Allan Cole: The Gods Awaken

"You are such a pretty fellow," she murmured to him in her most alluring tones. "Kneeling there so handsomely before me you fair make my poor heart leap."

Tabusir knocked his head against the ground, saying, "I am but a man, Majesty. A worshipful man, burning with love for you. If only I dared take you in my arms and kiss you!"

"Soon, my handsome one, soon," Clayre said, only partly lying. "Pray be patient. For I yearn for you as much as you yearn for me."

Then she drew the spy up, looking full into his eyes. Delighting at her effect on him as he seemed to quiver and quake with desire.

She drew a long tube from her bodice and handed it to him. "I've made this for my son," she said.

And he pulled the two halves apart, revealing a sharp dart. Tabusir started to test the point with his finger, but she stopped him, saying, "Don't touch the point, my dear. It's poisoned, you know."

With a brisk intake of breath, Tabusir snatched his fingers away just in time. He glanced down and saw that the needle-point of the dart was smeared with a yellowish paste.

"One prick of the dart will do," Clayre said. She pointed down the hill, where Jooli and the Kyranians were hammering their way through her son's lines.

"If my granddaughter should win through," she said, "there's a good chance she'll try to turn my son against me. If this happens, you only need to get close enough to the king to throw the dart.

"It won't kill him, for, as I told you last night, that is not my desire. But it will immobilize him-freeze his body and his will-until we decide what to do with him."

Tabusir examined the dart closely. Marveling at its handworked design. The Lady Lottyr's face had been carved on one side. And the needle's shaft had been lovingly stropped many times before the poison was applied.

"But what of Queen Jooli?" Tabusir asked. "Even if we remove your son, she'll still be a threat."

"Never mind Jooli," Clayre said. "I have plans to deal with her. It is my son who worries me the most."

Actually, it was Kalasariza€™ presence inside her son that terrified her. The king and the cunning spymaster made a formidable combination. Naturally, she said nothing of this to her new ally.

Smiling, Tabusir leaned close to Clayre, whispering, "I am yours to command, my queen. But might I beg of you one kiss to steel my nerve and send me on my way?"

Clayre thought, Why not? Tabusir really was quite handsome as well as clever. Of course, after he attacked her son, he'd have to be put to death himself for treating a member of the royal family in such a manner. Still, there was no harm in a kiss, was there?

And so she kissed him, full and deep. She was delighted when she felt Tabusir shudder.

But as she gently pushed him away, he whispered, "Here's a gift, Majesty, from your loving son."

And he rammed the poisoned dart into her soft, heaving breast.

Instantly, Clayre become immobilized-freezing into a living statue. Her expression was one of great surprise.

"You see, Majesty," Tabusir said. "After I spoke to you last night, I reported to your son. And he made me a much better offer."

He kissed her immobile face, rudely crushing his lips against hers.

Then Tabusir turned away and strolled off to see how the king was faring against his daughter.

Leiria ground her teeth impatiently as she waited for Rhodes to spring his trap on Jooli. From her hiding place in the rubble of a destroyed farmhouse she watched her friend lead the charge through the castle gates.

Sequestered in other nearby places were fifty Kyranian soldiers, all aching to join the battle.

On either side of her were Renor and Sinch and she heard their gasps of alarm as several enemy soldiers confronted Jooli. Then they sighed in relief when the warrior woman easily cut them down.

"Silence!" Leiria hissed. "You'll give us away!"

Not that she blamed them for displaying their youthful tension. She was damned tense, herself. They'd all crept out into the teeth of the storm several hours before dawn.

Drenched to the bone, buffeted by fierce winds, they'd had to fight a battle with the elements long before they were set to engage Rhodes. In the end they managed to set up a perfect double ambush-finding hiding places on either side of the road that Jooli would use.

And they were well back from the positions Leiria knew the king's soldiers would take when they made themselves ready for Jooli.

She hated to admit it, but the whole thing had been Iraj's idea. A master tactician, Iraj had immediately guessed what Rhodes would do after Lottyr reported back to the king that the Kyranians planned a surprise attack the moment the storm ended.

With Queen Yorlain as her slave, Lottyr had obviously overheard every detail of their planning session in Safar's quarters.

"He'll have a surprise attack of his own planned," Iraj had said, using his own voice. "But we'll be ready for him!"

"With me as bait for the trap?" Jooli had asked, eyes glowing at the prospect.

"Exactly," Iraj had said.

Leiria shuddered at the memory of that odd scene. Iraj's voice issuing from the lips of her lover. It had made her feel filthy all over.

She pushed those thoughts away. This was not the time and place for such weaknesses. But she couldn't help wondering for just a moment if she and Safar would ever have a life together.

Leiria bit her lower lip, using the pain to wipe that question from her mind.

Hells, most likely they'd all be dead by the day's end!

She concentrated on Jooli and her soldiers. Saw them fight their way along the road, leaving dead and wounded men in their wake. Saw the shadowy forms of Rhodesa€™ troops creeping in from every side.

Saw the defiant flag of Rhodes fluttering over his command post far up the hill.

Then, as Jooli and her troops reached the bend in the road, Leiria saw the enemy soldiers leap up on every side of her. She heard them shout shrill battle cries as they closed the trap.

"Now!" Leiria cried.

Drawing her sword she leaped to her feet and gave the signal that triggered Iraj's double trap.

Rhodes gaped like a village fool when he saw Leiria and her men suddenly leap up and attack his men from behind.

"Where the hells did she come from?" he shouted.

But there was no one to answer, for his officers were as stunned as their king to see such a perfect plan foiled.

It was all over in a few moments. There were terrified shrieks of surprise from his own men, mingled with the clash of steel against steel as the Kyranians worked their awful will.

And then the ambush site was reduced to a bloody mess of soldiers groaning their last, while the Kyranians stood around, leaning on their swords and laughing or slapping one another on the back, no doubt saying what clever fellows they all were.

He saw Jooli and Leiria meet, embracing like sisters. Then turning to look up the hill in his direction. He saw Jooli point straight at him and had no doubt about what she was saying to Leiria.

Rhodes turned and caught sight of Tabusir standing nearby, as stunned by the turnabout as everyone else.

"Send for my mother!" Rhodes shouted at the spy, all his fears and anxieties spilling over the cliffs of reason.

Tabusir gawked at him. "But, Majesty," he said, "your mother can't come, remember?"

"What did you do? What did you do?" Rhodes babbled, drawing his sword.

"Only as you asked, Majesty," Tabusir replied, edging backward, trying to get out of the king's range.

But two officers moved in on either side, grabbing him by the arms.

"Please, Majesty!" Tabusir begged, feeling his carefully built world suddenly crumble beneath him. "I only dealt with your mother as she would have dealt with you. I only did what you commanded!"

"Damn you!" Rhodes roared. "How dare you turn my own words against me? I am the king!"