Crucible of Fate (10 page)

“Now he is here with a champion to challenge Crane in the pit for his place of maahes. His tribe is the smallest of all, but it is the only one I know of that is not based in a town or region but more as a syndicate. Members of the tribe of Wepwawet live in every country of the world and work as operatives, nothing more.”

The fact of the matter was that he was not a true semel, not a leader, but the head of a crime family. His was a conglomerate; it was not a tribe, not a family in any sense. They didn’t hunt together or ever gather. They swore allegiance to a warlord, not a king who would protect them, lead them, guide and nurture them. I was right—he was a thug.

“My lord,” Kabore almost pleaded. “You must take this challenge seriously. Why would a man like Rahab Bahur align himself with Elham El Masry? Why does he want to claim Ebere for his new friend? By killing Crane Adams, what does the man gain?”

“Access to me,” I confirmed. “Obviously your crime lord wants Elham to first be maahes, and then semel-aten.”

“Yes,” Jamal agreed. “That’s exactly what he wants.”

“At least we know now.” I shrugged.

Kabore grilled me. “And you’re not afraid of this?”

“Have you met Rahab’s man? Do you think he can beat Crane’s?”

“I don’t know. I have yet to meet Crane’s man,” he said. “Have you met his champion?”

“I have not, and when I ask, he only asserts that he has everything under control. Perhaps I should go talk to him now.”

“I don’t know how you will accomplish this, as he has gone to Cairo,” Jamal quipped.

“Cairo? What for?”

He exhaled sharply, obviously irritable. “Your guess is as good as mine.”

“Is Rahab in the villa with Elham now?”

“No, but his arrival is imminent, as well as the men he brings with him, his sylvan and sheseru,” Kabore replied.

I let out a deep breath, suddenly tired. “We better go welcome them, then.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“I must caution you to be very careful in your dealings with—”

“I will be.”

“My lord,” Jamal interrupted. “You must understand that these are two very powerful men who—”

“I think I understand about power.” I insisted.

He was quiet for a moment, apparently realizing what he’d said, before he bowed deeply.

S
ILENCE
never failed me. When Elham El Masry stood in front of me with Rahab Bahur on his left, I waited.

“We announce our challenge of your maahes,” Elham said to me, Mikhail, Taj, Jamal, and Kabore. He was talking about Crane, who was glaringly absent. “And call for it at midday tomorrow.”

I waited.

They were silent.

My eyebrow arched slowly. “Is there more?”

Elham glowered. “I would think that would be enough.”

I cleared my throat. “My maahes, Crane Adams, accepts your challenge and will meet your champion in the forum at—”

“We will need the main coliseum, my lord, as riding is a requirement.”

I had no idea what that meant. “Of course,” I said, and I motioned for Taj. “Please see these men to their quarters and place members of the Shu on their balconies and doors.”

Rahab cackled. “I had heard that you had acquired the Shu from the priest. When Elham is semel-aten, we will restore those men to Asdiel Kovo.”

And there it was, out on the table.

“You wish Elham El Masry to be semel-aten?”

“I do,” he professed before Elham could grab his arm and stop him. “You’re an infidel and your reign is sacrilege. You are kadish and you make a mockery of all of us.”

I took a moment to let that sink in, to let it fill the space around us, be absorbed by my contingent and his, so no one could ever claim he hadn’t uttered his treasonous words.

“Did you hear me?”

“I did,” I said, meeting his eyes. “And for those words, when Elham’s champion is defeated, I will send you into exile and make your heir semel.”

Rahab scoffed, obviously very sure of Elham’s champion. “You do that, semel-aten.”

I shrugged, letting him see I wasn’t worried before I flicked my gaze to Elham. “As for you, when Crane’s man defeats yours, you will renounce all claim to my mastaba, and Ebere and her children will never see or hear from you again.”

His anger exploded out of him. “I’m her brother-in-law and an uncle to those—”

“The children are mine,” I roared back. “They are claimed by me, acknowledged by me, and are as much mine as they were their father’s. I—”

“They are Ammon’s, you son of a whore! You would not even know what to do in a woman’s bed! You’re a sodomite and—”

“Silence!” Mikhail hissed. “This is the semel-aten you speak to so freely. He could have you—”

“Your words seal your fate,” I interrupted, taking a step forward. “Tomorrow, when the champion of my maahes takes the field and wins, both of your lives are forfeit along with your man.”

“And when my man wins,” Elham crowed, “am I allowed to claim yours, my lord?”

He was really so sure of himself. “If you win and become maahes,” I said with a cold smirk, “then surely my days are numbered, are they not?”

I saw his hatred gleaming in his dark eyes. “Indeed they are, my lord.”

A
FTER
midnight, closer to one, I myself commanded a flurry of activity in Ebere’s chambers.

The lady herself was irritated with me. “What will this accomplish?” Maids flew around us, packing her up quickly, readying her for imminent departure. “If Crane loses, I will belong to Elham regardless of where I am. I prefer to meet my fate at your side.”

“Fuck no,” I growled. “You go back to Cairo, you get your girls, and if Crane loses, Kabore will call you and you get on a plane and you go to Logan. He’ll protect you.”

“Yes, but—”

“No
but
. There are laws and then there’s Logan. He does what’s right, and he and his mate will protect you and your girls from Elham El Masry.”

“But, Domin—”

“Let’s face it; no one wants to tangle with the nekhene cat. Period.”

“You’ll get no argument there,” she teased me.

I rushed forward, grabbed her tight, wrapped her in my arms, and squeezed until she caught her breath. “Just do what I say, my mastaba.”

She coiled her arms around my neck and buried her face in my shoulder. “You have shown me more respect and love as your mastaba than I was ever afforded as yareah. I am so proud to belong to you, Domin Thorne.”

“When I claimed you, I was doing it to protect myself from having to take a female mate to reproduce, but now I would do it again even if you had no children. I sort of like you.”

“I sort of like you too.”

I bent my head and kissed her cheek. “Please go and do what I’m telling you.”

“I will.”

“Okay,” I sighed, but I didn’t let her go and she didn’t pull away.

I lost track of how long we stood there.

Chapter 5

I
DIDN
’
T
sleep at all. Everything hung on a challenge I had no control over.

Crane was nowhere to be found, and no one could report having seen him. His rooms were empty, his bed was not slept in, and I could not reach him by phone. I didn’t think I could be any more worried until Kabore came to see me in my private suite on the second floor, in one of the smaller sitting rooms.

“Where is Lilitha?” I asked, because in the morning I normally saw the same serving woman. She always brought me my tea.

He was nervous and his coloring was off. “I’m sorry, my lord, but she’s dead.”

Crossing my arms, I stared into his eyes. “Why?”

“This morning I observed her putting honey in your morning tea.”

I squinted at him. “But I don’t like honey.”

“As I am well aware, my lord.” He sounded sad. “It is only goat’s milk that you like, and only ever at night.”

“Yes,” I agreed with him.

“So you understand my concern when I saw her adding it.”

“And?” I pried, even though I understood the outcome already.

“And so I confronted her, and when she tried to tell me that she had simply made a mistake, I had her drink the tea for me,” Kabore rasped, his eyes searching mine. “She apologized, insisted that she liked you, but that, really, Elham El Masry was the one and only true ruler of Sobek.”

“Sure.”

“It was quick and painless,” he asserted gently. “She was gone in seconds. It would have been the same for you. She didn’t want you to suffer.”

I took a breath, walked across the space to the edge of the roof, and there gazed out over the balcony. It hurt to learn of her betrayal, but it was also terrifying. My first thought was: what if Yuri had been home? My second was: what if Kabore were not so vigilant and the tea had come through to my chamber? Yuri actually took honey in his tea. He could have been…. For a moment I could barely breathe.

“My lord?”

I had liked Lilitha. Her sweet face, her laugh, and the way she made sure that if there were pomegranates in the kitchen, one was always set aside for me. She had cared, or so I thought. Apparently I was a terrible judge of character.  

It took me a moment to pull myself together.

“Thank you for saving my life,” I finally said, not ready to look at him. “It seems that every day I understand why you were first Ammon El Masry’s steward and now mine.”

“Pardon, my lord, but I was not Ammon’s steward.”

This was news. I glanced at him over my shoulder.

“I came to this household with Ebere from Cairo. I was merely one of many, and when she went back home, I stayed on.”

“I didn’t know that,” I said.

“So when you came, they all inquired who wanted to run the house of the infidel, and I said that I, Kabore Nour… I would. I think it was fate.”

I frowned slightly.

“As I am of Ebere’s household, from the tribe of Khepri, and not from the tribe of Rahotep, there would never be another semel whose trust I could gain.”

It made sense.

“But you, the maverick semel from America—”

“Maverick?” I teased him.

“It’s true, my lord,” he said, gesturing at me. “You are a sin, are you not?”

“I’m a sin?” That was new.

“You are impure, you are not of the first tribe, and they say your reign is heretical, but I think not.”

“Oh no?”

“You seem to me like a man who has been through a test of faith, but your fate was to be semel-aten. How else could you be here?”

There was a valid argument to be made.

“You came from around the world, you killed Ammon El Masry in Mongolia, a place—I would lay you odds—that he never saw himself being. So many paths had to intersect to bring you to the place you had to be to take his life. I find it all fascinating, but for me, when the question was posed, I answered.”

“I’m glad.”

“I am quite proud to be your steward, my lord.”

“Thank you.”

“And I will stand with you and the others until things change.”

We stared at each other for long moments.

“Didn’t you ever want your own life, your own family?”

“Not all men are meant to be mated, my lord, and some, like yourself, sire no children, but that is service in some of its many forms, is it not?”

It was.

“I am here to serve you, my lord, and your sekhem.”

I had to ask. “And you see no abomination in my mate being another man?”

“Who am I to question the workings of fate, my lord?”

Indeed. “Thank you for saving my life.” It bore repeating.

“Thank you for making it easy,” he said hoarsely. “If you actually liked honey in your tea, things would all be quite different at this moment.”

“Perhaps you are my guardian.”

“Perhaps.”

As I related the story to Jamal in the throne room half an hour later, I puffed out some air. “It seems that I can trust no one but those in my closest circle.”

“No, my lord, you can trust me,” he said firmly. “I, too, like Kabore, can be trusted. I am your man.”

But how could I take his word?

Jamal seemed pained. “I have news, and it is not good.”

I twisted around against the stone edge of the patio off to one side of my room. “How? What’s worse than hearing that the woman in charge of bringing me my meals just tried to kill me?”

“Shahid Alon is Elham El Masry’s champion.”

The former second in command of the Shu. The man who had resigned his position instead of choosing to protect me, he was the one going up against Crane’s champion. It took a minute for that to sink in. “So that’s where he went when you all swore allegiance to me.”

“Yes. I told you he had resigned his position, but I had no idea where he went.”

“Why would you? He was no longer your concern.”

“I simply want there to be no misunderstanding between us. I had no correspondence from him, and so was not aware that he had sworn his life and loyalty to Elham.”

“I know,” I said softly. “Had you known, you would have alerted me.”

“Yes, I would have.”

“I didn’t know that Elham could bind men to him, as he is not a semel.”

“Even though he has no tribe of his own, he is, in fact, a member of your tribe, the tribe of Rahotep. He can still bond men to him as he is the heir to the semel.”