Impossibly, my own emotions were pushed down a bit as her own strong feelings attempted to fill me. There was too much for my weak heart to take, but somehow I would have to learn how to manage. Nothing was going to cost me a single minute with her.
“So does that make you the king?” she asked as we lay catching our breath in the deep silk.
“I don’t know. Does Nakbe have a king?” I hadn’t ever heard of a king in Nakbe, but all the other nations had them. There were going to be a lot of things to figure out over the next few weeks: an inauguration ceremony, living arrangements, running a country. But there were a few things I was completely sure of.
Citrine flew in the next day, seeming to know exactly where we were and when we would get there. She perched on the terrace rail and waited for Khea to come out and rub her neck, calling out her familiar cry.
A few days later, Yaotl arrived from Chimalma to pay her respects to Khea. The priestess was quite plain looking except for the thick scar that ran from the corner of her mouth to her left ear. She feared she would be blamed for the scheme with Xiuhpilli and Lheda, but her memories confirmed her story. She was fortunate not to possess the immunity prized by so many other Nakbens.
Yaotl and Huitzilin, and later Xiuhpilli, had disagreed on the next step for Nakbe for a decade. Xiuhpilli wanted to continue her mother’s work to produce Tonani, while Yaotl hoped to satisfy Chichiton with voluntary sacrifices and annual offerings of young men and women.
Her failure had been her face; it was much too plain when compared to that of Xiuhpilli. For generations, the beautiful had been considered the most valuable to Chichiton, and so they were the most valuable to the people as well. Yaotl had been out-matched in looks, regardless of how hard she would work to save the nation from itself.
When Yaotl learned of Khea coming to Nakbe, she had her priests–with their gifted Sparks–intercept us before the queen. A Drifter stole water from the tank aboard the Turtle, but when that was unsuccessful, a Handler with a knack with insects caused our food to spoil. In desperation, a Striker had shaken the sleeping volcano. She had kept us in the underground room to await sacrifice; the queen couldn’t use us if we were dead. Yaotl hoped our offering would be enough to please the god and put a stop to Xiuhpilli’s plan. When we escaped, a Tracer tipped her to our presence in the city and a group had been sent to collect us.
In the end, Xiuhpilli had planned too well and had too many people working for her; Yaotl could do nothing to stop it. We made our amends with her and promised to work with her to secure a new and stable future for Nakbe, dispelling any idea that Tonani would happen with Khea as queen.
A month after that, Avis arrived from Madurai and was greeted with wide smiles and strong embraces. He laughed at our Nakben clothes–or lack of–and I sensed how much he’d missed us.
“What took you so long?” I asked him jokingly.
“I had to make a stop.” His mind filled with the image of a black horse and, a moment later, a young boy walked into the entryway with Jasper and Obsidian in tow. I think my mouth probably hit the floor.
“How did you find them?” I walked up to the horse I had thought had surely died on the Turtle and stroked her nose like old times.
“Some of the queen’s men pulled them from the water when the ship went down. They’re too fine to be left to drown.” He smiled mischievously, clearly pleased that he was still able to amaze me completely.
Khea was similarly lost with Jasper, though I had told her she was alive somewhere in Chimalma. “Thank you, Avis,” she said genuinely a few minutes later, giving our old mentor a warm hug.
Avis was ecstatic to be in Uxmal, to see us with his own eyes madly in love and safe from danger. While Khea could choose to keep things from him, he had full access to the strength of our relationship through me. It was the most he had had to live for in decades.
That night, Avis found Khea and me sitting on the stone bench on the terrace in the moonlight. Her back was pressed against the length of my chest and her head leaned back to rest on my shoulder. She turned around to give me a nice, hot kiss before going inside, leaving me alone with Avis. I sensed he wanted to talk to me, but of course, she had known it first. Although, why he thought she shouldn’t be present I didn’t know; she would no doubt be listening from the queen’s chambers.
He handed me a cup of grain wine, and I had to think of how much had changed since the last time I had a drink with him in Lagodon.
“I’m sorry about Micha, Lark.” The wounds from that night were still too fresh to let me talk openly, but I nodded my acceptance and hoped he changed the subject. I didn’t want him to know I had been having nightmares for the last few weeks.
“I know the meaning of this has changed for you, but I thought you might like it anyways.” He held up a pendant: a deep, black stone with a white hawk inlayed within. Pearl within Obsidian.
Pulling it into my hand, I wasn’t sure of what to make of it. Undoubtedly, I had earned it. With my blood and tears, it was mine. But it came from the very hands that caused the deaths of my friends, and nearly cost me Khea. I couldn’t decide if I even wanted it anymore.
“I gave Micha’s to Iseut. He would have wanted it.” Was he ever going to stop being right? It was the only thing to do for the woman he loved who would always be waiting for him to return. My heart ached to think of what that loss would feel like, or what I would have to endure if Khea were taken from me again.
“Thank you.”
“So what are you going to do now?”
“Help her run the country, I guess. Although, she seems to have more of an idea than I do.” I smiled as I took a sip of the bitter wine. She had been busy meeting each member of the queen’s guard and household, sending envoys to bring in the rulers of the cities and tribes to speak with her, and learning about the history and culture from the people in Uxmal.
“I mean about your Spark. You have a lot of ground to cover.”
Oh that.
I hadn’t thought much about Khea’s idea that I was a Majestic like her. I made no attempts to control anything, and reading minds was a limited skill with so many immune around the palace. At least, it allowed me to receive whatever Khea wanted to send me. I had no intention of ever experiencing her silence again.
“Do you think she’s right?” I asked him hesitantly. Did I even want her to be right?
“I think so, and I think she’s known it for a while. And she’s also right that your child allowed you to use it. Now you’re connected to her, and some of her strength passes to you. But someday, she may need you to be strong for her.”
“So what now? You teach me how to light people on fire again?” The image of the burning Nakben man on top of the tower was one of the many from that night that haunted me.
“I’m not a Striker. I only have limited experience with the other rates. But I can help you see the world the way she does, and that’s something you’ll need if you want to get better.” I remembered Khea saying the world was filled with spirits for her. Avis was going to help me see the spirits? It sounded a little mad, but I was glad to have him with us and I knew there was no one else I trusted to help me with it.
Avis didn’t require an answer; he heard my
thoughts and knew my decision.
For a while, we sat on the terrace sipping our wine and looking at the sky. “Do you have any children?” I asked him.
“Ha, no. You know that.” I hadn’t seen any memories of children in his mind, but that didn’t mean they weren’t out there. It was possible to bury things down deep enough, or just cover them up.
“Like the Moonwater.” he said in response to my thoughts. I had to laugh thinking back to the memory. It had caused such a change in my life, altered my direction like a fork in the river.
“Why did you let me have Parvani that night? If you knew I was meant to be with Khea?”
“I thought you’d benefit from a little experience.” I guess he had a point, though it was a little sour to think I’d wasted time I could have spent with Khea.
“Don’t be so serious. She was still a child then.” She’d only had fourteen summers then, but she still looked more beautiful than any other student at the festival. And the three seasons since then had only done her better.
“And now she’ll have a child.” I couldn’t deny my happiness, but there was also a nagging worry. She was so young, and she wouldn’t be the first woman to die in childbirth. Would our nights in the snow-covered Oakwick lead to her death at the end of the season?
“You’ll never stop worrying, will you?” Avis said chiding me. Then he added, “No, I guess not. No man ever had as much to lose as you, though.” He was fully laughing a moment later, considering how ridiculous it seemed that the two tiny, sickly children from Lagodon should become strong, healthy and powerful adults with more happiness than two people had a right to.
By the time the wine had started to blur the moon and my thoughts, I said good night to my mentor-returned and made my way to bed. Khea was there with open arms, waiting for me and pulling in close where I lay down. The room was turning a bit in the dim moonlight as she pressed her bare chest against mine and climbed on, knowing exactly what I liked and what my hazy head could handle. Her lips found the tender spot on my neck as her sweet-smelling hair fell into my face and for the thousandth time since the day at the pool, I thought,
I could stay like this forever.
End of Book One.
Spirits to be released in 2014.
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About RS McCoy
RS McCoy didn’t ever plan on being a writer. With a career teaching high school science, writing is the last thing she expected. But life never goes the way you think it will. While battling cancer, she picked up her laptop and let the words flow out. One year later, her first published fantasy novel has been released on Amazon and her second novel is in the works. She is a wife, mother of two, a scientist, baker, gardener, and life-long science fiction and fantasy addict.
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