Broken Road (14 page)

“Your Grace?” A tow-headed boy of no more than eight years stuck his head around a corner. “His Imperial Majesty is waiting for you in his privy chamber.”

Amihan frowned. “The Emperor always receives the Grand Duchess and I in the throne room, unless there is a feast or a ball.”

The page bowed deeply. “I apologize for the change in venue, Your Grace, but His Imperial Majesty says that this is business that may only be conducted in the security of the privy chamber.”

“Very well.” The Thunder God followed the boy into another, darker corridor, with the windows set high in the walls. When they reached the end, the page opened the door, bowed again and gestured him inside.

“Very good, Telfer,” said a familiar voice. “Be sure to bar the door on your way out.”

“Of course, My Lord.” The page’s voice sounded older now, and Amihan knew it had been his father’s most trusted servant all along. He waited in the darkness for the sound of the bolt and the bar, jumping only slightly when a lamp flickered into life.

“I did not even ask you for a grandson,” Léi Shēng said, as if suddenly picking up where they had left off in a conversation. “I did not think my request was so difficult—find Aĺakána, copulate hourly until conception, then bring her to me so that we could plan your wedding. Even a child could do it!

“But no, not
my
child.
My
child thought he could do what he pleased, that betrothals were meant to be broken.
My
child thought he could take up with a mortal, sire her children and I would not even care!”

“I
knew
you would care,” Amihan replied. “I warned Krystállina from the moment I proposed. I told her that we would always be on the run from you, that you would always hate me for marrying her and making love to her. Do you know what she said to me?  She said, ‘What is love, if not but following your heart?’”

“Oh, you need not have feared me, Amihan,” Léi Shēng said, rising from his throne. The Elder God’s smile was warm, but the warmth didn’t reach his eyes. “I have
always
had a handfasting present selected for you and your beloved. And now the time has come to give it to you.”

“She is beautiful and a credit to her name! I present to you the esteemed Princess Grace of Thunder!”

Amihan was startled that his father knew the true meaning of Chárí’s name, since the Elder God primarily spoke the Ancient Temple Language, but he was even more startled to see how his daughter was dressed.

Despite the fact that human three year olds didn’t have much—if anything—to flaunt, Léi Shēng had found a way to do it. Chárí wore a purple silk gown that made her look ten years older—and at least that much sexier—her face painted carefully with cosmetics, her body dripping with amethysts. She even wore a tiny, amethyst-encrusted coronet, which sparkled as she entered the chamber. The only thing that detracted from the spectacle was the golden cuffs on her wrist—and the gag stuffed firmly in her mouth.

“Stand before me,” the Elder God of Wind ordered and one of the Priests pushed her into place.

“Now tell me, Prince Grace: is your father Prince Amihan of the Wind?”

Grace hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

“Your mother…she is a mortal from the former Kingdom of Thessalonica?”

Grace nodded again. The assembled Priests roared, but Léi Shēng held up a calming hand.

“In Tahanan, are you not in line to become the next Queen of Jerusalem and an Archduchess of the Holy Roman Empire?”

The Princess cast her eyes downward, but nodded just the same.

“Of course she is one of the highest ranked girls known to humankind!” the Elder God gloated. “She might be a half-breed, but she is still my granddaughter! On to the next one!”

A trio of Priests hurried to strap Chárí to the stone table closest to her father’s chair, while Wintau went to fetch Galíní.

“My poor green Galíní!” Léi Shēng said when the High Priest dragged her into the chamber, nearly tripping over her gown of hunter silk in the process. “Your name means ‘Serenity’, but you are the overlooked twin, are you not? Born five minutes before Grace, yet you have no highborn betrothal to look forward to, for your parents love your sister better. Are you lonesome, my green Galíní?”

The Princess snarled through her gag and strained so hard to lash out at her grandfather that her demantoid-encrusted coronet fell askew.

“Ah, yes! I heard you were the feisty one!” The Elder God turned to his son with a smile. “You certainly made a mistake in naming that one Serenity, did you not?”

Léi Shēng waited for a response, but Amihan neither flinched nor cried out.

“Not to worry, my pretty one,” the Elder God said, chucking Galíní under the chin. “Grandfather will see that you receive all the attention you desire.

“Wintau, see to it that she is strapped down. I will retrieve our final guest.”

Several of the Priests were distracted by the swish of Galíní’s gown, but none hollered as they had for her sister; they were all waiting for the final prize; the one that would fill the center table.

“Gentlemen, may I present my beloved daughter-in-law, the one that aspired to take Andhērā’s place as High Queen. She might be a mortal through and through, but she is still
Princess
Krystállina!”

A handful of Priests laughed at their High King’s sarcasm. They knew he loved Krystállina and the girls no more than a mouse running across his foot…and no amount of cloth-of-silver and white sapphires upon his daughter-in-law could change that.

“Come here, my beloved one. Stand in front of me. That is a good girl.” Léi Shēng released the chains that connected her cuffs and stopped to get a good look at her.

“Krystállina, hmm? I believe one of my advisors told me that your forename and surname together mean ‘Crystal Dreams’. Is that right?”

No response.

“Awfully ambitious for the daughter of an olive farmer, would you not say?”

The crowd of Priests murmured a collective agreement.

“Now, my dear Princess, what attracted you to my eldest son? Was it his looks? His eyes, perhaps? I have Seen a time in the future where women go wild over well-defined abdominal muscles…perhaps it was those? His winning smile? Maybe the great power he commands as the God of Thunder and the son of an Elder God? I know!” Léi Shēng turned again to the crowd. “She is a sorceress, is she not? A foul sorceress who placed an enchantment on my Amihan, so that he would ignore the sensible marriage I had arranged for him with the wonderful Princess Aĺakána and run away to marry her instead?”

The Priests roared in agreement and some began to chant, “Sor-cer-ess! Sor-cer-ess!” Those that were waiting nearby hurried to get Krystállina on the final table.

Léi Shēng made a small bow in Wintau’s direction. “My Lord, I cede the floor to you.”

“Brothers,” the High Priest began, taking his place at Krystállina’s feet. “What have we gathered here for?”

“Our crops have failed!”

“Our people are starving!”

“We beg for succor!”

“And succor you shall receive!” Wintau cried. “Lord Léi Shēng has seen our pain, heard our prayers and has offered us four pure, perfect sacrifices, so that he and the other Elder Gods may be appeased. Better than any other sacrifice we could hope to find for ourselves, His Supreme Majesty has given of his own flesh and delivered those who are responsible for muddying his lineage. Are we prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice?”

The response was deafening, but Amihan could barely hear it.
He is punishing me for marring and copulating with a mortal, using
other
mortals to do his dirty work for him!
the Thunder God thought.
If only the other Elders were not so
afraid
of him…

“You have defiled the lineage of an Elder God; now shall I defile you!”

Amihan woke from his reverie just in time to see Wintau ram his hand inside Chárí, determined to tear out her maidenhead. The High Priest washed his hands in a brass bowl, dried them and accepted a silver dagger from one of the other Priests.

“You are neither mortal nor immortal; you are an abomination that threatens all life. For this, you shall meet your end.”

Wintau slit Chárí’s throat, then quickly slit her wrists before her heart stopped pumping. Suddenly, there were Priests everywhere, jostling for a chance to catch the Princess’s blood in chased goblets. The most elegant of these was presented to Lord Léi Shēng, who grinned and his son and offered him a mock salute before taking a sip.

“I would offer you some of this, Amihan, but I fear that you would balk at drinking your daughter’s blood. And you seem to be a little…
indisposed
right now!”

When the cups were drained, Wintau performed the same ceremony for Galíní, though his orations were frequently interrupted by muffled screams and thrashing. After the second round of blood toasts, however, the Elder God of Wind held up a hand.

“I will take care of this one myself, Wintau.”

The High Priest offered him the dagger, but Léi Shēng shrugged it off.

“You would defile my lineage,” announced Léi Shēng. “You would have child after child, populating Tahanan with
vermin
. You would live the life of a divine Princess, though you were not born to it. You
sicken
me, Krystállina.”

At this, the Elder God began to disrobe. “You defile my family, I defile you.”

The Priests cheered as their Patron mounted the Princess and began to take his pleasure. For holy men who thought themselves to be above mortals, they seemed to delight in the opportunity for voyeurism. At last, Léi Shēng finished, dismounted and washed with the water the High Priest presented him. When he had resumed his shining white robes, the Elder God turned back to his son.

“Any last words for your beloved, Amihan?”

One of the Priests released his gag and the God of Thunder turned to his wife.

“Bravery, my love. Remember that you said our union was worth the sacrifice.” He paused as a tear stole down his cheek. “Courage…there will be other lives.”

Léi Shēng’s eyes widened. “You claimed her as your
aŋpaŋa
?
!
”

Startled by the Elder God’s tone, the Priest shoved the gag back into Amihan’s mouth before he could answer. Léi Shēng glared at his son only a moment longer, before stepping over to the center table and placing his hands on Krystállina’s breast and brow.

“By my power as the Elder God of Wind and by my command as High King Over All, your life ends
here
, Krystállina Óneira. You shall traverse the darkest reaches of Śēśa
forever!
”

As he said this, a black fire emanated from his hands and wrapped itself around Krystállina’s body. After a moment, Léi Shēng broke the connection and watched the bands sink into her body.

“Dagger!” he demanded.

Wintau hurried forward and placed the newly cleaned weapon into his Patron’s hand. Léi Shēng contemplated his daughter-in-law for a moment, then plunged the dagger straight through her heart.

“Drain the blood if you so desire,” Léi Shēng instructed, handing the dagger back to the High Priest. “However, I want you to cut out her heart and cook it.” He gestured to a brazier near his throne, which suddenly blossomed with blue fire. “But I want a slice of the raw muscle before you do.”

Léi Shēng ambled over to the throne, while Wintau made quick work of the butchering and held Krystállina’s head up before the other Priests.

“Let the feasting begin!”

The crowd made a raucous noise for the first time since Léi Shēng’s disrobing and many of them quit the room to find food and drink. When the Elder God had his slice of muscle and the rest of the heart tucked safely in the fire, he spared a glance for his weeping son.

“Take him back to his cell. He dies at sunrise.”

January 17, 1230

A little after 2:30 a.m.

“Did you ever hear a three year old as articulate as that one? I always thought they spouted bullshit when they were that young!”