Part 20 (2/2)
”Forgive me. Unworthy feet.”
”He means-”
”Yes. I know.” The queen extended her hands, then drew back, frowning, as the boy tensed.
He doesn't even realize he's doing it.
”Take the queen's hands,” Malaq ordered, thanking the G.o.ds he'd insisted on filing down the ragged nails and soaping out the dirt acc.u.mulated under them.
”Your hands are very cold,” the queen said, her voice a low caress.
The boy swallowed hard. ”I'm scared,” he whispered in the tribal tongue.
”Your presence fills him with awe, Earth's Beloved.”
”Without the decoration, please.”
”He said, 'I'm scared.' ”
”As he should be. Don't translate that.” She favored the boy with one of her dazzling smiles. Color flared on his pale cheeks. A nervous smile came and went.
”You are so beauty,” he whispered in Zherosi.
Still smiling, the queen asked, ”Was that one of the phrases you taught him?”
”No, Earth's Beloved.” Bad enough that he had the temerity to construct an independent thought from the standard phrases he had learned; to address the queen without her permission could earn him a whipping.
”You are bold,” she said.
”Forgive me, Earth's Beloved.” Fear replaced the glazed look of adoration. ”Please . . .” He fumbled with the words and dragged his gaze from the queen. ”Would you tell her I meant no disrespect? I'm not . . . my people . . . our chiefs . . .”
”He asks your forgiveness again, Earth's Beloved, and a.s.sures you he meant no disrespect. His people are accustomed to less formality when addressing their chiefs.”
”So you tell your chief that she is beautiful?”
Kheridh laughed, then quickly controlled himself. ”Earth's Beloved, our chief is a man.”
”A man cannot be beautiful?”
”To a woman, I suppose.”
This time, she was the one to laugh. ”You may go.”
The boy prostrated himself again, then rose and backed out of the reception chamber. Malaq lowered himself onto his cus.h.i.+on with a small sigh of relief.
”So.” The queen made a minute adjustment to one of the flounces on her skirt. ”A red-haired virgin of-what? Fourteen?-who refuses congress with both male and female slaves. Who possesses the ability to speak with the adders. Who has the power to touch the spirits of others without the use of qiij. And who might-might-have used that ability to ride the spirit of a bird.”
”Yes, Earth's Beloved.”
”But is he the Son of Zhe?”
”Impossible!” Xevhan burst out. ”The Son of Zhe would never come to earth in the body of a barbarian.”
”What better way to test our faith?” Eliaxa asked. ”Oh, my queen. If you could have seen him in the pit. When he shed.”
”He's already admitted his father is a . . .” Xevhan fumbled for the t.i.tle.
”Memory-Keeper,” Malaq supplied.
”He may not know his true parentage,” Eliaxa said. ”His mother may have kept it a secret to protect him. Perhaps she does not realize it herself.”
”Not realize she was seduced by a winged serpent?” Xevhan scoffed. ”I'd think few women would forget that.”
”Perhaps great Zhe came to her in another guise,” Eliaxa said.
”Perhaps,” Xevhan conceded impatiently. ”But this boy's powers are hardly unique. I'm told every priest in every village possesses them. Isn't that right, Malaq?”
”They claim to have the ability to touch the spirits of others,” he said evenly. ”But they spend years honing their gifts. For a boy so young to possess them is unusual.”
Malaq took a deep breath. If the G.o.ds existed, he hoped they would guide him now. ”Earth's Beloved. Does it matter whether or not he is the Son of Zhe? Of course, we will continue to test him, to observe. But meanwhile, we should learn more about his gift.”
”A gift he calls an abomination,” the queen said.
”He is afraid of it, true. But he longs to use it.”
”The gift or the power it might bring him?”
”He knows the joy-and the fear-that comes of possessing it, but I doubt he perceives the power. Earth's Beloved, we have never seen such a boy before. Think of what we could learn from him. The ability to speak with the adders. To control the spirits of others-to touch them, cast them out, commune with them-without relying upon a drug that saps the body and breeds an insatiable hunger for more.”
”I am well aware of the addictive powers of qiij.”
”Of course, Earth's Beloved. Forgive me.”
”I am also aware of the danger in allowing such knowledge to become widespread among the priesthood.”
”Knowledge can be controlled. Just as the supply of qiij is now.”
”He'll never cooperate,” Xevhan insisted. ”You said yourself he refused to allow you to touch his spirit.”
”He won't cooperate if coerced,” Malaq said. ”But he's frightened. Far from home. Among people who perceive his power as a gift, not an abomination.”
”The same people who captured him,” the queen interjected. ”Hardly an incentive to win his trust.”
”Among his people, the use of his power makes him an outcast,” Malaq said. ”I believe we should encourage him. Win him over. Seduce him.”
”Your attempts at seduction have proven less than successful.”
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