"He and I disagree often. It's massively entertaining, dear heart. I'm sure you'll enjoy it. But what matters is your relationship with him. Your husband is here for a very specific reason. He is one of the fiercest warriors and leaders. That is the entire reason your marriage was arranged to him. You both need one another."
A heaviness settled in Amelia's chest. Shon's kiss, his taste, the feeling of being with him was so vivid in her mind. There couldn't be anyone else. But if she was married…was that even possible? To a Neyeb? "What's his name?"
"You don't look happy. I understand how troubling this must be for you. After what you shared with the Awdawm, you're probably wondering if you could ever feel that way about another. And while that's understandable, it is nothing for you to worry about. Neyeb bond quickly and deeply. When your elmis are primed, it can take minutes. And fortunately for you, you have not connected with this Awdawm fully. You and your true husband will get along fine. At least, so long as you cooperate."
"Or what? You'll kill him?" Amelia stepped farther back. His words were only making her more confused.
"He'll suffer a fate worse than death. He'll be denied the woman he is meant to be with. This isn't just a matter of want, Amelia. This is duty. This is what Neyeb do. If you want to succeed, if you want to accomplish anything that matters, you must help him."
Amelia stuck her thumb in the book and closed it. "Why do you have this book with you? Do you just walk around with The Complete Guide of Races?"
The smile on WroOth's face spread. "No, dear heart. I knew you were somewhere around here. I went to fetch you for breakfast, and I was quite surprised to find someone else in your bed. Not in a salacious way though. All the better for you. Your husband is something of a jealous sort."
"And you knew I would be down here?" Amelia continued to back away. She didn't know if she believed him, and she had been tricked too many times. Something about his story was too bizarre to be false. "What are you really up to, WroOth?"
"What happened to that sweet trusting girl who wanted to ride a winged horse? I miss her." WroOth frowned though he still smiled.
You shattered her, Amelia thought. But she couldn't bring herself to say the words. "She grew up."
WroOth nodded, his expression softening. "She still has to have breakfast though, and while we're standing here talking, it's getting cold. I could tell you about your husband if you like. Give you some clues so you can find him."
"I'm not going with you." Amelia stepped away, her tone stronger. If you want me to find my husband, then tell me what I need to know right now."
"Or what? You'll run up to Naatos and demand he give you your husband?" WroOth's eyes twinkled. "Come on, Amelia. You know how this works. If I'm going to help you, you're going to amuse me. Now, you have to eat. Unless you snuck into the kitchens, you haven't had anything to eat since yesterday."
Amelia backed farther away. "Is this what Naatos was going to tell me? Is what you didn't want him to tell me until today?"
"That was part of it." Mirth danced in WroOth's eyes, all the brighter now. "Don't you want to meet your husband?"
"WroOth, what are you doing?" Naatos demanded from behind Amelia.
Amelia jumped. She hadn't even heard him walk up behind her.
"Talking to Amelia." WroOth nodded toward her. "We were just discussing her situation. I do believe she has something she wants to tell you."
"Do you?" Naatos folded his arms, studying her. "And what would that be? An apology perhaps for failing to inform me that you are Inale?"
Amelia glared at him. "I am the Third Nalenth," she said. "And I will destroy you both."
"Oh, that's not it." WroOth grabbed her by the arms. "I told her about her husband. And now we are going to go learn all about him."
Amelia swatted him, but Naatos's eyes narrowed. "Are you bored, WroOth?" he asked.
"A little."
Amelia shoved WroOth. "Stay away from me!" She turned back to Naatos. "And I didn't know that I was married. As far as I'm concerned, I'm not. So using ‘my husband’ against me isn't going to work. You will gain nothing from me by tormenting him."
Naatos's eyebrow arched. "I highly doubt I would use him against you, Amelia. Particularly given the fact that I am your husband."
28
Weighed and Measured
Amelia stared at Naatos, hundreds of thoughts rattling in her mind. She opened her mouth to respond, but no words came out.
"Welcome to the family, little sister." WroOth squeezed her and stepped back. "I was hoping to take her on something of an inspirational journey leading to the grand revelation, paralleling our journey in discovering her. She seemed to enjoy exploring the idea of a split identity. I assumed you wouldn't mind."
"I do," Naatos said sharply. "I intended a different method for this revelation."
"I know." WroOth smiled. "Trust me. This one is less traumatic, and it could have been far more entertaining and smoothed out this transition. Except you don't know how to play along."
"Leave. Now." Naatos pointed toward the hall.
Amelia grabbed WroOth's arm, her fingers digging into his leather sleeve. "Oh no! You're not leaving now." As dangerous as WroOth was, she didn't want to be left with Naatos.
WroOth shook her off. "Not to worry, dear heart. You'll have to be alone with him at some point. Better sooner rather than later. I'll see you at breakfast. Enjoy."
Amelia clutched at him once more. He sidestepped her, grinned, and moved away, his footsteps fading away as he rounded the corner.
Amelia's mouth went dry, her hands cold. The awkward tension only increased when WroOth's footsteps could no longer be heard.
Naatos watched WroOth go, his jaw set. He at last turned back to her. "That was not the way I intended to tell you. Sometimes WroOth's humor can be cruel."
"Cruelty runs in your family." Amelia's chest was so tight she could barely breathe. She reached for her dagger again, but it was gone. WroOth must have taken it! "And I don't believe you're my husband. My birth parents couldn't have hated me that much."
"They didn't hate you." Naatos reached out to put his hand on her shoulder, but Amelia bolted back. "Amelia, running will do you no good. Besides, I have no desire to harm you. Not now."
"No, now you want something. Now you want to be nice. But do you really think you can go from torturing warlord to attentive husband? When we were down in that dungeon, you were willing to let me die in one of the most horrific ways imaginable."
"I did not know you were Inale." Naatos closed the distance between them. "You should have told me. I responded to you based on what I thought you were. Now that you know what you are to me, surely you can see why I would be so harsh. But more importantly I do not understand why you would rather be cast into a pit of spiders rather than tell me who you were."
"Because…it would have happened anyway. If not now, then later. And I am not going to make you stronger." Amelia stepped back. "You'd have just found some other torture to inflict on me to make me cooperate. But it doesn't matter. I will not help you restore the Tue-Rah. I will kill you." She drew herself up as tall as she could. "I will do nothing to help you."
"It troubles me how little you understand about even the core nature of your people, Amelia," Naatos said, his tone somewhere between scornful, annoyed, and pitying. "Killing is a serious matter for Neyeb. Not even the Neyeb armed forces were able to kill with much regularity, particularly not in a form that creates contact. That's why they had brute allies, hired swordsmen, and other sell forces. Only one in a thousand Neyeb can ever successfully kill if he can see his victim."
"Then I am one in a thousand." Amelia's chest constricted even further. Naatos exuded a pressure that suffocated her, but she couldn't let him know that.
Naatos raised an eyebrow. "You believe that you are one in a thousand?"
"I am the Third Nalenth. If I had been betting on that, my odds would have been even worse. There are only three Nalenths in all of creatio
n, and only one is a Neyeb. And maybe we should calculate the odds about the likelihood of the Tue-Rah taking me away, letting me grow up, and then bringing me back here. Seems to me like we're talking about infinitesimally small odds, so forgive me if I think a thousand to one actually sounds good. I can and I will kill."
Naatos stared at her, unblinking. "Let's see about that then." He grabbed her upper arm, his thumb digging in hard. Before Amelia could object, he dragged her down the hall.
Amelia winced, pried at his hand, and fought him, but it made no difference. He kept going as if she weighed nothing. Her feet skidded on the floor. "Let go."
Naatos banged the door to the common room open. "The Third Nalenth wants to show off her killing skills. Come and witness her ferocity."
AaQar looked up from the table, setting a book aside. A frown creased his white brow. "Naatos…" He stood. "What are you doing?"
WroOth appeared equally surprised. He lowered the puzzle box. "In what state of mind is that even remotely a good idea?"
Amelia struggled to free herself. Even with gloves on, his grip didn't move. "I said 'let go!'"
"The Third Nalenth says she can kill," Naatos said. "Let's see her do it."
Amelia jerked back and flung herself against him. Her arm knocked against the hunting dagger at his side. Amelia seized the dagger and plunged it in his side. "I said, 'let go of me.'"
"Amelia!" Naatos roared. He ripped the dagger out and flung it at the wall, then dragged her in front of him. He seized her by both shoulders and lifted her off the ground. "If you are so eager to show your killing techniques, I will give you the opportunity."
Amelia glared at him. "Put me down."
Naatos glared back at her, then flung her over his shoulder.
Twisting forward over his shoulder, Amelia grabbed his spear and beat him with it. "Let me down!" She gritted her teeth. How could he be this impervious to harm?
Naatos took his spear from her.
Amelia pounded his back with her fists, struggling to set him off balance with her legs.
"Naatos, this is not going to end well," AaQar said, following them.
"No, but I can't wait to see how it ends," WroOth said.
Naatos kept walking, carrying her past the Great Hall and into the courtyard. He cast an order to two Talbokians on the way out, demanding that they bring three of the traitors to the courtyard.
Polfradon's open-air courtyard was built with the same red stones. They had been well cleaned, despite their generally rugged exteriors. The central dais had a sandstone inlay.
Naatos strode up the broad staircase and set her down. Crude stakes had been pounded into the end of the dais, the stones crumbled and crushed around the base, and ropes were coiled down on the stone floor.
Amelia's heart clenched. Was he going to make her kill Shon and Matthu? That she couldn't do. A sick feeling rose within her, made all the worse by her powerlessness. She moved away from him, double his arm's length. "What are we doing here?"
"Making a mistake." AaQar strode to the center of the dais, glaring at his brother. "Naatos, whatever it is you think you're doing, this isn't going to help you."
"Oh, it will help significantly." Naatos telescoped the spear out. "Now what blade do you prefer? A single straight edge? Traditional? A dual cendral? Or perhaps a feathered blade?" As he mentioned each one, he brought the blade into form on the spear. Each of the runes appeared to be a blade of some kind.
Amelia swallowed, trying to calm herself. Stabbing him hadn't done anything. Shooting him hadn't worked. Neither had blunt force. Not that she had gotten much in. She was almost embarrassed at how desperate she had become. And what game was he playing here?
Six of the Talbokians appeared from one of the sets of double doors, a prisoner between each pair. Each prisoner had a burlap bag over his head, loosely knotted with rope. They were followed by a stream of black and green clad soldiers.
Amelia kept her arms folded tight over her chest, panic growing within her. Whatever the Salvation of the Third Nalenth was, she needed it. And now she needed another miracle. If he wanted to break her, all he had to do was try to make her kill Shon and Matthu.
"Now tell me. What have you used in the past to kill?" Naatos asked.
Amelia met his gaze, keeping her face blank.
"I only ask because I'm assuming you would not be so arrogant as to believe you could kill someone without at least testing that assumption," Naatos said.
It was a test. Obviously. Perhaps she could find a way out of this. Amelia lifted her chin. "I prefer a single straight spearhead," she said. "Traditional, if you don’t mind. I'm not the fancy type."
"One spear is much like another." Naatos slid his hand over one of the runes, and a single straight metal spearhead formed. "But this spear might be too much for you. I'll shorten it."
Amelia looked back to the three prisoners being bound to the stakes. Height wise, it was possible that two of the three might have been Shon or Matthu. But…the bodies didn't look right. What was Naatos playing at?
The sunlight beat against her head, but the sweat on her neck, shoulders, and palms came from her nerves. She resisted the urge to bite her lip or nails, clenching her fingers instead.
"Now." Naatos thrust the spear into her hands. "If you stab me or my brothers with this, I will drag your Ayamin friends up here and rip out their throats in front of you."
That meant that Shon and Matthu were not among the three prisoners. Relief washed through Amelia. "All right. I won't stab you or your brothers. What do you want me to do?" She turned the spear over in her hands. Naatos's adjustment had made it only a little taller than she.
"You will kill one of the prisoners," Naatos said.
"Naatos…" AaQar remained behind them, his voice sterner than before.
Naatos waved him back. "Whenever you're ready, Amelia." He signaled the mercenaries nearest the prisoners.
The bags were removed from the men's heads. Sweat and dirt lined their faces. They all looked down at the stone, wincing at the sunlight.
"It shouldn't be difficult," Naatos said. "These men were due to be executed anyway for various crimes." He walked behind her. "However, all three were involved in the conquest of Telhetum. And all three were personally involved in the executions of members of the palace. These men, regardless of their crimes against my cause, are your enemies. You may kill one any time you're ready."
This was it.
Amelia turned the spear in her hands, feeling its weight as she focused on the prisoners. The wind blew against her face. A brief thought intruded, suggesting how ridiculous she looked, standing there barefoot in her enemy's tunic with a spear that had had to be shortened for her.
Thrusting that thought aside, Amelia blinked and focused on the closest prisoner. A faint scar cut across his chin. His brownish-blond hair was greasy and unkempt.
But then he looked up at her, and she met his gaze with far more directness than she intended.
Everything faded, and all became silent. Images flashed in Amelia's mind, overlaying the courtyard. The prisoner, no longer bound and wounded, swung a child in a pale-blue shift in the air. He kissed a woman with thick blond braids. A small house appeared in the southern Talbokian mountains.
Amelia's heart clenched, cramping harder. This was his life appearing before her. His memories. They carried on, some beautiful, others horrid. The palace in Telhetum appeared with the bodies of the dead courtiers. Then once more the little girl and the woman, his daughter and wife.
Amelia averted her gaze and sought the balance point of the spear. Her grip faltered.
Tears misted her eyes. Emotions, not her own, slipped around her thoughts. Though she tightened her hold on the spear, more memories and emotions flooded in each time she looked at the man.
"When I said 'any time you're ready,' I meant preferably within the next few minutes." Naatos set his hand on her shoulder, leaning closer. "Of course, if you can't—"
Amelia strugg
led to swallow the knot of emotions now brimming within her. They only intensified when she looked back at the man. Turning, Amelia slammed the spear shaft back into his hands. "I don't do tricks on command. I'll kill when I have to, but I don't kill to make a point."
Naatos grabbed her face. "You do not kill because you cannot. Don't think you can fool me. I see straight through you, Amelia. And do not ever challenge my authority again." He hurled the spear through the air, spitting the man through the chest.
Amelia clapped her hand over her mouth in horror. A stabbing spasm of agony and terror sliced through her. The stench of blood filled the air, and she swayed. The man's last gasps echoed in her mind, his terror evaporating with a final gasp.
"Naatos." AaQar's voice sharpened. "A word." He walked to the end of the dais.
Amelia remained where she was, staring at the man's lifeless corpse. WroOth put his hand on her shoulder. "As far as failures go, not being able to kill someone really isn't that great a failing."
"But it's what I'm supposed to do." Amelia couldn't make her body move. She was the Third Nalenth. A killer. An executioner. A monster. That was the whole point of who she was. What she had lived in terror of her entire life. Every new piece of information she had uncovered since her arrival had weakened rather than strengthened her. Where was the blood curse now? What had happened?
"Elonumato has made mistakes before," WroOth said. "It's part of the reason we have taken matters into our own hands."
"Amelia." Naatos motioned toward the dead body. "Get the spear. You might not be able to kill with one, but you can at least clean it."
AaQar shook his head, his expression tightening with exasperation. He resumed speaking to Naatos in a hushed voice.
Amelia's cheeks burned, and the muscles in her shoulders tightened.
WroOth sighed. "Alas. Perhaps my greatest crime is that I stole all the charm in this family."
Amelia started toward the spear, her steps shaky. The sinking sensation in her stomach increased with each breath. This was wrong. Completely and entirely wrong.
Identity Revealed: The Tue-Rah Chronicles Page 26
