“God of the Forge!” Sirran cried. “I must see this powder now! And test it!”
“But it’s too dark. You just said so.”
Sirran cast a dismissive wave. “We’ll fire off a shot out to sea, just to see if it’ll even work. I’ll show you target shooting tomorrow.”
Haru shrugged and order his men to loosen the netting for the removal of a keg. Meanwhile Sirran’s eyes narrowed on him. He demanded explanations the moment Haru’s attention no longer lay elsewhere.
“A new form of powder, and yet you’ve never seen muskets?” he said.
“I assure you, the inventor of this brand of powder was very serious about his art,” Haru replied. “He almost wouldn’t sell me any when he discovered I had no intention of also purchasing an equivalent supply of minerals to create the fire flowers.”
“And so why did he, in the end?”
Haru smiled faintly and looked away. “His wife wanted spices and tea. We made an exchange for her sake, although I did pay extra for the resin-coated kegs.”
I listened to this, saw the hint of deeper mirth in his reaction, and looked a question at Vaal.
Woman was all over him, Vaal confirmed. Her husband was so deep into his research, he had no idea the suffering he put her through.
And so Haru helped relieve some of her suffering?
Vaal smiled. Oh, yes. I almost killed his ass when he returned to ship. It was so fucking erotic; I could have eaten them both.
I blinked and felt a tightness form in my groin. You watched?
I watched, Vaal confirmed, grinning his shark’s smile. I like to watch.
Did they know?
Haru did.
I refrained from laughing. Unlike Vaal, the thought of Haru touching anyone other than me or Vaal, even a woman, made me want to crush and rip and destroy.
Hell, but you’re selfish, Omos, Vaal mind-whispered. I didn’t try to kill Blessed Land for diddling you. Leave it alone. It’s a man’s native right to plough as many women as will let him.
I felt my skin heat up. Yes, perhaps I was selfish, and though Vaal hadn’t said it, I remembered well how many women I’d murdered that had diddled him. And if he hadn’t hidden away the bitch that had mothered the Brellin race, Haru wouldn’t be here now.
Selfish and stupid, Vaal said.
Oh, shut up.
While I’d been contemplating Haru fucking a married woman—and wanting to kill her for it—Sirran had been pressuring Haru for more details about the woman’s husband, and was now demanding a chart to show him the location of the inventor of this brand of powder. Sirran had moved in closer to Haru, who was forced to crane his neck back to look at him.
Damn it. I had to kill that fucking Sirran.
Shh! Shh! Vaal whispered. Haru’s not interested.
How do you know? I demanded angrily. Has he stepped away?
If he did, he’d be showing apprehension. Do you want him to show apprehension?
No, I didn’t, but I didn’t want Sirran’s heat polluting Haru either.
The sailors at last freed the sample keg from the netting, but Sirran didn’t utilize the powder himself. He ordered one of his men to procure what he called “a shot’s worth”, and then commanded the soldier to move twenty feet off to “fire his musket”.
We watched from a distance as the fellow loaded the powder into the bore of the metal tube. He added a small ball of metal and some “wadding”, and tamped it all with a thin rod that had been attached to the underside of his weapon. The soldier added a tiny amount of powder to the pan, put the wooden stock to his shoulder, pointed seaward, and pulled on a tiny finger lever in the stock.
The flash and sharp crack made me skip backward. I almost went monster, but Vaal didn’t budge, and Haru stood motionless beside Sirran, staring with narrow eyes at the soldier who had fired the weapon. The soldier waved off a cloud of acrid smoke that sailed to me in the wind. Sirran had a pleased smile on his face, and he clapped a hand onto Haru’s shoulder and left it there.
I almost went monster again, but Vaal shoved in front of me. I remembered caution for Haru’s sake.
“Not very loud, but efficient enough,” Sirran said.
“You wanted it to be louder?”
“The noise is useful to frighten enemies unfamiliar with musketry. I noticed the report didn’t alarm you, though it did shock your men.” He glanced at me, his features mocking. I glared a death threat at him, but he kept his hand on Haru’s shoulder, and his fingers tightened.
“Some of my men. Not all,” Haru corrected.
Sirran’s attention returned to him. “I didn’t think you noticed. You never looked away from my soldier.”
Haru shrugged lazily and walked out from beneath Sirran’s grip. “I don’t mean to be rude, Erant Sirran, but you’ve seen that the powder is in perfect condition, and I am very tired. Until tomorrow, then?”
“But you’re a guest in my manor, of course,” Sirran replied.
Haru turned slowly to face him. “A guest?”
“You don’t actually think I’d leave you here? To then sail off with this cargo?”
“Did I mention our need for supplies? Potable water?”
Sirran waved this off. “I’ll introduce you to our most respected merchants, hmm? Don’t fuss. Get what you need for the night and get on my boat.”
So you can get into his ass in your manor? Not fucking likely, I thought.
Time to kill him, I said to Vaal.
Not yet. Haru does need the supplies and to trade for goods.
I turned disbelieving eyes on Vaal. Are you mad? The fucker wants in Haru’s ass.
We can’t afford trouble, Omos, Vaal replied, his expression set against argument. We must not create waves that will alert our enemy in the port of sand, and so we will not show our true natures.
But—!
He cut my protest off with words and a fierce glare. When we do rid the world of this man, we do it after Haru has sailed from harbour. Secretly.
Secretly? Haru sailing?
No, the murder, idiot. It must be hidden from common mortals, Vaal clarified. Culpability must not fall on Haru.
But—! But Sirran wanted in Haru’s ass. Now. Not later. This wasn’t just an invitation to his manor to keep Haru’s cargo from floating back out to sea. Sirran meant to put his mark on Haru.
Haru had been staring at Sirran during all this. Suddenly he performed a curt nod and headed for his cabin. “I’ll be back on deck in a moment.”
“I’ll just help you, shall I?” Sirran offered, following him. “To carry your luggage. You are tired, after all.”
Worm from a hyena’s abortion! The growl that began in my dragon throat jerked Sirran to a stop. He looked up at the sails in alarm.
“What is that?”
If you don’t remain calm, Omos, Vaal blasted at me, I’ll make you stay on this ship to guard it!
The growl desisted at once, but Sirran continued to stare wildly in different directions, looking for the source. “Prince Haru! What was that?”
Haru’s voice wafted over from the other end of the ship. “The wind, no doubt. It was a dragon of a storm, and perhaps traces of its bad temper are yet in the air.”
Sirran walked backward several steps in Haru’s direction. His eyes abruptly pinned on me. He froze for a second, then wheeled about and strode off after Haru.
Sharp man. He knew. Somehow, he knew. He just wasn’t certain what he knew.
Vaal smacked me in the chest with the flat of his hand. “Idiot.”
“Who’s an idiot?” I hissed back. “You’re going to let that sour fucker get in Haru’s ass.”
“I doubt Haru will let it come to that. And if it does, we’ll kill the sour fucker. Now stop panicking. Don’t you like to watch, Omos? Don’t tell me you don’t.”
Hell poke his ass. Yes, I liked to watch. And then I liked to murder after.
“And if I hadn’t hidden the mother of Haru’s people…”
�
�He wouldn’t be here now,” I said resentfully. “I know.” But Sirran’s no woman. He dies.
Sirran dies, Vaal agreed. He walked to the side of the ship and looked down at the choppy water. Little Brother will guard the ship this night. If Sirran thinks to impound her and incarcerate this crew, he will discover he has a few less men in the morning.
Fair enough. We would go with Haru tonight, acting as his personal servants, guards, disgruntled lovers, and we would see if Sirran dared to force himself on Haru. And if he did, he died. After. In secret.
* * *
Erant Sirran attempted to limit Haru’s escort to only one of us. Naturally this would have made it easier to be rid of Haru’s protection later, but as Haru insisted we were both necessary on the morrow for the purpose of commissions, Sirran let the matter slide, especially after he noted that neither Vaal nor I bothered to carry weapons.
We took with us the open gunpowder keg, a satchel of spare clothes for Haru, and some small boxes of tea and spice samples for trade purposes. I wore my disgustingly purple boots. Vaal, damn him, had a better set, better because the colour was simple brown.
Sirran glanced at my boots often on the way to the docks, a contemptuous curl to his lips. I so badly wanted to murder him right then, but Haru’s passive stare kept my temper checked. Beneath the passive, there lurked the hint of shark that he kept secret, the immortality, the will of a supernal being.
Odd. How odd he was. A deity that had coalesced within a mortal rather than an element of nature.
And humans aren’t also an element of nature? he mind-spoke to me.
I looked away to watch the shadowy underside of the docks loom closer. The yellow light of street lamps didn’t touch us yet, but one of Sirran’s men held a lantern behind me, and this lit Haru’s face clearly. I couldn’t look at him right now. He was too beautiful. Sirran didn’t deserve to feel the same wind as him.
What sort of divinity had coalesced into Haru exactly? He’d taken in so much of Vaal, but he didn’t always scent of Vaal. There was my son in him as well, and now a bit of me, but he didn’t always scent of ether dragon either. Something else had formed in Haru, something that could touch creation itself.
Respect for all the miracles of nature? he offered, and without a smidgen of respect in his tone.
He mocked me. Again.
I don’t mock you. I mock myself. It never does to take oneself too seriously.
Keep that sour fucker out of your ass! I answered.
That is the plan.
I glanced over to see him edging away from Sirran, who had shifted closer. Again. He practically squished Haru against the boat side.
I thought you were trying not to seem apprehensive, I said.
Does it seem that I am, or just disinclined?
Truth was, he looked disinclined, but Sirran was as disinclined toward polite hints.
I wouldn’t enjoy him. He’s not at all my type, Haru said.
I glanced at Sirran—tall, lanky, but well muscled from the looks of his figure. I was tall and lanky. So was Vaal. And so, too, was my son. My gaze returned to Haru, this time with patent disbelief shooting from my eyes. I caught him smirking.
You little liar!
Well, look at it this way. You can always eat him.
You made me promise not to!
I’ll make one exception. And no eating his soul.
Hell fucking damn it. I didn’t want to eat sour fucker. I wanted Haru to keep his legs shut, his ass cheeks locked, and his mouth closed.
“What are you smiling about?” Sirran asked Haru. My gaze shot back to the mortal, and I caught him smiling as well, in triumph.
Fuck! We’d made it seem Haru was interested.
“It’s a grimace of pain. You’ve squeezed me against the boat side sufficient to compress my testicles to half their size. I may take you to court for damages. And my people might go to war.”
Next to me, Vaal released a poorly muffled chortle. Sirran glanced at him, irritated, then at me, more irritated because I was very clear with my hate, and then scooted off a bit. “Your people go to war? Over a small clumsiness on my part?” he said, smiling again, this time a little mockingly.
“I have the most prized set of testicles in all of Brellin.”
This time, I chortled and didn’t muffle at all. Sirran glowered at me a second before looking at Haru again. At the same moment, the boat bumped against a floating platform beneath the dock. The tide was out, and we had a slimy ladder to climb. Sirran ignored his men as they piled out of the boat to steady it.
“The most prized testicles in Brellin? May I ask why they are so prized?”
“Did I mention that I was a prince?”
“Yes. And this is the sole reason?”
“Did I mention that I was a holy man?”
“And your testicles are in some way involved in this holiness?”
Grinning, Haru rose up and launched over the boat side, to then steady it along with Sirran’s men. “Actually, it’s because I’m from the wealthiest merchant family of our empire and pursued for contracts of paternity. Usually, it’s the other way around, we men having to pursue for contracts with women of good houses.”
Sirran blinked in incomprehension. “Contracts of paternity? You’re married?”
“No Brellin man would be so rude as to think he has the right to own a woman,” Haru replied. “We make contracts for paternity only. Aren’t you getting out?”
Sirran remained frozen for a few seconds longer, than dragged his lanky self out of the boat. “Are you saying you’re a father? Of children?”
“No. Of puppies. Of course, children! What else would I father?”
Haru straightened. Sirran straightened, looking down at him with a puzzled expression. Vaal and I debarked from the boat and stood to Haru’s rear.
“I thought…” Sirran said hesitantly.
“Hmm?” Haru answered unhelpfully, while Vaal and I grinned openly.
Sirran’s gaze narrowed to an unpleasant stare. “How many children do you have?”
“Last count, fifty-seven. And those don’t include any that are already considered adults.”
Haru turned and made his way up the slimy ladder. Sirran looked like he wanted to scoff, but Vaal interrupted before he did.
“Fifty-eight,” he said. “He got a woman pregnant not long ago. The experimenter’s wife. The child will no doubt come out a blend of light and dark.”
Haru slipped on a top rung and came thumping all the way down to the platform, scraping his good suit on the slime. “Fuck!” he breathed, clapping a hand to his injured chin. He looked at Vaal, but I saw no blood. Only a sharp knock, then.
“I did not!” he denied.
“You did,” Vaal insisted.
“Shit! I have to go back and save her!”
“Later. I had a word with her before I left. She knows to go into hiding, in a place I made ready.”
“Why the hell didn’t you tell me?” Haru cried.
“You didn’t need the distraction.”
“Gods damn all—!”
“Haru!”
—gods and my balls! Haru ended in our heads. He shut his eyes. “What was I thinking?”
“That she was deliciously plump and that you couldn’t wait to get your shaft between her tits.”
“Shut up!”
Now this was fun. During all this, Sirran’s head had been bouncing back and forth to regard Haru and Vaal in turn. He was more flummoxed than before.
“You enjoy women?” he said.
Haru only glanced at him impatiently. “What arrangements did you make exactly?” he asked Vaal.
Vaal shrugged dismissively. “Very secure arrangements. Stop worrying about it. The mother and child will be perfectly safe and sound until we return for them.”
“Haru, exactly how many children have you had in total?” I inquired, hoping to confound Sirran further.
“Uh, including those that died through accident, but not sti
llbirth?”
“Yes.”
“One hundred forty-three.”
I chortled. Sirran scowled.
“He’s not counting the ones he fathered without a paternity contract,” Vaal said. “If you include those—”
“No,” Haru interrupted. “There’s no way of knowing conclusively.”
Vaal’s expression said otherwise. “—the total is two hundred and eleven.”
Haru huffed angrily and began his second attempt on the ladder.
“Damn! He’s got to have kin in every Brellin House,” I said.
“He does. His people really would go to war if his testicles were harmed. In the very least.” Smirking, Vaal followed Haru up the ladder to stand next to his sulking lover and grin down at Sirran.
“You can’t include the ones outside of a paternity contract,” Haru said grumpily.
“Didn’t you just acknowledge the paternity of the one belonging to the experimenter’s wife?” I replied, coming up to join them.
“But she’s light-skinned! There’s no way she can excuse the birth of a dark-skinned child.”
“Hypocrite.”
Sulking more strenuously, Haru stomped off down the dock, and we followed, with a more subdued Erant Sirran following in our wakes.
Good. Now perhaps he’d keep away from Haru, seeing as how Haru had outdone the manliness of every mortal male in the vicinity.
I doubt it, said Vaal. Use a little logic, why don’t you. If Sirran gets into Haru’s ass, he’ll have “done” Haru and proven his supremacy in that manner.
Oh, shut up! I cried and stomped the docks a little harder, frustrated beyond belief.
Chapter Fourteen
In Sirran’s manor, seated in a comfortable den with bookshelves, upholstered chairs, sofas, and too many animal heads on the walls, the discussion as to Haru’s paternity count continued.
“How old are you exactly?” Sirran asked, swirling brandy in a bell glass.
He sat on a couch, one leg up as he languished on cushions. Haru slumped in an armchair with his legs straight out and his head sagging against a wing on the chair back. He had removed his jerkin and sash, and both had been borne away for cleaning. Sirran had removed his uniform coat. His mountains of froth spilled down his left side, for he had unbuttoned the neck of his shirt to show off some chest. As I’d thought, he was well muscled.
Loved Him to Death: Omos of the Ether Page 14