“Lies. He was caught immediately after he killed Shlara. The man was dead.” One of Turnia’s women spoke suddenly and her leader silenced her with a cutting glare.
“Nyarathe saved Kaiyer from being captured and then brought him back to her home. She wrote that she couldn’t kill the father of the child she had met, though the man deserved to die a hundred thousand torturous deaths.” Telaxthe’s eyes narrowed at me and I knew that she agreed with her ancestor.
I nodded and tried to fight against the agony in my stomach. I asked myself why Nyarathe hadn’t told me of my daughter but the answer was obvious. The woman hated me. I recalled the time I spent in her home and the feeling of my hand around her throat. I had almost killed my lover’s sister. It was odd to think that if I had squeezed just a little harder for a few more seconds then Telaxthe would not be sitting here right now.
But if there was no Telaxthe, there would have been no Nadea. The duchess would not have awoken me. I would not be sitting here right now hearing the story of how close I came to finding the woman that I loved and the child she had created with me. In some ways their invasion of this world was my fault. Then I recalled that Nyarathe already had two girl children. I didn’t know if the empress and Fehalda were descended from them or another child of Iolarathe’s sister.
“It sounds like your tale has come to an end, Telaxthe,” Turnia said. She turned her head to me and spoke with her usual calmness. “I can’t imagine you are satisfied with this information.”
“Any knowledge can be priceless when the topic is most important,” I said. “She led me to believe that there was more, but perhaps I was a fool to think so.”
“You are most certainly a fool. No one claims to be the Betrayer unless they wish to die.”
“Is there anything more you can tell me?” I asked Telaxthe again. My friends believed that Spirits of their dead family and lovers protected them, so I said a silent prayer to them.
“No,” Telaxthe said flatly and I knew she spoke the truth. “Will you release my people now?” she asked Turnia. The two women stared at each other for a silent half-minute before the O’Baarni clan leader answered.
“How will I ensure that you cooperate as the Pretender’s concubine?”
Telaxthe’s jaw clenched and she inhaled slowly. I could hear her heart pounding in her chest, but for a quarter of a minute she didn’t say anything. Finally, she smiled slightly and spoke.
“You have not heard this man’s conviction of me yet. You told me that you would let Dissonti leave. Please show mercy on my people and I will gladly fulfill whatever you ask of me.”
“You are right, Telaxthe. I have not heard the Pretender’s story.” She turned to me. “What do you think? Should I let Dissonti leave or should we keep her around so that the empress bitch has incentive to wet your dick enthusiastically?”
Perhaps Turnia suspected that I requested the Elven woman’s presence for something other than sexual needs. Maybe she thought that I had a desire to escape or prevent the empress from being put to death.
“I do not care.” I shrugged my shoulders and let out an easy breath. “I am also at your mercy. As I only have a few more weeks of life before I am delivered to your Council, if she doesn’t satisfy me, I’ll just tell you I am done and you can begin the torture. She is proud and said earlier that she would prefer death over my bed, but I am a good lover. Once she feels my member between her legs, she will prefer me fucking her to torture.” Turnia nodded at my words but the empress, Vernine, and even the aloof Dissonti glared at me.
“Fine. I will make a decision after you speak of my brother, Pretender.”
“Perhaps it is best to start at the beginning.” I had already planned what I would say to the group, so the words came easily.
“A group of humans awoke me from a long slumber. I was in a Radicle. My memory was lost and I did not recall my name.” I had debated telling Turnia of the writing Malek left for me on the stone bed, but I decided it would just anger her.
“These humans knew nothing of the sklad legends. Their world was being invaded by monsters that called themselves Ancients, and they had writings of someone named the O’Baarni that had once defeated them.”
“Idiots.” One of Turnia’s women shook her head.
“Telaxthe used the name to inspire fear in the native people of this world. She hoped that this would cause less conflict, but the humans resisted her conquests, so a short war broke out. The people that woke me thought I could save them from the Elvens and they took me back to their castle. One of the men in the group was named Iarin.”
“Yes,” Turnia said. I expected her to say more, but when she didn’t I reasoned that she knew the tall man’s side of my story and I would have to adjust what I was going to say slightly.
“Some of my memories were beginning to return and I recalled my past. I knew my name was Kaiyer and I had memories of leading an army against the Elvens. While I was in the castle, a group of them attacked, kidnapped the king’s daughter, and I followed them. While I was away from the city, one of Telaxthe’s generals conquered it. When I returned, I attempted to rescue my human friends, but I was also captured by Alatorict and ended up meeting the empress as a prisoner.
“Telaxthe, like you, assumed I was a Pretender and just wanted me to leave this world, since it was illegal for her to kill me.” Turnia nodded. Her eyes were set upon me with a ferocity that made me wonder if she believed me.
“Then Kannath came.” I took a breath and shrugged my shoulders with a smile. “My goal was to escape my imprisonment so I could save the humans of this world from the rule of the invading Elvens. When Kannath came he also accused me of being a Pretender and insisted on taking me back with him to face trial and execution. I promised to give Telaxthe some information if she helped me escape Kannath.”
“What was this information?” Turnia interrupted me.
“The empress wanted to know the location of the Radicle I came through.” Turnia stared at me intently and I knew she didn’t believe me.
“She wants to destroy them,” I explained before Turnia could question me. The O’Baarni woman turned her bright blue eyes to Telaxthe.
“You fucking bitch. Destroy the Radicles? Are you insane? Did you think that would actually work?” I turned my head to look at the empress, but her face might as well have been carved out of marble. Her expression didn’t change and her eyes stared into the empty space between Turnia and me. Vernine’s red eyes blazed with intensity. I wondered if the woman would be willing to leave her empress’s side.
“Kannath was just performing his duty and I told Telaxthe that she had to kill him. She resisted, but I didn’t see any other way I could free myself since I knew I could never beat him in combat. We agreed that once I returned I would tell her of the Radicle and she would tell me of my daughter.” I knew Turnia would believe this; it was easier to buy an impossible lie that protected your beliefs than a disillusioning truth.
“So who killed my brother and his warriors?” Turnia asked.
“Fehalda and her troops. They followed Kannath and me to a campsite. You saw what happened.” Silence hung in the air. Turnia nodded and her head bowed for a few seconds.
“Did you have any part in this?” The O’Baarni woman raised her head and looked at Vernine.
“No. She was not one of Fehalda’s assassins,” I said, perhaps a bit too quickly.
“No, Turnia. I was at the castle by my empress’s side,” Vernine said. Her voice was monotonous and I realized that the pewter-haired woman had already accepted that she would die today.
“Did you know of this plan?”
“No, Turnia,” Vernine said after a slight hesitation.
“How about you?” Turnia looked to Dissonti.
“I know of things past, present, and future.” Dissonti’s eyes seemed to dance like green waves.
“Don’t speak in riddles, bitch. I am deciding your fate,” Turnia growled. I saw Vernine’s grip on her sword tighten.
“When the Destroyer spoke the words I saw the conversation unfold in my memory. At the time I was sitting on a bench many hundreds of yards away speaking to your brother about Kaiyer’s combat abilities.”
Turnia looked puzzled for a few seconds before she spoke. “This doesn’t explain how I came across you, Fehalda, and Vernine walking back to the human’s castle.” Her eyes focused on me again.
“After Kannath was killed, Fehalda and I had an argument. We fought and she beat me into unconsciousness. When I awoke she had left.”
“What did you argue about?”
“She asked what her sister and I spoke of. I told her to go fuck herself with the sharp end of her sword.” I shrugged. “Then I woke up next to the dead bodies of Kannath and his warriors. I ran back to the castle and assumed that the empress had betrayed me. My human friends were prisoners now since Telaxthe controlled the castle. I freed them but we were separated. Our plan was to meet at the Eastern Mountains, but when I reached the destination Vernine and Fehalda were already there. Fehalda said that the empress would keep her word and tell me of my daughter and she would kill my friends if I did not return. So I returned.”
Turnia nodded and sat back on the pillow. She didn’t say anything for almost a minute and the tension in the air was electric. I had only included the most believable parts of the truth, she would have accused me of lying if I had been honest about the last few years. Had it really been that long? Time was difficult to gauge after all I had remembered. I had lived hundreds of lifetimes and slept through hundreds more. I counted the seasons carefully and realized that it had been close to two years since Nadea had called me forth in the Radicle. It was autumn now, the second one since I had awoken on this world.
“Telaxthe, you have committed multiple crimes against the clans.” Turnia suddenly spoke and the tension increased with her words.
“Your entire race deserves to be annihilated, just as the Betrayer wanted.” Turnia shifted in her seat and her voice cracked. “My brother was a friend and advocate for your race. He was impressed by your fortitude and cleverness. You repaid his kindness with treachery and murder, yet I know that if he could speak to me from behind the grave, he would still want me to forgive you and feel sympathetic to the plight of your people.” Telaxthe nodded, but the creeping fear soon overtook her composure.
“But, if my brother were in my place, and you had killed me instead, he would have already exacted revenge. He would have set his rage upon your people, innocent or not.” Turnia and Telaxthe stared at each other for a few seconds, then Turnia continued, “So feel fortunate that you betrayed the stronger of us. I will allow your servants, Vernine, and Dissonti to leave my camp unharmed. Your other guards are already dead. You will serve as the Pretender’s concubine for the remainder of our journey. Then I shall delight in ending your miserable existence. After you are disposed of, I will beseech the Council to rid this world of the Elven scourge and free the humans you have overtaken.
“And as you die, know I will dedicate the rest of my life, all of my strength, energy, and power, to ridding the universe of your race. We will enslave every one of your people and farm your skulls for Ovules. My clan will rise to dominate the others, the Two Bears will colonize every planet. Each life we take from an Elven, each skull we harvest will send us to another world to find and eliminate thousands more.”
Telaxthe’s face finally cracked and a single tear dripped from each eye. Her jaw clenched and I could hear the sound of her breath come out in painful gasps of agony. Vernine was moments away from drawing her sword, but then the empress raised her hand.
“Can they leave now?” Her voice was hardly more than a whisper.
“I suggest that they scurry back to the rest of your army quickly and leave no path for my scouts to track.” Telaxthe nodded and turned to Vernine.
“Make sure she returns safely.”
“As you command, empress.” Vernine nodded with renewed composure.
“I have seen how this ends.” Dissonti sighed and stood up from her seat with a swish of her gown.
“And how does it end?” Turnia smirked.
“Everyone that opposes him suffers the same fate. If his generals could not kill him, your Council will also fail.” The jade-haired woman turned to me and said the words as if she was commenting on something unimportant.
“The Pretender will face his punishment, as will your empress, and eventually you will too, Dissonti. This is just a stay of execution. When I return to this world, I will come for you.”
“He isn’t a Pretender, Turnia, and you will never return to this world.” Dissonti nodded at Telaxthe and then seemed to float through the door. Her empress nodded back, but the movement seemed odd. I wondered if Dissonti was the other Singleborn. Vernine saluted one last time, opened her mouth as if to speak, closed it, and then turned to follow Dissonti out of the tent. When she passed me our eyes met but I couldn’t decipher the flurry of emotions in my ex-lover’s ruby eyes.
“Please return with Vernine and Dissonti,” Telaxthe said to her servants. I knew that they were trained warriors and bodyguards who would gladly die for the empress, but they nodded at her command and they solemnly filed out of the exit.
This left Telaxthe, Turnia, her two warrior women, and me in the empress’s grand pavilion.
“We will depart in an hour.” Turnia stood as gracefully as a panther and her guards followed the movement. “You may make use of this tent during the rest of our sojourn. I will have guards around the perimeter, Pretender, so do not think that our agreement allows you to flee.”