Servant of the Gods

by Valerie Douglas

  Irisi said, with a small shrug, “I couldn’t take the chance Kamenwati might mistake simple affection for something else. Something more.”

  Banafrit shook her head. “And Khai? Does he know?”

  With a quick shake of her head Irisi sighed and said, “No.”

  “Tell him, Irisi,” Banafrit said. “He has the right to know why you accept or refuse him. Give him the chance to decide for himself. It should be his choice as well, to take what you offer or to walk away in the face of such threat.”

  If it was becoming so obvious that Banafrit could see it, Irisi knew she must speak to Khai or put him in danger with him all unknowing of what it was he faced.

  Others might or already had noticed.

  She let out a breath and nodded.

  “We’ll need some more water,” Banafrit said, to give Irisi a few moments to herself to think. “Would you fetch some?”

  Irisi gave her a look mixed of gratitude and wisdom, knowing exactly what it was Banafrit did, but she picked up the waterskins anyway and went to fill them from the great barrels at the back of the supply wagons.

  Distant fires blossomed against the gathering dusk, one after another until they ringed the encampment. They were oddly beautiful against the stars as the last of the light left the sky. Looking at them, Irisi sought reassurance.

  But couldn’t find it.

  With sentries in place, patrols assigned and fires burning, Khai relaxed, if only a fraction, before turning back to his tent to take what little rest he could and find some food somewhere as well. Perhaps among his people. After all he and they had faced, he was sure they were as starving as he was. If all he suspected was true, it might be their last good meal.

  At least, that was his intention until he saw Irisi walking among the tents, her brilliant hair streaming down her back, that hair unmistakable, a glowing beacon in the fading sunlight.

  She seemed to sense his presence, turned to look at him as he approached, her eyes widening a little. She brushed a strand of hair back from her face. A small smile curved her mouth as she saw him.

  “My lord General,” she said in greeting, her voice soft.

  “Let me take that,” he offered, reaching for the waterskin in her hands.

  She hesitated as her eyes clouded.

  Irisi fought the urge to wait, to speak another time.

  “My Lord General,” she said, softly. “A moment…”

  “Khai, Irisi,” he said.

  Frowning a little, Khai waited, watching her, her struggle clear.

  This was harder than Irisi had imagined. It was an insane conversation when she didn’t know for certain how he truly felt. She couldn’t look at him…not with her heart pounding so.

  Swallowing against the tightness in her throat, she forced herself to speak. To explain, and quickly.

  “You know I’m no friend to Lord Kamenwati, nor he to me,” she said, glancing at Khai and then away again.

  That wasn’t a good beginning.

  Frowning, Khai looked at her. “Irisi, what is it?”

  “You know I fled Lord Kamenwati’s compound and you know he was angry I escaped him?” Irisi said, her mouth tightening.

  Going still at Kamenwati’s name and title, Khai waited.

  “He came to me after I was accepted by Isis and made me a vow. Though he never touched me in all the time I was with him, he told me that day that I was his. There would never be another. No other would touch me. If they did they would die, by assassin, by magic, or by poison…” She paused to look at Khai. “I have no reason to doubt he meant it.”

  “So,” she said, her eyes level, “there has been no one. No one but you.”

  Khai just stared at her, taken aback.

  No one but him.

  Those words stayed with him, something he tucked away to consider at another time, but for now… For now there was only Irisi, standing proud and uncertain before him as he took in her words.

  His heart lightened.

  No one but him.

  In the last light of the day, her eyes were very nearly the same color as the sky above them. The light of the distant pyres flickered in her golden hair. She was beautiful, ethereal, and yet he’d seen her blood-spattered on the battlefield surrounded by men she’d killed. She’d fought at his side, her swords flying, and she’d lain in his arms trembling from his touch.

  He didn’t have to ask why she was telling him this. It was there in her eyes. It was there whenever he looked at her.

  Even so, she was still proud…

  In all his life he’d never met a woman like her.

  Raising his hand, he found the amulet she’d given him against his chest and clasped it.

  Now he understood. She’d protected him and him all unknowing.

  “That’s why you gave me this,” he said.

  Slowly, she nodded. “Yes. I wouldn’t take the chance…”

  It explained so much… Why she’d been so hesitant, so wary. It had been for his sake, to protect him…

  Now she warned him. She also gave him the choice, the chance, to walk away if he chose…

  Nor would she fault him if he did.

  It was his choice to make.

  Khai looked at her.

  How could you leave a woman like that?

  Her enchanting eyes were focused on the distant fires. The light of those flames danced within them even as darkness closed around them.

  She was beautiful, courageous, proud, and worth dying for, although it wouldn’t come to that had he any choice in the matter. He wanted her, wanted to make love to her, to fight beside and with her, make up with her, learn her secrets…

  Taking a breath, Irisi turned to go.

  Khai reached for the waterskin in her hand, taking it from her nerveless fingers to set it aside.

  She stopped, breathless. Her heart hammered in her chest.

  “Khai. Kamenwati would kill you even for so little as this. I couldn’t bear it…,” Irisi said, biting back the betraying words even as he gathered her into his arms. “We can’t afford to lose you. Khai, please…”

  Khai could see the fear there in her eyes, fear for him.

  Her voice sounded breathless, but even so, her gaze had dropped to focus on his mouth. Her lips parted as if in anticipation before she raised those brilliant eyes to meet his. A burst of heat went through him at what he saw there... It astonished him that he mattered so much to her…

  “Khai.” His name was barely a whisper on her lips. A benediction…

  Irisi couldn’t seem to breathe when he stood so close.

  “Since that day on the battlefield I haven’t been able to get you out of my mind,” he said, running a hand lightly down her arm. “Or that night, the feel of your skin…I dreamt of you.”

  “As I dreamt of you,” she murmured.

  The memory burned…

  It didn’t seem real.

  With one hand Khai brushed the hair gently back from her sweet and lovely face, running his fingers deep into her tresses as the thumb of his free hand tipped her chin up so his mouth could settle over hers. Her hair was like silk in his fingers, incredibly soft, and her mouth softer still when it moved beneath his.

  Irisi lost herself in the feel of his mouth on hers.

  No one had ever kissed her as he did, with such heartbreaking gentleness, his lips light over hers before they settled with more intent. He fit his mouth to hers, his tongue brushing lightly between her lips to taste, to savor. As hers did his.

  Her lips parted, opened, to welcome him.

  So sweet.

  Khai took the kiss deeper, sliding his hands over her shoulders and down her back to draw her slender body more tightly against his. It seemed as if the curves of her body molded against his as she rose on her toes to meet him, her hands sliding up over his shoulders to curl around his neck. He breathed the soft scent of her in, felt the warmth of her body against his, her breasts against his chest, her hips tight against him. Memory taunted him. He
remembered touching her, her body surrounding him, taking him inside her. Warmth filled him as his body tightened in response.

  She tasted marvelous, incredible.

  Khai lost himself in her, in that precious moment. He could have kissed her forever but this was neither the time nor place to do so.

  The strong muscles of Khai’s shoulders bunched beneath Irisi’s hands and then his hair spilled over them as she speared her fingers into the thick heavy waves. She loved the feel of him, the sense of him…

  It felt as if she melted into him, her limbs went weak and yet fire ran in her blood.

  Looking down into her steady gaze, brushing a hand down her cheek, Khai said, roughly, in answer to her fears, “I’ll take my chances.”

  Let the Grand Vizier do as he pleased. For her sake they would be careful so she didn’t have to worry so much for him, but he wasn’t going to let her go. He wouldn’t give her up, not now, not knowing what he knew.

  That she loved him.

  Not knowing what was in his own heart and soul – that he loved her, too.

  Those ethereal eyes met his.

  Irisi traced the line of his beard by the side of his mouth with her fingertips.

  “Egypt would be much less without you in it. I don’t know if I could bear that.”

  Khai cupped her cheek as his thumb brushed over her lips, before he pressed a kiss lightly beside one lovely eye.

  “I’m harder to kill than you think. If this were another time, another place, I’d convince you of it,” Khai said, eyeing her.

  It was clear he was teasing, pretending to do the manly strut.

  She laughed.

  Amused, she gave him an answering glance, a smile curving her lips.

  “And how will you do that? Will you spar with me to prove you’re more than a match for any he sends?”

  She the unbeatable warrior…

  He smiled and said as he circled his arms around her and lifted her from her feet, “While that has its attractions, I think we can find another way.”

  So beautiful, his Irisi, and so maddening, so beguiling. What was it to realize he was in love with her?

  All the world.

  “Can we?” Irisi asked, tilting her head back to look into his dark eyes, seeking the assurance there she needed.

  Hope suddenly, impossibly, unfolded within her.

  “We’ll find a way, Irisi,” he said, “that I promise.”

  Letting out a breath, she nodded. It was enough. It would have to be.

  He reached for the waterskin, following her back to the tent she shared with Banafrit.

  “My lord Khai, welcome,” Banafrit said, as if surprised to see him, but her dark eyes were knowing, satisfied, and quite pleased.

  So, he’d chosen, Banafrit thought. And rightly.

  What else was there in the world to get through the darkness but love?

  “How can we serve you?” she asked. “Have you eaten?”

  Wonderful smells filled the tent. Khai’s stomach growled.

  “No,” he said, “and I’m starving.”

  “Then join us,” Banafrit offered, holding out a piece of flatbread filled with lentils and savory vegetables. “Irisi cooked it.”

  Her eyes sparkled with merriment, clearly teasing.

  Irisi looked at her, rolling her eyes at such blatant matchmaking and shook her head in amusement.

  “Don’t listen to her, Khai. We both cooked, but you’re welcome to join us.”

  “I’m famished,” Khai admitted.

  Smiling, he took the offered bread from Banafrit, but looked to Irisi, who was laughing.

  “So, I will.”

  It was very good.

  Sometimes it was such simple things as made all the difference, Banafrit thought, watching them.

  Chapter Twenty

  It was no surprise to Khai that when the next attack came it came in the darkest hours of the night when their people were the least prepared, when they were weariest, when patrols slowed, and guards fought sleep. Some part of him had expected it.

  Yelping cries broke the deep silence of the near desert. Ululating howls split the night. The moon was only a faint sliver of light above the sand. Screams of men shattered the peace as well, turning the darkness nightmarish and horrific.

  He had his sword in hand as he ran from his tent at virtually the first cry.

  Irisi and Banafrit, too, burst from their tent fully dressed, having slept in their clothes against just such an event.

  “Nebi, my friend,” Irisi shouted, “find Khai.”

  Emu, Kiwu, Alu circled around them before settling, their gazes intent on the darkness around them even as Nebi bounded off.

  “Guard,” Irisi said to the others.

  In the darkness, it was difficult to see, but Isis was a mistress of the moon as well.

  Calling up a spell for light, Banafrit cast it into the sky. Silvery light brightened the desert around them, catching the Djinn off guard, revealing those that had crept close around the camp unseen in the darkness. Several of the guards and some of the patrols were already dead, one or two were possessed and the Djinn had closed around the camp in a half-circle.

  Archers launched a flight of fire arrows into the air as those in the camp scrambled to face the new threat.

  “Irisi,” Banafrit cried. She needed help, she had to maintain the spell for light.

  Already calling up the necessary spells in her mind, in answer Irisi summoned a miniature sandstorm to sweep along the one side of the camp, burying the Djinn who attacked there, however temporarily. This, though, was the land of the Djinn, it was their country. It wouldn’t hold them for long. Some of the soldiers, though, raced to the settling sand and rammed their swords down into it as the sandstorm passed. When otherworldly hands pierced the sand, scrabbling for them, they scrambled back to safety.

  Others soldiers ran to form a rough line of defense.

  Using the wind, stealing brands from the watch fires with it, Irisi sent them as torches out among the oncoming Djinn to give the archers and spearmen a target they could see well enough to hit.

  Djeserit’s people were already fading out into the darkness, taking the fight to the enemy.

  With only that little light for his falcons to see by, Kahotep called up owls instead and sent them swooping soundlessly into the night.

  No outcry marked the damage done to the Djinn, but there was certainly enough from the dying men, blood-curdling screams that tore through the darkness.

  Irisi looked to Banafrit in concern as she called up another spell and sent another sandstorm raging across the far side of their lines.

  Out in the camp among the men, Khai shouted orders, getting his people to form up, sending some to fill the gaps in their defenses.

  A Djinn raced out of the darkness, keeping low, aiming straight for him.

  Khai held and then stepped aside at the last minute, his sword slashing across the chest of the thing, spinning away from its claws to drive his sword through its back.

  It burst into smoke and disappeared.

  Sila.

  “Move,” he shouted to those standing, staring.

  They moved, racing for the front lines.

  With his chariots useless in the darkness, Khai heard Baraka shout to his spearmen and archers to support those on the front lines while Akhom bellowed orders to guard the supply wagons and get his own people into formation.

  A coughing roar from Alu and the sudden surge of the lions to their feet, their great heads swinging in alarm, was all the warning Banafrit and Irisi had, that and the sudden prickle of magic that came from all around them.

  Sila appeared among them as if from nowhere, wafting smoke-like up from the sands as those Djinn were like to do.

  No warrior, and unaccustomed to such surprises on the battlefield, Banafrit was caught off guard, too startled to move, to react swiftly enough. Her brief hesitation was fatal.

  Irisi flung her hands upward, conjuring her swords
into them. They appeared a fraction of a second too late to save Banafrit as a sila drove a borrowed spear deep into Banafrit’s chest even as Irisi fell back from the claws of another as it manifested in front of her. One sword Irisi buried in the sila that attacked Banafrit. She flung her other sword up to defend herself…

  “Banafrit!” she cried, in grief and horror as she saw another sila appear behind Kahotep. “’Ware, Kahotep!”

  She tossed one sword up into the air, caught it and threw it like a javelin into the back of the sila that closed on Kahotep, even as she slashed at another with the one she tore from the Djinn who’d struck at Banafrit. All three lions found prey as more Djinn appeared among and around them.

  The priest spun, dodging out of the way as Emu raced across the ground low and fast, gathered herself and then leaped to take down the sila.

  Emu’s siblings found other quarry as more of the Djinn appeared among them.

  Besieged, Irisi lashed out around her, throwing up her shield sword as a sila slashed at her. It lost its claws to the edge, then its life to her other blade.

  Where else were they vulnerable?

  Irisi looked across the line of tents in time to see Akhom fall, driving one marid off with his sword while punching the sila that killed him in the face as the General went down.

  There was no more time to save him than there had been to reach Banafrit.

  And Khai out in the fading silver-lit darkness?

  Her heart leaped into her throat at the thought even as she turned for Banafrit. The older woman staggered, her eyes wide and shocked as her hand went to the spear that had taken her life.

  Silver-lit? The light! Banafrit had called up that spell. It would die with her.

  Even as she reached Banafrit, Irisi saw Djinn appear around them as if from everywhere and anywhere.

  Looking up into Irisi’s eyes as Irisi caught her, Banafrit touched the wound in her chest almost in bewilderment, but the knowledge of her own death was there in her eyes even as Irisi tried to Heal her. The light in them faded even as Irisi eased her dearest friend and surrogate mother to the ground.

  A scream of fury sounded behind them.

  Irisi turned her head.