Who would have thought that such an innocent length of fabric would have everyone’s minds going in the wrong direction? But if it would protect his and Asharru’s secret for a little while longer, he’d let people think what they would.
“Nutesh,” the male bit out. “Tell her Nutesh was here and that I’d like to have a word with her later if she has the time.”
He said it like it explained his right to come to the future queen’s chambers and expect an audience.
The male looked around, drew himself up and then addressed Tirigan once more. “I have some business to attend to now, but I look forward to Asharru’s summons.”
Not going to happen, Tirigan thought darkly. At least not until he’d regained his ability to read others.
Goddess, please let me have retained that gift. It is the best weapon I have in my arsenal. How can I protect my future queen without it?
Because as much as it displeased him to discover he was indeed a slave again, just to a goddess this time, he still planned to protect Asharru with every fiber of his being.
Once Nutesh was escorted from the chambers, Kuri returned. “Sorry about that. Nutesh is the son of Councilor Ekurzakir and as far as the Kingdom of New Sumer is aware—Asharru’s choice for the Trial Year.”
“Trial year?” Something dark rose within Tirigan. “Asharru didn’t mention she was hand-tied to some noble for the next year.”
Kuri looked him up and down and then glanced at her brother. They did that silent, non-verbal communication thing they’d seemed to have mastered, and then Kuri whistled. “You move fast. Or was that Asharru’s gryphon who moved fast?”
Tirigan glowered. “Why does everyone think Asharru’s gryphon just suddenly took over and had her way with me? It is not what you think.”
“What you and she do is no business of mine,” Kuri said with a shrug. “As for Nutesh, you don’t need to worry about him. They aren’t hand-fastened for a trial year yet. He was just the least annoying of the nobles she picked as a prospective male she might agree to enter into a trial year with to keep the council off her back for a few weeks while she got her bearings at court. But now that she has you, I doubt she’ll be tying herself to anyone else.”
“It. Is. Not. What. You. Think.”
So, Asharru hadn’t entered into an agreement with the noble yet? That pleased Tirigan more than it should. In fact, he should have been rejoicing at the thought of Asharru already matched with a respectable male.
Just then the beaded curtain rattled as a big gryphon exited the bedchamber and headed directly for him. She ignored the guards and servants and paced up to him, where she proceeded to circle him and gently tugged on his cloak.
He knew what she was after and she wasn’t thinking with her human side. Now was not the time to reveal the mark of Ishtar. But then her beak shoved into his side, and she dragged in a deep breath, her feathered cheek rubbing against his skin.
Unable to help himself, he started to laugh and pushed her head away with some effort. She was strong but allowed him to re-establish his small bubble of personal space.
“Come,” he called to Kuri and Hunzuu. “There is something Asharru will want you to see.”
He started back toward Asharru’s bedchamber, the big gryphon following along behind. He tried to pretend she wasn’t stalking him, but he was pretty sure she was. As he entered the room, he spotted Laliya and Bashaa entering from one of the small side chambers that they’d claimed as their own.
He gestured them over as well. When he turned back to Asharru, it was to find her in human form, pulling a robe on. When he met her gaze, he found himself admiring her blush.
“I’m so sorry about out there. My gryphon has a mind of her own and sometimes slips my control.”
“Do not worry over it. Though, we now know why your gryphon was drawn to me in the first place.” He turned, presenting his back and then unclasped the cloak’s chain.
As the Mark of Ishtar was revealed, there was a collective inhalation of breath and then silence.
Soft, familiar footsteps came up behind him. Asharru. He would have recognized her even if his new power hadn’t allowed him to sense her approach.
“It’s fully regenerated. I had not expected that to happen for several days.” After a brief hesitation, her fingertips gently stroked down his spine, caressing the tattoo-like mark that had grown there while he’d slept.
Her touch was likely an innocent exploration, confirming to herself that it was real, but to him, it felt like the most intimate caress he’d ever received. He shuddered under her touch, and his eyes drifted closed against his will.
“Does it pain you?”
“No.” That wasn’t pain he’d felt at her touch.
She pulled her hand away. “Ah, yes. The site of the mark is sensitive for many Blades.”
Sensitive was a pale, weak word for what he’d felt as her fingers stroked down his spine. She might as well have been stroking her fingers down his—
“This changes so much,” she said as she came around to stand in front of him, unaware of his thoughts, which was for the best.
Lust was a complication he didn’t need between Asharru and himself. There were already plenty of other complications.
Glancing at the four other people in the room, she nodded to each of them in turn. “Tirigan and I suspected he might be a Blade and last night we performed a very simplistic Blooding Ceremony. I had hoped he might respond, for we are in desperate need of better defenses, especially with Anunnaki involved with affairs of the living.”
Turning, Asharru started to pace slowly, her hands clasped behind her back, her head down in thought. “While it’s tempting to reveal to all New Sumer that Ishtar has sent us one of her Blades, and it would relieve many of our citizens to know she still favors us, Tirigan is yet vulnerable.”
Laliya came up to study Tirigan’s back, though she didn’t touch his mark. “I’m a bit rusty, but if I remember the scrolls correctly, he’ll need at least three blooding ceremonies before he’s able to begin calling on the more formidable powers gifted to him by Ishtar.”
“I’d settle for my old gift of reading people again,” Tirigan bit out. “It’s gone. The only person I can sense is Asharru. It’s much stronger than before. It’s like that link is eclipsing all my other senses.”
Kuri and Hunzuu exchanged a look and then shrugged, saying in their silent way that this was the realm of priests and priestesses. They soon drifted away to take up guard positions. Though they’d still be able to hear the conversation.
Asharru frowned. “It could be the swiftness with which you regenerated the mark. Your body might have diverted resources normally used to feed your other gift to speed the healing of your mark. If that is the case, your power to read others should return in a day or two.”
Nodding, he hoped that was all it was. He didn’t like being blind, not when more Anunnaki might arrive at any moment.
Chapter 21
Once again Nuannin stood before the altar of Ereshkigal in the secret temple deep below the palace. This time she wasn’t here to honor the goddess. The trip was for something far less relaxing. A talk with Councilor Ekurzakir. Her father was never one for pleasantries or relaxed conversation.
The attack hadn’t gone as planned. The Blade had survived. The Anunnaki had returned back to the underworld. And, worse, the queen wasn’t running scared and deferring to the remaining council members like they’d hoped.
In fact, she was cutting them out of her plans and keeping her own counsel. And then there were the newcomers she had somehow sneaked into the palace. She’d already named one of them Captain of the Shadows.
What kind of a name was that for a garrison company?
It had to be the Blade’s work.
Nothing had gone as planned. Plus, Nutesh was due back from a trade mission in Kalhu later today, and she needed to warn her brother about everything. Especially the Blade. They needed to take extra precautions not to come
near him. Or else they risked the Blade picking up on their plans.
They only had two medallions, and as a council member, her father needed them both to guarantee his intentions remained hidden from the Blade. Now they’d have to make stronger medallions. One for herself and her brother.
Everything would have been so much better if the Blade had died in the attack.
Footsteps approached quickly. Good, her father was here. Perhaps he had heard from one of the Anunnaki or Ereshkigal herself with their next plans. She turned toward the sound to greet him and froze.
It wasn’t her father.
Her brother stormed up to her looking angry.
“Nutesh, what are you doing here? You’re not supposed to be back until tonight.” Her words came out high and tight with concern.
“The ship’s captain said there was a storm brewing out to sea and he wanted to make the trip before it hit. But that is not why I’m here. I just came back from visiting the Crown Princess, and she had a man in her chambers. It was obvious he’s sharing her bed. Her scent was all over him. How could you and father let this happen? By Ereshkigal’s grace! I was only gone five days!”
“Goddess, be merciful,” Nuannin made a sign of protection. “You fool, did you speak with the male?”
“Only a few words. He wouldn’t even let me see her. It was obvious the male didn’t want me there.”
“Were you followed!”
“What? No. Why?”
“He’s her Blade!”
Nutesh’s mouth fell open in his surprise, but he snapped it shut a moment later and then turned toward the altar. “We must dismantle the shrine and hide it swiftly.”
“It won’t matter. The Blade will have sensed something in you. I’m surprised you’re even still breathing.” Nuannin turned in a half circle looking out toward the other darkened halls. The light of the two torches on either side of the altar didn’t provide enough light to illuminate very far into the darkness.
Were there city-guards even now gathering there, making ready to rush out and kill her and her brother? Or were they waiting to see who else showed up?
If their father came, they’d know he was in on it, and the Blade would keep digging until he found every last one of Ereshkigal’s agents.
“I wasn’t followed, and the Blade did not act like he recognized me as a danger to Asharru. He looked more like a jealous lover, then a warrior Blade.”
“That’s because Asharru had just anointed him with her blood during their first blooding ceremony. He’s power drunk, his senses blind until he recovers.” Their father emerged from one of the darkened tunnels. He wasn’t even carrying a torch with him.
“How do you know that?” Nuannin asked, only then seeing a second, taller, winged figure step into the light a moment behind her father.
“The Anunnaki told me what has transpired.” Her father’s tones were calm and even.
Their plan to overthrow Ishtar’s hold on the gryphons might still have a chance at success, no thanks to her brother’s bumbling. But now what? A blooding ceremony would only make a Blade stronger and much more capable of sniffing out his enemies.
The Anunnaki, an eagle-headed one whose very presence sent a chill down her spine, stepped closer and clacked his beak once in what might be humor or anger. It was hard to read an eagle’s expression after all.
“In her eagerness, the young Crown Princess shared too much power with her Blade, blinding his ability to detect the intentions of others for a short time.” The Anunnaki paused. “Fate was on your brother’s side. One day earlier or later and the Blade would have sensed him.”
After he’d said his piece, the large, winged protector of the afterlife made his way over to the altar to feed the tiny owl a morsel of meat from the plate Nuannin had brought with her. When he was done feeding the tiny bird, he sat it on his finger and started to scratch its head, completely ignoring the three people in the room with him.
Turning her gaze back to her father, she raised a questioning brow.
“Ereshkigal has another plan to deal with the Blade.”
Apparently, it had something to do with this Anunnaki. Though how could he help? The Blade had sensed the arrival of the others.
“He will not sense me now that I am already here.” The Anunnaki turned and placed the owl back on the altar before continuing, his words confirming he could read Nuannin’s mind.
“That is all well and good,” Nuannin countered. “But how will our plan work now that Nutesh can’t go near Asharru without risking the Blade becoming suspicious, or just jealous?”
“I shall take a suitable host, court the future queen myself and then use the host body to impregnate the female.”
Nuannin’s eyes widened. But that would mean her brother wouldn’t be the one siring the next generation of gryphon royalty like they’d planned.
Her father cleared his throat. “We will then have the queen killed, leaving the Anunnaki as the sole parent and he will raise them to honor Ereshkigal in secret. Once the cubs are old enough, they will rule the kingdom and begin to convert the nobles.”
“The queen’s death may not be required,” the Anunnaki said, his deep voice wrapping around Nuannin’s senses. “I can be very persuasive. And Ereshkigal would love if one of Ishtar’s pet gryphons becomes one of her agents.”
Nuannin’s eyebrow arched. “That is a very auspicious plan, but can you carry it out? The last one fell apart all too swiftly.”
The Anunnaki chuckled. “That was not one of my plans, I was simply coerced into helping late into the game.”
Nutesh tilted his head to scan the Anunnaki, trying to read him as well. “What makes you think you’ll be able to take a host and court the princess without the Blade being the wiser? Your other brethren couldn’t even hide their arrival from him.”
The Anunnaki clacked his beak again, this time Nuannin was pretty sure the guardian was thinking of snapping her brother’s neck.
“Because I am one of the nine judges of the underworld. And I am old. The first of my kind.” His dark eyes speared each of them in turn. “The Blade and his Queen will only see what I want them to see. And as long as you three don’t screw up and get discovered, all Ereshkigal’s plans will finally come to fruition.”
Nutesh wasn’t reassured, his expression still showing skepticism. “Didn’t the Blade already defeat you once in battle?”
“My host was old, she would have died later that night. I can only take the bodies of those who are doing great evil or are old and about to die. She was all I could find on such short notice.” The Anunnaki clacked its beak shut sharply and then looked Nutesh up and down. “However, if I just happened to find a younger, stronger host who was also evil of heart, mind, and soul…”
Nutesh backed away. “But Anunnaki don’t take the souls of the innocent. I have harmed no one.”
That was true, Nuannin acknowledged. But the Anunnaki was still moving forward. Goddess, he’d sensed something that would allow him to take a host.
“Or I can take a host who would otherwise die shortly.”
Nuannin’s father suddenly moved to stand behind Nutesh. It wasn’t until the torches flickered in the stirred breeze that she saw the long dagger pressed against Nutesh’s throat.
Oh, great goddess. A sacrifice. Of course, Ereshkigal required a sacrifice for her grand plan to work.
Drawing a deep breath, Nuannin began to sing a chant, speaking of a soul doing great honor and how he would be rewarded for his service in the afterlife. She and the Anunnaki walked past each other, him moving toward his prey and her toward the altar to light a candle for the soul about to make the trip to the underworld.
Somewhere behind her there was a short scuffle followed by a muffled scream.
Then there was heavy silence.
Nuannin began the final refrain of the prayer, her shoulders tense, throat tight, and heart heavy.
“It is done,” her father said.
She finished her pra
yer, her song dying. With her expression schooled, she turned to face first her father and then her brother. The Anunnaki was no longer in evidence, but he was not gone. Her ‘brother’ moved, flexing his arms and wiggling his fingers.
“Much better. This one will be able to fight if it comes to that,” the Anunnaki said, using the voice that had once belonged to her brother.
Nuannin and her brother hadn’t been that close, but he was her brother and to see him end in such a way…was not how she’d thought this day would go.
“Mortal, do not mourn your brother. When I am finished with this task, my debt to Ereshkigal shall be paid in full, and I will return to the spirit world where your brother will enjoy the afterlife. Luckily, his soul isn’t so tainted that it is one I would destroy. His soul will be freed once I returned home. Nutesh will just have to wait a little longer.”
The Anunnaki looked to her father next and nodded in acknowledgment.
Her father paled a little, and she briefly wondered what he’d seen in the guardian’s expression. But she had greater concerns at the moment.
“How do you plan to seduce Asharru? If she’s already met her Blade and completed the first blooding ceremony, it might not be long until they do more. Once she has mated her Blade, she’d never become fertile for another male even if we manage to kill the Blade at some future point.”
“Ah. It’s lucky the Blade is very resistant to giving in to his future queen, then, isn’t it? Unlike most Blades, he doesn’t rejoice in what he is.” The Anunnaki shrugged. “As for the female, I plan to court her human nature, not her gryphon.”
“How will you do that?” Nuannin asked. “I have studied the princess, and even though she is half human, her royal blood has granted her a gryphon nature that is as strong or stronger than many pure-blooded gryphons. If her gryphon has set her sights on the Blade, you can court the human half all you like, but you’ll never make headway with the beast.”
Blade's Destiny (Ishtar's Legacy Book 3) Page 13
