Songs of the Earth (5 page)

Dazed, I heard the door screech and groan. I tried to see what was going on, but Ushna was covering me and had cupped his hand to the back of my head, forcing me into the crook of his neck as he yelled something. My brain wasn't firing on all cylinders and I decided to let Ushna handle the situation. I heard some shuffling and the door closed again.
Ushna laughed into my neck. I loved his laugh. "When did cries of passion equal cries for help?" Ushna laughed again. "Tomorrow is going to be interesting." He chuckled.
I stroked his back as I came back to Earth, memorizing every dip and curve, especially the ones that made him squirm a bit.
Reluctantly, Ushna got up and cleaned us. I think I smiled dreamily at him the whole time.
"What I wouldn't give to have you smile at me like that all the time." Ushna's fingers brushed my lips.
"You don't have to give anything. All you have to do is ask or kiss me or give me head. Any one of those scenarios will get you any smile you want."

When I got up the next morning, I was starving. Sometime in the middle of the night, Gregori had joined us. It wasn't sexual, he and us. I'm not sure where he would've gone for comfort in a regular tribe. I hadn't been a member of a normal tribe for years and I'd forgotten they were made up of more than warriors. There were regular Lycans, shewolves, family clusters, and children. Tribes were normally small, close-knit communities where everyone could lean on each other for support.

My growing tribe consisted of fourteen warriors, one Magi, Ushna, and myself. After a moment of thought, I added the human, Randy, to my tribe. He was at the river. As far as I knew, he'd seen the Goddess and the Shirdal. He'd witnessed the warriors in their Lupe form. I still didn't know if anyone had spoken to him about that.

I got up without disturbing Gregori or Ushna, relieved myself, and quickly showered before I snagged a pair of jeans. When I attempted to open the door, I realized it wasn't sitting right in the frame. Had this happened last night? I made a mental note to make sure someone fixed the door.

The door stuck at the top corner and I had to lift and pull to get it open. Out in the hall, two warriors were on guard. When had this started? Closing the door behind me, I gave them a look.

"So. Have y'all been standing out here all night?" I thought their names were Juan and Michael.
Juan gave me a small smile. "No, we are the second watch."
"Ah," I said, smiling back. "So you and Michael aren't the ones who broke my bedroom door?"
Michael chortled into his fist, trying hard to keep a straight face. "Uh, no, but we did hear about the adventures of first watch."
I pressed my lips together. I don't think it did anything to hide the smile. "Adventures? Huh. Did they come away blind?"
Juan barked out a laugh. "I don't know about blind, but I doubt they'll meet your eyes, or Ushna's, any time soon."
We laughed ourselves to the kitchen where I grabbed a glass of orange juice.
"Why are there guards outside my bedroom?" I asked.
Juan and Michael sobered. Juan said, "Xenres, a few days ago we were worried we'd lost you. When Caspian tried to shoot you, Ushna took the bullet. Then the Shirdal hunted you from the sky. We thought for sure the creature was going to catch you before you were able to make the tree line. Finally, there was the Goddess and her wrath over Ushna's ring. Three times, your life had been threatened and each time we were derelict in our duty." Juan's eyes shone as he swallowed heavily. "You are too important for us to lose. We cannot afford to let our guard down around you, ever. It was a harsh lesson we had to learn in a twenty-four hour period. We are your royal guard. Where you go, we go. Your life comes before our own, now and always."
I blinked several times, not knowing how to respond to his vehemence. As much as I wanted to believe things were fine now… they weren't. Not really. A few days ago, these men had followed false orders without question because, right or wrong, they'd had faith in other Lycans. They'd believed they could trust others of our race. That trust had brought them to my door and to my mercy. Regardless of how these men had come to be my royal guard, I cared about them.
Michael scowled, crossed his arms, and leaned against the counter, watching me make coffee. "When the Goddess attacked you, we couldn't come to your defense. Instead, we fought phantoms."
"The Goddess didn't attack me." Both warriors gave me looks of disbelief. There wasn't anything that I could say that would make them believe otherwise. I didn't believe she'd meant to hurt me, I did believe she'd acted without thought or regard. I directed the conversation back to what I was really interested in. "What did you see? I mean with the phantoms," I asked as I watched the coffee slowly drain into the pot.
Juan exhaled roughly, causing me to look at him. "Xenres, I could have sworn we were in the middle of a battle."
"What do you mean? What kind of battle? I thought you were experiencing the pain along with me." I'd felt the warriors transform into the Lupe. I'd thought the reverse would also be true since I was their anchor.
Michael and Juan exchanged a look before Juan said, "We were in the middle of a battle somewhere else."
"More like some
when
," Michael mumbled.
"What do you mean?" I reached up into the cabinet and pulled down coffee cups.
"It wasn't a modern day battle or war. There weren't tanks or camouflage uniforms or guns." Michael took a cup from me.
"There was copper-plated armor, swords, and chariots," Juan finished for Michael as he stirred sugar into his coffee.
"The only thing real in that place, other than my brothers in arms, was you on the ground in the middle of our circle," Michael concluded before sipping.
I thought about this for a moment. A group hallucination? And what had it meant? "Maybe it was part of the spell the Goddess triggered." It was the only thing that I could think of that could cause such a thing. "The other day was unique. I don't think that it will happen again, but if it does, let me know."
Juan and Michael nodded and we finished our coffee and placed the cups in the sink. I crossed the kitchen with the duo following me out into the cool predawn air. I was barefoot and the sharp cold concrete of the porch made me hop a couple of times in reaction. I walked down the steps and even before I put my bare foot on the ground, I could hear her morning song.
Once I touched the ground, the Earth sang out a welcome to me. I closed my eyes and smiled as the warm, rich tones seeped through the pores of my feet, into my skin, sliding over muscles, energizing me. The Earth was healing me and I'd not sung the chant of healing, but I did sing the song of thanks for her gift. The snakes on my chest twitched and became electrified from the touch of the Earth. I ran my hand over them, stroked them, and settled them back into place.
In the barn, I checked on Socks and ran my hands over her to make sure she hadn't sustained an injury from our eventful ride to the river. My warrior shadows stood across the aisle, within eyesight.
"Are you well, Prince Tristan?"
I turned to see the cocoa eyes of Ki. I couldn't help that my heart sped up or that I was internally cursing myself for cornering myself in Socks's stall. I glanced at my guards and noticed the change in their stance; their hands were on their swords. I smiled at her, hoping it hid the fear I felt. "I'm well, Goddess."
"Please, Tristan, call me Ann. I will be spending time with you in the human world and calling me Goddess will not let me blend with the people."
I picked up a curry comb and started brushing Socks to help steady my trembling hands. "Are you going to be spending so much time here that you need to blend?" I asked.
"Yes, I will tutor you in the ways of your royal lineage. I will teach you the songs to sing to the Earth so your people will be blessed and prosper. I will help guide you in your decisions and help you prepare for the next generation."
I ran long careful strokes of the comb through Socks's coat as I gathered my courage for what I was about to do. "If you're going to be around more, then I think we should set some ground rules." I drew in a shaky breath when she didn't comment. "We'll set a schedule for your visits. There will be times when I'm not going to drop everything to do what you want." Still, there was no comment. Yep, she was going to strike me dead. I continued as if her silence didn't bother me. "Ushna or two of my guards will accompany me on your visits. You're going to have to ask permission to touch me, to use magic on me, or I won't consent to learn from you."
"Tristan, I did not mean to cause you harm." She sounded indignant.
"Your actions nearly got me killed." I tried to keep the heat from my voice. I really did.
Ki looked at me with hard eyes. "I did not put the ward on you."
"No, but your carelessness triggered it," I replied coolly.
"How was I supposed to know you had been warded against me?" Ki snapped.
Really? That's what she had to say to me? She scared the shit out of me, but my anger was running roughshod over my sense of caution.
"You'd already pulled the remnant of a binding spell, which not only bound my power and hid my identity from me, but also cloaked my presence from any God. You said your brother, Mithra, is missing, which means it's been at least three hundred years since he last called you to the birth of a king. This should've urged you to move more cautiously. Whether you meant to or not, you acted with aggression when you tore Ushna's shirt, then grabbed and tried to probe me. You didn't ask. You took." My heart was rattling against my ribcage, trying to beat its way out of my chest as fear raced through my veins. "If you find issue with my request for no contact then I'll have to decline your offer of help. I've discussed this with Ushna and he agrees. I could use the King's Library to gain the information I need to lead my people successfully. It would take me longer, but it's safer."
"I have already apologized. I do not know what else you want from me."
I could hear the anger in her voice.
"I don't trust you to act in a manner that won't put me in danger. I'm not looking for more apologies from you, but caution and regard in your actions. You broke my trust. I won't give it to you so freely again." Yep, she was going to strike me down. I watched her from the corner of my eye as fury contorted her beautiful features. Juan and Michael became more alert. I knew there was nothing they could do if she decided to punish me for my demand.
"Very well."
I looked up. I hadn't expected that. "You agree then?"
She gave me a strained look of aggravation. "It doesn't seem I have a choice if I want to be your tutelary."
This was almost too easy. I'd made demands on a Goddess, and though I knew my reasons were just, it didn't mean a Goddess liked being restricted by a mortal. I'd expected at least an argument, maybe even torture. I had gambled she wouldn't kill me because I was a royal heir. Her acquiescence made me more nervous than the threat of pain. Why would she agree so readily?
"I came by this morning with a purpose," she stated. "I wanted to discuss the preparations you and your consort need to make for the future generation of the royal line."
I snorted. "There won't be a next generation for me, Goddess. I'm gay. I've no interest in women and won't take one to my bed." She'd be sorely disappointed if she thought I'd take female lover. I wouldn't be unfaithful to Ushna. Lycans have always been versatile in their couplings. There was no stigma attached to same-sex partners. I resented her suggesting I go outside my relationship to have children.
"Do you think there haven't been kings before you whose Twin Flame was the opposite sex? The Father of your race, Enkidu, was lover to the demi-God Gilgamesh and they had children. How do you think the Lycan race started?" Ann leaned against the gate to Socks's stall.
My anger abated as her words sank in. "We were taught that he had children with the priestess Shamhat, who drew him out of the wilderness into civilization." Surely, everything I'd been taught wasn't wrong. First, we'd learned the royal line had died out. Now my ancestors had been able to have children with their male consorts?
"Enkidu had children with Shamhat, High Priestess of Inanna. Just as Gilgamesh had children with his Queen of Uruk. But when Gilgamesh took Enkidu as his consort, they had children together. How did the Lycans lose their history? Enkidu and Shamhat had twins. Gilgamesh and Enkidu had six children together. Zircon was the first king of the Lycans after Enkidu's death. It is very important to know where you came from, what your purpose is. Without purpose, the people will flounder and be lost."
I paused in brushing Socks. I would have to bring her something extra special for standing so patiently for me. "I don't know why so much of our history is missing." A great deal changed after the death of Bahram. It could be that without the guidance of a king, the elders had struggled to keep everything together and over time accidently lost the knowledge. Another possibility would be they had purposely made changes to either hide or protect the information if they were aware of the assassins. Unfortunately, my relationship with the Council of Elders was more than slightly strained at the moment. Asking one of them to allow me into the King's Library wasn't possible until I knew they were no longer a threat.
Ann opened the gate to Socks's stall and I had to make myself stay where I was, but I kept her in my periphery. I didn't want her to know I feared her. Michael and Juan took the opportunity to move into the stall with me, putting themselves between her and me. She noticed their protective behavior and stayed back.
Instead she said, "I have spoken to my consort, Enki, and we both agree it is imperative you and your consort start planning your family. There are no royal children and though you are still young, there has been too much duplicity. I believe someone is trying to destroy the royal line."
Leaning on Socks, I looked at Ki. "Why would anyone do that? What would be the purpose? Wait! What do you mean by ‘start planning your family'?"
"Tristan, don't be dense," Ki snapped. "We were discussing men of the royal line having children with their same-sex consorts."
"But that doesn't mean I'm going to have children!" I was a gay man. Period. Children weren't in the picture for me and I was perfectly all right with that. There was no reason for me to have kids. Nathan was going to be the next king, not me. He and his whoever could pop out all the puppies the Goddess wanted.
"You need to discuss that with your consort. Which one of you will bear the children?"
"You've got to be fucking kidding me! I've scarcely come to terms with the fact I have royal blood and now you want Ushna and me to start having children? There are others who can do that. There is no reason it has to be us."
Ki looked at me curiously, "Tristan, you bear Enki's insignia, you have to have children. If you don't, then…"
"Tristan!" called a voice from the barn door. I gratefully followed one of the warriors past Ki. Randy Aikman, my foreman, stood in the entrance looking warily into the barn's interior.
"Randy!" I called back. I needed to talk to him and when I looked back to Ki to excuse myself, she was gone. Socks stared at me nonplussed at the disappearance of a Goddess from her stall. I was more than relieved. I think the warriors were too. The tension left their bodies as they relaxed.
I watched Randy walk toward me. I don't know what I expected, but he looked… normal. He'd ridden with Ushna and the warriors to the river to find me, the only human among the Lycans. If I'd been the only human thrown into a group made up of lion-eagles, Luped-out Lycans, and a convulsing boss, I don't think I'd be as calm as Randy. I leaned back against Socks's stall door and waited for him.
"How are you feeling?" he asked, looking me over. I wasn't wearing a shirt. The striped iridescent scales of the double helix snakes that started below my navel and traveled up my torso until two heads faced each other over my pecs glimmered in the sunlight. It wasn't long ago I'd bailed hay with Randy without a shirt on. I hadn't sported the double helix snakes then, but Randy didn't remark on the change.
"Much better. Thanks for asking." He didn't look like he was suffering from shock or disbelief. He wasn't looking at me like I was the devil. There wasn't fear, anger, or anything other than concern there.
"I'm sorry if this is being rude, but what the hell, man? Why aren't you flipping out?"
Randy grinned at me, but his onyx eyes were watching me intently. "Do you seriously think the Lycans are the only abnormal race in the world?"
I leaned forward and sniffed Randy. "You smell human."
"I'm part human and I'm something more as well." Randy drew a rubber band out of his pocket, gathered his curly black hair at the nape of his neck, and secured it with the elastic ring.