Blood Lies (Dark Brothers of the Light #9) Page 20

  * * * *

  Lobelia went to Anksha. She hated having anything to do with the creature, but she had no choice. She had decided to intervene on behalf of Jingen so that he could visit his mother more often. The few times she had seen him, he had not looked well. She had been overhearing references to something called ‘the withering,’ and she had a feeling that she would not have the boy much longer as a card with which to pump Disharyl for more information. It had been weeks since she had had time alone with Disharyl.

  "With your own child coming, Anksha, surely you can understand how it must feel for Disharyl. I hear that her son is already withering. While I don't know what this withering is…."

  Anksha's lips curled back, and she drew herself up. "It means he's dying. I quickened it in him. I didn't want to wait for it to start on its own. He's nasty."

  Lobelia flinched at her callous tone. "I understand, Anksha. I really do. It was my niece he tried to harm. Compassion and forgiveness are divine. I feel for him and his mother. I raised three children, my two sons and Chinisi."

  Anksha's hackles lowered. "I don't understand."

  "Perhaps after your child is born, you will. All that I am asking is to let Disharyl see him as often as possible. Allow me to comfort her as often as possible over the impending death of her only child."

  "I don't have time for it."

  "I can make time. I can walk the boy to her cell and bring him back to his own. Please, Anksha. I'm asking you as a mother."

  Anksha blinked and her lips compressed as she thought. "So be it. I will allow it so long as his chores get done and he is available to me when I want him."

  "Thank you, Anksha." Lobelia rose, grasped Anksha's smooth hands in gratitude and then left. As soon as she was out of sight, Lobelia wiped the feeling of having stained her hands off onto the sides of her skirt. To think I actually touched the creature! Lobelia shivered.

  She went directly to the cells of the blood-slaves and found Jingen. The boy looked pale and drawn, his eyes glittered with a feverish turn. Lobelia found him sitting on the ground in front of his bed, wrapped in his cloak yet almost indifferent to the cold. She touched his shoulder to get his attention. "Jingen, I have come to take you to see your mother."

  He glanced up at Lobelia, and she saw just how off his eyes were. "My mother?" he asked in a listless manner.

  "Yes. Come with me."

  Jingen did not offer his hand, so she bent and took it. Jingen allowed himself to be drawn along, walking in a dazed and deeply disoriented manner. From time to time he would stop and simply stare, requiring Lobelia to urge him along again.

  Lobelia found Disharyl in a large cell she had to herself. Disharyl looked up and saw Jingen. She threw herself across the small distance and gathered him into her arms with a soft cry.

  Lobelia waited patiently as they hugged and then settled. Disharyl looked at her. "Thank you."

  "I'll return for him in a few hours. I will try to bring him to see you each day and perhaps we might even find time for one of our old chats, Disharyl."

  "As you wish."

  * * * *

  Disharyl found every opportunity to see her son that she could. Lobelia resumed their early pact at Ildyrsetts, although they had not had any of their long talks in several days.

  "They rape me, mother," Jingen moaned, huddling in her arms. "Constantly. They feed on me as a snack. I hurt so bad and it never stops. The nibari will give me nothing to make it better."

  Disharyl rocked him like a baby. "I love you. I am sorry there is so little I can do."

  Jingen wept.

  She opened his shirt to have a look at the marks the blood-slaves and Anksha had left on her son and saw the first red welts and splotches of the withering. "Give me their names. I cannot do anything about Anksha, but I can see that these vile myn cannot touch you."

  Jingen opened his mother's bodice and began to suckle. She stroked him, and then pulled her skirts up exposing herself. Jingen's fingers went down to her slit, fondling her sweet parts. Disharyl gave a soft noise of pleasure. She would not have him much longer; her son was dying. What time they had left she would make as pleasant as possible.

  * * * *

  Cordwainer and Isranon sat in the sitting room of Isranon's suite, sipping brandy from a pair of crystal snifters that Cordwainer had brought along from his home in Ildyrsetts. The older mage stared into his glass from time to time as if trying to see something in its depths.

  "By our customs," Cordwainer said, "it was unseemly that they spent the night alone together in the forest. By the customs of my people, Chinisi's honor has been compromised. She is considered tainted by scandal."

  "They had no choice," Isranon said.

  "Yes, well, I understand that. However, Chinisi is stained by the rumor of impropriety. Women of my people are expected to arrive at their marriage bed virgin. Because Chinisi spent the night with Stygean, it will always be insinuated that he has been intimate with her."

  "He wasn't."

  Cordwainer pulled at his lower lip. "Be that as it may, the perception is what counts most. Some young, ambitious hot-bloods have been known to kidnap young girls from upper class houses in order to force a marriage above their stations. And they usually get away with it. At least until someone decides to either poison them or stick them in the back."

  Isranon shook his head, not knowing what to say to that.

  "My wife still believes that Chinisi's beauty would be sufficient to win her a husband of high estate. I, on the other hand, know with certainty that the only men willing to have her would be of lesser estate. A man of the nobility might consider having her as a mistress while her looks survive. I don't want that for her."

  "I understand. Why bring this up?"

  "Because, should the boy survive, I must insist upon a betrothal. Chinisi must marry Stygean for the sake of her honor."

  "Ahhhh." Isranon smiled, remembering that glimpse he had caught of Chinisi taking advantage of his apprentice's weakness. "That is not a problem at all. We can work out the details there, I am certain. Do you have customs of dowry or bride price or anything similar?"

  "I know the boy has nothing…."

  "I will provide for Stygean. Just tell me your customs."

  "Long ago, I set aside a dowry for Chinisi out of my own funds. There is a house on the north side of Ildyrsetts with a fine mage tower for her. I placed it in her name with myself as her guardian until she became old enough to take possession of it. I haven't told her yet, but I will on the day they marry. The upkeep will be expensive."

  Isranon nodded. "I have enough gold to make Stygean independently wealthy. He should be able to provide for her and the upkeep of her household while his talents begin to earn them a living beyond that."

  "Then I will draw up a marriage contract."

  "Do so and consider it an alliance between our houses. Stygean is like a younger brother to me, which is why it hurt me to believe he had crossed the line in running off with Chinisi."

  "I quite understand."

  * * * *

  Isranon worked on Stygean every day for the first week. His recovery came slow, yet it was steady. Chinisi let no day go by without coming to sit with Stygean for hours, often holding his hands and, when she thought no one was looking, kissing him.

  "Stygean, your future has been taken out of my hands," Isranon told him very seriously.

  "What?" Stygean felt a qualm of misgivings. "Is this about Chinisi?"

  "Yes."

  "Oh, gods be merciful. I will never try to see her again. I promise. I – I should have told you from the first what was happening with Jingen."

  Isranon sat very still, his eyes grave. "What do you mean?"

  Stygean sighed. "The day I stole the blade, I actually stole two of them. I gave the other to Jingen. When I…. had my change of heart ... well, Jingen began threatening to kill me. When he decided he wanted Chinisi, I thought I could handle it myself. I also thought you'd all think I was lying. You
had no reason to believe me."

  "And we had every reason to believe Jingen."

  "Yes. Forgive me."

  "Only if you promise to bring these matters to me in the future. I could have prevented all of it if you had just told me from the start."

  "I promise. Will you tell Chinisi goodbye for me?"

  "No. The customs of Ildyrsetts are different from our own. Since I now stand in your father's place as your guardian, I was forced to some concessions."

  "What do you mean?" Stygean's voice was hushed. "I will do anything to make it right."

  "By their laws, spending the night alone in the woods with her, whether it was willing or not, is an outrage to her virtue. She is considered tainted. The Ildyrsetti place a premium upon female virginity. Rumors are already circulating that you and she…." Isranon considered the use of some of Cordwainer's unfamiliar euphemisms, which he was adopting more and more, and then dispensed with them. Too many euphemisms could lead to misunderstandings. "They are already saying that you fucked her."

  Stygean's eyes went distant, and he stared off. "I didn't. I swear I didn't. I wish you had let me die. I can't seem to do anything right. Chinisi is the last person I would ever wish to hurt."

  "Then perhaps you will not object to being married to her."

  Stygean's eyes saucered. "Married? To Chinisi? But I'm only thirteen!"

  Isranon smiled finally. "Well, in Waejontor it would be perfectly acceptable for you to be married the moment you could consummate. However, Ildyrsetts holds that you must be fourteen."

  "Chinisi." He spoke her name with a sudden unfolding of wonderment. "I've never even kissed her."

  Isranon cleared his throat and then laughed.

  Stygean flushed. "It wasn't as if I could fend her off."

  "True. This isn't going to be easy. We will have reached Angrim by then, and you will be seeing fighting along with the rest of us, including Chinisi. But we'll see the two of you are wed on your birthday if at all possible." Then he quoted the old Sharani proverb, "Old enough to fight and die, old enough to love."

  "Married to Chinisi…." Stygean rolled the words around his tongue and through his mind. "I love Chinisi."

  Isranon laughed again softly. "I thought you did. I have never regretted being in love."

  "Like with Anksha?"

  "Yes. We may seem a strange match at times, but I love her."

  * * * *

  Lobelia lay nude in Cordwainer's arms beneath a thick layer of blankets. He spooned around her with his arm draped across her just beneath her breasts. She felt uncomfortable. After twenty-six years of marriage, Cordwainer still had to get inside her at least once each night before he could manage to sleep. She kept a wiping cloth beside her bed to mop her loins and a small towel to cover the wet spot.

  Men are such disgusting, amoral creatures! If it weren't for the fact that they ruled, why would a woman want one?

  Sex put him to sleep, but it always woke her up. It seemed like it took her forever to get to sleep after he finished, and there he would be snoring contently while she lay awake for what seemed like hours. When she finally managed to sleep that night, she dreamed. It was an unusually intense and visual dream, full of bright colors and noises.

  Lobelia carried two bottles of wine into a party. Everyone of importance in the camp was there, and they were in a house, a very large house. The wine in her left hand was a blood red vintage in a smoked glass bottle; the wine in her right was clear as water in a crystal decanter. Cordwainer and Dawnreturning sat together near the head of a large table. Stygean and Chinisi sat to the right of Dawnreturning, with their hands linked. She poured red for the males and white for Chinisi.

  Then she realized that Nans and Anksha were sitting at the other end with Stygean's three friends. She poured red for them and drifted through the room, finding more people to pour wine for. The bottle of red wine never grew empty; it seemed to magically refill itself, so that she always had enough.

  Lobelia smiled when they complimented her on the vintage and made her way back to the main table in time to refill the males' glasses. Cordwainer hugged her and drank the second glass. Lobelia looked up and saw an hour glass in the middle of the table. A death's head was woven over the ends. She watched the sands run out and then scanned the table.

  Stygean and Isranon were convulsing on the floor. Cordwainer's eyes bulged, and he clutched at his chest, gasping for breath, his face flushed. He pushed back from the table and overturned his chair, falling to the ground. "You poisoned us."

  Lobelia smiled sweetly. "Yes. Now be a good boy, Geoffry, and die quickly."

  Chinisi rose from the table and joined Lobelia. They knelt beside her dying uncle and held each other. "You have made it all better, Aunt Lobelia. Thank you."

  "I told you I would." Lobelia rose and walked along the table, kicking Dawnreturning's corpse on the way to Stygean's. He looked as if he had died in extreme pain, his face a rictus of suffering. Lobelia spat on him. "I told you not to touch her."

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  SOILED

  Chrysae 9, 1078

  Spring came six weeks after the betrothal of Chinisi and Stygean, bringing a thawing of the snow and ice that had covered the ground and made travel so difficult and the passes locked. The company was getting closer and closer to finished in their preparations to leave Ildyrsetts. Stygean passed some of Anksha's blood-slaves packing the wagons to roll out. Chinisi clutched his arm when they noticed the smallest of them.

  Jingen turned, snarling at them, froth forming around his lips as he dropped his bundle. His eyes had a glaze of madness. "You stick it in, you pull it out. You turn her round and round about. You fuck her ass, her mouth, her cunt." He panted hard, creeping toward them in a bestial crouch.

  Chinisi shrank against Stygean, intimidated more by the sight of insanity than any physical threat Jingen could offer. "Keep him away from me."

  Stygean moved between them, only to have Jingen lunge suddenly around him and grab Chinisi's breasts. Stygean seized him by the collar and jerked him loose. Jingen's shirt tore as Stygean threw him to the ground. His entire back was covered in red welts and splotches. Stygean remembered seeing this on his father. It was the withering. But it was happening faster than with any of the blood-slaves he had seen it on before.

  Jingen gave a series of blood-curdling shrieks as he rolled onto his hands and knees, struggling briefly to rise and then collapsing on his belly. His cries brought Disharyl running. She went to her knees, gathering Jingen in her arms as seizures took him. He twitched and jerked horribly, and then went still. Disharyl began to weep. "Please tell Anksha my son is dead. The withering has taken him."

  Chinisi clung to Stygean as they went after Anksha. They found her walking in nervous circles near one of the wagons with her arms pressed across her belly and making small animals noises.

  "Jingen's dead," Stygean said. "Disharyl wants you to come."

  Chinisi waved her hand at Stygean for silence. "Are you alright, Anksha?"

  Anksha looked at her with a mixture of pain and dismay. "Belly hurts. Cramping…. I wet myself…."

  Chinisi's eyes went wide as she realized what was about to occur. "Stygean, get Deryna and Isranon fast. The baby is coming."

  "Neoooww!" Anksha shrieked.

  Chinisi grasped Anksha's arm. "Into your wagon and lie down." She helped Anksha up the steps into the back. By the time that Chinisi got her laying down, Anksha had begun to whimper and flex her claws.

  "Don't touch me!" Anksha shrieked and let out a long yowl of suffering. "I hurt."

  "You have to let me touch you. I need to get your pants off."

  "Don't touch me."

  Chinisi backed away and crouched on her haunches. Anksha's state was beginning to frighten her. She wondered if it would be this bad when the time came for her to give Stygean a child.

  * * * *

  "Nans, you need to come." Stygean found Nans in the Great Hall talking to Edvarde.

 
"Trouble?"

  "Anksha. She's in the back of a wagon moaning and whimpering. Deryna is with her. She says it's her time."

  "Isranon?"

  "He's consulting with the mages. I've sent the lycans to find him."

  "Good."

  As Nans approached the cottage wagon she could hear Anksha, her noises catlike in distress. Deryna had called it right. The baby was coming. She unfolded a chair and sat down next to the bed, extending her wilderkin senses, soothing Anksha as she would a large, dangerous cat. Anksha whimpered.

  "Hurts. Oh, it hurts."

  "I know," Nans soothed. "I need to Read you. I need to make certain Timadi is coming out right."

  "Isranon! I want Isranon!" Anksha screamed with a sudden sharp contraction, her whole body tensing as her eyes glazed with terror.

  Nans touched her forehead, Reading quickly. She had never birthed a sapient, but if Anksha were an animal, she was doing fairly well physically. "Isranon's coming. Nevin's bringing him. Take a breath and push. Try to relax. Let Deryna get around between your legs and help."

  Nans extended her awareness deeper into Anksha's primal centers until she achieved a state of rapport, existing both within and without the little demon-eater, experiencing the birth with her, breathing with her, pushing with her. Anksha calmed, her face taking on a beatific expression.

  Isranon arrived, panting and breathless, with Nevin right behind him. He knelt, taking Anksha's hand and kissing it. "I love you, Anksha."

  Deryna looked up with worried eyes. "The baby is breech. I'm going to try to turn it around. Otherwise we might lose both of them."

  "No. I'll do it." Isranon placed his hand on Anksha's stomach, exerting his power to turn the child. Anksha whimpered.

  "If I die…." Anksha moaned.

  "I won't let you die, Anksha. I love you." Isranon exerted still more power, and his son moved in Anksha's womb, slowly his feet turned, and his head came down. It went swiftly and smoothly after that.

  Deryna spread Anksha's legs a little wider so that she could see Timadi's cresting head. "He's coming fast. You did it."