Tentyrian Legacy (5 page)

“Hathor, we hardly need protection. It is the
humans who do,” said Calix flippantly. Calix was the Coven leader
of Taurus. “Taurus can take care of itself.”

“Indeed it can, Calix, as can all of the
Covens,” replied Hathor, “but it never hurts to take precautions.
Even we can die. The real purpose of tonight, however, is to
discuss the implications of my vision and the next steps for
Tentyris.”

“Mother, are you sure it is Auletes plotting
your death and not the Egyptian rebels that killed father?” asked
Narcissa. Hathor turned to her daughter’s worried face. Narcissa,
the youngest and Fourth Luminary, was a gifted healer and skilled
botanist. However, she had much to learn about the art of
deception.

“It is likely he orchestrated your father’s
death,” Hathor said, “and he will ultimately be responsible for
mine. In my vision this morning, I saw beneath his feigned sympathy
for Hector’s murder and felt his true anger at Tentyris. He
suspects that we are more powerful than we let on, although he
doesn’t understand what that power originates from. Our Tentyrian
Guard doesn’t come close to rivaling his army in size. But he knows
just a handful of our Guard are capable of subduing up to fifty
Egyptian rebels, as occurred in the brief skirmish last month. He
also wants our wealth—all of it. In my vision, I saw a blade
dispatched by one of his mercenaries cutting across my sleeping
throat. It leads me to believe Auletes no longer thinks we are just
a religious community of priests and priestesses skilled in
healing. Our warriors, advancements in medicine, and kind treatment
of the Egyptian people undermine his authority. We’ve done our best
to not get involved in his politics, and we quell any talk of our
powers or riches. But our presence itself is the problem. As long
as our numbers grow and we continue to thrive, we will be a threat.
In the last 128 years, our Covens have doubled. The sheer
concentration of intelligence and resources we have is what he
wants to stamp out. And he doesn’t even know the extent of our true
power . . . yet.”

Maximos, leader of the Leo Coven and Hathor’s
most faithful advisor, stood and addressed the seventeen stoic
faces. “We’ve been anticipating this day. We spoke of it when we
first established Tentyris and have spoke of it at every Council
meeting since. We knew our payments of grain and gold, above and
beyond what would be expected from a small ‘religious community’
such as ours, would one day no longer satisfy the Ptolemies and
Rome. Our relations with Auletes have been tenuous, at best, even
with Hathor’s and the Luminaries’ diplomacy. If Auletes is
responsible for Hector’s murder and if he is planning Hathor’s, he
seeks to destroy us all.”

“It is true, Maximos,” said Hathor. “Rome’s
greed has grown, and Auletes feels his kingdom slipping away again.
He does not want to lose it as he did several years ago. He thinks
eliminating the Tentyrian leader will further strengthen his hold
on the Egyptians and line his pocket with gold. Unfortunately, as I
have seen, he thought ordering the assassination of my beloved
Hector would achieve that.” Deep sadness washed over the Visionary
Queen’s face. It had only been one full moon since her husband’s
ashes were released to the north winds of the Nile. Hathor still
couldn’t understand why she didn’t see his death coming.

Every morning before dawn, Hector had
surveyed the Tentyrian lands and visited with the Egyptians who
were paid, fed, and sheltered for their labors. He’d loved riding
through the miles of Tentyrian barley fields and fruit orchards,
while admiring the glow behind Tentyris as the sun rose and cast
its rays on the sprawling complex. He used to marvel at how the
stone temples sparkled and Tentyris came alive with activity. Even
watching the Egyptians come out of their whitewashed mud-brick
homes near the outskirts of the complex to greet the day and begin
their labors had been joyous to Hector.

The Tentyrians would also emerge from their
own simple but expansive limestone villas to begin their days
alongside the Egyptians. They oversaw the Egyptian farmers,
builders, merchants, and servants that worked within their small
city. Many Tentyrians were also healers and spent their days
solving the ailments of the Egyptian people at the Sanatorium. Next
to the Sacred Lake, the Sanatorium of Tentyris functioned as a
healing center and hospital. With the Tentyrians and Egyptians
working together in harmony, the day’s activities flowed
efficiently and their community prospered.

Hector would often ride over to the
Sanatorium and Sacred Lake after his morning’s survey. He loved to
check on the status of the Egyptian pilgrims, many of whom had
traveled to Tentyris over several days, seeking the Tentyrian
healing talents and waters. Tentyris was Hector’s pride and joy.
From the lush gardens where lotus bloomed in abundance to the
efficient training grounds and stables where the Tentyrian Guard
honed their skills, Tentyris was an oasis where his kind had
managed to create a haven. That haven was built under the guise of
a religious community that had been revered by the Egyptians for
over a century.

But by noon one fateful day, Hector hadn’t
arrived at the Sanatorium or the Sacred Lake. In fact, he never
arrived at all. The Guard found his decapitated body five miles
outside of the gate. It wasn’t clear if Hector’s killers had lured
him outside of the complex and then killed him or if he was
murdered within and his body and severed head were dumped outside.
The Egyptian laborers and all Tentyrians were thoroughly
interviewed and their deepest secrets analyzed. But no one saw or
heard what happened to Hector.

Ten days later, an emissary from Alexandria
arrived with a letter from Auletes. Six men confessed to killing
Hector. They were apparently part of an Egyptian rebel group that
had been wreaking havoc in Lower Egypt, hoping to undermine the
Ptolemaic throne. They were subsequently captured in an
assassination attempt of Auletes, and not long after, they
confessed their involvement in Hector’s murder. Hector’s death was
the first of a Zodiac Council and royal family member in Tentyrian
history. That history, while still young, was swiftly becoming
uprooted from its Egyptian soil.

“Of course, Auletes would think a simple
female couldn’t rule on her own, so he killed our father,” surmised
Phoebe sadly. Phoebe was Hathor’s second oldest daughter, the
clan’s Second Luminary, and a skilled manipulator of energy and
light. “Auletes has never been a smart man. His own daughter may
have his own kingdom one day, if Rome doesn’t get it first.”

Sophia, Coven leader of Libra and master
interpreter of Tentyrian law due to her patient wisdom, spoke next.
“We’ve all suspected it wasn’t the Egyptian rebels that ambushed
Hector. Although we delve out punishment when warranted, we treat
all Egyptians with the utmost fairness. The raid on Tentyris two
months ago is a prime example. When the rebels from Alexandria
realized their fighting was fruitless, we could have put the
survivors to death. But we didn’t. Instead, we offered them jobs
with our building and farming crews. We offered them the
opportunities that Auletes denied them. Their actions were
reprehensible, thinking they could steal from our peaceful
community and get away with it. However, how we handled their
crimes should be proof enough that the rebels would be in debt to
us. Until now, we haven’t had proof it wasn’t the Egyptian rebels
that killed Hector. But not only does your vision confirm it,
Hathor, now we also have the results of our investigation to share.
Daria can elaborate . . .” The Council turned its expectant eyes to
Hathor’s oldest daughter, the First Luminary.

Daria was the clan’s most gifted mind reader.
No one in Tentyrian history had demonstrated the skill she
possessed in seeing others’ thoughts. As a rule, though, Daria was
prevented from mind tapping the other Council members. Each
possessed their own unique mental blocks they had cultivated
through years of practice, including Daria, to prevent any form of
mind control. Mind blocks among the Council were a necessary
precaution to keep the governing body of Tentyris objective. The
members of the Council, as well as all Tentyrians, had varying
degrees of power ranging from telekinesis to telepathy. What
separated the Council from the rest of the Tentyrian population,
though, was their ability to “shift” or move from one location to
another with just a thought. Only nineteen people had ever shown
the skill—and they all comprised the Council of the Zodiac.
However, since Hector’s death, they were now a council of
eighteen.

Daria had just shifted from Alexandria with
her husband, Aristos, Coven leader of Cancer and fellow Council
members Sophia, Sebastian, and Pello. Sebastian was the Coven
leader of Capricorn and Pello of Sagittarius. Together, they sought
interviews with the men who confessed to killing Hector.

“After Pello bribed the jail guards, I read
the rebel prisoners’ minds, and the confessions are a sham,” said
Daria firmly. “The men agreed to admit to killing Hector and to
planning an assassination attempt on Auletes. Their wives received
eight hundred tetradrachm in exchange. They knew that exchange
would result in their own deaths. . . but for them, it was worth
it. The deal would ensure their families’ well-beings, which the
men could better ensure dead than alive.” Most Egyptians lived in
abject poverty; eight hundred tetradrachm would be a windfall for
anyone.

“We know that the man the ‘rebels’ accepted
the terms from had his identity concealed. They never saw his face
nor learned his name,” said Sebastian. While the Capricorn leader
had some basic telepathic skills, they weren’t effective enough for
frequent use. Sebastian’s real strength was in his natural power of
persuasion and intellect. “We suspect it was Aulus Gabinius who may
have orchestrated the cover-up under Auletes’ direction. But when
we requested an audience at the palace to confirm it, we were
denied entrance every day for the last two weeks. We were given the
message that Auletes was tending to important political matters but
that he conveyed his sincerest condolences.”

“It would have taken at least thirty mortal
men to subdue Hector. Six would barely draw blood,” said Aristos.
As leader of Hathor’s Cancer Coven, head of the Tentyrian Guard,
and beloved son-in-law, he knew firsthand the manpower it would
take to stop the virtually unstoppable Hector. “Auletes had the
quantity and quality of mercenaries to ambush Hector and
effectively coerce the men to confess.”

“Auletes is a pig. Mother, with your and the
Council’s permission, I could enter the palace and slit his throat.
No one would ever know who it was,” said Calypso vehemently.
Calypso was the Third Luminary, and with the right level of
concentration she could make herself invisible. The apple of her
father’s eye and third eldest daughter, Calypso took Hector’s death
the hardest.

“Calypso, while I appreciate your talents,
that is not the way of our kind,” said Hathor gently.

“It isn’t the way of our kind, Hathor, but
now we know it must have been Auletes,” said Stavros, Coven leader
of Aries and the most outspoken proponent of increased power for
Tentyris. “Your vision practically confirms it. Aristos is right:
Auletes had the resources to deploy a force of Gabiniani that could
kill Hector. We need to make a stand! We have the power, and it’s
time we use it. For too long we’ve played by mortal rules. Yes,
we’ve made a life for our kind here—but at what cost? Certainly
Hector’s. It is time we remind ourselves that we are not their
equals; we are their betters. In fact, should we be so inclined, we
could wipe out the feeble humans throughout Egypt in a matter of
months.”

“Stavros, we are not animals!” retorted
Hathor. “We are Tentyrian. Need I remind you, it is those feeble
humans that keep us alive? Without their blood, we wouldn’t be
here. We know that we aren’t that much different from them. It is
only by some random deviation in our makeup, which even we don’t
fully understand yet, that separates us. We were born from humans,
and with the exception of the second and third generations, which
some of you here have borne, we are the first and only of our kind.
Who is to say that our unique race will even continue? When I
accepted the role as queen and Visionary for our clan, I agreed to
put the interests of our people first. Don’t think for a second I
don’t want revenge for Hector’s death. He was my best friend and
father to my children. But my recognition that Tentyris must
continue enables my restraint. You should find your own,
Stavros.”

With an impassive face, Stavros took his
seat.

“As Maximos has said, we’ve known this day
would come. If Auletes succeeds in killing me,” continued Hathor,
“he will dismantle our people. Yes, we can fight back, but it is
not worth the exposure and bloodshed.”

“Ah, but the bloodshed would be delicious,”
sniggered Calix. Laughter followed from the Gemini Coven leaders,
Aglaia and Asia.

The twin sisters, with a knack for
manipulating fire, ruled their Coven jointly.

“Shut your mouth, Calix. Your words are an
embarrassment to all Tentyrians!” said Narcissa angrily. Narcissa
had come to loathe Calix not long after she came of age. Her mother
never understood why, as she always thought Narcissa considered
herself quite in love with him. She recalled the days when Narcissa
would dance around the villa, singing his praises. But something
changed five summers ago. Maybe she had seen beneath his charm—so
powerful it could alter the memories of the weak.

Hathor slammed her sistrum into her palm with
a loud clash. “Your attempt at humor is not appreciated, Calix,”
she said.

Undisturbed by Hathor’s obvious displeasure,
Calix replied nonchalantly, “This situation may not be humorous,
but I agree with Stavros. Why are we so concerned about causing a
little upset? It would be liberating.”