Page 26 of Ensii
Chapter Seven
Talitha didn’t remember the last time the palace had been this quiet, if ever. Whenever there had been a funeral, the person had always been either unimportant enough so as not to disrupt life for most people, or they had been so important that everyone had been in mourning.
When Sargon had died, the entire palace had shaken with wails. Many had feared for the future of Ilios with their ensaadi dead and the heir apparent a wispy girl who braided jasmine vines in her hair.
Talitha approached the residential portions of the palace, leading the way. They searched every room, only finding more bodies. Those monsters must have gone on a rampage worthy of an angry goddess.
“Do you think they grow stronger with each heart they consume?” asked Jadiana, one of Talitha’s vanguard.
“Why would you say that?”
“Well.” The girl shrugged, her nose ring catching the meager light of the torches. “It’s just that Nehemian seemed to have fair control of those three he sent. At least they seemed to be sure their mission was you, my lady.”
Talitha tried not to shudder at the memory of their sulfurous breath heaving on the back of her neck. “I would agree,” she said to Jadiana, moving aside a curtain with the point of her sword. “But if they’re growing stronger, I can’t tell for sure.”
Talitha paced through the halls and antechambers, so familiar and at the same time so alien. They found nothing.
“Where have the bastards gotten to?” Gilsazi grumbled. “They can’t hide forever.”
“No,” Talitha agreed. “But they can hide well enough, it seems.”
Ashek made a growling sound, smacking the front of his shield. “We need to secure the palace while we search.”
“Gilsazi?”
The tavrosi’s great horns bobbed as he nodded. “As you command, my lady.”
“Ashek, come with me.” If nothing else, it was time for several courtiers to meet their new lord. “Let’s see if any of the nobles have sought refuge within the mages’ archives.”
Ashek fell in beside Talitha easily, gesturing to several of his fighters as Talitha gave orders.
“Clear the palace,” Ashek commanded. “Kill all the priests and acolytes, but bring everyone else back to the center of the courtyard for judgment.”
The Hudspethites sped away.
Talitha wasn’t sure how, but several dozen of the street people had gotten inside and were hard at work tearing down anything and everything to do with Anakti. Murals were gouged out of the walls with trowels, statues were shattered on the marble, and reliefs were torn right out of the stone.
Talitha wasn’t sure how long she and the others spent looking, but it must have been an hour or more. Still no sign of Nehemian, save for a cloying darkness to the air. The old priest and his black arts were still here, Talitha had no doubts.
Easing down on the steps overlooking a fountain, Talitha smeared a hand over her face.
A crowd of common women and men in their street clothes battered a fountain of Anakti, jets of water pouring in all directions and they yelped and laughed. How many of these people were true followers of the Lonely God and how many were just enjoying the chaos?
“My love.” Ashek wove through her loose circle of guards. “We have found no sign of the old priest.”
Talitha scoffed. “Wily as a jackal and deadly as an adder, that one.”
Ashek’s lip curled. He took up a place on the step beside her. “It doesn’t sit well with me. Not knowing where he is.”
“Me neither,” Talitha muttered. She’d much rather have the old man railing on in her face than scheming out of sight. “No sign of him?”
“No. We’re working on it.”
Talitha studied the way the light of early dawn highlighted the planes of his cheekbones and the angles of his face. She leaned against him, pressing her cheek to his armored shoulder.
Ashek slipped an arm around her easily. “Is there anywhere else he could be?”
“His private estate outside the city,” Talitha answered. “That is all I can think of. He rarely ever goes there, though.”
