Seven Sorcerers(63)

The Panther’s flesh glimmered pale among the yellow roots of the Ethus. Her milky locks were smooth and straight, her eyes black diamonds. The power of those eyes rivaled Zyung’s own, as the dark of midnight rivals the brightness of noonday. Gammir leaned against the tree, his lupine face more handsome than any of the Seraphim. Sungui had enjoyed her tryst with him, yet like most men he had no interest in her male aspect. Ianthe was the only lover who demanded pleasure from both Sungui’s male and female forms, and the Panther had made that demand every night since the first. Sungui relished the fulfilling of that wish.

Zyung’s words rang in her head like shards of dream lingering in a mind not fully awake. Since speaking with him three hours ago, she had meditated privately in her cabin, until Ianthe’s summons had arrived like a whisper of wind.

“I see our numbers have grown,” Sungui said, nodding to the three newcomers.

Durangshara’s robe glimmered as his great belly shook with chuckling. “I should have known Sungui would join your coven, Ianthe,” he said. “Her ambition has been known to us for centuries.” His eyes roamed across the curves of Sungui’s body. He would never have her in either aspect. His brutal proclivities had always disgusted her.

Bahlah and Lochdan merely nodded. They were far more interested in Ianthe’s body than in either of Sungui’s aspects. Gammir, however, stared at Sungui with a knowing smirk. He knew that she had found him irresistible, and he enjoyed the fact. She wondered if Ianthe had lied about Gammir not being her lover. The two seemed well accustomed to decadence and depravity.

Ianthe greeted Sungui with a smile red as blood. “You spoke with the God-King?”

Sungui blinked. “We do not call him this,” she said.

Ianthe threw her head back. “Ah, yes, the Almighty. Forgive me…” Her mockery brought another chuckle from Durangshara.

“His Holiness is also acceptable,” said Sungui. “I spoke with him at some length. Though he did most of the talking.”

“What did he say?” Ianthe asked.

Should I tell her that he does not trust her? Should I inform her that he expects–allows–my defiance? That he gives me license to make up my own mind, believing I will choose his wisdom over my own lust for power?

For some reason she could not yet identify, Sungui chose not to reveal everything.

“He spoke of trust,” she said, “and our holy mission in the Land of the Five Cities. I believe he regrets the deaths he caused today, and those to come. Yet his resolve is unbreakable.”

Ianthe stepped closer. “He does not suspect that you plot against him?”

He does.

“He does not,” Sungui said. “Unless he hides it from me. He knows that he can use your ambitions to his own ends. He plans to fulfill his promise by restoring you to the throne of Khyrei. In his name, of course.”

“Of course,” Ianthe grinned. Her teeth were as white as her skin and hair, bright as pearls, the incisors sharp as tiny knives. Even in her human form, the Panther was never far away from her. “You see? I told you my sorcery would keep our planning from his awareness. Even now he cannot see or sense this meeting directly below his flying seat of power. Unlike you Seraphim, I remain Undiminished in his presence, and that is the soul of our coming victory.”

“Tell me more of this plan,” said Durangshara. “Exactly how will we depose His Holiness and divide his empire? There are too many High Seraphim, even for so many provinces, and not all of them will join us. What of those who refuse? Will they not tip our hand?”

Ianthe ran a single talon along Durangshara’s fleshy jowl. He stood captivated by her eyes. “Patience and confidence is required, Sweet One,” said the Panther. “There is one whose power nearly matches that of Zyung. Even now he prepares a force of Old Breed to confront and destroy your High Lord Celestial. You saw the might displayed by Khama, foolhardy as it was, and I can tell you that Khama will rise again to face us on the mainland. He will join with the one of whom I speak, the one Men call Iardu the Shaper. Others, too, have already joined him. He wakes them from their long dreams, stoking the fires of their power. I have misled your sovereign into believing this will amount to naught, but those who stand against Zyung will be formidable foes.”

“Yet Iardu is your enemy as well,” said Lochdan.

“Forever,” said Ianthe, her hand falling to his lean shoulder. “Yet he believes me vanquished. His eyes are upon Zyung and this Holy Armada. All his power, and the powers of those he gathers, will be aimed at the God-King. This is a final confrontation that has brewed for ten thousand years.”