Page 14 of Camriel
Xathan took the lead as he sat on one end of a couch.Phul took the other end, crossing one leg over his knee and tapping his thumb on his thigh.“I went out searching for information, Lord,” Xathan began.“I was lucky enough to find several people at the office of a local politician.”
Phul was already bored with the conversation.Xathan was the thinker and he was the doer.He sometimes wondered why Rahab hadn’t made Xathan his second in command instead of him.
Rahab kept his expression neutral as the sly soldier spoke.Xathan should have waited for his orders.He’d taken it upon himself to search for information.He’d just done exactly what Rahab was about to command him to, but it still irked him.His minion was always doing things that were above his station.Rahab often wondered if his subordinate thought he should be in charge instead of him.“Tell me what you learned,” he ordered.
“Apparently, most of the people who ran the United States were killed the day after the Rapture,” Xathan said.“Only a few of the politicians were absent from the Capitol Building, which was their headquarters, when it was bombed.The rest are scattered across the country.”
“So, there’s no one left in charge?”Rahab said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.“Who is this politician that you spoke to?”
“His name is Oliver Giamano,” Xathan said.“He’s a young independent who wasn’t affiliated with either of the two parties that were previously in charge.”
“Is he intelligent?”Rahab queried, mind whirling with possibilities.
“Very, for a human,” the soldier replied.“He’s charismatic enough to convince his staff to continue to work for him,” he went on.“He even has police officers guarding his office.”
“I assume they’re all corrupt,” Rahab said with a sneer.“Only the evil humans remain, from what that homeless drunk man said two nights ago.”
Xathan inclined his head in agreement.“The survivors do seem to be morally questionable, Lord.”
“Is that going to be a good thing, or a bad thing?”Phul asked.
“It will work in my favor,” Rahab predicted.He slid a look at Xathan to see his self-appointed advisor was nodding in agreement.“We’ll be too busy searching for our offspring and battling our enemies to rule this country to begin with,” Rahab said.“I can groom this politician and use him as my mouthpiece.Once we’ve won our war, I can step in and assume control.”
“First, we’ll conquer the United States, then we can shift our attention to the countries to the north and south,” Xathan said, dark eyes gleaming in anticipation.“Once they’ve been subjugated, we can begin indoctrinating the rest of the world and force them into line.”
Rahab’s lips thinned that his lackey was making plans for him again.“We?”he said pointedly.
“Your soldiers are at your command as always, Lord,” Xathan said, lowering his head submissively.He knew he’d overstepped and that he had to tread carefully.Rahab’s pride was fragile and his anger quick to spark.It didn’t take much for him to lash out.
“Iwill be making the decisions, notyou,” Rahab reminded him, pointing his thumb at his own chest.“Remember your station, or I’ll be forced to show you your place again.”
Xathan hunched forward, bowing even lower.“Of course, Lord,” he said hoarsely.The last time he’d angered his commander, he’d been sent back to the Void in pieces.“I’m your humble servant,” he added.Rahab’s temper was legendary in its viciousness.
Phul almost rolled his eyes at the predictable power play.He’d been watching the pair fighting forever and Rahab always won.Anarchy had chosen Rahab to lead, but Xathan was the more intelligent being.As always, it was up to Phul to ease the tension.“Do you know which soldiers were sent here to sire the cambions, Lord?”he asked.
Rahab concealed his scowl at the question.He hated it when he didn’t have all of the answers.“We were released at different times,” he said.“I have no idea which of us were chosen by Anarchy to leave the Void.”It wasn’t like he’d had time to speak to his entire squad yet.
“If I may,” Xathan said, holding up his finger.“I questioned the men this morning, just in case you asked for this information, Lord.”
Rahab’s jaw clenched, but he managed not to snap at the warrior.“Who sired the cambions?”he asked.
Xathan ran through the list, naming sixteen of the soldiers.“You, Phul, Lachial and I are also on the list,” he finished up.“There should be twenty cambions in total.”
“Youwere chosen?”Rahab asked with his upper lip curled.“I thought only my best warriors would have been sent to procreate with the humans.”
Xathan hid his insult at the slur.“Anarchy must have wanted my offspring to possess a different trait than sheer savagery,” he said, clearly meaning his intelligence.
“Lachial’s young are always feral,” Phul said, disturbed by the list.“Some of them have even turned on us in the past.”
“And they were destroyed for their impertinence,” Rahab reminded him.“The cambions will be adults by now,” he figured.
“The youngest will be eighteen and the oldest will be twenty-five, Lord,” Xathan said, running his hand over his bald head.His questions had been detailed, including the timing of the soldiers’ visits to the planet.“I believe your youngling is the oldest of the cambions.”
“That’s fitting,” Rahab said, puffing his chest out.“He or she will have dominion over the others.I’ll train them to make sure the other cambions will be loyal to us.”
Rahab glanced at Xathan to see if he had an opinion on the matter.“You’ll need to bend them to your will first, since our blood bond with them is broken,” his subordinate said.
Phul had only sensed his daughter for a fleeting moment, but it had been long enough to know his control over her was missing.He’d had a strange moment last night at around nine o’clock.His mind had turned fuzzy and he’d seen double.For a moment, a tall, attractive female with short black hair and dark eyes had been standing directly in front of him.While he wasn’t as smart as Xathan, Phul had figured out that she was his offspring.Cambions had strange abilities the soldiers lacked.Somehow, she’d connected with him.
