Page 88 of Conspirators' Kingdom

One of the foulest of curses. If one infected by it didn’t die from it, they would arise as a veritable plague.

“Then heal her!” Vasilisa pleaded.

“I… I can’t. This is beyond me,” he stammered.

Just as it was beyond the skills of any healer in Maat.

“Then get someone who can!”

“Healing spells will only spread it faster. My magic can’t fix this,” he explained, his voice hollow.

What in the gods’ unknowable names had Henenu been thinking when he acquired the blade? Such items were banned even from the royal armoury.

“What if… what if we cut it out? Would that work?” Vasilisa asked, desperate.

“What’s this about cutting?” Bas asked as he re-entered the room, fresh gown in hand. At their stark looks, he sniffed the air. “Corruption.” He gasped, gown forgotten on the floor as he rushed to Taisiya’s side. “We need a light healer or dragon blood,” he said, his voice tight.

“No one in Maat possesses the healing light,” Mereruka said woodenly. He would know, given he had once entertained the notion of using the curse on his brother.

“Then where is the dragon blood?” Vasilisa asked.

“I don’t… we don’t have any,” Bas admitted.

“Where can we get some?” Vasilisa insisted.

“From a dragon,” Bas said.

Vasilisa grabbed the shifter’s shoulder and shook him.

“Don’t get cute!Where?!”

“There aren’t any dragon shapeshifters in Maat, and the dragons that are here are feral!” Bas replied.

Mereruka heard the strangest of buzzing noises in his head, drowning out the frantic bickering of his son and his wife’s friend. How easy it would be to slip into that place inside himself, to hide from the horrible fate which awaited his wife, to live in denial that yet another person he loved would be snatched from him as he remained wholly powerless.

Mereruka watched as a black tendril crept closer to Taisiya’s heart. Fear and rage jolted him from his stupor. She wasn’t dead yet. He was not wholly powerless. He must call upon his wrath, his hatred, his resolve. Taisiya would not die. He would not have another person he loved taken from him. Squeezing the hilt of the corruption-cursed blade, his mind raced. Was the nomarch wise enough to have the cure on hand along with the blade? As the saying went, those who live by the sword, die by the sword. Though Henenu had gotten lazy through Radjedef’s favour, a man well-versed in battle was surely prepared to be struck by weapons just like those he owned. Or even by the very ones he owned.

“Rouse the rest of our soldiers. Bring Henenu and his family before me in chains. If there is any dragon blood close by, we must pray that it’s in his possession. Tell Qar and Nofret that I want them protecting Taisiya.”

Vasilisa and Bas stopped their squabbling in an instant. Vasilisa disappeared into a shadow while Bas relayed his orders. In minutes, the weary, dishevelled former nomarch and his family were thrown, bound and prostrate, before him. But they were minutes Taisiya did not have to spare. Mereruka stood before them in the receiving hall, not bothering to hide his rage. He picked up the blade from a nearby pedestal and shoved it in Henenu’s face.

“You raised your children poorly, Henenu. Your son attacked my wife with this blade. Take a close look. Perhaps the curse is familiar to you,” Mereruka hissed.

Henenu squinted at the blade before his eyes went wide with horror.

“I see that it is.”

“Your Tranquility, please-”

Mereruka snarled and threw Henenu’s head to the cold stone floor. He had no time for mewling and begging.

“You have no right to beg! Youwilldie for this, Henenu! But you do have a choice.” Mereruka’s voice softened. He leaned down to whisper in the man’s pointed ear. “If you tell me where the dragon blood is, your death will be painless and swift. If you refuse, it won’t be either of those things, and I shall make you watch every member of your beloved family die slowly—tortuously—first.”

Henenu was silent a moment, his eyes drifting back to the tear-stained faces of his wife and children before he looked back at Mereruka, resigned.

“If I tell you, what of my family?”

Mereruka’s heart stuttered with relief. The dragon blood was within reach. He kept the rage plain on his face.

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