Cursed by Fire

by Jacquelyn Frank

  Dethan stood still, watching the other man carefully as he hefted the weight of his wooden battle-axe in his hands, swinging it threateningly every so often. The man growled and made a violent lunge for Dethan in a sudden rush, barreling into him, a tactic he had used to haul the previous opponent over the barrier of the ring. Dethan allowed himself to be picked up, and then he rolled over the man’s shoulder, down his back, and back onto his feet, leaving Jjanjiu to stumble without resistance, face-first, into the mud of the ring. The crowd erupted into laughter and Dethan supposed it was a hilarious sight. Just as the idea of this low beast besting anyone of any real skill was as big a joke as was ever told. If he was the best this city had to offer, then perhaps Dethan would make this city his first conquest. There were certainly spoils to be had, he noted. And since this city seemed to worship Xaxis, it seemed a good place to start. To take away worshippers from Xaxis while gaining them for Weysa would double the impact in Weysa’s favor. Without a doubt it would please her. And there would be a certain amount of irony in the idea that the grand’s gold would be funding the city’s downfall. But he would not oust the grand entirely … if he were worth anything as far as management and political skills were concerned. Dethan needed others to run his cities as he went off and conquered more cities. And since all his former generals were no longer alive …

  He was missing his brothers even more now. He could have used them by his side. As it was, he was very much a man alone.

  His thoughts did him a disservice. They distracted him from the roundhouse blow of his opponent’s axe and he caught it in his right ribcage, the blow taking him off his feet and sending him flying aside and into the mud, his sword flinging free of his hand. He pushed to his hands, but a powerful, weighty foot on his spine shoved him back down into the mud. But here the mud worked in his favor. He rolled beneath that foot, the friction completely nil around his thoroughly lubricated body, grabbed the heavier man’s foot, and jerked it forward hard. Rolling just far enough to get out of the way as Jjanjiu fell onto his back in the mud.

  Once the man was down, Dethan kicked at him, forcing him to roll, making certain he was equally covered in the slick mud. He wouldn’t wrestle with the man—mud wrestling was exhausting and pointless—but it would put them on equal footing if they were both covered in the stuff. Holding on to a weapon while muddied up like this was tricky, and he wanted his opponent to struggle with it just as much as he would.

  While Jjanjiu was sputtering, spitting out mud and obscenities, Dethan scrambled for his sword. Really, it was useless. What he needed was something with weight and power, something to countermand the weight of his opponent. Something like that battle-axe Jjanjiu was sporting.

  Jjanjiu was back on his feet, angry now, letting his emotions take over his fight. It was yet another flaw of many. He so arrogantly thought he was undefeatable. Dethan would prove otherwise and he would do so with a cool head. Emotion had no place in a shivov contest. He had watched many in his day, and it was always the fighter who became frustrated, insulted, or angry who lost the battle. Emotions made you do things wrong. It served you ill no matter how skilled you were. It was why he never let emotion color his battles. Or anything else, for that matter.

  By the time Jjanjiu hit the mud again, he had been completely divested of his battle-axe and the weapon was seated firmly in his opponent’s hands. Adding to the embarrassment, Dethan threw the sword down in front of the other man, as if to make it very clear that he was simply toying with the brute. Enough to be unconcerned about giving the man a weapon to replace the one he had just lost.

  “Would you like to try again?” Dethan asked archly.

  The fury in Jjanjiu’s face was all too obvious. It was reflected in his roar as he grabbed up the sword and charged Dethan. Dethan sidestepped him and swung the battle-axe down hard on the back of his opponent’s neck. Had he been paying attention, he would have heard the crowd audibly wince. But all his focus was on Jjanjiu. The man might be clumsy and enraged, but underestimating him would be foolish. And still, Dethan had to get him closer to the edge of the ring. They had been traveling that way since the beginning of the fight, moving from the center toward the edge closest to the grandina’s viewing box. Dethan looked up, easily finding her because of that brightly colored cap, so blue in a sea of muddy browns and blacks. Their eyes locked, and while it didn’t distract him from his goal, he felt something, something charged and intense, pass between them. There was something in her eyes …

  Gratitude. It was gratitude. Because she knew he was going to win and somehow, in her eyes, he was the better choice of the two of them. She would not mind giving him his reward, however muddy and burn-scarred he might be.

  Jjanjiu charged a second time, and once again, Dethan sidestepped him, this time grabbing the man by the back of his pants, and with a tremendous hauling movement Dethan used his own momentum to send Jjanjiu over the ring barrier.

  The crowd roared in delight, the shouting beating at him from all around. He kicked the wooden sword away and held up the axe, eliciting yet another roar of approval. Then he walked the final steps to the viewing box and said, “You have your true champion now, most beautiful lady.” He bowed to her, putting his fist to his heart. But, again, he did not take his eyes away from her. As she moved down the stands, he thought of how brave she must be. Knowing that her immediate fate rested in the hands of a mud-slung vagrant of obviously no breeding and maybe only a little skill to speak for him in her eyes said more about her bravery than Jjanjiu’s self-boastings had and with far more honesty.

  When she stood before him, he became aware of the dead silence at his back and that hundreds of eyes were straining to see what was about to pass between the mud slug and the grandina. But more than that, he became aware of the softest cloud of scent drifting toward him, something sweet and clean yet lush and rich at the same time.

  It was her perfume. And like her, it was beautiful and bold. In her hands she held a velveteen purse, the weight impressive for such a simple contest. It made him realize just how wealthy this city was, that sums like this could be awarded for child’s play.

  “Your purse, champion,” she said, keeping her voice raised, even though he could tell by the trembling in her fine-boned hands that it was taking a great deal of effort for her to keep up her appearance of calm and graciousness. She handed the purse to him and he took it carefully with a single palm. She let go and could have withdrawn, keeping herself free of contact with him, but he felt her fingertips suddenly running along his forearm, through the mud caked and dried there like a damp and crumbling shell.

  “You are burned,” she said softly, the words meant for their ears alone.

  He didn’t think before saying, “As are you.” He regretted the words almost instantly, but instead of taking offense she simply nodded. Now that he was up close, he found himself realizing that her eyes matched her hat almost perfectly. A brilliant, glorious teal. As if the great dye makers had come up with the color for only two purposes: first, her eyes; then, her hat. And beyond that, there would never be anything to match. Her hair was black, as pure a black as ever there was, the gloss of it shining like well-oiled leather. It was all pulled up away from her face so tightly, leaving her corkscrew curls covered by her cap and only a single sprig, and that was curled into the tightest of natural curls, let loose in front of her ear. Oddly enough, it wasn’t until just then that he realized almost every person he’d laid eyes on that day had had blade-straight hair. His own hair, a brown like the darkest of nuts, had a curl to it also though nowhere near as tight as hers were. It was true of all the brothers.

  “Forgive me. That was rude,” he said hastily. Awkwardly. In his time, women who were not in service to the gods were not given places of prestige. But he was aware that he was not in his time and he tried to act accordingly. He had never seen a woman who looked like her, other than a goddess, and he had learned the hard way not to cross a goddess.

  “Not at all,” s
he soothed him gently. “I believe I started it.”

  Yes. Of course she had. He should stop acting so foolishly tongue-tied. No matter what the time, what the place, he was a warrior and he would behave as such!

  “I have my reward and I will take my leave,” he said briskly, turning to do so. But her sudden grip on his wrist stayed him as the shackles of the hells had stayed him.

  “But not all of your reward is given,” she said. And this time it was she who seemed awkward.

  Ah. The kiss, he realized after a moment.

  “I have no interest in your other reward,” he said brusquely.

  She looked as though he had slapped her, and he became aware of the murmur, the unkind murmur, of the crowd.

  “What? You insult your grandina in such a beastly manner?!” Dethan looked up to see the jendan surging to his feet from his seat in the viewing box above them.

  “She is not my grandina, for I am not from here,” Dethan barked back at him. He turned to look again at the woman before him. “And I would not debase her so by asking her to kiss one such as I.”

  Understanding lit her features as well as a sort of relief. That was when he realized she had thought he had found her offensive. But everything the opposite was true. He merely found her to be … untouchable.

  He did not deserve this woman’s beauties. He had much sin upon his head and much filth upon his body. He would no sooner kiss a priestess of Kitari, the goddess who was considered to be the most beautiful and demanded her priestesses be of rivaling beauty.

  “Then you must be rewarded in some other way,” she spoke up. She seemed to cast about in her mind for a solution, but then she smiled. “You will dine at table with me tonight.”

  “My dear!” The protest was meant to be cajoling, but the jenden had barked it out with too much force. He corrected his tone when she shot him an acidic glare. “Your grandness, you will forgive me for saying so, but this man … He is little more than a beast covered with filth and mud. Are we all to suffer over our meals?”

  “Yes,” she hissed. And that was all. One sibilant yes and the jenden paled a little and backed down, but he did not look happy about it and his eyes were filled with an unholy sort of hatred. But no sooner had the impression registered on Dethan than it was gone and the jenden was smiling with acquiescence.

  “Anything you desire, my dear.”

  “Yes. Anything I desire,” she said. These were not the words of a spoiled, childish girl, however. Merely the powerful words of a woman who knew what she wanted and what she had the right as grandina to ask for. “You will come with us. Grannish, I wish to return home now.”

  “But we only just arrived. You were so looking forward to coming,” he hedged.

  “I have seen all I needed to see for today. The fair will be here for a week, and tomorrow is another day.” Then she spoke to Dethan, whom she had never turned away from during her exchange with Grannish. “Since it is clear you do not come from here and do not know the way, you will walk behind us and we will go slowly. You will rest, wash yourself, and we will find you some proper clothing.” She brushed her hand absently down the front of her gown, drawing his attention to the long length of her brown skirt. The bottom hem, which settled just above her toes, was made of brown leather for a full forearm’s length before the bottom. The rest was of a much finer and softer fabric. One could see the intelligence in the design, for the leather was spattered with the mud that seemed so prevalent in the city. The rest … It made him wonder what she had hidden beneath so much fabric. More burns perhaps? In his time, in his city, clothing had been short, light, and much less cumbersome than this was. Everyone could see what was to be seen on others they met. Then again, he could understand the design of their mode of dress, for it had been cool and wet the entire time as the day had worn on.

  He wanted to turn her down. He had far more pressing things to attend to. But the sad truth was that he was hungry and he was dirty and he was in need of proper clothing. It was true he could have bought all those things now, if the weight of his new purse were anything to judge by, but he had other provisions to think about and there was no knowing how far his new coin would stretch. The journey across the desert promised to be an arduous one and he needed to be careful. He might be immortal, but he would feel every moment of the suffering being stranded in the desert would heap upon him, and he’d had his fill of burning and suffering.

  Thinking of that made him look at the lowering sun once more. He had maybe two hours before it set entirely, by the look of it. Two hours to get fed and get out of reach of anyone else.

  “Very well, lovely grandina,” he said, touching his fist to his heart. “But I cannot stay long, for I have a long journey ahead of me.”

  “A journey?” she asked with some amount of incredulity. Then she waved off the reaction. “Rest assured, we will eat within the hour,” she guaranteed him. “Then you are free to do whatever it is you will. Come. Follow us to the fortress.” She turned away from him and, lifting her skirt in one hand, she began to walk away. When she turned back to see if he was following and saw him standing still, she laughed at him. “Come. I promise I will not bite you,” she said, holding out her hand blindly, as if she knew someone was going to take it for her. And surely someone did. The jenden was there to grasp it like a well-trained gormlet. She waited until Dethan took his first step, and then, with an expression of pure satisfaction, she let Grannish lead her away.

  CHAPTER

  FOUR

  Dethan followed the coach and four in the mud, but he didn’t really need to. As with many cities, the castle fortress was at its center. However, this was poor planning, in his opinion, because the city was situated up against a mountainous section of land. It would have been wiser to build the castle fortress into the mountainside, giving it the high ground and letting the city in its entirety act as a buffer against any invaders. However, the entrance to the eight hells was located on that rock mountain face and the city had been built a more comforting distance away from it. Hexis had no doubt been built so the idea of the mouth of the hells being at the city’s back would quell any raiders trying to commandeer it.

  After all, who really wanted ownership to a mouth of the hells? The city had probably once been ruled by barbarians, worshippers of Xaxis. But it was clear the rulers, from what Dethan had seen, were not of that hulking, warmongering, crude bent. If Selinda was an example of the leadership here, it was elegant, refined, and had impeccable manners.

  It was exactly the kind of leadership and the kind of city he would have attacked and overthrown in his time. Perhaps this would be his first target once he had his wealth and an army. Then that would make the royal family—make Selinda—his captive.

  He jolted. It was horrifyingly, outstandingly shocking to his whole system and psyche when the very idea of it made him hard with anticipation and excitement, his cock drawing tight to nearly full attention. Why would such a thing—why would anything—excite him? The physical needs of his body had long ago been burned out of him, and even before then he had not found delicate women at all appealing. To be honest, he had been a little bit afraid of them. Afraid of hurting them.

  Then again, she wasn’t exactly delicate. She had stood up to the jenden with a quiet sort of ferocity. She was very well acquainted with her own power, and perhaps that was what he found appealing.

  And then there was her beauty. She was well formed, a tall woman with an unbelievably erect posture. She had been wearing something, some sort of restrictive garment that had pulled her waist in tightly, making it narrow and small yet allowing the swell of her hips to curve freely, provocatively. He wondered what the point of such a garment was. Maybe she had a deformity of the spine that required the garment to keep her from slouching forward.

  No. He noticed other women wearing similar garments as they traveled into the finer parts of the city, the part where the mud was less because there was a series of grated holes in the streets that appeared to
allow water to run off rather than sit in the dirt and be churned into mud. The runoff no doubt let out into the poorer sections of town, he thought with a shake of his head. He had never seen the point of allowing one part of a city to fall into disrepair and poverty while another part flourished with wealth and fine things. The poor of one’s city were just as needed as the wealthy when war broke out, and they had to have reason and loyalty in order to fight their best. Burdening them only defeated their desire to defend their home. That made for bad soldiering. And one must always be prepared to use the members of the city for war. It was the only way to be certain the city remained properly defended.

  The fact was the grandina’s beauty had captured his fancy, and it was a distraction he could not afford. At the same time … it was good to feel alive again. He had been so dead, burned again and again into a rotten carcass, and this was so different. So much like life again. Even if that life was conditional. But Weysa was watching him. He was certain of it, and she would not be kind if she thought he was being distracted from the purpose she had freed him for. If he wanted to remain free from the fires of the eight hells, he would pay homage to Weysa and no other.

  It was this thinking that allowed his desires to wane long before they had reached the fortress. Fortress. He laughed to himself. It was hardly that. Open gates, people milling about so thickly inside and outside the low walls that the gates couldn’t possibly be shut in a hurry if necessary. It appeared that anyone would be able to walk right up to the house of the political seat, just as he was now doing.

  He waited in the courtyard as the grandina alighted, her escort helping her down from the carriage. She immediately turned to one of the attendants standing nearby and reached to draw Dethan closer with an inviting hand gesture.

  “Page,” she said to the attendant. “This man will be my guest. See to it he is washed, properly clothed, and brought immediately to the dinner table.” She turned to Dethan, raising a brow. “I am assuming this is what you would like. If you prefer to come to table as you are, you will still be welcome.”