“Yes?”
“You spoke in your sleep.” Telaxthe said the words and I felt a chill descend my spine.
“Did I say anything interesting?”
“You used our old language. From when the Dead Gods lived. You have spoken those words before.” My head started to hurt and I wanted to change the subject.
“I don’t want to know about what I said. I am going to go back to sleep.” My head was throbbing and my mind spun in dizzy circles.
“You claim you don’t know the language, yet you speak it when you sleep or seem to be in another state of consciousness. Why?” The empress rolled over then onto her right side to face me.
“Tell me of Nadea’s father,” I changed the subject. Her eyes opened wide for a second and then she turned her body to lie flat on her back.
“I have not spoken to her about him yet. Perhaps it was a mistake since it appears I may never be able to. Then again, the man Beltor seems to have done a very good job of raising her.”
“He is a wonderful man. Strong and kind,” I said.
“She is my only offspring. A Singleborn as well. That means there were three Singleborn alive at the same time. It has never been recorded in our history. Once, for a brief period several hundred years before Iolarathe was born, we documented two, but the eldest passed before they could meet.”
“Dissonti is the third?”
“Yes. That is why it was so important that she leave this camp alive. My people have already lost Isslata.”
“What makes them so powerful?” I asked the question, but my mind filled with thoughts of Isslata.
“They are often stronger and have access to new types of magic.”
“Isslata had new magic?”
“Sometimes it is not revealed until later in life. Perhaps they will not ever discover their power. In Isslata’s case, she was unparalleled in combat. I didn’t want to risk her in the O’Baarni Games, so she never fought. She was still so young and immature, but I knew that she would blossom into one of our best leaders one day.” Telaxthe’s whisper choked off at the end and we lay silent for a few moments.
“She was a skilled warrior. I did not want to kill her, but I couldn’t escape her attacks. If my sword had not broken, then she would have lived instead of me.”
“I doubt that,” she whispered flatly.
“What do you mean?”
“If I had understood then what I know now, I would have commanded her to run from you.”
“How did Nadea end up on this world?” I didn’t want to speak any more of Isslata.
“I was trying to make another Singleborn,” she whispered and then sighed. “In her later years Nyarathe attempted to unwrap the puzzle of Iolarathe and your daughter. It was thought to be impossible for our kind to create offspring together, yet it had happened. She knew of Iolarathe’s powers, but knew nothing of yours, so she began to experiment with different ways of drawing our magic.”
“Drawing magic?”
“Yes. The World gives us our power and we translate that into health, vigor, and our fire. But we can draw from any source of energy: sunlight, trees, wind, even blood. That was the secret.” She paused and did not say more for half a minutes.
“Blood?”
“Yes and life. I had to pull energy from him while we were making love. Then my womb became ready to receive his seed.”
“Who was he then?”
“He was from Malek’s clan. Handsome, strong, and intelligent. My magic helps me persuade humans and Elvens to obey me, so it was easy enough to take him as my lover. It took us a few months to be become pregnant, and I grew to have some affection for him.”
“When you say that your magic helps with—”
“They desire me,” she interrupted my question with the answer. “I was always selective with its use because I did not want the O’Baarni to learn of my powers. I did use it on you when we first met.”
“I recall. You smelled intoxicating.”
“That is part of it. Yes.” She turned over again in the bed to face me and I was conscious of the sound of the satin sheets sliding across her bare skin.
“Then what happened with Nadea?” I asked.
“She was born, perfect and strong, as you know. I managed to keep it a secret from most of my own people. Vernine and Dissonti knew, but my sister was away with my generals. Then she was kidnapped. My mate had taken her.” Her voice became a low growl. “When we finally found him, he said he sent the baby away to protect her from me. His mind had changed somehow. It was as if the same magic I had used to make him love me had twisted his feelings into hate. Equally passionate hate. He sent the baby through the Radicle. I tortured him for months, but I could not get him to reveal where he had sent her.”
I wondered if it had really been magic that changed his mind, or if he had acted out of a genuine concern for Nadea being used by Telaxthe for her power.
“I am surprised you didn’t try again.”
“I learned from the experience. This world would have given me the perfect opportunity to create another Singleborn. Then I could have closed off the Radicles so that no one could enter or leave. I even found an O’Baarni that I thought would be an excellent mate.”
“Who?”
“You,” she whispered after she stared at me for a few seconds. “You evaded Fehalda’s assassination squad, so I knew you were powerful. My spies told me you were intelligent and handsome. When we first met I attempted to take you with my magic. After you resisted, I wanted you even more. I knew we could create a powerful child, even if you were delusional enough to believe you were the Destroyer or stupid enough to attempt to escape punishment as a Pretender.”
I sighed and forced myself to turn away from her and look at the ceiling of her pavilion. I had wondered why the Elvens seemed so intent on capturing me and keeping me alive in Nia’s castle.
“But then it became apparent that I couldn’t tame you. I still didn’t believe you were the Destroyer, but it was obvious that there was something terribly wrong with you. Turnia was correct, I did not want you to return to the Council with Kannath. When you told me that my daughter was on this world I was more than surprised. I wanted the information from you, and then I wanted you dead.”
“Sorry to disappoint.” I chuckled lightly at her misfortune, but for some reason I didn’t feel any animosity toward the beautiful woman.
“When we found out you had invaded the castle, I figured I would be able to finish you. Jessmei had given me enough information for me to realize that Nadea was my daughter and I was en route to meet with her. I didn’t need you alive anymore.” She paused for a second and I turned my head to look at her.
“Then you changed. You wore the armor. You carried the shield and the mace. I recognized them from the few times I had seen the horrible artifacts. You ripped through my guards like an avalanche and I realized that you had been telling the truth the entire time. You are the Destroyer.”
“I don’t remember wearing my armor.” My head started to hurt again. “I only remember swimming through water.”
“I remember it. I still have nightmares about you, about what you did.” She closed her eyes and then turned away from me again. “You don’t remember how you came to wear your armor? It seemed as if you shed your skin and the skull metal was really what lay beneath.” I felt her body shudder slightly on the bed we shared.
“No. Let us speak of something else.” My head was throbbing now and I reached up to rub my temples.
“Very well, Kaiyer. I will ask you a question. What happens if your plan is successful?”
“What do you mean?”
“Let us assume we are lucky and the Dead Gods smile upon us from their graves. Somehow we get the Ovules, escape Turnia, make it back to my army, kill her people on my world, and then I teach Jessmei how to close the Radicles before any more O’Baarni can come.” She sighed and then shook her head against the pillow. The movement made her hair rub across the sheets. “Even repeating this plan in a whisper makes me further doubt its possibility; but let us pretend we are successful. What happens afterward?” It was dark in the tent but I could still make out the amber color of her eyes.
“Then we are safe? I don’t understand what you are asking.”
“I won’t be safe. Nor will my people. The Destroyer is alive and he lives on the world I have conquered. I could never consider my people free of the O’Baarni until you are dead.”
“I am surprised you are telling me this now.”
“Why?” Her eyes narrowed.
“You need my help to live. If you tell me you are just going to murder me afterward, why would I want to partner with you?”
“You need my help as well, Kaiyer. Can you close the Radicle yourself? Can you kill all of Turnia’s warriors alone? Even if you do, the O’Baarni will soon send more warriors. You may be the Destroyer, but even you cannot stand against millions of your own people. They will capture and execute you.”
Voices outside our pavilion spoke suddenly and the empress stopped. The guards were just speaking of the weather and various dice games across the camp. We listened for a few minutes in silence until the O’Baarni decided to walk away.
“What do you propose then?”
“You leave this world before Jessmei closes the Radicles,” she said.
“Absolutely not,” I whispered through gritted teeth.
“I have told you of your daughter. You said you would leave with Turnia. The situation is only slightly different if we are successful with our plan. Two Bears will not be around, but I expect you to honor your agreement.”
“I bartered for you to live a few weeks longer. If we successfully escape and you close the Radicles, then your people will have been saved from the O’Baarni.” My whisper was growing in volume and I forced myself to calm my voice and heart. “They need your skulls. Are there any other Elvens on other worlds?”
“We are scattered across different worlds. Not everyone was able to get to Radicles in time. They know their chance to escape is closing, but they are more afraid of being captured by the O’Baarni. I want to save all my kin but it is impossible. I have saved most.” Her whisper was softer than mine; no anger showed on her face.
“You need to close the Radicles,” I stated. “It is more important to your race than me leaving this world.”
“Dissonti has my notes. She might be able to teach Jessmei.”
“Might?”
“The human knows nothing of magic. I have to teach her the basics first. She cannot even feel the World or pull on its power. I can feel the magic inside of her, but it is trapped like a tornado in a bottle.”
“You need to change her into an O’Baarni.” I had never sensed that Jessmei possessed any power or magic. She was not strong in the way of my warriors, of women like Nadea or Shlara, but she was intelligent, passionate, and dedicated to those she loved. She would do well with our magic, she could handle the change. She would do anything I asked of her.
“That might speed up the process,” Telaxthe said after a few moments. “But there is still much for her to learn. It will take months; perhaps even years.”
“How soon will the other clans come looking for Turnia?”
“She has tens of thousands of warriors. They will search for her on their own before seeking the help of the Council.”
“So you put a few hundred Elven guards on this Radicle and they kill whatever O’Baarni come through.” I shrugged.
“They will quickly realize something is amiss. The Council will send additional troops to overwhelm us. They can use different Radicles.”
“Can you teach me?” I asked before I even thought of the consequences.
“Yes,” Telaxthe said after a few moments of deliberation. “But I will not.”
“Why?”
“You nearly annihilated our entire race.” She turned away from me again and I listened for sounds of the guards outside.
“I was enslaved by your people. My mother was killed by Elvens. My father and brother were killed by Iolarathe as I watched.” I reached out my right hand and touched Telaxthe’s bare shoulder. “I understand that you don’t want your people to be under the rule of the O’Baarni anymore. Just as I do not want the humans of this world to be enslaved under the Elvens.”
I thought of Nadea and the dreams Iolarathe sent her. I hoped Iolarathe could somehow tell me of our daughter through Nadea. If Telaxthe could teach me how to operate the Radicles, I might be able to navigate the planets and find her. I did not even know if she was alive, but I had to believe she was and search for her. I just needed her name. Why had Iolarathe kept it from me in our past? If she could speak through Nadea, why did she not share it with me now?
“If I swear not to enslave them, will you leave this world?” I took my hand off her shoulder when she rolled over to face me again. She was closer to me now and I easily smelled the scent of her sweet breath.
“If I told you that I would make peace with your people, would you let me stay?”
“No.” Her eyes narrowed a bit.
“Why?”
She turned away from me and lay on her back again. The sheets fell over her firm breasts and I could see the outline of her undergarments under the satin fabric. “You are the Destroyer. You’ve murdered our people and you won’t stop until we are all dead. Maybe you didn’t want to attack us, but you did and killed hundreds of my people in front of me. We could not stop you. Thousands of arrows were shot at you and only a few penetrated your armor. You laughed. Swords broke against your shield and you laughed. You looked upon my warriors and their bodies burst into molten flames of purple and green. We finally drove you down into the catacombs beneath the castle and forced you into the river. If my death means that you will be taken from this world and we only have to worry about the O’Baarni, I will be satisfied.”