Death of the Immortal King

by Sarah McCarthy

  Lilianna went to the window, leaning her elbows on the stone, and looked out, closing her eyes, feeling the last rays of sun on her face and taking a deep breath of the salt air. What was Coralie doing right now? Was she even thinking about Lilianna at all? Worrying about her? A stab of loneliness hit her. What am I even doing here?

  The light shifted subtly, and it was no longer day but evening. The sun had sunk behind the horizon, and the breeze became chill. One by one the stars came out, the moon lifting above the silvery surface of the water.

  Coralie was right. I’m insane. Who do I think I am? What am I even doing here? I should be… Where? Back in Harfoss? Dead beside the body of her father? Married to Aron? Living a life of undeserved luxury? Sitting at home while Coralie went out and took care of her? She clenched her fists. I don’t care if this is stupid. I don’t care that I can’t do this, that I’m nobody with no skills. So what if I can’t cook or fight or even read? A furious bolt of energy went through her and she looked up at the moon. Bright and full like it had been that night. She’d spent enough time sitting in the moonlight doing nothing while people like her mother suffered. She was going to do something about it, or she was going to die, because she couldn’t live with herself one more day as someone who didn’t.

  She wiped her sweaty hands on her skirts, grabbed the silver serving knife from the platter and went softly to her door. Thinking better of it, she tucked the knife into her pocket.

  What are you doing? She saw Coralie’s face. At least make some sort of plan. What are you going to do? Stab him with that?

  “Shut up, Coralie,” she whispered. “I’m doing this.” She pulled the door open.

  There are going to be guards everywhere. It was Paric this time.

  “I’m lost, looking for the bathroom… I’ll seduce them… or kill them, too.” It was dark on the landing.

  Right. Sure you are. Paric rolled his eyes.

  This will help nothing, Gird sniffed.

  “Doing nothing won’t help, either. You’re all cowards.”

  She wiped her hands on her skirts again. That’s when she noticed the light coming through the crack in the temple door. She paused. A shadow moved across it.

  Licking her lips, Lilianna moved closer, crouching down and pressing her eye to the crack. A dark shadow flitted about the temple. It passed close to a candle and Lilianna recognized Kallia, wringing her hands as she stared up into the face of Numenos. Her eyes closed, her lips moving in a furious whisper.

  Her eyes snapped open. She took a deep breath and picked a knife off the altar. Are you going after Jedren, too? Lilianna almost laughed. She placed a hand flat on the door and was about to push it in when she saw the dark shape on the floor in the center of the temple, at the feet of the golden statue of Numenos.

  Kallia knelt over the dark shape, small and wrapped in blankets. A pile of fresh white cloths sat nearby.

  Lilianna squinted, lifting slightly, careful not to move the door. What is that?

  Kallia picked up a candle, moved it closer. The pool of light washed over the face of the little girl, Kara. Kallia brushed a curl gently off the girl’s face, then picked up the knife.

  The back of Lilianna’s neck tingled, prickling. She shook her head. What was Kallia doing?

  Kallia licked her lips, looking up at Numenos again, her expression agonized. She placed a hand on the girl’s forehead and gently pulled up one of her eyelids. The girl twitched but that was all. Drugged?

  Kallia, her hand shaking, held the knife above Kara’s eye, a few inches from the pupil, and Lilianna’s stomach turned over in horror.

  For several heartbeats, no one moved. The moonlight streamed in through a skylight, a straight beam of light illuminating the girl and the woman bent over her. For a moment Lilianna thought she saw herself, standing over her father, then she blinked, shaking her head to clear it. She saw Kallia’s muscles tense, and she threw the door open.

  “Wait!” Lilianna pushed into the room. Kallia leaned forward, her arm jerked, only inches from the girl’s eye. She pulled the knife back, clenching it tightly in her fist, and looked at Lilianna, her face slack with surprise.

  “What are you doing?” Lilianna hissed, looking from Kallia to the knife to the sleeping Kara.

  “It has to be done,” Kallia said. “I can’t explain.”

  “What has to be done?” Lilianna insisted. “Because it looks like you’re about to cut that girl’s eyes out.”

  Kallia’s expression twisted with guilt and sadness, and Lilianna’s eyes widened.

  “Bloody… why?” What possible reason could this woman have to do that?

  A thick sob forced its way out of Kallia. She bowed her head and shook, staring down at the knife in her hand.

  “It’s the only way.”

  “The only way for what?”

  Kallia looked around miserably. When she looked back at Lilianna, tears were pouring down her cheeks. “Her eyes have changed.”

  “What?” Yqtos’ balls, how crazy was this woman?

  Kallia took a deep, shuddering breath. “They’ve darkened.”

  Oh. “Does Jedren know?”

  Kallia shook her head, sniffing. “No. I think he suspects, though.”

  “And you…” Lilianna tried to process this. “You think he’s going to kill your daughter if he finds out.”

  “I know he will,” Kallia said softly.

  Lilianna’s fists clenched and a wave of dizziness washed through her. “You… you think your husband is going to kill your daughter… and… your solution… your solution is you’re going to gouge out her eyes?”

  Kallia stiffened. “It’s the only way.”

  Lilianna picked up an urn and threw it against the wall where it smashed. “What? Cutting your daughter’s eyes out is the only way? You really think that?” A storm was raging inside her. “I’ve barely even known about this for a second and I can already see two better options.”

  Kallia’s eyes were burning. “There are no better options. You don’t understand.”

  “Oh, I understand,” Lilianna said quietly. “I understand completely. Here are some better options. One: leave. Take her somewhere else. Two: kill him. That second one is especially great, know why? Because your husband is a terrifying murdering monster.”

  “No, you—”

  “No, I understand. I get it. You don’t want to do either of those things. Because you want to stay here with him. You… you like this.” She gestured to the gold and silver around them. “And, sure your husband is murdering thousands, but whatever.”

  “He works for the gods.”

  “Ha. He works for one god. Possibly. Or something pretending to be a god,” Lilianna shot back. “You think the rest of the gods—” if they even existed, “—like this? You think they’re all fine with him destroying their temples?”

  Kallia’s face hardened.

  “No, you’re just another stupid selfish person who sees something terrible and lets it happen.” She picked up another vase and threw it against the wall. The girl on the floor didn’t stir, even as it shattered, scattering bits of pottery across the tiled mosaic of the floor.

  Kallia flinched.

  Lilianna picked up a third vase and shattered it. It felt so good. She didn’t care if anyone came. Where were the soldiers anyway? Kallia must have sent them away. Good.

  “You can’t really think this is the right thing to do,” Lilianna said. A strange calm settled over her.

  Kallia, still gripping the knife, pushed herself up to standing.

  “How dare you judge me? You have no idea what it’s like. What I’ve given up.”

  “No? Then tell me. What have you given up?”

  Kallia opened and closed her mouth.

  “He made this choice to protect me. I can’t betray him.”

  “That was his choice. And yours.” Lilianna pointed to the girl. “What about her? Do you think she’s fine paying for your shitty choices? And his?”

&n
bsp; Kallia swallowed, and slowly sank back down onto her knees. She bowed her head, shaking and crying. Lilianna watched her, her lip curling.

  “You know he has to be stopped.”

  Kallia shook her head and rocked back and forth.

  “You can see better than anyone what he is.”

  “He wasn’t always this way.”

  “Does that matter?”

  “Yes.”

  “Does it matter to the thousands of people he’s killing? Have you seen him? Did you see what he did in the streets?”

  Kallia shook her head. “That’s war. That’s what war is like.”

  “That sounds like a stupid justification for doing whatever you want and ignoring the consequences to anybody but yourself.”

  Kallia looked up at her, her eyes red-rimmed, haunted. “I love him. If you had ever loved anyone but yourself maybe you would understand.”

  “If I loved someone, I wouldn’t ignore them murdering thousands of people.”

  “He’s doing it for me.”

  “I especially wouldn’t let them do it for me.”

  “I can’t… I can’t live without him.” She clenched her hands in her lap, wringing her fingers.

  “Then don’t. But stop dragging other people into your shit.”

  Kallia reached out, her fingers closing around the handle of the knife. Shaking, agonized, she looked from it to Kara to Lilianna. Lilianna couldn’t tell what she was thinking. Would she kill herself? Lilianna?

  “Leave us,” she said at last.

  “I’m not leaving so you can finish blinding your daughter.” At the very least, there had to be a way to change the girl’s eye color without blinding her, but Lilianna wasn’t going to give the woman an easy way out. She had to see that Jedren had to be stopped. And she was the best tool to stop him. If Lilianna could convince her to kill him, that would be enough. Her work would be complete.

  Kallia caressed her daughter’s head. “I’m not going to.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “I’m… I’m going to leave…” She nodded to herself.

  “That’s not enough.”

  Kallia’s eyes burned. “If I leave, he will stop. He never wanted any of this. He would have given it up years ago, if I had let him.”

  “Have you seen him lately? I think you’d better make sure.”

  Kallia shook her head. “No. He is a good man. He is only doing this to protect me. If I leave, he will break his bargain.”

  “Or he’ll be furious and kill a lot more people.”

  Kallia wrapped her arms around herself protectively. “No.”

  “You’re willing to take that chance? What if he comes after you and your daughter?”

  “He won’t.”

  She tried another tack. “If he breaks his bargain, he’ll die, right?”

  Kallia nodded.

  “Are you sure? How much of a hold does this thing have on him? Maybe he won’t be able to resist it anymore.”

  Kallia looked thoughtful.

  Lilianna pressed her advantage. “Maybe you had better help him. You say that, if you leave, you know he will want to die. You should give him that. Spare him the pain of your leaving. Take responsibility finally. You’ve been letting him do everything. Are you going to make him kill himself, too? After knowing you left him?” Damn, that sounded good, even to herself. She had no idea she could be so convincing.

  But Kallia was shaking her head. “No. I won’t hurt him.”

  “Aside from letting him torture himself for years? Letting him do despicable things? Become despicable? For you?”

  “Leave.” She said it so quietly, Lilianna was not entirely sure she had heard her correctly.

  “What?”

  Kallia, no longer shaking, stood. “I said, leave. Now.”

  “No.”

  Kallia gripped the knife and took a step towards her. Lilianna was suddenly aware of how much taller the woman was.

  “You’ve interfered enough. This doesn’t concern you. Leave.”

  “I’m not leaving while you’re standing over that kid with a knife.”

  “You’ve convinced me. I’m not going to hurt her.”

  “I’m not sure I trust your definition of that.”

  Kallia took another step forward. “Leave. I can see you mean well, so I’m not going to call the guards.”

  Lilianna didn’t move, her hand went to the knife in her pocket. “You sent them away or they’d have been here by now.”

  “I’m not going to have you executed, even though you’re clearly here to hurt my husband.”

  “Because he’s a monster. You’ve made him into a monster.”

  “He made his own choices. I didn’t make him anything.”

  “Sure, avoid your responsibilities.”

  Kallia was a foot from her, the knife held between them. “I’m going to let you leave, and I’ll give you one hour before I send the guards after you.”

  “How generous. Oh, wait, except you’re going to use that hour to maim your child.”

  “I’ll swear on the mother herself, if you like.”

  Lilianna’s mind whirled. What were her choices? Leave, and have nothing to show for her time here? Leave Kallia to do whatever she was going to do? Lilianna wasn’t sure why one child mattered to her so much. It shouldn’t. She had bigger things to worry about. Jedren was much more important. But now that she had seen what was happening, she couldn’t walk away. She couldn’t be one of those people who saw what was happening and did nothing. She hated people like that. And her plan to sneak through the castle, find Jedren, and kill him had been stupid.

  Yqtos, finally. She heard Paric’s voice in her head. Took you long enough to see that.

  You haven’t learned nothing, though, Coralie said. There’s the festival coming up, where the townspeople will surrender. You know that Kallia has this secret temple here.

  Assuming she doesn’t move it.

  Right. She probably won’t, though, right? It’d be a ton of work.

  I guess so.

  So, she hadn’t learned nothing. She could bring what she had learned back to the others, and they could come up with a plan. A real plan. But that wouldn’t keep Kara safe.

  “Send her with me.”

  “What?”

  “Give me your daughter.”

  Kallia’s face twisted in disgust. “You’ve just tried to convince me to kill my husband. You think I’m going to trust you with my daughter?”

  Now that she mentioned it, if Jedren didn’t know about his daughter’s eyes, she might make a great bargaining chip. Of course, if she did eventually give Kara back, he’d kill her.

  “If you give her to me, you can stay.”

  Indecision flickered in Kallia’s eyes, and Lilianna felt a surge of hate. Jedren couldn’t be worth that much. No one could be worth that much.

  “Think about it. I think you’ve figured out now that I came here to take down your husband. But you distracted me with your little eye-gouging plan. I’ve already messed up what I came here for. And told you about it. Why? Only to protect her. I’ve totally failed, but at the very least you can see that I won’t let harm come to her. Unlike you.”

  “No.”

  “I’m not leaving without her.”

  “You’re not the one who gets to decide.”

  “I get to decide what I’m going to do.”

  “Yes, and that’s it. Right now, your choices are leave or I kill you. Or was that not clear?”

  She raised the knife to Lilianna’s throat.

  Lilianna lifted her own knife and pressed it against Kallia’s belly.

  “You’ll be dead before that knife is even through my dress. You think I’ve been a warlord’s wife this whole time and not learned a thing?”

  Lilianna swallowed, but she was too furious to back down. She’d made her decision.

  “I bet I bury it deep enough to do the job.”

  “And you’re willing to die over thi
s? I thought you had bigger plans.”

  Lilianna shrugged. She tried to make it look casual, even though all her muscles were tense, ready to drive the knife into Kallia’s stomach. She wasn’t backing down.

  Kallia readjusted her grip on the knife.

  “You’ve never killed anyone, have you?” Lilianna said.

  “And I suppose you’ve killed hundreds.” Little beads of sweat stood out on her pale forehead.

  Lilianna hated this. Again. Here she was in a stalemate, unable to act. No, this was it. She wasn’t going to hesitate any longer. Kallia was just as bad as her husband. She was going to kill her, then Jedren.

  She gritted her teeth, tensing her shoulders. She saw Kallia’s eyes widen, her lips part—

  “Wait!” A tiny, lisping voice cut through the air between them. The little girl sat up, her hand raised, her eyes clearly dark in the candlelight. Hadn’t she been drugged?

  Both Lilianna and Kallia turned to look. Neither of them lowered their blades.

  “I want to stay.” The girl pulled her knees into her chest and wrapped her arms around them.

  Kallia was at her side instantly.

  “Kara, honey, did you just wake up?”

  The girl’s eyes were fixed on Lilianna as she shook her head. “No, I’ve been awake the whole time. Thank you, Lilianna, for protecting me, but I don’t need your protection.”

  What the… that isn’t a little girl’s voice.

  Kallia moved back, pulling hand away. “Kara?”

  The girl turned to look at her mother. “I’m sorry, mother. I understand what you were doing.”

  “You, you were awake the whole time?”

  The girl nodded.

  “But… but…”

  “I spit out the tea you gave me. I recognized the smell.”

  “Recognized? But I…”

  The girl clasped her hands in her lap. “I haven’t been honest with you, mother. I apologize. I have my own reasons.”

  “But…”

  Lilianna was still standing with her pie knife raised to where Kallia’s stomach had been moments before. Her eyebrows were lifting higher and higher.