The Dead God's Due (The Eye of the Lion Saga Book 1) (20 page)

Kariana plunged her dagger into
Marissa’s throat. Blood poured over her hand in warm jets.
Marissa’s eyes grew wide, and she clutched at her throat as
her life poured out of her, turning her head back and forth in
denial.

“Goodbye, sister.”

Marissa’s face softened
from fear to sadness as she accepted the inevitable. She reached for
Kariana’s hand and squeezed. Kariana snatched her hand away
and spit in Marissa’s face. “You ruined my life. You go
to Elgar alone, bitch.”

Kariana rolled off her victim
and lay on the bloody floor. She breathed in the bizarre mix of
scents: pungent sweat, acrid blood, cloyingly sweet perfume.
Exhaustion bore down on her as the adrenaline slowly ebbed away, the
pounding in her temples and roaring in her ears giving way to
blissful silence.
Sleep is
like dying
.

She woke to shouts and the
clang of armored boots on stone. Caelwen was staring at her, patting
her face with a mailed palm. For a brief moment, she thought he was
here to arrest her for her foul deed.

“Two assassins in one
night,” he noted. “I’m impressed you survived even
one. You’re quite the mess, Empress.”

“You missed the first
one,” she said in a husky, sleep-dulled voice. She shrugged
aside his attempt to help her to her feet. Any assistance from him
was an admission of weakness. She raised herself on her arms and
stood, her muscles still aching. “It was quite a show. I guess
you had better things to do.” She glared at him, a silent
accusation.

“I had to attend a wake.
Several, actually. I filed the appropriate paperwork. Perhaps you
missed it, in the excitement of preparing your orgy?”

Kariana considered saying
something more blatant, but she was seized by a mad impulse to
laugh. The blood, the shattered glass, Marissa lying dead on the
floor, it all struck her as a great, black joke. She threw back her
head and cackled like a wicked witch.

Caelwen eyed her warily. To her
surprise and pleasure, he looked a bit unsettled, frightened even.

Good
,
she thought.
If I cannot be
loved, then fear will do.

Over the coming days, Tasinalta
would teach all Nihlos the true meaning of fear.

Kariana sat alone at her desk
in her private ready room, fists ground against her temples, trying
to take stock of her situation and form a plan to move forward. She
had closed the heavy, purple curtains against both sunlight and any
prying eyes, wanting no distractions.

She was to hold court in less
than an hour, a closed session with the house elders. It was her
plan to call for the unthinkable, Aiul’s execution, along with
the one surviving foreigner. How had this happened? Murders,
assassination attempts, convoluted plots, all madness! And somehow,
here she was, right in the middle of it. Life was supposed to be
simpler. It was supposed to be fun and carefree, not a nightmare of
mistrust and intrigue. What had she done to deserve this?

Nothing, of course. Nothing but
be born. And for that sin, there was no forgiveness, nothing but
misery and constant ratcheting of pressure. She felt as if her head
would implode from it. There was no one to trust, no one at all.
Well, perhaps the stone-faced, stone-hearted Captain of her Guard.
He could be trusted to do his duty, and to stare at her with
loathing and disapproval. Even now, he stood watch over her outside,
doubtless praying a bolt of lightening would make an end of her and
free him, but until then, still loyal.

It was, all things considered,
a paltry showing.

She wracked her brain for a
plan. What would she do, or say? Mei, Nihlos was a city of monsters,
spiders spinning webs, and she was a fat, tasty fly buzzing about,
oblivious, defenseless. But no more. She would find a way. She could
be a monster, too. She would be the most fearsome monster of all.
Fear was the true currency of Nihlos, and she would find a way to
make herself rich.

She was shocked from her
ruminations by a knock upon the door. Caelwen entered, casting his
usual non-smirk her way. “You’ve a visitor, Empress.
Lady Maralena of House Prosin.”

Kariana felt her bowels fill
with ice briefly, but rage warmed her quickly.
That bitch has the
gall to come here?
“Send her in.”

Caelwen scowled, then nodded
and swung the door wide, gesturing to the person behind him. “You
may enter.”

Maralena Prosin was a stately
elder, well heeled and well dressed in expensive silks and furs. She
held her head high, allowing sun from the skylight to sparkle on her
assortment of expensive jewelry.

Fond of diamonds, are we?
Kariana glared at her, saying nothing.
Wretched
bitch! I should push you in a river. You’d surely be drug to
the bottom by all of your stones.

Maralena looked at Caelwen a
moment, then sighed and turned to Kariana. “I asked for a
private meeting.”

Caelwen gave her a blank stare.
“Over my dead body.”

Maralena stiffened, then pursed
her lips in disapproval. “That could be arranged.”

Caelwen stepped toward the
Matriarch of House Prosin, invading her space, and allowed his hand
to settle on the pommel of his blade. “No doubt. I’ll
rest well knowing my father will put the lot of you snakes to the
sword in response. It would be a fine trade.” Then, to
Kariana’s surprise, Caelwen actually smiled. It was a thin,
humorless smile, and brief, less than a second, but it was a smile
nonetheless! Truly, it was a time for miracles.

Maralena’s cold demeanor
cracked, and she stepped back quickly. That too, lasted only a
moment before she recovered, but it was all Kariana needed.
She’s
not as tough as she’d like us to think. Or as brave.

“Call off your dog,
Kariana. I’m here to talk, nothing more.”

Caelwen rolled his eyes. “Oh,
come now. Didn’t you bring a drink for our empress, or a
muffin? You’d have to have something to hide the poison.”

Maralena flushed in anger, but
kept her tone cool. “That’s quite enough.”

Kariana shrugged. “You
may leave us, Caelwen.”

Caelwen turned to her, the
expression on his face as close to a wounded look as stone features
could allow. “Empress? I think that unwise.”

Kariana laughed, a perfect,
tinkling, innocent sound she had spent years perfecting. It had a
peculiar effect on men. Of course, Caelwen was not a man, and was
therefore at least partially immune, but it served well enough. “Oh,
Caelwen, what are you worried about?” She turned to Maralena
and let her little girl mask fall, staring at the Matriarch with raw
hatred. “If she kills me, you’ll kill her and be rid of
us both.”

Maralena’s eyes darted
nervously back and forth between the other two. She licked her lips.
“Just so.”

Caelwen was unconvinced, but
obliged to obey. “Just so, indeed.” He gave Maralena a
final stare, then stepped into the hallway and closed the door.

Kariana gestured toward the
most uncomfortable chair in the room, a high backed wooden affair
that was simply unbearable to sit in overlong. “Have a seat.”

Maralena raised a hand and
shook her head. “I’ll stand.”

“Fine. What brings the
Matriarch of House Prosin to my humble abode?”

Maralena clenched her jaw so
hard that Kariana half expected to hear the sharp report of bone
cracking. The elder took a slow, deep breath. “There is no
point in games. You murdered my grand-niece and accused her of being
an assassin. Obviously, I know she was no such thing.” She
clasped her hands behind her back and cleared her throat, then
continued. “We have a problem. I’m here to sort it
before it gets out of hand.”

Kariana laughed again, not the
tinkling laugh this time, but a mocking, cruel, hateful sound that
she’d never once practiced. This one was all too real. What
gall this woman had! She ran a hand across her bosom, heartened by
the feel of Sadrik’s knife, and considered.
I
could stab this bitch now, and who would do a thing about it?
It was a dark, tempting idea, but a bad one. It would make things
considerably worse for her at the trial, whatever lie she might tell
to cover it up.

But, then, perhaps Maralena
could be useful to her there, if they could come to terms.
Not
from weakness!

Kariana let all emotion drain
from her face. She stared at Maralena for long moments. The Elder
woman held her gaze and feigned disinterest, but a twitch beneath
her eye betrayed her nervousness..

Kariana shook her head
slightly. “You murdered my brother, and you slipped in to spy
on me. You drugged me for years, doing Mei knows what.”
Kariana wanted very much to continue in a cold, collected manner,
but it was all like knives stabbing into her brain. She gripped the
edge of her desk in fury, physically restraining herself from
leaping upon the old woman and letting consequence be damned. Her
voice rose to a shriek. “You murdered nearly a hundred men in
my name! What the
fuck
do you imagine entitles you to come in here, indignant, and ask me
for
anything
?”

“Calm yourself, fool!
Neither of us want this business to be public!”

Kariana struggled a moment,
grinding her teeth, the urge to use her knife almost unbearable. At
last, she nodded. “Go on.”

“We had nothing to do
with your brother’s death. It was no accident like was
claimed, and the killer was of House Tasinal.”

“Who?”

“One I would not care to
anger. That information comes at a price higher than you can pay.
Perhaps someday, you’ll have something to trade.”

Kariana shook her head in
disgust. “Fine. But the rest stands.”

“We did what we did for
the good of Nihlos. What you lacked the intelligence or stomach to
do.”

“I have the stomach for
much, as you found out!”

Maralena snorted. “Please.
You murdered a fat, unsuspecting child. It’s hardly a
statement of resolve. It was a tantrum.”

Kariana felt rage rise within
her again. “I might have another, you wrinkled witch!”

“Ah, and killing an old
woman will surely be a step up for you as a force to be reckoned
with, eh?” Maralena waved the death threat aside with a
chuckle.

Kariana
drummed her fingers on the desk.
I can still stab her if I
want to.
“What is
it you want, old woman?”

Maralena sighed, a sour look on
her face, as if she were contemplating eating something foul.
“Peace. Now what will it cost?”

Kariana nodded at this
unexpected wrinkle, considering. “I have a real assassin to
deal with in just a few moments. If I screw it up, I am likely dead,
and House Tasinal and Nihlos are both wounded. Narelki will be my
biggest enemy. You know things. I need to know them, too.”

Maralena rewarded her with a
grim smile and a nod. “You are wrong about your greatest
enemy, but there is little you can do about that. I can help with
the political issues, and I can tell you much about Narelki. In
fact, telling you something about her is my price for peace on my
side.”

Kariana cocked her head in
confusion. “What? You want to tell
me
something, as
your
price?”

Maralena’s smile grew
hard, and Kariana’s confidence wavered. The old woman seemed
terribly tough now, frightening. “They gave us Marissa’s
body for burial. I examined it myself.” Maralena seemed to be
struggling now, wading through deep sorrow. She looked away, staring
past Kariana, eyes unfocused. “You put her through as much
pain as possible. You twisted the knife. You let her suffer long
before she died, didn’t you? You probably even spit on her
while she wept in pain and fear.”

Kariana felt a pang of remorse
to hear it put in such terms, but steeled herself against it.
Marissa was a traitor, a monster! “She started all of this!
She ruined my whole life! I’d kill her
again
if I could!”

Maralena turned her gaze back
to Kariana. A single tear ran down her left cheek and dropped to the
marble floor, a small bomb, a precursor to a larger one. “It
was Narelki who tried to have Lara killed.” She swallowed
hard, filled with both grief and anger. Her gaze pinned Kariana like
a dagger. “Poor Marissa had nothing to do with it. She didn’t
even know why she was dying.”

Kariana felt her eyes begin
blinking of their own accord. “You lie!” she gasped.

Maralena regarded her with
disdain, and shook her head. “Do I lie about your visiting
Narelki? Or about Aiul finding a piece of his shirt in her home, a
piece you tore from it? Or perhaps the lie is in Narelki leaving you
to take the fall for her crime because she feared Aiul’s
wrath? Which do you think?”

“How can you know this?”
Kariana shrieked.

“The same way we knew
what you were doing. We have eyes and ears everywhere.”

She didn’t even know
why she was dying.
Kariana felt a tremor run down her arm, and
slapped at it as if it were a fly. The pain seemed a good thing. It
pushed back the darkness welling in her just a tiny bit, but it was
not enough. She sat for several moments as the trembling took hold
of her entire body and her vision tinted red, absorbing the news.

Kariana leapt from her chair,
lifted it overhead, and hurled it against the door with a shriek.
Her hands seemed to move of their own accord, taking up any fragile
object she could find and smashing it on the floor: a dish from the
desk, a lamp on the table beside her.

Caelwen burst in, sword in hand
and blood in his eye, and Kariana hurled an ink blotter at him,
barely missing his head. “Get out!” she screamed. “Get
out! Get out! Get out!”

Caelwen gave Maralena a
questioning look. She nodded, the tears on her face obvious. Caelwen
shrugged and left, closing the door once again.

Kariana’s tantrum ended
as quickly as it had begun. She found herself on her knees in the
corner, vomiting. “Oh, how dignified.”

Maralena cleared her throat.
“Are you quite done?”

“Now is the wrong time to
take that tone with me, bitch!” Kariana tore a curtain loose
from its rod and wiped her face with it. She started to sit, then
remembered throwing the chair. It was in pieces against the wall.
With a grunt, she swept her arm across her desk, knocking the rest
of its contents to the floor, then lay down on it spread eagle,
looking up at the stippling on the ceiling. It almost seemed to make
words, perhaps in a foreign language. After several moments, she
stopped trying to decipher it and heaved a great sigh. “Do go
on.”

Maralena shook her head sadly
at Kariana’s antics. “I will tell you all you need to
know to bring Narelki to ruin. You were but a weapon. It was Narelki
who wielded you.
She
killed my grand niece.” She raised
a clenched fist and shook it in the air. “We shall take her
son in payment.”

“Just that easy?”
I
doubt your fist is going to intimidate Narelki. She’ll rip
your head off and hang it on her wall.

“Easy? No. We’ll
have to deal with the Meites.” She grimaced at this. “We
have a chance to beat them politically. Let us hope they are sane
enough to let our victory stand.”

Kariana sat bolt upright on her
desk and stared intently at Maralena. “
Meites?
”

“I told you, there is
nothing you can do,” Maralena answered as if educating a
child. “I will manipulate the others, but the Meites are
largely impossible to handle in such a manner.”

“Who are they? How many?”

Maralena sighed, tired and
seeming a bit frightened, but still angry. “That wasn’t
part of your price, child empress. If all goes well, perhaps we can
negotiate for that information later.”

“And if not?”

Maralena answered with a
humorless grunt. “Why, then you’ll get the information
for free, for all the good it will do you. They’re more than
capable of killing us all if they choose to do so.”