The Wings of Ashtaroth

Chapter 20: Conquerors: Section V: Iridescia

It was different for him.

Pity welled up in her as she watched her brother sitting bold on his new throne. Those two bodies chained to stools had killed Liberio once, though Liberio didn't know it. Perhaps Hadrianus hadn't known either. Perhaps all Hadrianus had understood was that he'd murdered his child's love for him the day he'd left him to rot beneath the sun.

Iridescia shivered, picturing herself lying in darkness, her body coated in honey and sweet milk, bobbing in the water as she listened blindly to the buzz of death approaching. What dread had Liberio felt listening to the hum of the insects? What darkness had he known?

"The Children's Court rules in Ipsis now!" Liberio announced at last. "In all of Indas!"

There'd been no room in Liberio's court for Miqipsi, but for men with swords, there was always a place.

Iridescia clenched her hands.

"They can rise, can't they, Iridescia?" Liberio stared at her.

Iridescia hadn't expected to be asked. She nodded hastily.

Sardo and Azaelian's sand-sprayed armour clinked as they stood. Sardo was an old man with grey hair and pale blue eyes in a handsome face. Scars patchworked his skin, but they only made him look tougher. Azaelian One-Eye was ugly as ever—his walleye staring ever right, and his pockmarked skin prickling all the way back across his scalp to his receding hairline. What remained of his hair stuck out in all directions, like tongues of wild red fire. Azaelian was scarier than Sardo on the outside, but Liberio had always spoken of him kindly.

Azaelian shifted his attention between the three of them. With his walleye, it was hard to judge his mood. "And to which people does this children's court swear allegiance? This is Lora country. It has been for years."

Liberio inclined his head. "We've gone one better than Lorar ever did. Barely a soul remains of the Inda nobility. The stain left by Qorelibas has been washed clean. Only Deghashi is left."

That was a lie, not that Liberio knew it. From Iridescia's visions, she'd learned enough to suspect Qorelibas or one of his sons had been her grandfather. Iridescia's mother and Deghashi seemed to share the same affliction, for one thing.

"So, it is Lorar we serve?" asked Sardo. He crossed his arms as though assessing his boy king. "Our men would like to know. They talk of shadows and witchcraft. Of a sorcerer king." He glanced at Iridescia. "Or queen."

The Butcher of Lera. That's what Aeornus Sardo was called. He'd massacred the people in Indas's second largest city with a brutality unheard of. Or so people whispered.

Iridescia curled back in her seat. Having Sardo look at her felt like having a knife pressed to her throat. An awful lot of Inda women and men had gazed into those blue eyes as they died.

Azaelian One-Eye grunted, then spit to the side, as though to ward off even the mention of sinister magic, and Sardo blessedly looked away from Iridescia.

"You swore to me, both of you, that if I could take down my father, you would follow me." Liberio hesitated. "With respect, we are the Children's Court. We serve no one but ourselves. Azaelian—I've known you all my life. Lorar's canals run in your veins. That connection is thicker than blood, but you both saw how corrupt my father had become. Marianus Rufus is no different. He appears strong, but he's just like my father—a weak man who wastes the lives of those stronger than him. Under men like them, our country's turned as rotten as this body beside me." Liberio cleared his throat, straightening in his chair, his voice booming louder and more confidently. "So many of your soldiers have made a home in Indas, though the word has been denied them. I won't deny you words, and I won't deny you the fruits of your hard work. I won't threaten you with torture or murder those who follow the gods of their people. You marched east to claim Qemassen for my father, but I would have you march east for yourselves. There is no kingdom called Indas, no province of the Lora empire. There is only this room, these people, ourselves. Fight for me and I will give you the Lorar that was lost. Together, we will take all that has been denied us, as I have taken vengeance on my father."