***
Kuwari moaned and thrashed in his bed, fighting his way free of the vision-dream. Sitting up, he tossed aside the blankets and looked around half expecting to see the two Anunnaki, but it was Shadow Uselli his gaze landed on instead.
“Are you alright, Crown Prince Kuwari?” Uselli asked as he came to stand at the foot of the bed. “I heard you call out and was about to go wake Enkara. Was it another vision?”
“Thank you, but don’t wake Enkara. I’m fine. It was just a nightmare.”
The older Shadow gave him a searching look and then nodded. “I’ll be in the outer chamber. Call if you have need of anything.”
“I will.”
The Shadow retreated and Kuwari sat on the edge of his bed and rested his head in his hands. Then feeling too restless to sit, he went over to one of the windows overlooking the gardens. Sweat covered his body and the cool night breeze struck his skin, raising gooseflesh and chilling him more as he shook from reaction.
Gods. One would think he’d be getting used to the damned visions by now, but they still shook him to the core. Even his head was pounding this time. Though that was more likely caused by thirst than the vision.
Feeling more disconcerted than normal at being jolted awake by a vision-dream, he returned to the bed and gathered up the blanket Enkara had made and pressed his face into the tight weave. Her scent soothed some of the tension and he felt calmer.
Sighing, he took in a few deeper breaths and then set Enkara’s gift aside. Feeling somewhat more like himself, he stood and stretched, going through his morning warm up. While it was the last thing he wanted to do, Burrukan was likely going to show up soon to drag him off to the training fields for the promised early morning weapons practice. Afterward, Kuwari was determined to make some time for just himself and Enkara.
After he finished in the bathing chamber, he realized Enkara wasn’t up yet. Usually, she’d be badgering him to get his lazy ass out of bed. Was he awake before her? That never happened.
His grin faded as he remembered the vision-dream. Rushing into her chamber, he skidded to a halt when he spotted her lying belly down on her bed, her face turned to the side, her expression peaceful. Sleeping. He reached for her mind with his gift just to confirm that. Just sleeping. Thank Tammuz. Sighing in relief, he walked the rest of the way to her bed and knelt next to her.
Briefly, he wondered what it would be like to wake next to her. The thought was pleasantly diverting. Enough that he found his fingers lifting the top edge of her blankets, ready to slide in beside her.
He froze, eyes widening in surprise. Her thick braid had fallen to the side and exposed the back of her neck. A glimmer of magic danced above Ishtar’s mark. His heart pounded, blood surging in his veins. This was why he’d awoken early and severed the vision before he’d seen it to the end. Ishtar had just declared his Blade mature and ready to anoint with the blood of gryphon royalty.
He’d dwell on the meaning of the vision later. Now other priorities took precedence.
Twenty years he’d waited for this moment. Jerking at the neckline of her sleeping robe, he attempted to uncover more of the mark. Why wasn’t she awake? She should be awake. This was momentous.
“What are you doing?” Enkara growled in a voice hoarse with sleep. “Are you trying to strangle me?”
She rolled over and slapped his hands away. Then glowered at him for good measure.
“Your mark is glowing.”
Enkara’s eyes widened. She jerked up so fast she narrowly missed cracking skulls with him. Only swift reflexes on his part saved both their heads. Unfortunately, the sudden motion set his to throbbing again. While he was busy holding his head, Enkara grabbed a hand mirror and pushed her robe down her arms, craning her neck so she could see the glowing tattoo for herself.
“Kuwari! Ishtar has finally summoned me to serve!”
The entire length of her spine glowed with power, telling all who saw it that this was one of Ishtar’s chosen.
“We should share this with your parents and the high priestess.” Excitement edged Enkara’s voice.
He didn’t respond. Instead, he forced his expression to remain neutral, but she must’ve seen something for she turned her head and stared him down with her best ‘I’m going to pick your brain apart until I learn what you’re hiding’ look.
“You’re thinking hard,” she said.
“If we tell my parents, they’ll report this to High Priestess Kammani, and she’ll forbid us from completing the rite until the moon is in the correct phase and all the preparations are made.”
Enkara looked both thoughtful and unhappy.
“I’m not sure if we should wait that long. The visions—the sooner Ishtar claims you as her Blade, the better.”
To his relief, Enkara nodded agreement. “Don’t we need certain items to appease the gods?”
“Normally, yes, but my father once told me that years ago one of his visions showed danger to Iltani, and he wanted to give her additional protection. They held their own small informal rite just between themselves and Ishtar.”
“I say we don’t wait to give our enemies time to act. We’ll do our own ceremony now. There will be other ceremonies to appease Kammani.”
“Yes.” Kuwari agreed with growing excitement. Logically he knew Enkara was her own person, but a more primal part of his gryphon soul rejoiced that he’d be able to stamp his claim upon her at last. Once he anointed her tattoo with his blood, he would be giving her a part of his essence and she, in turn, would be branding herself on his heart and soul until their souls made the journey to the underworld.
Nothing could supersede that bond once formed.
“What do we need for this rite?” Enkara asked as she gathered up the daggers he’d given her as a gift.
“You, me, a sharp knife, and Ishtar’s blessing.”
Enkara nodded. “Then give me a few moments and I’ll prepare.”
She turned and left her room, heading for the bathing chamber. Uncertain and a little nervous, he returned to his own chamber to wait.
He knew what he was supposed to do. His father and great-Aunt Kammani had covered it as part of his education. But knowledge wasn’t the same as experiencing a goddess’ power for the first time.
“Kuwari?”
He nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound of his name.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to surprise you.” Enkara stood on the threshold of the bathing chamber, belting on a new robe.
“You didn’t surprise me.”
“That’s a lie,” she said with a knowing smile.
“I was distracted, thinking of something else.” Then he shook his head, and a rueful grin touched his lips as he realized something else. “Why am I trying to lie to you? I am nervous. I sometimes forget our gift runs two ways.”
“I imagine being nervous is perfectly normal. You’re going to summon a goddess.” She looked over her shoulder. “If you’re going to spill blood, we might as well do it in the bathing chamber where it will be easily cleaned up.”
He nodded agreement and she turned and vanished within. Striding forward, he followed.
Inside he found her standing next to a stone bench, one of her daggers out of its sheath.
He unbuckled the belt around his waist and then stepped out of his robe, leaving him dressed only in his loincloth. Enkara watched him the whole time.
“Ishtar will be pleased.”
This was the first time she’d ever vocalized an opinion about the two of them one day performing the Sacred Marriage for Ishtar and Tammuz. He might have attempted some small bit of flirting or innuendo, but Enkara shrugged off her own robe. He was suddenly speechless. As it slipped off her shoulders, he couldn’t help but admire the expanse of luscious, warm brown skin and feminine curves.
When he made it back to her face, she met his gaze and then rolled her eyes and gestured at the bench. “Mind on the task.”
But she moved with such easy confidence Kuwari c
ouldn’t help but enjoy the beauty his Blade presented him. “The Harvest God will appreciate your beauty as well.”
“I think the Harvest God isn’t the only one.” Enkara laughed, the sound full and rich and wrapping around him, making his body hurt in all the good ways.
“My Blade reads me too easily.”
Enkara snorted. “It’s really not that hard.”
Then as she’d ordered, he turned his mind back to the task at hand, studying the dagger resting on the bench. “I never thought one of these would be used to shed my own blood.”
Enkara shrugged. “It seems like something that would please the gods.”
“Some more than others.” Though in truth, he wasn’t bothered by the thought of a little pain and blood if it made his Blade stronger and harder to kill. He’d probably donated more blood to the sands of the training ring then he’d shed for this ritual.
Enkara suddenly rested her hands on his shoulders and stepped closer. Knowing what she wanted, he bowed his head until their foreheads touched. Warm waves of love and determination rolled through her touch and into him.
His nerves now calmer, he straddled the bench and patted the area in front of him. After only the slightest hesitation Enkara settled, facing away from him, presenting her back.
As if his hand moved by some other will, his fingers splayed wide to stroke their way down Ishtar’s mark. Enkara shuddered at his touch and glanced over her shoulder. “I don’t mean to rush you, but Burrukan will likely be along soon.”
As usual, Enkara was correct. Exhaling slowly, he brought the edge of the blade to his chest and made a swift slice over his right pectoral. The burning and warm wet sensation hadn’t even fully registered to his senses before he’d switched hands and repeated the motion on the opposite side.
Soon two trails of blood were trickling their way down his chest, the slope of his muscles funneling it to the center. Shifting closer to Enkara, he wrapped an arm around her waist and pressed his chest to her back.
When his blood touched the tattoo, warm tingling magic sparked to life between them. The minor burning pain of the cuts faded as Enkara’s magic reached for him. His own power answered, feeding more than just blood to her tattoo.
He used his weight to press her forward, leaning over her back to better seal them together.
“Ishtar, this night we come together to renew the pact between the gryphon kings and you, oh great Queen of the Night. Your Blade has been anointed with royal blood as the ancient rites demand, bless her now with your power so that we may serve you to our fullest potential and never fail you.”
Even before the last word was uttered, a stronger wave of magic stirred within him, and Enkara’s magic answered his in sympathetic resonance.
A numbness spread from where his body pressed against her spine. Soon it rushed outward to every corner of his being until slowly the numbness receded, transforming into the tingle of returning feeling.
“This is the strangest sensation,” Enkara whispered a little breathlessly.
Another wave of Ishtar’s powerful magic rolled over him and sunk below his skin and Kuwari had to agree. It wasn’t at all unpleasant though. In fact, the power was warmer now, more of a warm caress than an assault on the senses. He imagined this power could be very pleasant, but he held himself in check, unwilling to allow Ishtar to seduce him so easily, not when he’d been warned what would follow the first few pleasant waves.
Even though he was waiting for the next onslaught, the burning hot power surprised him, stealing his breath. He hissed in reaction. Under him Enkara tensed, sweat beginning to bead up on her skin.
Then as swiftly as it had come, the burning magic mellowed, settling into a pleasant warmth that made him think of other, more pleasant things that required such closeness.
“Kuwari! Mind on the task,” Enkara barked out in a good imitation of Burrukan. It was almost enough to cool his ardor.
Closing his eyes, he sought to obey her but moments later an ancient presence manifested in the room with them, and ghostly fingers stroked across his shoulders, completely destroying his concentration. He jerked in surprise.
Ishtar stood next to them, just as glorious as her sister had been, but where Ereshkigal’s power was cool, this goddess possessed a distinctly fiery power.
“So impatient,” Ishtar said, her rich voice filling his mind. “I see the son takes after his father. I wonder what other similarities you possess that I might enjoy.”
A seductive smile accompanied the words, and then the ghostly touch was back, stroking down his spine and over the curve of his backside, where she gave him a firm pinch.
Kuwari yelped in surprise and shifted closer to Enkara.
The goddess laughed. “Alas, you’re not yet ready to act as host for my Tammuz. One day you will. Behave yourself until then.”
With that, the goddess turned her attention to Enkara.
“Strong, beautiful Blade.” Ishtar fingered one of Enkara’s braids where it had fallen forward across her breast. “If my sister thinks to have you without a fight, she is greatly mistaken. I have plans for you.”
Ishtar placed a hand on each of their shoulders, and a new wave of power swelled within them, rising up until it crested in a bright swirl of color, engulfing their bodies and even reflecting golden light upon the walls.
After a brief time, the power dimmed, and Ishtar removed her hands. It was like a great weight being lifted from his shoulders. He drew in a shuddering breath.
The goddess drifted a few steps away and then turned back to study them. “Be safe until we meet again and know you have our Blessing.”
And then Ishtar’s ancient presence was gone, taking all her warmth, passion, and power with her. Kuwari felt both bereft and relieved by the goddess’ departure.
He was still shaking with reaction when Enkara stiffened in his arms.
“Something is wrong. I feel strange,” Enkara’s voice was calm, but he could feel the trembling in her body.
He grunted in surprise as another intense wave of emotions bled from Enkara and his gift drank it in, shaping the chaotic swirl into a vision. Feathered wings. A black-furred body. Oh.
“Enkara, do not be afraid. You’re about to —”
Before he could finish his sentence, wings burst from her back as fur erupted across her skin and raced down her lower body. Moments later her hair vanished as a ruff of thick feathers took its place.
“Easy, beloved, we’ve awoken your gryphon.” Kuwari tried to hold her until the disorientation that always plagued the first few shifts abated, but she twisted to the side, and they were both suddenly toppling off the bench.
One minute he was blinking up at the ceiling, the next he was looking into the face of a wild-eyed gryphon. She lowered her head, her beak wide, the deadly hooked tip descending towards his throat.
Chapter 18
He held perfectly still. Gryphons were more volatile than humans by nature and sometimes during the first shift the powerful instincts overrode the human mind completely. She would never harm him but trapped deep within the palace, and unable to see the open sky, she might panic and hurt others in a blind rampage.
Opening his mind to her, he sent images of him leading her out of the palace to the gardens outside. The large gryphon merely blinked lazy eyes at him and began to purr.
Her beak lowered more, but she merely turned her head to rub her cheeks against his skin. Drawing in a deep lungful of his scent, her purring increased in volume.
Nuzzling and rubbing her face against every bit of exposed skin she could find, she worked her way down his neck and shoulders. When she reached the smear of blood on his newly healed chest, the thick wedge of her tongue darted out and cleaned away the traces before she continued her rubbing and purring. She worked her way down his chest and then back up his sides.
Bracing a hand against her beak, he attempted to push her to a less ticklish region, but she planted a paw on the center of his chest and growled. W
hen he stopped struggling, she returned to her scent marking.
“Fine, have your way with me.” Kuwari reached out and ran his hand through the silky feathers covering her neck. The feathers were a glossy black that faded to a deep burgundy red at the tips. The largest feathers on her wings shared the same glossy blackness changing to burgundy two-thirds of the way down the shaft.
When she settled on her haunches, he was able to see a burgundy dorsal stripe contrasting nicely against her ebony fur. The strip followed her spine all the way to the muscular lion-like tail. Presently her tail was flicking, the burgundy tuft on the end swaying back and forth playfully.
“You could let me up now.”
Enkara huffed out what sounded like a chuckle and rubbed a cheek against his abdomen. Kuwari was just resigning himself to the fact that the woman he loved wasn’t finished with him when a shrill scream assaulted his hearing.
“Guards! Assassin!”
Shrieking a challenge, Enkara leaped off him and put herself between him and the servant. By the time he scrambled to his feet, she was already stalking the poor woman. He rushed to Enkara’s side and placed a restraining hand on her shoulder, projecting contentment.
“She’s no rival or threat. Enkara, listen to me. Focus on my voice. Come away now and we’ll go hunting.”
Enkara paused, lulled by his voice, but he wasn’t sure if it would be enough to persuade her to ignore thousands of years of gryphon instinct that was telling her there was a rival female in her territory.
She stood on stiff legs, wings mantled in threat, but she looked away from the other female long enough to glance over her shoulder at him.
“That’s it,” he crooned. “That’s my beautiful one. Come away.”
In time, Enkara’s human mind would fight its way free of the primal instincts ruling her, but he needed to keep her calm until then. Taking advantage of her temporary halt, he circled around in front, blocking her view of the panicked servant as well as the newly arrived Shadows.
“Crown Prince Kuwari, do you require assistance?”
It was Uselli again. Good. He was calm and capable.
Blade's Honor (Ishtar's Legacy Book 2) Page 14
