Chapter 41
Atem
It took the better part of a mark for Atem and Peony to make rounds through the terrace party, talking to as many people as possible. It was a big occasion, and he was the guest of honor, so everyone wanted to share this moment with him.
This was the culmination of all his dreams and hard work. He had been imagining this day for seven years, since he had taken the role of dominani for himself. The only thing that was different from his dreams was Peony.
The little human female at his side, wearing his blood proudly, was something he could never have foreseen. Having her there not only felt right, but he also knew that this day would have been lesser without her.
The humans had a thing about blood, apparently. They had been taught that their own blood was embarrassing and gross and they refused to eat or drink any blood dishes served to them. So, the fact that Peony was willing to wear his blood only made him adore her more.
As the night continued on, he found himself standing with her at the railing, the party at their back, the canopy glowing with night flowers spread out before them. Peony was smiling, leaning into his side, his arm around her waist.
“Atem, can I ask you something?” She started cautiously, piquing his curiosity.
“Anything, vi Seerin.”
“Well...” She hesitated as though unsure, pulling his eyes down to her.
“It was short sighted of me not to think of it before, but I only just noticed it today... Atem, what happened to your parents? The rest of your clan. I found out that your father was dominani too, but it’s the first I've heard of him.”
Pain lanced through Atem's chest at the reminder, and he looked away.
“Oh, Atem. I'm so sorry. I-”
“No.” He turned back quickly, giving her a smile that he could feel was forced. “It's hardly a secret, and I don't mind telling you. I'm honored to be able to speak my parent's story.”
Peony watched him carefully and he took in a breath, gathering his thoughts.
“The dominani before my father, First Domini Ratior, was a good and honorable male.
He served for six decades before deciding to retire.
When a dominani decides to pass on their title, or they die before they can, they open the Hortii Kristivar, but it is different to what occurred today.
There is no dominani to challenge, so those who pass the gauntlet of the Firsts instead fight each other in a tournament style contest and the winner is made dominani.
“That is how my father, First Domini Itrivan, took over. He was already mated to my mother at the time. She got to stand where you are today when he took power.” Atem glanced at her affectionately.
“I was only five then. I still remember that day. How amazing it was. How proud I was for watching my father prove himself just as strong and unbeatable as I knew him to be.”
His gaze darkened as the memories returned. Not all of them good.
“He was a great dominani. One I can only strive to emulate. But he only served for five years.”
Peony gasped. “He was challenged? I mean, I know that the dominani can be challenged for his position anytime in the first seven years, right? But I didn't think it was to the death. In fact, it seemed that there was a great deal of effort today to make sure that no one was killed.”
Atem snarled. “He wasn't challenged. That would have been honorable and fair. He and my mother were betrayed.”
“What?” She breathed.
“Their First Warrior – Jutitorii,” he snarled the name like it was a particularly vile curse. “He attacked them in the middle of the night. Assassinated them. He killed my father while he slept, stabbing him through the heart, then slit my mother's throat when she woke and nearly screamed.”
Peony gasped, her own hand coming to cover her throat as though to protect it. Atem's arm tightened, just barely, on her waist.
“And afterwards, Jutitorii became Dominani.”
“What?!” She cried, her voice echoing over the canopy. “He can't... Surely, that can't have been a valid challenge!”
“It was not. But no one believed the witness when he described what he saw. Jutitorii was a well-known friend of my father's. Practically brother to my mother. I called him uncle.”
“What witness?” Peony asked softly, a horrified look in her eye, like she already knew.
Atem's burning gaze met hers. “I had a nightmare that night. I was sleeping between them. I was only gone a minute to go to the privy. When I came back, my father was already stabbed. I returned just in time to see my mother's throat cut.”
“Atem...” Peony moaned in pain, trying to imagine a tiny, ten year old Atem witnessing such horrors and her heart breaking at just the thought.
“They said I was affected by my nightmares,” he snarled, the insult of that still burning. “They said that Jutitorii had found their bodies and that's what I saw. No one listened. No one believed me. And when the next Hortii Kristivar was held, Jutitorii reigned supreme.
“He offered to make me his ward. To make himself my father.
As a man I once called uncle, everyone agreed it would be best. I escaped the palace that night.
Before anyone could force me under his power.
I don't know if he would have risked killing me or if he would have just tormented me until I was old enough to have me killed in battle, but I didn't stay to find out.
“I ran to a friend of mine. A male I had known all my life and who I trusted completely. Though,” he chuckled darkly, “at that moment, I wouldn't have been surprised if he betrayed me as Jutitorii betrayed my father.
But he didn't betray me. He convinced his father, a laborer in the lower section of the city, to take me in and hide me.
He didn't have to. But he was the first person to hear my story and believe my words.
“That night, he took me, his mate, and his son away.
We left Calvitorum and moved to a larger city by the sea.
One we could get lost in and never found.
He was a laborer; he could find work anywhere.
He upended his entire life and family for me.
That is a sacrifice I have never forgotten.
He did not replace my family, but he treated me as a son regardless.
“And he helped me. When I spent every day, from the moment we settled to the day I left, for the next seven years, training. Studying. Learning. Absorbing every fighting style anyone would teach me, every lesson I could convince someone to give. Their son was my sparring partner. His mate my professor. They gave everything to help me grow and to empower me so that, when the next Hortii Kristivar came, I was more than a challenge for Jutitorii. I was better than him.”
It took Peony a few seconds to gather her thoughts to ask, “What happened to him?”
Atem smirked evilly, unable to keep the glee from his face.
“I couldn't kill him. It's considered dishonorable to kill your opponent during the Hortii Kristivar and I was determined to be a far superior dominani than him.
But I attacked and refused to accept his surrender until he confessed his crime.
Before the entirety of Turv, I made him admit that I wasn't lying or seeing things as a child. And when he confessed to murdering my parents, then I had him executed.”
“And what happened to the family that helped you?”
Atem chuckled, his countenance lightening.
“Torii and Anitii are happily mated, retired, and currently enjoying a long, luxurious cruise through the most beautiful planets the universe has to offer. They send me pictures and we chat over the subnet at least once a week. As for their son, you can ask him yourself. I believe Tuvo is still wandering around here somewhere.”
“Tuvo was your friend?” Peony asked, beaming. Somehow, it was exciting to think that a friend that helped his buddy when they were just ten had grown with him and both males had become the most powerful fighters on all of Turv.
Atem chuckled at her enthusiasm. “He is.
And he's the only one I fully trust.” His face fell.
“Before he died, Jutitorii told me that there was another.
Someone who helped him assassinate my family that night.
But he didn't know who it was. Only that it was someone who contacted him over his combot and, after he was in power, would make demands of him in return for the favors he had done.”
Peony's own mood dropped. “Wait, and you never caught them? So, they could still be out there?”
“I've no doubt that they’re still out there,” Atem snarled. “I don't know who it is, but I will find them eventually. And until I do, I will always be prepared for someone to betray me.”
Peony stared at him for a long moment until he turned and pressed a kiss to her forehead.
“Forgive me. This is a day of celebration, and I've allowed my temper to escape me.”
She shook her head, embracing him tightly. “It's okay. Thank you for telling me. Their story and yours. I knew you had trust issues, but I didn't think it was because of something that bad.”
He chuckled, holding her back. “Trust issues?”
“Yeah. It's what we say on Earth when someone has trouble believing in other people. Like how you can't believe that I really was single on Earth.” She gave him a pointed look.
He pushed back her hair. “You are simply too stunning for me to imagine that males weren’t lined up for the opportunity to fight for you.”
“Or how you can't seem to ever trust your Firsts to do their jobs and try to do everything yourself.”
“I do not try to do everything myself.”
She stared dolefully, making him laugh.
“I just know I can do the job to my own satisfaction, that's all.”
“Trust. Issues,” she repeated deliberately.
He nipped at the tip of her nose, making her laugh. “I do not have trust issues. I have a healthy aversion to betrayal and assassination.”
“Not everyone is out to betray and assassinate you.”