Asharru snorted. “Tirigan means that he has managed to convince me to see things his way, and you have great wealth that would go a long way to aid me in restoring New Sumer once again to its great splendor.”
“Great Lady, please go on,” Ugurnaszir said with another courtly bow. “I think I understand your meaning, but clarity would be appreciated.”
“I have empty seats on my council that desperately need filling. My coffers are also empty and need to be filled.”
Ugurnaszir’s eyes turned guarded. “This was Tirigan’s idea?”
“Yes. I would have gladly stripped you of your title and claimed your wealth for the throne, but Tirigan can be very convincing, and he says I would be served better by powerful allies than yet another enemy.” Asharru’s queen’s mask made her seem as cold as Tirigan had ever seen.
“Our Tirigan has always been a very smart man.” Ugurnaszir sat in the chair opposite, his elbow on the table, his expression thoughtful and regretful at the same time. “I would hear more of how my House can aid the royal line.”
Tirigan was outlining the details when a strange sensation slowly crawled across his body, like a sickly flush of heat followed by a chilled draft. On the heels of that odd sensation, his vision began to blur.
Beside him, Asharru reached for him. “Tirigan, I feel strange.”
“Drugged,” he slurred as he attempted to stand to draw his crystalline blade, but he couldn’t get his legs to obey him.
He looked down at the wine.
It was drugged. Had to be. What was it with New Sumer’s nobles and poisons? Was there no honor left anywhere?
“How did you even know we’d come here?” He directed the question at Ugurnaszir’s smiling face.
“I didn’t know which tent you’d use to set your trap, but I knew once you saw me, you’d revert to instinct. I know how you think.”
“I’ll kill you,” Tirigan hissed as his lips went numb and his tongue grew thick.
Ugurnaszir chuckled. “No. Not today. And you’re not going to live to see tomorrow’s sunset. So, I imagine I’ll get to live a good long life.”
Tirigan attempted to move again, but only managed to tumble off the bench and onto the carpeted floor of the tent. He’d fallen in such a way he could see under the fringed curtain separating the central part of the tent from one of the smaller private rooms. The body of the slave trader was only visible from this angle.
She must have died without trauma to her body. Or else one of the gryphon guards would have smelled the blood, even over the heavy perfume and incense. He cursed the fact the trader hadn’t bled a little first to give him some kind of warning so he wouldn’t have led his monarch into this trap.
Briefly, Tirigan had the realization that he was the worst Blade in the history of Blades.
Then Ugurnaszir knelt and leaned into Tirigan’s line of vision.
I will redeem myself by killing this monster and all the rest of the traitors to the crown.
“Tirigan. I wish I had known of your deal before my associates contacted me…Alas, there is nothing I can do now. Though if it’s a comfort to you at all, they don’t plan to kill our future queen. At least not yet. I believe they plan to breed her with a male of their choosing. They want a cub of all things.”
Tirigan managed a hiss of rage. It was the only response his body could produce.
“Ah. I thought that would get under your skin.” Ugurnaszir looked over at Asharru. “She’s pretty. I wouldn’t have minded adding her to my harem. I’d have enjoyed making you watch me take her. Alas, that’s not in the deal either.”
Ugurnaszir made a small wistful noise. “Perhaps I can convince them to give her to me once she produces a litter. Though I won’t hold out hope for that.”
Tirigan’s vision continued to fade, gray rushing in from the sides. Though he could still see enough as Ugurnaszir reached out and patted his shoulder.
“Do not grieve for your new love. You’ll already be in the Underworld waiting for her. Such a waste. At least I’ll get my Bashaa and Laliya back.”
Tirigan didn’t care what he had to do. As long as he breathed, he still had a hope of escaping and rescuing Asharru. Then he’d have a lifetime to make up for this foolish mistake that his need for revenge had led him to.
But escape was impossible at the moment, and Tirigan’s vision faded completely. Soon sounds grew more distant until they, too, vanished.
Chapter 44
Grogginess clung to Asharru, and she had to fight her way to wakefulness. Something was wrong. She knew it. Sensed it. Yet wasn’t sure what it was. Blinking her eyes open, she looked around. Timber lined the walls and ceiling, and the room seemed to sway strangely.
After a moment she understood. She was on a boat.
Why was she on a boat?
She shouldn’t be on a boat. Then she remembered Tirigan spotting Ugurnaszir in the crowd and luring him into the tent. The pitcher of wine. It had been drugged. She remembered losing control of her limbs. Tirigan helpless beside her.
But her ears had still worked. She’d heard all that Ugurnaszir had said. They were going to kill Tirigan! Her gryphon roared in her mind.
Asharru struggled to move her limbs, but her arms were bound behind her back and her ankles were somehow tied to her wrists. Fighting only managed to knock off the blanket someone had draped over her.
“You might as well stop before you dislocate something,” said a male voice that was scratchy from disuse.
Though it was also familiar. She lifted her head enough to see over the pile of blankets. Nutesh was tied similarly to her, wrists and ankles bound behind him.
He cleared his throat and licked his lips like they were dry. “They tied us like this so we can’t shapeshift and escape. Well, not unless we want our wings to rip our arms out of their sockets.”
“We have to escape,” Asharru rasped, panic making her voice quiver. “They’re going to kill Tirigan.”
She couldn’t think about what Ugurnaszir had revealed. Tirigan’s imminent death was the greater concern. Her enemies needed to keep her alive long enough to give birth to the next generation of the royal bloodline.
“I’m sorry for that. I might have been able to save him if they hadn’t drugged and spelled me.”
“None of this is your fault,” Asharru said as she continued to test her bonds. The ropes were tight and left very little wiggle room, but she didn’t need a lot of room to slide a small blade across the rope fibers.
She pressed her head against the floor, carefully rubbing it up and down to confirm they’d left her with her new hair ornament. Tirigan’s gift to her might help her get free of the ropes. If she could reach it and cut herself loose, she’d be able to shapeshift. Perhaps even catch her captors by surprise and escape.
“It is though,” Nutesh said softly.
What was he talking about? Asharru turned her head to face Nutesh. “What do you mean? Did you see something? Know something?”
“Councilor Ekurzakir is behind all this.”
“Your father?”
“My host’s father, yes. And Nuannin, the councilor’s daughter.”
“Host?” Asharru asked with growing horror but understanding as well.
“I’m an Anunnaki.”
She blew a breath out between her teeth. “Why are you tied up then?”
“I didn’t go along with their plans. I assume they decided I’d be useful in some other fashion. Otherwise, they could have just killed my host and forced me back to the Underworld until another priest or priestess is foolish enough to speak the old rituals and summon me forth once again.”
Asharru craned her neck to study him. He seemed sincere. And he’d protected her from that drugged wine just days ago in the great hall. If he hadn’t said something then, she would have drunk it. While she was drugged out of her mind, her council might have matched her with Nutesh or whomever the traitors wanted her to breed with.
“So Ekurzakir is the traitor?
”
“Yes. Though Nuannin is the assassin who took your brother’s life.”
Asharru stared up at the ceiling, trying to remain calm. She needed to stay focused. Despite the fact she now knew her brother’s murderer. Now those same monsters had her beloved Blade and they planned to kill him.
She could not….
No…there was no future where she would bury another person she loved if there was something she could do to stop it.
Tirigan wouldn’t die.
She wouldn’t let Ereshkigal have him.
But she needed to escape first if she had any hope to rescue him. That would go much better if she had an ally. She looked back over at Nutesh—an Anunnaki she reminded herself. “Why didn’t you go along with the traitors? It’s why you came here, yes?”
“I came to settle a debt I owed Ereshkigal, but on my own terms.”
“Something happened to change your mind?”
Nutesh snorted. “Yes. You and Tirigan, Kuri, Bashaa, and Laliya. You became my friends. That is a rare thing for one of the nine judges. We are feared by all. Even our brothers treat us with respect that borders on fear.”
Asharru swallowed hard. Goddess. He wasn’t just an Anunnaki. He was one of the nine judges.
“I’m the first one, you may care to know. The oldest. Supposedly wisest. And yet, here I am. Tied up and spelled so I can’t even abandon this body to go to my new friend’s aid.”
At that moment Asharru wished she had Tirigan’s power to read a person. Then she realized something else.
“Why wasn’t my Blade able to detect you? He could sense the others.”
“He felt our arrival, but once I was firmly lodged within my host, I would feel like any other gryphon to him. And since I did not mean either of you harm, his gift did not warn him about me.”
“But you came wrapped in deception. His gift should have sensed that, even if he couldn’t sense you.”
“Was it really deception? I never tried to deceive either of you.” Nutesh shrugged, though the motion was cut short by the tightening of his ropes. “Yes, I’d come to court you, to seduce you if I could. But even then, I would have been a true mate and protected you. Ereshkigal didn’t factor that into her plans. Though as I came to respect you, I never felt anything other than friendship toward you. I would have happily conceded the win to Tirigan if he’d ever stepped up and tried to court you properly.”
“Tirigan…has trust issues. Even with me.”
The Anunnaki snorted. “He’ll get over that in time.”
Asharru nodded and started working on her ropes again. “I know. And I plan to escape and rescue my Blade to give him that chance.”
“I thought it was the Blade’s duty to protect his Monarch? You seem to have it backward.” Nutesh grinned at her, and she saw he was tugging at his ropes with greater determination.
“Tirigan has only begun his training, only completing the first two Blooding Ceremonies. I’m not even sure if the first one really counts as we neglected to summon the gods.”
“He’s not doing so terrible by that standard, then.”
Asharru started to wiggle closer to Nutesh. “Can I really trust you, Anunnaki?”
“I don’t harvest the souls of innocents.”
She nodded. “Good, then if you will help, I might have a way to cut us free of these ropes.”
Nutesh lifted his head and grinned at her. “Do tell. I very much want to harvest some wicked souls for what they had planned for us.”
Asharru nodded. “There’s a small ornate dagger as part of my headdress. If I can wiggle close enough to you, and you’re able to get it out and into my hands, I can cut myself free and you as well.”
“Worth a try. But stay where you are for now. I hear footsteps approaching.” Nutesh shifted back to lay like he had been before and Asharru followed his lead, having to trust he really was a friend and wasn’t about to betray her.
They were in a ship’s hold, and the footsteps could be heard descending stairs. There was a loud bang as if a hatch was tossed open carelessly and then more steps.
Ekurzakir descended the last few wooden stairs and came to a halt a few body-lengths away from where Asharru lay.
“Ah, so my brother’s murderer has finally come to face me,” she stated in a cold, emotionless voice.
The councilor huffed. “Don’t be so dramatic. I faced you almost every day since you arrived, and you’ve fought me and my plans almost every step of the way. You cannot blame me for tiring of the slow way. This will be much faster.”
“Ekurzakir, even if I’m your captive, you still won’t be able to rule New Sumer. The other city-states will revolt. There will be civil war.”
“Yes, yes. That is an unfortunate outcome, but I’ll be able to pull the empire back from the brink of destruction once I succeed in finding and rescuing ‘a very pregnant’ Crown Princess Asharru from an evil despot named Ugurnaszir. Unfortunately, you will die birthing your litter as I attempt to return you to your capital. With Nuannin and I acting as Regents and Ugurnaszir’s riches, we will be able to bring the other city-states into line with the promise of hope and the renewal of New Sumer’s magic in the form of your first and only litter of cubs.”
Damn. If one didn’t care how many lives were lost in a civil war, then Ekurzakir’s plan might seem like a viable way to the throne.
But the cost.
She would not allow that to happen to her kingdom.
Narrowing her eyes, she glowered at Ekurzakir. “Your plan could go wrong in a thousand different ways.”
“It could,” he agreed placidly. “But that is a risk we must take. You leave me no other choice. If I disappoint Ereshkigal again, my soul will be forfeit.”
No wonder the traitors were willing to risk so much. They were worse than dead if they failed.
“What use does Ereshkigal have for a cub of mine?” Asharru’s voice was calm, but inside horror was rising.
“She wants the next gryphon king or queen to honor and worship her. It will be the ultimate act of revenge against her younger sister.”
Ereshkigal wanted to strike out at Ishtar? That was what all this was about? It wasn’t even political ambition?
New Sumer was caught up in a feud between two goddesses.
Then the solution came to her. Ereshkigal had made it possible.
Asharru forced her expression to remain neutral while all she wanted to do was howl with laughter. Ekurzakir had just shown her the way to freedom, a way to strike back and he didn’t even realize it.
It wasn’t political! This was a war between goddesses.
And when one goddess interfered in the affairs of the mortal world, then that allowed the other to act. Later, once the traitor was gone, Asharru would call upon her goddess and beseech Ishtar for aid in battling her sister’s agents. Once free, she’d beg the goddess to help her save her beloved Blade.
“Now you know why we need you,” Ekurzakir said. “My son’s seed will sire a litter upon you. It will also allow a part of him to live on once the Anunnaki has returned to the Underworld.”
Asharru schooled her expression into the most coldly inhospitable expression she could master. “I don’t care what you do. Drug me and take my choice from me. Imprison me. Kill my Blade.” Her voice quivered on that one. “But if you try to steal my cubs, it will be the last thing you do.”
Gryphon parents were notoriously aggressive and sometimes just plain vicious when it came to protecting young. Even the thought of her children, her cubs, was enough to send her into a rage.
Ekurzakir laughed. “It is good then that I had you both dosed while you were still asleep the first time.”
Asharru stilled. She’d already been given the fertility drug? A chill crawled down her skin at the thought. That must mean there wasn’t much time for her to escape. Though that same urgency might help her escape.
“You must untie me. The drug sometimes triggers the shift to gryphon. If I’m still tied up like
this when that happens, I’ll be killed. “
“That’s exactly why I chose to tie you up like that,” Ekurzakir said. “So you don’t try to shift and kill me as you escape.”
Asharru grit her teeth. There must be another way.
“Once you are both gripped strongly by the drug, we will come in and adjust your ropes to secure you to the floor. That way you won’t be able to kill him before he fulfills his duty.”
He was sick. Asharru drew back her head and snarled at the male, promising he’d die upon her claws once she was in gryphon form.
“My men and I will be back later. I’d suggest resting while you can.”
Ekurzakir vanished back up the wooden stairs. Then it was just Asharru and Nutesh. Already she could feel the drug working upon her body now that she knew of it. Her skin was tingling and overly sensitive. “We don’t have much time. We need to escape now.”
Nutesh nodded and then started rolling toward her. Asharru shifted closer to him. Once she was close enough to nearly crack skulls with him, she bowed her head and gave him the best angle she could.
“Try grabbing it in your teeth,” Asharru instructed.
Nutesh did. Though he yanked hard enough at one point to tear out a clump of her air, he got the dagger and mumbled something to her with the hilt gripped in his teeth.
“Good,” she called encouragement. “Try to shift down enough to drop it in my hands.”
He grunted and muttered curses but eventually, the tiny blade dropped into her hand.
When Asharru’s fingers closed over the handle, she felt a surge of hope.
She wasn’t free yet, and the tiny blade would take time to saw through the rope fibers.
While she worked, she prayed to her goddess, showing Ishtar, by way of a few mental images, what treachery her sister was up to now.
“Please, Great Ishtar, help me free myself so I can fly to my Blade’s side. He is in desperate trouble.”
Blade's Destiny (Ishtar's Legacy Book 3) Page 24
