Greywolf

  Several voices spoke at once. "Spy?" "What Spy?" "Has the mission been compromised?"

  Az leaned back against the stone wall with a satisfied smile as Balthazar held up his hands for quiet. "Peace, my friends; all is well. As an agent myself, I am suspicious by nature, so when a strange merchant named Moloch hurried to join our caravan, I warned my guards to be wary. I also pay them well, so when Moloch tried bribing them, they pretended to accept his money before informing me of what he had done."

  Titan said, "What did you do?"

  The young woman filled Greywolf’s cup and smiled as he thanked her, while Balthazar made an open gesture with his hands. "I Invited Moloch and his guards to drink with the rest of us in the fortified caravansary we were staying at. As the wine flowed, an unaltered Daemo in my employ used a cloth soaked with an infusion of Black Lotus petals to overwhelm the lone guard watching over Moloch's room. The Daemo then riffled through the man's belongings and found this."

  From under his robes, Balthazar pulled out a sheet of parchment with strange writing on it and handed it to Titan. The Ogri glanced over the parchment and his eyebrows raised. "Ancient Babylonian? This script has been dead for over a thousand years."

  "What language better to write out, shall we say, incriminating instructions? My Daemo copied the sheet before putting everything back exactly as it had been found, then placed a mostly empty skin of wine beside the guard to explain his stupor. The Daemo, who was alive when Babylonia was in its flower, translated the document for me. After I had read the translation, I immediately burned the copy and arranged for Moloch to have, shall we say, a most unfortunate accident while we were on the road."

  Titan had been reading the sheet as Balthazar was talking, and now a dark look stole over his face. "Am I reading this correctly? Eurax wanted Little Paulus taken captive and crucified?"

  Paulus gasped, and Az put a protective arm around the boy as Balthazar sighed. "Eurax is, shall we say, a monster. I questioned Moloch's personal slave after his master's death, and he filled in the gaps the parchment leaves out. Eurax knew he was taking an incredible gamble betraying the Empire of the East, and when the emperor gave custody of Little Paulus to Amazonia, he became suspicious."

  "But why does he want to kill me?" Paulus asked. "I'm not a threat to him."

  Balthazar's face grew sympathetic. "Eurax had, shall we say, quite detailed plans for you, but now those plans have been thwarted. What he cannot have, he would destroy in as painful a method as possible."

  "That's never going to happen," Az said in a voice like cold iron. "Nomads," both brothers straightening as she looked at them, "from now on you are both to guard Little Paulus at all times. Are we clear?"

  They said in unison, "Yes, Domina."

  Paulus wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her. "Heart-love overflows."

  For a long moment, she rested her scarred head on his. "Gratitude in same manner." Then she straightened, and he let go as she gave him a stern look. "From now on, you'll listen sharp to what they say and no more practical jokes."

  Paulus’s face took on a sheepish look as he nodded, the other Wardogs laughing except for Troll, who scowled. "It wasn't that funny."

  "You really should've seen your face," Dancer replied.

  Greywolf opened his mouth to ask Dancer for the story, but shut it again as Titan looked up from the parchment. "It would seem that the sting from the Daemo butterfly has not lost its venom. Eurax wants Greywolf taken captive as well and brought to his estate."

  Greywolf jerked back, almost splashing his wine. "What?"

  "That puzzled me until I questioned Moloch's slave," Balthazar replied. "Eurax truly believes Greywolf is a demigod, and is constructing a temple on his estate dedicated to the young man’s… or should I say, the young god’s, worship. According to Moloch’s slave, the temple rites would be recreations of the, shall we say, carnal Daemo sacred dances, which he, along with many others, watched you perform with Lady Alexina.” Greywolf groaned and covered his face with his hands for a moment as the merchant said, “He told Moloch to search for you as he gathered information and looked for Little Paulus, and if you were found, to entice you back to Konstanopolis."

  "Or take you prisoner if that failed," Titan rumbled, “binding you in chains of gold.”

  Greywolf took his hands away from his face as he snorted. "Wotan's blood, I'm a Shadow-walker, not a mage. The only substance I can't walk through or escape from is stone."

  Balthazar chuckled. "Had he known that, Eurax would have given Moloch different instructions." He held up a warning finger. "But make no mistake: Eurax will not give up, no matter what you do. In the darkness of his evil heart, Eurax has always wanted his own personal god, or in this case, demigod, to worship in the manner Eurax desires. Which means, shall we say, training the demigod to perform in the manner Eurax wants."

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  Castor growled, "You're making Greywolf sound like an animal."

  Balthazar drained his wine cup and held it up for a refill. "That is exactly how Eurax sees the people he has control over."

  "Maybe so," Greywolf replied, "but he's not getting control of me. That chapter of my life's over for good."

  "Only if I win tomorrow’s fight," Titan rumbled. "I have confidence in my abilities, yet if Asena prevails, I fear she will fall back into her old habits."

  Shite, he's not the only one worried about that. Greywolf felt eyes upon him and glanced up at a leering Troll as he said, "Now you've really got my interest. What kind of carnal cavorting are we talking about?"

  Greywolf gave him a dark look. "I'd bet silver you'd enjoy hearing about them, and gold that you're not going to."

  "At least, not from Greywolf," Fox said. "Domina, without going into the details Troll wants to hear, would you like for me to explain the Sacred Dances of the Daemo in a way humans might understand?”

  Az glanced at Greywolf, staring down into his wine cup with a face torn between anger and embarrassment, before meeting Fox’s eyes. “While I have no desire to hurt Greywolf, everything that pertains to our mission of helping Prince Timur succeed and Eurax fail is important. Your father,” she said to Paulus, looking up at her with trusting eyes, “used to tell me that, if you understand your enemy’s weaknesses and your own, you’ll win far more often than you’ll ever lose.”

  “Lady Jhadra had deep respect for your father,” Fox said, her eyes meeting the boy’s before returning to Amazonia’s. “So, without going into details, I will explain our Sacred Dances as best I can to humans.” Her gaze swept over the people sitting at the table. “Daemo don’t worship any god the way humans do; the closest we come is believing that the universe is alive, in a sense, and everything is connected.”

  Without looking up, Greywolf said, “Papa once told me that every world connected by the Shadowlands is the same world, but because it’s a reflection of the real world we can’t reach, they’re all different.

  “Which is what the Daemo believe as well,” Fox said before anyone else could comment. “Now, while we don’t believe in the sacredness of a civilized Jupiter or pagan Wotan, we do believe in the sacredness of death.”

  “Death?” Troll scratched his head, a puzzled look on his face. “Why in Hel’s name would you worship that?”

  “I didn’t say we worshiped death, just that we believe in its sacredness. Every day of a Daemo’s life we dance with her as if a lover, knowing that if she takes us, a few moments later we’ll rise up out of a spawning pit, young and fresh.” Fox’s eyes met Amazonia’s. “Domina, have you ever wondered why the Daemo you fought in the arena were so fierce?”

  Az’s expression turned thoughtful. “We only thought it was their nature to fight that way, but if what you’re telling me is true, then it makes sense.”

  Titan let out a rumbling snort. “She may believe it is the truth,” he said in his deep voice, “but in reality, the so called ‘Sacred Dances’ are a way of burnishing their carnal natures as if the acts were holy. As well polish brass until it gleams and call it gold.”

  Fox met his dark eyes without flinching. “If all you have seen are the lesser dances, then your attitude makes sense. But had you watched Lady Alexina and Greywolf perform the greater forms, you’d have seen a far different dance. All Daemo changed into a female form have the deep desire to wake up bruised and exhausted from being brought to climax so many times that we lose count. To come close to the edge of death, flirting with her and enjoying her caress before drawing away again."

  "I never put Alexina in any danger," Greywolf blurted out.

  Fox turned her wide-eyed, innocent looking gaze upon him. "I know you didn't. Lady Alexina has the capacity to endure far more abuse than any living Daemo, and even if you’d completely lost control, which you never did, before you could’ve brought her close to the edge, her survival instincts would’ve kicked in. Yet if I’d been your dance partner, I would’ve goaded you into bringing me as close to the edge as possible… which was an important reason why she made all of us swear to leave you in peace.”

  Greywolf drained the cup and continued staring at it as he said, “Asena was the other.”

  Fox gave him a knowing smile as Balthazar said, "Apologies if I sound blunt, but how do you know so much about Lady Alexina’s business?"

  "Before I became Domina's Chaldean, I was Lady Jhadra's servant, lent to Lady Alexina before Lady Jhadra took me back.”

  “I see. So… are such practices tolerated by your society, or is it something only the Daemo females engage in?”

  “Among the Daemo, such episodes are considered normal behavior, with elements of it incorporated into the many festivals of the Temple of the Dragon Queen. The Daemo who are unchanged cannot participate but they enjoy watching the dancers, as do the temple’s human members."

  "Corrupting the morals of its worshipers."

  Fox looked at Titan. "Human morals, not ours. When I served Lady Jhadra, after the festival was over, I was the one who made sure my mistress and the other Daemo females of her circle were bathed and put to bed." Balthazar frowned at her and Fox gave him a sly smile in return. "You are thinking: why wasn't the slave the one left naked and quivering on the floor, instead of her mistress? You humans will never understand us."

  "The Ogri understand you just fine," Titan rumbled. "A Daemo can never love or be trusted."

  "You see through eyes forged during the Prince's War," Fox replied as she rose to her feet. "Even without the tattoo, Domina will always be able to trust me for as long as I'm under her protection, as it was with Lady Jhadra. The collar I wore around my throat served a different purpose." Without explaining further she turned towards Az. "Domina, would you like for me to begin preparing the midday meal?"

  "If you would.”

  Fox started towards the kitchen as Troll called out, "What about love? Surely in that cold little heart of yours you feel something for me."

  "Of course she does," Dancer replied. "Fox has the same love for you as you do for a haunch of roast beast."

  All the other Wardogs laughed, including Troll, but Fox stopped and turned around. She wore a solemn expression on her face. "We can feel affection for humans after we’ve been with them for a time and have gained their trust, as Lady Alexina feels for her captain. But love? The closest we can come is an intense passion for the person with blood richer than the finest wine, who we know is able to dance us to the edge of death's abyss, again and again, before bringing us back safe and washed out." Fox looked at Greywolf. "Passion for that person will fill our hearts forever, leaving no room for anyone else to take their place. Even if that person will never love us back." The room went silent as she held his gaze.

  Then Fox turned and walked away.