The elevator reached the third level, occupied by Athena. Isis was eager for Daniel to meet the former goddess, for she had every quality Isis admired: temperance, wisdom, compassion and a commitment to civilization and justice. Though they had seldom interacted in the ancient past, Athena, Bes and Hermes were those of the Nine to whom Isis was most closely allied.
As Isis began to knock on one of the doors in the semicircular lobby, it opened to reveal Athena, clad in comfortable robes cut in the ancient Grecian style. She smiled, closed-lipped, at Isis and then Daniel, offering her hand to him.
“You are Daniel,” she said in her low, pleasant voice.
Daniel inclined his head, and Isis wondered if he had noticed how reluctant Athena was to show her teeth. She had always been uncomfortable about her Opir nature and need for blood, considering it something almost shameful rather than a heritage she had no power to change. It was the one area where her level-headed wisdom failed her.
Isis was not proud of being Opir, but neither was she ashamed. It was simply what she was. Daniel had accepted that.
Except where it comes to my taking his blood, she thought, remembering his reaction when he’d thought she’d done so without asking him first. And who could blame him?
“Come in,” Athena said, stepping aside. “When Isis told me she was bringing her new human to the tower, I was most eager to meet you.”
“Not my human,” Isis said hastily. “A newcomer who has agreed to let me be his guide.”
“Of course.” Athena showed no embarrassment, but her gaze flickered to Daniel’s face and then to the high collar of his shirt. She was more than intelligent enough to recognize the slip she had made in suggesting that Daniel belonged to Isis.
“Please, make yourselves comfortable,” she said. “I have arranged refreshments for you.”
A human female brought a large tray of delicacies and laid it on the small table at the center of a ring of semi-circular couches in the Spartan reception room. Daniel stared at the human for a moment, and the muscles in his back and shoulders seemed to lock.
“There are no serfs here,” Isis said in an undertone, carefully taking his arm. It was rigid and hard as granite. Granite that could still be cracked.
With a stiff nod, Daniel settled himself and examined the tray. Isis had tasted the honey-drenched baklava before, but when she caught a glimpse of Daniel’s expression, she couldn’t guess what he was thinking.
“Thank you,” he said, perfectly polite, and took one of the sweets. “I didn’t expect such a welcome.”
“I seldom have human visitors,” Athena said. “I prefer to interfere in the affairs of my wards as little as possible, though I may have gone too far in my eagerness to remain objective.”
Daniel studied her face with avid interest. “Objectivity is admirable,” he said, “and so is allowing the people to rule themselves.”
“Of course,” Athena said, arching an eyebrow at Isis. “That has always been the plan for Tanis.”
“And do the others of the Nine feel the same way?”
Isis froze, startled by Daniel’s blunt question. She had made her opinion clear, but he had every right to seek others, and she should welcome his willingness to ask.
Athena, too, seemed surprised. “Isis must have told you that our goal has always been an independent and productive city of equals.” She smiled at Isis. “Isis prefers to stay close to the humans of Tanis, to learn as well as to guide. You have been fortunate to have her take your part.”
“Especially under the current circumstances,” Daniel said, watching Athena’s face.
“Ah,” Athena said, looking down at the plate. “You refer to the unfortunate event in Bes’s ward. A shocking incident.”
“Daniel was only trying to protect Bes’s humans from a gang of Opiri,” Isis said quickly.
“I have no doubt,” Athena said, meeting Daniel’s gaze again.
“You believe it was self-defense?” he asked.
“Isis would not have brought you here if she didn’t believe in your innocence. It was courageous of you, Daniel, considering the odds.”
“You might say that I acted in a way that is impulsively human,” Daniel said.
Athena laughed, turning her head aside so that her teeth were not clearly visible. “Impulsivity is not only a human trait, though some of us prefer to believe we are wiser.”
“We all prefer to believe the best of ourselves,” Daniel said. “Human or Opir.”
“Indeed.” Athena looked at Isis. “I see why you wished to guide Daniel yourself. He would be a most excellent addition to our city’s populace.”
Isis winced inwardly. Athena didn’t mean it, but speaking of Daniel in the third person instead of addressing him directly wasn’t likely to make him feel comfortable. But, again, he only smiled and inclined his head.
“Thank you, Lady Athena,” he said.
“Hasn’t Isis told you that there are no lords and ladies here?” Athena asked. “You must not think that the Opiri who attacked the humans are typical of our people.”
“I appreciate your perspective, Athena,” Daniel said, his voice betraying no emotion at all.
“Then perhaps you would like to meet some of my friends,” she said. She rose and strode to another room, returning a few moments later with several Opiri, all dressed simply in tunics, pants and soft boots.
Daniel got to his feet. Isis rose with him, ready to take his arm if he reacted with hostility. But she did him a disservice; he simply waited, and when the Opiri settled onto the couches on either side of Athena’s, he sat, as well.
“Daniel,” Athena said, “these are my companions—Damokles, Loukas, Homer, Dionysia, and Ianthe.” She smiled at her friends. “Daniel is new to our city. He has many questions.”
Isis prepared herself for more awkwardness, but the conversation went smoothly. Athena’s companions were among the most enlightened Opiri in Tanis, and Daniel seemed more interested in listening to them speak than in questioning them as he had Athena. They made polite conversation about the attractions of the city, particularly the gardens Daniel hadn’t yet seen, and the new architecture where the human sector was being expanded.
To Isis’s ongoing surprise, Daniel spoke to them as if he’d dealt with Opiri as equals on many occasions. Still, Isis was relieved that none of them asked about Daniel’s past, or the incident with the Opir gang. When the Opiri finally left, Athena accompanied Daniel to the door.
“Much has yet to be done,” she said, “but I believe, as Isis does, that we will become a guidepost for the world, not only a place of sanctuary but an example for humans and Opiri to follow.”
“I hope that Tanis fulfills your hopes,” Daniel said.
“You are skeptical,” Athena said.
“Isis brought me here to meet Opiri who shared her optimism,” Daniel said.
“And did you find what you expected?” she asked.
“My good opinion is hardly essential to your success.”
Athena laughed softly. “Apparently Isis believes it might be.”
With a pointed glare at Athena, Isis rose. “It has been very kind of you to welcome us.”
“Yes,” Daniel said. He offered his hand. Athena gripped it firmly.
“I hope the remainder of your visit is a pleasant one,” she said. She paused. “If it is of any use to you, I will speak on your behalf.”
Daniel thanked her, and he and Isis walked into the lobby.
“That went very well,” Isis said when the door had closed. “One would never know you had been a—” She flushed. “I’m sorry.”
“I’ve had a little practice,” Daniel said drily. “Where now?”
“To Hermes,” she said. “He represents the half-bloods of Tanis, the Lawkeepers.”
“Then he’s the chief of police.”
“No. He is merely their representative.”
Daniel nodded and followed her back to the elevator. It took them up two levels to Hermes’s door.
A smiling dhampir opened the door to Isis’s knock. His age was impossible to determine, as was also true of most Darketans and, of course, Opiri. He ushered Daniel and Isis into the antechamber, which featured a mural of rams, tortoises and hawks in a field, topped by a caduceus.
The attendant disappeared and a moment later Hermes arrived to greet them. Like Bes, he smiled frequently, though he was Bes’s opposite in almost every other way: tall, slender, agile and red haired.
He was also no less blunt than Athena. He looked Daniel up and down with a grin.
“The human who defeated three Opiri. Congratulations.” He thumped Daniel’s shoulder in a friendly gesture, but Isis could see Daniel freeze at the touch.
Hermes was oblivious. “Come in, come in. I want to hear all about it from your own lips, Daniel. The towers are buzzing with the story.”
Isis would have intervened, but Daniel returned Hermes’s smile with a flash of his teeth. “Buzzing like an angry hornet’s nest?” he asked.
“Oh,” Hermes said in an offhand manner, “some Opiri took it a little to heart. They’ll get over it.” He looked into Daniel’s eyes. “Perhaps you had an advantage they didn’t expect.”
Isis wondered what advantage Hermes was referring to. Daniel’s speed and strength, so unexpected in a human?
“It was no pleasure for Daniel,” she said, setting the thought aside. “But he knows that those who attacked the humans are in the minority.”
“Of course, of course.” Hermes almost skipped ahead, gesturing them to follow him into the reception room. It was vastly different than Athena’s, cluttered with trinkets collected in ancient times from the area of the world extending from Italy to North Africa.
Daniel was fully alert as he scanned the room. His gaze came to rest, not on one of the objects on display, but on the narrow, nearly hidden door at the far left side of the room.
Isis knew what it was: the door to the serfs’ quarters downstairs. They were no longer used as such, of course, but she could imagine what was going through Daniel’s mind.
Again, Hermes seemed oblivious. He guided Daniel and Isis around the room, pointing out this or that object he had collected over his long years of wandering.
“I am particularly fond of this,” he said, pointing out a small sculpture of a curly-haired man with a small ram slung over his shoulders. “The good old days.”
“When you ruled as a god,” Daniel said, a note of challenge in his voice.
Hermes flashed a glance at him. “I always enjoyed being a god. I had a great fondness for humanity, and they made me into a trickster, which was even more amusing.”
“Whom do you trick now?”
“Alas, nobody. Your average Opir is rather humorless, and humans are unlikely to appreciate a joke coming from one of us.”
“Even in a city where humans and Opiri live as equals?”
“One can’t expect perfection in a few years. Isis is an idealist, but I am more pragmatic.”
“I share your pragmatism.”
Hermes glanced at Isis, who was desperately trying not to interrupt, and then back to Daniel. “You were a serf, were you not?”
Daniel’s face went blank. “Yes,” he said.
“Then of course you’d have your reservations. I’m sure Isis has already shown you the good that has been achieved in this city.”
Unexpectedly, Daniel smiled at Isis. “She’s done her best.”
It should have felt like a slap to the face, but Isis recognized his words as blistering honesty. Honesty she had every reason to respect.
Daniel’s smile faded. “I’m sorry,” he said. “Isis had no obligation to bring me to your tower.”
“And it’s hard for you to be beholden to an Opir,” Hermes said airily, as if the words were of no consequence. “My worshippers were never particularly devout, and that was why I liked them so much.”
“But now you deal with the half-bloods.”
“The old humans said I was of two worlds—the half-bloods are, too, which is why I appreciate them. It is a difficult balancing act, but we are very good at balancing.” He clapped Daniel’s shoulder again, and Isis could almost feel Daniel’s scars burning under his shirt.
Daniel backed away. “I have one more question,” he said. “Did you meet Ares?”
“Ares? Why do you ask?”
“I met him elsewhere. He was a good man. I was told that he was here for a while, and left after seeing the city.”
“I did not witness his departure, but we spoke a little of the old days. He had changed a great deal since I knew him millennia ago.”
“You don’t know anything else?”
“He was actively interested in all aspects of life in the city. He asked many questions...like you.” Hermes arched his brows. “In some odd way, you remind me of him.”
Daniel laughed briefly, as if the idea was preposterous. But Isis continued to wonder about his interest in Ares. His questions didn’t seem like those of a former serf seeking the whereabouts of a Bloodlord he could hardly have known well.
“Thank you,” Daniel said. He offered his hand to Hermes, and the Opir took it without hesitation.
“If you have more questions, I am at your service,” Hermes said. His brief solemnity vanished, and he grinned again. “Good luck.”
He saw them to the door with a merry wave. Isis waited until she and Daniel were alone again.
“What did you think of him?” she asked.
“I believe he means well for humanity, as you do. But according to human myth, he always had that reputation. As you did.”
“Why did you ask him about Ares?”
It was as if a wall had come between the two of them. “It’s not important,” he said.
“You have not been honest with me,” she said, torn between sadness and anger. “Ares was not merely a Bloodmaster you briefly observed in Vikos, was he? Your interest in him is far from casual.”
Daniel lowered his head and stared at the floor. “Ares saved my life when my owner would have beaten me to death,” he said calmly. “He defeated my owner in a challenge and demanded that he treat his serfs less brutally. My owner didn’t keep his word, and I escaped soon after that.”
“And you want to find him again, to thank him?”
“If he believes as you do, I can show my gratitude as an equal.”
Daniel’s words made sense to Isis, and yet she knew that something had been left out of his story. “I wondered why you were so at ease with Athena and her guests,” she said. “You said you dealt with rogue Freebloods after your escape, but you must have met Opiri who had no interest in enslaving you or draining your blood. You did not need to be shown that such Opiri exist.” She paused to swallow the knot in her throat. “Why did you lie to me?”
CHAPTER 10
“It was not a lie,” Daniel said, meeting her gaze. “I did withhold some information from you, and for that I apologize. I should have told you as soon as I realized that you could be trusted,” Daniel said to her with a sigh.
Isis saw the real regret in his eyes, and a little of her hurt dissolved. “What is the truth?” she asked.
“I did meet Opiri who believe as you do, living in a small community in the wilderness,” he said. “They wanted peace with humanity and had an arrangement with a nearby human colony to trade blood for other goods.”
Isis was shocked by his admission. “You allowed me to believe—”
“This was a very small group of Opiri, and they lived apart from humans.” He looked into her eyes. “The circumstances in Ta
nis are completely different. This is a city inhabited by Opiri and humans, where the temptation to relapse into the old ways would be far greater.”
“You mean where Opiri might simply decide one day to turn all the free humans back into serfs.”
“I needed to know, Isis,” he said, his voice husky with sincerity.
“And have you reached a conclusion?”
“It’s too soon to tell. I need more time.”
All at once Isis was afraid of what might happen if they continued their tour of the tower. Athena and Hermes were personable enough, but Anu was more of an enigma. She had known that all along, of course, but now she felt the full weight of Daniel’s judgment.
If Daniel was as blunt with Anu as he’d been with Athena and Hermes, he might not receive such a warm reception. And Isis would be putting Daniel on display as if he were a serf in the Claiming Hall.
“I think this has been enough for one day,” she said, taking Daniel’s arm. “Let us go down, and I’ll show you the gardens and the—”
“We came here so that I could meet Anu,” he said, his eyes very grave. He cupped his hand around her cheek in a deeply intimate and tender gesture. “You were right before. If I’ve been accused of breaking the law, I’d prefer to defend myself personally.”
She took his hand and kissed his palm. That intensely physical awareness flared between them again.
“Isis,” a female voice called.
She and Daniel turned as a tall, handsome, dark-haired woman emerged from one of the other two elevators. She wore a Greek chiton, a long draped tunic, embroidered along the hems and sleeves with peacocks, their eyes glowing with jewels.
“Hera,” Isis said coolly.
The former goddess blinked slowly and looked at Daniel. “Surely you cannot be thinking of leaving already?” she asked.
Daniel stared at her, the hard lines of his face revealing his dislike. Isis knew he was remembering the poor state of Hera’s ward, as she was. His opinion of her had already been set.
“We are just on our way to see Anu,” Isis said.
Harlequin Nocturne May 2016 Box Set Page 10
