Blood of Requiem (Song of Dragons, Book 1)

41. BENEDICTUS

 
BENEDICTUS

"Requiem... may our wings forever find your sky."

As Dies Irae's men unlocked his shackles, Benedictus closed his eyes and whispered the Old Words. His voice was hoarse, his throat aching, and his limbs burned as he stretched them. When they had bound him, they had beaten him, covered his body with bruises. Yet through the pain, he remembered. He could still speak those ancient words, the prayer of his people. He struggled to his feet with eyes closed, the courts of Requiem resplendent in his mind.

He heard Dies Irae laughing scornfully; as a child, no doubt Dies Irae had hated the Old Words, those words every child in Requiem spoke in mornings. Dies Irae had never had the magic, never had wings; for him Requiem's sky had been unreachable.

"Are you ready, brother? Are you ready to die here?" Dies Irae's voice was icy with hatred and fiery with rage.

Behind closed eyes, Benedictus gazed upon those courts of Requiem, the marble columns that rose from the forest floor, the birch trees that grew beyond them, the rustling leaves. He could see autumn leaves skittering across the tiles of their forest courts, could see Father's throne of twisted oak roots, could see his friends, his family, his love Lacrimosa wearing silks and jewels, could see them ruling wisely under skies of blue and gold and white. Let me die with this memory, he thought. I go now to to the halls of my ancestors, to drink from their wine in our courts among the stars. I now take my greatest flight.

He opened his eyes. Around him spread the ruin of his people, the ribs rising like the teeth of dragons, the bashed skulls like so many rocks. But bones, ash, and blood could not make him forget the beauty of those old courts.

He stared at Dies Irae. His older brother. The shadow that would lurk beyond those courts, hiding and hating in its forests, planning revenge. Dies Irae was no longer a shadow; he was now a Lord of Light, a beacon of cruelty and fire to the world. Usurper of Osanna, destroyer of Requiem. Strangely, Benedictus no longer hated his brother. Neither did he fear him. As he looked upon Dies Irae, this glittering deity of steel and gold, he felt only sadness.

"We made you into this," he said quietly. "We created you. We scorned you. We turned you into this monster."

Dies Irae mounted his griffin. "Shift, brother. Turn into the dragon. Show us who the true monster is. You will die in the lizard's form."

Benedictus looked at Lacrimosa. She lay on the ground, still chained, blood trickling down her lip. The rain soaked her hair and tattered dress, and she gazed up at him with haunted eyes.

Benedictus looked back to Dies Irae. "She fights with me."

Dies Irae barked a laugh. "Are you trying to redeem yourself on this last night? Ten years ago, you would not let her fight. You hid her then while letting the other females of your kind perish. Very well; she too will die here at my griffin's talons. Men, free the lizard whore."

When they unchained her, Benedictus helped her to her feet, and held her, and kissed her brow, and told her of his love.

"I love you, Ben," she whispered back, eyes teary, the rain streaming through her hair, hair like molten moonlight. Her eyes were the most beautiful he'd ever seen. He kissed her lips and remembered kissing her in Requiem so long ago.

Dies Irae scoffed from atop his griffin. "You love the whore, do you?" he said.

Benedictus turned toward him, his rage finding him. He clenched his fists. "You will not call her that."

Dies Irae laughed. "But it's true, brother. That's what she is. Do you know that I broke her in for you? Yes, Benedictus. Eighteen years ago, before she married you. I took her in the forests, I placed Agnus Dei and Gloriae within her womb, I—"

"You will speak no such lies!" Benedictus shouted. He took a step toward Dies Irae, raising his fists.

Dies Irae only laughed again. "I speak the truth, brother. I raped your wife. Though to be honest, I think the whore enjoyed it. Yes, Benedictus. Agnus Dei and Gloriae are my daughters, not yours. If you do not believe me, look in the whore's eyes, and you'll see the truth."

Benedictus's head spun. His fingers trembled and his heart thrashed. He turned to look at Lacrimosa and saw tears in her eyes. Her body trembled.

It was true.

He wanted to howl. To kill. To destroy.

Instead, Benedictus embraced his wife.

"You should have told me," he whispered, tears filling his own eyes.

She shook her head and hugged him. "I could not."

"I love you, Lacrimosa, now and forever. We go now to our courts in the sky. We will be together there. Goodbye, daughter of Requiem."

He released her gently, then turned around, shifted into a dragon, and leaped at Dies Irae.