Lord of the White Hell Book 2

by Ginn Hale

  He was certain that they were turning in circles. He wished Javier would slow down so that they could both catch their breath and work out just where they were. Instead Javier ran faster even as the last light disappeared. Sweat tricked down Kiram’s sides and chest. His legs burned as he struggled to follow.

  Night air rushed over him as he burst through a tangle of brambles into a dark circle of twisted, stooped oaks. Thirteen. All bore branches as twisted and bare as roots. He could hear dozens of voices chanting some Bahiim prayer. They sounded miles away, though Kiram knew that wasn’t possible.

  Javier hunched, gasping for air, with his head bowed and his hands on his knees. Kiram almost fell; his legs felt drained and weak.

  “Here,” Javier gasped. “It’s here.”

  A sharp screech pierced the air. Kiram looked up to see several blue jays circling overhead.

  “They’re following us,” Kiram said.

  “They know what we’re doing.”

  “So, which one is the White Tree?” Kiram surveyed the oaks that encircled them, searching for some sign.

  “The White Tree is here.” Javier moved to the center of the circle and dropped to his knees.

  “But there’s nothing there.” Kiram shivered as the wind chilled his sweat-soaked body.

  “I’m here.” Javier smiled up at him and then lifted his hand to Kiram. His fingers were gashed. Streaks of his blood stood out like dark strokes against his pale skin. “You’re here.”

  Kiram came forward and laced his fingers with Javier’s.

  “Don’t let go,” Javier told him.

  “I won’t.”

  Then Javier placed his free hand on the ground and bowed his head. He whispered a Bahiim word again and again. White sparks flared over his fingers. Where they struck Kiram’s skin a hot, pulsing sensation flared up but then faded at once to a dead cold. Javier’s entire body tensed and his voice grew rough with the force he pushed into each word.

  Above them the jays shrieked and swirled and then, as a mass, they dived. Kiram hunched over Javier, shielding his face. If Javier noticed he gave no sign.

  Kiram felt the wind of hundreds of wings descending and steeled for their impact. A single sweep of talons clawed across his bowed neck and then an explosion of white fire ripped up from Javier. A wave of intense heat washed through Kiram. The jays screamed and then went suddenly silent. All around Kiram the world burned away and strange forms rose from the waves of power emanating from the white hell.

  A curling gray smoke hung where brambles had once formed dark walls. Where twisted oaks had stood, now thirteen tangled black knots loomed up. Like crooked fingers opening from huge fists they unfurled the way the simple letters of Calixto’s diary had opened. But these trees were far more complex. Every twig and branch twisted into forms of script. Roots erupted and surged forward like black eels, all of them swimming straight for Javier’s extended hand.

  A blinding white symbol glowed from beneath Javier’s fingers. As Kiram watched it grew more intense, turning Javier’s flesh luminous as a paper lantern and casting shadows of the bones of his hand. A trembling, electric sensation shot up from Javier through Kiram’s arm. Kiram jerked out of reflex but kept his hold on Javier’s hand. The sensation grew painfully hot but Kiram hung on.

  Cold, black roots slithered over Kiram’s feet and ankles as they swarmed up over Javier’s outstretched hand. They writhed up his arm and for a horrifying moment Kiram thought they would engulf Javier, but as they touched his skin, light scorched along their tangled lengths and shot up into the surrounding trees.

  In moments all thirteen trees were ablaze with light. Their writhing branches traced glowing golden script into the air and the symbols seemed to take flight, spreading over the brambles and woods, then filling the sky. The symbols shone like stars and then fell like snowflakes.

  One drifted down to Kiram’s arm. It looked like the symbol for protection. It felt like the lightest kiss against his skin, and then it melted away leaving Kiram feeling somehow safer and stronger, despite the fierce heat rolling over him.

  All around the symbols settled, illuminating the surrounding wilderness, and suddenly Kiram realized that this was the White Tree: the entire circle, lit and luminous with blessings.

  Still kneeling at his side, Javier didn’t seem to see anything. He still gripped the ground and Kiram could feel tremors of exhaustion rocking his muscles.

  “Javier, I think it’s done. We should go.” Kiram tugged at Javier’s hand. “You can stop now.”

  When Javier didn’t respond, Kiram jerked his arm hard and Javier suddenly looked up at him. The black shadows of his skull and teeth showed through his luminous, pale skin. Blinding white fire filled the hollows of his eyes. It was as if the face of death leered up at him.

  Kiram jumped and almost lost his hold on Javier’s hand.

  “Javier!” Terror lifted the pitch of Kiram’s voice. “Close the white hell! Close it!”

  The jaw of the skull dropped as if to speak but only white vapor rose from the gaping mouth. He was burning away before Kiram’s eyes.

  “Stop this! Stop it now!” Panic flooded Kiram and he struck Javier hard. Javier fell back, pulling Kiram to the ground with him, and suddenly all the light and fire receded. Kiram smelled the blackberry leaves and soil beneath him. Wild grass tickled his cheek.

  Kiram turned his face out of the mulch-strewn ground and for a moment he simply stared up at the tree branches and sky above him. Thousands of tiny lights flickered like golden fireflies, illuminating the grove in a diffuse glow. Green leaves and spring flowers lit up as the lights settled upon them. In the sky the gleaming lights soared in banners of blazing script.

  There was no sign of the jays that had previously swarmed over the grove. Now turning constellations of delicate lights filled the sky. He wondered what immense incantation whirled above him.

  “Javier, do you know what it says?”

  Next to him Javier groaned and then shifted.

  “Did you punch me?” Javier’s voice was rough and dry as if he’d just awoken. Leaves and pieces of bramble clung to his clothes and hair. He looked exhausted but alive and human and a little vexed.

  “You did punch me, didn’t you?” Javier lifted one hand to his jaw. “Why the hell did you do that?”

  “Because you scared the shit out of me.” Kiram sat up and Javier followed suit, though Kiram could see that even that was tiring for him.

  “You wouldn’t close the white hell,” Kiram explained. “And I was worried that you were getting lost in it.”

  “So you punched me?” Javier smirked. “Very romantic.”

  “You had a flaming skull for a face, you—” Kiram went silent at the sound of other voices nearby. He was sure he recognized Vashir demanding to know how this could have happened. A woman growled that she didn’t know. And somewhere in the midst of a dozen more arguments, Kiram recognized Alizadeh’s laughter.

  “We have to go.” Javier rose unsteadily to his feet and to Kiram’s amusement offered him his hand as if Kiram were the one who would need help.

  Kiram took his hand and then rose up close to him so that he could steady Javier as they fled from the grove.

  As they broke from the brambles and trees Kiram was stunned to realize that half the population of the Haldiim district was up and out. Crowds of men and women in their nightclothes stood at the edges of the grove, all of them staring at the display of dancing, swirling gold lights.

  Kiram prayed that somehow no one would notice him and Javier as they worked their way into the crowd.

  “Kiram?” A woman’s familiar voice called. “Kiram Kir-Zaki!”

  He looked to see both Mother Kir-Naham and her son, Hashiem, watching him.

  “Oh lovely,” Javier murmured.

  “What on earth were you two doing?” Mother Kir-Naham demanded.

  “We…ahm…” Kiram tried to look innocent. He could feel the sweat on his face. “We tried to get a closer look
in the grove, but we didn’t see anything. I mean not anything other than those lights.”

  Beside him Javier just smiled as if he couldn’t quite follow the conversation.

  Mother Kir-Naham scowled at Kiram so angrily that Kiram wondered if she could somehow tell that they had been responsible for all of this. Then he realized what he and Javier looked like, stumbling out of the woods, dirt and leaves in their hair and clothes, holding hands and leaning close.

  The last thing Mother Kir-Naham would suspect was that they’d ignited the White Tree. More likely she and Hashiem—and the dozen other people who’d taken note—assumed the two of them had gone to the grove for furtive sex and now had been caught because of the brilliant disturbance.

  Kiram thought of claiming that the two of them had become lost in a bramble and fallen in the mud. He could claim Javier had hit his head and was injured. But it seemed pointless and Kiram had neither the energy nor the interest to remain and make excuses to placate Hashiem and his mother.

  Hashiem gave Kiram a cold glare and then very purposefully turned away from him. Kiram almost laughed at how childish the gesture seemed, especially after everything else that had happened tonight. Hashiem’s snub meant hardly anything to him.

  “We must be going, Mother Kir-Naham,” Kiram said. “Good evening.”

  Mother Kir-Naham refused to even respond.

  Kiram shrugged and led Javier through the press of the gathered crowd. A few people greeted them but most were far too engaged in speculation about the illumination of the Circle of Red Oaks.

  “All the lights from the Solstice have come home!” A child suggested. An older boy wondered if the lights were all just bugs but the wrinkled man beside him shook his head and pointed out the whirling symbols the lights formed.

  “That’s the Bahiim symbol for life,” the old man said, “and all that is sacred. That’s impressive writing for bugs.”

  “It’s beautiful,” one woman whispered and she gazed at the sky as if she were falling in love.

  Javier smiled and the pride of his expression seemed to lift even his exhaustion. Still Kiram wasn’t about to shove him onto Lunaluz’s back and just hope he made the trip home. Nor did he feel like returning to his own house.

  The ambient golden glow made it easy to wander the streets and find a hostel. Kiram rented a room where Javier fell asleep before he’d even gotten both his boots off. Kiram lay down with him but didn’t sleep right away. In the dark of their little room the symbol that had fallen upon Kiram’s arm gave off the faintest light. Kiram watched it shine and slowly fade as the lights outside dimmed and at last gave way to darkness.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Kiram arrived back at his family house just after the fourth morning bell rang out. He had planned to get home earlier but having Javier to himself in a bed had proved too much of a temptation.

  The smell of earth and sweat still clung to his body and the taste of Javier’s semen lingered in his mouth. Stray leaves clung to the curls of his hair and his rumpled clothes made it look like he’d spent the night under a bush.

  In the courtyard his mother’s secretary, Fiez, gave him a disapproving glance before hurrying to the candy shop to no doubt inform Kiram’s mother that he had at last dragged himself home.

  Kiram hurried to the only refuge he could claim. Unfortunately, Majdi already occupied the men’s bath. Steaming vapor rose from the water and the smell of sweet soap filled the air. From where he stretched out in the tub, Majdi took in Kiram’s dirty, rumpled appearance and then shook his head.

  “Do you know if Mum’s very mad at me?” Kiram asked.

  “Very mad?” Majdi raised his brows. “She’s furious.”

  “How furious?”

  “Too furious for you to be hiding with me,” Majdi replied. “This is your trouble, Kiram. You’d best go out and face it.”

  “But—”

  “All you had to do was go to a dinner.” Majdi sounded exasperated. “You could have avoided this but you chose not to. Now go and face the consequences like an adult.”

  “But I didn’t mean to miss the dinner.”

  “Don’t tell me your excuses,” Majdi snapped. “And don’t think you can go to father or Dauhd either. Mum had it out with all of us last night. You’re on your own. I suggest you take responsibility like the grown man you play at being.”

  Kiram wanted to argue, to plead with Majdi to help him, but he realized that Majdi was right. How could he expect to embark on a life amidst Cadeleonian courtiers, bullies and princes when he couldn’t even muster the courage to face his own mother? He supposed that if their situations had been reversed Javier would have gone straight to his mother, just as he had marched directly to his penance the morning after he knocked Genimo out.

  Kiram wiped his face clean and rinsed his hands, then left Majdi to his bath.

  He met his mother at the back door of the candy shop.

  “So, you’ve decided to come home?” She watched him like he was a fly she planned to swat. Behind her, Kiram noticed Dauhd and Siamak both peeking out of the doorway.

  “I—” Kiram began.

  “Your Cadeleonian duke didn’t take you home to show off to his people?” The rage in her voice belied her cool expression.

  “No.” Kiram rolled his eyes at the absurdity of the thought. “Of course not—”

  “Don’t you dare take that tone with me, Kiram!” His mother’s voice rang shrill and strange. Her tightly controlled expression broke into rage and she slapped him across the face. “Don’t you dare even open your mouth!”

  Kiram could only stare at his mother. He’d been struck far harder in the last year and yet that single blow shocked him. Never in his life had he seen his mother like this, not even when she and Siamak had fought.

  “You humiliated Mother Kir-Naham and her son last night! And you made a liar of me and your father, and why? So you could throw yourself after some well-hung, rich animal! I’d rather have found out that you were letting a dog fuck you!”

  Fury flooded Kiram, immolating his earlier thoughts of simply bowing his head and apologizing. Instead he met his mother’s glare with his own.

  “Javier is not—”

  His mother swung for him, but this time Kiram caught her hand and shoved her back. Both Dauhd and Siamak rushed from the candy shop to their mother.

  “Javier is not an animal!” Kiram snarled. “He’s been gracious and generous and he has never said one bad word against any of you!”

  “He’s not safe!” Siamak shouted at him. “If you’d just be reasonable, Kiram you’d see that. He’s a Cadeleonian—”

  “I know he’s a fucking Cadeleonian!” Kiram’s heart pounded hard now, like he was about to get in a real fight. “You can all stop telling me. I know! I don’t care, because he’s a better human being than Hashiem, his mother or any of you. He doesn’t care that you’re Haldiim, you know that? He treats you all with respect.”

  “I know, Kiram.” Dauhd looked frightened. “Javier’s a good man. He is. But if you get involved with him, you could end up being exiled or worse. We just want to keep you safe.”

  “No, you don’t,” Kiram bellowed. “You want to use me for an alliance with Mother Kir-Naham. Well, I’m not going to go live with that bitter old woman or marry her dull son.”

  “Don’t you speak of Mother Kir-Naham in that fashion.” Kiram’s mother glowered at him.

  “I’ll speak how I like!”

  “Not while you’re in my house you won’t!” His mother’s voice rang through the courtyard. Kiram noticed a fruit seller standing near the fountain gaping at them.

  “Well, then,” Kiram ground the words out in a low growl, “I won’t be staying in your house.”

  His mother and sisters all looked stunned at that and Kiram turned and strode towards the gates.

  “Don’t think you can come back if you walk out now, Kiram! Don’t you dare!” His mother shouted after him as he stepped past the gates. Still, he though
t he heard Siamak assuring his mother and Dauhd that he’d be back before nightfall.

  But he wouldn’t, he promised himself. He was not going to go back home, not ever.

  He fumed and paced the streets, attempting to walk off some of his anger while making his way to Rafie’s house. As he wandered Kiram overheard constant chatter between street vendors, their patrons, guards and passerby. All of them discussed last night’s illuminated sky. Only the rarest individual seemed to have slept the night through. Most were bleary-eyed but still excited and filled with a delighted euphoria. People spoke unabashedly of miracles occurring all through the city, of a new age of enlightenment. Some even confessed their own mystical premonitions of the moment. Men and women who Kiram knew had never been religious were suddenly speaking rapturously of sacred groves and the holiness of the Haldiim people.

  Kiram felt alien in the midst of so much jubilation. He couldn’t keep from wondering how many of these people would be delighted if they knew that a Cadeleonian nobleman had ignited the sky with those Bahiim blessings? What would they have thought if they knew that it had been done secretly and against the wishes of the majority of the Bahiim community?

  The roiling anger in the pit of Kiram’s belly made him want to shout the truth but he stifled his desire. It was a petty, childish urge, one that would do more harm than good if he acted upon it.

  So Kiram kept quiet when people smiled at him in that dazed, joyous manner that assured him that they’d spent the morning imagining a new magical life instead of fighting with their mothers and being banished from their homes.

  When Kiram arrived at Rafie’s house, he found it empty and the door locked. A neighbor informed him that neither Alizadeh nor Rafie had come home last night.

  “They left so suddenly that I thought there might have been some trouble with the Cadeleonian law again.” The gray-haired neighbor lowered her voice. “You know your uncle was a wanted man once.”

  “I’ve heard.” Kiram wondered if everyone of that age knew about Rafie’s exile. He guessed that it must have been a huge scandal at the time, especially since Rafie would have invariably been promised to someone else…just like Kiram had been.