04c Dreams of Fire and Gods: Gods (29 page)

But Worlen’s attention had been caught by her previous statement. “Seffni!” he gasped. “Koreh… brought him
back
?”

“Yes,” Thuna said patiently. “He’s alive and well. If Sael has his way, he’ll be
dekan
of Harleh and the
vek
soon. Koreh is alive and well too, of course, and thanks to your proclamation, he has been accepted as the emperor’s
nimen
.”

Worlen couldn’t help but frown slightly. “How delightful.”

“But what I’m saying is, though Koreh brought Seffni back, it was
you
who kept him in the land of the living. You knew you were unlikely to survive, even if you killed Savön. You sacrificed your life for his.”

“How could I have? I didn’t even know he was alive!”

“You sacrificed yourself for your family legacy. In the eyes of the Taaweh—and the laws of Bashyeh—that is near enough.”

It was true that he’d never expected to survive his battle with Savön. He’d hoped Sael would be able to claim the throne after his death and establish the dynasty of the Menaüks. But for Seffni to be alive again! “I wish I’d seen him,” Worlen said sadly. “Just one last time.”

“He will join you someday. They all will. But they have lifetimes to live now.”

Had he known Seffni was alive, Worlen would probably have designated him the legal heir. But what was done was done. Sael had been declared the heir and apparently had claimed the throne. Hopefully he and Seffni wouldn’t squabble over it and divide the kingdom. Worlen no longer had any doubt Sael would make a good emperor—possibly even a great one.

They began walking again, while Thuna filled him in on the events following his death. Eventually the mist cleared. They came out of the forest into a peaceful meadow, as the pink light of morning began to illuminate the sky. In the distance, along a winding country road, there appeared to be a city with a large castle at its center.

As they drew near the road, a carriage came along, drawn by a single black stallion. The carriage was really too large for just one horse to pull, but this one seemed to be trotting along without difficulty. The carriage drew up in front of them and a young, dark-haired boy hopped down from the driver’s seat and then hurried to open the door.

A beautiful noblewoman in a richly made dress of sky blue and jade, with hair like cornsilk and delicate features, leaned forward in her seat to peer outside. When her eyes caught sight of Worlen, she gasped. “Lüxen?”

Worlen took a hesitant step forward. “By the gods….”

The boy extended the folding step on the carriage and helped the woman down. She approached Worlen and extended a hand to touch his cheek. “It
is
you. I’ve waited so long….” Her soft green eyes, so much like Sael’s, shone with tears. “They told me you would come someday.”

Unable to restrain himself a moment longer, Worlen pulled her close, pressing his cheek to hers and catching the scent of a still-familiar jasmine perfume that had long faded from the royal courts. For the first time in many years, a tear escaped his closed lids. “Nara,” he said softly.

“When the boy said there was someone to see me, I didn’t dare hope it was you.”

“Well,” Worlen said, wiping the tear away and pulling back to gaze into her beautiful eyes. He took a stray lock of her flaxen hair between his fingers and stroked it. “I always knew Savön would be the death of me.”

“Oh, Lüxen,” she said disapprovingly, “you haven’t been executed?”

“No, I challenged the bastard to a duel.”

Nara looked shocked. “He
defeated
you?”

“He most certainly did not.” A thought occurred to him, and he turned to Thuna. “He isn’t
here
, is he?”

The old woman shrugged. “Somewhere. But you needn’t run into him, if you’d rather not.”

“I’d rather not.”

“Thuna!” Nara exclaimed in delight. “I thought I recognized you. How wonderful to see you again.”

“Milady.”

“You really should join us back at the palace for breakfast.”

“Thank you, milady,” Thuna said, “but I am needed elsewhere.” She bowed. “I wish you both well. Perhaps our paths will cross again someday.” And then she dropped out of sight.

Apparently Nara had seen the Taaweh vanishing trick before, because she took no notice of it. She took her husband by the hand and said, “Come! You must tell me all the news about Seffni and Sael.”

Worlen helped her back into the carriage and took the seat opposite her, while the boy closed the door and hopped back into the driver’s seat. The carriage began to move down the dirt road. “Well, Seffni married. A wonderful young woman named Tanum. You’d love her. Sael has taken another boy for a
nimen
. And of course, he is the emperor now.”

She looked at him in surprise as the carriage began to move along the dirt road. “Sael? The emperor?”

“Someone had to inherit the title when I died.”

“But what of Seffni?”

“Well, he died as well. But I understand he’s recovered.”

She tilted her head and pursed her shapely mouth. “You’re heartless to tease me like that, Lüxen.”

He smiled, adoring the sight of her. “Perhaps it should wait until we’re home, my dear. It’s a rather long story.”

J
AMES
E
RICH
has had a passion for young adult fiction since he himself was a teenager. His first published story was in his middle school literary magazine and it still occupies a place of honor on his bookshelves. In his high school and college years, he was saddened to see how few positive stories with gay protagonists there were, but is delighted to see that changing. James recently joined the ranks of YA novelists, and his first YA novel received two honorable mentions from the Rainbow Awards—for Best LGBT young adult/coming of age and Best gay debut novel/book. He is openly gay and lives with his husband in the small town of Raymond, New Hampshire.

Visit his blog at http://jameserich.com/ and his Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/JamesErichAuthor.

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AMES
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