Giya's Betrayal: Book Three of the Firebird's Daughter series Read online

  “And your mother?” Kaya asked, his hand automatically reaching out to touch her in an act of genuine compassion. When Rhian’s face hardened, though, he withdrew it, not yet certain whether she would welcome his empathy.

  “He killed her, of course,” she replied flatly. “He blamed her for his lack of heirs, then sliced off her head.” She paused, her eyes seeing nothing. “That’s when I knew I had to take his life.” She paused again. This time, she was fully present, and looking straight at Kaya. “But this time, the herb lore my mother taught me served me well. I was able to preserve him at the precise moment of death, so while he is not dead, he is also not alive.”

  Aidena heard Kaya take in a shaky breath, at the same time she felt herself blinking rapidly, trying to take in everything she had told them. “But where is he?” was the only thing she could think to say. “He couldn’t very well just disappear without … wait – that was supposed to be him when you walked in here, wasn’t it?”

  “Yes,” Rhian replied, nodding briefly. I have his body where it cannot be found, because his heart must keep beating, or there will be dire consequences.”

  “Consequences?” Kaya repeated, not understanding.

  “Everyone who is in the palace at the time of his death will also die,” she told them.

  “Because they didn’t do enough to keep him alive,” Aidena guessed. “What an evil man,” she said, shivering with disgust.

  “And you disguise yourself as him, so nobody knows he is … well, not here,” Aidena guessed.

  “With your own magic,” Kaya added. “And you made it look like you were dead.”

  “Yes,” Rhian nodded. “I am alive,” she said, thrusting her hands towards them, moving her hands back and forth, “as you can see, but,” she continued, her head bowed for the first time since they had met her, “I live in a prison of my own making.”

  “Tell me what you want to do,” Kaya whispered quietly, reaching across to take her hands in his. “Why did you want me to come here?”

  “I remembered both your kindness and your mischief,” Rhian smiled sadly, no longer looking at him, suddenly shy. “I had hoped you had grown into the man Sahil often bragged about when he was here.”

  “But I had gone to war,” he replied, confused. “How would he know …”

  “He knew,” she said simply. “That’s why he went to find you. I see he did,” she added, smiling once more.

  “You still haven’t said what you want to do,” Aidena pointed out. “You can’t suddenly come back to life,” she paused. “Can you?”

  “If I do, it will start a civil war throughout Bila,” she said, shaking her head.

  “You may already have a civil war on your hands,” Aidena pointed out. “Tell her,” she directed Kaya. “She better know the whole story before the two of you try to decide the fate of the entire empire.” She couldn’t help but to shake her head with a sardonic smile on her face.

  “Yes, but quickly, please,” she said, leaning forward to listen closely. “I can’t stay in here much longer, or they will come to make sure I haven’t been assassinated.”

  “The smallest thing I can tell you is that the boundary between Bila and Nohoyo has fallen,” Kaya told her, wondering how much he could afford to leave out.

  “And none of it may matter if Sov crashes into the planet,” Aidena added. “You do know he is dying, don’t you?”

  “Only because they think I am the emperor,” she replied. “I would never have been told any of this, even though I was my father’s only heir.”

  “Wait,” Kaya’s tone was troubled. “If you really were dead, and your father died, who would be his heir then? Who would be emperor?”

  “Yes, Rhian,” a voice came from the shadows behind them, “why don’t you tell them who will be emperor once your poor father is finally, officially, put to rest?”

  “Tojiru!” she gasped, coming quickly to her feet at the same time Kaya and Aidena stood up, startled by his sudden appearance.

  “I must congratulate you on having kept your secret for so long,” he said, walking slowly into view. “I really would never have known if you hadn’t insisted on having this place,” he gestured with his hands to encompass the covered gardens, “to yourself. Your father was much more paranoid than you are, apparently. He would never have agreed to be here without guards, let alone insisted on it.”

  Aidena knew it really wouldn’t have mattered what he looked like, but knew she would have disliked him from the first time she laid eyes on him, even if he wasn’t threatening them. There was just something about his face that was entirely too self-satisfied and smug.

  “What do you want?” Rhian asked, her eyes blazing with fury barely contained.

  “Why, everything, of course,” he smirked.

  “And what makes you think I’m going to let you take it from me?” she asked, her own lips twisting in a way that made Aidena almost feel sorry for this Tojiru, whoever he was. “There is nothing you can take away from me that hasn’t already been taken. I will not allow you …”

  “You will not allow me?” he laughed at her, walking closer. “Do you even know what I’m capable of? Do you think you are the only one who is a magic maker here? Who do you really think controls everyone here, little Rhian? I haven’t waited all this time for your “father” to die just to walk away now. He never had the courage to do what had to be done. I did it. All of it. Whatever he wanted, I made sure it was done. Never did he bother to do a single thing for himself. It’s my turn now!” he shouted, raising his hands in what was obviously preparation for an attack.

  They would never know what he would have done, though, for at that moment, another presence made itself known. It suddenly seemed as though there simply wasn’t enough air in the room to breathe, as if it was pushing against all of them, pushing them back against the glass walls of the garden. They couldn’t see anything, but they could feel a tremendous pressure, pushing, pushing, and then it suddenly was gone. Each of them fell forward, catching themselves before hitting the floor, except for Tojiru, who fell so hard against the tile floor, they heard a sickeningly wet crunch.

  When they looked up at each other again, there was another man standing among them.

  “Rajesh!” Kaya shouted, alarmed.

  “Giya said we should be friends,” he said, tilting his head, as if asking permission. When they all continued to look at him, confused, he continued. “She also said I should learn more about the history of my people. His family,” he nodded at the body on the floor, as blood started to seep from Tojiru’s nose, “has been at the center of many disasters, assassinations, and more. He would have made sure there was war between Bila and Nohoyo. I can’t have that if I’m going to be the god of Bila.”

  “God?” Aidena asked.

  “Yes,” Rajesh nodded, more certain of himself than he’d ever been. “So there will be no war if I have anything to say about it.”

  “That’s good,” Kaya said, looking at Aidena and Rhian. “Very good, but it’s going to take more than just getting rid of him to make sure there’s no war.”

  “But that’s a good start,” Rhian said, looking at Rajesh. She suddenly knelt, bowing her head. “Thank you, Lord Rajesh, for your help.”

  “Whatever we’re going to do, we need to hurry though,” Aidena told them. “If Sov doesn’t kill us all, the Fire Tenders are still going to be a problem, no matter if they stay in Nohoyo, or if they come here. The empire of Bila needs a strong, steady hand. What are the two of you going to do about it?” she asked, looking to Kaya and Rhian.

  Chapter Sixteen – Lumas Speaks

  It was broad daylight, and yet Eruitt could still see the moon, and the fact that it was still on fire. And if that wasn’t bad enough, now the sun was starting to come apart. Where was Giya in all of this? Why hadn’t she come back to do something with all these people? It was terribly flattering that she entrusted him with keeping them under control, but between being bored out of his mind,
and being terrified out of his mind, he was more than a little edgy. He was absolutely certain that if these people weren’t so afraid of the Fire Tenders, they would have already found a way to get past him. Maybe they would have even tackled him to the ground by now.

  Exhaling loudly – more loudly than he was sure he should have, given that showing his own frustration wasn’t going to help anyone else stay calm – he walked over to where the water bucket was. He felt ridiculously embarrassed and deeply guilty for drinking in front of the others, but Giya had been adamant that none of them were to drink or eat anything. She hadn’t said why they weren’t allow to, only that it was important.

  Other than the one time they had all tried to run away, all four of the men and three of the women had been quiet and subdued. They hadn’t tried to talk among themselves nor tried to engage him in conversation. Nothing. Other than each of them moving their legs or changing position from time to time, they had all simply been sitting where they had been ordered to sit. Even now, with the sky literally falling over their heads, they all remained seated and cooperative. He wasn’t sure he would have been able to do the same if he had been the one sitting on the ground, doing nothing but waiting for someone else to decide his fate.

  The Fire Tenders continued to walk around, talking among themselves, but at a quiet whisper. Every once in a while he wondered what they were talking about. Well, no, he had to admit to himself, he wondered if they were talking about killing the council members just sitting right there, unable to defend themselves. Were they hoping to be able to get away with killing them? And if they did, he wondered just how it was he was supposed to stop them from doing it. What he really wanted to be doing was talking to them, getting to know them on a personal level, but he refrained from doing it, because he didn’t want to be distracted. He didn’t want to be the one responsible for making some … undefined “bad” thing happen because he had been chatting with one of the Fire Tenders. And so, while he didn’t exactly avoid looking at them, he tried not to invite them to come any closer than they were either. He hoped he would get to talk with some of them once Giya came back and took charge of …

  Just as he was lifting his hands to his mouth to sip the water – nobody had thought to bring a cup with the bucket of water – he saw a strange movement out of the corner of his eye, then heard one of the men sitting on the ground groan loudly, as if he was in pain. Looking up he watched in horror as the man suddenly started coming apart. He was stunned into inaction. With a loud scream, the man’s skin began to dissolve from one side of his body to the left, as if someone was wiping him out of existence. First it was his skin, leaving the bones of his skeleton showing, with much of the man’s innards still intact, then the bones crumbled to nothing. The man had totally dissolved, leaving nothing behind but a scattering of sand, indistinguishable from the rest of the sand he’d just been sitting on. It had been horrific to watch – his mouth had been stretched into a scream, with his eyes still wide open as his skin had started to disappear. The only thing Eruitt could begin to think was he was grateful it had happened so quickly. He could still hear the man’s screams echoing and thought he might yet vomit.

  The other six council members had scrambled on hands, feet, and butts –not bothering to take the time to stand –throwing themselves bodily as far away as possible from their former colleague. One woman kept rolling, her terror evident by the look on her face, until she rolled right onto the feet of one of the Fire Tenders who stood his ground. That seemed to scare her even more than watching someone dissolve into nothingness, because she screamed as if she was being murdered. Looking up at the face of the Fire Tender she had rolled into, she seemed paralyzed. She kept screaming and screaming, her hands tucked together on her chest, with her head shaking back and forth, and then suddenly, she, too began to dissolve.

  “What is happening?” one of the Fire Tenders yelled, looking directly at him. The others were all looking at him too, as if this was, somehow, his fault. And the other council members were screaming at him, begging him to stop killing them. Everyone was screaming. What was he supposed to do about it? Nobody had bothered to tell him this might happen! He could feel the horrific tension all around him. All of the hatred, fear, and bigotry had come to the surface. He had to do something or they would all end up killing each other, but his heart was racing so fast, it felt like it was lodged in his throat.

  Wait! There was something clawing inside of memories, screaming at him to remember. Some small clue he had noticed earlier, but had dismissed. When Giya had brought the council members to him. What was it? Ignoring the screaming and threats directed his way, his eyes lost focus as he remembered all seven of them, in a line, as if they were lost children, subdued, and fearful. But their eyes hadn’t been filled with fear – no! They hadn’t acted like they were afraid, nor as if they were leaders of a land long-hidden. They had acted like they were … what? Like sheep being led to a slaughter! Yes! At the time, he’d thought they had just been terrified of the Fire Tenders, but instead they were … something else altogether! Reaching out with his senses as Giya had taught him, he felt each heartbeat of the Fire Tenders, but … nothing! None of the council members was alive!

  “Get back!” he shouted to the Fire Tenders, waving his arms. “Get back now!” Too late, he didn’t heed his own warning quickly enough. Instead of dissolving as the other two had done, the bodies of the remaining men and women of the council exploded outward in a shock wave that caught most of them off-guard, including Eruitt. He only saw enough to realize the bodies were made of something other than flesh and blood. Sand? Stone? Bone? There was no blood at all, was the last thing Eruitt thought before he lost consciousness in the concussion that overwhelmed him.

  * * * * * * * *

  Too fast! Too fast! Hadia screamed in her mind, unable to even open her eyes against the force propelling her forward. It was like flying in a tornado, she had no control whatsoever. And the flames of Denit’s body were coming up so fast she was sure she was going to crash right into her, and then she would be burned to a bloody crisp before she even had a chance to do anything. Denit wouldn’t even know what had hit her. Help me! Help me! Help me! she repeated over and over, unable to do anything at all to slow herself down. Serat did this to me, was her last thought before she suddenly found herself suspended immediately in front of Denit, all forward motion completely stopped. It had happened so quickly she felt dizzy, then found herself falling back towards the planet far, far below. She closed her eyes, prepared to die, a profound sense of defeat rushing through her small body. Knowing her husband would die because of her failure was too heavy of a burden. The only hope left to her was that her daughter, Aidena, and granddaughter, Nieva, whom she had raised as her own daughter, had enough of Siri Ventus in them in order to survive what was about to be a world-shattering event.

  * * * * * * * *

  Confused about what she should be doing, Denit paused, her wings continuing to keep her stationary between Lumas, Sov, and the planet. She had rushed forth, as soon as she had transformed, intending to engage Sov so that he would not be able to destroy the planet, and all the people she cared about, but she’d been diverted when he had asked her to save Lumas. Lumas, it turned out, was not in any danger whatsoever, however, and had, in fact, helped her to see that Sov was using her for his own purposes. Still, it was hard to think about actively engaging in battle with her father. She had never had a father, and now that she knew the truth of her parentage, she was being asked to destroy him. She could see that Amphedia was doing a fine job on her own, but she knew it wouldn’t be enough. And still, she hesitated. She should not. She should go. She knew she should, in her very bones. If she didn’t help, it was entirely possible Amphedia would lose the fight and Sov would crash into the planet after all, killing everyone she had ever cared about. Of course, anyone she had truly cared about was already dead … and Sov was going to die no matter what he did. She knew the truth of the matter now. The only way So
v had any chance whatsoever of being able to rise again – once he was well and fully dead, was if he had the crystal that was embedded in her own flesh. She had to admit she was extremely grateful the crystal wasn’t something she could hold in her hand, or talon for that matter, so she wasn’t able to just give it to him. Then he would rise again and the world would go on … the same way it always had – with more and more people being murdered so that her power-mad father would be able to stay alive even longer the next time. Even stronger the next time.

  Why was this so hard? It should be easy to just … She saw something racing towards her! Was someone trying to harm or even kill her? What magic was this? It was ridiculously small, whatever it was, and only visible because of her enhanced sense of sight. Surely something so small wouldn’t be able to harm her … could it? And who would want to hurt her at this point? Surely Sov didn’t have any allies left. Did he?

  Suddenly the dark sky lit up with a translucent image of … what was her name again? She’d seen that woman several times, especially lately. She had been with Giya in the Shield Room. She was the one who had stolen the crystal goblet from Siri Ventus. Hadia, she remembered now. She had been on the beach with Siri Ventus, too, when she’d thought all of them wanted to kill her for being out of control. But why was her image being projected like this? Siri Ventus had used her as her eyes, once Oculis had … oh! She understood as soon as the object hurling towards her intersected the image, then slowed dramatically. The bird – it was a hawk, she could see that now. The hawk must be Hadia! But why was she here, outside of the planet? Siri Ventus must have a hand in whatever was going on, she decided.