Bound by Sin (19 page)

“Oh. Good. I was worried I was offending people for a minute there.”

“Well, to be honest there are those who will be offended by your presence. Some selkies are purists. They think humans are trouble and they should be kept away from us at all costs. It is why we do not often allow humans to come to our world.”

“Have you…have you done something you will get in trouble for?” he asked her.

“Oh, I don't think so,” she said. “You are here to see the empress on a matter of diplomacy. You made the request. How can I refuse it? I really don't have the authority to decide who should or should not see the empress. That is for her alone to decide. If she finds you offensive, she will send you away herself.”

“Wonderful,” he said dryly. “So she might kick me out the moment she lays eyes on me?”

“She might, but I doubt it. Our empress has always had a fascination with humans. I think she will be entertained by you.”

“I hope so,” he replied.

“Well, you are about to find out,” she said as they neared a soaring archway. On either side of the archway were guards, each armed with swords of what looked like sharpened shell. They were long and curved and very deadly looking. Even being immortal as Jaykun was, he did not like the idea of being on the receiving end of such a weapon. The guards swam forward and impeded their progress.

“What is your business here?” one demanded gruffly.

“This man wishes an audience with the empress,” Jileana said firmly.

The guard laughed. “Everyone wishes an audience with the empress. What makes a human so special that our empress would want to bother with him?”

“It is not for you to decide whether he is special enough to see her. He is here on a matter of diplomacy. He is to be treated like any other ambassador and be given all the same courtesies.”

“It is our job to make certain no one wastes the empress's valuable time.” The guard sneered at them. “And I say no human deserves that time.”

“And when I tell my father, the captain of the empress's guard, that you refused to let his daughter pass into the empress's hall, what do you think he will say?”

The guard seemed to blanch at that. The second guard gave the first guard a shove in the arm. “Idiot,” he said. “I am sorry, Jileana. He does not recognize you. He is new to this watch. Be warned, however. The empress is not in the best of moods today. But perhaps you will provide some entertainment for her,” he said thoughtfully as he gave Jaykun a once-over.

“I don't know if I should take that encouragingly or not,” Jaykun said dryly in response.

“Come on,” Jileana said, urging him forward. “There is only one way to find out.”

With that, they swam past the guards and into the empress's great hall. The room was filled with people, all of them congregating in groups. But almost every conversation stopped as Jileana and Jaykun passed. They proceeded to the head of the room, where a woman was swimming back and forth in an agitated sort of pacing as a man spoke to her from a distance of about ten feet.

“No!” she said suddenly and sharply. “I have had enough of Horgon's excuses! Tell him he is to come to me immediately or risk my unending wrath! I will not stand for this!”

“But…Your Majesty…Horgon is a true and loyal subject. He would never do anything to incur such a negative emotion. He only wishes to please you in all things,” the man said, bowing his head to her.

“Ha! He only wishes to give me pains in the stomach! He wishes to be emperor himself! I know he plots my downfall every chance he gets. Tell Horgon to appear here before me by tomorrow evening or I will have him dragged here in rusted chains!”

“Yes, Your Majesty. Of course, Your Majesty, he will make every effort to please you. I shall have him sent for immediately.”

“See that you do!” she snapped. Then she waved him off with a sharp motion of her hand. After a moment her attention drifted toward Jileana and Jaykun. “What is this?” she asked with a frown.

“Majesty,” Jileana said, swimming forward. “This man is Jaykun, the ruler of many cities in the human world. He has come with a request, if you are so inclined to hear it.”

The empress's brow rose. “You have come to a very strange world, human. Not many have the bravery for such an adventure. I will hear your request since you have come so far to make it.”

“Majesty,” Jaykun said, “I come with a personal request from Weysa.”

There were gasps and laughter from the room around them. The empress joined with a laugh of her own.

“You speak for a goddess?” she asked.

“I do,” Jaykun said. “I am Weysa's champion. I have been sworn to do as she bids me and she bids me to bring word of her to every land I go to. My request is simple. Weysa asks that you remember her. That you remember conflict is the predecessor to peace. That all problems are resolved through her. She asks that you remember her in temples and prayers to her.”

The empress looked at him intently for a long moment as she digested this. “And how do I know you speak the truth? How do I know you are truly Weysa's champion? For all I know you are just a human man with delusions of grandeur.”

Jaykun was silent for a moment, then he looked around the room. He saw a guard standing beside the empress's dais and went over to him. He spied a dagger at his belt—one made of the same sharpened shell.

“May I use your dagger?” At the guard's dubious look, Jaykun promised, “I mean no one any harm. You may stand behind me with your sword at the ready if it pleases you. I will remain at a distance from your empress.”

The guard looked at the empress and she gave him a nod. The guard removed the dagger from his belt and handed it to Jaykun. Then the guard drew his sword, coming to stand behind Jaykun, the weapon at the ready. Jaykun kept a respectful distance from the empress but stood where she could easily see him.

“If I prove I am who I say I am, then will you heed the words of my goddess?” he asked her.

“If you can prove it, I will weigh your words most seriously,” she assured him.

“Very well.”

With a powerful movement, Jaykun stabbed the dagger into his chest and into his heart. The entire audience reacted in shock as he yanked the blade out and a cloud of red blood swelled within the water. Jaykun threw the blade down to the sandy floor and looked at the empress. She was wide-eyed with shock and surprise. She waited for several beats of his heart before she realized he wasn't going to fall aside and die before her.

“Remarkable,” she said after a moment. “You cannot be killed?”

“Not by ordinary means, no,” he said. “As I said, I am Weysa's champion. I am immortal so that I may do her bidding in this world. Now will you consider my request?”

“Most readily,” the empress said, still sounding very impressed. “I dare not incur the wrath of such a powerful goddess. But I feel I must warn you. As ocean dwelling people, we are loyal to Diathus. I cannot see many of us going to a temple for Weysa. Although, perhaps we would be wise to since the hand of the goddess herself has come to beg prayer from us.”

“I only ask that you raise five temples in her name. Whether they are prayed at is a matter left to your people.”

“Five! I will raise two and no more. We do not wish to anger Diathus, after all. If her people were to turn on her…”

“I do not expect you to turn on your patron goddess. Believe me, if there is one thing I understand, it is what it feels like to know the wrath of the gods. I only hope that you will broaden your prayers…to spare some thought to Weysa. Three temples in her name. Three and Weysa will be satisfied.”

The empress thought on it a moment, then conceded with a nod of her head. “Three temples. This is all you ask? How am I to know you won't come back and ask for more later? Or ask for other things?”

“I speak for my goddess. If we agree on three, then three will be all Weysa asks. And there is nothing else I want from you or your people.”

“So you say.” She narrowed her eyes on him for a long moment. “Very well. I will agree to your temples. However, we cannot start work on them immediately. There are more pressing concerns at the moment.”

“I will be satisfied with your promise of the future. Let us say that construction will begin before the next full moon?”

She thought on this a moment as well. “Very well.” She raised her chin and called out in a high-pitched sound that cut through the water.

An instant later a man hurried up to her and bowed his head. “Yes, Great Majesty, what can your humble servant do for you?” he asked.

“You will see to it that three temples are raised in the name of the goddess Weysa. They do not need to be too large or too prominent, but I wish them to be where the people can see them as they pass. One in the upper caves, one in the lower caves, and one on the path to my palace.” She raised a brow at Jaykun. “Will this suffice?”

“Yes, Majesty. It is exactly what I would have asked for. You are thoughtful and generous.”

“I am not in a position to anger the goddess of conflict,” she said grimly. “The gods know I have enough of it here.”

“Trouble, Majesty?” Jaykun asked.

“Always trouble. I have a room full of courtiers plotting my downfall or their own advancement at every turn, and I have those who don't attend me at all because they do not respect my rule. And that is to say nothing of my kingdom's outside enemies.” She eyed him a moment. “You rule many cities. Perhaps you have some insight that can help me to manage the unruly beings that surround me.”

“Perhaps I do. I will be here until the next full moon, Majesty. You may avail yourself of me and any advice I can impart to you at any time you choose.”

She narrowed her eyes and considered him. Then she smiled. “Come. I would talk with you awhile.” She turned her back on the room and swam away, down a corridor. People Jaykun could only assume were servants quickly moved out of her way and made obeisance to her. She didn't seem to notice them as she led Jaykun and Jileana to a room deeper within the castle. Once there, she pulled two combs from her hair and let the mass of it float free. She sighed in contentment as she scrubbed her fingers through it. It was a rich red color, deep and dark, and Jaykun imagined it would have coppery highlights in the sunshine. She was a fit woman, like most he had seen, with small breasts and strong legs. He didn't think she was pretty—that was too girlish a thought. She was handsome and serious, but she was not old. She looked as youthful as Jileana did, but her air was one of much deeper maturity.

She turned to look at Jileana and Jaykun. “There are two things plaguing my reign at the moment. Well, two major things. There are dozens of little things as well, I assure you.”

“Something I know very well,” Jaykun said with a smile of sympathy.

“The first is Horgon. He is a selkie of great influence and power amongst my people. There are even those who believe he should be emperor. Little plots are constantly at work toward that endeavor. It is never ending.”

“Does he have a claim to your throne?”

“He does. He is my cousin and next in line to inherit if I do not bear any children. He commands a great deal of respect and favoritism amongst my people. There is probably a plot to put him on the throne as we speak.” The empress clenched one hand tightly in the other for a moment, her temper and stress at her words clearly reaching a high point. “He even has loyalties from amongst my standing army. Jileana, I know your father is loyal to me, but I would not put it past Horgon to take troops from under your father's purview and turn them against their own kind in a civil war simply to put himself on my throne. Sometimes I think to myself…just let him have it. If it means keeping brother from killing brother, simply give in and let him have the throne.”

“And why don't you?” Jaykun asked.

Her eyes flashed with anger. “Because he is a cruel and sadistic bastard. If he had that much power, he would subjugate and ill-use every person within his reach. The people would suffer…whether they realize it or not. Those who are loyal to me understand what the alternative is truly like. But there are those who know of his cruelty and still wish for him to rule because they think he is stronger than I, think he could better stand up to our enemies. Which brings me to the second issue that plagues me and my people.”

“One particular outside enemy?” Jaykun asked.

“Yes. The sirens.”

“Sirens?”

“They are sea creatures like us,” Jileana explained, “only they live more like humans in the Overworld do. They eat fish like we do but also hunt animals on the island and cook them for their sustenance. They live in huts along the beach on the other side of the island.”

“They own the other half of this island. There is a very distinct border, one that was agreed upon many years ago by our forefathers,” the empress said. “Lately there have been instances where hunting parties have been found on our side of the border and skirmishes have broken out between them and my guards. My guards are posted along the border, you see. They cannot cover every inch of it every minute of the day—there simply aren't enough of them—and the sirens look for weak spots and plan incursions. The siren roja, their leader, claims they are just hunting parties who have gone astray, but I believe they are testing my borders for a darker reason. I have an ambassador and aides in her court and she has hers in mine. ‘Ambassador' and ‘aides' being the kind words for spies. They know of the trouble I am faced with because of Horgon, and I feel certain they are simply waiting for the opportunity to strike us when we are weakest. They want to oust the selkies from this half of the island. I am sure of it.”

“Why do they want to do that when you have enjoyed peaceful borders for so long?”

“The hunting on their side of the island has grown scarce,” Jileana explained. “I suppose the wild boar and deer and smaller animals know where they are safest. Our side of the island is rich with the meat they desire.”