29 #2
The king laughed. He was giddy with his power, with the anticipation of what would soon be his.
He looked at Mirana, then grabbed her, pulling her onto his lap.
His hands found her breasts and began to knead them furiously.
His mouth found hers, and again, it pleased him that she was quiescent.
In truth, she wanted to kill him, but she knew she had to bide her time.
She had to wait until they were alone. Then she would act.
What she would do, she as yet had no idea.
But it would be something. She wouldna??t lie under this old fool like a lump, whimpering away her courage. She would kill him if she had to.
a??Sire, you must drink.a??
Hormuze sounded to Miranaa??s ear to be impatient, nearly angry, but that was surely odd. She waited until the king was finished with her. She gave him a scared look that pleased him, she could see that it did, for he looked as proud as a new father.
He set her back into her chair. His hand skimmed over her breasts to her belly.
She drew back, but he said, a??Nay, stay still.a?? He massaged her belly through her gown, then lowered his hand to cup over her.
She wanted to scream at him, she wanted to fling herself at him, for she was the stronger, she knew it, and she could kill him with her own hands, but she held herself perfectly still.
Not yet, not yet. Then the king raised the goblet and lifted it to her and then to Hormuze.
a??My old friend, all will continue. Your rewards will exceed your dreams.a??
a??I pray it will be so, sire. Indeed, I am certain that it will be so.a??
He drank deep, his throat working, the flaccid skin folding and pleating with each swallow. When he finished the potion, he wiped his hand across his mouth and slammed the goblet onto the table.
a??You said you had to prepare her, Hormuze. Do it now, for I do not wish to wait longer.a??
He turned to Mirana. a??Go with him, my beautiful child. He will tell you what you will do. I wish you to wear the white gown, for it is pure, like you. Pure like you will render me. Hormuze, the gown is beyond, lying on the pillows. I put it there myself, just as you told me to.a??
Hormuze merely nodded. He stretched out his hand to Mirana. She looked at that hand, looked closely. There was an odd sort of smear all across the back of his right hand. He followed the line of her vision. He jerked back his hand, but said nothing.
a??Come,a?? he said, his left hand still there, waiting for her to take.
a??Hurry,a?? the king said. a??Hurry.a??
Mirana didna??t touch him. She rose quickly, and looked up. Hormuze was frowning at her. She quickly dropped her gaze. She followed him through a doorway hung with silk draperies. She stopped dead in her tracks.
The small chamber was like nothing shea??d ever seen in her life, or imagined.
All the walls were lined with red silk. The floor was covered with thick wool carpets, all patterned with deep reds and blues and creams. And there were thick soft pillows upon which to recline, all of vibrant colors.
Upon which she would recline with the king, who believed he was her husband, but he wasna??t.
Hormuze picked up the white gown and handed it to her. a??Take off your clothes and put this on,a?? he said.
She stared at him, then at the sheer white silk gown. a??I will but you must leave.a??
He smiled, and not an old mana??s sour smile. No, there was a flair of triumph in his black eyes.
a??I wona??t look at you, but I wona??t leave,a?? he said. He sat down on one of the thick pillows. His motion was graceful and quick.
Mirana picked up the white gown and stepped as far away from him as she could.
a??While you change, I will tell you what will happen,a?? he said. Did his voice sound somehow deeper? She shook her head and quickly stripped off her clothes. The silk slithered over her head and down her body. It felt obscene against her cold flesh.
He turned and fell silent staring at her. a??Loosen your hair,a?? he said.
She unbraided the thick coils and smoothed her fingers through her hair, but the deep ripples remained.
a??Aye,a?? he said. a??Just a bit of kohl at your eyes and you will look just like her. She was as soft and gentle as a summer rain that dampened the earth of the Lufta Valley. She gave me all I ever wanted.a??
a??What are you talking about?a??
He rose gracefully to his feet. She knew then as sure as she knew herself. This was no old man who faced her, triumph gleaming in his black eyes.
a??The king expects me to instruct you, to teach you how to arouse his old manhood, but I wona??t. He will never touch you, I swear it.a??
Suddenly there was a loud crash from the outer chamber.
a??It is about time,a?? Hormuze said, not moving. a??He took long enough.a??
But then the silk hanging was ripped aside. The king stood there, weaving on his feet, his face red as blood, his eyes covered with an opaque white film, his throat working wildly for he couldna??t breathe. a??You,a?? he said, staring toward Hormuze.
a??Aye, sire,a?? Hormuze said. a??You are still standing. I gave you enough poison to send you on your way in but a moment. You have more strength than I thought you would. The years bred a strong will in you.a??
The king hovered between death and bafflement, and he knew it. a??I trusted you. I took you in, listened to you, and made you powerful. Why do you kill me?a??
a??Kill you, sire? Ah, surely not. On the morrow, all will occur just as I told you it would, just as you told all your warriors it would. You will indeed appear before all your men, transformed into a young man as you once were. Behold yourself, sire.a??
Hormuze pulled off his beard, ripped open his tunic and unstrapped the padding from his waist. He stripped off all his clothes, then he rubbed at the cosmetics on his face.
Then he smiled, a beautiful smile, a foreign smile, for he had the look of a man not of the north. Ah, but he was a beautiful man. Lean, his body whipcord strong, his muscles strong within his mana??s prime.
a??I resemble the man you once were, do I not?
At least that is what I was told before I came to you, and when I came, sire, I knew even then what I would do, for I had seen her.
She was very young, only fifteen as I recall, and she didna??t see me.
And I knew then what must be. Aye, look upon my mana??s body, young and vigorous, aye, sire, and I will breed sons off her, sons who will rule Ireland and beyond and into the future, just as I told you.
Aye, look at me, for soon you will be dead.
Since I was never a spoiled little princeling as you were, granted all I wanted with no restraint, no rules, I have no fat on my body, no arrogant moods to make those about me fear me, no belief in how I am more clever than any other man in the land.
But I do look enough like you, sire. On the morrow, all will cheer and all will bless Hormuze, the advisor, truly a wizard, who, once he had accomplished your rebirth, he disappeared, perhaps to reappear again in the centuries to come in some other strange land where he will once again work his wondrous magic.a??
Sitric stared at him, at the young man who stood naked and proud before him.
a??I will kill you,a?? he said, a??I will whip you until you are naught but bone and blood at my feet.a?? He worked his mouth, but there were no more words and no more breath.
He fell to the floor, his hands clutching his neck, then his arms were falling away, curling at his sides.
Hormuze walked to him and knelt down. a??He is dead. By all the gods, the old fool is finally dead.a??
He rose and turned to Mirana. a??I know this shocks you. I know you dona??t as yet understand. Trust me, that is all I ask. You are pale and afraid, for all this is strange. I am sorry, I had hoped he would die silently, in the other chamber, alone, without you to see him.a??
Mirana looked at Hormuze and said calmly, a??I am pale, it is true, but I am not frightened.
The king is dead, not I. You have played a drama before me and now I understand some of it.
But I ask you, Hormuze, why did you select me of all women?
You say you saw me when I was very young and began your plans. Why me?a??
He smiled at her, and the smile was filled with longing, soft and sweet, but it wasna??t a smile that belonged to her, that belonged with her, in this chamber. It was a smile of long ago.
He said simply, a??Because you are the image of my dead wife.
Her name was Naphta and she served a great lady of our country.
Aye, I speak of Egypta??a?? He said a word whose sound was utterly foreign to her ears.
a??She died because this lady was jealous of her, hated her because her lord husband wanted Naphta.
She was sly, very sly. She stuck a huza knifea??a??tis a very small pointed bladea??into the base of Naphtaa??s neck, beneath her thick black hair, knowing no one would discover it.
But I did. When I had my beautiful wife in my arms, I examined her and found the small prick and felt the stiff strands of bloody hair.
Aye, the lady killed her, just as she had killed others who surpassed her in beauty.
She killed my beautiful Naphta. I let it be known that I knew what she had done, even spoke of how shea??d done it.
I knew then that she would kill me too. I escaped just before her assassins came to kill me and my small daughter, Eze.
I came here to the north to seek my fortune. And I found it.a??
Mirana just stared at him, unable to believe him, to comprehend his motives. a??I look like your dead wife? All this planning, this elaborate scheme and the kinga??s murder just because I look like another woman? By the gods, this is madness.a??
He looked at her with less softness now. a??You do not sound like her, but you will soon enough with my tutelage. She never questioned me, never considered any wishes but mine. Her tongue was never sharp in disagreement with me, and you will change, Mirana, doubt it not.
a??Aye, her image is preserved in my mind and before mine eyes every day of my life, for our daughter will grow into her image as well.
There is already a great resemblance between you and my little Eze, not really in her physical features, but in moments when she is silent and looking off into her dreams. And when she smiles.
Then I will have both of you to look upon.
I will have my Naphta back with me. I will also have a kingdom and power and wealth.
And I will share it with you, Mirana. You did wed with the king.
I am now he. Behold your husband and your king. I am now Sitric.a??