Death of the Immortal King

by Sarah McCarthy

  “Kara, sweetheart, I don’t understand,” Kallia said. “Please explain.” She glanced at Lilianna, and Lilianna could see the consternation on her face.

  Kara took a deep breath. “Yes, I will explain. I wanted to stay. I need information. But I won’t let the two of you die on my account. Regardless of what is at stake.”

  “You must be tired, darling. Let’s get you to bed and talk about it in the morning, all right?” Kallia took the little girl’s hand, but she shook her head, pulling away and lifting her hand, palm upraised.

  “Please let me explain, mother. I apologize for what I am about to tell you, and for not having told you sooner.”

  “All—all right…”

  “A few months ago, my memories began to return.”

  Memories? Lilianna hadn’t thought she’d ever meet a more messed up family than her own, and yet here it was.

  “You know, of course, that when we die, our souls pass through the cleansing gates, where all memories are lost, into the realm of death, and then we are reborn.”

  “Yes, of course sweetheart.”

  Kallia sounded like quite the loving, patient mother, now that she was no longer trying to gouge the kid’s eyes out.

  Kara glanced at her mother patiently. “Well. One of the seven gates is broken. Isolated deep in the mountains, there is a monastery, dedicated to the service of Numenos. About fifteen years ago, a young boy with dark eyes showed up at our gates claiming to be one of our number who had passed six years earlier. We nearly sent him away, but he was hungry and barefoot, and we don’t turn away those in need. We questioned him, and to our shock, it was true. We have found now that those who die within the bounds of our monastery pass into the realm of death with their memories intact. We are testing it, seeing exactly where the boundary lies.”

  Reincarnating and remembering your past life? If what the girl was saying was true, she could be talking about a form of immortality. But that was crazy. Yes, this little girl was acting strangely, but she’d been drugged, and her mother had been about to stab her in the face. She was clearly making up a story in order to keep Kallia and Lilianna from killing each other. Lilianna could remember the many things she’d said while trying to keep her mother and father from hurting each other.

  Kara glanced at her. “I can see you don’t believe me. Neither of you do. I understand completely. I did not believe it myself when that boy appeared on our doorstep. Nevertheless. It is the truth. A few weeks ago my memories began to return. And, when I realized where I had been born, I couldn’t believe my luck. It is truly a gift from the divine mother.”

  She glanced up at the golden statue, and a warm smile lit her small face. She closed her eyes and bowed. For several seconds the candles flickered and Lilianna and Kallia stared at the strange girl.

  She gave a final nod, then opened her eyes and resumed her story. “The god of death hunts us. I do not know the reason. He stalks us, watches us as we pass through the realm of death. He can’t touch us there, or here, but Jedren—father—has been very useful to him. He wants every last one of us dead, and I do not know why. Many of our number fear death, now, fear that they will reincarnate near Jedren, be found, and executed.”

  Kallia was sitting very still, her back straight, her eyes locked on her daughter. She wasn’t believing this, was she?

  “I do not know why the god of death sends his servant to hunt us. But I need to stay here. I need to learn why this is happening and protect my people.”

  “Have you… have you seen the others? The other gods and goddesses?” Kallia asked quietly.

  The girl nodded. “I believe I saw one, once. A great, luminous soul, a thousand times brighter than mine or yours, drifting through the realm of death.” Her face looked troubled. “There was… something wrong.”

  Kallia buried her face in her hands. For several long moments, she did nothing. Then she bowed to the little girl. “Thank you.” Her fingers twisted in her gown and tears sprang to her eyes. “I… you have confirmed for me something I have been sure of my whole life.”

  Lilianna wanted to roll her eyes. These people were insane. The gods weren’t real.

  “There is some great battle raging among the gods, and Yqtos is winning. The other gods and goddesses… when I was young I thought I felt their presence sometimes. But then… as I grew older… it dwindled. I have not felt the presence of the divine since. When Jed… when he made his bargain, I thought finally, the gods had returned to my side. But then… no… I see now, the god of death has taken over the divine realm, done something to the others, and Jed is his puppet here in the mortal realm, where he cannot go. Destroying any trace of the gods and goddesses.” She looked at her daughter, who nodded solemnly. “You, for whatever reason, pose some threat to him, to his plans.” She swallowed. “I will help you. Whatever you need, I will help.”

  She took a deep, shuddering breath, looking around at the statues she had created. “I was a fool to build this temple. I thought it was enough. I knew what side I was taking, what I was helping support, and I tried to convince myself this was enough.” She looked at Lilianna, and Lilianna saw complete sincerity and contrition on the woman’s face. “You were right. My husband must be stopped.”

  So that’s all it took? A story about the gods? Well, if that’s what worked, Lilianna wasn’t going to question it.

  Kallia turned to her daughter. “But you are not safe here. We must get you out of here immediately. I will take you. We will go to your monastery where you will be safe, and then I will return, talk to Jed, try to find out what I can.”

  “I would rather you not know the location of the monastery.”

  “Oh.” Kallia looked taken aback, but she recovered quickly. “Of course, I understand. I will take you part of the way, or wherever you would like to go.”

  “I’ll take her,” Lilianna said. The words slipped out before she had thought them through. But… Aron’s words still had not left her. That a child would give her what she wanted. This child might be crazy, but she was still Jedren’s daughter, and he would want her. And if her story was true, she was sitting on the power of immortality.

  Kara and Kallia both turned to look at her, Kallia suspicious, Kara thoughtful.

  “We’ll go, you can tell Jedren I kidnapped her. You can question him about what Yqtos wants. Maybe convince him to break his bargain.” Maybe kill him, she wanted to add, but she didn’t think pressuring her about that any more was going to help.

  Kallia looked like she was going to object, but Kara spoke first. “Yes. You are right. That is a good plan.” She eyed Lilianna approvingly. “There is something about you. I believe… I believe you have been sent by the gods. To protect me.”

  Well, wonderful. If she wanted to believe that, Lilianna wasn’t going to object.

  “Kara, are you sure? She… She might simply be planning to kidnap you and ransom you back to Jedren. She was here to assassinate him.”

  Kara placed a hand on her mother’s knee. “Thank you, mother. I heard the full conversation. I believe we can trust her.”

  Kallia nodded. “All right. If you believe it is the will of the gods.”

  “I do.”

  Kallia leaned forward and wrapped the girl in a tight hug. Kara tensed, then relaxed, and wrapped her small arms around her mother.

  “The gods will know of your service,” the girl said.

  Kallia pushed her daughter away, nodding and wiping the tears from her face. “You’d better go, now, before it gets light. I will send the guards to the front entrance while you go out the back. She shot a hard look at Lilianna. “If any harm comes to her, I will hunt you down and kill you. Slowly.”

  “Sure.”

  Lilianna realized she was still holding the pie knife, stuffed it back into her pocket, and looked at the little girl. “Ready?”

  The girl nodded.

  “All right. Let’s get out of here.”

  48

  Kallia

  Aft
er her daughter and the servant had gone, Kallia looked forlornly around the temple. It seemed so empty now, and there was so much to be done. She wanted to pray, just for an hour or two, but she knew that was only her desire to put off doing what needed to be done. She’d prayed before, built all this, thinking it was worth something, but it was only a distraction. She bent to pick up one of the shards of pottery. But, no, better to leave it. Signs of a struggle. In one hour she would run, screaming to the guards, send them out the front, looking for her daughter. Her daughter the servant of Numenos, sent to put her back on the path of righteousness.

  She had one hour left before her world fell apart. She dreaded her conversation with Jed. She dreaded having to lie to him. After all this time, after everything he had done, he deserved the truth. She went into the other room, sitting at a desk, and wrote him a note. If she had to lie to him tomorrow, and for the foreseeable future, at least she would tell him the truth in this one hour.

  49

  Lilianna

  “Wait here,” Lilianna whispered.

  The girl glanced around the darkened street. Several intersections down, the click of soldiers’ boots sounded on the street.

  “If anyone comes, hide, but I’ll be right back.”

  “All right. I trust you.”

  She said this so solemnly that Lilianna wanted to roll her eyes, but she suppressed the urge.

  It was nearing midnight, and the dining room was empty, the fire a bed of coals. She snuck up the steps, around the back, until she came to Coralie’s door.

  She tried the doorknob first. Locked. Of course. Sensible. She tapped a knuckle on the door, thought she heard a slight sound, then nothing. She took a breath, tapped out their patter. Three raps, then one, then three more, then two. The door opened and Coralie stood, blinking, her hair a tangle.

  “Lilianna? Is everything OK?” She looked around her and out into the hall.

  Lilianna swallowed. She wanted to hug her, to apologize, to say she understood. But there wasn’t time for that now. Any minute now Kallia would be alerting the guards to their escape, and the soldiers wouldn’t take a long, slow walk, attempting to remain hidden. No. They would be mounted, thundering across the bridges and through the streets immediately. They would know where Lilianna had been staying, and who she had been staying with. They had to get out of here.

  “There’s no time to explain. We need to go to Aron’s right now.”

  Coralie only nodded sleepily, rubbing a hand across her face. She withdrew into the darkness, reappearing a moment later, fully dressed with her bag slung over her shoulder.

  “Were you expecting this?” Lilianna asked.

  Coralie shrugged. “Not this exactly.” She yawned hugely. “Just, wasn’t sure what would happen. Wanted to be prepared.”

  A smile traced its way across Lilianna’s lips, but there were more important things to think about than how adorable Coralie’s preparedness was. Like getting to cover before the soldiers swarmed the streets.

  They emerged a few seconds later to find Kara kneeling on the ground, her hands clasped, eyes closed, praying wordlessly.

  “I’m back,” Lilianna hissed, and the girl picked herself up. “This is Coralie.”

  Kara nodded to Coralie, who blinked bemusedly at her.

  “Coralie, this is Kara…” She really didn’t want to say it. But Coralie would find out anyway. “Jedren’s daughter.”

  Coralie froze. She opened her mouth, her lips forming words but nothing coming out. Finally, she shook her head. “Right. Let’s get out of here.”

  If there was one thing Lilianna appreciated about Coralie, it was her practicality. Even in the face of insanity. And Lilianna had to admit this was insanity.

  They hurried up the streets, sticking to the shadows. Lilianna ticked off the minutes in her mind. How long had it been? Would they know when the alarm had been sounded?

  It turned out, yes, it would be very clear.

  Lights blazed from the castle. The gates were thrown open, a hundred soldiers galloped out, streaming down the hill.

  “Gods, let’s hurry,” Coralie said, breaking into a run.

  They sprinted for the edge of town, Kara stumbling on her short legs until Coralie swept her up and carried her. They made it to the trail at the edge of town, the one that wound its way through scrubby pines up to the bluff, just as the soldiers were closing in.

  Coralie pulled them all down into some bushes and they froze, holding their breath, as a contingent of men passed.

  “Kara?!” one of them called out. “Lady Kara?”

  The girl crouched, frozen and silent, her breath quick in her chest.

  The group of soldiers broke into three, two men starting up the path, and the other two groups turning down side streets. Holding up torches and whacking brush with their swords as they passed, the men hurried past where the three of them crouched.

  “What do we do?” Kara asked, when they were out of sight. For the first time that night, she sounded like a little girl.

  “Wait for them to come back this way, then keep going,” Coralie said.

  “You don’t think they’ll take another way back?” Lilianna whispered.

  Coralie shook her head. “I don’t think there’s any other way. There are a bunch of isolated houses up there, though. If they’re going to search all of them it’ll take them a while.”

  “There could be more along any second.”

  “More with dogs,” Kara added.

  Lilianna swore under her breath. The girl was right. They’d gotten lucky this time, but if the next group had a dog with them, they’d be done for. Or even if they waited until daylight. There wasn’t enough cover out here by a long shot.

  “OK, let’s follow them, then. Wait until they’ve searched Aron’s, then try to find a place to hide. He’ll have a place to hide us, right?”

  Coralie nodded. “Good idea. All right. Let’s go.”

  She crawled first out of the bushes and, keeping low, made her way silently up the path, the others following.

  They could hear the soldiers ahead, banging the bushes and calling out. It wasn’t hard to stay far enough back. Up on the bluff, they waited while the soldiers barged into the first house, shouting and dragging the panicked owners out into the night while they lit every light, searched every nook and cranny of the house.

  “If you see a little girl,” the soldier said roughly. “Report it immediately.”

  The man and his wife nodded and fled back into their home.

  The occupants of the next house reacted more angrily to being awoken in the middle of the night. They shouted and tried to fight the men off, until the soldiers knocked the largest of them unconscious.

  The soldiers came to Aron’s little cottage, found the door open and barged in, but returned several minutes later, empty handed, and moved on down the bluff.

  “Evening,” Paric said behind them. Coralie jumped, Kara screamed, Lilianna tensed and whipped around. “I assum they’re looking for you?” Behind him stood Aron, looking pleased to see them, and Gird, wearing a long night cap and looking distinctly displeased to be awake.

  “Yes,” Lilianna said.

  “Well,” Aron said, looking over her shoulder at the cottage. “It looks like they’re done, shall we head inside? Maybe down to the basement?”

  They followed him into the house and watched while he shoved a rug aside, revealing a hatch. Paric heaved it upwards and motioned them all down into the basement, which was warm and cozy, well-lit with candles, and filled with several large armchairs and a couch along one wall. He settled the hatch back down gently, pulling a cord at the side.

  “What’s that do?” Lilianna asked.

  “Moves the rug back over the hatch.”

  Lilianna lifted her eyebrows, impressed.

  “I apologize,” Aron said, holding out his hand to Kara, “I don’t believe we have been introduced.”

  The girl was staring at him with a strange look in her eye
s, like she was trying to remember something, but couldn’t quite think what it was. “Kara, Jedren’s daughter.”

  Paric paused halfway down the stairs. “Jedren’s—Yqtos’ balls, girl, what did you do?”

  “It appears that she has kidnapped the warlord’s daughter.”

  “That girl doesn’t look kidnapped to me.”

  “Rescued,” Kara said. “She rescued me. You may not have noticed, given the darkness, but my eyes are dark.”

  Coralie glanced at Lilianna. “And your father… he was going to…”

  “Kill me, yes. Assuming my mother wasn’t able to blind me first, to hide the evidence.”

  “Horrific,” Gird said, busying himself at a side table preparing tea.

  “So… Lilianna rescued you?” Coralie asked.

  “Don’t look so surprised,” Lilianna said. She tried to make it sound like a joke, but it came out harshly.

  “I’m not…” Coralie protested.

  “Yes, she gave up her plans, admirable plans, to get me out of there. I am very grateful. I support your cause, needless to say.”

  “How old are you?” Paric asked.

  “Four. Ostensibly.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “In my previous life, I was a monk. I reincarnated with my memories intact. It is the reason for my darkening eye color.”

  “Ah, right of course,” Paric said. “Silly me.” He looked around the room. “Is no one else surprised by this?”

  “I am,” Coralie said.

  “I already heard about it a while ago,” Lilianna said.

  Aron smiled and shrugged. “Makes sense to me.”

  “The world is a mysterious place, the realm of the gods beyond our comprehension,” Gird commented, his back turned.

  Paric shook his head and dropped into a chair. “All right, so what’s the plan, then?” He looked at Lilianna. “We still offing the bad dude?”

  “Of course.” Lilianna sat across from him. “There’s a festival being held in a few weeks. All the leaders of the remaining towns will be coming to surrender and pledge their fealty to him.”