The Black God's War (23 page)

“
They
will not forget their Haizzem. They’re going to keep coming at us,
because
he is here.”

“Of course they won’t stop. Once they see enough of your abilities, they’ll start to believe he was born to defeat you.”

A boyish grin stretched across Rao’s face as creases formed around his eyes. “As if I were his opposite. He the light and I the darkness, the only thing standing between him and his destiny.” Rao stared up at the cloudless sky.

“I can see you’re contemplating something, you devious bastard. What is it?”

Rao covered his mouth and coughed instead of laughing. “Look, my father and your uncle are waiting to receive us. They’ll want to hear my idea, too.”

The surviving soldiers made their way into the citadel, greeted by ovations and heartfelt reunions with friends. A light wind blew more dry heat into the courtyard.

Aayu clapped his hands and then pumped his fists. “Live it up, bhai! We’re the victors.” He slapped the hands of three soldiers rushing to meet them.

“Victory!” the soldiers shouted.

Rao’s guards quickly closed around their prince, as other men stepped forward to salute and congratulate him.

“Victory to Prince Rao!”

“Victory!”

The hawkish glares from the rajah and general pulled them forward. Both men loomed like ogres. Aayu found the rajah’s gaze more comfortable as they approached. Relief even made a brief appearance on Devak’s face moments before he bear-hugged his son.

Aayu held up his fist in salute before his uncle. Indrajit rudely paused before returning the gesture.

Indrajit’s voice carried a hard edge. “We need to know what happened.”

Rao, if you could finish up that father-son reunion …

“Yes, General Indrajit. Of course,” Rao straightened his saffron uniform and stood with a soldier’s posture, at nearly the same height as the general. “It became clear the storm was not a natural event; in fact their army hid behind it. Probably the goddess Ysa was involved in the weather again and perhaps Mya as well. She is one of the Haizzem’s patron gods. We saw Galleazzo’s lions. The king and Haizzem must have been there, too. We might have seen them.

“My unit joined the fight after it had begun, but the Rezzians still outnumbered us by a drastic margin. It was not going well when we arrived. Aayu and I used my
sadhana
to seek out their Haizzem, but instead we found the royal daughter. We,” he began moving his hands in circles, looking for the words, “pulled her into a parallel dimension. A Rezzian man followed her and found us—we are not sure how. But we had the upper hand and used our advantage to negotiate for their retreat. We don’t know how they got away from us, but they slipped out of our control and immediately after they returned to their physical bodies, the entire Rezzian army headed back east. Once they were gone we tended to our wounded for some time.”

“You made the right decision,” his father rumbled slowly.

“I truly could not have done it without Aayu. Even with his help, we were lucky.”

“We made a really big difference today,” Aayu said. Devak looked stony and Indrajit unfazed. “That’s why we came here. To help you win this war. We have great powers, Rao and I. The dogs expect they’re going to conquer us now that their Haizzem has come. We have other plans.” His uncle glanced at the rajah, but Devak’s eyes remained trained on Aayu.

“Did our commanders survive?” Indrajit asked.

“Sir,” Rao’s face lost all traces of light, “Zakhil did not. The rest did.”

A quiet followed. Indrajit spoke again, “In the south, we met a not insubstantial force. All of them were killed, to the last. We took one prisoner: their Strategos.”

Rao regained some color. “That is incredible news, General.”

“This was almost a disaster,” his father said. “Isn’t it a good thing, General, that Rao did what he did?”

“I suppose it was.”

“It was,” Aayu added.

Rao’s eyes softened as he spoke to his father, “I believe we are in the right moral position. This gives us true strength. Look at what happened today. Instead of losing everything, we captured their Strategos instead. Our good karma favors us.”

“We were lucky,” Indrajit took a step toward Rao and Aayu and raised an outstretched finger. “They are more desperate than ever. Your moral high ground instills a false sense of security. We must keep a step ahead of them—not rest on false hopes. What do you think our ancestors thought before a Haizzem destroyed them? I’ll tell you—it didn’t matter.”

“Rao, what would you suggest?” his father’s question was like a command.

“I have two ideas. The first is that we continue to defend ourselves as before. We still have the same advantages as always, and I believe I can counterbalance their Haizzem.”

“And his sister,” Aayu added. “Rao and I fought both of the royal children today and we won.”

“Yes,” Rao said as his face became more animated, “and if we can continue to hold them off, they might agree to leave the valley. If even their Haizzem can’t achieve victory, we might be able to convince them their war is unwinnable. We also have their Strategos as a bargaining chip.”

“You expect sensibility from an insane people,” Indrajit stepped even closer, and Rao lowered his arms to his sides. “You also assume you’ll be able to neutralize this Haizzem. You intend to let them dictate the terms of engagement. You would give them the freedom to scheme against us as they did today. Don’t let your early luck go to your head.”

“What’s your other idea, Rao?” his father held his fist against his lips, considering something.

“Father, General, maybe we could entirely avoid the fighting on a grand scale. We could make a proposition I don’t think they would refuse. Tell them I will fight their Haizzem, alone. If I win, they must go back to Rezzia. If he wins …” Rao looked each of them in the eyes before continuing, “They can take our citadel.”

Chapter 32: A Dream Between Dreams

LUCIA LIT EVERY CANDLE in the room, leaning close to each flame until the smell of wax and gardenia splashed some color onto her grey soul. The ritual provided distraction from the storm in her mind. With ten candles burning alone, she lay in her bed and imagined a simpler life with Ilario beside her.

Her eyelids closed drowsily. She bolted upright and opened her eyes wide.
Please, not yet.
She walked around the circular yurt with disgust simmering in her stomach, hoping she hadn’t drifted off to another nightmare.

Servants had already cleaned and polished her sword and armor, but from out of the corner of her eye she saw blood dripping off the white blade.

No!
She stared at the blade and it turned white again.
Is there nowhere you won’t haunt?

As the thought echoed in her head she heard a man’s voice through the doors. “Your Grace, Ilario is here to see you.”

She sat at the edge of her bed, facing the door, and dangled her legs. “Tell him to come in.”

Ilario arrived with a warm, weary smile. “I hope I am not disturbing you.”

“Of course not. It’s good to see you.”

He had changed into casual clothing. His rope belt framed his waist and helped to highlight his firm stomach and thighs. He lifted the chair by the desk with one arm and sat in front of her. Though his legs shook nervously, is sharp brown eyes looked relaxed as he gave her his attention.

She breathed a deep breath to calm her heart.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t come sooner. The warpriests were healing Caio. He’s in bed now. He actually ordered me to come see you.”

“How is he?”

“He told me to tell you not to worry and said he’s feeling much better.”

“Thank the gods,” she said.
Most of them.

With his elbows on his bulging thighs, Ilario formed a fist and cupped it with his other hand. “I’ll never doubt them again after what I saw today.”

“I’m still seeing it, still feeling it.” She ran one hand slowly over her hair, from her forehead down to her shoulders, feeling her body shake weakly as she remembered those awful sensations. “I can’t thank you enough.”

He spit out a grunt of disbelief. “You can thank Lord Sansone.”

“You were brave. I was powerless.” She heard the disgust in her voice.

“I’ve never experienced anything so evil.” He stood up, shaking his head and body as if throwing off a spirit. “I don’t understand why the gods allow Pawelon to remain standing against us. What kind of pact have they made, and with what sort of entities?”

“I can’t pretend to understand our own gods, much less Pawelon’s dark magic.”

“I understand that this has all been very difficult for you,” he said.

Don’t cry.
“Their prince has his mind set on me. He’s found me twice.” She fought off queasy sensations in her belly. “I’m sorry. You’ve caught me at a terrible time.”

“Lucia, as we rode back, my heart pleaded for another chance to defeat their prince and his ally, but in this world—not theirs. I will
defend your honor.”

She felt expansion in her chest, a gentle sensation. “I may not want to see more dead, but their prince can be tortured for all I care.” Lucia looked up at the round ceiling and let out an exasperated breath. “Do I even sound sane? I mean overall.”

“Yes.”

A genuine smile stretched across his face, giving her all she needed—all her traumas and fears dissolved by his love, for one glorious moment.

“It’s good to know I have some ability as an actress. Faking my moods seems to be the greatest part of my duty.” A sudden wind blew against the walls of the yurt. “Come sit by me?”

Ilario stopped his nervous fidgeting and came across to sit at her left.

Lucia breathed deeply, savoring his clean-smelling aroma.

“I’m worried about you, Lucia. What’s going to happen when you visit Lord Danato?”

Her mind froze. She looked at him, making sure he was real. “I’m not dreaming, am I?”

“What do you mean?”

She shook her head once. “Something evil. I’ll tell you all that I know.” She took a long pause, staring at a dark red spot on the rug. “After we enter his realm, we’ll each face one of our deepest fears. It will be up to Lord Danato to decide what happens next.”

“But there is no chance of anything good. Even I know that.”

“Some good perhaps.”

“Even if he helps you, his aid will be tainted with some kind of tragedy.”

“So the warpriests would say.”

“I don’t want you to do this.” Ilario took her hand in his. His large almond eyes softened even more.

“There are many things I haven’t told you, Ilario. If you knew everything about me, you would understand just how much I
don’t
want to do this.”

“Tell me what’s bothering you. I’ll listen.”

Lucia pressed her fingers into her forehead, looking down and wishing she could say more. She leaned her body closer to his, allowing him to press fully against her. With an arm like a tree, he wrapped her up and provided an oasis of affection.

Don’t cry.

She laid her cheek upon his wide shoulders, staring at Ysa’s armor.

He reached his arms around her and rocked her gently. Seconds later, her nose itched at the coming of tears. She let her weight fall against him. Her chest pressed into the furnace of his warrior frame. Lucia wanted to relinquish her tight hold on everything raging in her mind and heart. Instead she unleashed tears in controlled waves, one torrent after another.     

He lay back and eased her body down, letting her rest on him. He kissed the top of her head, as her chest lurched with uneven breaths. Eventually her crying stopped, though she’d hardly dipped into the well.

“Can you stay?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“Good. I will tell you what you can touch and see.” She lifted herself and studied Ilario’s patient face. He seemed peaceful, ready for anything. “Only half of my body, to symbolize that until our love is sanctified by my father and Tiberio, it is not full and complete.”

Lucia came off the bed and stood before him, unfastening the buttons on her long skirt, beneath which she was naked. Her loose blouse remained over her chest, and her long black gloves ran under its sleeves. The dress fell to the floor. Ilario came up sideways on one elbow. She turned just enough to give him another view of her figure. With one hand she pushed him onto his back again. She climbed onto the bed and knelt beside him. With her eyes trained on his, she untied the belt around his waist.

Chapter 33: The Hazards of Love

THE ELITE GUARDS stepped aside. Rao viewed his chamber and he remembered how lucky he was to have been born a prince, to be granted private quarters while most soldiers had so little comfort. He was also able to share it with his love. Narayani’s presence meant so much to him now, more than he would have expected.