Chartomancy

Chapter Sixty

4th day, Month of the Hawk, Year of the Rat

Last Year of Imperial Prince Cyron’s Court

163rd Year of the Komyr Dynasty

737th year since the Cataclysm

Kunjiqui, Anturasixan

Anger gathered on Nelesquin’s forehead the way thunderclouds hovered on the northwestern horizon. Nirati knew he didn’t see her, for his face would brighten when he did. It always did, and that made her happy. She didn’t like seeing him angry; it frightened her.

Nelesquin studied his scrying stones. The black and white stones had fallen into a pattern she did not recognize. The black ones had clumped together. A smaller bunch of white stones had also come together, but the significance of these things eluded her.

“What troubles you, beloved?”

The dark man’s head came up, and his smile blossomed almost too quickly. “Not so much troubled as confused, my dear. I fear there have been some setbacks, and I am frustrated that I had no real chance to prevent them.”

“But you would have if you could?”

“Of course.” He pointed to the gathered black stones. “We suffered a reversal in Erumvirine. I believe Gachin Dost exceeded his orders and suffered as a result. He may even be dead.”

Nirati remembered the blue-skinned Durrani leader. “I am sorry to hear that.”

“It is a pity, though it will give Nimchin an opportunity. Gachin was a good leader, but Nimchin is more adaptable. Supplied with the tokens of appreciation I have aboard ship to thank them, he will find a way to excel in my service.”

Nelesquin gathered the stones up and slipped them into the leather pouch. He stood, then extended his right hand to her. She took it and they began to hike over the hill to the harbor where the Crown Bear waited. It sat in the harbor like a mother goose, surrounded by countless goslings all ready to sail northwest to Erumvirine.

Nirati hesitated, her breath frozen in her lungs. So many ships. Each one brimmed with soldiers and machines of war; nothing could stand before his forces. She realized that it was petty of her that she had not been overly concerned with what he was doing when his focus was Erumvirine, but now that his forces would range north and attack Nalenyr, her stomach began to knot. She could see Moriande crushed.

Mother is there in Anturasikun, and perhaps Keles and Jorim, too. And Uncle Ulan and my cousins. Just as there would be no defeating Nelesquin’s Durrani, there would be no stopping this invasion. Even if she were able to deflect him into the Five Princes first, he would reestablish the Empire and any who would stand in his way would be destroyed.

It suddenly occurred to her that she would be included in that number.

Nelesquin smiled grandly, posting fists on his hips. “Never has their been such a fleet. Not even the fleet that brought the first True Bloods, nor Taichun’s fleet, can rival mine. They knew success with less, and were lesser men. How can we not succeed?”

Nirati smiled. “The question is not worthy of asking, beloved, for there is no answer.”

He leaned down and kissed her softly. “You will be my empress, Nirati, my only wife. We will make this empire greater than any that has gone before. Certainly greater than Taichun’s. It shall rival the Viruk Empire and even exceed it. Your face shall be on coins coveted from here to Aefret and beyond. Countless throngs will bow to you and worship you.”

“Will I be an empress or a goddess?”

“Either or both, and deserving of worship regardless.” He laughed aloud and the sound echoed from the hills. “Come, it is time we board the ship.”

They walked hand in hand to the shoreline, then out along a wharf next to which the Crown Bear was moored. The ship, with its nine tall masts, hid the far headland and seemed to be a world all by itself.

He turned and smiled, grasping her left hand in both of his. “Come, Nirati, we will sail to our new empire and the adoration to which we are due.”

She smiled and stepped after him, then stopped abruptly as if she’d slammed into a wall. Her hand slipped from his grasp and she rebounded from the collision. She fell back hard.

She raised her left hand to her face and touched her upper lip. Her hand came away wet and red, but she didn’t feel like she’d bumped her nose.

Nelesquin stared for a moment, then knelt by her side. “What’s the matter, beloved?”

“I don’t know.”

He scooped her into his arms and started toward the ship. Her left shoulder hit an invisible barrier and they both bounced back. Nelesquin turned, walking sideways, but her toes jammed into the unseen wall.

He stepped back and set her down again, then passed through the barrier without difficulty. “I don’t understand.”

Nirati rubbed at her shoulder. “Neither do I.”

“Ah, wait.” Nelesquin looked beyond her toward the hill they’d descended. “He doesn’t want you to go.”

Nirati turned. Her grandfather stood at the crest of the hill, holding Takwee’s hand. Nirati waved and both of them waved back. “Can he stop me from leaving?”

Nelesquin laughed. “He created Anturasixan, so it operates by rules only he can imagine. He created Kunjiqui as a sanctuary for you, to protect you from the world that hurt you. He may not know it, but he will not let you leave if he believes you can be hurt.”

Everything Nelesquin said made sense to Nirati, but she wasn’t certain he’d gotten to the core of things. Something else was happening to keep her in Kunjiqui. She didn’t want to dwell on it, but just knowing sent fear through her.

Nelesquin’s eyes hardened. “I understand his reasoning, for I would not have you hurt either. I will make the world a place that will never harm you.”

Nirati turned and looked at him. “You are still going?”

He nodded solemnly. “The events I read in the stones are a bit more dire than I told you. In them, I saw a glimmer of an old enemy returning to oppose me. He was the source of Gachin’s problem and, if he is not eliminated, he could be worrisome.”

“But you are in no danger?”

His booming laugh reassured her. “No, beloved. I long ago took steps to assure neither he nor anyone else could harm me.” He reached a hand through the barrier. “Because I love you, I am called away. I will come back for you, Nirati Anturasi. You are my empress, and I shall go become the emperor who is worthy of your love.”

She smiled bravely, took his hand, and drew him to her. “I know you will, beloved. I will be with you in spirit.”

“That shall not make me miss you less.” His arms enfolded her and pulled her tightly to him. He peered down into her eyes, then kissed her deeply.

Nirati clung to him, not because she wanted to prevent him from leaving, but because she knew she would never hold him again.

Nelesquin broke the kiss and slipped from her embrace.

She stepped forward and rested her hands against the barrier.

Nelesquin smiled, then bowed to her grandfather and her. “I go a prince; I return an emperor.”

“Go bravely, then.” Nirati smiled softly. The barrier is death, beloved. Go bravely, but remember, becoming an emperor does not make one immortal.

She hugged her arms around herself and waited there, watching until the ships had vanished over the horizon, and Takwee came to guide her home.