She smiled. Or at least that’s what he thought the grotesque stretching of the skin above her missing jaw was. Maybe he just felt it in the words she projected. You will call me Noctiluca. That is my real name. Medousa is just a title and too formal, Goddess too subservient. Only my Clerics and acolytes call me Goddess, or Queen. My Cepheans call me mother, did you know that?
‘Until today, I knew nothing about you, Noctiluca.’
It was surreal. This was the same respectful jousting game he would have been playing had Stauros won the day and taken the palace. He would still have been talking to save his neck and Stauros had been just as reactive and impulsive as Noctiluca was.
There are some things you need to know, she sent. I am now the rightful ruler of Theris and the wider reinstated Therian Empire. Any land previously apportioned to the Kingdom of Terracon is now mine. The same in the East to the borders of the Argentori states. I will have my Clerics update the libraries and histories.
‘And what of my family? Our claim?’ A small test. He hoped he would get away with it.
The House of Nectris is effectively dissolved. Your sister’s short reign has come to an end, and yours never began. You were beaten in war. You understand, I hope?
‘Perfectly. But then why am I here? What do you want from me?’ He thought he was on safe ground, as long as he’d been right about her demonstration earlier.
She glanced down, as if considering her words. You are a loose end. One that needs to be dealt with.
Oh dear, he thought. Had he miscalculated? Anthrom fumbled for an apology, but didn’t manage it before she spoke again.
But your question is an important one, she replied. What should we do with you?
‘There’s no need to-’ he started but stopped when she looked to Harling. Anthrom wondered if they shared a secret wavelength, but it seemed a simple case of knowing what each other were thinking.
‘Maybe we could make him into a Cephean,’ said the gaunt Cleric.
‘Now wait a moment-’ Anthrom began, but again he couldn’t complete his sentence with Noctiluca in his head.
Look how he squirms at the suggestion. He is not ready. Besides, it would be a waste, joining him to the network. Who would he spy on for us? She seemed to take great pleasure in beginning to read him his rights. He has skills indeed, but no one in the whole of Arceth would take him in. He is an orphan of a disgraced House, brother to an exiled monarch who was hated even before she lost the war. His other sister is the first and only Cephean to have ever betrayed my Order and that does not inspire great confidence in his loyalty. Neither does the fact that he betrayed his family, his House and his kingdom. She looked directly at him again. You are a traitor, Anthrom. Who would take you in?
Anthrom couldn’t breathe, his throat tight. He said nothing. What could he say? She knew everything. No wonder Harling advised him not to lie.
She scowled. It was a legitimate question, Anthrom. Who would take you in?
Her voice had gained in severity during the character assassination she had delivered. If I am so useless to her, he thought, why is she not just ending what parts of the Nectris line she does have her clawed hands on? Is this just a game, before she kills me? He caught the look in her eyes, those deep pits of quicksand and thought hard. If he entertained the question for a moment, who did he really have? There were a number of aunts and uncles, and therefore cousins, second cousins and so forth scattered to the winds of Arceth who could trace some lineage back to the defunct Nectris House. He was an orphan, but he was not without family. But would any of them take him in? Doubtful. He hardly knew them. He supposed they might, given the opportunity to raise the Prince Elect, in return for his favour later? Anthrom realised he would do almost anything to get out of the Medusi infested city that Noctiluca had created.
‘My uncle, Theonides?’ he ventured. He realised too late it had been a loaded question.
Noctiluca rose and slowly floated down the steps to stand before him. She was tall even without the added steps, and Anthrom was not yet his full adult height. She towered over him. Her bony fingers touched his cheeks and she took his face in her hands. He could see the same pattern as with the rebels, the bloodstain on the floor. He could almost feel the Clerics come up behind him with the ready Medusi. It had all been an elaborate game. He was about to die. Anthrom began to hyperventilate, would have lost control of his bladder had she not spoken. No, Anthrom, we would take you in.
He breathed out in a great rush. Relief flooded him. He’d never been more scared in his life. There were no Clerics at his back.
The elaborate game was over.
The Order is not the evil force that many would have you believe, she said, her voice calm again. We provide a home for our acolytes, many of which were outcasts in their prior lives. We feed the poor around our temple, we shelter the less fortunate of society. We bring a message of hope to this city, a path to a new life. You have seen the Cepheans. I love children, Anthrom. A small voice at the back of his mind suggested maybe she liked to eat them, but her voice was by far the warmer and softer and easier to believe. Was a creature like her capable of love? I hope you realise I would never hurt one. My Cepheans are a privileged group in the Order. I hope you understand that you are welcome to stay.
Anthrom wasn’t sure what to make of this conversation any longer. He’d gone from thinking he had political power, to thinking he was about to die. From exile with his uncle, to open-armed welcome into the embrace of the Goddess. It was just too much to make sense of, he needed to understand Noctiluca’s real motivations, and dangerous or not, he would likely need to spy on her to discover it.
You are free to roam the palace, I won’t lock you up in a room. But it’s on the condition that should I call for you, you will come to me always. He could imagine a call from her could pop his skull like an egg and didn’t expect he could ignore it. If we have to find you again, you will see the extent of my patience. We begin as prisoner and jailer, Anthrom, but I hope you realise we can be so much more.
How on Arceth was he supposed to refuse?
The side doors from which prisoners were usually led in to see the Empress opened and disgorged a gaggle of panicking Clerics. One reluctantly but quickly addressed Harling.
‘High Cleric, the Totelun boy is missing. He has escaped. His cell door was broken, and bodies have been discovered in the jail and upstairs hall outside your office.’
‘Find him, search everywhere.’
The Clerics fell over themselves to vacate the room, none wanting to be under the harsh glare of their Goddess for long.
Harling turned to Noctiluca. ‘My Queen. It seems it is time to wake Abrax again.’
Find the boy, Cleric. He is the only one who can still harm our ascension. There is no task of greater importance than this.
Chapter Ten
Aurelia
Sunlight streamed in as the drapes of her terrace were drawn apart. Aurelia had been dozing and was woken a little rudely but not maliciously by the tones of a young woman’s voice in her bedroom. She squinted into the bright daylight.
‘My dear, you can’t still be asleep,’ said the woman sweetly. ‘Though I would understand it. You’ve been on the march for some weeks I’ve been told. But still, it’s late. We don’t want the day a’wasting.’
She turned back to the bed and beamed at Aurelia. She was a short vibrant young woman with curly blonde hair tied up in lace behind her head, dressed in a beautiful summery skirt that unless Aurelia was mistaken was threaded with real flowers. She was a few years Aurelia’s senior, but not by much, and had the most intense green eyes she had ever seen.
Aurelia just groaned at her. She was not generally a morning person.
‘Oh my darling, you don’t have a clue who I am, do you?’ she asked. She reached out and Aurelia gave her a hand. ‘Nepheli Opetreia, pleased to meet you. When I heard the Duke was entertaining the Empress of Theris, I just had to be the first to welcome you.’
You’re not the first. Opetreia? Wasn’t that the name of the general she’d offended?
Aurelia had her elderly tutor Ennius to thank for a vague working knowledge of who was related to whom, and with whom political power rested in Argentor. However, her knowledge of current romantic entanglements, new babies, or what people looked like apart from in official portraits was sorely lacking.
And out of date by a decade.
And it was all men.
I must look a state, she thought. I have no privacy, let alone freedom.
‘Now, I have places to be today,’ said Nepheli, ‘but I would so love to show you off to everyone. Would you accompany me to meet the ladies at court?’
That actually did sound like a good idea, even though she was tired, and a day in bed after the hard journey wouldn’t have been so terrible. She could have had another long bath. Aurelia didn’t even get chance to answer before Nepheli was moving.
‘Oh, I almost forgot.’ She danced out of the bedroom and once in the foyer, yelled in singsong towards the door. ‘You can come in now!’
What, who else is she inviting into my rooms? But Aurelia’s worries were washed away when she heard Chrysaora’s voice coming into the suite, already talking to the officious major-domo Terietta who trailed behind her.
‘I was just told she was in here,’ said Chrysaora, placating the fierce woman. ‘I don’t know anything.’
‘That’s no excuse,’ said Terietta, bustling in uninvited. ‘You cannot be here. No thralls are allowed on the estate. You were supposed to be in the penitentiary. Why wasn’t I informed of this? Ah, Nepheli. Is this something to do with you?’
Nepheli grinned from ear to ear. ‘Of course. And thank you so much for coming to see she made it here safely.’ She skilfully dipped past Chrysaora and in the guise of greeting Terietta, took her hands and turned her around.
‘I didn’t do-’
‘Oh, don’t be so modest,’ said Nepheli, pushing her gently out the door. ‘You are an asset to this court, you really are. Without a shadow of a doubt. Now, I have had agreement from all the necessary authorities, she is of no danger to us, or to our guest. She’s been thoroughly quarantined and trained in the use of the chamber pot. If you need proof, please talk to the officials at the penitentiary. But thank you. Thank you so much. Goodbye.’ Nepheli shut the door, turned and leant on it.
Aurelia was impressed; Nepheli had ousted the major-domo without insult and made it seem like they were the best of friends. Aurelia probably would have shouted at her, or at least come to a barbed exchange as she had the night before.
She tumbled out of the bed, silk nightdress all she needed in the warm air, and stepped out of the bedroom smiling at Chrysaora.
‘You’re happy to see me,’ said the thrall, frowning.
Aurelia embraced Chrysaora tightly but quickly. She knew the woman wasn’t one for outward shows of affection, or anything much except surly annoyance, but she was glad to see her.
She looked to Nepheli. ‘You did this?’
‘Oh, I may have pulled a few strings. It’s nothing. I wanted you to be comfortable, and that never comes from being split from one’s friends.’
‘I’d been about to say I wasn’t going anywhere without my bodyguard,’ Aurelia admitted.
‘Yes, and understandably so.’ Nepheli circled Chrysaora, studying her. ‘Look at her, what a specimen, what a woman. Lean and muscular and ooh,’ she squeezed Chrysaora’s bicep, which made her flinch. ‘Are you a fighter? I bet you can fight.’ She glanced back to Aurelia. ‘She will be the talk of the town. First, well, almost first thrall we’ve had around. Crescen did keep himself to himself an awful lot. But I suppose he was the first. No matter. But she is so much more than that. A female fighter. We have almost no one like that here. She must come too, I demand it. Just think, the two of you, the exiled Empress and her thralled bodyguard. You will be on everybody’s lips, I swear it.’
Aurelia had frowned, for just a moment, at ‘exiled Empress’ and Nepheli had caught it. As blasé and carefree as she seemed, she still had a keen eye for her audience.
‘Oh, Overlords, I’m sorry. What dreadful manners. I didn’t mean to offend. No one would want to be reminded of something like that.’
‘Don’t worry,’ said Aurelia. ‘It’s the truth, is all. It just…I hadn’t expected it to hurt so.’
‘I’m sorry. Let me take your mind off it.’ She strode into the suite, looking for something.
‘What are you-?’
‘Ah ha, here we are.’ She opened the thin wooden doors of a walk-in wardrobe to reveal an array of options. ‘Royal guests and especially those who travel light, are always provided with the latest attire. Terietta can be a frightful bore, but you can trust her to get some things right.’ She picked out a beautiful blue gown and handed it to Aurelia. ‘Just your size.’
‘Isn’t it a bit showy for this early in the morning?’
‘It’s not that early my dear, you slept in, and no, not at all. Now get dressed.’
Aurelia was not used to being ordered around, but she also found herself liking this Nepheli Opetreia. She let it go. Her liveliness was infectious. Aurelia wanted to know more about her, how much she could trust her, but she found herself brought to a stop by her lack of up-to-date knowledge. Well, who better to ask?
She began to dress and Nepheli stepped away into the suite. Chrysaora had given up and fallen into a plush seat like a discarded puppet, resting her eyes and ignoring them.
How best to put this? ‘Nepheli,’ Aurelia said. ‘Was it your father I met during the army’s retreat?’
‘Yes, you did.’
‘Did he say something?’
Nepheli giggled mischievously. ‘He’s not your biggest advocate, let’s put it like that.’
‘Oh really. What did he say?’
‘Don’t worry overly about it. My father isn’t really anyone’s biggest advocate. He doesn’t think much of young women in general. If they don’t have cock and wear a uniform, he doesn’t have much time for anyone.’
‘And you?’
‘Oh, I don’t mind if you don’t have a cock,’ she said, laughing to herself. She meandered round the foyer lifting and inspecting the ornaments Terietta had furnished the room with. ‘In fact, I prefer it. No seriously, you mean, do I get along with him? And the answer is yes and no. Family can be difficult, as I am sure you know.’
‘I didn’t mean to pry,’ said Aurelia.
‘No, it’s okay. I love my father, don’t get me wrong, but he can be very old fashioned. He didn’t want me getting involved in the war. And I really wanted to. Not fighting you understand. I’m not a warrior like Chrysaora here. But something.’ She trailed off. ‘Our family is old money. We have status and respect in the city. I wanted to use that to help in the war effort, pay for better armour, you know, but father wasn’t having any of it. We finance the war, mind, he just didn’t want me involved.’ She paused, and then said absently, ‘Funny to think it was against you, isn’t it?’
‘Don’t think of it as against me. The war was started by men who are dead and buried. It’s over now,’ said Aurelia politically. ‘So, you know the Duke?’ she called, changing the subject. She had worked her way into the dress and found a mirror lit by the sunlight pouring in from the windows. Nepheli had a good eye; Aurelia found herself admiring the fabric and the striking figure she cut. It felt jarring to wear something so sumptuous and feminine after weeks in little more than a dead soldier’s castoffs. She still had her beautiful tailored chainmail, but it was in the bedroom hung on a chair and would have stuck out in odd places with this outfit.
‘Of course,’ said Nepheli. ‘We are practically family.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I keep forgetting you are new to this city. You’re so easy to talk to. I feel like I’ve known you for ages, rather than just an hour.’
Aurelia suspected Nepheli felt everyone was easy to talk to, but she kept her opinion to he
rself.
Nepheli continued. ‘Practically family because I am betrothed to his youngest son.’ Aurelia shook her head. This was what it was like starting afresh in a new political landscape. She knew nothing. She hadn’t even known the young woman in her suite had the ear of the Duke. She made a mental note to remember and study; perhaps Nepheli could help her. ‘His name is Faibryn, and we are very much in love. He’s very handsome. I’ll make sure to introduce you first chance I get.’
Aurelia didn’t tell Nepheli that until recently she held the life of the Duke’s eldest son Laigus in her hands. He lived at court in Theris to ensure the good behaviour of his father, but it hadn’t worked out well. It was possible she didn’t want to meet Faibryn, just like she had wanted to avoid Crescen.
‘How is the Duke?’ Aurelia asked. ‘I only saw him last during the march.’
‘Injured, but I’m assured he’ll make a full recovery,’ Nepheli replied. ‘Between you and me, he seems very weak and he has lost his, I don’t know, vitality somehow.’
‘He was on campaign for almost a year. He’s lucky to be back at all.’
‘Really?’ Nepheli suddenly looked hungry for some gossip, and Aurelia cursed her unguarded tongue. Be more careful, she chided herself.
‘You know what I mean,’ said Aurelia, dismissing it. ‘It’s war, not everyone makes it back.’
‘You may want to keep the war to yourself when we meet the others. Tempers are still running high around here, especially with all the soldiers returning in the last few days.’
‘Perhaps its best I stay away for now?’
‘Nonsense. Why jump at any excuse to stay closeted away, when you could be meeting and influencing?’
Aurelia decided to change the subject. ‘What do you do, Nepheli? I mean when you aren’t barging into ladies’ rooms and ordering them out of their night-things?’
Embrace of the Medusi (The Overlords Trilogy Book 2) Page 14
