Enemy Known

by Butler, J. M.

  "Will you be well enough to travel, or do you need food?" Naatos asked.

  "I'm getting food now." WroOth rose. "Stay with him, Naatos."

  "I wasn't planning on leaving."

  WroOth did not respond. He transformed into a night hawk, spread his wings, and ran off the edge of the embankment. He sank from sight, then reemerged, only to disappear within seconds around the river bend.

  Naatos glanced at AaQar, struggling to think of something that would comfort his brother. "When we were raising him, did you ever think he would make it this far?"

  AaQar smiled slightly though his posture remained hunched, his shoulders drooping forward. "No. I thought both he and QueQoa would surely die." He released a long, slow breath.

  It was hard for Naatos to look at AaQar as he was. A person might make a thousand small changes, and sometimes it was impossible for those right next to him to see all of those changes until it was too late. He did not look away this time.

  "You'll continue to watch out for both of them," AaQar said.

  "Of course I will, but we are not having that discussion." Naatos turned the letter over in his hands, the rough edges of the torn parchment catching on his many callouses. His throat tightened. "You…you cannot give up."

  "Not yet." AaQar leaned his elbows on his knees. "Tell me…what will your children be like, brother? I am almost terrified to consider them."

  Naatos chuckled. "That is why they will need their uncle. And Elonumato knows…WroOth will only encourage them. He's the reason I never wanted children."

  AaQar chuckled. "You can't blame it all on him."

  "It doesn't matter anyway." Naatos unfolded the letter. "Now there is no choice." His gaze dropped to the neat rows of writing. His gut clenched in response, recalling the little he had already read. "It was a mistake though. Wasn't it?"

  AaQar glanced at him sidelong. Then, to Naatos's surprise, he smiled sadly. "Somewhat, but not fully. The way you handled your locking, yes. There have been many errors there and in your treatment of her. But when I look at Amelia, I see the possibility of hope. If…if you work with her. She is not her mother, and she is not a little girl." He pointed to the letter. "That is a woman who is nearing the end of her strength. You have seen her vulnerable, and the cracks are already appearing. But the mistake you must not make is to think that when her strength at last fails, she will collapse in your arms and surrender to you. No. If her strength fails her and she believes there is no alternative, she will be far more likely to surrender her throat to a long cold blade, and our hope will die with her."

  AaQar's words stung as Naatos recalled what he had witnessed in Amelia's mind. She wasn't afraid of pain, nor did she seem to fear death. His brother was likely right. Naatos hated that so much rested on Amelia now. He despised the fact that he wanted her even more. His mistakes in handling the situation made it even harder to bear. Silently, he returned his gaze to the letter, holding the torn pieces in place. And though he had already read the beginning, he started there once more.

  Dear Naatos,

  I have been considering our marriage, and I have decided that if this is going to work, we must understand one another. At this point, we are only going to keep angering one another, and I doubt that would be productive. There are a number of issues at play here. First, there's the Tue-Rah and everything that goes with that. Second, there is your family. Third, there is my being the mother of the future Neyeb race. These are all interconnected.

  I have put together a list of your strengths and your weaknesses that affect all of these issues so that you will understand how I see you.

  Your strengths include the fact that you are 1) physically strong, 2) clearly gifted in shapeshifting, 3) charismatic, 4) intelligent, 5) good at taking risks 6) logical (sometimes) 7) proactive.

  Your weaknesses include the fact that you are 1) arrogant, 2) cruel, 3) vindictive, 4) overly aggressive, 5) overly judgmental, 6) cold 7) brutal 8) convinced of your own superiority 9) always needing to be seen as being right even if you are wrong 10) dishonest 11) capable of rationalizing away great atrocities in pursuit of your goals. You may be somewhere between a psychopath and a megalomaniac. I am not entirely certain. But what I do know is that these weaknesses terrify me when I consider the prospect of a life spent forever with you. (Assuming I live, of course.)

  You plan to take over the Tue-Rahs and conquer all of the worlds within creation so that it will be under your management. Obviously, this is an undertaking that will take hundreds of years, if it will ever be successful. But in the process, hundreds of governments will be toppled. Billions will likely die. Chaos will erupt. I do not understand how you will make things better by uniting the realms under a single rule when they will most certainly resist you.

  If you are so concerned with the worlds tearing one another apart when they are reunited once again, why can't you take your army of Vawtrians and guard the Tue-Rahs? Do not allow people through if their purpose is military conquest or other similar activities. As strong as you three are, it shouldn't take much more than a few of you on each of the worlds to ensure that everything is safe. And that could be accomplished without the massive loss of life.

  If you insist upon conquering the worlds, then you need to provide me with an objective standard by which you will determine whether a government needs to be removed and your own order enacted. I also need you to explain to me why you and your brothers would objectively be better at ruling these worlds than their current rulers. Please detail for me how you will rule and how you will dispense justice. You must also tell me how you will prevent innocents from suffering and dying during the battles and conquests. I realize that innocent lives are often lost in wars, but, given how brilliant and cunning you view yourself, I expect more from you than the average warlord. I will not allow you to destroy my people, and, while it may be idealistic, I would like to treat every nation with the courtesy that I intend to treat my own. I'm not going to let you run over them and bully them. I want what's best for them.

  If you can satisfy me on all these points, then I will be willing to come and stay with you as your wife. I will even be intimate with you if you can explain to me how it is that I will transfer the mindreading and other Neyeb abilities to you, as well as how I can prevent it if you should start going evil again. Please provide me with objectively verifiable information. All I know is that somehow through my being intimate with you, you will start to become a mindreader. I really don't understand how this works, but obviously, one of my concerns is that I will make you stronger in a way that will cause you to be more dangerous. After I know this, we can then determine how much we will be intimate with one another. I am not willing to let you have the benefits of mindreading as long as there is a greater than likely possibility that you will use it for what I would consider evil.

  On the subject of children, I have no doubt that if we were to have children, they would be smart and powerful. And probably headstrong. But I am concerned about the other traits that you would introduce to them. If they are to be a new race of mindreading shapeshifters, they will have exceptional power. What benefits are you giving them that I couldn't get from someone else? Say another Vawtrian who might be more compassionate and more suited to fatherhood and leadership? What are the risks of what they will inherit from you? And what will you do if our children defy you? Will you kill them? What kind of father will you be? Will you abuse our children? How do you define abuse? Do you plan on their being essentially your own private little gang for the purpose of further conquest? What do you even consider to be abuse in general? You treat others with such casual disregard. What kind of say will I have in their upbringing? What happens if we disagree?

  Now for the next to last concern. Shon. You will not kill him. Understand my feelings for him are irrelevant. He has agreed to leave me alone and to support whatever decisions I make. I have decided to take no other lovers of any kind. I am in control of my heart. Simply because I feel something does not m
ean I am required to act on it. You've been in my mind. You have seen what I can do. What I have done. If you satisfy my other concerns, I will be a faithful and devoted wife to you, and I will never see Shon again or take any other lover. I don't have to love you to be intimate with you. There are many couples who don't worry about that.

  In accepting that I am your wife, I am being forced to reconsider many things. Things that I never thought I would be reconsidering. My destiny. Elonumato. Everything. That means that I must also reconsider the value of the Tue-Rahs. I am not overly optimistic that you will respond well to this, Naatos. You will likely disagree with me. You'll probably be angry with me for awhile. And there's a very good probability that you will continue with your plans and just take over Reltux and probably Ecekom. But I know that if I do not help you restore the Tue-Rah on Earth (Eiram you call it), then you cannot access the other worlds.

  So, if you are unwilling to cooperate, why shouldn't I just kill myself and tell the Libyshans to destroy the Tue-Rah? That would effectively stop you from continuing with your goals, and ending my own life seems like it would be far easier than ending yours. So please explain to me why the Tue-Rah is so valuable that it should be restored even at the risk of total conquest and mass killings. Because…honestly…I'm already tired, Naatos. And I'm afraid. What would I become with you? A shell? A husk? A traitor to the people whom I thought I was to save? I can't be those things. I won't be. And I need you to understand that.

  Obviously, these are a lot of questions. I ask that you please respond to them all. Please. But take time to think about them. If we're going to reach an arrangement, then we have to start communicating. Please try to understand me. Write back to me and send it to this spot in eight weeks. If you aren't sure where that is, ask WroOth. He'll know. I will not be out again or look for it until then.

  Sincerely,

  Amelia

  Naatos reread the letter again and again. All of the tension the kuvaste had released returned. His grip crumbled the edges of the paper. "She—"

  "She's trying to be true to herself and fulfill her duties as a princess and as the Third Nalenth." AaQar paused as feathered wings rustled overhead.

  WroOth swooped down. Before he landed, he flung two large trout in the air and caught them as he returned to his state of rest. One of the fish wriggled and slapped against his doublet. "Are you well enough to eat it raw?"

  "I'm not an invalid yet." AaQar accepted the fish and chopped off its head with his hunting knife. Then he cut off a small portion and ate it, scales and all.

  "No. Just suicidal." WroOth sat on the ground. "Must every member of my family contemplate ending his life?" He held up the remaining fish by the tail and offered it to Naatos. "Do you want some? I had some crudon earlier."

  Naatos shook his head. "No." He lowered the page. "Why did you kill one of the crudons?"

  "I didn't. Your wife did. Didn't you see it by the tree? Even more importantly, didn't you notice what she looked like? All bloodstained and mud covered?"

  "She'd spent the evening with you. That's how most people look when they're done with you. If they're still alive." Naatos frowned, his grip on the letter loosening. "She actually killed a crudon? You saw her? Why would she kill a crudon?"

  "Yes." WroOth chopped off the fish's head. Blood and water sprayed up. He smiled a little. "Thought I'd have to swoop in and rescue her, but I wanted to wait until she was really in danger so she'd be grateful. Anyway…all she had were those little hunting knives, and you saw what she was wearing. That Machat getup. But…she did it anyway. For a Neyeb, she was impressive. As for the why, she got mad at it. It growled at her. She didn't back down. It attacked. It was either the aggression or the smell." WroOth's gaze drifted toward the letter. "You read it all?"

  Naatos nodded. He wasn't entirely certain what to think about Amelia at this point. She was so different from what he had expected, and what he had witnessed within her mind troubled him. The advantage he had hoped to gain no longer seemed so important. All he knew for certain was that he wanted her back. The question was what could he give up to have her back?

  "Will you give her the answers she wants?" WroOth spoke softer now.

  Naatos drew his hand over his mouth and let out a long sigh. "Shon must die," he said at last.

  "Of course he must." AaQar stared at the ground. "But you are not the one to kill him."

  "I will not leave it to another." Naatos stood, his agitation increasing. It was not that Amelia would not keep her word. She would certainly try. But her heart would not be his. Apparently she wasn't repulsed by Shon. Perhaps she didn't even fully understand Shon was the reason she felt such pain. She'd most likely blame him rather than Shon anyway. He paused, recalling their last kiss. She had actually started to respond, her lips so warm and soft against his, her body nestled beneath his own. They could be happy together. It was for the best if Shon died. Her suffering would be far greater otherwise.

  "So…we aren't concerned about what the Machat said about her being condemned to death if Shon dies?" WroOth asked, arching an eyebrow.

  "Sometimes the Machat are wrong." Naatos removed the Neyeb betrothal necklace and turned it over in his hands. "It's happened before. Interpretations of foretellings may, in fact, be incorrect. The same might be true here. Besides…if she loves me in return and does not resist the bond between us, I will be able to save her from most any death. Her continued love for this Awdawm puts her in far greater peril."

  WroOth stood. "I have no love for that Awdawm or any of his kind." He paced a few steps, turned, and met Naatos's gaze. "He is an annoying interference who will certainly do more to inhibit our plans than aid them. But…if Amelia's life is tied to his, then would it not be better to imprison him someplace where he cannot interfere? We could remove his arms and legs and freeze him on Ecekom. We could remove enough of his brain to keep him functioning. There is so much he could survive that would also neutralize him as a threat."

  "So long as he lives, the bakai will keep the connection open between Shon and Amelia," Naatos said. He did not dislike the thought of torturing Shon. But he had been inside Amelia's mind. He'd seen even more than she realized. "Besides if she ever learned what happened to him, whether paralysis, incapacitation, or whatever it might be, she would cling to his rotting body all the more. No. The only other option is to hope that she develops the split heart, and that is both rare and painful. Death is the only thing that will end it for certain."

  "The woman draws trouble like a corpse draws flies," WroOth said. "And there are ways that our beloveds can die from which we cannot save them." His voice twinged with emotion at the last words. Clearing his throat, he averted his gaze. "We cannot always defy death."

  "That's why I will be exceptionally cautious with her and why she must surrender," Naatos said. "None of those dangers will come near her when she is under my protection."

  AaQar lifted his head abruptly. "Of course she's going to die," he said slowly.

  WroOth and Naatos frowned as they looked at him.

  A slow smile spread across AaQar's face. "Shon's death will put her on a course that will lead to her death. Even those of us who have been deemed immortal are on courses that lead to death though it may come at the end of time. Besides, is it not true that all those under Sevro's Pact lose their natural immortality?"

  Relief spread through Naatos. It was so simple. "He's trying to protect this Awdawm and keep her from me." It was so obvious. And brilliant. He laughed. The Machat were more cunning than he had thought. "Yes…one day…she will die. One day we will all die. The glass art…it could have been done by an Awdawm. They are just as skilled—more skilled than the Machat."

  "The image showed her dying from the blood curse," WroOth said, frowning.

  "Steps can be taken to prevent that so long as she accepts her bond to me." Naatos resumed pacing, working through this in his mind. The blood curse would demand her life forty times over. With proper precautions and preparations,
he could heal her from that, provided he built up his healing reserves. Perhaps they could even find a way to remove the curse. She would be safe.

  WroOth remained unimpressed. "That assumes she cooperates."

  "Once Shon is dead, her heart will be empty. She will be in mourning, and I will be there for her. How can she resist me?"

  "I think it's easier for women to resist the men who have murdered the men that they once loved," WroOth said. "You remember what Mara did when I killed some of her former lovers? And they treated her abysmally. Er didn't even let her have a blanket to sleep under. They denied her food. Water. She ran from them all and never wanted to see them again, and yet she was terrified when I killed them. How do you think Amelia will respond when you kill the man she loves? It isn't even hard to imagine what she will do. She's already told us!"

  "That's why Naatos will not be the one to kill Shon." AaQar sighed as he stood. "I will be his executioner."

  9

  Battling Desire

  Amelia wiped the blood from her mouth. "What do you want exactly, Vorec?" she demanded. Her stomach clenched, her anger and confusion increasing. The crowd continued to grow with both bedraggled and wounded Libyshans and quiet Machat.

  The crowd shouted at her.

  "You won't suppress the truth!"

  "Get the pinchat out of here!"

  "She's with the Paras!"

  "Enough," Vorec said with a casual wave of his hand. The mob at once fell silent. Several Ayamin, including some from Polfradon, stood with him now. Vorec turned out the ash from his pipe on the floor. "This doesn't have to be violent, traitor."

  "I am not a traitor," Amelia said, her voice tight. She recognized some of them. Not by name, but by their faces. When she was little, she had thought they looked at her hard, their expressions stern. Now…there was nothing except disgust and contempt in their eyes. Not just among the Ayamin but among all the Libyshans. Their glares stung her, even though she had wondered if this might happen.