After executing a hasty bow, which earned three delighted squeals from the cubs, Iltani sought out Ditanu’s gaze. “I am sorry to interrupt, but Consort Ahassunu said to bring the cubs over if they started to fuss. I think they worried when they awoke to find only me.”
Ditanu brushed away Ahassunu’s hand where she was tying a gold bead into one of his braids. He unfolded himself and came to his feet. “The little ones will have you well trained within the week,” he said, a smile softening what might otherwise have been a rebuke.
Iltani would have replied had her mouth not just turned dry as a desert and her tongue cleaved to the roof of her mouth. Ditanu approached her with a masculine grace that she couldn’t help but appreciate, but it was his attire or mostly lack thereof which made her speechless. His only adornments were the beads in his hair and a white and gold knee-length loincloth that left much of his golden skin bare.
Forcing her eyes away from her king, she looked down at his cubs instead. Three sleepy faces looked back at her, destroying her ploy about them being fussy. “I swear they were whimpering just a few moments ago.”
Ditanu leaned forward, using the pretense of scooping two of his cubs from her arms to whisper in her ear. “You shouldn’t lie to your king.”
“We need to talk,” she answered truthfully, already deciding to tell Ditanu of Ishtar’s warning about Beletum. One threat at a time. She’d figure out what to do with Burrukan and Ahassunu later. “In the hall earlier, I ran into Beletum and my magic flared a warning. You said to come to you if anything disturbed my peace.” She paused. “My peace is disturbed.”
Her words caught Burrukan’s interest and he drifted over from where he’d been leaning against the mantle. “I’ll increase the guard.” He swung his gaze from Ditanu and speared Iltani with a dark look. “Why didn’t you mention this sooner?”
Maybe because I caught you and the consort together? Aloud she said, “The cubs distracted me. Besides, I didn’t take Ishtar’s warning to mean an immediate threat, only one that needed watching.”
Burrukan held her gaze and then grunted unhappily. His look slid sideways to where the consort was taking one of the cubs from Ditanu.
She could see him wondering if she’d been distracted by something else she might have seen. Iltani kept her expression neutral, not willing to give anything away that might, in turn, endanger Ditanu.
Thankfully, he didn’t challenge her or show any outward signs of nervousness.
Still Iltani was a little surprised when she heard herself saying. “Ditanu and the cubs stay together tonight. I can’t keep them both safe if they are on opposite sides of the damn hall.”
“Agreed,” Burrukan barked and then marched out toward the corridor.
Iltani heard the door open, and then Burrukan’s sober voice issuing orders. The guards said something in exchange and then her mentor returned. “I’ve doubled the night watch. Three of the guards will stay in your quarters at all times.”
“And does your king get a say in this?” Ditanu asked with humor glinting in his eyes.
“No,” Iltani and Burrukan echoed each other.
Ditanu sighed. “You know I hate having an audience while I sleep.”
“And I sleep better knowing you’ll wake in the morning.” Burrukan snipped back.
Iltani’s fists tightened. Did Burrukan really mean that, or was he such an accomplished liar, that everything she’d grown up believing was actually false?
“One guard.” Ditanu’s gaze slid toward Iltani and she didn’t know what to make of the look he gave her.
Burrukan snorted. “Two. And, yes, you can keep Iltani with you.”
The king’s boyish grin reminded Iltani of the youth he’d been. She was glad to know her childhood friend still lived within the man, even if his charms had her emotionally off balance every moment she was with him.
Her eyes tracked toward Ahassunu where she was grooming her oldest cub, Humusi, in a loving manner, all without looking even slightly nonplussed by Ditanu’s clear joy at keeping Iltani with him. Shouldn’t Ahassunu, at least, pretend to be upset or disturbed by her husband’s focus on another woman?
Just what, by Ishtar, was going on here?
Chapter Eight
No one answered Iltani’s unasked question, of course, so she simply shrugged it off as another intriguing mystery she’d unravel in the coming days. Tonight, she was too tired and flummoxed to attempt it.
Ditanu motioned for her to join him by the fire. She did, transferring her cub from her arms to her lap. The king did the same and then glanced over at his consort. To Iltani’s surprise, Ahassunu was stripping off her robe. Eyes widening in alarm, she snapped her gaze back to Ditanu.
She wasn’t…Ditanu wasn’t…they weren’t. Because there was no way Iltani was staying for that. She could guard her king from the hall.
“If I only had a mirror,” Ditanu drawled, “you could behold your expression. Ahassunu is going to shapeshift so she can nurse the cubs before they go back to sleep.”
Iltani felt a fiery wave of embarrassment course down from the top of her head all the way to the tips of her toes. “I knew that.”
“Liar.”
When Iltani chanced a glance over at Ahassunu a few moments later, it was to behold a tawny colored gryphon flicking her wings to settle the long primary feathers in place. Her lion’s tail flicked gently as she gathered her powerful haunches under her and paced over to where Ditanu and Iltani held the two male cubs.
Iltani held perfectly still. Even the mildest mannered of gryphons could become predatory, territorial and reactive while in full gryphon form. Add to that a mother’s natural tendency to be territorial and volatile, and Iltani was suddenly feeling on edge.
“Relax,” Ditanu said, looking completely unalarmed by the massive presence of the gryphon towering over them while they sat on the floor. “Ahassunu is as familiar with your scent as the cubs are.”
This time, it was Ditanu’s turn to look embarrassed about something.
“What?”
“You never noticed some of your clothing going astray?”
Iltani arched an eyebrow. “It was common on the training island to misplace items of clothing since it all went to the central laundry area for the servants to clean.”
Ditanu cleared his throat. “Your worn clothing always made another stop first.” He groomed the cub in his arms gently as he spoke. “It was important to me that my cubs know your scent, so I instructed Burrukan to always bring an item of yours when he returned each night.”
“Not one of my prouder moments—stealing woman’s underthings,” Burrukan groused from where he was gathering up Ahassunu’s discarded garments.
Again, Iltani was stunned by Ditanu’s actions and touched by them as well.
He didn’t elaborate more, and Iltani didn’t question him.
When Ahassunu issued a soft cry, the cubs jerked awake from where they were dosing and bolted toward their mother. The oldest two got there first just as Ahassunu laid down, curling on her side to allow the cubs to nurse. Kuwari showed interest in the offered meal, but simply sat and looked up at Iltani expectantly.
“What?” she asked the cub, not expecting an answer but wanting to acknowledge his intense, hopeful gaze. “Aren’t you hungry?”
The cub yawned and then nipped at Iltani’s fingers with his still soft beak, making purring noises in the back of his throat. He butted his head against her breasts when his first attempt didn’t elicit the response he’d hoped for.
“As well as being the fussiest of the three, he doesn’t understand that not all breasts produce milk on demand,” Ditanu said, humor glinting in his gaze. He sobered a moment later. “I think he’s also inherited my gift for true dreaming and may see glimpses of the future, but he doesn’t yet have a way to communicate his worries. Your scent has always calmed him—he knows Ishtar’s Blade will protect him.”
If he’d inherited his father’s ability, which Iltani thought of
more as a curse than a gift, then poor little Kuwari had a good reason for being clingy.
With tears pooling in the corners of her eyes, she picked up the cub and planted a kiss on his head before carrying him over to his mother where he burrowed around until he found a teat. The sound of the suckling cubs was relaxing but it still didn’t dull the sorrow she felt. Her eyes slid to Ahassunu and Burrukan and the sorrow turned to anger. She still hadn’t forgotten or forgiven their betrayal, but she didn’t have the first idea what to do about it either.
Nor did Ishtar’s warning flare when Iltani was near them. Could it be that while Ahassunu and Burrukan were committing treason, they weren’t actually a threat to Ditanu’s welfare?
*****
Iltani fought off a yawn as she listened to Ditanu and Burrukan discuss plans for the trip to the island of Uruk, home of High Priestess Kammani. Perhaps after the Blooding Ceremony, Iltani would find time for a private moment with Kammani to ask her advice about what to do about Burrukan and Ahassunu.
Ditanu’s aunt was wise and kind, as well as being quick to forgive, but equally quick to react should she deem something a danger to her nephew. There was not much that happened in the ten city-states that Kammani was not either privy to or lacked the means to find out.
That dilemma postponed until tomorrow, Iltani let her mind go blank and allowed her eyes to wander for a few moments.
Ahassunu was curled up with Humusi sleeping on her flank while Ilanum was snuggled in Ditanu’s lap and Mite, as she had taken to calling Kuwari in her mind, was asleep in her arms where she stood against the wall, keeping watch.
Though she admitted, it was hard to look like a properly fierce King’s Shadow with a cub purring softly in her arms.
“We’ve talked this topic to death. I’m in danger of losing my voice.” Ditanu stood and stretched, the cub still asleep in his arms. “Off with you.”
It took her a moment to realize he was talking to Burrukan. She’d only just begun to relax when Ditanu swung his attention back to her.
“Come, help me put these ones to bed.” He gestured at the cubs.
She couldn’t really say no, so followed him as he headed toward his bed chamber. Burrukan scooped the cub off Ahassunu’s flank and then handed his tiny burden over to Ditanu.
With that, Burrukan uttered good night and left.
Iltani paused at the threshold and held the door for the consort to follow.
Ahassunu stretched and started in the direction that Burrukan had gone.
“Consort?” Iltani called, not really wanting her to come but curious what she would do.
Looking over her shoulder, Ahassunu laughed. “Ditanu snores. Enjoy.”
Well, wasn’t that blatant?
Iltani just shook her head and promised to get to the bottom of whatever deception was going on under the king’s very nose as soon as possible. Another thought occurred to her. Ditanu was equally as sharp as his aunt.
Could he be aware of what was going on—and, what? Didn’t care?
She scowled. It made no sense. At least not yet, but perhaps Ditanu had mentioned some of his suspicions in one of his letters and that was why Burrukan said they were dangerous if they fell into enemy hands. Sighing, she rubbed her temples with her free hand and looked down at Kuwari.
“I guess I’ll worry about tomorrow’s troubles tomorrow, eh little Mite?”
After Ahassunu had left, Iltani checked on the guards posted at each location. Content that the area was as secure as it could be, she made her way back to the king’s bedchamber. Before a case of nerves could overcome her, she marched into the room. Another guard was already stationed in one corner, pretending he was invisible. Iltani spied the opposite corner and mentally claimed it as her own. From there she could watch both the bedchamber door and the door leading out to the balcony.
She’d almost reached the location when her eyes adjusted to the darker bedchamber and she began to pick out details of the wall. It was another of those wall carvings. Her eyes narrowed and then one brow arched.
Well, my…wasn’t that…something to make Ishtar proud, Iltani decided after she ran her eyes over the life-sized image of a female blade astride her gryphon king.
Iltani cleared her throat and spun on her heels.
She made her way over to the balcony and surveyed it and the three Shadows standing guard directly outside. She knew there would be others stationed throughout the gardens. Her magic already told her Ditanu’s location. Even without that, she could hear him reading softly.
Drawing a deep breath she marched over to the large raised bed, stomped up the four stairs and peered around the heavy drapes that were only partially drawn. Ditanu sat with his back propped against a stack of pillows, a book in his hand and Humusi and Ilanum play fighting on his lap. A heavy coverlet offered protection from tiny claws.
He stopped reading long enough to glance in her direction. “If I keep reading they will eventually fall asleep. It doesn’t seem to matter what I read them. Guess my tone must bore them to sleep.”
Patting the coverlet to the right of his hip, he gestured her to bring Kuwari to him. Iltani eyed the distance and winced. There was no way she could reach. She’d have to crawl. That just had to be in violation of some court edict somewhere.
“Your bed is so large it borders on obscene,” she groused as she hoisted herself up onto it and crawled one-armed toward him, the cub tucked against her side. “And this is completely destroying my fierce Shadow warrior persona I’ve worked so hard to maintain.”
Ditanu laughed, the rich tones sounding far too intimate trapped within the bed’s drapes.
Her long night dress didn’t help at all. She kept getting tangled up in it as she tried to crawl. Kuwari awoke and gave a questioning cry, which had the other two cubs bolting toward Iltani. “Oh, for the love of our great goddess Ishtar!” she cried as they piled into her.
She rolled to her side so she wouldn’t crush any of them, but it left her vulnerable to their assault. They clambered over her, grabbing any bit of lace and cloth they could find, or pouncing and pawing at it. Kuwari, having decided to get into the game as well, pounced on her sword belt, chewing and biting the leather. When that didn’t gain him anything, he started on her scabbard, trying to pry off the jewels embedded in the leather.
“Gah! Stop. Don’t eat those.” She pushed his head away and only succeeded in having him attack her fingers instead. It didn’t hurt, his beak still too soft and rubbery to really cause damage, but it felt peculiar and ticklish at the same time.
Humusi had moved to the hem of her nightdress and started yanking and growling playfully. She heard the sound of tearing fabric. Kuwari abandoned her scabbard and was now pawing at her hair. “Hey, the servants just fixed that!”
She twisted and lunged at Kuwari, rolling him onto his back and tickling his belly.
As children, she and Ditanu play-fought for hours, and while she’d been outmatched physically when he was in his gryphon form, she was cunning and had found all his ticklish spots.
A few exploratory wiggles of her fingers and she found Kuwari shared a lot of his father’s ticklish spots. The cub squealed in delight and batted at her hands with his paws. He kept his claws sheathed, thankfully. Ditanu hadn’t always bothered when they’d used to play fight as younglings. The other two cubs charged back toward her though she found they were after Kuwari as much as her.
Iltani turned her attention toward the other two. Laughing and lunging at them, her guard completely down, she didn’t see the attack coming. A full grown gryphon slammed into her side, his massive paws flipping her as easily as she had his cub. She rolled across the bed twice before coming to rest on her stomach. As she lay there with the breath knocked out of her, she realized her fatal mistake. Ditanu was a full blooded gryphon, possessing the heightened protective instincts all gryphon parents shared.
She still had the wherewithal to go limp as she waited for Ditanu to make the next move.
&nb
sp; The killing blow she half expected didn’t fall. She cautiously raised her head a few inches only to have one of the cubs leap at her. It was Kuwari. The sweet little fellow didn’t know that the game was no longer a game.
She expected Ditanu to nudge the cub out of immediate danger, but he didn’t, confusing Iltani no end. She knew gryphons. And she should have been dead.
A heavy paw landed on her butt, holding her down as a rather large and wickedly sharp beak started nuzzling her. His purr echoed around the room.
That wasn’t an aggression sound.
Slowly, Iltani’s adrenaline filled mind cleared enough to think. She wasn’t going to die. He had simply wanted to join the play fight with her and his cubs. Well, she didn’t want to disappoint him. A grin of challenge spread across her face.
Thoughts of how to retaliate were floating through her mind when the tufted tip of his tail found its way into a tear in the side of her nightdress. Giggles burst forth from deep inside her, but she didn’t admit defeat so easily.
A skillfully placed heel jammed into a tender place had the large gryphon grunting and leaping away before she could land another blow. While Ditanu was stalking her from the left, two cubs were circling from the right. Kuwari, at least, sided with her and together they attacked the other two cubs. Ditanu launched himself at them all. They scattered out of the way with only moments to spare, then in lightning fast agreement, Iltani and the three cubs changed tactics, coming together to face a greater foe.
Before they could formulate a plan, the big gryphon charged them all, opening his forelegs wide and scooping them all up. Instinctively, Iltani snatched all three cubs into her arms as Ditanu’s momentum carried them off the large bed. A pile of arms, legs, and wings, they rolled across the floor. Iltani and the cubs weren’t hurt. Ditanu had curled around them, taking the brunt of the impact. While he was still getting his feet under him, Iltani leapt backward, flipped clear of his limbs and landed with her legs planted on either side of his head.
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