Matthu peered down after Kepsalon before he glanced back at Shon. "I still think these Machat are half crazy," he muttered.
Kepsalon popped back up, a rolled map and stack of diagrams in hand. "It's far more than just half," he said. "This map will show you the way to the eastern outpost. All the instructions you need for accessing it are in here. I've had the attendants prepare you both with three bruins. Two are for you to ride, and the third is to carry the drug and the lightning. You must follow this map. You will go here." He pointed to a smudge beside a mountain. "Do not mark on the map in case you are found. It must look as if you are only escaping. From there, go here. See. Note the rock formations. Commit this to memory. Should we succeed in escaping, we will meet you there. Bring all the Ayamin and warriors you can find. If we are not able to meet you there, then prepare for a direct assault on the Temple of Selgooko. The Tue-Rah's restoration is soon, and we must retake the temple and the Tue-Rah between the time that the Tue-Rah is restored and Naatos begins bringing his army through." He thrust the map and diagrams into Shon's hands. "You two should leave now."
"Who's going to handle the second problem though?" Matthu asked. "Do you have some special potion or something to keep them from tracking you all? No matter how deep you go in the mountain, they'll still be able to smell you."
Kepsalon smiled slowly. "Not to worry, gentlemen. The Third Nalenth will be handling that."
17
WroOth’s Conscience
Naatos sized up the nearest hook-fanged spider. The spider worked its mandibles together, grating the tips on one another. Its milky white eyes followed his movements though it did not turn its head. The left front leg bowed too far to the side, and a large nodule bulged from the lower center of its abdomen. Probably scar tissue of some kind.
Unsuitable, Naatos thought. He passed on to the next spider. It hung on the spider pit wall, watching him.
"Delorme, spider, down." Naatos tapped the spider on the back leg.
The spider hissed but obeyed. It moved slowly down the wall. Naatos folded his arms, studying it as well. It might be a suitable choice for remaking. He marked on the back of the spider's leg with a thick piece of chalk.
When he was finished, he would sedate all the spiders and send the Talbokians down to move them out. Carefully of course. Even sedated these beasts were dangerous. A few might not make it, but that was not one of Naatos's concerns.
Naatos cracked his knuckles, making a mental note to assign the insubordinate faction to it. Phelsco, Cheruch, and the others who had attacked Amelia might not have told their comrades what they intended to do, but he would ensure they understood.
The door at the top of the narrow staircase opened and closed, scraping on the stone floor. "The troops are moving faster than scheduled. Seems all that training paid off more than we hoped."
Naatos glanced up, somewhat surprised to see WroOth. "Given the encounter with the Machat, I expected you to be out flying. It must have been difficult for you to restrain yourself."
WroOth walked down the staircase, his pace slow, his shoulders slightly slumped. "AaQar is finishing the explanations for Amelia. At least the questions he can answer. Probably best if you respond to the ones about how you and Amelia will handle the children."
A frown creased Naatos's brow. It wasn't often WroOth seemed so down, and yet in control. "You are troubled?" He debated asking if it was about Mara and the children, but what was the point? In the back of WroOth's mind, that would always trouble him. Naatos suppressed the memories that tugged at the edges of his own mind.
"You are in the middle of a transformation." WroOth gestured toward the spiders. "I only came to see if you had decided what creatures you would be altering. The Machat will undoubtedly retreat deeper into the mountains, and if we are to succeed, we must be prepared for that."
Naatos agreed. He pushed away a hook-fanged spider that neared his leg. "I sent out a dozen Talbokians to gather all the moles they can find. Are you concerned about encountering the Machat?"
"No. That's not what troubles me." WroOth folded his arms, but he stared at the dirt floor rather than meeting Naatos's gaze as he usually did. "One Ayamin in particular." He did not pace or even shift his weight. "When I discovered Amelia on the mountain, we talked about many things. Of course that included what would happen to Shon. I tried to prepare her for what was likely to come, and I know now that you are convinced you can eliminate him without endangering her, you will destroy him. But…"
Naatos tilted his head. It was strange WroOth kept returning to this matter. "You can speak freely, brother."
WroOth remained silent for several breaths, his lips pressed in a thin line. At last, he removed the puzzle box and began working the tines back and forth. "If I ever find those who killed Mara and Kelchon and Sadyr and Leslo and Ephalon, I will take them to death and back again and again. I will unspool their sinews and muscles like ribbons and let rats eat their entrails before I tear out their hearts and grind what remains of their corpses to dust. Every day without Mara and my children, that bloodlust ever grows within the corners of my thoughts, a thirst that may never be quenched. Sometimes I can almost forget about it. But I do not know who their murderers were or where I will find them."
As WroOth spoke, he worked the puzzle box faster and faster. The wooden tines clicked and cracked. Occasionally bits of parchment poked through.
Naatos grabbed hold of the puzzle box, stopping WroOth from putting more pressure on it. "Careful," he said. "You don't want to break it again."
WroOth laughed weakly. "If only life were as easily fixed as a child's toy. It certainly is as fragile."
"We will find those murderers one day. If they live, we will find them, and when we do, they will suffer more than they ever thought conceivable," Naatos said. "I swear you will have your vengeance, WroOth."
"Of course I will. That's—that's not my point." WroOth pulled back. He turned the puzzle box up in his hand, staring at it. "See, I don't have to live with those creatures. I can distance myself from it. Sometimes. On occasion, I can even find some modicum of peace. But if another woman killed Mara because she wanted to be with me and then somehow dragged me off and locked me up with her insane family, I would not be flattered. I would spend every day plotting their demise, and my own failures would only make me more resolved."
Naatos now understood where WroOth was going with this. He folded his arms. "You are not Neyeb, WroOth."
"No. But all the empathy in all creation would not be able to change how I would feel. And, so far as Amelia goes, I cannot imagine she would be any different."
"Considering that you executed Er and a few of Mara's former lovers, it does not seem you are the one who should be giving me advice on this." Naatos picked up one of the dried bones from the floor and chucked it to the far end. Three of the spiders rushed to investigate. "She was upset for a time. As I recall, I went and brought her back for you. But ultimately she forgave you."
"It's stunning how you can miss the most obvious point of all." WroOth rolled his eyes. "We have been over this before, but let me make it so clear you cannot possibly misunderstand. Mara propositioned me. She pursued me. And even though she was upset at my killing those men, she forgave me because she loved me. And Er was not her beloved. He and the others I killed were cruel and abusive, even at the best of times. They used her and made her suffer. I rescued her from that life, and even though you and AaQar intimidated her at first, she knew she was safe."
"Amelia will accept me fully soon, and she already likes you and AaQar well enough."
"Of course." WroOth smiled grimly. "Of course. She has essentially accepted me as her brother already. And as for AaQar, well, give her enough time with him and she'll be trying to woo him back from the grave he's so determined to dig. Neyeb empathy and forgiveness is a wonderful thing. Even though we have invaded her home and terrorized her, it has not hit so deep a nerve as it may. Those who have died are not those whom she knew and cherish
ed. But as soon as we kill her Awdawm…" WroOth struck his hands together. "Amelia did not just fall in love with Shon in the natural way a Neyeb may attach to another. Felsa says Kepsalon used a bakai on Shon to join Shon and Amelia. Those two have peered into one another's souls. It is not infatuation, nor is it passing fancy. They love one another for who they are fully."
A sickening sinking sensation filled Naatos's stomach. That was how Amelia was to feel about him. Even with the split heart, it was possible she might never feel that for him. "So you are telling me that this Awdawm is in love with my wife's soul, and you want me to spare him. If he lives, he will return for her. Her heart is filled with desire for him. They will not be kept apart."
"If we kill this Awdawm, her heart will be destroyed. You want her to love you, but you will make her hate you. Can you even imagine how strong that revulsion will be? Perhaps our killing of Shon is what will give her the strength to defeat us."
Naatos sank on one of the stone outcroppings. The heavy weight that pressed down WroOth's shoulders seemed to have shifted onto him. "I am doing this as much for her as for myself, WroOth. Just as we can only lock and love one person in our entire lives, Neyeb are similarly limited. She can only romantically love one person at a time unless she develops a split heart."
"I understand that," WroOth said.
"No. You don't. When I reached her in her thoughts, I held her. I kissed her. And she responded. She stopped fighting me. But then the pain overtook her. The split heart is trying to form, but it will hurt her. I cannot have her love for me associated with more pain. Besides…" Naatos let his voice trail off. "It's the only hope I have for connecting to her. By all standard measurements, I have ruined this relationship, and it has barely begun."
Two of the spiders ran up the wall alongside him.
Naatos motioned toward them. "I threw her in with these creatures to let them eat her alive. If the natural bonding between a Neyeb and her spouse does not take effect, what chance do I have of gaining her love? I have already made her suffer greatly, but I must wound her again. After that…I will never do anything else to cause her pain so much as it is within my power."
It was hard to admit that he had failed. Yet how else could it be described? Her letter had summarized everything.
WroOth chuckled sadly. "So…to save her pain, you will wound her again. To redeem yourself, you will gut her of what she cherishes and what she has offered to set aside. And the pain you would be inflicting on her…the loss of a love…it's a mind-numbing, rage-inducing loss that feels as if it will never end." He averted his gaze, his expression softening. "I still reach out for Mara in the night. That pain is not so bad for me some days, but others…I live that nightmare, and I always will. The wounds will never heal."
Naatos shifted his weight. "It is cruel, I know. But AaQar has agreed."
WroOth threw his hands up. "What a surprise!" He began pacing. "AaQar thinks a man who cannot have the love of his life should die. If it weren't for us, he would be dead already! Do you want to know why AaQar thinks that? He thinks that because he knows how it feels to live out his days with the knowledge that his wife doesn't love him. That perhaps she never loved him at all. But it doesn't matter how Shon feels. It doesn't matter if he suffers. It matters that we don't kill him."
"If he is not eliminated, then he will return. And regardless, Amelia will suffer," Naatos said, his tone sharpening. "Do you think I want to cause her more pain? You know what the locking does to our kind. I will not hurt her more than I must. But our connection will otherwise bring her agony, and I will not let her live like that. This is my decision, WroOth."
"But the split heart," WroOth said, punctuating his words with his hand. "That could resolve everything. You said it was rare among the Neyeb, but what if it is rare because so few have allowed themselves to be put into the situation where it could develop. You don't know everything about the Neyeb any more than I do about the Machat. More importantly, Amelia has given her word that she will not be intimate with Shon, and, given that his life depends on it, I believe she will honor that. As for Shon returning to carry her away—perhaps? But wait until it happens. Wait until he is actually a threat. That way you can justify your act as I justified killing Er."
Naatos clenched his jaw, glaring at WroOth. "There is nothing to justify."
"She will hate you, Naatos!" WroOth shouted. "Hate you more than she loved Shon. No. I take back everything I've said about supporting this, and I've made up my mind. She is your wife, yes. But this is as obvious as the conclusion to the prophecy that you proposed. She will give her life to end yours. You think that when Shon dies, she will collapse in tears, and you'll pull her into your arms and whisper something about how it was necessary and for the greater good. And you'll soothe away all that pesky heartbreak as if she were nothing more than a frightened little deer who simply needed to learn that the garden was safe. But she isn't a deer. She's a very strong-willed and obsessive mindreader who already knows she is supposed to stop you and probably will have to kill you. Of course most Neyeb aren't like that. They're generally more passive. More empathetic. But guess what? You might not have noticed this since you've been so focused on the end that you're missing everything else. Amelia is not a typical Neyeb in any sense of the word. She has no understanding of her culture and barely any grasp on her skills. You are about to ruin this for all of us, and your errors are going to become even more severe!"
Naatos's eyes narrowed. He stood, eying his brother. WroOth stared right back at him, his jaw set. "Whatever decision you made with Mara I respected because she was your wife. The same went for AaQar and Rasha. Amelia is my wife. You will respect my decision in how I handle her, even if you passionately disagree. And, so that we are clear, little brother, I am perfectly focused. I have not made any errors because of this."
Getting angry would only make WroOth think he was right. So Naatos returned his attention to the spider he had marked. "Now, there's much to be done before the invasion."
WroOth sat down on the staircase and nodded tersely. "Don't let me stop you."
Naatos turned his back on his brother and refocused his thoughts. One of the spiders with the white chalk ran by him, but he seized it by one of its back legs. Channeling the shifting energy within his veins, he focused on the new form the spider was to take. Both macro and minute details flowed through his mind. It burned like hot streams of water pouring out of his hands.
The spider began to change, enlarging and transforming. He envisioned the carapace growing, the limbs lengthening. It was all so similar to his own transformation. The body was torn apart and expanded and reformed all at once. The sickness and heat of his own rage poured into it like a metallic river. And then it was done.
Naatos drew his hands together and stepped back, the veins in his hands and arms pulsing as if he had finished the angled ropes course.
His mood had calmed. Creating, transforming, planning, training, fighting, and shifting all brought him some measure of peace, but there was something incredible about reshaping a living creature into another being.
"Behemotes," WroOth said with an approving nod. He rose from the steps and paced around the transformed spider. "A nice touch. How many do you plan to make?"
"Half a dozen." Naatos surveyed his newest creation. Behemotes were creatures from Libyshan myths. The once wolf-sized spider was now the size of a small elephant with broad legs that had suction points at the end. Clusters of eyes appeared on three sides of its face, and a series of horned ridges were just above its quadruple mandibles. But the real purpose behind this creature had nothing to do with its size or its jaws. Their webs were what he really wanted them for.
The hook-fanged spiders, crudons, and Talbokians would be sufficient for the manpower and shock waves. But these behemotes would be responsible for getting the troops over the narrow ravines and gullies that marked the mountains and would otherwise restrict their progress. As he went over the details of the plan, it was ea
sy to put Amelia from his mind.
"There's just one problem." WroOth leaned against the spider's side and gestured over his shoulder. "There's no way they're going to make it through the door." He pointed to the narrow door at the top of the folding staircase.
Naatos stared at the door. WroOth was right. It was such an obvious mistake. He set his arms akimbo and drew in a deep breath. Couldn't WroOth have been right some other time? Infuriating. Naatos knew if he had missed something as basic as this, then…He roared and struck his fists against the wall. "Quevustare! Busoka honar!" He tore at his hair and flung one of the rocks at the wall. "Son of a marskelpt!"
The spiders scattered, running up the walls and scrambling away.
WroOth raised his eyebrows. "Care to insert a few Neyeb curses in there for good measure? In honor of your wife, of course."
Naatos drew his hand over his mouth. His shoulders remained tight and his breaths sharp. This was inexcusable. "Very well," he said at last. "What would be the better course?"
"Let Shon live until he becomes a problem," WroOth said. "And tell her that you'll let him live if she does what you want. You know she will, even if you can't give her everything else. The fate of all the worlds is going to come down to how she feels for this Awdawm. I would have given up the Tue-Rahs for Mara, and she will do the same for Shon."
"For maximum effect then, she needs to see me spare him," Naatos said.
"And what? String him up over a pit of elvon sharks or a volcano?" WroOth gave him a disapproving glance before laughing. "Perhaps we could start to impale him and slit his wrists so that she's exceptionally engaged in the moment. You know, really remind her of the atrocities you're capable of. This locking has dulled your wits, brother. Just leave him alone and tell her that you're not going to pursue him or kill him. Focus your efforts on wooing your wife. Come up with some way to show her why she should want to be your wife. And for the love of all that is holy, learn how to flirt with her. Not that she's much better, but you have to be the one who changes. Abrupt demands for sexual compliance don't work in the best of marriages."
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