He felt sick to hear her talk of Shaan so. ‘I saw her before she left; she went willingly, not under Azoth’s command. She would not betray us.’
‘I don’t think she would,’ Mailun’s tone hardened to match his, ‘but we must consider everything. We must know so we can bring her back, help her! I can’t believe that —’ She stopped, shook her head.
Tallis clenched his jaw. ‘That I let her leave?’ he said. ‘I know. I wish I had stopped her, Mother. I can’t understand why I didn’t.’
‘It was most likely the Guides, son. Always these desert gods bring pain. I don’t blame you.’
But she did. He knew it, felt it, and even agreed with her. He had seen Shaan go, looked into her heart and thought she was telling him the truth. But she had hidden from him before. Even he wasn’t totally certain she had gone to Azoth on Sabut’s command. And then there were those dreams he’d told her of. But betray him, all of them — how could he believe she would do that?
‘Tallis,’ Rorc said, coming out of the Well, ‘you need to call the serpents. We’ll be leaving soon.’ He was wearing his sword at his waist and a hardened leather battle vest. His hair was loose, no clan braids. His gaze went to Mailun. ‘I hear you’re coming as well.’