Chapter 10 Eluheed
ELUHEED
Eluheed was fascinated by Okidu. He now knew that the butler was not a creation but a machine built to resemble a human, but he would never have guessed it if he hadn't been told. The man looked so real.
It was remarkable.
Syssi smiled knowingly. "Okidu is an excellent cook."
"Everything looks and smells incredible," Tamira said. "And given that we were pampered by excellent chefs in the harem, I consider myself somewhat of an authority."
Eluheed nodded. "Every meal was served like in a palace. Not that I would know since I've never visited one, but it was all very fancy."
Compared to the dining room on the island, Kian's was modest and so was the food presentation, but the harem had been a gilded cage, while this was freedom, and therefore everything tasted better.
They served themselves family-style, passing dishes around the table, and Kian poured wine into everyone's glasses while Syssi encouraged them to try everything.
"Teletubbies," Allegra demanded, refusing to eat.
Syssi turned to Okidu. "Can you please take her to the family room? She's already eaten."
"Of course, mistress." Okidu bowed. "I shall take Mistress Allegra to watch her show."
"Thank you," Syssi said.
"Bye-bye!" Allegra waved enthusiastically as the butler took her out of her highchair.
A chorus of goodbyes followed her out, and Eluheed felt the shift in the atmosphere. It was adult time now, and he needed to decide whether he trusted Syssi with his secrets.
His gut said that he could, and not just because she seemed genuinely kind.
There was something about her that inspired trust, but he couldn't put his finger on what it was.
It was like he was in the presence of a head shaman, even though she bore absolutely no resemblance to Saphir Fatewever, the head shaman of Eluheed's time, not in appearance and not in personality.
It was the sense of otherness, of that something extra that Saphir had.
"You are probably eager to speak with Syssi," Kian said. "But before you present your case to her, I need to ask you about the visions you provided for Navuh."
Eluheed was taken by surprise because Kian hadn't asked him about that when they'd talked on Tuesday. "What would you like to know?"
"Where Khiann is buried."
That came out of the blue. Eluheed remembered the name from what Tamira had told him about Annani and what had led to the demise of the gods, but there was no reason for Kian to think that he had seen where Khiann was buried in visions that he'd presented to Navuh.
Those had been aimed at identifying possible traitors, not reminiscing about ancient history.
"I don't understand."
Syssi leaned forward. "Perhaps Eluheed needs some context first. Some of the history of Annani and Khiann."
"I know some of it," Tamira said. "And I told Eluheed about their great love story.
I never met Khiann because I was in Mortdh's stronghold up north when Annani chose him for her mate, but we got the rumors even there.
" She chuckled. "We weren't supposed to know, of course, but it was impossible to keep a juicy rumor like that contained.
Besides, Mortdh couldn't help himself and started raging about Annani's betrayal. "
Kian leaned back in his chair. "What did he say?"
Tamira looked uncomfortable, and rightly so. Eluheed could only imagine the profanities the angry god had spat out.
"The humiliation of it consumed him," Tamira said.
"He wanted to kill Khiann just to make Annani suffer.
He didn't care about the minor god himself, and he didn't blame him for what Annani did.
He considered Khiann a clueless youth who had been manipulated by Annani so she could get out of the engagement. Mortdh just wanted revenge."
Eluheed had heard parts of this story and knew that the gods' demise was the result of the young heiress to the gods' throne choosing love over duty and starting a war, but he hadn't known the details.
Could Mortdh have been right?
Had Annani just used Khiann to break the engagement?
Perhaps he hadn't been her truelove mate?
That would explain how she had been able to keep on going after his death. According to the gods and immortals' lore, the bond between truelove mates transcended death, and when one died, the other usually followed, ending his or her own life.
"Annani had to do it," Syssi said. "It was a political marriage arranged by her father when she was an infant, a way to appease an ambitious god who had managed to accumulate too much power.
What Ahn didn't take into account was that after he stepped down, Mortdh intended to kill Annani so he could be the sole ruler over the gods. "
"Did he say that?" Eluheed asked Tamira.
"Of course not. Annani was the beloved heir, and the gods never would have followed her murderer. He would have arranged an accident or an ambush and claimed innocence."
Kian nodded. "Exactly what he planned to do to Khiann.
The only reason he didn't was that the earthquake beat him to it, and the only one who knew that was Navuh.
Everyone else believed that Mortdh had killed Khiann, and there were even witnesses who testified to seeing Mortdh behead him in the desert. "
"Annani herself believed that story until recently.
But then Wonder was found and told us the story of how her caravan had fallen into a chasm caused by the massive earthquake.
She spent five thousand years in stasis and was awakened by a lucky coincidence.
Clean water is all that is needed to revive someone from stasis, and a pipe burst near where she was buried. "
"That was the first seed of doubt that got my mother thinking," Kian continued.
"Other clues followed, and she started suspecting that the witnesses had been compelled by her father to provide false testimony to incriminate Mortdh.
It was a convenient way to get rid of a troublesome adversary.
She had no proof, though, not until Navuh was caught and offered her Khiann's location in exchange for his freedom. "
"Do you think he really knows?" Eluheed asked.
"I'm not sure." Kian reached for his glass of wine and took a sip.
"Navuh is a master manipulator. My mother shared her suspicions with Areana, and he could have heard it from her.
Areana claims that she didn't tell him, but I don't know if I believe her.
" He leveled his gaze at Eluheed. "You've gotten to peek into Navuh's mind.
Have you seen anything that might indicate he knew Khiann's location? "
Eluheed let his mind drift back to the visions that had flooded through him when he touched the lord.
"I predicted the rebellion, but what I saw was fire and destruction.
He also wanted me to predict betrayals and see the future of the enhancement program.
" Eluheed shivered. "I hated touching those enhanced soldiers.
Their collective mind was so strong that I could barely keep my barriers up.
I was afraid that they would suck me in and make me part of them.
They suspected that I was different, and I knew that I was living on borrowed time.
That's why I was so desperate to escape. "
"How are you different?" Syssi asked.
Not sure how to respond, he shifted his gaze to Kian.
"Eluheed will explain shortly," Kian said. "But first, we need to thoroughly examine what he knows regarding Navuh's claim."
Syssi nodded. "So, was there anything about Khiann in those visions? Any interesting events from Navuh's past?"
Eluheed shook his head. "I'm sorry. There was nothing like that in what I saw. The visions focused on Navuh's future and the people who were currently around him."
"Could you have missed something?" Syssi asked gently. "Visions can be unclear, symbolic. Perhaps something you saw could be reinterpreted?"
"Perhaps." Eluheed tried again, sifting through the memories of those glimpses.
"My ability is limited. When I touch someone, I might see their near future.
Mostly it's personal things like marriage, pregnancy, or conversely a betrayal.
Naturally, Navuh was mostly interested in the latter.
" Eluheed smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry that I can't be more helpful. I wish I had seen something useful."
"It's not your fault." Kian managed a wan smile. "We were hoping for a shortcut, that's all. We'll find another way."
"Could you touch Navuh again?" Tamira asked. "Try to look for something specific?"
Eluheed considered it. "I could try, but as I said, my gift is limited, and Navuh has a very strong mind. He knows how to protect it from invasion."
"We could drug him," Kian said. "That would lower his protective barriers. And now that Khiann is on his mind, he might think about his location."
Hope swelled in Eluheed's chest. What Kian was suggesting might work, and if he helped the Clan Mother find her beloved without having to release her archenemy, she might be sufficiently grateful to allocate significant resources to Eluheed's cause.
"I'm more than willing to try," he said.
"I have a question," Tamira said. "About the witnesses who testified to seeing Mortdh kill Khiann. How could Ahn do that to Annani? Supposedly, he loved her. How could he have hidden from her that her truelove mate was not dead but in stasis?"
"Ahn was ruthless." Kian put his wine glass down.
"He could have reasoned that a few weeks of his daughter's emotional suffering was a worthwhile sacrifice to be rid of Mortdh, and then he died before he could tell her the truth.
The problem with this theory is that once Ahn revealed the truth and Khiann was resurrected, the gods would have demanded Mortdh's release from entombment, and he would have been resurrected as well because he hadn't committed murder. "
"Unless he didn't plan to ever tell her," Tamira said quietly.
"The rumor was that Ahn wasn't happy with his daughter choosing a merchant's son as her husband, but since Annani and Khiann claimed to be truelove mates, he couldn't object to their union any more than Mortdh could.
It would have offended the Fates. It's possible that he regarded the situation as a double win, getting rid of an opponent and an undesirable son-in-law in one fell swoop. "
Kian's jaw tightened, and his eyes hardened. "From everything I've heard about my grandfather, I wouldn't put that past him. Just don't mention this to my mother. She would be devastated."
"Of course." Tamira dipped her head. "It's also possible that I'm wrong. We are all guessing. Navuh seems to be the only one who knows what really happened, but the price he's demanding for the information is too steep."
"He might be lying." Kian reached for a new wine bottle, uncorked it, and refilled everyone's glasses. "Although I'm starting to think that he really knows where Khiann is."
"I also think he's telling the truth." Eluheed lifted the glass that Kian had just filled.
"If Mortdh set out to kill Khiann but failed to do so because he was too late to the scene, the only one he could have told was Navuh.
And if he saw remnants of the caravan, he could have also disclosed the location to his son. "
Kian nodded. "I'll take you to him. Let's hope that you can see something that will help us find Khiann.
There is nothing in this world that my mother wants more, but giving Navuh what he wants is out of the question.
Even if I agree, she won't go through with it because she won't be able to live with the guilt.
As it is, she blames herself for the demise of the gods. "
Eluheed was well familiar with guilt. He was drowning in it even though he hadn't been responsible for his people's fall. He was only responsible for their chance of having a future, and he had failed to safeguard it.
Syssi took a sip of her wine and put the glass down with a determined expression on her face, "Since this is all we can do for now in regard to Khiann, let's shift gears to your request, Eluheed. You wanted to discuss something with me."
Eluheed took a deep breath. This was it. The moment of trust, the leap of faith. Syssi had opened her home to him and treated him with kindness and respect. His gut was telling him that he could trust her just as much as he trusted her husband.
Besides, what choice did he have?
She was a powerful seer, and he needed all the help he could get.