Page 6 of Dark Shaman: The Lost Treasure
"Tell me more," he commanded.
This was dangerous territory. The son had always had a conscience. He'd played the part expected of him while secretly working to minimize his father's damage. But telling Navuh that would mean revealing how long the deception had been going on.
"I see... a woman," Eluheed said, grasping for glimpses of the vision that might be half-truth. "She doesn't turn him against you, but his love for her shows him that there are other paths."
"A woman." Navuh's laugh was like breaking glass. "I should have known. It's always a woman. The weakness that eventually brings down all great men."
Navuh stood abruptly, and Eluheed tensed, ready for the killing blow. But the lord walked up to his own portrait, hands clasped behind his back as he gazed at it.
"Did you see anything else? Other betrayals? Other threats?"
Eluheed hesitated. He'd seen glimpses of plots and schemes, but they were too fleeting to make sense of. He reminded himself that he should appear valuable but not dangerous.
"There are always threats," he said. "And opportunities. I didn't see much beyond what you asked of me, but I got a glimpse of something in Iran. You should establish a greater presence there."
With careful manipulation, perhaps he would convince the lord to take him back to Ararat.
Navuh returned to his chair and leveled his gaze at Gorchenco, who had remained silent throughout the reading.
"Your shaman has some skill," he said. "The question is whether that skill is worth a decade of exclusive arms deals."
Gorchenco straightened, sensing opportunity. "The betrayal he warned me about saved my life."
"And now he warns me of betrayal, too." Navuh's fingers drummed on the armrest. "Tell me, seer—can your visions be changed? If I know a betrayal is coming, can I prevent it?"
This was the question Eluheed had been dreading. The truth was complex—some futures were fluid, others seemed carved in stone. And sometimes, knowing the future was what caused it to come true.
"The future is like a river. You can dam it, divert it, but water always finds a way to flow. You might prevent the specific betrayal I saw, but your son's conscience is harder to change. The best advice I can give you is to work with him and not against him."
Navuh's smile was ice. "You are right. It might not come true, which is why I need to keep you around for when danger draws near. You will be my personal seer, available to me at all times."
The good news was that Navuh wasn't going to kill him right away. The bad news was that he was to become a prisoner on this island with no way to escape unless he could somehow convince the lord to send him to Iran.
Navuh turned to Gorchenco. "Your shaman has earned you a decade of exclusive dealings." He offered the Russian his hand. "Congratulations."
The mobster smiled broadly. "Thank you, Lord Navuh. I'm sure Elias will serve you well."
"He'd better." The threat in those two words was unmistakable. Navuh turned back to Eluheed. "This island is your forever home now, and the sooner you accept your fate, the more comfortable your life will be." He smiled, and the expression was scarier than when he didn't. "If you give me valuable information, you will be rewarded. You'll have access to plenty of beautiful women, if that's what you fancy. If you prefer men, that can be arranged as well."
How progressive of him.
Eluheed chose not to respond.
His charges were buried beneath a mountain, and now he was buried too, in a different kind of tomb.
"Where are you going to keep him?" Gorchenco asked.
The lord thought for a moment. "The harem. It's the safest place on the island because none of my sons or warriors can access him there. I won't have them trying to extract predictions or using him against me." Another cruel smile played at his lips. "No one gets in without my explicit permission."
The harem.
A gilded cage within the larger prison of this isolated island, but it was better than a dingy cell in a dungeon.
3
KIAN
Present Day
