20. Musashi

20

MUSASHI

" S ince my queen asked me to make introductions, I'm Guillaume de Payne Isador."

The man said his name as if it meant something more than Sir Knight of the Templar.

:Is that supposed to mean something to me?: Thankfully, Kuros only spoke in our bonds, not aloud, for I wasn't sure of this knight's temper.

:We're a little ahead of his time,: Leonides said dryly. :Anyone know much about this man?:

:There were several knights bearing a similar family name in all of the major Crusades,: I replied. :I'm not sure in which he might have served.:

:How could he still be alive, if not resurrected like we were to Heliopolis?: Leonides asked. :Is that part of their queen's magic?:

None of us could answer with any surety, which made each of us extremely uncomfortable.

Even in Heliopolis, there'd been structure and hierarchy across the Soldiers of Light. Sol Invictus originally served under Aurelian on earth as well as beneath Ra. Most of the Roman soldiers refused to march with anyone else, especially Rome's enemies, like Barca. Which was one reason no one had ever suspected our small band of conspiracy. How could one of the most hated enemies of Rome work with Marcus Antonius? Why would a great king be willing to fight alongside a simple war chieftain born thousands of years after him?

The knight pointed out the rest of the Isador Blood one by one, though why anyone kept mentioning Xin in the area of the wolf king I had no idea. No one else was there, unless Xin was invisible, which for all I knew, might very well be possible with these Aima. The rest of the names made little sense to me. I didn't recognize them from history.

Worried, I touched Sun's bond. :The wolf is following our queen to the house. One of the Isador Blood may have the ability to be invisible and might be with him.:

:Heard,: Sun replied. :We'll be especially vigilant.:

The knight focused on me. "Could you introduce the rest of your men?"

I couldn't fathom why he might decide I was our group's spokesperson, unless he felt some kinship for a fellow swordsman. I touched my blade hilts reverently. "Perhaps it would be best for each man to give his own name. You may call me Musashi."

As if the man might have already forgotten, Kuros introduced himself and Chak Ek' again. Though immediately, two Isador Blood stepped closer and saluted the mute god. They bore a similar facial structure as him and evidently recognized his name.

"When the Great Star shines in the sky before dawn, it's a good time to go to war," the larger man said. "House Zaniyah is honored to stand with you."

Chak Ek' bowed back but asked, :What does Zaniyah mean? Is that the name of their legion?:

Kuros voiced the question for him.

"We were born to House Zaniyah near Mexico City, formerly known as Tenochtitlan," the other, smaller man replied. "Our mother's line is descended from Coatlicue, Mother of the Gods, and our sister is descended from Huitzilopochtli."

Brothers, at least. That much made sense, but the rest were simply words that I didn't recognize.

In the bond, Chak Ek' grunted softly. :They're important names and resonate with the sounds of my homeland, but they're still as foreign to me as any of you. Perhaps they're from another clan.:

"All Aima are descended from a goddess, who in turn is a daughter of the Mother of All," Guillaume said. "We trace our lineage through our birth house's goddess until we're Blooded to our own queen."

Certainly, I'd known our queen was different from any of us. She was on a level next to Ra. But it hadn't dawned on me that the other queen's Blood were also on a similar level, only steps removed from their goddesses. They'd never died on earth and then been resurrected to an afterlife of service because of their valor.

The realization that they weren't human—at all—made my mind reel. They hadn't led human lives. Other than Guillaume, were any of them even warriors? Had they stood shoulder to shoulder with their brethren in arms and risked their lives for valor and honor?

They didn't remember dying. Feeling the last spark of life blow out of them. Knowing it was too late to ever right another wrong. That moment when darkness became light, and all things became clear—or meaningless.

Or had that only happened to me, us, because of Heliopolis?

"You were a Templar knight," I said slowly. "Is that not how you were selected to be Blood?"

"I served many centuries as a knight, yes, but most of my fellow Blood weren't soldiers. They didn't fight in any human wars."

Kuros snorted beneath his breath. "Then how could your queen possibly determine if you were worthy to serve?"

Kings among us. Leaders of thousands, no, tens of thousands, of soldiers. The weight of entire countries and civilizations on our shoulders. Yet none of this mattered any longer. When they said "wolf king," what did they mean precisely? Did Ironheart rule wolves like Kuros had ruled Persia and beyond?

"Only the worthiest are called by their queen to be her Blood." The slim brother shot a narrowed look at Kuros, while his larger brother tested the edge of his knife, still unsheathed in his hand. "We didn't need to fight in a human skirmish to prove our willingness to die in her defense."

Smoak flared around the woman, a flash of molten red fury that cascaded through all sunfires. "You think serving as one of Ra's motherfucking henchmen in Heliopolis made you worthy? Fuck Ra, and fuck you too."

:You insulted them,: I told Kuros. :You must make amends to avoid shaming our queen in this foreign court.:

Chak Ek' made a sound that might have been laughter—or an animal's warning growl. :They think Soldiers of Light care about fucking mothers?:

Kuros rolled his eyes. "She doesn't mean literally fucking our mothers. It's a modern curse word."

The knight held up his hands before him, palms bare of any weapons, and laughed softly. "Let's return to the matter at hand and finish the introductions. Then I think we should have an in-depth discussion of what being Blood entails."

:We need answers.: Aloud, Vlad gave his name as he stepped forward. :So don't piss them off. Yet.:

The Impaler pressed his palm to the knight's, taking his measure the same as I had done. Guillaume gave exactly what he received. His direct gaze weighed with intent, as if you could physically feel the centuries he must have been alive stacked like bricks upon each other. Out of any of the Isador Blood, he might understand what we soldiers were at our core.

The weight of a warrior's heart. The price of dying for something. Someone. Because the knight bore an ugly scar around his throat that made me suspect he might have met a similar fate to Leonides' once upon a time. He offered his hand to the knight. "Nice scar. Leonides of Sparta."

"My queen healed the rest," Guillaume replied. Not a brag or boast. Just a statement of fact.

Leonides nodded. "Then I have hope my queen will do the same for mine."

Goyaa?é gave his name but made no move to offer his hand in greeting.

"I'm sorry," the knight said. "I'm not familiar with your name as a warrior."

"I'm Bedonkohe Apache. The Mexicans and Americans called me Geronimo."

"Ah, yes. You led wars against both countries with only a small band of warriors at your side. Most impressive."

Evidently, Guillaume knew more about more recent events in the past few centuries than even I did. Proving yet again how different we were. I was the next youngest of Sunna, but I'd died before Goyaa?é had walked this earth. Other than what he himself had shared with us—which was very little—I knew nothing about his past.

Meanwhile, the knight had to have been born in the fourteenth century if not before, and still knew what Apache meant.

The last Sunna Blood—and one of the older ones—gave his name to the knight. "Hannibal Barca."

Guillaume's eyes flared ever so slightly. "Rome's most feared enemy, and one of the greatest wartime strategists of all time."

"Hannibal's at the gates. Though this war we fight follows no known strategies I understand."

"Perhaps we can help with that," Guillaume replied. "As I said earlier, most Blood never fought in a war. Serving as a queen's Blood is more than just keeping her safe, though of course, that's the primary concern. Are you eating well?"

Eating? What did that have to do with keeping our queen safe?

:Don't fucking tell him a thing,: Kuros growled in the bond. :Especially don't ask. Showing ignorance weakens our position.:

:But we must ask someone,: Barca countered. :If we fail to keep our queen safe because of some minor detail we could have asked this knight to explain, then we deserve to roast for all eternity beneath the Eternal Sun of Heliopolis once more.:

:Besides, why should we trust this man?: Leonides asked.

:He's a Templar knight,: I reminded them.

:That means fuck all to me,: Kuros retorted.

"A common misconception among new Blood is that we're meant to be the queen's bodyguards, but it's more than that," Guillaume said. "A well-fed queen is strong enough to defend everybody in her nest, and I mean blood, not food. She can and should eat regular human food as well, but her magic needs your blood. So the single most important thing you can do for your queen is give her your blood as often as she can take it. As much as she can hold. I'm guessing it's been centuries for most of you since you even had a physical human body, so be sure you're fueling it with food and lots of it."

:The food Dagny provided did taste exceptional,: Vlad pointed out. :If that means we can give our queen blood whenever she needs it, I'll eat everything in sight.:

:Same,: Kuros and I said at the same time. Though he scowled at me for daring to have the same response.

:Even if you don't want to trust the knight, Smoak's sunfire can confirm the truth of what he says,: Vlad pointed out. :If he lied, Smoak would know, whether Vivian wished us to know it or not.:

:The spear is as sharp as ever,: Chak Ek' said.

"We didn't eat any food at all until recently, and we've been able to feed her," Vlad said aloud, watching the shimmer of sunfire energy around Vivian.

The knight's eyes flared with surprise that seemed to share genuine concern for our wellbeing. "You need to eat. It's crucial to replenish your own blood stores quickly for her."

"Though maybe Karmen's hunger isn't as great as our queen's," Vivian added. "She's starving all the fucking time. Has she drained you to unconsciousness yet?"

Drained. By our queen. My sunfire swelled inside me, a swarm of honeybees. Ready to follow their queen anywhere. Give her anything. Everything she could ever want. Simply to see her smile like the first ray of breaking dawn.

"That's possible?" Vlad asked.

"Our queen has drained all of us in a single night until no one's even left standing," Vivian replied. "The first night I came to her, I was able to walk into her house without any other Blood noticing because they were all unconscious. Though since she's added the last few Blood, it's been a lot better."

It was all I could do not to allow my jaw to hang down with shock. All of them—at least ten Blood. Drained to unconsciousness. By their queen.

The swarm buzzed louder, a steady hum that swelled inside me. Tiny bees, fluttering, humming, eager to fly in search of nectar for our queen. Goddess, Mother of All, let this be true. I beg you to allow my queen to drain me as often as she wishes.

Kuros scowled harder, his face darkening with his own sunfire's energy. "How the fuck were we supposed to eat human food when nothing even exists on the other side of the portal except?—"

:Imbecile,: Leonides snarled in the bond. :Don't betray our queen's location. What happened to don't fucking tell him a thing?:

Guillaume's lips twitched with amusement but he didn't laugh out loud. "Let's go up to the house, and I'll show you how the Isador kitchen works. Hopefully you can build or acquire what you need. If I'm not on duty, I'm eating."

The knight led the way up to the house with Smoak and another Isador Blood. I couldn't remember his name.

Eating. Guard duty. Was this the only reason for which our human bodies had been restored? When my queen could have her fangs deep in my flesh? Molten slabs of honey shifted inside me, threatening to crack open my calm, controlled exterior. Even if all my queen wished to do was feed on me…

I'd gladly give her every drop of blood in my body.

Though if she ever wished for more…

Impossible , I retorted inside my own head. Unforgivable. To even presume she would ever want to even touch me in such a way. Sunzi, yes. She had a special bond with him. But me? The rest of us?

Vlad voiced the question we were all silently asking ourselves. "Is that all you do?"

His words were calm and measured, seemingly dispassionate. Though his sunfire burned in the bond, a flaming ten-foot-long spear of heat that couldn't be denied.

"Blood really don't need anything else. We don't need to sleep, though—" Her eyes flared wide and she stumbled, chuckling under her breath. "Oh. Yeah. Um about that… Every queen is different. Some queens don't need or want that at all."

Guillaume opened an external door and motioned for Smoak to precede us inside. "Some queens feed on sex just as much as blood. It depends on their lineage and the gifts they inherited from their goddess."

The buzzing drone vibrated my bones at the thought, drowning out the rest of their conversation. Feeding my queen blood. While she touched me. Would I survive such a thing? Or would the sheer bliss kill me where Heliopolis had failed?