“Poor, brave girl. I cannot unmake all the horrors you have suffered, but I promise you a new home with my family. I came here hoping to find Kuwari a suitable play-companion, and here he’s had one all along.”
Hope fluttered in Enkara’s heart. “I can stay and protect Kuwari?”
The king laughed. “From this point on, I dearly hope it will be more play than protecting, but, yes, once you are older, you will be his Blade as Ishtar clearly intends.”
Regent Ahassunu lowered the still struggling cub. As soon as his paws hit the floor, he was scrambling across the floor to Enkara’s side. He pawed at her legs and cried to be picked up, but she didn’t think she could actually lift him and she hesitated to show vulnerability in front of all these strangers.
Then Kuwari issued a high pitched, plaintive cry, the emotions flowing down their mental link told her he thought her hesitation was a rejection and he didn’t understand the reason. Enkara would never willingly hurt the only bright spark in the years of darkness she’d suffered. Dropping to her knees, she wrapped her arms around the cub and buried her face in the soft fur and feathers that covered his body.
She started to sob. Kuwari purred, sending visions of them playing and training together at some point in the future. While she fought to halt the flood of tears, a large hand settled on her shoulder.
“There is no shame in tears, little warrior. And you need not fear that I’ll ever take Kuwari from you—he’d never allow such a thing anyway.” King Ditanu’s tone was filled with warmth and humor. “However, it is past Kuwari’s bedtime. I’m sure he’d be much reassured if Ishtar’s newest Blade would stay and oversee his protection.”
Enkara squared her shoulders and beamed at the king. He wouldn’t be disappointed.
“There is just one other thing we need to discuss.” The king’s expression had turned serious. “As I understand it, in the seven months since you were freed, you’ve been using Enkara, but it’s not your true name?”
“I’m Enkara.”
The king sighed and rubbed his chin. “I’m not saying that you aren’t, but it’s not the name you were born with, is it?”
She frowned at her feet. She hated the name she’d been born with. It belonged to a weak girl child who’d never been able to escape her cell. She’d taken the name ‘Enkara’ because it meant ‘Weapon’ which was what she wanted to become.
“Zakiti. That’s the name I was given at birth. She’s dead. I’m Enkara now.” She locked eyes with the king and dared him to say otherwise.
King Ditanu rubbed thoughtfully at his chin again. “Very well. You are Enkara, Kuwari’s protector.”
Kuwari seemed to think his father’s words were meant for him and raised his head from Enkara’s side to blink up at the tall male. Father and son stared at each other in silence for long moments, then Ditanu blinked and gave his head a shake as if he was trying to dispel droplets of water—or as Enkara thought more likely, dispersing the wispy bits of a vision.
King Ditanu’s gaze returned to Enkara.
“You should be careful of him. I fear my cub is spoiled. If given half a chance, he’ll run roughshod over you like he does everyone else. He pretty much shouted that you are ‘his weapon’ and he’ll never be parted from you.”
Even after seven months, Enkara wasn’t comfortable showing emotion around others, but this time she smiled openly. “He did?”
Although now that she thought about it, King Ditanu must be correct. Each time they’d communicated, Kuwari always began with a swift image of a long dagger.
“Yes.” The king looked down upon his son in some secret bemusement.
Kuwari continued to purr his happiness as his mind touched hers. For the first time in her life, words formed in her mind instead of images.
Enkara. My Blade. Mine.
Yes, she agreed.
Kuwari continued to purr long after they were led away to the nursery.
BLADE’S HONOR
ISHTAR’S LEGACY BOOK 2
LISA BLACKWOOD
Prologue
(Sixteen years after the events of Ishtar’s Blade)
Enheduana hurried down the musty corridor as she made her way to the hidden temple deep below the palace. She was running late after having to take a longer way when a servant had been cleaning the seldomly used room that housed a secret entrance to these older tunnels.
It was imperative that she hide her presence and destination from even a simple servant. Several of the king’s elite Shadow Guard regularly bribed the servants for information about various nobles and to be notified of anything that looked out of place. Spies for the king could be anywhere.
After the failed coup and assassination attempt sixteen years ago, nowhere in the kingdom of New Sumer was safe for Ereshkigal’s servants. But that would soon change if they stayed faithful to the cause and didn’t fail the Queen of the Underworld.
When she reached the temple, at last, she found her two accomplices had already arrived ahead of her. She didn’t acknowledge them, instead going to the altar and honoring Ereshkigal with a prayer.
“We’re going to need far more than prayers if we have any hope of delivering Prince Kuwari to our goddess.”
Enheduana turned from the altar and glowered at the speaker. She had never really liked Balathu, not his narrow-shouldered frame, not his piercing whine, or plentiful complaints. Even as he stood there just breathing, he annoyed her.
Unfortunately, he and his servant, Enusat, were the only agents of the goddess that she’d been able to bring into the city without raising suspicions.
“Balathu, there is still hope of success. We need only bide our time for a little while longer.” And by the grace of Ereshkigal, avoid a disaster like what that overconfident fool Ziyatum and his equally short-sighted daughter had put into motion all those years ago.
Balathu huffed out a sound of disbelief. “Hope? What hope? The goddess’ Blade has been lost—most likely discovered and killed in the fall of Kalhu. We lost so much when Ditanu and his Blade ransacked that great city-state. Then he doled out the remains of the city to those loyal to him. That blow weakened us. It will be years before we can proceed with the plan.”
Enheduana glanced sidelong at Balathu and wondered yet again how one so inept could have been gifted with one of the Queen of the Underworld’s most potent talents. The ability to mask one’s true thoughts and motives from the King’s Shadows was an exceedingly rare gift, and Balathu just happened to possess it.
There was no doubt of the strength of his talent. He tested it daily as he pretended to be one of Ishtar’s own priests.
Too bad the talent hadn’t gifted him with charisma or an agile mind.
Sighing, she didn’t show any of her internal thoughts. “I’m quite certain Ereshkigal’s Blade isn’t dead.”
“You think she is still alive and in hiding?”
Isn’t that what I just said? Enheduana reined in the bite of annoyance and said, “Alive yes. Though not in hiding. She’s been out in the open all these years.”
She could see Balathu still wasn’t getting her meaning. “Have you not seen the similarities between how King Ditanu protected his true mate and Blade, Iltani, by hiding her away on the training island of New Assur until she matured, and how Kuwari and his childhood friend, Enkara, are following the same path? I think they know Enkara is a Blade and they’re just waiting for her magic to wake before revealing that fact.”
“It’s too obvious,” Balathu said as his brows scrunched.
“Only because we know there is a second Blade. None but Ereshkigal’s loyal servants know there is a second. No one else would ever dream there would be more than one Blade at a time.”
“I hope you’re correct for I don’t know how we’ll ever deliver Prince Kuwari to our Queen without the Blade’s help.”
“I am correct. Trust in that. And if we can use the new Blade to force Kuwari’s hand, all the better.” She paused and looked around, spearing first Balat
hu and then his servant with a stern look. “But I’m not placing all my hopes on one plan. I’ve set into motion a secondary one that will make Prince Kuwari come with us willingly if our Blade isn’t yet strong enough to do it on her own.”
“Willingly?”
Was she talking to a parrot? “Yes. Kuwari will go willingly into our goddess’ embrace if it’s the only way to save all those he loves.”
“You mean to use the plague mist?” Enusat said, speaking for the first time. Balathu’s servant rarely spoke, not because he was lacking in wit—Enheduana was sure it was the opposite. He liked to think upon a topic and be assured of his footing before verbalizing his thoughts.
Not for the first time she wished that Enusat was the priest and Balathu the novice.
“I see your way of thinking,” Enusat continued. “It would be much safer for all if the Blade can be brought to bear first. Releasing a plague is much riskier, too hard to control or predict where it will spread.”
“Yes,” Enheduana agreed. “Before we do anything, I will summon an Anunnaki and have him confirm what we already suspect. Even if Enkara is Ereshkigal’s Blade, we can’t be certain she will fall into line with our plans without a guiding nudge.”
“She might have her own agenda, you mean,” Enusat speculated thoughtfully while he picked at a loose thread on his robe.
“There is that possibility. However, she will still answer to our goddess’ call. Of that I am sure. In the meantime, we will work to discover all we can about Enkara the foundling but be cautious. The King’s Shadows are suspicious and even more protective after what happened sixteen years ago.”
The two males agreed and then departed the temple by separate ways. Later, they would emerge in different parts of the city. For now, Enheduana knew Ereshkigal’s servants must skulk in the shadows, but if they were successful with their plan, soon they would be able to worship the Queen of the Underworld openly, as their ancestors did more than five thousand years ago.
The Queen of the Underworld was patient. Enheduana reminded herself she must be as well. What was a season or even a turning of the seasons compared to thousands of years?
It was nothing in the grand scheme of creation.
Chapter 1
Dawn was still a far-off thought, and Enkara would have been sleeping if the softest of footsteps in the sand outside her tent hadn’t stirred her to wakefulness moments before. Sleep hadn’t entirely retreated, and she already had a blade in her hand. Instinct and close to four years of her mentor’s most brutal training had turned her into a light sleeper.
It wouldn’t be the first time either Burrukan, or one of the other instructors, had come upon her in the dead of night to test her readiness to take up her duty to protect those of the royal line.
Burrukan claimed she needed to be ready to defeat assassins at any time, even half asleep. Enkara silently freed herself from the thin blanket covering her body but kept the blade itself hidden under her pillow so the assailant wouldn’t see a betraying glint in some stray moonbeam.
Not that this assailant was an actual assassin, or one of her Shadow instructors either, for that matter. No, now that she was awake, she knew this assailant. Since an early age, Ishtar, Mother Goddess of the Gryphons and Queen of Heaven, had blessed Enkara with the gift of sensing the whereabouts of all the blood-members of the royal line. Presently, there was a gryphon of royal blood trying to sneak into her tent unseen.
She only knew one gryphon of royal blood foolish enough to sneak away from his bodyguards for a night flight to the training island of New Assur.
Enkara fought to keep her mind calm as if still deeply asleep.
The rebellious idiot. He was practically begging to get himself assassinated. Well, last time, she’d warned him if he tried such a stunt again, she’d give him a sound thrashing for his trouble. That time, he’d only laughed, saying she’d never followed through with any of her threats in the years he’d known her.
And he was correct. In the four years she’d been on the island of New Assur to complete her training to become Ishtar’s Avenging Blade, he’d found ways to escape his guards no less than ten times to come visit her. Not once had she followed through on her threats when he sought her out.
Outside her tent, the footsteps had stopped. A moment later the fabric rustled as he untied the closures. She kept her eyes closed and remained still as he ducked inside the tent. More soft footsteps told her he was moving closer. When he was within striking distance, she sprang into motion, leaping from the bed and was upon him before he could react.
She twisted in the air, swiping at his lower legs with her own.
While he was off balance, she planted her hands on his shoulders and rode him to the ground. She was careful that his head didn’t collide with anything on the way down. After all, she only wished to hurt his pride, not his person.
His body slammed into the rugs covering her tent’s floor, and his breath escaped him in a huff of surprise. While he was still stunned, she locked her left hand around his right wrist and forced his arm above his head. Her other hand pressed the edge of her blade to his neck. She was ready to pull it away if he moved so much as a hair’s breadth.
Accidentally killing the heir to the throne and her only childhood friend wasn’t on today’s list of activities either.
She lowered her head until she was nearly nose to nose with the gryphon prince. “Kuwari, if you’d been an assassin, you’d be dead right now.”
The open tent flap allowed just enough starlight into the interior to see the flash of his white teeth as he grinned up at her. “It’s good I’m not an assassin, then, isn’t it?”
Prince Kuwari didn’t sound the least bit perturbed or mortified by his swift defeat.
Hmmm. That was never good. Neither was the second flash of teeth.
“Kuwari, what are you doing here?” She tried for stern and mature, like the tone she’d heard High Priestess Kammani use on the council members when a session got out of hand.
“I missed you,” he said, his voice soft and unguarded.
Her frown vanished. The four years of separation required for her training on New Assur hadn’t been easy for her either. She and Kuwari had been inseparable from the day they first met in person until Burrukan had spirited her away for the final phase of her training on the remote island of New Assur where all the king’s elite Shadows guards were trained.
The distance had also limited their ability to communicate through their unique mental link, forcing them to use images and emotions more than actual words like they’d done when Kuwari was still a cub.
He’d just turned sixteen when she’d been packed off to New Assur. Kuwari had taken their separation hard. But the previous four years had changed them both. During that time Kuwari had grown into a man and would soon be a fully trained governing prince, but he would always be her dearest friend.
But that didn’t mean she’d go easier on him. “You are an idiot. Burrukan’s going to tan your princely ass for this.”
Kuwari shrugged, the small shift of his body under hers drove her earlier thoughts right out of her head. “Oh, by the Goddess—!”
“I see you’ve missed me, too,” Kuwari said and shifted underneath her again. He couldn’t move much, not with her body straddling his and her weight pinning him to the ground, but it didn’t stop him from speaking. “Should I assume our Great Goddess Ishtar has finally awakened your full power? And that she wants us to perform the Sacred Marriage as our first official act?”
Enkara had only worn a light-weight shift to bed, and by the feel of Kuwari’s muscular thighs trapped between her knees, he was wearing even less than her. With a curse, she rolled to her feet. She maintained her grip on Kuwari’s wrist and hauled him up as well.
When he was on his feet, she dropped his hand like it burned and turned her back on him.
“Why are you running around New Assur naked? If Burrukan catches you, he’ll use your pale backside as a target before
he tans your ass.” Not that Enkara knew if Kuwari’s backside was paler than the rest of his delicious olive-brown skin. After he’d grown to manhood, she’d done her best to avoid noticing Kuwari wasn’t still the boy she’d grown up with. Of course, every time he’d seen her awkwardness, he’d go out of his way to make it impossible not to notice him more. Like now.
“Circumstances didn’t give me time to pack a satchel before I made my escape. Besides, I fly faster without the weight of supplies.”
Kuwari’s laugh sounded far too intimate in the confines of her small tent. She scowled at him in the darkness, knowing he could probably see better in the gloom than she could. A full-blooded gryphon had a few tactical advantages over a half-blood with human heritage.
Her scowl deepened. Some days she highly doubted her gryphon heritage and wondered if her mother had strayed and some unknown human man was actually her father.
By the goddess, she was twenty-four summers old and couldn’t even shapeshift yet!
Enkara jerked the blanket off her bed and tossed it in Kuwari’s general direction.
She was rewarded by his huff of surprise. Huh. He hadn’t seen that coming. Good. A smile tugged at her lips as she made her way to a small, backless chair and grabbed the candle and striker she’d left there.
Once the candle was burning, she set it on the stool and then turned to face the younger prince. Her fists naturally planted themselves on her hips. “Naked is one thing. Weaponless is another matter altogether. Have you no care what your death would do to your parents?”
And to me?
“There was no danger,” Kuwari said as he fussed with the blanket, folding it in half and then tying it at one hip all without glancing up at her.
“No danger?! There is always danger.”
“Not this time.” Kuwari finished securing his impromptu robe and then looked up, opened his arms wide, and waited for her to answer his silent summons.
Queen of the Gryphons: Ishtar's Legacy: Books 1 & 2 Page 28
