Princess of Death (Three Provinces Book 1) (7 page)

What he said resonated deep within me, I knew he was right, but I wasn’t ready, not yet. Maybe if he had told me what was going on in Bet Pagri I would have thrown caution to the wind, but he did not.

“I want to be with you too Nergal, the things I feel when we are together are so potent.” I whispered the words, afraid that the wind would rip them away and cast them into the shade the headstones created before he could hear them.

But hear them he did, before I knew it, his mouth was on mine, tasting delectable and illicit. He kissed me, surrounded by night, death and the musky smells of aged marble and dead leaves.  I am not sure how long we stood there together, but it was not long enough.

Namtar came looking for me, before I would be missed. I was still a Princess of Salas after all and getting caught snogging an Alu in the dark wasn’t the best scenario.

“He wants me to go with him tomorrow,” I said, breathlessly, as Nam and I sat together in the library afterwards. There was minimal light flickering from a candelabrum in the corner. We didn’t need much illumination.

“Are you going to?”

“No… But part of me really wants to, he even said you could come, that we would be welcomed at Bet Pagri.” Nam seemed to relax after I told him he would be coming with me if I chose to go.

“I can see why, things here are just getting worse.”

“I know, right? What will they do with Mash and I now? Is he right? Will they ship us off to the outer estates and just forget about us?” I sighed, leaned back against the couch, so many thoughts to consider, it was making my head hurt.

“I think so. I didn’t want to tell you until I had more information but….” He trailed off, peering at me from under his silver hair.

“Tell me,” I straightened, preparing for bad news. If Nam didn’t want to tell me I knew it was going to be unpleasant.

“A few days ago I overheard your mother give orders for several of the Adura servants to go to the Aduran estate and prepare it. Apparently she had given the same orders for Nannaru weeks ago. They are readying them to be lived in. Not only cleaning but staffing them full time.”

We sat in silence; it took a few times before I could speak.

“Mash really was right, it’s like they are banishing us.”

“I think it would be in our best interest to decide to leave before they can.” Nam told me gently. I had to agree with him. It wouldn’t be as hard if I told them I was leaving. I could go Bet Pagri and then head onto the Aduran Estate.  It was with heavy hearts, as clichéd as it sounded, that Nam and I went to bed that night.

Nergal and Ekur were gone by the time I awoke the next morning, but it was for the best. It would take days for the arrangements to be made, plus I still had to inform my family.

What’s going on? Your thoughts are chaotic. 
Puabi questioned my every movement after I got out of bed.

“We are going on a trip.”

Good, I’m bored here.

“That does not surprise me; you have barely left my room.”

I leave to hunt.
She sounded a little offended.

Yanking on a simple, yet flattering black gypsy skirt and deep orange peasant blouse I didn’t even redo my hair. Jamming glasses on my face I hurried from my room realizing it was almost afternoon; I would barely make seeing my parents in the throne room.

Taking a deep breath I opened the doors, flinching as Biri settled over my skin. I was lucky; it was only my parents, Ishtar and my brother in the room, though it did startle me that he was there. Mash was a Nannaru snob, he hated Biri.

“Ereshkigal, what is the meaning of this, you do not just barge in unannounced.” Father’s voice was cold, clipped.

“I am sorry but it was too important to wait,” I settled into a curtsey, knowing it would show just how serious I was.

“Arise, but you must wait your turn.” Mother said.

“As I was saying, Mare, Father, now that Ishtar is to be married I find the need to stay here no longer necessary. I am requesting that Aya and I be permitted to retire to the Nannaruan Estate.” Shamash’s words basically echoed the ones I was going to say. I had to control myself not to gasp or let my mouth drop open in shock.

“I know you have already staffed the estate and it is ready for me to take up residence, there is no reason to prolong it.” Mash’s words were polite but I could sense the bite in them.

“Of course Shamash, we were planning to discuss this with you within the week; all the arrangements have already been made. You can leave whenever you’d like.” Mother’s smile was bitter, but at least it was a smile.

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing; they had planned to send Mash away so soon? When I asked them the same question, would I find the answer equally as sickening?

“Aya and I should be packed and ready to leave by morning then.” Mash took a few steps back; I could tell he was curious about my issue.

“I hate to agree with Mash,” I tried for humor, but failed, “but I have been invited to Bet Pagri. I would like to go and I figured afterwards I would go on to the Aduran Estate as it seems I am not needed here any longer either.” 

Mash’s chuckle behind me reminded me of when he was a little boy and I wished things were that simple again. So much had changed in such a short amount of time it made my head spin.

“Ereshkigal, we are not quite prepared for you to leave us. The Aduran Estate is not set up all the way for a full time residence.”  Father frowned at me.

“Eshie are you serious? You’re going to leave? Before the wedding? You and Mash?” Ishtar’s voice was scared and I met her warm brown eyes as she stood next to my mother.

“I am serious, I want to go. I am sure Mash and I will come back for the wedding Ishtar, don’t be silly.” The lie stuck in my throat a little. I was about 90 percent certain I would never set foot in the castle again. As I glanced over at my brother I could see he was thinking the same thing.

“And as to your words father, I would not be at the estate for some time, long enough for it to be properly equipped for my arrival. Namtar and I were planning quite a long trip.”

“That might work Ereshkigal, of course it will take several days for us to make travel provisions for you, and we were just waiting for your brother to tell us he was ready. Your initiative has come as quite a shock.” I wanted to throw something at her. Never had she made it clearer she could care less what happened to Mash and I, just the precious Biri born daughter.

“That is fine.”  Mash and I left the room together, it must have been important that he talk to me because he followed me into Adura. I could see on his face just how disturbing he found it.

“Eshie, you’ve never been interested in our family before, but if you are really going to leave please listen. We have family all over Salas.” I knew that, the royal line could only be Biri, but that didn’t mean other things hadn’t happened over the years. People take lovers, get divorced, have affairs, sex happens.

“We have family in the city of Damu just past Namba River. It is the largest city in Adura”

“I know my geography.” I cut in. He grabbed me by the shoulders.

“Just listen! This is painful enough as it is.” His blue eyes darted around the shadows of the East Wing.

“I have been in contact with them, they agree that it has come time for Nannaru, Biri and Adura to be three separate countries, like it is on all the other continents, in the old world. Salas is behind in the times. I will send word ahead of your arrival.” The old world was what we called the larger continents where we had originally immigrated from.

“And they are?” I questioned, I mean, hello, could he be vaguer? I would gladly seek out family, though I wasn’t sure about the separation of Salas.

“I won’t speak their names here just in case, the walls have ears, you know. They will find you when you enter Damu.”

I pointed to his forehead and then my own.

“No sister, not even like this will I speak more…treason.”

Now that I could understand, what my brother was discussing was treachery. Treason, no matter who your family was, equaled a death sentence.

“Be safe Mash.” I hugged him, kissing his golden cheek. He squeezed me back and then he left, back to the glitter and sun light of Nannaru.

“Are we going then?” Nam’s voice came from behind me.

“Yes, within a few days. We should start packing so that they can send our things on ahead to our new home.” I had to force myself to move, back into the gloom of Adura. It was amazing how fast the castle turned from home to a cold and uninviting habitat.

Chapter 7

It took three days for my parents to finalize my trip, including sending a message to Bet Pagri to be expecting
Nam and I. Within those three days I watched my brother and Aya leave and Ishtar barricade herself in her room. She was angry with me and I couldn’t really blame her. She’d never been alone before, but at least she had Enki, her companion, to keep her company. Enki did not have a lot of power and mainly over water. He was a soft feminine sort. I left my parting message with him as she would not come down to see us off.

Nam and I were to travel together; Puabi flew on ahead to Bet Pagri.  Thankfully being born in Adura I had access to Adureeds, a type of horse.  They were omnivores that had fangs and their skin was covered in a soft fur. Males typically had black coats and orange eyes while the females were the reverse. They were awesome for travel because they had long stamina and galloped at around 45 miles per hour.

Adureeds had a herd system; no one “owned” them. Being partially telepathic they knew when they were needed and just showed up. Because of their tendency to offer their service and guard those that rode them, the creatures of Salas left them alone. They were not captured or hunted and it was an offense punishable by death to harm one.

My parents did not come to see us off. Nam looked happier than I had seen him in a long time. His hair was pulled back into a low ponytail and he was in comfortable riding clothes, as was I, though I did look sexier in mine.

When the Adureeds showed up there were three, one just to handle what we needed for the trip, since the majority of our belongings had already been sent ahead.  I decided to ride the big male. I walked up to him, breathing in his fruity scent and meeting his eyes.

“Greetings, I will be riding you. I appreciate you coming on such short notice. May I mount?” It snorted at me and butted its huge head into my shoulder which I took for a yes. I needed no help getting into the saddle, neither did Nam. Kassaptus have more than just magical abilities after all. 

I looked behind me at the castle and I could not feel sad. I would miss my sister but she had her own life to live as did I. The Adureed did not need commands like a normal Biri horse; it just knew it was time to go. We sped through the gates and out onto the road.  We took the
Left Road, which would past very briefly the cemetery P.O.T. but I knew we would be going too fast to have to deal with it.

We would go past only a few of the towns and cities in Adura and see only a bit of the country side. The
Left Road wound through dark green grass, hills and tall trees, with bark almost black and leaves a deep rich emerald. We would ride until the twilight green of the Aduran day turned into the star lit black night. I leaned forward feeling the muscles moving underneath the Adureed.

Wind whipped against my skin and I was thankful for the good leather of my riding gear and the black cloak I had slipped on last minute. It was still a little cold, the summer months weeks away.

We slowed down a bit as I began to see people milling about. We were quite close to the village of Masku. It was small and one of Adura’s farming communities, mainly Kassaptu resided there. I received many smiles, cheers and waves as we passed by the road that led to the heart of the village.

“See, you’re practically famous!”
Nam yelled from next to me. I could only grin as the Adureed sped up.

When we had left the castle the moon had been high in the sky, the middle of the “day”, as the moon set and blackness began to creep over the land the only light came from the sparkling stars above.

Just as I began to think we should stop for the night all the Adureeds slowed.

“Yes, I was just thinking that, thank you.” I told it. We pulled off the main road and went farther into some of the more dense foliage to be hidden from the view of the road. I dismounted, a little achy, and began to stretch. I watched as
Nam moved easier than I did and rolled my eyes, annoyed; stupid, skinny, athletic boy.

I unloaded what we would need for the night as
Nam went to find a bush, or whatever, boys had it so easy.  I cast a simple spell around where we would be sleeping to keep bugs and other creepy crawlies and animals away from us, I also put a few charms around to alert us if anyone came within ten feet of our camp. These were basic magics all of my people could do.

When
Nam came back I took my toiletries and walked off. Let
him
set up our beds and get the fire started, I did not want to deal with it. Holding up my hand, a little ball of red light shot out of my palm, giving it a flick it flew above my head, illuminating myself and a good ten feet in all directions, it gave things an enjoyably sinister look, but at least I could see.

When I returned from washing my face, among other things, it was to some really delicious smells coming from the campfire and to see my bed was all set up, as was a weather shield. The Adureeds were not far from us, grazing.

“I totally forgot a weather shield, thanks Nam.” The beds floated about a foot off the ground and were thick cushions, each had a comfy pillow and several blankets piled on top of it.  I sat on mine and my ass was grateful, as were my thighs. I kicked off my boots and wished we weren’t camping. I hated to camp and it also meant I couldn’t get into my night clothes. I could not wait until we reached a city.

“Cook packed enough food until we could restock in a city, proper.”
Nam said as he handed me a cup filled with juice, and a plate that had fruit, grilled meat on a stick, a wedge of cheese and a slice of brown bread with butter. Magic made these things much easier with Stay-Cold, Stay-Fresh spells and Non-Rotting spells.

Sitting across from me
Nam began to eat. We stuffed our faces in silence and watched as the moon totally set. The fire would stay lit all night, until we put it out the next morning, which was a plus.

I finished, whispered a Word and the plates and cups were clean. I stood and got
Nam’s, putting them back into our bags. I fell into a deep sleep shortly after, exhausted.

I awoke a few hours later choking on a spell. I gasped, reaching my hands up as I struggled to breathe. I could not see
Nam across the fire. I had been stupid to forget to set the perimeter to go off if magic tried to make its way through. I had only thought about flesh and blood (or undead) threats.

Rolling off my cot made a loud thud and I could see
Nam now, he sat straight up, I could tell he was alert, but it wasn’t doing anything for me. I couldn’t get any air; my thoughts were becoming fuzzy as darkness set in around the corners of my eyesight. If he didn’t notice me soon I was going to die and I was not happy about it. My thoughts were so jumbled I couldn’t focus enough to project them to Nam.

“Eshie!”
Nam exclaimed, he darted to my side and placed a hand on my neck. His eyes closed and I could breathe. It was a nasty spell, but basic to break, it did need concentration, which while dying of lack of oxygen, is hard to manage.

I sat up, eyes going to the darkness outside our camp. I could feel presences out there and I didn’t like it.  Then the alarm went off and they were on us, about six Kassaptu, all in various stages of dirty and scraggly looking.

“
Magic Stealers.”
Nam spat it like a dirty word and it was.

I spun around and lifted my hands, shadows engulfed two of the magic bandits, they screamed as they were consumed by the wispy creatures. One of my nastier spells, but I was pretty pissed, they had tried to kill me after all.

As one tried to grab me I gave a solid round kick to her stomach. I heard fighting behind me and knew Namtar was doing his best against the other three. I heard him mutter a Word and one began to scream. The girl I was fighting grabbed me, pushing me around and I saw that Nam had killed one of the Magic Stealers, the poor guy’s body covered in several debilitating diseases. The other two had backed off and looked frightened.

She tried to shove me to the ground and go for her wand, yes, I said wand. Magic Bandits steal magic and store it in their wands. I swung around, using my hands to brace her and then my lips touched hers and she went very still. I began to suck her life force away slowly, and sensually. When she realized what was happening she began to struggle, by that point it was useless.

“Stop Eshie, they’ve given up.” I heard Nam’s words and broke away from the girl. She looked to have aged at least five years and I felt refreshed and well rested.

“You two, stand with her, if any of you make another move you will die.” My voice was devoid of any emotion and the girl looked at me with fear in her eyes.

The three of them stood together, huddled. I do not think they had any idea who they were attacking.  In Salas most Kassaptu are born with magic and then a specific gift. Sometimes, however, people were born with the bare minimal of magic. Those usually did one of two things; dealt with it or became
Magic Bandits
. You could learn to steal magic. The problem was that stolen magic eventually returns to the owner and you have to find a new source.

“Do you have any idea who I am?” I asked.

“No. We were told you would be on this road and to attack, we were paid handsomely,” one of the men said.

“I am Princess Ereshkigal of Death and Destruction!” Their eyes widened and their heads bowed.

“Forgive us, Princess, we didn’t know, we never would have attacked had we known,” the other man said.

“Look at their tattoos.”
Nam whispered, standing next to me. The girl had a multi colored bird on her right arm; it was gold with silver wings and a red beak.

“Ah, you are the Ishu Tribe, the largest Magic Stealers in Salas. Hopefully your leader did not send his best to get slaughtered tonight.” My laugh was harsh, voice sarcastic. Those who stole magic could travel all over Salas, because they could no longer claim any one section as home having taken so many different types of magic into themselves.

“He sent those he could afford to Princess,” the girl told me from the ground.

“We will let the three of you live if you tell us everything,” I stated.

“Of course. Our leader was given quite a bit of Alu magic to make sure you did not make it to Bet Pagri. We were told to look for three Adureeds and a woman with blood curls.” One of the men said “none of us are originally from Adura, Princess, or we would have recognized you.”

“Your leader also set you up. Someone from Adura would have known that only the royal family has ever
had her color hair. He wanted to keep the magic and did not care what happened to the rest of you. I suggest a new line of work.” Nam’s irritation leaked out into his words.

“We have been camped near Bet Pagri, it is in a state of unrest. A majority of its people think you are their only hope. I believe someone there does not wish for you to end the strife.”  The girl spoke again as her companions helped her off the ground.

“Thank you for the information, I am sorry for your loss tonight. Now get out of my sight.”  I ordered. They ran off into the night. Thinking, I sat down on my bed and Nam sat next to me.

“Maybe we should have had some Adura guards come with us, Eshie.”

“No, we took them just fine. We’ve never really seen what we can do and now we know. We are too powerful for most to interfere with.” I knew my smile looked sadistic in the fire light, but I felt powerful and secure. We had taken them without any problems, glancing around; I curbed my pride not wanting it to become my downfall. If Nam hadn’t been there I might have died.

“We may have more issues though. What if whoever sends more and next time it’s worse?”

“How much worse could it be Nam? We’ve taken on Death Nymphs, my parents, a really pissed off  P.O.T. and now
Magic Bandits
.” I chuckled. Looking into the sky I saw that the moon had risen a bit. We had slept about five hours before we were rudely awakened.

“Do we want to get back on the Adureeds or sleep some more?” I asked.
Nam considered it for a few minutes, before nodding his head.

“We should get going, use the adrenaline of the fight to push us a little. I bet we could make it to Damu before the next moon setting.”

I agreed with him, and as I thought it the Adureeds showed up.

“And where were you during the excitement?” I kidded. I got the impression that they knew we could handle ourselves and would have interfered had things gone badly.

Nam and I packed up quickly. I didn’t want to say it out loud, but the commotion may have disturbed something we weren’t prepared to deal with quite yet. The natural inhabitants and magics of Adura could be scary, no matter what I’d said to Nam about us taking on anything.  I did not want to have to deal with rogue shades or blood sucking Mormos quite yet.

Mounting my steed we began to canter, and while I was sure we could reach Damu within hours I didn’t want to feel like I was running from or to something.  We were only a few miles away from a village that primarily produced the artsy type; performers, artists, singers and the like. While Adura was not as creatively inclined as Nannaru, we did have entertainment.

I could hear singing as we rode by. There was sign at the fork in the road that read: WELCOME TO NEPESTI HUIL WHERE THE GREAT ARTS ARE PREFORMED.  Underneath there was a small sign that said: CARAVAN LEAVES
SIMANU
UM SITTA 3. This meant the traveling show that made its way to all who could not afford or take the time to travel to Nepesti Huil , would be leaving for a tour in the month of Simanu, on the first day of the third week. Each month had three weeks; our years, 252 days long.  The Caravan would travel to every city and village until it circled back home.