Broken Road (15 page)

“Did you hear her
whining?
” the second guard interrupted. “She was so sure that she wasn’t going to die, that ‘grandfather’ was going to save her!” He laughed. “Poor bastard. Amihan probably never told her that granddaddy
hates
mortals…and hates trash like her even more!”

The voices faded and Amihan sat back. He had known there would be punishment for marrying a mortal, but never this. He had expected to be disinherited, perhaps even stripped of his power, so that he could live a peaceful life with his wife and children. If any part of his mind had expected death, it would have chosen an assassin, creeping up to the manor one night while he was away with the tenants. Amihan had never
dreamed
his father would use famine to turn all of mortality against him, to cause them to send their High Priests for what could only be described as a blood orgy.

“Mother, what am I going to
do?
How can I escape death?” he murmured. The Thunder God was praying to his own mother, but subconsciously, he hoped that Lindele or any of the other goddesses were also listening.

Amihan closed his eyes and allowed tears to steal down his cheeks. Maybe it was better to accept death. Unless Léi Shēng cursed him harder than he had Krystállina, Amihan would certainly be reunited with his family in Śēśa, even if it meant living under his sister-in-law’s rule for half of eternity. After a while, Amihan slid down the wall, his head landing gracelessly on the lumpy pillow. There were only a few hours left until Léi Shēng would end the party and prepare for the execution, but the God of Thunder attempted to commit himself to one last rest just the same.

Except sleep never came. Amihan tossed and turned, tried pulling the pillow down and sleeping on the bare floor, but nothing happened. At last, he clambered back onto the bed and sat there, glaring bleary-eyed at the door.

“Of
course
not!” he whispered at length. “My father would want to show everyone in the Three Worlds the ‘splendor’ of my execution! He
must
have prepared this cell with all sorts of wards and curses before luring me into his trap!”

Still…it couldn’t hurt to try. Amihan got to his feet and walked over to the grille in the door. A surreptitious glance told him that there were no guards nearby, so he stepped back and took aim at the lock. Instead of the lightning rebounding so hard that it knocked him back onto the bed, the lock evaporated, leaving only a few scorch marks in its place. Amihan grasped the hole and tugged the door open in disbelief.

“I guess
I
will not be the one dying at sunrise…”

Monacan Territory

“We saw it all.” Keimeme threw an arm around his best friend’s shoulder. “Cries Rain said that Lord Léi Shēng darkened the Three Worlds so that He could paint your drama all across the skies.”

“‘Cries Rain’?”

“The girl who caused storms every time she got upset? Surely you must have guessed that she would be apprenticed to Old Mother before too long.”

“How is Old Mother?”

“Eerily accurate, as ever,” Keimeme gave Amihan a wan smile as they sat down near the dying council fire. “She was
positive
that you would escape death, no matter how much we tried to convince her that there was no way to run from Lord Léi Shēng’s anger.”

He looked up at his best friend for a moment before reaching over to embrace him. “I am sorry for your loss.”

“Not as sorry as I am,” the God of Thunder remonstrated.

“Not as sorry as you would be, had you married Princess Aĺakána,” Keimeme replied. “I convinced Cries Rain to look into Her for practice.” At a loss for words, he shook his head.

“I cannot stay long,” Amihan said after a while. “As soon as my father discovers that I am gone…”

“He will be after you,” Keimeme finished. “Is there anything that I can do for you?”

The Thunder God shook his head. “You cannot help me where I am going. All I ask is that you remember me.”

“I will do that and more. I will never betray you and Cries Rain and I will make it our mission to ensure that the Monacan never forget.”

Amihan smiled, rose, hugged his best friend and strolled off into what would prove to be a misty morning.

Amihan speaks…

I left the Three Worlds then. I was present, but I was not present. I heard, but I did not hear. I saw, but I did not see. I lived and died…all at once. Mortals have told me that this is hard for them to understand, so they say that I slept. As I slept, I dreamed.

~*~

There were many deaths after I sought solitude. The High Priest who killed my Krystállina, my
Aŋpaŋa
—who would have killed
me
if my father had so commanded it—never returned to Navarre. When he came down off the high of the orgy, Wintau realized that he had murdered Princesses of the Blood and learning that I had escaped, he ended his life by his own hand. Two days after, Andreas Óneira learned of his daughter’s death and swept himself away in a flood of wine. Even my father’s faithful servant was not safe…they found Telfer’s body cold in his bed the following month; although no one doubted that his beloved Lord Léi Sheng was responsible.

Many moons passed before I saw my next vision. In it, Crown Princess Masama got her dearest wish: Queen Miruan retired to enjoy her remaining years and anointed my sister-in-law in her place. My brother, easily angered, was not pleased when his venerated bride named him Prince Consort of Śēśa and destroyed half of their new realm to demonstrate his wrath. Numerous innocent souls suffered, but still I did not see the face of my
Aŋpaŋa
. My father, always willing to placate his beloved Beniru, and certain that he had vanquished me for the last time, named my brother as Heir to the Throne of Wind in my place.

Perhaps the most shocking vision came but a few moons later…my father, the August Lord Léi Shēng, took a child bride. I heard myriad stories when I awoke, but one theme seemed to stand out from all the rest: Léi Shēng wanted a consort who would think everything of him and obey him forever and always. He found this in Princess Kesébé, a girl of only ten years, to whom he awarded the crown and title of High Queen when she reached menarche.

Other visions came and went while I slept…many that I would not dare to share, nor reveal that I remember.

~*~

I knew I had changed when I awoke…I saw it in the eyes of the Monacan, especially the medicine woman…medicine
girl
, really…
who
was there to greet me when I returned. No longer was I the young, handsome god who had left Tahanan more than two hundred summers ago…grief had taken its toll. Now the mortals saw me as a gentleman with stark white hair that fell past my shoulders and a face that had seen at least fifty seasons. The medicine girl never asked what caused me to leave her people and I never told her. I helped her send her mentor out the Great White Road and when we finished, I sat down to question her on what had transpired in my absence.

Through journeying, spirit guides and animal allies, Winter Rose had learned some of what happened and was willing to share it with me. After numerous ordeals (the particulars of which I will never speak nor write) and a lengthy ceremony, Princess Masama had indeed been crowned Queen of Śēśa. The story of my brother’s rampage was also true, although Storm, the previous medicine woman, had told Winter that Beniru had only succeeded in destroying parts of Śēśa that were already in poor condition, so he did not cause much damage. Winter seemed more than dismayed that my father had taken a child bride, perhaps because she had only nine summers of her own. The medicine girl reported my father and stepmother were happy, however, and that Queen Masama and High Queen Kesébé were already planning a double jubilee to mark two hundred and twenty-five years on their respective thrones.

I spent countless weeks in solitude, contemplating all that I had learned. I could perhaps have spent years in the hut by the river, enjoying the silence and the sounds of Lady Lindele’s creation, but I eventually discovered that Storm had passed without teaching Winter all that she knew and the medicine girl needed my help. Though Chief Nashoba offered to remodel the shrine that Keimeme and Sings Rain had dedicated centuries before, I declined…the hut was enough for me and a few supplicants at a time. I quickly fell back into my old ways and the Monacan received me with delight. Though I loved my adopted people dearly, I knew I could not stay with them for long. My appearance had not been the only thing that changed while I slept…there was also a longing for the open trail. In the spring of 1458, I said goodbye to the Monacan for the last time; Winter Rose was now a young woman of fourteen and could handle the spiritual needs of her people on her own.

~*~

As the years passed, I made my way across the country that would one day become known as America, staying with each of the nations in turn. My reputation preceded me, so that I was assured a warm welcome as soon as I came anywhere near an encampment. I stayed a few years here, several years there and every chief was grateful for the beneficence brought by having the God of Thunder on his side. Regretfully, these receptions made my departures all the more difficult when the trail called once again. Thirty years after my leave-taking from the Monacan, however, I received word of Winter Rose’s death. Although we had never been close, that was enough for me…I created a hermitage in the mountains of what would become Colorado and there I stayed for centuries to come.

Some pronunciations are of my own creation

Aĺakána:
(Tamil) “beautiful”.
[6]
[Ahl-ah-kah-nuh]

Amihan:
(Filipino) “Breeze” [
Ah-me-hahn
]

Anchoress:
a woman who has given herself up to a life of prayer and service to the gods. Another word for a hermit.
[7]

Ancient Temple Language:
the language spoken by the gods, originating Before Common Era.

Andhērā:
(Hindi) “darkness”. [Ahnd-hay-ra]

Aŋpāŋa:
A modification of the Tamil phrase meaning “The Beloved One”. [Ahn-pa-nah]
[8]

Băihélù:
(Chinese) “Lily Road”. [By-ah-ha-loo]
[9]

Chárí ţis Vronţís:
(Greek) “Grace of Thunder”. [Har-ee tees Vuh-rohn-tees]
[10]

Demantoid:
technical name for green garnet.

Dowager Queen:
a form of address for a former Queen. High Queen Sundara took this title when Lord Léi Shēng put her aside, so that she would not have to take the demotion to Duchess. The former High Queen is the only Queen known to have done this.

Duchess:
the form of address for a Princess who has lost both parents.

Duke:
the form of address for a Prince who has lost both parents.

Galíní ţis Vronţís:
(Greek) “Serenity of Thunder”.
[Ga-lee-nee tees Vuh-rohn-tees]
[11]

Harem:
(Turkish) the dwelling place of concubines or—occasionally—wives from later marriages.

High King:
official title of the Chief of the Elder Gods; sometimes the chief’s consort.

High Queen:
official title for a female Chief of the Elder Gods; sometimes a male chief’s consort.

Journeying:
a shamanistic technique wherein the practitioner travels to other worlds to find information, meet guides and perform other spiritual works.