River God: The Horse Lords

by Diana Drakulich

  Those were the words he had been dreading. Sava carefully masked his tension. A royal invitation was not to be denied. Hospitality was the way of all Skythian tribes. To refuse would show a lack of trust. An insult to the host. Definitely no foundation for an alliance.

  Clearly the Neuri had few visitors. Judging from their obvious interest, he and Brata were to be the evening’s entertainment. Sava’s instinct for survival compelled him to protest:

  “Noble Queen Toxaris, now that you have notice of the war council we must be on our way. We have other tribes to contact and far to ride. Time grows short. The Persians get closer every day.”

  “You think to climb down out of these mountains at night?” Toxaris fixed him with a cynical smile. “Are you so anxious to get away from us that you would risk your very life?”

  She smells my lie. She senses my fear. Sava sought the right words to extricate himself from the diplomatic snake pit into which he was sliding.

  From their slightly crest fallen looks he realized the Neuri were disappointed. Perhaps they wanted to exchange ideas with these rare visitors from the outside world.

  By the same token maybe the Vukari looked forward to exercising their famed black arts on these foolhardy travelers.

  “Ah…Noble Toxaris, if you would be so kind as to send a guide with us as far as the border, we would be grateful. It is vital that we be on our way as soon as possible.“

  “Nay.” Her voice was flat. “It is our wish that you stay here tonight. We want to learn more about this proposed alliance. This is no small matter. You spout a few quick words and now you want to run away? As if you are fear us? And yet you want us to pledge our sacred lives to your alliance? We are not impressed.”

  Sava willed himself to remain calm under the predatory stare of 50 odd pairs of glittering, golden-green eyes. “Noble Toxaris, your point is well taken. We accept your generous hospitality.” Since you leave us no choice.

  Golden-green eyes watched Sava and Brata’s every gesture as they dined on spicy venison stew dipped with flat bread and washed down with koumiss. Typical Skythian fare. Even up here in the mountains of Neuria the diet varied little.

  Sava was acutely conscious of the Vukari sorcerer’s watchful eyes judging his every move, every expression. The cold intensity of the ennarei’s gaze projected an aura of stealthy menace.

  Fear is his tactic. Sava realized. He is trying to generate fear in my heart to crack my defenses, to pierce my mask.

  Though famished, he and Brata ate very sparingly and allowed themselves only a few sips of koumiss. After the meal the sorcerer introduced himself as Vuk, Queen Toxaris’ uncle.

  “This is Voivode Spartak, my son. He is our Holy Warrior.” Vuk laid an arm over the shoulders of a huge, muscular warrior with eyes of granite and a thick black braid to his waist.

  Spartak did not smile. There was no welcome in his eyes. The powerful warrior only stared at the two nomads with the alert focus of a predator poised for the smallest misstep.

  The Vukari reputation was doing its job. Cold anxiety twisted Sava’s innards at the black intensity of the Neuri voivode’s gaze. Multiple warnings rang in his ears of being poisoned, drugged, tortured and killed, his head jammed onto on a pike, a trophy and a warning.

  On top of this uneasy tension, Queen Toxaris and her court kept plying Sava with questions about the relative strengths of the Persian, Royal Skythian and Sauromatian militaries. As if they expected rational, convincing answers from him. Even as little as he had eaten, Sava started to feel light-headed.

  Was my food drugged? Or is it just a trick of the mind? Looking around the fire circle he saw wolfish golden-green eyes watching him like predators at sight of prey.

  The nomad struggled to pull himself together. If I could just put my hand on Zlatna’s warm golden hide. Smell his sweet breath. Look into his bright eyes - It would help clear my mind. Steady my nerves.

  “My Queen I ask your leave to check on my horse.”

  “Your horse is being well cared for. But if you wish, one of my men will take you.”

  Brata rose to go with him.

  “One person to check on a horse is enough.” Toxaris stayed Brata with a peremptory wave of her hand.

  She knows I won’t try to escape without Brata. Sava thought. But then we could never find our way down out of these mountains in the dead of night.

  When Sava returned he saw several children sitting close and chatting with the Neuri queen. She met his eyes with that calm, regal gaze.

  “These are my children, of whom I am very proud. Come forth my children and meet our guests.”

  Four well made, handsome children, two boys and two girls ranging between the ages of four and ten rose and stepped forward. All looked somewhat different from each other.

  “Beautiful,” Sava pronounced, wondering - Where is the father?

  The queen answered his unspoken question by pointing upward. “I have had four husbands, one for each child. The spirits of my husbands stay close, to guide and protect the Vukari.”

  Next to him, Sava felt an involuntary shudder go through Brata. The queen was not pointing up to the heavens but to the four skulls on pikes around the royal house.

  Why did all four kings die so young?

  A profound stillness descended. Sava glanced around the large room. Every glittering golden-green eye was fastened on he and Brata.

  He became aware of a barely perceptible whishing noise like the hissing of a great Drakon. Calm, steady. Like a heartbeat. Closer, louder.

  Then he realized what the whishing sound was – breathing. Every Neuri in the queen’s hall was breathing… in… out… at the same time. As one animal. One being.

  Toxaris waved her arm through the air and he saw waves, as if she brushed aside a curtain. In his mind he heard a clear haunting voice –

  Ah so you hear us now eh?

  The nomad tried to hide his shock. This is not real. I must be drugged.

  “Did you say something My Queen?”

  “I said - So you hear us now?”

  A shiver cut its way down Sava’s spine. His sphincter muscles tightened reflexively. So, the spoken word was only a secondary means of communication for these Wolf People. They were linked in to each other’s minds.

  These Vukari are like a close-knit pack of wolves. They hear my thoughts.

  All along the Vukari had been hearing him, listening in on his inner monologue. Sava was stunned. He had nowhere to hide. No matter his plan, the Neuri would always be one step ahead. We may never get out of here.

  Somehow he had to defend himself, to shield his mind, but he could not stop the churning turmoil of his thoughts. These wolf people must have some weakness that I can use!

  Queen Toxaris’ head jerked. She impaled him with a cold piercing stare.

  “Ah, so you think to find some weakness in us to exploit? To bend us to your will?!”

  “Nay My Queen you misunderstand, I – “

  There was a soft schinggg as the queen drew her akinake from its sheath. She studied the sword’s shining, razor sharp edge as if contemplating what to do with it.

  “Because we Neuri do not misuse our strength, so you think us WEAK?”

  Chapter 33 – We Ride Then!

  If one induces the horse to assume that carriage

  Which it would adopt of its own accord

  When displaying its beauty

  Then one directs the horse

  To appear joyous and magnificent

  Proud and remarkable for having been ridden –

  Xenophon, On Horsemanship 430BC

  Hahq and his comrades thundered out of the Man Eater’s camp before sunrise. Even after they were well away, Yeva found herself glancing back over her shoulder. Everyone was edgy. The cannibals were many and they were few. Who knew if King Arkos had laid a trap for them?

  The tension would not fully lift until they finally crossed over into Agathyrsia. From what Yeva had heard about the violent rites of the w
ine god practiced in Agathyrsia they might be exchanging one demon for another.

  Still it was good to be alive. Very good. The little girl Anahit rode in front of her, her scrawny body secured by Yeva’s larger frame.

  “Anahit. My good girl.” Yeva kissed the child’s head and gave her a loving squeeze.

  The child did not respond. She had seen and heard her parents roasted alive. She might never come right. As long as she lived, Yeva would never forget the sight. One moment they were walking into the center of the Man Eater’s camp and the next moment she was running away. Blindly.

  She could not even remember exactly what she had seen on the roasting spits. Her mind had simply blanked out the horror.

  That evening the Sauromatae camped near a stream. Yeva bathed the stench and filth from the little girl’s face and body and combed her matted hair.

  Previously naked and clutching a scrap of blanket, Anahit now wore Yeva’s only spare kurta. It was huge on her but with the sleeves rolled up and a rawhide thong around her waist for a belt, it worked.

  Fat hares were prolific in these rolling grasslands and the men had shot several along the way. As she prepared the evening meal over the campfire, Yeva’s eye coasted over the lean-hipped Sauromatian warriors tending to their horses. Their kidaris – fitted body suits of kurta and leggings showed off every lithe curve and muscle to perfection.

  Her attention was caught by Voron as he groomed his horse. The way his strong hands moved over the animal’s body. Long sweeping strokes down its spine and hocks. Rhythmic circular movements to stimulate the blood flow to joints and tired muscles. I would not protest if he did that to MY back...

  After turning his horse loose to graze with the guarded herd, Voron strode to the stream, long legs and tight ass outlined by his leggings. Dropping to one knee he scooped up handfuls of cool water to drink.

  The man is an animal. The way he moves, graceful yet wary.

  As if he felt her eyes on him Voron turned and gazed directly at her. Piercing blue eyes focused on her, he approached, a big cat with prey in sight.

  Looking down at her, his broad shoulders darkened the long rays of the sun, blue-black hair glinting.

  “Do you need something Yeva?” Voron rasped, his voice vibrating with unspoken want.

  Oh Aye… Rather than meet the heat in his gaze, she stared at the torque of twisted golden serpents around the base of his muscled neck, then drifted up to his face. Voron’s silky black mustache brushed over lips that spoke a soundless message - Kiss Me…

  Mentally Yeva forced herself back from the depths of Voron’s molten blue gaze. As the only woman in a party of twelve sex-starved men she had to be very circumspect.

  Her eyes flashed over to Hahq. He was watching alright. Another predator. Hahq’s gaze shifted away but not before he shot her an arch look of disapproval.

  “You have only to speak your desire.” Voron pressed, fantasizing Yeva, naked and alone…waiting for him tonight…

  “Look - isn’t she beautiful?” Yeva slid an arm over Anahit’s shoulder and smiled up at him with sparkling eyes.

  “Aye. Under your care she is blossoming like a flower.”

  “Thank you Voron. Thank you for giving your beautiful stallion to save Anahit.” Yeva said fervently, a clear light shining through her eyes. “Someday all your good deeds will come back to dance at your wedding. Even to your dying day you will remember this child’s face.”

  And then, as if for the first time, Voron became aware of a myriad of sounds - a veritable symphony of animal, bird and insect calls chiming the air, coming from all around. Invisible but there. The Calling at the End of Day. And in his heart he rejoiced.

  After they had eaten their simple fare, who should come limping over to Yeva’s side but a seemingly humbled Hahq. Leaning down his warm breath brushed her ear:

  “Yeva come with me. I need your help.” He pointed to the privacy of a copse of trees upstream.

  “Lecherous wolf, I know what you want.” She lifted a skeptical brow.

  His enticing lips curved. “You know me well then. But your hands feel so good on my…ah…thigh.” He sighed. “My wound is paining me. I long for your healing hands to cool my heated flesh.”

  “Heated flesh ey? I gave you a remedy. Get your friend Voron to do it. Isn’t that what you blood brothers are for?”

  “Voron is a brute.” Hahq licked his lips, still swollen from Voron’s slaps the night before. “I need your healing touch Yeva. Only you.”

  She shrugged. “Alright. But don’t get any sly ideas.”

  As she rose from her place, the child reached up to take Yeva’s hand.

  “Tell the girl to stay here.”

  Initially Hahq had told himself that his intention was simply to explain to Yeva why there could be no future for them. But in truth he had no idea what in Haides he was doing. Deep down he knew he wanted more than that.

  In fact, he was making his move to re-establish his claim on her heart before Voron could move in. He would not marry Yeva so this was cruel, but jealousy and burning desire incinerated all his righteous intentions.

  With a woman’s intuition Yeva sensed Hahq’s real aim. At the same time she had noticed his limp was more pronounced. We can not afford to lose him.

  Or so she rationalized her acquiescence, but in fact her heart jumped at his nearness, at his magnetic presence. That he wanted to see her alone set her body thrumming on high alert.

  When they reached a private glade upstream, Hahq turned to speak his piece. Ostensibly to stamp out any hope in Yeva’s heart that she could have a future with him. But now that they were alone, his feelings for her turned his logical, ambitious mind on its head. He stared at Yeva, transfixed. She is a goddess.

  Her ash blonde hair streamed in living rivulets down her shoulders. Her multicolor kako mati eyes glimmered, casting a sensual net over his mind.

  And his tongue refused to speak the words. Words that would end them forever. Words that would crush to dust the immortal moments of their brief time of happiness together. I can’t do it. I can’t shut her out.

  Instead he found himself palming her face. Those eyes, plunging to his soul. He met her gaze through a shining tunnel of light. Suspended. Her soft lips trembled as if to speak but there were no words.

  He pressed his lips to hers in a tender beseeching kiss and she melted in his arms. His tongue in her mouth, caressing hers with sensual, undulating strokes. His manhood stiffened and throbbed. His hands slid down her waist to pull her loins against his yearning heat.

  “You have cast a spell over me Yeva. You have me panting and lusting after you. How can I let you go – you invade my dreams, I crave your touch. I cannot stay away from you.” He took her hand and rubbed it over his bulge.

  Ahhh - He groaned. “See what you do to me?”

  Sweet pulsating desire twisted a devastating path through Yeva’s core. This man has a terrible, eternal hold on me and he knows how to use it.

  “Yeva…It feels so good to hold you in my arms once again…”

  His tongue was a sensuous, seeking serpent in her mouth. Leaning back against a tree he turned her so that her back leaned against his broad muscular chest and narrow hips. His voice rumbled, kissing her ear –

  “Remember that night we escaped from the Black Cloaks? I felt so close to you then. As if we were of one mind. I felt so free. The night I came to you, I laid down behind you and put my right hand here…like this…” His sensual fingers caressed between her thighs, bringing a warm throb to her core.

  “I slid my hand under your kurta and caressed your breasts, pinched your nipples… like this… You moaned so softly. Only I could hear. I spread warm kisses on your face and neck like this…” He tenderly kissed her eyes, down her face and neck.

  “I opened your kurta and kissed and sucked your nipples…AHH so good… I have relived that night a hundred times…How you moved your ass against my loins, rubbing my manhood, inviting me…Hmmh…” He growled hoar
sely in her ear. “I long to drink honey from you lips My Yeva.”

  “What do you mean `My Yeva’?” She forced herself to pull away from his melting embrace.

  She had to speak harshly, though it pained her heart. She wanted nothing more than to just let it happen. But she could not let him manipulate her body, her emotions again. This time you will not find me so easy Hahq.

  “Didn’t you tell me in no uncertain terms that we are no more? Now you want me again? Until we get to Sauromatia that is. Make up your mind Hahq.”

  “Yeva, try to understand. In Sauromatia I am just an `eight hoof man’. All I have are two oxen, a wagon, a small herd of top horses and some cattle. When I am away one of my younger brothers takes care of them for me. I want more in life. I want to be more than that. The daughter of a rich, powerful clan leader wants me. I planned to marry this woman, but then I met you…” She doesn’t need to know I plan to steal Bari from Sava.

  “So you want both of us? Impossible. Are you talking to me because Voron likes me? Is that it? Am I just a prize to you? A prize to be won in competition against your friend who loves you more than a brother? Your friend who gave up his best horse so that you would not have to trade your Zar away? Is that the kind of man you are Hahq?”

  Ah this woman’s viperous tongue! Rolling his eyes Hahq threw back his head in frustration. She had stabbed him to the quick. But what did I expect? I took her heart. I broke her trust.

  “Yeva as to the horses, you accuse me thus because you don’t know Zar’s true value; but Voron and Dobrich know. Rest assured, they will both be well compensated. I will give them better horses than they had before.”

  As he spoke Hahq’s arms pulled her unresisting body back into his embrace. His large callused hand smoothed over her hair, his low rumbling voice soothing, reassuring. “You need to understand what Zar means to me Yeva. Why I could never trade him away.”

  “I am listening.”

  “Zar is the only full brother to Zlatna, the greatest race horse in all Sauromatia. With Zar I am breeding some of the fastest horses in Sauromatia. But more than that, Zar was a gift from my father.”