Crucible of Fate (16 page)

“Give them permission to speak,” Kabore muttered out of the side of his mouth.

“Oh.” I cleared my throat. “Please, everyone rise, and someone please tell me where I might find the semel.”

They all rose quickly, and I tried not to scowl. 

“My lord.” The man who had first spoken to me stepped closer. “I am Hanif Tarek, son of the semel, Hakkan Tarek. Welcome to Ipis.”

“Thank you. I need to speak to your semel at once.”

“Of course, he is at the fort, my lord. I will take you to him.”

“The fort?”

“Our home, my lord.”

“All right.”

“I’m sure he will be very pleased that you have come to mediate, my lord, and find a resolution for the newest of our many issues.”

I frowned. “Did my sekhem not inform you of the reason for first his visit and then mine?”

“He did, my lord, but my father will not hear that concern, but only that of the catacombs at Abtu.”

I was confused. He had to be at least twenty-one, what the hell was going on? Why wasn’t he the semel? Why had his father not stepped aside and begun mentoring his son?

“Why are you not the semel, Hanif Tarek?”

He cleared his throat. “My father’s as-yet-unborn son will be semel.”

I was missing something. “You are your father’s son, are you not?”

His eyes went to the ground.

“Hanif?”

Nothing.

“Look at me.”

He lifted his chin and met my eyes with his.

“Explain.”

“My father has taken a new yareah, and it is with her that he will bring forth the next semel.”

“Jin.”

He moved up beside me.

“I think I’m missing something,” I said and then tipped my head at Hanif. “Repeat what you just said.”

It was hard for him to meet Jin’s pale gaze. “My father has taken a new yareah, and so the son that he sires with her will be named the new semel of Feran.”

“No.” Jin shook his head. “Even though your mother has passed away, her—”

“She has not passed, my lord.”

Jin was startled and so was I. “Not passed? Your mother lives?”

“Yes.” He was really trying to keep his face a mask of civility.

“Then how in the world has your father claimed a new yareah?”

“He simply said that my mother was no longer yareah and pronounced his new consort as his new yareah.”

Jin shook his head. “He may take as many women to his bed as he pleases,” Jin said tightly. “But only the semel-aten can have a consort, or wosret, and only if she is a reah. Any semel who is not the semel-aten cannot have consorts. He may have whores, diversions, mistresses, whatever he would call them, but they cannot replace your mother as yareah, and he certainly can’t have any but his firstborn male child with his yareah be semel. Is he mad?”

Hanif swallowed hard. “Of course not.”

“Where is your father?” Jin was scowling.

“He is at our home, as I explained to the semel-aten. Also, the djehu of the peq, Ayaz Suyuti, and the djehu of the shen, Chanzira Adjo, are there with him.”

“So your father is counseling them?”

“No,” he said softly, “your sekhem, Yuri Kosa, who you so graciously sent ahead of you, is counseling them, my lord, and trying to help them reach a resolution.”

Yuri.

“He is safe and well?”

“He is, my lord,” he said oddly, haltingly, and I didn’t like it. “He is quite fit.”

I wasn’t imagining things—his smell changed when he said Yuri’s name.

When he widened his eyes suddenly in obvious fear, I had no idea why. “What?”

“You’re growling my lord,” Kabore said from my left. “Excuse me, but could you tell us, when the sekhem arrived, how many men did he have with him?”

“One.”

I felt the rumble start low in my chest.

“There was only one man?” I heard Jin almost gasp. “Are you certain?”

“Yes.” He glanced uncertainly at Jin, unsure of how to address him, as he had not been introduced. I could not introduce my party to anyone but the semel first; those were the rules of hospitality. “There were just two of them—Yuri, your sekhem, and the other,” he finished fast, and then blushed.

Yuri. My mate had allowed this man to use his first name.

I had the sudden urge to snap the neck of the beautiful young man in front of me. But jealousy was simply another test of faith, wasn’t it?

“As I said, he has been doing his very best to help the two djehus come to an amicable resolution, but he as of yet has been unsuccessful.”

“I see.”

“But he has been successful in keeping Garai Milar safe since his arrival.”

“Safe?” I prodded.

“Yes, my lord.”

“Safe from what?”

“Deoles, my father’s sheseru.”

“You lost me. Why would the son of another semel be in danger from your father’s sheseru?”

“Is that not the way of it, my lord? A sheseru punishes and makes the panthers of the tribe submit to him?”

“No.” I glanced sideways at him. “Is that why my sheseru, Taj Chalthoum, was not allowed within your father’s home?”

“Yes, my lord. Had you sent your sylvan, he would have been permitted.”

I was so confused. “Please take me to your father and explain to me on the way what the hell is going on.”

He shook his head. “My lord, I am not worthy to speak to—”

“Yes, you are,” I insisted. “So my sekhem, he allowed you to call him by his first name?”

“Oh, he was not given a choice, my lord. My father decides what rights everyone has once they are here in Ipis. He is the law here.”

“Is he?”

“Yes.”

“Meaning?” I prodded.

“Meaning that all the laws that you live by in the outside world, my lord, do not apply here in Ipis. Only what my father thinks and wants matter.”

“And why is that?”

“He is a divine vessel.”

“For who?”

“He is Ra reborn.”

“Is he?” I lifted an eyebrow, pivoting to face Jin.

“It’s a perversion of the law,” Jin announced, staring at the younger man.

“Unless you want to be reported to my father by his khatyu, I would suggest that you keep your voice down,” Hanif warned us.

“Why?”

“I have found that questioning my father or drawing his attention through beauty brings about the same result.”

“And what is that?” I inquired.

“His interest, my lord.”

My stomach was starting to twist into knots. “And Garai Milar, did your father take an interest in him?”

“Yes, my lord.”

It was painful to hear, and I had to draw a breath and calm down a second so I could go on without yelling. When my eyes met Hanif’s again, when I could, I saw how frightened he was. “Garai Milar was raped?”

“He was taken, yes, my lord,”

“Call it what you will. If he didn’t ask for it, it’s rape.”

He suddenly started shivering. “Please don’t kill my father, my lord. Swear you won’t, or I’ll raise the alarm and you will never get inside.”

I narrowed my eyes, staring the smaller man down. “I swear that
I
will not kill your father, Hanif Tarek.”

“Bless you, my lord.”

“But now tell me how my sekhem made Garai Milar safe.”

“He is his champion, my lord. He is, in fact, also the champion of my sister Masika and of my cousin Dalila.”

I inhaled deeply, willing myself to calm. “Yuri Kosa is the champion of three people?”

“Actually five, my lord,” he admitted. “The two djehus are also under his protection.”

“This is an outrage,” Jin quietly seethed from beside me. “I want to be in that fort now.”

“And you will,” I comforted my best friend’s mate under my breath even as I smiled over at Hanif, attempting to put him at ease. “So tell me, are all visitors to your father’s home his to do with as he sees fit?”

“Yes, of course, my lord. As I explained, my father is Ra’s vessel on Earth.”

“I see, and where is your sylvan?”

“He was cast into the fire for speaking out against my father.”

Kabore said something in Latin before crossing himself.

“So your father, he kills those who oppose him, as well.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“So my mate was given what choice?”

“To fight in the pit or submit.”

“Submit to your father?”

“No, my lord, my father does not take men like your mate to his bed. They must be beautiful, delicate.” He tipped his head at Jin. “Like your companion.”

I noticed how he bit his bottom lip. “Hanif?”

“You should take him back to where your vehicles are my lord. He’ll be safe there.”

“No.” I shook my head. “He’ll be fine. So the men that your father does not take to his bed, what is done?”

“He has Deoles Aran, his sheseru, take them on an altar that is brought into the main hall.”

I bristled. “So my mate, he could either fight in the pit or submit to this Deoles in front of a crowd?”

“Yes.” He beamed at me, like we were having the most normal conversation ever. “It is sport for my father to watch Deoles take big strong men like your mate.”

“And when my mate refused?”

“I thought it a frightening choice, my lord, but your mate is extraordinary and though Deoles is bigger, he is not stronger.”

I gritted my teeth because it was imperative I stay calm.

“And then when he won and my father’s eye fell on my sister… your mate selflessly said that he would champion her and so went again into the pit.”

“How many times in one day does he fight?”

“He fights five matches per day, my lord.”

Hanif trailed off, and I felt a wave of anger sweep over me. It wasn’t mine; it was Jin’s. The thing about me was, I cared about Yuri, but as long as he wasn’t hurt, this semel could do whatever he wanted with his own family, his own tribe. But Jin… reahs weren’t made that way. Preying on the weak was bound to pull righteous anger from the reah, which would, in turn, ignite rage in the nekhene.

“Would you father defile your sister himself?”

“It is not defiling, my lord, it—”

“Would he do it himself?” I repeated, willing my voice to remain level.

“No, my lord,” he acknowledged. “He would watch Deoles take her.”

It was as though a hot wind skimmed over my skin, prickling like tiny pins, and I realized everything I thought was crap. I shivered with my need to protect and shelter and save. I had to close my eyes for a second, let the surging feelings roll through me so I could hold it together and not scream. The change I hadn’t noticed, had told everyone wasn’t me, had nevertheless taken hold. I didn’t just want to rescue Yuri; I wouldn’t be content to liberate just him and Garai Milar. I wanted to free them all.

“May I ask a question?” Jin requested sweetly.

“Of course,” Hanif said, and I could tell that Jin had him completely charmed.

“Is the semel-aten’s mate fighting in the pit in panther form?”

“No, my father’s new yareah likes to see men sweat while they fight, and so they fight in human form in the pit.”

“That is not permitted by law,” Kabore informed the younger man.

“Yes, I know,” he agreed. And I realized then how timid he was, that the curve of his mouth was a reflexive action done out of nervousness. “But that is how we do things in Ipis, in the tribe of Feran.”

“Okay.” I cleared my throat. “My sekhem, he had a phone with him. We tried from Sobek but were unsuccessful in our attempts to reach him on it. Was it removed by your semel?”

“Yes, my lord.”

“His private property was removed?”

“As I said, yes, my lord.”

“All right, well then, please lead us to your fort, Hanif Tarek.”

“Of course,” he said, but he didn’t move.

My eyes narrowed.

“Just as you do at home, my lord,” Jin said, his voice purposely high, “you must lead. No one moves unless you do.”

But I had a question for Hanif. “Your father seems to have no use for propriety and observance of the law, so why do you practice it, along with those with you here, your tribe members and your khatyu?”

“The people that you see before you now are all members of the shen faction, my lord. Their djehu, Chanzira Adjo, is a strict believer in the law. Also, the djehu of the peq, Ayaz Suyuti, he also would show you great deference were you to take a tour of any of the farms outside of town or higher in the hills. The djehus both agree on the law, and this is, I believe, another reason why my father has been unable to have them both sit down together and come to a resolution on the catacombs of Abtu.”

“They don’t respect him,” Jin said.

“No, they do not. They see him as an abomination and complained many times to your predecessor, my lord.”

“But Ammon El Masry never responded?”

“No, my lord, he felt it was something my father should deal with.”

“Even though it was your father that they were complaining about,” I said, disgusted.

“Yes, my lord.”

“Okay.” I suppressed the urge to snarl. “Lead us. I’ll follow you.”

“You seem upset, my lord.”

“It’s fine. Please escort us to your home,” I said shakily.

“Yes, my lord,” he said, big limpid brown eyes locked on my face.

“Now,” I said sharply when there was no movement.

“Greet the people,” Kabore coaxed softly.

Twisting around, I lifted my arms, and everyone went down to their knees. “Thank you, tribe of Feran, for the warm welcome into your city. I am honored to be visiting with all of you here.” The applause and cheering was instant.

Hanif gestured me forward. “Come, my lord.”

We were followed, everyone walking with us, children bringing me flowers, people waving from the shops that lined the route, and young girls strewing petals onto the path.

“My lord, we are so honored to—” Hanif began.

“Tell me about the catacombs of Abtu,” I ordered the son of the semel.

He was startled. “Oh, yes, well, the caverns, of course, are here right above Ipis in those hills you see there. The entrance is about 2.4 kilometers away and—”

“I believe my lord would prefer to know why the land is being contested,” Kabore advised the younger man.

“Oh, of course.” Hanif cleared his throat. “The title of the land was granted to the family of Ayaz Suyuti back in the time of the Crusades, which was when the fort that we call our home was built.”