The Dead God's Due (The Eye of the Lion Saga Book 1) (26 page)

She reached into her pocket and
clutched the letter it contained as if it were a talisman. She
didn’t need to read it to feel its power. After at least
twenty readings, she knew it by heart.

It is not that I could not love you,
but that I have my pride. You cannot shame me so in public and
expect me to submit to you. If I must bend a knee, let me do it
without cruel eyes upon me, mocking me.

And so here she stood, without
Caelwen’s “cruel eyes”, or anyone else’s for
that matter. She had been humiliated enough for several lifetimes of
late. How could she blame anyone for wanting to avoid it? It was
horrible.

She reached for the hallway
door warily, on guard.
What
if the Southlander has escaped somehow, and is waiting behind that
door for me?
She stepped back, terrified. “Are you
certain
the
Southlander can’t get out?”

The guard gave her a quizzical
look. “I am certain you are in no danger from him.”

“Well how can you be when
you don’t even check to be certain?”

The guard chuckled aloud.
“Because he is already dead.”

Kariana blinked in surprise,
then nodded. “Good. I thought it was tomorrow.”

The guard nodded sagely.
“That’s the way of executions, Empress. Surprise often
means less trouble.”

It was good news, but she was
surprised to find herself still wary of opening the door. Perhaps
the truth of it was that her fear of the Southlander was simply a
convenient excuse to avoid the real issue. She took a deep breath
and let it out slowly, ignoring the guard’s quizzical look,
and opened the door.

It was difficult to think of
the hallway as a prison. The four doors into the cells were solid
enough, and had slots at eye and hand level, but otherwise, it was
simply a brick hallway. It was a bit utilitarian, but then, so was
the rest of House Noril. Polished brass lamps illuminated several
paintings lining the walls, the centerpiece a portrait of Noril.

She realized with chagrin that
she was too short to see through the top slot. She hesitated, trying
to decide if she could bear the indignity of being on her knees
again this day, peeping through the slots like a lovesick
schoolgirl.

Aiul spared her that, at least.
He called out from the far end of the hallway, his voice tired,
defeated. “Why are you here?”

Kariana stammered a moment,
unable to find words. She clutched at the note in her pocket again,
trying to draw some strength from it. She stepped quickly to the
door of his cell and knelt at the lower slot, only to find herself
staring at his crotch. Maralena’s taunts flickered like
gadflies in her mind, and she sighed in frustration, struggling
against tears. Her voice cracked with strain as she choked out, “I
got your letter. I came like you asked.”

“I sent no letter.”

Kariana blinked at hot tears,
glad now that it was not his eyes on the other side. A trick, then,
and a cruel one. “Is that true? Someone else sent it, or did
you do it just to hurt me by denying it?”

Aiul sighed and settled to the
floor on the other side. He looked out at her, his green eyes not
angry or cold, but simply sad. “No. It wasn’t me. Why
would I ask you to come here, Kariana? We are at war, now.”

Kariana couldn’t contain
her grief. A sob burst from her, and she lay her head against the
door for support. “Must it be so?” she choked. “Why
can’t we just forget about everything? Tasinal, Amrath, Aswan,
all of them, they fought one another like beasts at times, and they
got past things. Why can’t
we
?”

Aiul slammed a fist against the
door. It was solid enough that she didn’t even feel the blow,
but the sound was enough to make her spring back in shock. When she
looked through the slot again, he had bowed his head and covered his
eyes with his hand. “Too much has passed.”

“It wasn’t
me
,
Aiul! I swear it! It
wasn’t
!”

Aiul lowered his hand and
stared at her, considering. “You swore before Mei you would
kill us both.”

“But it was just
words
!
You said it yourself, I was out of my head! I didn’t mean it!”

“And someone just
happened to attack Lara just after that.” He snorted in
derision, but he seemed less certain, for all his display.

Kariana wanted to scream the
truth at him. She opened her mouth, fully intending to do so.
Yes!
Someone
willing to frame me
with her crime because she so disapproves of her son marrying a
commoner!

She closed her mouth so fast
her teeth clicked as they came together. The truth would undo any
progress she had made with him. He would never believe her. He would
accuse her of being a monster to try to turn him against his own
mother. Better to seem stupid. At least it was what was expected of
her, so it would ring true. “Yes.”

Aiul shook his head sadly. “I
don’t believe you. I want to, I really do, for what we had
long ago. But I
can’t
.
Do you understand?”

Kariana laid her head against
the door again and wept softly. “I won’t accept it!”

Aiul chuckled sadly, and his
eyes softened. “What was it that cocky bastard Prandil told
Maralena? ‘You can retreat into self delusion at will’?”

Kariana giggled through her
tears. “It’s all I have. I’d be dead if I just
accepted things.”

Aiul shook his head, smiling.
“Yes, Kariana, I think you would.”

Kariana snorted in amusement.
“I know.” She looked at him again, not trying to hide
her emotion anymore. “Will you at least try to believe me?”

Aiul’s features grew
strained. He sighed again, and swallowed hard. “You are
empress, Kariana. You have much power, as you are just beginning to
see. If it is as you say, you can use that power to find the real
culprit. Have your man Caelwen bring him to me with his proof. We
both know that statue would rather be buried alive than frame an
innocent man. Do that, and I’ll bend a knee to you before all
Nihlos.”

“That’s not my
demand. It was the elders. I just want you to believe me. And one
other thing.”

Aiul raised an eyebrow, but
said nothing.

Kariana took a deep breath. “I
want you to tell me the truth.”

“What truth?”

“That you loved me then,
and you still do. Don’t you dare mock Caelwen for his ‘duty
and honor’ when you stand on the same ceremony.”

Aiul turned away quickly, but
not before she caught the trapped look in his eyes. “I don’t
know what you’re talking about.”

“Yes you do. I’ve
taken plenty of men to my bed. I know the difference between one
doing his duty and one who wants to be there. It came back to you,
just like it came back to me.”

Aiul slammed his fist against
the door again, but this time she didn’t flinch. He stared off
at nothing, refusing to meet her gaze, his jaw clenched. “I’m
married
!”

“I’m not asking you
to leave her. I’m not asking you to be with me. I’m just
want to hear you say it.”

Aiul said nothing for long
moments, and when he spoke, his voice was husky with emotion. “Prove
your truth to me. Then we’ll talk of mine.”

Lara stood at the door to the
prison, trembling in rage and humiliation. How stupid could they be?
It was a prison! It was designed for voices to carry! Or perhaps
they had grown so bold they no longer cared if the guard heard. If
it hadn’t been for her ‘anonymous’ friend, there
would be nothing to fear, would there?

It was true. All true. What a
fool she had been!

The guard laid a hand on her
shoulder. “I think you should come back some other time,
madam. This can’t end well.”

Lara ground her teeth in fury,
but her face gave no sign. She nodded. “I guess you’re
right.” She eyed the heavy candlestick that hung by the door.
“Could you help me with my bag? I’m feeling a little
dizzy. It’s the pregnancy.”

The guard nodded in sympathy,
and bent to pick up her bag. In a flash, Lara snatched the
candlestick from the wall and crashed it against his head, sending
him to the ground in a heap. The candle, still lit, flew across the
room, bounced off the wall, and spun furiously on the stone floor
before settling.

Lara bent to retrieve his keys.
There was a lot of blood. Was he breathing? She decided she didn’t
much care. One murder, two, or three? What did it matter? She
unlocked the door and stepped into the hallway, clutching the
candlestick like a lifeline. She imagined how it would feel as it
crashed into Tasinalta’s skull, the sound it would make, like
an overripe melon being dropped on the floor.

She smiled darkly as she closed
the door behind her. No guards would be interrupting this dance.

She wanted Tasinalta all to
herself.

Kariana knew something was
wrong as soon as she heard the door open. She didn’t know
what, precisely, but it was bad. No one should be here. Suddenly,
she regretted ditching Caelwen. Someone had forged the letter from
Aiul. Perhaps it was a trap.

Aiul’s eyes cut toward
the door, but the angle was wrong for him. He could see nothing of
the entrance. “Who is it?”

Oh, no! No! No!

He could see the look on her
face, she was certain of it. His eyes grew wide, alarmed. “
Who
is it?
”

Lara, dressed in a simple
nightgown, her belly large with child, held the candlestick high,
like a headsman’s axe. She wore a cruel, sidelong smile, and
her eyes glittered with madness, malice and murder. “Your man
gave you up, whore! Did you think I wouldn’t find out?”

Kariana blinked in shock and
confusion. “Find out what?”

Aiul pounded vainly against the
door. “Lara! It’s not what you think!”

Lara chuckled without humor.
“You don’t even know what I think.”

It would have been nice to
talk, to work things out, but Lara was apparently in no mood.
Without warning, she rushed Kariana, swinging the candlestick like a
mace. Kariana threw up her hands to shield her head, a little too
late to fully block the blow, but enough to blunt it. Pain ripped
through her hands, her forearms. It poured on the crown of her skull
and rolled down her face like molten lead, hot, heavy, liquid. She
noted with a slight detachment that, as much as it hurt, it was all
very confusing.
Attacking first definitely has enormous
advantages.

Aiul was screaming something,
but it was muffled. She couldn’t be certain what, and did it
matter? This had in fact all been a trap, hadn’t it? The two
of them cooked it up together. Get her here, then have the pregnant
woman finish the job and claim she was mad with raging hormones or
something. Probably, Narelki would even defend her against the
charges. Such irony.

Lara seemed to be moving in
slow motion, spittle flying from her lips as she screamed
incoherently, no words, just sounds of blind fury. Her face was so
contorted with rage that she looked demonic.
Or
maybe that’s just the blow to my head.
The
candlestick was gone. Kariana felt hands tightening around her
throat, and motion, and heard a clunking sound.
Oh,
that would be your head impacting against the floor, fool.

She wondered how it was going
to feel to die. It would have been nice to fight back, but her body
wasn’t cooperating very well. Even if it had, she was
outmatched. Lara was no old woman or soft little spy from House
Prosin. She was half again Kariana’s size, and hard, a
commoner who likely had to fight often as a child.
She’s
probably killed dozens.

It was instinct rather than
thought that sent her hand snaking into her blouse once again for
Sadrik’s dagger. Black spots danced before her eyes as the
last of her breath burned out in her veins. Her hands seemed to act
of their own accord, clumsy, with the dagger blade pointing in the
wrong direction as she brought it to Lara’s throat. Lara
leered down at her, triumphant, spittle still dripping from her
mouth, now a ravenous maw.

Fine.
I can adapt.
With the last of her strength, Kariana
hammered the butt of the dagger into the bridge of Lara’s
nose, once, twice, three times.
I
must remember to thank Sadrik again for this. It’s the most
useful gift I’ve ever received.

Her vision had faded to full
black by now, but the hands around her throat fell away. Kariana
sucked in air in great gasps, blind. She had no idea where Lara was,
no idea if her vision would even return.

Kariana shivered in blind fear,
waiting for the next blow.

It all happened so quickly that
Aiul could barely follow things. Lara was out of her head, raving.
She hit Kariana with a candlestick and then started choking her.
Kariana hit Lara with something. They were both reeling now, both
bleeding. It didn’t look too bad, though.

Aiul kicked at the door with
all his might, but it was useless. “Stop it, both of you!”

Lara groaned in pain and
struggled to her feet. She wiped the blood from her lips with the
back of her hand and growled like a dog.

Kariana was clearly having
difficulty seeing, and she was gasping and heaving, trying to catch
her breath. She turned toward the sound of Lara’s voice and
slashed the air with a small knife. Where had that come from?

Aiul pounded his fist against
the door again. “Don’t do this! It’s
madness
!”

They circled one another,
slowly, Kariana trying to buy time while her vision and breath
returned. Lara seemed to sense this, and charged headlong into a
vicious slash. The knife cut through her thigh, drawing a river of
blood, but Lara didn’t seem to notice. She hit Kariana with
her full weight and bore the tiny woman to the floor beneath her,
one hand reaching for the knife, the other scrambling across
Kariana’s face, fingers clawing at eyes like a crab pinching
its prey.