Pure Rapture Read online

  His arms came around her tightly for a brief while.

  Too brief.

  Before she could curl up against his heat, he released her again, gently setting her away from his body and getting to his feet.

  As she got up too, albeit wobbly on her colt-like legs, his eyes took her in from head to toe. She couldn’t tell what he was thinking, his expression for the first time unreadable to her, his eyes shuttered.

  A tingling of foreboding slithered down her spine as if a sand lizard had crawled beneath her tunic.

  “You will always be my first,” Tal said finally, a sad smile hovering on his lips.

  “I won’t forget it.”

  He might as well have said, I won’t forget you. For that was what Ishtar heard.

  As if he knew that she didn’t want to walk away from him, stubbornly refused to walk away from him, he turned and strode away from her, his long legs eating up the sandy beach effortlessly.

  Frozen and afraid, Ishtar watched him walk away, hike deftly up the mountain path and disappear over its peak.

  It would be many summers before she saw him again.

  By then, everything had changed.

  *** *** *** ***

  Ava and Rain had literally rolled up their sleeves, racing against time to find a cure, or at least treatment, for Tal.

  “The Mistress and Tal’s love might not be one and the same,” Ava hypothesized, preparing the lab equipment on a long stainless steel table.

  “Do you know what triggered his Decline?” she asked of Rain. “Are we even certain that what he’s going through is truly the Decline?”

  “I can’t be completely sure,” Rain answered, turning on the electrophoresis machine and unpacking petri dishes.

  “The symptoms are similar but much, much worse. As to the trigger, he must have recently…been with her…the one he loves,” Rain said hesitantly, uncomfortable talking about the warrior’s private affairs as if it were a clinical study, “but that’s not a guarantee either.”

  “There are other ways to trigger the Decline?” Ava thought one way was more than enough.

  Rain shook her head.

  “I don’t know. Remember, his condition appears to be the Decline, but not exactly the same. In addition, I’ve seen signs of the Decline lying dormant within him when I first examined him after he was brought here over a year ago. He refused to talk about it. He forbade me to share the full extent of his wounds with his own family. I am only telling you because you’re a fellow healer.”

  Ava put a diluted solution of a few drops of Tal’s blood in the centrifuge to separate the components of the cells.

  “Give me all the details,” she said to Rain, “I want to leave no stone unturned.”

  “He had borne countless wounds all over his body when he first arrived. You saw them just now. Unhealed wounds that might have been inflicted days or weeks before, and wounds deep in his tissues from years, hundreds and even thousands of years, before. I have never seen the like.”

  Rain shivered in memory and took a steadying breath to go on.

  “Even if I’d still had the full power of my Gift, even if I could have used my zhen to draw out his pain and heal the tissues, I do not think I could have made a difference.”

  She paused and considered. “In fact, I have tried it twice before, when I used to have my unique healing powers, to stop the Decline.”

  “What happened?” Ava was almost afraid to ask.

  “I almost died the first time, and the second time I did die and lost my Gift.”

  “Oh.” Not good then.

  Rain continued, dismissing her own death like it was a mere afterthought, totally focused on the patient she needed to aid.

  “Tal’s body, when he first arrived, was on the verge of unraveling, like a…” she searched for something equivalent in the human world, with which Ava would be familiar.

  “Like a late-stage cancer that was barely held at bay by powerful drugs. Perhaps the drugs have worn off now. Or something triggered the ‘cancer’ from dormant to aggressive. If it is really the Decline, then I would assume he recently gave of himself to the one he loves. But if he’s had this condition all along, ostensibly for thousands of years, then the process started long ago, and something happened recently to reawaken the wounds.”

  “But if it’s something else entirely,” Ava concluded, “then we have no idea how to combat it because we don’t even know the cause.”

  Rain nodded solemnly. “Right now, let’s focus on finding his Mistress from the clues in his blood. She’s our best chance at stabilizing his condition, or at least easing his pain.”

  Ava abruptly looked up from her work.

  “Shit. I’ve been so distracted by how fast things are moving I haven’t been thinking clearly.”

  “What is it?” Rain asked worriedly.

  “Here,” Ava said, moving away from the cell culture she was starting and gesturing for Rain to pick up where she left off. “I need to go back and get more samples from Tal.”

  “What samples?”

  “If he did have sexual intercourse in the past few hours and that was what triggered his ‘cancer,’ then I might be able to get traces of vaginal fluid, and from there, I might be able to extract some DNA to compare to the DNA from his blood.”

  “To see whether the Mistress and his love are one and the same,” Rain finished her thought process.

  “Exactly,” Ava threw back as she rushed out the lab doors.

  *** *** *** ***

  Third millennium BC. Silver Mountains Outpost, hinterlands of the Akkadian Empire.

  Everything had changed.

  For four years, a small group of Pure Ones, who called themselves the “Resistance,” recruited other Pure slaves into their ranks and rapidly built momentum for their cause:

  To overthrow the oppression of Dark rule so that their progeny for generations to come—forever—could be born free.

  Those Pure Ones who lived on the outskirts of city centers, barely eking out a living, at the mercy of Dark noble houses and jealous humans, were the first to be recruited, Tal and his father among them.

  Tal had debated joining the Resistance for months before finally making the decision.

  For one, the cause seemed to breathe new life into his papa, though he remained frail and weak physically, ever yearning for his Mate. His spirit, however, grew stronger, as did his will to live.

  For another, Tal could not stand by and allow alternative futures he foresaw to come to pass.

  A future where Pure Ones became so inured to their slavery they lost all sense of self-worth, the inner joy and light the Goddess bestowed upon each and every Pure soul snuffed out like candles in a wintry night.

  A future where even humans turned against them, outnumbering their Kind hundreds of thousands to one. If the powerful Dark lords, who set the example, treated Pure Ones no better than trash, a source of food and whores to abuse, why should humans not also take advantage?

  The incandescent beauty and brightness of Pure Ones made the humans envious, covetous; inspired their lust and greed. Already, a series of gang rapes of young vulnerable Pure boys and girls had been reported in every principality across the empire, and no justice had been delivered.

  The humans merely had to pay a fine for using property that didn’t belong to them.

  Tal could also see the bloody path that must be paved if he chose the future that led to their freedom. Countless would perish. So much destruction and chaos. More than half of their Kind would die, taking many more Dark Ones and humans with them, so that the remaining few could be free.

  So that their children, and their children’s children could be free.

  There was no choice in the end. Tal made the only decision he could.

  It went against Pure Ones’ grain to mete out violence, to cause others pain, especially Pure Bloods, who were born of a Pure mother and father. A few of their Kind had been born as humans, only to be Awakened at critical jun
ctures. All of them had suffered greatly in their past lives, but despair, vengeance and hatred never fully overcame the goodness within.

  These Awakened Pure Ones were the staunchest supporters and leaders of the Resistance. Most of them knew how to fight and taught their skills to Pure Bloods, so that over the course of four years, they had amassed a well-disciplined militia of a few hundred.

  Tal trained as well. He exceeded in all hand-to-hand combat and weaponry, his body quickly adapting to a warrior’s instincts and moves as though he’d been born to it. No doubt his foresight helped, for he could anticipate his opponent’s actions ten, twenty moves in advance.

  For his fierceness in battle, he was given a second name “Telal”—wicked demon, great warrior.

  But what he excelled at the most was military strategy. The Pure Ones were able to win crucial battles to take hold of much needed supplies and food stocks, weapons and horses, because of his unique ability to see all the interconnections and possibilities before they became possible.

  He was only twenty-three summers, yet they’d dubbed him “the General.”

  Pure Ones much older and wiser than he looked up to him for leadership, admired him his strength, depended on him for protection. Pure boys and girls idolized him, following him around their camp when he had a few moments free, his pale gold hair and brilliant turquoise eyes like a beacon of hope in a tumultuous sea.

  There was only one other who earned the same amount of esteem from their people: a beautiful Pure female named Ninti, with the honorific of Melammu, which extolled her awe-inspiring luminosity, a light that seemed to shine from within.

  Whereas Tal oversaw military matters and led the Pure Ones in critical battles, rallying the warriors, both male and female, and asserting strict order and discipline, Ninti took care of everything else.

  She made sure that no one went hungry, wounds and clothes were mended, linens washed and dried, children schooled with some semblance of normality. She settled disputes and had the innate ability to see the truth in others, bringing out their best selves.

  She was the one who taught Tal how to read and write, for she’d once been a Pure slave educated on a Dark estate.

  Naturally, Tal and Ninti grew close, planning together, sharing more information about the Resistance with each other than with anyone else. They respected one another’s counsel and actively sought it out.

  Ninti lightly tapped on the wooden slats of Tal’s makeshift tent now, as he just returned from another battle.

  “Come.” The deep, husky timbre of his voice sounded from within.

  Ninti entered by walking in reverse through the tent flap, leading with her backside, her arms carrying a fresh set of clothes, bandages and a jar of unguent to help mend wounds.

  Tal was just pulling his tunic over his head, revealing black and blue bruises on his back and a couple of long, thin gashes still oozing blood.

  “Let me have a look at that,” she said gently, leading him to a three-legged stool.

  He sat obediently and rotated his head, cranking some kinks out of his neck and shoulder muscles.

  “I saw the horses and the supplies,” Ninti began, taking a rag soaked in heated water from a small, rock ringed fire in the corner and wiping the filth and gore from Tal’s back.

  “Another victory, so hard won,” she murmured. “You’d think that with your Gift, you could avoid getting yourself skewered and beat upon.”

  Tal shrugged. “It’s either a few bruises and scratches that will heal within a day or two, or getting an arm or leg cut off. I always choose the lesser of two evils.”

  She made a clucking sound with her tongue but didn’t pursue the topic.

  He always did what was necessary to ensure their wins. He always took the most risks so that others emerged unscathed.

  She wanted to throttle him sometimes the way he used his own body as a shield for others, but she knew that it was part of him—an innate protector, a leader who commanded his warriors’ loyalty not through force or aggression but through example and charisma.

  “Any movements from the Dark Queen?” she asked, rubbing the salve into his skin, knowing that Queen Ashlu would not sit idly by while their Pure troops continued to gain ground.

  “She has placed all Pure slaves under house arrest,” Tal responded, his brows furrowing.

  “They are not to venture outside without escort. She’s taken down all of their names and locations, and issued a warning to sympathetic Dark nobles and humans that any who would aid a Pure One or let them escape their confinement will be arrested and punished, the Pure Ones they aided executed by burning.”

  Her hands stilled against his back.

  “How awful,” she breathed, shivering.

  “Our recruitment of more soldiers is stalling as a result,” Tal continued and rose to his feet, pulling on a fresh tunic that Ninti brought.

  He hesitated, and she immediately noticed.

  “What is it? What are you not telling me?”

  Tal stared into her eyes for a few moments, then revealed, “Queen Ashlu has decreed that if we disband now, if we give up the Resistance, she will remove the order for house arrest, she will institute new laws to protect Pure slaves from abuse, and forgive all the ‘sins’ we’ve committed over the last four years.”

  “But—” Ninti thought quickly, holding his gaze, “how can she be sure we’ve stopped the Resistance? And how can we know she’ll keep her word, even were we to contemplate the offer?”

  “She demands the surrender of the Pure Ones’ leader,” Tal said quietly. “He will be her hostage against any more uprisings, and if she reneges on her promise to pardon the others, or if any of the Dark Ones and humans break her laws, then she will release him again to fight another day. Or he’ll die a martyr and his death will escalate the rebellion even further.”

  “That’s absurd!” Ninti cried. “She will have all the power and none of the risks! She could easily kill him when he’s in her grasp and obliterate the Resistance with full vengeance.”

  Tal shook his head.

  “I have seen her, Ninti. I have looked into her eyes across the battlefield tonight.”

  “What?” She was so astounded she sat down on the stool in shock.

  “She had a small group of guards with her. Only four outriders. But they were seasoned warriors, every one. She was sitting atop her horse on a hill overlooking the battle. She wasn’t directing the troops or participating, merely watching.”

  Tal’s eyes unfocused in remembrance. “Had her guards entered the battle, we would have lost; any one of them could have defeated me easily in hand-to-hand combat. One of them could even turn himself into air and shadows”

  “Goddess above,” Ninti muttered. She’d never even heard of such powerful Gifts.

  “And when it was over,” Tal went on, “she caught my eye and sent her message telepathically. I stared into her long and hard. She means what she communicated. She will keep her promise.”

  “You can’t mean to consider it,” Ninti said, starting to worry, for Tal indeed seemed to be considering the offer.

  “We’ve lost half of our warriors already,” he thought out loud, pacing the small hut.

  “With the recruitment stalled, we won’t last a handful of battles more. We have to take the Ivory Palace if we’re to truly secure our freedom. We have to overthrow Queen Ashlu’s rule. But we can’t do it with so few fighters and dwindling supplies. She’s put fear and uncertainty into the hearts of our Kind who still remain with their Dark masters. If we continue down this path, the outcome will be much, much worse.”

  “Then offer me as a hostage instead,” Ninti said, standing back up. “She asked for a leader of the Pure Ones. I count too. I can—”

  Tal took hold of her shoulders and stilled her speech.

  “You count too much,” he said firmly, willing his words to sink in.

  “I can see it in your future, in our people’s future. You are far more important than me
in the decades and centuries ahead. You must stay out of the Dark Queen’s grasp and keep the hope of the Resistance alive.”

  Tal looked hard into Ninti’s eyes, unmovable in his resolve.

  “She sent that message to me. She doesn’t even know about you, and we need to keep it that way.”

  “You can’t do this, Tal,” Ninti said urgently, a note of pleading in her voice, though she’d always been too strong to show any weakness before.

  “You must know she won’t treat you fairly. She will make an example of you. She may torture you within an inch of your life. She could—”

  He squeezed her shoulders gently to stop her.

  “You forget I can see the future,” he reminded her. “I know what will happen if I take this path. It’s the perfect opportunity for me to infiltrate the Ivory Palace and assess all of their potential plans. I can watch and learn from the way they fight. Her allies and forces will be gathered there. All of the key players are there. I’ve had visions about this. I know it’s what I have to do.”

  “But…but…” Ninti stuttered and gasped for breath, her eyes welling with rare tears.

  “You could be made into a Blood Slave,” she whispered. “It’s the surest way to control you.”

  Tal let go of her shoulders and took a step back, his expression hooded, his eyes shuttered.

  “If that’s my fate, then so be it. It’s a small price to pay for our people’s freedom.”

  “The Dark Goddess tests our resolve and faith by offering an impossible choice: to do what our minds tell us is right, or to follow the truth that our hearts give voice.”

  —From the Ecliptic Prophesies, buried and forgotten

  Chapter Five

  Sophia awoke suddenly, knifing into an upright position on her borrowed bed in the healing chamber a few feet away from Tal.

  Benji continued to sleep obliviously beside her, as children tended to do, arms out-flung, legs spread every which way.

  It was a good thing, too, because as long as he was sleeping, he’d be spared the terrible sorrow of watching his “uncle Tal” die.