The Apocalypse Script (32 page)

“
Yes.”

“
Fiela was a small child when that
happened. I couldn’t save her family, you understand. They openly
admitted their support for Lilian’s father. Brave, loyal types,
with Peth blood in their veins. Thirty-first generation. They were
fearless and though Sargon’s House was not their own, they stood by
the man, and were killed as a consequence.”

“
Right.”

Ridley forced air from his lungs
before continuing. “They were killed in their own home.
Brutally.
Slowly.
”

A cold, invisible hand squeezed
Ben’s throat.
“
Jesus.
”

“
I’ll spare you the details but
you need to know that everything that was done…” He took in a deep
breath. “It was all done in front of Fiela.”

When he was able to move again,
the former Marine jumped to his feet and through the stone tablet
in his hand across the room, screaming obscenities he hadn’t used
in a decade. His outrage not quelled, he knocked over and threw
furniture, books, and anything he could get his hands on, cursing
obscenely with every outburst.

Walking in a tight circle and
trying to regain his senses, his hands on his head, he yelled,
“What is it with you people? Lilian’s father goes insane so you
have to kill a girl’s parents in front of her? It would have been
more compassionate to just kill Fiela, too!”

Ridley said nothing, staring at the floor as the
other man kicked over an antique globe before finally returning to
his chair.

His face bright red, Ben said, “I
don’t mean that. Killing her, I mean. I don’t think…ah, hell. I
don’t know.
You people are
barbarians.
”

When the scribe saw he was done,
he said, “I did not learn of the incident until later, when I
expressed a concern for the girl’s mental state. She was
introverted, prone to sudden, inexplicable bouts of screaming and
crying, and had nightmares. So many nightmares. Three or four a
night.”

Hearing this, the Peth’s words
from two nights ago, regarding the terrors, came back to
Ben.
“
Sometimes
your family comes back, especially your mother…
”
Her words had struck him as odd at
the time. Now they gave him chills.

In a hoarse voice Ben said, “Didn’t she tell you
what had happened?”

“
No, Ben. She
did not remember. She blocked it out. She did not remember then
and
she does not remember
now
.”

“
What?”

“
She doesn’t know, nephew. Not
consciously. The block is absolute. When she was a child, I dared
not reveal the truth to her, especially not when she began to show
signs of improvement. Lilian tried to help, changing Fiela’s
sweat-soaked bed linen to save the girl the embarrassment of having
my fetches see them, and sometimes reading to her, but at other
times she was very distant. Keep in mind that Lilian was trying to
cope with the loss of her own father during this same period. At
times she was caring and at other times shockingly callous. It was
a challenging period for them both.”

“
Does
-
did
-
Lilian know?”

“
No. Only I know, Ben, and now
you. I have tried on occasion to carefully broach the subject with
Fiela but she seems truly oblivious to any insinuation I make that
she might have had a troubled childhood. She knows that she is an
orphan but her earliest memories are of being here at Steepleguard.
All other memories are repressed.”

“
But she still has
nightmares.”

Ridley nodded. “There is no
restraining the subconscious. But she has had them less often,
since she has returned here. Do you know why?”

“
Because she feels safe here, I’d
assume. She knows this place and you’re her uncle. It’s a very
secure and welcoming environment.”

“
No,
Ben.
It
’
s you
.”

The other man was stunned.
“Me?”

“
Yes. She sees a strong, confident
man, a smart man, who has the same affliction she has, and that
means she has an ally. Remember, she is Peth. Fighting is her way
of life. Her entire life she has fought the terrors alone. Now, she
sees you are fighting them, too, and she feels less ashamed. She
sees that it’s not just her, that it’s not a sign of weakness. It
has given her hope.”

Ben, embarrassed, said, “She told you this?”

“
Yes, we had a
long conversation. She is happier today than I have ever seen her.
Not only are you an ally, you are
family
. Immediate family, not an
obscure uncle, like me. You are someone she can care for. Someone
she can, as Peth, protect. More importantly, you are someone she
can talk to because you are from the Ardoon and won’t judge her in
the same way other Nisirtu would.”

The researcher sighed and hung his
head. “Is she going to be okay, Ridley? I mean, other than the
nightmares, is she…
okay?
”

“
I think so. Granted, she gets
carried away from time to time. Her instincts are to be an
introvert but she’s fighting that and as a result sometimes goes
too far and becomes demanding, even needy. Be patient with
her.”

With that, the scribe rose and
headed back toward the doorway.

Ben called after him. “Why are you telling me
this?”

Ridley stopped and turned.
“Because I love her, and she loves you. I would rather she not be
hurt, nephew. Not emotionally. It might undo her.”

Then he was gone.

When Fiela walked into the bedroom that evening, she
found Lilian lying on the bed in a robe reading the next day’s
script.

“
Hello, Sister,” she said, kicking
off her shoes and moving toward the master bathroom.

“
Peth,” she heard Lilian say
behind her, “wait.”

Fiela stopped abruptly. That
Lilian had addressed her as
Peth
, and not as
Sister
or
Fiela
, meant that she was speaking
as a sovereign.

“
Yes, Princess?” Fiela said,
addressing Lilian by her proper title.

“
How stands your relationship with
our husband?”

Fiela wondered at the nature of
the question. “We have grown close, I think. I hope.”

“
Is he angry with you about what
happened at dinner?”

Fiela shook her head. “No. We have
made peace. I was stupid and will be more careful in the
future.”

“
You shall. Ben is very fond of
you.”

“
Perhaps he loves me.”

“
If not now, soon, I think. But
you have not yet consummated your marriage to him.”

Fiela dropped her gaze to the
floor, humiliated by the observation. “I do not know why. Do I not
please him?”

“
You do, but you
are too restrained
.
”

“
Restrained?”

“
You do
not
pursue
him. He is waiting for you to make the first move. He is
uncertain what our culture allows.”

“
What would you have me
do?”

“
Present yourself to him in a way
that arouses his lust. Seduce him. If he declines you, push
forward. Take what is yours. Or make him take what is his. Trust
me, the next day he will thank you. It will be a great relief to
him to have the matter decided.”

“
I do not know how to do what you
ask,” replied Fiela honestly. She wanted to say she lacked Lilian’s
experience in such matters but she might as well slit her own
throat. “Would it not be better to wait until he desires to be with
me?”

“
He does desire to be with you. He
is simply afraid to make the first move. You must lead the
way.”

That did not sound right to Fiela.
It seemed somehow
wrong,
in fact. Confused, she sighed in exasperation.
She immediately realized her error, that it was not her sister she
was addressing, but her sovereign. Lilian suddenly bore an
expression that could melt ice.

“
I am sorry, Princess!” Fiela
gasped.

The woman’s voice was as hard as
steel.
“
Am I
annoying you, Peth?
”

Fiela shuddered as the words hit
her. “No, I’m sorry, truly!”

Lilian began to shake with rage.
Her temper had already been tested by Barnum’s announcement that
her very life depended on her marriage to Ben and that even her
children would be killed if the former Ardoon divorced her or died.
Yet Ben seemed to be growing further
away
from her each day, not closer.
He was constantly angry with her for her alleged – and actual –
deceptions. Now the one person who could salvage everything, who
could keep the future king of the Fifth Kingdom from walking away
from it all, was a
Peth
who was daring to sigh at her words of
advice.

It was unbearable.

She said, “You need to be reminded of your place.
Lay face down on the bed.”

As Fiela complied, Lilian went to
a chest of drawers and after ruffling through a drawer came back to
the foot of the bed. She grabbed one of Fiela’s ankles and pulled
it roughly toward her and began tying it to the bedpost.

“
Princess, what are you doing?”
Fiela asked as innocently as possible, now thinking that the woman
was interested in some kind of impromptu bondage scenario. While
the Peth had not told Ben about this particular kink of Lilian’s,
it was well known by almost everyone else, just as it was known
that Lilian was never the submissive. Fiela had never taken part in
such diversions, and prayed that the woman’s fury was merely an
act. The Peth silently promised her gods that she would play the
role of the penitent to the utmost of her ability, and grant Lilian
whatever relief she desired, if they would only transform her
sister’s fury into lust.

Lilian tied Fiela’s other foot to
the opposite bedpost. The bed was massive and by the time she was
done the girl’s legs were pulled so far apart that they almost
formed a line. While the position caused the supremely flexible
Peth no discomfort, she did not like the feeling of being bound.
Her arms were free but utterly useless. She tried to look over her
shoulder.

“
I should thrash you until you are
a foot from the underworld,” growled Lilian.

“
I’m sorry-”

“
Silence
. I will not do so only
because our husband would find you less pleasing
striped.”

“
Thank you, Princess,” replied
Fiela, realizing this was no act. She had seen Lilian like this
before, and it scared her. The woman’s temper was terrifying to
behold. It had been the last thing many of her enemies had seen
before their lives were slowly ended.

“
Do not thank me, Peth. You will
still be punished.”

Fiela felt something cold and hard
slide over the sole of her foot. A stick?
Something flexible
, her brain told
her.
Something safe to step
on
. Bamboo?

Her stomach knotted.

Lilian said, “The Nocte Sicarius
are famous for their ability to glide silently across a forest
floor without breaking even a twig. Not a single dried leaf is
crushed underfoot.”

“
Please don’t,” begged Fiela,
understanding what the woman planned.

“
Yet that skill was only achieved
by centuries of proper breeding. I don’t pretend to know whether a
foot’s sensitivity is based on the number of nerves present, or
their structure, or how the brain deals with sensations from those
nerves. That is a matter for the geneticists. But I do know that
your feet, like those of any night assassin, are supremely
sensitive to stimuli. I’ve been told they are almost thrice as
sensitive as a mere mortal’s. Does that sound right?”

“
Yes, Princess,”
Fiela said, wincing at the mere tap of the bamboo rod on her arch.
Had her legs not been stretched apart so dramatically, she would
have been writhing on the bed. “Please, I am begging you,
truly.
I am
sorry!
”

Lilian ran her hand over the
girl’s foot. The skin was as soft - no, softer - than a newborn’s.
“You will be more so,” she said, raising the bamboo rod into the
air.

Fiela had thought she would be
stronger. She had suffered hundreds of lacerations during her
battles with the Maqtu, as evidence by the pink and white scars
that covered her legs and stomach. She had been shot more times
than she could count, the second time in the chest, which had
triggered her first brief journey to the underworld. Yet never
during the Nisirtu civil war had she begged for mercy or allowed a
scream to cross her lips in front of her opponents.

It didn’t matter. When the rod
came down with the horrible
whooshing
sound and struck her left
foot, the pain was indescribable. It was agony on an entirely new
level. Her scream was horrid and unchecked as her upper torso
arched upward and she cried to the heavens.