by I. T. Lucas
It was good that Mortdh’s nose was not as discriminating. More predatory in nature than most gods, Mortdh might react aggressively to the scent of her fear and become even more combative than usual.
It was the exact opposite of what Ahn wished to achieve.
After many hours of pondering the problem, he had arrived at a solution that might be acceptable to both of them. At the very least, it should avert war for several thousands of years.
Or so he hoped.
It had been a strategic decision to hide Areana until the moment he presented her to Mortdh. Dressed in the finest of gowns, her hair artfully done by Nai’s personal hairdresser, she looked resplendent. Hopefully, Mortdh would be dazzled enough by the gentle beauty to overlook her being a widow and not the fresh young thing he desired.
Unlike her half-sister’s, Annani’s scent revealed no anxiety, only determination. Despite her impetuous nature, she would make a fine ruler one day. Annani had guts and a good head on her shoulders. All she needed were a few hundreds of years to mature.
“Let the games begin,” he murmured as servants opened the double doors to the throne room.
Mortdh sauntered in as if he owned the place, his chest puffed up, and his head held high. A few paces behind him, his son Navuh sported the exact same expression.
Had they rehearsed it before coming in?
Ahn rose to his feet and descended the three steps that separated the dais from the rest of the throne room. Extending his arms, he offered Mortdh a broad smile. “Welcome, nephew. It is so good of you to visit.”
To his credit, Mortdh followed protocol, returning the embrace and the mutual back-clapping. “Thank you, uncle, for welcoming my son and me into your home.” He motioned for Navuh to come closer.
Offering a perfunctory bow, Navuh submitted to the same greeting.
So far so good.
As the two sat in the chairs facing the dais, Ahn returned to his throne, drew back his robe, and sat down.
“May I proceed directly to the reason for my visit?” Mortdh asked.
Ahn nodded. “Please, speak freely, nephew. We are a family. We can dispense with unnecessary chitchat.” He could have dragged it out longer by insisting on small talk and requesting updates, which would most likely have been all fake, but while Ahn would have enjoyed the game tremendously, Annani and Areana would not.
For their sakes, he was going to make this circus show as short and to the point as possible while still achieving his goals.
Not sparing Annani a glance, Mortdh addressed Ahn. “I understand that the princess believes she has found her fated truelove, but I beg to differ. Annani is still very young and impressionable. She had fallen into the clutches of a usurper.”
Next to Ahn, Annani bristled, but she kept her mouth shut.
Smart girl.
“Do you not trust me to ensure the virtue of a contender for my daughter’s hand?”
Mortdh smiled evilly, his thoughts transparent. After all, Ahn had promised his daughter to him—a god as far from virtuous as it got. But this was not about truth, this was about saving face and playing a game—one that both he and Mortdh knew how to play well.
Mortdh bowed his head in mock respect. “Naturally, my lord. But you are too busy with affairs of state to pay close attention to your daughter.”
Before Ahn had a chance to respond, Mortdh lifted his hand in the sign for peace. “I am guilty of the same. I should have paid better attention to my precious intended. In my defense, I have waited for her to reach the age of majority before coming to court her as a young woman, and not a child. But just as you, my lord, I have been preoccupied with affairs of state and waited too long. I am here to rectify my negligence.”
Mortdh turned to Navuh. “Please have my lovely intended’s gifts brought in.”
“Of course, Father.” Navuh pushed to his feet and bowed to Mortdh, bending his head much lower than he had done for Ahn.
It did not escape Ahn’s notice that Mortdh was still referring to Annani as his intended.
As the guards opened the doors for Navuh, he signaled for those waiting outside to enter. A well-organized procession began, with servants bringing in large baskets filled with beautiful fabrics and colorful scarfs, and smaller ones overflowing with gold and silver jewelry.
The procession ended with a large group of unusually pale humans. Upon entering, they immediately dropped to the floor in a deep obeisance.
“Who are these people?” Annani asked, speaking for the first time.
Ahn had never seen the likes of them either. Unlike the humans he was familiar with, who were olive skinned or darker and had black hair, these humans had lost most of their pigmentation. They must have been northern dwellers where the sun was very weak, forcing them to adapt.
Ahn was familiar with the phenomenon.
The gods’ home world was almost completely devoid of light, which resulted in them developing luminous skin and glowing eyes.
“Exotic slaves captured in the north,” Mortdh said with pride in his voice.
Annani let out a most unladylike growl. “Slaves? You brought me slaves as gifts?”
Ahn shushed her with a quick wave of his hand. “Did all these people sell themselves into slavery, Mortdh?”
Slavery was strictly regulated and allowed only in very specific circumstances. Capturing free people and enslaving them was not one of them.
“No, but these are savages, my lord. They hardly qualify as people. They are nomads who hunt for their sustenance. It is like capturing a herd of wild horses. You would not ask a horse if it wants to serve, would you?”
14
Annani
If Annani hated Mortdh before, she utterly despised him now. What a condescending and heartless buffoon.
“I would not say that primitive people who lack culture are equivalent to horses. But I will let it slide this time. In the future, though, you should adhere to the law, nephew. After all, without laws we are no better than these savages, am I right?”
Good for you, Father.
Once the idiot left, she was going to free these poor people. The question was what should she do with them?
Despite their almost god-like paleness, they looked indeed savage. Long tangled hair that had not ever seen a comb, and clothes made from hides and fur, which probably made them swelter in the southern heat.
Poor creatures. Could they even talk?
Mortdh inclined his head. “I thought the princess would be awed by creatures never seen before in these parts.”
Annani did not answer even though Mortdh was looking directly at her. If she did, nothing nice was going to come out of her mouth.
Her father answered for her. “I am sure she is. Annani is very inquisitive. She would love to learn about the northern lands from these people. Please have them escorted out. My servants will provide them with a meal.”
That was actually true. She was very curious to hear all about distant lands and what kinds of plant and animal life they supported, provided she could converse with them. They probably spoke a foreign language she would have to learn.
As Mortdh signaled Navuh to take the bunch of poor savages out of the throne room, the palace servants took the opportunity to collect the baskets of goods and line them up against the wall.
Annani regarded the offerings with thinly veiled disgust. Apparently, Mortdh thought of her as a commodity he could trade for. She was not a peasant’s daughter to be gifted a couple of sheep. Much thought was usually given to a proper engagement gift for a highborn lady, not just piles of randomly accumulated stuff.
“My dear nephew,” Ahn said as the throne room emptied of servants. “I appreciate the effort you put into trying to convince Annani to accept you, but I am afraid the Fates have made up their minds and chosen another for her. I for one do not want to tangle with them lest they retaliate, and neither should you.”
Mortdh made a move to stand, but Ahn lifted a hand. “Hear me out, nephew. I thin
k I have a solution that would be satisfactory to all parties involved. From the start, this joining was about politics and not love, a way for us to solidify our ties. We can still have that. I can no longer give you my daughter Annani, but I can give you my other daughter, Areana.”
Ahn got up, walked toward the partition, and offered his hand to his older daughter. “I present the lovely Areana.”
As Ahn led her down the stairs to where Mortdh was sitting in front of the dais, the poor woman trembled all over.
His eyes glowing with fury at Ahn, Mortdh barely spared her a glance.
Navuh, on the other hand, stifled a gasp when she lifted her head and looked at his father. Had he been infatuated with Areana? Surely this was not the first time he was seeing her.
She was indeed very beautiful, but Mortdh was too busy fuming to notice.
“A widow,” Mortdh hissed. “Used goods.”
While Areana blushed and lowered her head, Annani felt like taking off her sandals and chucking them at the brute.
What a nasty thing to say.
Ahn ignored the rude comment. “Areana is my daughter and second in line to the throne. What is more, she agrees to the joining. It can be done today if you so wish.”
Mortdh finally deigned to spare her a glance. “She is pleasing to the eye, I will admit that. But you need to sweeten the deal. I am getting the short end of the stick here, and I do not like it. You promised me Annani, the first in line to the throne, not the second, and at the time an untouched virgin, not a used woman.”
As Ahn led the trembling Areana up the dais and helped her to a seat, Annani wanted to rush to her sister and hug her, offer her some comfort, but she could not. The negotiations were about to start, and she needed to sit quietly and let her father do what he did best.
“I had a feeling that would be your sentiment, nephew, and I came up with a plan that should be most satisfactory to you. Come, join me at the table.”
Ahn stepped down and walked over to where a table stood against the wall. Annani had wondered about what it was doing there, as it was not part of the throne room’s regular decor. She had suspected that the large scroll resting upon it was a map.
As Mortdh followed her father, Ahn unfurled the scroll and spread it over the table. “Here is my territory.” Ahn pointed to the large area nestled between the two rivers. “And here is yours.” He pointed to Mortdh’s stronghold, situated on top of a mountain overlooking the middle sea.
“As it is,” Ahn continued. “There is hardly any contact between the two regions. I am offering you sovereignty over yours. Not complete, you will still need to abide by our laws, but you can be a king of your own territory. Instead of you being subject to my rule, we will form a sort of federation. If any of the gods decide to join you, they will be subject to your rule.”
Mortdh rubbed his hand over his short beard. “An interesting proposition, but how does it differ from what is already the situation?”
“It makes it legal. You seek acknowledgment and royal succession, correct? Now you have it. My line will continue through Annani and her offspring, and yours will continue through Areana and hers.” Ahn threaded the fingers of his hands. “Two intertwined monarchies. Instead of having to wait thousands of years for me to step down, you can be king tomorrow. With my congratulations.”
Wow, and wow.
Her father’s idea was not only revolutionary but potentially dangerous. Splitting the gods and creating two centers of power could lead to conflicts of interest and eventually war. But that was a worry for the distant future.
Ahn was taking care of the current crisis.
Mortdh was getting almost everything he wanted without giving anything up. Except for her, but he was not really interested in Annani as a person. She had been just a means to an end, which her father was handing to him on a golden platter.
“Is my proposition satisfactory to you, nephew?”
Mortdh was still staring at the map as he nodded. “I am claiming this entire region.” He made a big circle with his finger.
“Deal.” Her father offered his hand.
When Mortdh shook it, Annani let out a breath.
It was over.
The last hurdle had been surmounted.
Nothing else was standing in her path to eternal happiness with her beloved.
15
Mortdh
“That went well,” Navuh said as they returned to the caravan parked outside the city limits. “Ahn’s offer was very generous. It is almost everything you wanted, Father.”
“Not even close.” Mortdh slammed his fist into the side of a wagon. “I agreed to his proposal to throw him off. We keep on building our army and getting ready to take over by force. I do not want to be king of the Northern Territory. I want what I always wanted and what should have been my birthright. I want to rule over them all. Gods, immortals, and humans.”
“So what now?” Navuh asked.
Mortdh continued walking in the direction of his flyer. “I left one of your less competent brothers in charge while I was gone. I need to get back. You will bring the caravan home.”
“What about Areana?”
Mortdh waved a dismissive hand. “Bring her with you. I promised Ahn a joining ceremony in two moon cycles, but I do not think I will actually go through with it. Fuck Ahn. After the way he humiliated me, I am planning on humiliating him by keeping his daughter as a concubine instead of an official mate.”
Navuh rubbed his hand over his jaw. “But she is a goddess. You always wanted a pureblooded child.”
Mortdh clapped his son’s back. “You are only an immortal, but I could not have asked for a more capable and enterprising son. You are my successor.”
“Thank you, Father.” Navuh bowed deeply and kissed the back of his hand.
Navuh was indeed a good son, but if Mortdh had a child with Annani, a male child, he would become Mortdh’s successor. For now, though, Navuh did not need to know it.
Areana did not merit the same status. Being Ahn’s daughter was irrelevant because she was second in line.
Then again, if he arranged for Annani’s untimely demise, Areana would become first in line, and he could resume his original plan. The thing was, it would not be easy to assassinate the princess, and even if he succeeded, the other gods would never forgive him for taking out their darling and would turn against him.
Then there was the issue of Ahn. The fucker was in no hurry to step down, and his assassination would be even harder to pull off than that of his precious daughter.
Mortdh took in a long calming breath. He was in no rush. Nothing needed to be decided right away. He was going to take his time and plot the most beneficial course of action.
For him.
Taking another deep breath, Mortdh tried to extinguish the inferno of anger burning inside him but failed. Thoughts of someone else screwing Annani kept the fire going. The only thing that could restore his calm was taking the fucker out.
He could get rid of the usurper, and then take Annani with her consent or without.
Not yet, though. Mortdh needed to think everything through.
For the time being, though, until he decided his next move, the position of his official mate should remain open.
He should definitely not join with Areana.
16
Khiann
As Khiann sat in the open carriage and waved at the cheering crowds, he felt quite ridiculous, sitting there in the finest of garments and smiling like a fool at the humans and immortals gathered on the streets. That being said, he had to concede that Annani’s idea to have a procession, or rather three of them, was an excellent crowd-pleaser, generating an enormous amount of goodwill toward the royal family.
Instead of the two of them riding in the carriage after the ceremony, she had flipped the order, having them arriving in separate ones, each followed by dozens of entertainers, most of whom were guards in disguise.
Khiann and Annani were not fooling themselv
es that all was well and they were safe. Mortdh had seemed appeased by Ahn’s generous offer, but he was unpredictable. Even Ekin, Mortdh’s own father, had warned them against getting complacent and slacking on security.
Some of the entertainers, however, were the real deal, dancers and singers. For the occasion, a song had been composed by a famous poet, celebrating love’s triumph and telling the tale of Annani falling in love and choosing a commoner over the powerful Mortdh.
Not that Khiann considered himself a commoner, but the crowds were eating it up. If Mortdh tried to contest the joining, he would find no support from the people.
Even Ahn was impressed with his daughter’s ability to manipulate public opinion. He had said she was better at it than he, and that it would have never crossed his mind to bother with influencing the masses.
Annani had an innate talent for creating just the right amount of fanfare and drama to endear her to everyone, including gods, immortals, and humans.
As had been planned, the two processions arrived at the palace gates at the same time and were supposed to enter its inner walls side by side.
On the spur of the moment though, Kian leaped from his carriage into Annani’s and took her into his arms.
The crowd went wild, cheering and hooting long after the two carriages had passed the gates, leaving the entertainers behind to lead the festivities outside.
“That was amazing!” Annani beamed as the gates closed behind them. “Much better than I expected. They love us, Khiann.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him in front of all the invited guests, who included gods, prominent immortals, and even several human dignitaries.
“They love you, my beautiful flower. I am just an accessory.” Khiann jumped out of the carriage and lifted his arms to help Annani down, clasping her to his chest instead of letting her sandaled feet touch the ground.
Her elaborate gown and headdress were beautiful but looked heavy and uncomfortable to walk in.
