Planetary Passions

An Ellora’s Cave Romantica Publication

www.ellorascave.com

Renegade Aquarius ISBN # 1-4199-0508-2 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Renegade Aquarius Copyright© 2006 Samantha Winston. Edited by Ann Leveille. Cover art by Lissa Waitley & Syneca. Electronic book Publication: February 2006

This book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the publisher, Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.® 1056 Home Avenue, Akron OH 443103502. This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the authors’ imagination and used fictitiously.

Warning: The following material contains graphic sexual content meant for mature readers. This book has been rated S-ensuous by a minimum of three independent reviewers. Ellora’s Cave Publishing offers three levels of Romantica™ reading entertainment: S (S-ensuous), E (Erotic), and X (X-treme). S-ensuous love scenes are explicit and leave nothing to the imagination. E-rotic love scenes are explicit, leave nothing to the imagination, and are high in volume per the overall word count. In addition, some E-rated titles might contain fantasy material that some readers find objectionable, such as bondage, submission, same sex encounters, forced seductions, and so forth. E-rated titles are the most graphic titles we carry; it is common, for instance, for an author to use words such as “fucking”, “cock”, “pussy”, and such within their work of literature. X-treme titles differ from E-rated titles only in plot premise and storyline execution. Unlike E-rated titles, stories designated with the letter X tend to contain controversial subject matter not for the faint of heart.

RENEGADE AQUARIUS

Samantha Winston

Dedication For Maddie and Sue, the best critique partners a writer could wish for—Thank you!

Renegade Aquarius

Prologue This is not, despite appearances, a simple story about a dissatisfied young man who runs away from his responsibilities. For one thing, the young man is an Aquarius, and one thing you should always keep in mind when dealing with an Aquarius is that nothing is as it seems. For another thing, the young man’s responsibilities involve ruling a kingdom—a kingdom in the clouds—and caring for an ancient scepter that some believe is cursed and others believe is blessed. Castles in the clouds are rare, but this one is part of a quartet of castles—and the young prince is part of a quartet of rulers who live in this land. There are many people in the land, but the person who interests us is right now standing just inside the front gate of the city, his feet firmly on the ground, his head in the clouds. But as he takes one last step he comes out of the mist and stands for a minute, silent, his hands clenched at his sides, and looks over the moonlit scene. The road curves down from the mountain kingdom toward the plains—for that’s where he’s heading—and there are few people on the road at this hour. That’s fine by him. He doesn’t want anyone to notice him. He’s intent on running away. Back in his room, a bundle of cloth in his bed makes it look like he’s still curled up, soundly sleeping. Just before he left, he went to pay a last visit to the scepter. Since he was a baby he’d been able to hear the scepter’s thoughts. Most people scoffed when he told them this— but some believed him. When he was little, he told anyone who’d listen that the scepter was sentient—that it was alive. So he went to the throne room, where the scepter lay in a crystal case, and bent over it. “I’m leaving now,” he said softly. The scepter was silent, but the prince could hear a faint sigh from it. 5

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“I won’t forget what you told me,” he said. He glanced around him nervously. Time was running out. “Good-bye then,” he said, trying one last time to get the scepter to talk. But the scepter remained stubbornly silent and the prince left, suddenly doubting his motives and reasons for leaving…which is possibly what the scepter had in mind all along.

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Chapter One

Anu: Fire Ten Years Later… The dangerous part was next. She had to do a flip and then somersault in the air and land on her hands. All that backwards. She counted a beat in her head, fixed a spot in the sky, and threw her hands back toward the narrow wooden beam. She didn’t want to fall. The beam wasn’t high—but the fire burning beneath it and on either side was scorching. She had almost finished her movement when suddenly a gust of wind caught her unawares. The wind blew sideways and flames leapt up, singeing her hair and leaving a welt on her cheek. Leonie tried to compensate for the disturbance. She kicked her feet over her head and landed on her hands. She wobbled and heard a huge gasp but it didn’t distract her. She kept her eyes fixed on the wooden beam in the middle of the raging fire. Sparks flew into the air as the breeze fanned the fire, making it rage and crackle. Leonie leapt into the air and twisted sideways before landing again. She didn’t miss the beam. She spun on one foot, leaned over and did another handstand, arching her back until her feet touched the beam a mere hand’s span away from her head. Bent thus, her hips in the air, her hands and feet on the beam, she felt suddenly very vulnerable. But she kicked her feet into the air once again and used the impetus to spring upright. The crowd, white clouds puffing from their mouths, pressed forward as much for warmth as to congratulate her for the spectacle. A round of applause greeted her bow, and she was satisfied to hear the clink of coins in the hat that Simon passed around. Excellent. If only the wind hadn’t acted up, her performance would have been perfect. She smelled burnt hair now and sighed. She’d tied it in a tight bun, but tendrils escaped. Now one strand was frazzled and her cheek had started to sting.

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She gave one more leap, landing lightly on the ground in front of the beam. The fire felt hot on her back. She stayed there for a minute, for she loved the heat and her bonfire was a pool of light and warmth in the inky chill. Hurriedly, she slipped her feet back into the warm slippers she’d left at the foot of the beam, and Simon handed her a cloak of wool lined with soft flannel. Winter gripped the land in its fist; frost sparkled on the roofs and windows, the farmers’ and townsfolks’ breath left white plumes in the evening air, and everyone bundled in thick coats and cloaks. The moon was rising now above the frost-laced slate roofs. It was a sickle moon, its points looking dangerously sharp in the cold air. Then a trumpet blew and Freya, the next performer, mounted her gray horse, and the crowd hurried to press around the makeshift ring in the midst of the village square. They’d put sawdust over the frozen ground and used bales of hay to form the circumference of the ring. On the broad back of her gray horse, Freya danced and spun, leapt through rings of paper and fire, and charmed the crowd with her lithesome grace. Freya was from Ea, a land near the sea, famed for its horses and trainers. Leonie would have liked to have seen some of Freya’s act, even though she’d seen it countless times before, but she had to rub some salve on her cheek. She headed for her caravan, parked just outside the city gates, hurrying because she had to be back to act as ringmaster for Hercules, Raymondo, Darvin and Suze when they presented their Quartette Adagio act. Three strong men and a small, extremely agile woman. The villagers really loved that part of the show. Her fire dance and Freya’s capering on horseback were just to whet the appetite. The real magic started when the jugglers, wolf tamers, wire walkers, knife throwers, strongman and acrobats took over the ring. She arrived in front of the door to her caravan and stopped. Someone stood in the shadows. “Who’s there?” Leonie wasn’t afraid. She had been to places that reeked of danger. This town was peaceful, part of the kingdom of Marduk, whose lands were fertile and whose towns were rich.

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“Are you Leonie?” “Yes. Who are you?” “I’ve been looking for you. I want to join your circus.” The voice was that of a young man, and as he stepped out of the shadows into the starlight, Leonie could see that he would be an advantage to her circus—no matter what he did. On second thought, she’d better make sure he had some sort of skill. She might be the leader of the troupe, but she didn’t hire people for looking good. And yet, something about him struck a chord in her the second she set eyes on him. He was tall, with broad shoulders made broader by the heavy cloak he wore. His hair caught the starlight and she saw it was pale brown, like silverwood, but his eyes were very dark. His eyes were what she noticed the most about him. They held the night within them, so dark they appeared, but his emotions and thoughts showed clearly. Or perhaps he only showed her what he wanted to. Who was this man? It had been ages since she’d quivered just from a look…but then again, his gaze was anything but simple. Arrogance, first of all, then humor, intelligence, interest, and something else showed in his regard. It was strange how strongly he could communicate just with his eyes. She literally had to pinch herself to tear her own eyes from his keen gaze. “Wait a minute.” She reached up, opened the door to her caravan and went inside. For a second she leaned her back against the door, trying to compose herself. Then she shook her head. “Stop it Leonie,” she said sternly to herself. “He’s just a handsome stranger looking for a job.” The salve was in her medicine cupboard, and she dabbed it on her cheek. She couldn’t resist checking her makeup in the small, round mirror hanging on the wall. Nothing was badly smeared. She wiped a trace of ashes from her forehead, smoothed her marigold-bright hair and, her heart beating strangely fast, she went back outside in the frigid night to see if the young man was still there. He was. He leaned against the caravan, his cloak drawn up to his chin, his expression pensive.

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“So, what can you offer to my troupe?” she asked. And mentally she chalked up a point in his favor. He’d heard of her troupe, obviously, because he’d come to her. So he understood she was in charge. Some men hated that. “I can juggle water with my sword,” he said. “Actually, I cast illusions. Am an illusionist, if you prefer. I work with swords, ice and water, crystals and silk scarves.” As he spoke, although they were in the shelter of the caravan, the breeze tugged at his hair. Leonie looked closer. Yes, he was Enlil, from the kingdom in the sky. No doubt about that. A cloud man. Tall, sandy-haired, with steady dark eyes. Cloud men were unpredictable—she’d known a few and been to Cloud City enough times to know that you should never assume anything about them. But if an Enlil said something, it was usually the truth. An illusionist. Well, she was a daughter of the burning desert, and a pragmatist. What he needed was a baptism by fire. “If you want to join my troupe, you can perform tonight. I’ll introduce you right after the next-to-last act.” “Fine.” His gaze didn’t even flicker, unless it was a spark of amusement she saw deep within his eyes. Laconic, too. She liked that. Her people, the Anu, from the land of fire, were loquacious and passionate. There were no other Enlil people in her troupe. He would be an interesting addition. And the cold wouldn’t bother him, unlike her. She was always shivering and looking for a warm fire. A shout from the village square reminded her where she was. In the land of the Marduk, home of farmers and merchants. The laughter grew louder. The scene was almost finished, then. She nodded at the man. “Be ready when I call you. What’s your name?” “Aquarius,” he said, and the smile that had until then only played at the corners of his mouth widened, showing almost straight teeth and a dimple. Damn. A dimple. “Is that your real name?” Her eyebrows lifted. “Most people don’t go by the name of their birth signs.” 10

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He shrugged. “My mother had no imagination.” She wasn’t going there. Leonie shut her door and thumb-locked it. “Come when I call you then,” she said, and strode toward the light and the music. She didn’t look back. The show was going well tonight. The clear, star-spangled sky had something to do with that. A circus in the rain never drew much of a crowd. The light from the bonfire and from the torches flickered on the faces of people in the stands, they all had wide grins. Below the stands where the wealthy landowners sat were the peasants, standing room only, and despite their ragged clothes and uncomfortable position on the ground, they too looked on with obvious amusement. Hercules lifted his two partners into the air. They locked arms and leaned out backwards, and Suze, light as a butterfly, clambered up the human ladder and did handsprings from one man’s shoulders to the other’s. Their show ended with that, and it was Lupin’s turn with his trained wolves. The crowd pressed in then shrank back as nine black wolves trotted into the ring, their yellow eyes narrowed, their hackles raised. Lupin, dressed in black like his wolves, stalked into the middle of the ring and the wolves sat in a circle around him. One by one they did their acts, walking on their hind legs or front legs, jumping through hoops, dancing together or rolling on the ground and playing dead. There was a collective murmur of unease from the crowd because wolves had a bad reputation in this land of fat sheep and sleepy chickens. When they left the ring the murmur turned into a sigh of relief. The jugglers were next, Zoe and Zara. Both were from her land of Anu. They juggled with fire and swallowed fire too, spurting it out in great gusts from their mouths. Clapping and cheers greeted the end of their show, and coins rained down from the stands in bright copper flashes. And then it was Aquarius’ turn. Leonie felt a tremor run through her, and found herself hoping he’d be good enough to keep.

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She took her place in the center of the ring and announced in ringing tones, “Tonight we have a surprise for you. All the way from Cloud City, I present Aquarius, Master of Illusions.” The wind picked up almost as soon as she finished speaking. The torches flickered eerily, and Aquarius appeared at her side. She stifled a gasp. It was as if the breeze carried him in. He bowed to the crowd and Leonie left the ring, going to stand between Hercules and Suze. “Where did the Enlil come from?” Suze asked. “Cloud City. He arrived tonight. Found him outside my caravan.” Leonie felt Suze’s eyes boring into her and she tried to look bland. “He seems pretty good,” Leonie said as Aquarius conjured a sword out of thin air. Leonie knew he’d been hiding it in his cloak, where else? But the illusion was good. Nearly perfect. She narrowed her eyes, trying to see a flaw. Two swords now, and then a flask. Interesting. And then a knife. He put the handle of the knife in his mouth, holding it delicately, and then set the swords upon it, both of them, balancing on their tips upon the knife’s blade. The whisper that ran around the edges of the crowd was awed. Leonie saw the women all lean forward, drinking him in with greedy glances. He was handsome. Especially the way he held himself—he had a commanding presence. He had chiseled cheekbones and was elegantly tall and thin. Almost too thin for a man, but it suited him. There was a certain airy, aesthetic look to him that captured regard and held it. His own gaze was both dark and assured. His eyes were deep-set and the shadows made them mysterious. Staring directly at her now, he took the swords down and balanced the flask, playfully tossing it into the air with the flick of the knife then catching it now on the blade, now on the tip. He tossed the flask high and put the knife back in his pocket while the flask was still in the air. Smiling, he caught it, upended the flask and poured water out into his cupped hand. Then he opened his hand and held a crystal ball. He 12

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threw the ball into the air, where firelight caught it and made it sparkle. Then he balanced it on the tip of one sword, and then the other sword. Back and forth flew the ball, and then two other balls joined the first one and he juggled them lightly with the blades, now on the tip, now on the edge. Then he lined them up on the edge of his sword and held them there. Then he tipped the sword down and the balls slid down toward the flask…and turned into water again. Astonished cries sounded from the audience. And then wild applause. It was a short act but intense, and fascinating. He held much promise, this Enlil. She liked him. She felt a sort of languid warmth flowing through her body and knew she didn’t just like him…she craved him. But some things are better if you wait for them. She caught his eyes as he left the ring. From the way he looked at her she knew he wouldn’t want to wait. She felt the heat in his gaze. But she knew all about fire. A smile curled her mouth as she went to the center of the ring to announce the last act. Teaching him to wait would be most enjoyable.

After the show Leonie went to talk business with the Enlil. “I’ll hire you,” she said bluntly. “But I need to know your real name. You can keep Aquarius for your stage name, but we have to call you something, and I hate anything with more than two syllables.” “It’s so hard to scream three syllables while lost in passion,” he said, looking at her keenly. “The name.” She was a master at the game of seduction. It would be on her terms, in her own time. She let his gaze caress her though. It was both hot and cool, and her heart beat faster. It nearly jumped out of her chest when he reached forward and touched her cheek. His fingertip was cool, and strangely soothing on the burn. “You can call me Regis if you want,” he said, tracing the welt lightly. “Does this still hurt?” The amusement had faded from his eyes, making him look older, somehow, than before. She’d thought him very young—younger than she was. Now she wasn’t sure. 13

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“No, it doesn’t.” She drew back. “Regis. You can share Simon’s caravan for now. Simon? Can you come here? This is Regis Aquarius, and until we can get him his own caravan, he’ll be sharing yours.” Simon was the troupe’s handyman. He built sets, helped with acts and was one of the rare persons who could caress Lupin’s wolves. He hailed from Ea, like Freya and Lupin, and he was small and lithe with black hair and dark blue eyes. The people of Ea were good with animals, like horses and dogs, and also impressive builders. Simon had earned his place in her troupe many times over, and Leonie paid him a bigger share of the earnings than most of her performers. Because of this, and because he was a kindhearted person, he gave Regis a friendly smile and said, “Follow me. I’m always glad of company.” Leonie hoped she wasn’t putting a crimp on Simon’s evening. But if she had, he didn’t complain. He put his hand on Regis’ shoulder and led him off into the night. She rubbed her arms and shivered. It would have been nice to invite Regis into her caravan. His warm body would have come in handy on such a cold night. But she was going to wait and see what kind of man the Enlil was first. If she hadn’t hired him, she’d be between the sheets with him right now, but they were going to have to live together. And that meant taking time and getting to know each other first. A hasty love affair often ended in a hasty departure. Leonie shook her head. For some reason she was sure the Enlil was worth getting to know better.

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Chapter Two Enlil: Air

He had given her the name Regis. Aquarius was what the scepter had always called him, and it was the name he called himself. Regis was what the guards had called him. Leonie hadn’t believed him, and that was some comfort. She didn’t take things at face value. He had bet on the fact she would look below the surface. But he had to be careful. There were those who would remember and perhaps ask questions. Now he had to hide, to forget about the past for a while, until the past forgot about him. There were more thoughts whirling around in his head than he liked, and they kept him from falling asleep. Yet he was tired. The voyage had taken its toll. He’d been on the road for more than a year now looking for the right troupe. He’d planned this for too long to have it end in disaster. And it might yet still end in disaster. He held himself still, hoping his restlessness would not disturb Simon, whose hospitality had been faultless. From a comfortable spare bed with fresh sheets, to a cup of hot tea and a cold beef pastry for dinner, Simon had made him feel welcome. Of course, he was now part of the troupe, and anyone who spent much time in closed quarters with other people knew how to ease tensions and make others feel at ease. Simon was a master at that. Aquarius recognized and admired proficiency in any domain. A soft snore came from Simon’s side of the caravan. A blanket strung up between two hooks made a wall. Simon had promised to make a better one on the morrow. But Aquarius didn’t want to share Simon’s caravan for very long. His goal was single-minded. He was going to be in Leonie’s caravan, and sooner than she thought. He knew what she wanted, the lusty glances she threw his way spoke volumes. So did the way she held herself aloof. Tease and torment, and hold them at arm’s length until

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she was ready. Bait the trap, lure him in, both hunter and prey taking pleasure in the catch. But he didn’t have time for her games. Even as much as he would have liked to play. Simon had been welcoming, but his questions had showed that news still lingered, even through the land of Marduk. “So you are Enlil.” It was a statement, not a question, and Aquarius had nodded, accepting a cup of steaming spice tea. “When did you leave Cloud City? Did you ever hear stories of the prince’s disappearance?” Aquarius had smiled and nodded. “Of course I heard. It’s all anyone talked about back then.” “Strange story,” Simon had continued, shaking his head. “No one knows much about the prince. Did you, coming from Cloud City, ever see him?” Simon loved gossip, it seemed. Even old gossip, and this was old now. But apparently the prince of Enlil was still news to some, and always would be. “No, of course not.” Aquarius knew the rules. The prince was kept prisoner until his twenty-fifth birthday. And then, only then, would he be allowed to show himself to his people, holding the sacred scepter. As the firstborn son, he was the only person who could hold the scepter without dying as soon as he touched it. “So what happens if the prince isn’t there on his twenty-fifth birthday is what I want to know. It’s getting close now, and the rumors are flying fast and thick.” Aquarius had given him a crooked grin. “According to the legends, the world will end. Personally I think they’ll just find another prince and give the scepter to him.” “So you’re not worried?” Simon had looked almost disappointed that he didn’t believe in the upcoming end of the world. “No. It’s just a custom. A silly custom at that,” said Aquarius. He’d felt his temper start to fray and had been annoyed with himself. He always got questions about the prince and the scepter, that was normal. Why had Simon’s questions bothered him so?

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“Different cultures have different customs,” Simon had then said. “In Ea, for example, rulers have to prove themselves masters of the ocean. They must dive to the bottom of the sacred lake and enter the palace by the underwater entrance. Not all of them survived that test either. I think what happened was the young prince, being a coward, decided to flee rather than risk being killed by the scepter.” “That is what many say,” said Aquarius. “Others say he wanted to escape the virtual imprisonment of his station. The Enlil keep their rulers inside Cloud City and rarely do they venture out.” “What was done about his disappearance?” Simon had asked. “Swift seekers were sent to search.” Aquarius had taken a sip of tea and grinned. “Say that five times fast.” “And I heard that the king’s health took a dramatic turn for the worse not long ago.” Aquarius had sighed. “Yes. I left soon after that announcement. Sometimes it’s not good to be in a city when the ruler dies. You never know who will gain power and where his or her sympathies lie. As an entertainer, I thought it best to leave until I found out if the next ruler would be as lenient toward our guild. If not, I may apply for citizenship elsewhere. How is Ea for illusionists? Would I be welcome there?” Simon had scratched his chin. “Oh, we’re a fairly welcoming society. You’d have to like the water though, and the darkness. Our land is a wild place, full of swamps, oceans, deep cloud cover and endless salt marshes where the white horses roam. I’m from the salt marsh myself, and so is Freya. Lupin is from the Twisted Forest, lying next to the marsh. The black wolves prey upon the horses, and Freya had the worst time getting her steeds to accept Lupin’s wolves.” “I should think so,” Aquarius had said, relieved that the conversation had turned from his people and the disappearance of the young prince. But his relief had been short-lived. “So who rules Enlil now?” 17

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“The king still rules,” Aquarius had said shortly. “Along with his prime minister, Lord Fallocation.” “Lord Fallocation. Now there’s a name well-known in Ea. He came not three weeks ago to talk to the king and queen of Ea. Just so happened the troupe was in Ea then.” Simon chuckled. “When was this? Three weeks ago?” Aquarius had heard his knuckles crack and forced himself to unclench his fist. What could Lord Fallocation have been doing in Ea? Had he been looking for him? “Oh yes. Our troupe is invited by royalty to all the courts. You’ve fallen in with the best, son. Have some pastry. It’s cold, but very good,” Simon had said, cutting a wedge from a beef pie. “Thank you, I will.” Aquarius had eaten and prepared himself for bed, all the while hoping his shock at Simon’s information about Lord Fallocation hadn’t shown in his voice or manner. Sometimes it was hard not to react to certain news. Like when he’d first heard that his father was so ill. Perhaps he should have gone to see him, or at the very least gone to Cloud City, but he didn’t think his own father would recognize him now—not that he’d set eyes on him very many times. Besides, the only reason he would go back would be to free his brothers and sisters, and to see the scepter one last time. Was he a rebel? He wondered sometimes. He belonged to no group, but groups had formed because of him. He’d helped sow the seeds of the rebellion, of that he was sure. Had he done it on his own or had he been manipulated by the scepter? He might never know. When he thought of his life before, he had nightmares, so he tried to turn his thoughts elsewhere. But elsewhere was suddenly Leonie, and it was even harder to sleep with a stiff cock. Smothering a groan, he turned over and curled around his hard-on. It had been far too long since he’d had any release, but he couldn’t let himself be turned from his 18

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mission. The scepter had been clear about that. One of the lessons had been about abstinence and single-mindedness to the mission. “Don’t get involved. Don’t fall in love. No women. No men. No animals.” Aquarius had snorted at that, but the scepter held a dismal view of humanity, “having been so long in the world”—the scepter’s own words. It had let Aquarius snort, then had continued in a prim yet steely voice, “All right. No animals then. Remember this. If you fail, your brothers and sisters are lost for all time. If you fail, Lord Fallocation will use you to seize the power of the throne and everything you hold dear will be lost. If you succeed, then I will shatter and you will finally be free. If I shatter, there will be no need for a rebellion. You’ll see. The rebels in all the kingdoms will win without a fight.” The last argument had come almost as an afterthought, and Aquarius often wondered if the scepter had made that one up. And lately he’d come to wonder if the scepter had invented it all, and that he had failed, even before he had started. Because the thought that terrified him the most was this—what if the scepter had made it all up? What if it was part of the test the prince had to pass—and he’d failed the moment he’d accepted the mission and left the kingdom? Perhaps his destiny was simply to become lost in the faceless mass of humanity, with no future…and no past. But that was too painful to contemplate, and so he lay there, visions of Leonie’s naked body contorting in his mind until he fell asleep, both hands wrapped around his sticky cock, exhausted and finally sated. Of course, waking up with one’s hands stuck to one’s cock was not an agreeable way to start the day. The sun was shining though, and that was always a treat for someone who’d grown up in a land swathed in permanent, thick cloud cover. Aquarius unstuck his hands, washed himself up in a basin Simon had left in the tiny washroom and dressed in his traveling clothes. He had two sets of clothing. His traveling clothes consisted of warm pants, tall boots well-worn from walking, a fine linen shirt, a warm woolen tunic and a soft leather jacket. They were well-made and suitable for work, too. His other set of clothes was for show. A black outfit made of fine 19

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wool, a cape, some not-so-comfortable boots—and all that sewn with secret pockets, pouches and places to hide his crystals, knives, swords and flasks. The boots were not comfortable because they too hid things. An ingenious magician had made his accoutrements. Someone the scepter had told him to see. When the doubts grew too strong Aquarius would think of the magician and figure that the scepter had at least gotten one thing right. Of course, you never knew with the damn scepter. He went out of the caravan and saw that they’d started packing up to leave. There wasn’t much he could do yet, until he’d learned his place, so he offered his muscle power when he could, nearly breaking his back in the effort of lifting Leonie’s balance beam by himself before Hercules came to help him, and then getting one of his feet crushed when Freya’s horse stepped sideways unexpectedly. He waved off Freya’s apologies, fully aware of the grin she’d given the others. Leading her horse was just one of the tests he’d have to pass. But these tests were nothing to the ones he’d endured growing up. This was nothing. Well, almost nothing. He looked askance at Lupin as he waved him over to help put his wolves in their cages.

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Chapter Three Leonie

Leonie watched as the newcomer worked. There was something not quite normal about him. Not wrong, mind you, she said to herself, just not quite right. Why, for example, did he wear that affable smile no matter what happened? The horse trod on him, the beam knocked into his ribs, the wolf snapped at him and tore a rent in his fine pants…and fine they were, too. She recognized good quality when she saw it. But he never lost his temper. He never raised his voice or seemed out of patience. Even when Raymondo, the juggler, “accidentally” let his wooden balls slip and fall on Regis’ head. Regis had rubbed his head and then shook it when Raymondo asked if he were hurt. Then he went on with what he’d been doing—untying the knots Hercules had put in the rope…a rope Hercules tied up every night for the show. The knots were horrific to undo. Normally Hercules did it but Regis, being the newcomer, would get all the worst jobs now. And he didn’t seem to mind a bit. The strange thing was, Leonie had the strongest urge to go over and help him with the knots. She wanted him to look up and see her, and smile. But not that bland, friendly smile he bestowed on everyone. She wanted a smile that singled her out and said, “I’ve been waiting for you all my life.” That was the kind of smile she wanted to coax from him, but she had a feeling that Regis was the type of person to make up his own mind. It would be hard to influence him. She frowned. She knew people. Her intuition was so strong it almost seemed like magic sometimes. She could practically read thoughts, but it was simply the talent to understand the tiny, almost unconscious movements and expressions people used. It helped make her what she was today—the leader of a very profitable and well-known

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troupe of traveling minstrels and entertainers. She was welcome in all the four kingdoms and her troupe was expected to perform in all the royal courts. She said what people wanted to hear, and could manipulate most people into thinking and doing what she wanted. In Ea they had been received like royalty because she knew people— knew how to read their reactions, to judge their views and to anticipate their actions. So why couldn’t she penetrate Regis’ thoughts? His smile was like a smooth, rounded wall with no edges, no place to grip and no hint of what lay behind it. That alone made him infinitely interesting and desirable to her. She put on her most sultry look and went to stand in front of him. “I can ask Hercules to take care of his own knots if you have something else you’d like to do,” she said. He looked at her, and all that showed in his expression was polite interest. “Thank you, but I said I’d finish this, so I will. If you have something else for me to do, I’ll be glad to get to it once this is done.” He went back to picking at the knots in the rough, prickly cord. Already one of his fingers bled. He sucked on it absently and then continued his chore. No, he was not like anyone else she’d ever known. Leonie liked a mystery. She sat down next to him. There wasn’t much room on the bale of straw, so they touched at the hip and again at the shoulder. He moved over a bit and she shifted too, keeping the contact. And now their thighs touched. He undid a knot and started on another. Leonie let her head tip back, ostensibly basking in the sun. She let her cloak slide off her shoulders. Her breasts jutted out. Her décolleté was impressive. She’d worn a lowcut blouse. “It’s a beautiful day,” she said. “You must enjoy this, coming from Cloud City.” She felt his attention shift upon her like a sighted arrow. “Yes,” he said, after a second. It was the slight hesitation that told her she’d found her mark.

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“Tell me about Cloud City. I’ve never been there.” That was a lie, but she was good at lies. “It’s dark nearly all day. The clouds make a fog so deep it’s impossible to see the sky. At night the clouds sometimes lift though, and we can see down to the valleys below. But during the day we’re lost in a…cloud.” He shook his head and pulled at the rope. “That’s why there are so many tunnels and covered alleys. We live in perpetual gloom, lit only by lamps or torches. Some say that’s why the Enlil have the most beautiful glass in the world. Our lamps can make the dark seem day, and they are colored to lift the spirit.” All right. So he knew a bit about the city. That didn’t prove anything. Enlil came from the north, from the mountains, but not all of them were from Cloud City. Some were from isolated valleys and others were from other cities on other mountains. Cloud City was the biggest, though. “Is it true what they say?” she asked. “That Cloud City is the biggest in the world?” When she’d been there as a child, it had seemed to her that the city was even bigger than the world. Nothing had impressed her as much as the city perched on the mountaintops, with whole mountains hollowed out to make more room for the city. An underground city in the sky was how it seemed. And when you went to the tops of the turrets, and there were thousands of such lookout stations, the whole world was spread at your feet, but all that could be seen was a white swath of cloud so thick and soft it seemed solid, and thousands of other turrets poking up above the whiteness like needles stuck in cotton. “I think perhaps it’s true,” said Regis, as he pulled on the last knot. He was already on the last knot? That was fast. “What about the prince? Why do you think no one ever found him?” She watched him carefully, but he simply shrugged. “They didn’t know where to look.”

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Leonie wasn’t used to such reticence. Normally men were talkative around her, tried to impress her. She felt her confidence slip. And what if she’d misjudged him? Misjudged the look he’d given her last night? There was one way to find out. She gave a sigh and stood, arched her back and stretched, making sure he was watching out of the corner of her eye. He watched. He just didn’t react. “It’s almost lunch time,” she said. “Are you hungry? I am.” The double entendre. She waited for him to respond. He did, but not how she expected. He looked at her and said, “You’re so calculating. Each of your moves is thought out ahead of time. There is no spontaneity in you at all.” “What?” she sputtered. “You have to let go.” He finished what he was doing with the rope and looked at it, head cocked. He’d made a sort of noose. “This should do the trick,” he said, holding it up. “You forget who you’re talking to,” she snapped. She turned and was going to walk away but the noose settled over her and he pulled it tight, pinning her arms to her sides. Another pull and a twist and she was facing him, standing not a hand’s span away. That was going too far. She struggled, but he held her still with absurd ease. “I’m going to make you forget yourself,” he said, his voice low, almost threatening. “I’m going to make you forget about your looks, your hair, your legs, your body…all you are going to think about is the fire in your belly and the hard, fast thrust of my hips. All you’re going to want is release. A release only I can give you, when I want to give it to you. Not before.” “You’re out of your mind.”

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He just smiled, and this time the dimple was in place. “You’re going to listen to me, and obey me, and not think about anything but what I tell you to think about. And you’re going to love it.” She stared at him, speechless. How could he be so conceited? And if what he said was true? What irked her was that he seemed to know her deepest, darkest secrets…the ones she was the most ashamed of…and they only amused him. “Let me go,” she hissed. He pulled the noose tighter and she gasped. “Don’t think. Just react,” he said, and he leaned down and kissed her. His lips were soft, the prickle of his beard sharp, and the rope holding her was so tight she could hardly breathe. “Let me go,” she whispered when he pulled away. A whisper was all she could manage. His eyes were cloudy. “Are you sure?” The question caught her off balance. “Rope. Off.” She tilted her head up. He was so tall. She wanted him to bend down and kiss her again, only this time she would wrap her arms around him and… “No thinking,” he ordered, and his mouth claimed hers again. Only her arms stayed pinned to her sides and it was his arms holding her, his hands roaming over her buttocks and sides, as if he owned her, as if… The kiss deepened. His tongue teased and his lips, now cool, now burning, pressed harder against hers. He pulled her against him and she felt his belt buckle digging into her belly and his legs pressing against hers. His knee wedged between her thighs, forced her legs open and then lifted slightly so that her sex was in direct contact with his leg. A trickle of heat ran up and down her spine, and her cunt suddenly spasmed. She rubbed up against him, like a cat. “Stop it. I don’t want you trying to seduce me,” he said as he stood upright again.

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She tottered and would have fallen but for his strong arms. He slid the noose off her and stepped back. “Don’t play with me,” he said. “Ever.” “I wasn’t…” she stopped and felt her cheeks redden. She had been playing with him. Teasing him with her stretching and preening. “I’ll see you tonight. In your caravan,” he said. And then he turned and was gone, walking toward the village with long strides. The sunlight glittered for a moment on his hair, and she saw it had metallic highlights. Then he passed into the shadow of the stone gate and was lost from sight in the crowd beyond. Leonie sank back down on the bale of straw, holding the rope. She could hardly breathe.

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Chapter Four Enlil: Air

Aquarius sauntered into town looking for a decent bathhouse. In true Marduk style, there was a luxurious, expensive private bath for the rich right next to the decrepit bath for the poor. How could they live that way? Aquarius paid his entrance to the private bath with his earnings of the night before, went to the dressing room, undressed and gave his clothes to the laundress. “The pants are torn and need mending,” he said to her, giving her a smile and a tip. She blushed and curtsied. “Anything else, sir?” she asked. Aquarius feigned regret. “I’m afraid my time here is limited. Can you have my clothes ready for me when I leave the baths?” She nodded and left, and he went into the main room, where he gave his money belt and sword to be kept. In exchange he received a towel and a bar of soap. Luxurious soap. Scented with royal musk. In Marduk the rich lived pampered lives. Of course, if you were poor you made do with public baths, and if you were too poor for the baths, the rivers and streams of Marduk washed just as well as bath water. He’d heard that expression before and knew it to be true. For a while he’d stayed with a family of peasants. They had enlightened him about life in Marduk the way a month’s stay with a wealthy family had not been able to. Often he wondered at the scepter’s choice of people he had to visit. But he dared not ignore the scepter’s orders—given to him over the space of several years. Only now was he starting to understand the windows the scepter was opening in his mind. For the more he saw, the more he understood and the more compassion he felt. He didn’t know if this was the scepter’s goal. But as he lay in scented, warm water, he couldn’t

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help thinking of his friend Dain, a Marduk peasant, bathing in the river, splashing cold water from the stream over his face and arms. The fact that he, Aquarius, lived in comfort while his friends plodded out their lives in misery interfered with his enjoyment of the bath. He lathered up, washed and tried to relax. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t enjoy himself. His clothes wouldn’t be ready for a while yet, so he got out of the tub and went to sit in the sunroom. Marble benches lined the walls, and the ceiling, made of glass, let the sunlight and warmth in. The steam from the sauna room made a light mist that swirled around his feet. Instead of making him homesick the mist made him uneasy. For him, clouds were synonymous to prison. After a while he got up and sought out the laundress. His clothes were ready—cleaned and dried and carefully mended. He overtipped. He liked to think that was his only fault. After he’d dressed and walked for a while through the village, he bought a bowl of hot stew and a cold beer in a tavern. Then he made his way back to the site of the circus. They had left. He stood, his shadow long before him and considered his options. They hadn’t left long ago. Embers from the campfire still glowed red. He rubbed his closely shaven cheeks, thinking. Freya would slow her horses down. He had seen how she looked at him. His bag was still in Simon’s caravan. No. There it was. Carefully propped against a tree. A note upon it. “Catch me if you can.” She hadn’t signed it. The frozen ground made poor tracking, but he’d been born and raised in a land of fog and stone. In the end it was easy. Freya had slowed the horses, as he’d predicted.

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Chapter Five

Anu and Enlil: Fire and Air Leonie lay in the dark, her eyes open. He was out there. She’d locked her door, but she didn’t think that would keep him out. No one had commented when they’d left early, even when she had Simon leave Regis’ things under the tree. No one ever commented on her decisions, except to agree. But she knew he followed. For some mysterious reason she felt his presence. It was like a melody only she could hear. The second she set eyes on him she’d felt it. At first she’d thought it was just another of her infatuations, but when he’d kissed her something happened to her body that had never happened before. Almost like he’d disconnected her mind from the rest of her, and silenced it. He’d spoken directly to her body, to her baser instincts. The memory of his kiss made her heart pound and she sat up, suddenly needy of air in her lungs. She drew in great gulps of air, conscious of the sheet bunched around her waist and the fact that she was naked, of her nipples puckering at the touch of cold air. And then she heard it. A knock. Not a timid “Are you there?” knock. This knock said, “I know you’re there, and I know you’ll open the door.” The sound pulled her out of bed before she could think about it. Her hand lifted of its own accord and she pressed her thumb to the latch, unlocking it. The door swung out. He stepped in. Her caravan suddenly grew too small. He took up all the space, all the air, and compared to the warm, musky scent of his body, the incense she’d lit earlier suddenly seemed tawdry. “Regis,” she said. 29

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“Call me Aquarius.” He took off his leather coat and put his bag on the table. He unfastened his sword sheath. “Watch.” He slid the sword out of the scabbard, and with a strange smile playing around his mouth, placed it under her bed. “To keep the demons away. It’s an old custom. A bare blade beneath the bed.” His grin widened. “Say that three times fast. “ She stared at him. “Is that all it’s for?” “As long as love is alive, the blade will keep it sharp.” The sword glittered balefully in the pale starlight shining in through the window opposite her bed. The moon was still too slender to cast any light. Everything was in shadow, including his face, but she knew he still smiled. His teeth gleamed whitely. She let her breath out with a sigh and he caught her in his arms and crushed her to his chest, kissing her on her chin, her cheeks, her mouth. His clothes were frosty, the buckle on his belt freezing against her skin. Her body remembered the taste and feel of him and she started to shiver. She wanted to speak, but he hushed her. “Don’t talk,” he said. He smoothed the hair from her face and turned his face toward the window so she could see him. “I would have followed you to the ends of the Earth,” he said. “Didn’t you guess?” There was something in his eyes she could not read. She trembled harder. She’d never been unable to read someone before. The wall around him frightened her. She started to speak but he put his hand over her mouth. “No talking.” His voice was stern now. He let go of her and stepped back. “I only want to make love to you tonight. We’ll talk another time. Please.” She nodded. It was the please that did it. The wall was crumbling. She could sense it. There was only one thing to do. She unfastened his buckle and pulled his belt free. Then she dropped it and pulled his woolen tunic over his head. She unbuttoned his fine linen shirt. Everything was clean and smelled of musk spice and lavender. His pants had been mended. She pulled them down and he stepped out of them. In the darkness, his pale skin glowed. 30

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Running her hands up his legs and sides, she stood, letting his erection barely touch her belly. She had to fight the urge to tease him. She held herself still and looked up at him. His eyes were pools of liquid darkness, and there was a smile in his voice as he said, “Very good. Now, lie down.” She obeyed. He leaned over her and pulled her arms up over her head. Holding them, he bent down and kissed her, his mouth both soft and demanding. Her head spun. She arched up, wanting to rub against him. “No.” Just one word. He kissed her some more, his tongue lazily exploring her mouth, kissing her eyelids, pressing them closed with his lips. He ran kisses down the edge of her jaw, to her neck. He stopped, his mouth resting lightly on the hollow of her neck, his breath hot as he breathed out and cool as he breathed in. He let go of her wrists and slid his hands down her arms, lightly, so slowly, his fingertips caressing the sensitive triangle formed by her armpits and the sides of her breasts. His lips moved to her left nipple and he pulled it into his mouth, tugging almost hard enough to hurt. Almost. It was pleasure laced with the awareness of his strength. It was pleasure without awareness. “Lie still. Don’t think.” Those were his orders. He raised his head long enough to say that clearly. Then he fastened his mouth on her nipple again, biting ever so carefully, then running his tongue over the tip of it, over and over, flicking it with his tongue until sudden pangs ran from her nipple straight to her belly and she groaned aloud. He growled at her, his hands splaying against her rib cage, then he lowered himself to her belly, his tongue like a hot flame traveling down, down, then he parted her thighs. She protested. She always did. The stiffening of the muscles, the coy refusal. He was having none of it. 31

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“Don’t.” The word was like a slap. She drew her breath in. “All right,” she whispered. He hitched himself back up on the bed next to her. The dim light only showed the deepest shadows on his face and the glitter of his eyes. And the flash of his teeth. “I have to start all over again,” he said into her ear. He sighed and it was like a desert breeze. “Your ears are like seashells,” he said, his voice so low it tickled. He ran his tongue around the edge of them, the tickle deepened. “I’m going to make you forget all bad habits you picked up from your previous lovers,” he said. She felt a chuckle growing in her belly. “Good. Love should be fun. It should be passion. Don’t think about it. Let me teach you how to forget yourself. I want you to scream my name.” “Your name?” “Aquarius. Say it. It’s the only thing I want to hear you say.” “Aquarius.” The name suited him. Why hadn’t she seen it before? “Good.” He attacked her nipple again, and while he played with one nipple then the other with his lips and tongue and teeth, he reached down and parted her thighs. This time she didn’t resist. She let him. He was so gentle, yet so firm. Each touch, each caress, showed her that he loved her body. Each kiss was deep and sure. When he lowered his mouth to her sex she didn’t quiver, except with anticipation. His velvet tongue nudged against her clit, lapped it, teased it. Her whole consciousness was located in a small starburst place between her legs. When she closed her eyes she could see it like a hot white light. It grew, and her sex seemed to swell, and his fingers slipped and slid, then dove into her passage. “Aquarius,” she said, her voice breaking. He reached up and grabbed her hips, pressing his mouth so hard against her clit that his chin shoved up against her cunt, opening her. The starburst got bigger. She didn’t think, she just felt. But she wanted him to feel too. She groped down, found his

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head, and tugged at a lock of hair. “Come here,” she said. Her voice sounded slurred, she felt almost drunk. He lay next to her, and she managed to sit up and lean over him. “I want to touch you,” she said. His answer was a long sigh. She reached over and ran her hands over his broad chest and strong shoulders. In the dark, she couldn’t see anything so she used her hands and mouth to explore his body. She moved from his chest down to his cock. His cock was where she’d been heading. She wrapped her hand around it, then leaned down and slid her mouth over it. His cock was long and hard, and a salty drop of pre-cum tickled her tongue as she sucked on its smooth, hard head. As she sucked, drawing her lips up and down, her one hand wrapped around its thick stem, the other gently stroking his soft balls, she felt him harden even more. She was straddling his legs, and he shifted, so that his knee was pressing against her sex, and then he pushed against her, rubbing so that her clit was being stroked by his hard kneecap, the hair on his leg rough against the delicate skin of her labia. She groaned and pushed against him, matching his movements with her own. Her sex was wet, and slippery against his leg. She sat up to breathe, and to rub herself harder upon him. He sat up, flipped her over onto her back, then bending over, he put his hand between her thighs, his finger finding her clit, thrumming it gently. “Aquarius!” Now the air was too thick, she was drowning. He rose, lay upon her, and she felt his cock hot against her labia. He reached down and guided himself into her. He was shaking. She felt the vibration from the soles of her feet to the top of her head, and then he was thrusting into her and all she knew was the motion of his hips and the starburst growing bigger and bigger in her head until she heard someone screaming. “Aquarius!” It was her voice. The star exploded inside her, her whole cunt opened and clenched, throbbed and danced like water on a hot griddle. Steam came out of

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her—she was sure she steamed—fire, sparks, a rush of heat and then a flurry of spasms that bent her nearly double with their force. Somewhere in the back of her mind she realized he was coming too, his body arching over hers, tendons standing out in his neck as he emptied himself in her, his breath coming in long, drawn-out sobs. And then the bed stopped rocking. The stars stopped whirling. The night settled and was still. “Hush, hush.” He held her close, his face buried in the crook of her neck. It took a while for her to return to herself. She had left her body behind. Like he’d said. She hadn’t cared what she looked like, sounded like, or tasted like. All that had counted was his pleasure and hers. Their pleasure. Wrapped up together, arms, legs…tongues. He kissed her again. Lazily. Claiming her as his own. She recognized that kiss. “You are mine,” he said with his kisses. He didn’t have to say it aloud. She heard.

The next day no one was surprised to see him, and no one commented on the fact that he shared her caravan. It was almost as if a piece of puzzle had fallen into its place. Only Freya and Simon sometimes acted oddly, but Leonie was used to that. She sensed that Freya was like a flawed gemstone. There was a fragility deep within her that made her moody. And Leonie just figured Simon was jealous.

They arrived at the next town and set up the scene. Everyone was busy, no one had time to talk. Aquarius vanished again, but only when all his work was done. Leonie wondered where he went, but when he came back smelling of roses she had to hide her mirth behind her hand. “No other soap in the baths,” he said. Laconic, as usual.

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The rose soap smelled divine. She made him lie on the bed while she licked him from toes to nose. Once she’d understood his rules she found she could use them against him, too. “Pleasure for me, pleasure for you,” she said. Then she knelt between his thighs and put her finger in front of his lips. She waited. He looked at her. At her finger. At his cock, standing stiffly at attention. Then he leaned his head forward and slid his lips over her finger, his tongue running back and forth on her finger as he plunged it deep into his mouth. He caught on quick, she gave him that.

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Chapter Six The Elements

For five weeks, everything was bliss. Aquarius forgot what it was like to be alone, for he was with Leonie now. And even if they were on the move nearly every day, the caravan became like his home and the circus, his family. For the first time in his life he was content. The message came soon after Leonie’s act. She’d just jumped down from the balance beam, her face flushed from the heat of the fire and her exertion. Aquarius was about to applaud when she stiffened, looked quickly around and then relaxed into feigned indifference. She waved at the crowd and blew a kiss in Aquarius’ direction, earning him a nudge in the ribs from Hercules that just about cracked three of them. No one else noticed Leonie’s nervousness. But Aquarius noticed. He wondered who the person was Leonie had spotted, and because his act wasn’t until nearly the end of the show, he went to stand in the shadows next to her caravan. He knew he hadn’t been seen by anyone. Leonie came back, glanced around again in the way only guilty or nervous people do, then she went inside. Soon after a man came and knocked softly on her door. She let him in, and they spoke in low voices—almost too low for Aquarius to hear. But he was tall, and his head was level with her window—and he’d left it unlatched that afternoon. It was easy to slip his knife blade into the sill and nudge the window open. “The Queen of Marduk wants you to perform for her tomorrow night,” said the man after he’d handed her a small piece of parchment. “This is the first time I’ve been told on such short notice,” said Leonie.

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“Your troupe is well-known in the royal courts. This isn’t the first time you’ve been invited.” The man’s voice was so dry it sounded like dead leaves sifting in the breeze. “You will come, of course.” “Of course. Are you planning something?” “I wouldn’t put it that way.” The spy sighed. “The queen is very ill. There may be a chance to pass some messages tomorrow. A lot of people will be there.” He paused. “There are strange tales about.” “I’ve heard some of them. And the strangest tale of all—that the prince of Enlil was sighted not far from here in Marduk.” “That is what we’ve heard. There are people out looking for him.” The man, Aquarius surmised, must be a spy for the rebels. He pressed closer to the window and held his breath. What were they saying about him? Leonie snorted. “He was but a boy when he ran away. Who would recognize him? That is, if he even ran away. There are rumors he’s still imprisoned in Cloud City, and other rumors that say he’s dead.” “If they knew he were dead, don’t you think they would have declared his brother heir to the throne?” Aquarius had often wondered the same thing. Leonie was silent, perhaps thinking about that, then she said, “There are strange things going on. Lord Fallocation came to see the King and Queen of Ea. I saw him while we were there. No one says it aloud, but everyone is thinking about the prince’s twenty-fifth birthday. They say Lord Fallocation is sweeping through the four kingdoms looking for the prince, and that he has spies everywhere working for him. He’s desperate to find him, which makes me wonder about the legend. Do you think there’s any truth in it?” “No, I don’t see how a prince’s hand touching the scepter on his twenty-fifth birthday could keep it, and the three others, from shattering. What I think is that Enlil is worried about the revolutionary movement as well. And Ea, as you well know, has a 37

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prison full of anarchist revolutionists.” The spy paused. “Lord Fallocation will be at the court tomorrow night. But perhaps I shouldn’t have told you that.” For the first time he sounded unsure of himself. “Act surprised if you are presented. His arrival in Marduk has not been announced officially.” “If he’s going from kingdom to kingdom for one last search for the prince, it isn’t odd that he came here if someone reported seeing the prince near,” said Leonie. “The fact remains that in the four kingdoms a wind of discontent is making the people restless. The rulers feel this keenly, and need a way to consolidate their power. They’ll crack down hard on anyone who threatens them. Already, here in Marduk, several villages are crying famine as their fields lay wasted. The queen is poised and ready to strike. In Ea I heard of a typhoon that struck a coastal village and destroyed it. They say it was the work of the king.” Leonie took a deep breath. “All right. My troupe will be there tomorrow. Go now, and be careful. Make sure no one sees you.” “Don’t worry. I’m good at my job,” the spy said. And he was. Aquarius barely saw him as he glided down the steps of the caravan and faded into the night. A professional indeed. He pulled the window closed with his knife and then went back to the crowd standing around the circus ring. Hercules had just finished his solo act. He saw Aquarius and tossed him the tightly knotted rope. “I have a chore for you,” he bellowed, and laughter rippled around the audience. “You’re too kind,” said Aquarius, and he put the rope over his shoulder. The rough hemp scratched his neck but he kept it there, just thinking. Had he really only been a boy when he ran away from Cloud City? He stared unseeing at the darkness. Where had he gone first? His voyage had seemed unending until he’d finally found his haven. Leonie’s troupe. The scepter had been right about that, too. He put the rope down on a bale of hay and stepped lightly over it when his name was called. 38

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“Aquarius will now enchant and mystify you with his illusions!” Leonie cried. She’d come back too, and was standing in the lighted ring as if she’d never gone to hide in the shadows and talk of revolt and revolution. Aquarius looked at the crowd and grinned. “I’m sure I enchant you even without the illusions, but I’m going to try my best to mystify you.” The applause was deafening even before his act started.

Afterward he found Leonie and they wrapped up together on her bed. She traced patterns on his face with her fingertip and he made lazy ringlets with her hair, twining it around his hands. “I’ve never seen hair this color,” he said, pressing a lock of it to his lips. “Is it redgold or golden-red?” “I call it marigold,” she said disparagingly. She told him her hair had always annoyed her with its untameable curls and fire-bright color. “I was in Anu for a while. There are lots of redheaded people there, but none with hair this color.” He had to tell her everything, but he wasn’t sure where to start. “Oh?” She raised herself on her elbows and leaned over him. “How long ago did you leave Cloud City?” He was getting distracted by her breasts. The scepter was right. He cleared his throat. “I left Cloud City ten years ago.” That got her full attention. She didn’t speak though. Only her gaze sharpened. “I went first to Ea. It’s closest, after all, though the border is heavily guarded. It took me three days to find a way around. I remember being cold, frightened, hungry…and desperate.” He wished her breasts weren’t so delightful. “I thought the country was beautiful though. I couldn’t get over the sun.” He chuckled. “You can tell I’m an Enlil when I admit to being dazzled by the sun in Ea.”

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“The sky is overcast there.” Her voice was faint, her expression puzzled. She was trying to read between his words. He could practically see her thoughts whirling. “I stayed with a farmer at first. His family was careful about what they said and did while I was there. If anyone had found out they harbored an Enlil, they might have been arrested. Even the children were secretive. I liked staying with them but I had to move on. No more than three months in one place. That’s what I’d been taught. My teacher was very strict about that.” There was a pause, then Leonie said, “You had a teacher? You must have been wealthy. What was your teacher like?” “Oh, he was very old. He used to claim he was older than the stones the palace stood upon.” Now the silence lengthened. One breath. Two. Leonie didn’t breathe at all. Then her nostrils flared and she drew a huge shaky breath. “Who are you?” “I think you must know by now,” he said. She sat up, pulling the sheets around her. He missed the view already. “No. I don’t know. You tell me. Who are you?” “Aquarius. That’s the only name I have, and it was given to me by my teacher.” “That’s just your name. Or your birth sign. It doesn’t tell me who you are.” She had stopped shaking, but her eyes were still wide, the pupils dilated. Shock did that to people. She hadn’t seen it coming then. That was a relief. If he’d gone to her first, or sooner, she would have seen right through him. But he’d waited until the right time— until she was ready. It hadn’t been easy to judge. “I am the heir to the throne of Enlil,” he said gently. “But I have no intention of claiming my crown. Now, or ever.” She shook her head. “But…why?” She opened her arms, making a sweeping gesture. The sheet slipped down. He smiled at the view. “Why? Why did you leave?

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Why hide so long? And why, now…” Her face paled and she swayed. “Why choose now to show yourself?” “I’ve been showing myself for ten years now,” he said carefully. “Going from kingdom to kingdom, meeting people.” “For ten years.” She pulled at the sheet again, trying to cover her breasts, but he held it down. She didn’t seem to notice though. She was still digesting his words. “I… Where did you say you went after Ea?” “I stayed in Ea for a long time. Almost four years. With the herdsmen, with the seafarers. I went on a voyage to the Islands of Never.” He remembered that with a smile. The families were all so welcoming. People were the key. The people of the land, of the villages, of the sea. Traders, horsemen, sailors, and always Aquarius learning about people, seeing what they really needed. Making friends with everyone. He learned about the rebels and why they were fighting. If trade fails, countries fall. If the middle class is destroyed, the peasants revolt. It was simply the lessons of his teacher coming to life. His teacher. An ancient scepter. He remembered Leonie’s question. “I went to Anu after that. And there I finally saw what the sun truly looked like.” He grinned. She hesitated and grinned back. She followed his gaze and raised her eyebrows. “Do my breasts interest you?” “Oh yes.” He cupped them in his hands and tickled them. “I liked Anu. The people are so warm, like you. So vital and so passionate.” Her expression had started to get cooler, so he pulled her down next to him and kissed her breasts. First one nipple, then the next. It was important to be fair. “My old teacher used to say, ‘Always keep an open mind. But don’t spend too much time in places you feel welcome. You have to be like a grain of sand in an oyster. You must aggravate and cause things to happen.’ He insisted on that point. And so I didn’t stay long in Anu, for they are fire people, and they get along fine with the air folk.”

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“Oh do they?” her mouth quirked. “I think you need to touch me here. Then we’ll get along even better.” She took his hand and put it between her legs. “Tell me about air and fire getting together.” “Didn’t you know? Air feeds fire, and fire makes air move. Fire lifts air higher, and air fans fire’s blaze brighter. So I need fire, and you need air.” “Yes, I do,” she gasped. It seemed he’d gotten the right spot then. He rubbed a little faster. “As for earth and water, they need each other, too. Earth for water makes islands, makes land for the sailor. And water for the earth makes the plants grow and the ground fertile and welcoming. So too do Ea and Marduk get along, and Enlil and Anu make a team.” “What about Enlil and Ea, or Marduk and Anu?” She was getting slippery now, both in words and in feeling. He loved it. “There are elements that conflict. Conflict can be good or bad. So you have to go carefully when you have fire and earth, for example. Too much earth and the fire dies, and too much fire and the earth is scorched. However, if you reach a balance, you have a stable ground for fire and the fire warms the cold earth. A good balance is hard to find though. I have simply been trying to find a balance, and here, in your troupe, I have found mine.” He slid his fingers along the soft swell of her labia, finding the tiny hard nub of her clit and ever so gently massaging it until she clutched at the sheets and gasped, “More!” More talk or more action? He hoped for action, so he got to his knees and slid between her thighs. Then he lowered his head and lapped at her sex, delighting in exploring the seashell nooks and crannies, using his tongue to tease her until she was as tense and quivering as a bowstring. Then he could finally ease his own hunger. His cock ached so that each heartbeat was torture. He moved upward, holding himself above her, looking at her with what he hoped wasn’t too desperate an expression. 42

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She grinned and opened her legs wider and pulled him into her, her hands fumbling as she guided his cock to her passage. Her labia hugged him, and then his cock was sinking into a tight, slick heat that made his loins thrust on their own. He took control of his body but it was hard. His arms trembled with the effort of holding himself over her body without touching her, connected only by their sexes. His cock, her cunt, and both of them painfully aroused. She was panting now, and sweat trickled from his forehead to his neck. He thrust slowly. Slowly. Maybe faster now. Oh, by the Elements, by earth, air, fire and water…he was going faster now and couldn’t stop even if he wanted to…which he did not. Leonie wrapped her legs around his waist as she urged him on. Digging her heels into his buttocks, she pulled him down, crushed him against her. His hips were rising and falling, and he was lost…lost in sensations of heat and light and sound. Her cries rang in his ears, her nails dug into his shoulders and his cock drilled into her. He felt a wave rush over him, snatch his breath away and pour out of his cock in giant spurts. By the Elements… Sex should always be so good. So good you pass out right afterwards. He rested his head on her breasts and decided the pillow was the best he’d ever had. And then he passed out.

She wanted to talk, of course. So she woke him up with a shake on his shoulder, a cup of hot tea and even a washcloth soaked in rosewater. He liked the rosewater touch. It was getting to be their private joke. “All right. Tell me everything.” She knelt on the bed and faced him. It was late. Or very early, depending how you looked at it. The moon, still slender but growing now, had risen and was starting to set. A vague gray coldness about the air told him dawn was coming. It was one of those nights that you don’t need sleep, though. He felt clearheaded, as if his skull were made of crystal. He sipped his tea, then set it down and said, “I was the firstborn son of my father. At my birth, the trumpets

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sounded over the length and breadth of Enlil, and the twenty-five year water clock was set in motion. “When the princes and princesses of Enlil are born we are taken from our mothers and given to a nurse who is in charge of raising us until we are able to walk and talk. All that I don’t remember, of course. The princes and princesses of Enlil are raised in a palace called Virtua. There is no heat, little food, and no escape. There were seven of us, four boys and three girls. We had to fight to stay alive. They gave us six sets of clothing in the morning so that we learned to wake up early and rush to get dressed. The child who was late spent the day shivering and naked. The same went for food. There were always only six bowls upon the table, and we were too hungry, most of the time, to think of sharing. “But we did share. If we were caught, we were punished, so we learned to share in secret, and for a while, we all survived.” Leonie had put her hand over her mouth, but he reached forward and drew it away. “Only the royal children are raised thus. The rest of the Enlil dote upon their young. That was a surprise for me. I had to return to my own city to find that out.” He tilted his head. “Shall I continue?” She nodded, tears spilling down her cheeks. “I grew very close to my brothers and sisters. I was the oldest boy. Our father had stopped procreating, and no more children joined our group. I was five, I think, when the scepter started to teach me.” “The scepter?” She had dried her tears and now frowned at him. “The scepter taught you?” “It is made of crystal, ivory and air. It lies in a case made of a strange metal that hums, and it spoke to me, yes. I was the only one who could hear it. I could hear it all over the palace, even in my room, if I were still enough. But most of the time I would go into the sacred room, sit at the foot of the case and listen.

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“It first started when I shared my bread with one of my siblings. I heard a voice in my head that said, ‘Very good, Aquarius.’” He shook his head, remembering, and pushed back a lock of hair that had fallen over his eyes. “No one had given me a name, nor had any of my siblings names, so I didn’t know who the scepter was talking to. But I found out when no one else heard. I discovered it was the scepter soon after. The sacred room is in the middle of Virtua Palace and we often ran through the room. The next time I entered the room I heard, ‘Aquarius. Come here. I have to speak with you.’ Intrigued, I bent over the case, and I heard the voice say, ‘I have been waiting for you for a thousand years.’” He looked out the window where the gray was getting lighter. It looked like snow maybe. There were clouds covering the moon. “Tell me what the scepter said,” Leonie said. “It mostly gave me the names of people, where they lived, what they did, and how to find them. There were many and I had to memorize them all. There were also discussions about philosophy. The scepter loved to instruct. He could talk all day and night…and sometimes he did.” Aquarius drew a deep breath. Remembering was painful, like walking over a path of broken mirrors barefoot. Everywhere he looked, everywhere he went in his memories there were sharp and jagged edges. He reached over and took Leonie’s hand. She anchored him. She was warmth and light in a world that had been, so far, cold and dark. “Go on,” she said, bringing his hand to her lips and kissing his knuckles. “The lessons went on in my sleep sometimes. I’d wake up and know he’d been talking to me. The lessons are all there, buried in my subconscious. I asked the scepter if he’d spoken to other princes, other Enlil, and he replied that he’d never stopped talking, that he’d spoken to all the princes throughout the ages, so I wasn’t the only one. But I was the only one who listened.”

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“Why did you run away? Didn’t you want to be king? If you were king you could do anything you wanted. You could do away with the barbaric way your royal family treats its children!” “If I were king, I’d be chained just as tightly as the other kings and queens are chained in my kingdom. One thing I learned is you can’t bring about great changes from the top. Absolute power corrupts. Perhaps I could have made life for my siblings more bearable. But I couldn’t help my people. And I want to help them.” “How?” “There are other ways to govern a country than using the forces of fire, tidal waves, hurricanes or famine. In all four kingdoms, the kings and queens strike fear in their peoples’ hearts. Why? Why have the rulers misused the powers the scepters gave them?” “I have performed in all the kingdoms, and always the kings and queens frighten me somehow.” Leonie shook her head. “I’m starting to think that as soon as a king or queen touches the scepter, they become corrupted.” “The poor are getting poorer and new tensions have arisen. The rebels are starting to unite throughout the four kingdoms. They are ready to fight.” She looked at him, her expression troubled. “I’m hoping it won’t come to that.” “You mean, you hope that when you don’t show up for your twenty-fifth birthday the scepters will all be destroyed?” “Yes.” It was just one word, but it cost him dearly. A tremor ran through him, making his teeth chatter. What would happen then? The scepter never told him, nor had it really explained why it wanted him to put an end to the very way of life that provided it with an existence. It had only told him that it was time for things to come to an end. But what kind of an ending would it bring? It was all darkness ahead, darkness

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behind him. Only Leonie gave him light. He pulled her closer, leaning his forehead on her shoulder. And the view from here was so lovely. Pale mountains tipped in rose. She hugged him for a while, her arms looped around his waist. Then she pushed him back and looked at him. Her face was pale. “The legend says it will be the end of the world. Is that true?” Another tremor shook him. “Yes.” He said it through clenched teeth. What she could never understand—what no one could understand—was the symbiosis between the scepter and himself. If the scepter died, he could die too. The scepter had warned him, in a rather quieter voice than usual, about that. It was something he tried not to think about. “There’s not much time, is there?” “Three weeks.” He gave her a crooked grin. “The scepter said it wasn’t quite the end of the world. It was more the end of a way of life. There is a difference.” “A rather huge one.” She returned his grin. It was like sunshine. He basked in it, but then she stopped smiling and said, “Why is it so important you take the scepter on that special date? What happens?” “Ahhh. The crux of the matter. The answer is, I don’t know.” Aquarius sighed and a breeze stirred the curtains. “Have you never noticed that wherever I am, the breeze follows? I have a certain power over air. I am the only one of my siblings to possess this power. The scepter, being made of air, can only be held by me. It needs my power to survive. Every generation, to be exact, it needs to be renewed by this power to survive. But I don’t know why, or how.” Leonie just stared at him, her eyes wide. He pursed his lips and whistled, and a violent gust of air whirled around the inside of the caravan. “See?” “Handy for sailing,” was her only comment, after she smoothed her hair down and picked the sheet up from the floor.

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He kissed her, and as his mouth pressed against hers he closed his eyes, inhaling her scent, feeling the satin of her skin beneath his lips. Then he said, “I don’t know how the other scepters work. The same way, I’m sure. But one thing I do know. When I give my power to the scepter, I will become the absolute monarch of Enlil. And like my father before me, I will become a mindless puppet to power. The power of the scepter corrupts. That’s what it told me. It told me it loved me and wanted me to be free. Even at the cost of its own destruction. It wanted me to escape.” “How did you escape if no one ever escaped before?” She was sharp, he had to give her that. “I’m good at going unnoticed. And the guards, after years of guarding children, grew complacent. I simply walked out in the middle of the night. Of course, it was a very windy night,” he told her with a wry smile. “The tempest must have hidden the sound of my footsteps on the floor, and of my knife prying at the lock.” “I heard a rumor that the prince of the Enlil was seen near here,” she said. “There are people looking for you.” “They’ve been looking for ten years now. So far, no one has found me. Until now.” He felt the weight of the sleepless night upon his shoulders then. It pushed his eyelids down and made his bones feel as heavy as lead. He lay down and pulled the covers back, patting the bed beside him. “Come, keep me warm.” She slid into bed beside him. “Why did you tell me all this?” she asked. “Because I need your help. Couldn’t you guess? You were the last name the scepter gave me.” He yawned and felt sleep overtake him. If only he could just stay here, wrapped in Leonie’s arms forever. Then nothing would bother him. The world could be destroyed and he’d be perfectly content, as long as Leonie was with him in the end.

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Chapter Seven Freya

Freya knew she was very beautiful. She had long, pale hair and eyes like aquamarines. Her skin was flawless, and she took great pride in her clothes and jewelry. She had never disputed Leonie’s right to lead the troupe. It was not in her nature to lead anyway. She was a born follower. And right now she had to follow orders. They were not orders she particularly wanted to carry out, but she had no choice. She was from Ea, her whole family had been imprisoned or executed. And those who were imprisoned depended on her actions to stay alive. If Leonie thought she was the only spy in the troupe, she was a fool. Freya was a spy as well. She worked for the Queen of Ea, and had ever since she was a child. She had been the youngest of seven. Her father and three elder brothers had been executed when the queen discovered the plot to overthrow one of her ministers was led by Freya’s father. Freya’s mother and three sisters were taken to prison. A luxurious prison, to be sure, for Freya’s mother was the queen’s cousin. But she and her daughters were confined to a château on the edge of a cliff overlooking the raging sea. And she could never escape. Neither she, nor her daughters ever left the castle. Except Freya. Being the youngest, and the most malleable, she had attracted the attention of the queen, who knew how to make the most of the situation. Freya was beautiful. In her hands, a man would lose his head and tell her anything. She became the queen’s spy. The perfect place for Freya was with the queen’s own horseman, Sir Ivor. Ivor took great pains to teach Freya all about horses and all about seduction. And Freya had fallen in love with him. She leaned against the warm, dappled-gray back of her favorite stallion and closed her eyes. The winter sun was too bright for her. And besides, she wanted to remember. She wanted to recall the whispering grass in the salt marsh and the sight of the white 49

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horses in the mist. But most of all, she wanted to recall the days and nights spent servicing Sir Ivor. He’d been a demanding lover. He had given her toys to play with. Toys the shape of a man’s root, and toys that fit into her anus and stretched it out. He called them plugs, and made sure she wore hers at least once a day. He would go into the stable and pull her pants down to make sure she’d inserted it. And if she had forgotten, he’d bend her over a bale of hay and whip her with his riding crop. Never hard enough to leave marks—her skin had to stay flawless—but hard enough to make her buttocks sting and get hot. Afterwards she’d hurry to her room and use her toys. Some days she’d forget her plug on purpose. When he decided she’d stretched herself enough and wouldn’t be hurt when he penetrated her, he’d started her real lessons. For that, she went to his room whenever he called her. Soon just the sound of his voice made her cunt swollen and moist from excitement. “Come here, Freya,” he would say, and her nipples would tingle in anticipation. The first thing he did was put silver clips on them, so tight that tears sometimes sparkled in her eyes. But the pain always faded right away, and besides, there were so many other things to think about. The plug sliding into her anus, the agile fingers playing with her clit, and then Ivor, who would take her sometimes slowly and gently, other times fiercely and cruelly, making her either cry out in pain or pleasure, but most of the time both at once. He taught her to both obey and give orders. With his assistant, Bran, she was the mistress. She learned how to whip a man or a woman into a frenzy of pleasure using her fingers, tongue, hands, feet and other things, such as plugs and crops. With him she had to obey. When he said so, she had to kneel and open her legs for him, no matter where she was, or who was about. She especially loved being tied up and taken from behind. Ivor found that out and would torment her, tying her up and bringing her to the peak of excitement. He would tease her all day, making her wear a plug for him and go riding, for example. They 50

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would ride out on the plains, the plug tormenting her and making her so wet and excited she could hardly see straight. By the time they stopped, in the middle of nowhere, her pants would be soaked through. He would make her undress and stand in the field. Sometimes he put her out of her misery by lying on the ground and unbuttoning his pants, freeing his erection. Then she could do as she liked—sit on him, thrusting her hips as fast as she could until she came with sharp screams like a gull’s cries. Other times he simply ignored her plight. He would make her remount and ride back home with her plug still in place and her need still aching and unfulfilled. After days like that, she usually had to service one of Ivor’s clients. But she was so needy she welcomed them like a bitch in heat. Leaning up against her horse’s back, she reached down inside the waistband of her skirt and touched her clit. She was hot and needy now. She had been separated from Ivor because the queen had considered her education finished and had sent her out in search of rebels. She’d been sure, when she found Leonie’s troupe, that she would soon discover rebel groups to report. Well, so far nothing had come of it. They went from kingdom to kingdom, passed borders and entertained commoners and royalty, but she’d never caught Leonie passing a message or playing the spy. In the meantime, she sometimes received messages of her own to pass on. She was bored, and had been thinking of leaving the troupe, but now that this new man had arrived, she would stay a little longer. Regis Aquarius. Just thinking of him sent a rush of heat through her veins and a flood of moisture into her panties. She slipped her hand deeper into her panties and stroked herself until she nearly came. Then she took her hand out of her panties and went searching for Regis. He had avoided her so far, but now she would have him. Leonie couldn’t keep him for her own.

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Regis was easy to find. He had hunkered down behind the bales of hay and was working on the knots Hercules had put into his rope. It seemed to amuse him, for he wore a half smile and whistled tunelessly as he worked. Freya knew the power of her seduction. She strolled by, and gave him a nod in passing. Purposely, she caught her foot on a protruding root and fell. She didn’t fall on him, that would have been gauche. She fell away from him, heavily, and made a sound like a hurt kitten. He leapt to his feet and helped her up as well, brushing the dirt off her hands and knees. She managed to maneuver him back to his seat on the ground by half-limping, half-falling again, and then pushed her skirt up to bare her legs. She’d been planning this for a while and she’d been working on her plan all morning. The makeup she’d applied to her knee made it look both bruised and scraped, and the perfume she wore was one that Ivor had made especially for her. It brought out the musk of her skin while accentuating her fragility and charm. “Never underestimate the power of scent,” he’d told her. Her own musk, still clinging to her fingers, was part of her arsenal for seduction. Her soaking panties another ploy. The scent of a woman’s arousal could be very potent. He was very close now and she let her sweater fall open, showing her transparent blouse. Her breasts, their nipples erect, showed clearly. “I’m sorry,” she said, half-gasping, half-laughing. “I’m never clumsy. I must have been daydreaming. I didn’t even see you here.” “That’s all right.” He gave her a wide smile. “It’s a good thing I was here. Do you want some salve for that knee? I’ll go get some for you. Leonie has some in her caravan.” The mention of Leonie made her seethe but she simply gave a small sigh. “Oh, that’s all right. I have some, too. It’s just a scrape. I landed hard though and feel a little out of breath.” She fanned herself a bit, just stirring up the air. He was Enlil—air and scent would be important to him. The breeze she created was pure seduction. 52

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She put her hand on her head and acted dizzy. “I’ll be all right, I just feel a bit faint. I didn’t have breakfast this morning,” she said and leaned against him, her hand trailing to his thigh, brushing against his cock. She could see the hard ridge of it pressing against his pants, straining the buttons. The sight really did make her feel faint. She risked a glance up at his face. She knew she was flushed, but her pink cheeks would make her eyes even brighter. His expression became troubled. “Freya,” he said, but got no further. A shadow fell over them.

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Chapter Eight Simon

Simon had always prided himself on keeping his temper and staying calm, even in the worst situations. Coming across Freya draped over Regis’ lap just when he’d made up his mind to tell her everything—his involvement with the rebels, his love for her, and his decision to give everything up and start a new life with her—couldn’t have come at a worse moment. He lost his temper. It so happened he held a spade, as he’d been on his way to dig a posthole for the show that evening. Without thinking, a red film of rage obscuring his vision, he struck Regis with the spade. Regis didn’t have time to react except to try and shield Freya with his body. That action saved him. Simon saw it and slowed his swing. The blow that could have caved in his skull simply knocked him out. Simon lowered the spade, his anger draining from him. He wasn’t proud of himself at that instant. Freya looked up at him, her face flushed, and said, “Help me carry him to my caravan.” “Don’t you mean Leonie’s caravan?” he asked, putting the spade down. “No. Mine.” Freya gave him an appraising look. “I didn’t realize you hated him so much.” “I don’t hate him…I love you.” Simon knew he blushed as he said that, but it couldn’t be helped. He knew Freya’s past. She’d told him she was an orphan, raised by one of the innumerable families in Ea that took care of political orphans. He assumed that meant she hated the government. He thought that it meant they were on the same 54

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side. He sincerely believed he understood her, so he helped her carry Regis into her caravan and put him in her bed. Freya stood on tiptoe to kiss him when she thanked him. “I think it would be best if Leonie doesn’t know you hit him,” she said to Simon. “I’ll wait until Regis wakes up and then I’ll convince him not to say anything to her. Don’t worry.” He didn’t like seeing the Enlil lying in Freya’s bed, but he figured Freya was right about keeping the accident a secret from Leoni—his job was important to him. He cleared his throat. “Thank you, Freya. I’m sorry for everything. I didn’t mean to blurt out I loved you or get you into this mess. I don’t know what came over me.” Freya looked startled for a second, but then a shutter seemed to come down over her eyes, dulling them. “I’ll try to get him on his feet before the show tonight, all right?” She gave a long look at Regis, a frown wrinkling her smooth forehead, then took a piece of paper from her writing desk and scrawled a note on it. “What do I do with this?” Simon asked as she handed it to him. “Push it under the door of Leonie’s caravan.” Simon did, but first he read it. It was a message that simply said, “I’ll be around to pick up my affairs—R.” He hoped it didn’t mean what he thought it meant, that Regis was moving in with Freya. For a second he considered throwing the note away, but Freya stood poised on the folding steps of her caravan, her blonde hair shining in the pale sunlight, her white hand looking so fragile on the doorjamb. Simon’s heart gave a leap and he sighed. He’d do anything for her. Anything at all.

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Chapter Nine Leonie’s Choice

Her bad mood had started the night before with Aquarius’ confession that he was the prince of Enlil and that some magic scepter had given him orders to escape and come find her. Could she believe him? In light of day the whole story seemed absurd and took on a farcical twist. How could the scepters all shatter at once? She’d never believed that story anyway. Their power was enormous—nothing could break them. What if he were a spy sent to discredit her? She paced back and forth in her small caravan, her feet scuffing on the smooth wooden floorboards. No, he was the prince. She believed him—something terrible would happen to him if he were in Enlil on his birthday. She stopped suddenly, her blood running cold. Lord Fallocation would be at the court tonight. He’d come looking for the prince. She had to find some excuse not to bring Regis. She had yet to announce that they were performing at the court to her troupe. They still thought they would be playing in the village square—she could even see Simon heading over to the ring with his shovel. He usually put up posts to hold an awning, so the spectators would stay dry in case of rain or snow. The thought that it was cruel having him labor for nothing propelled her out the door of her caravan. She just had time to grab a shawl and she went to see him, catching up to him when he reached the road. “Simon!” He stopped and turned, a startled look on his face.

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“I just wanted to tell you not to bother with the posts. I have important news for everyone. We’ve been invited to the court tonight. The queen herself asked for us. I’ll tell the others during lunch, when we’re all together.” He didn’t look thrilled—but then again, Simon was rarely expressive. “Right,” he said, after a minute. Leonie shivered suddenly. Her shawl was not very warm, the wind was icy and the rebellion was starting to weigh heavily upon her conscience, especially with Regis here. She felt responsible for him somehow. Simon smiled though, after a moment’s hesitation, and nodded. “Thanks for telling me, Leonie. Now why don’t you go get warmed up? You look chilled.” She hurried back to her caravan and made herself a cup of tea. Now, what to do about the Enlil? If he spoke the truth, he’d been hiding for ten years now. Had the escapade truly been organized by a scepter? More and more absurd. She had lost her reason, that’s all. Lost her ability to read people because of nerves, or because when Aquarius looked at her she lost her head. And her mood darkened even more when she recalled his last words to her. He’d been told to go to her. Ha. More the fool was she, believing when he said he’d have followed her to the ends of the world that it was for love. Love, or the scepter’s orders? Love, or the rebellion? Was he using her? The thought made her flinch. She set her teacup down with a clatter. Where was he anyway? And then she saw the note. It had been slipped under her door. When had it been put there? She must have missed seeing the note when she went to see Simon on the road, or in her frozen hurry to get back to the warmth of her caravan. She picked it up and looked at it. Unsigned. Just an “R”. R? Regis? And what did he mean by he’d be “by to get his affairs”? She looked out the window. The caravans were as always, placed in a loosely formed circle. But then she caught sight of Freya’s horses. They stood in their paddock, huddled, and not a one had a blanket. And there was no more hay in their enclosure. They pawed at the hard ground and whinnied. 57

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Leonie frowned. She’d hired Freya for her act and for her horses—they pulled the caravans. Freya made good money that way, and Leonie had one less problem to deal with. Horses were not her thing, but she knew when to feed them and when to put blankets on them. She put her shawl back on and walked across the frozen ground to Freya’s caravan. A low moan came from within. Leonie stopped, startled. Then the moan turned into a sharp cry and Leonie, worried, dashed up the steps and flung the door open. Aquarius lay on the bed, naked, his head thrown back, his eyes closed. Freya sat upon him, also naked, her back to the door. Slowly, she started to turn. Leonie slammed the door shut and stood leaning against it, her stomach heaving. Blindly she made her way back to her caravan. She was shaking so hard she could hardly open her own door. Then she was inside. Inside, huddled on the floor, her head against the cabinet, her hands clenched and her breath coming in hard, deep gasps of rage and sorrow. How could he? How could he? She caught sight of his note. He wanted his things back. Fine. She stood up and shoved his clothes out the door, not bothering to put them in his bag. His performing clothes. That’s all there was. And his toothbrush, and comb, and razor, and shaving cream and soap. She leaned against the doorjamb, trembling. Then she saw his sword. Still under her bed. She wanted to pick it up, rush to Freya’s caravan and leave it in his heart. She picked it up, opened the door and flung it as far away as she could. She couldn’t kill him. But she could betray him like he’d betrayed her. Lord Fallocation would be at the court tonight. How much would he pay for the prince of Enlil, handed to him on a platter? Then she let the tears have her and she wept.

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Chapter Ten A Heart of Ice

Freya watched out the window and nodded in satisfaction. Leonie was so predictable. The Anu people were ruled by their passions and their pride. After she flung the sword out of the caravan she slammed the door shut. When Freya saw the shutters close as well, she got dressed and collected Regis’ things from the frozen ground. Then she fed her horses and put their blankets on them. While she worked, Simon came to see her and said, “I slipped the message under the door of Leonie’s caravan.” He sounded belligerent. “Thank you,” she said, giving him her warmest, sweetest smile. He unthawed, smiling back at her. And then he said, “Listen, it was going to be a surprise, but Leonie told me that tonight we’re going to perform at the royal court. The troupe received an invitation from the queen herself.” “The queen?” Freya put her hand to her throat. Why hadn’t she been informed beforehand? Usually when the troupe went to visit a royal court a spy came to see her in secret. Had her usefulness worn out? That was her biggest fear. Every time she had to report that she’d found nothing suspicious in Leonie’s troop, she had the feeling her news was ill-received. Only her information made her useful, as Ivor had taken great pains to point out. “Are you all right?” Simon stared at her, a worried look in his eyes. “Yes. Thank you.” “I know you don’t like royalty, I can understand after what you went through. But I’ll be there tonight, if you need me.”

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She was too much of a professional to snap at him and tell him to mind his own business. She simply thanked him again for his consideration. Afterwards she went back into her caravan where Regis sat, his knees drawn up, his face pale. “Are you all right?” she said. He looked at her, his eyes blank and puzzled-looking. “Where am I?” he asked slowly, looking around carefully. Damn that stupid fool Simon. “You’re in my caravan. Don’t you remember?” Freya went to sit by him on the bed and put her cool hand on his forehead. He drew back. “No. Who are you?” He was amnesic! After the first shock she realized—maybe this could work out for the better, though. She considered her next words. “I’m Freya. Don’t you remember me?” “Freya. Are you one of my sisters?” Now where did that come from? She frowned. “Of course not.” Concussions were something she’d dealt with before. People who rode horses or worked around them were prone to falling off or getting kicked. He had all the symptoms. Sometimes there was a short-term memory loss. It rarely lasted long though. She hoped he’d get over it soon. She wanted him to be in full possession of his mind and body when she seduced him. Until then, she could have a bit of fun. She took his hand and kissed it. “You truly don’t remember?” He rubbed his head, where a bruise bloomed like a purple orchid. “No. What happened to me?” “You got kicked by Jerro, the stallion. You went in to feed him and as you bent down, he wheeled around and kicked. He’s vicious like that. You have to be careful.” “The stallion.” He stopped rubbing his head and made a dubious face. “That’s odd. I don’t remember that. I don’t even recall being around a horse.”

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“Don’t worry, it’s normal to forget things. You got kicked in the head. Your memory will return soon, along with a massive headache. Let me get you some marigold salve for your injury.” “Marigold?” A faint spark appeared in his eyes. “Do I know someone called Marigold?” “No. I’m Freya. I’m your beloved wife.” She wiped away an imaginary tear. “I can’t believe you’ve forgotten me. Is there anything you do remember?” “I’ve even forgotten about myself…” he shook his head and then winced. “How strange. I can see a city in the clouds, some children…and a small room with filigree windows and a crystal case lying all alone in the middle of the room.” Freya was about to ignore his reminiscences, but the mention of a crystal case caught her attention. Each royal house had a small room with a crystal case in it. She should know. She had spent much time in the palace at Ea. She’d been allowed, once, to stand in the doorway and gaze upon the sacred scepter’s case. The one in Ea held a scepter made of aquamarine, ivory and seawater. According to what she’d learned, all the royal scepters had ivory in them. Other than that, they were unique and could only be held by the heir to the throne. Her skin suddenly prickled as several things fell into place at once. “What did the case contain?” she said, acting indifferent. She got a jar of salve and dabbed it on his bruise. “It held a scepter.” Her hand froze. “Is something wrong?” She forced herself to smile as she leaned back. “Wrong? Of course not. A scepter. How nice. What did it look like? Maybe concentrating on that that will help your memory come back.”

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“It had an ivory top, carved with the shapes of clouds and mountains. Then it was crystal, I think. A clear stone. And then there was nothing but a misty cloud. The rest of the scepter is made of air. That is curious. I must have been dreaming it. I must have hit my head harder than I thought.” He gave a sigh. “I feel sleepy. A nap would do me good.” “No, a nap can make you worse.” Freya rubbed her hands together to still their trembling then poured him a cup of hot chafée. It would revive him and help keep him awake. This was the problem with victims of concussions. Keeping them awake long enough for the danger to pass. For some reason, sleeping after a severe head wound could be fatal. Many never woke up. From experience, Freya knew she had to keep her patient awake. Here was the way to make herself truly useful. Now she knew she had a chance to prove herself to her queen. But how to do it was the question. While he drank his chafée, she stood in front of her mirror, ostensibly fixing her hair, but in reality thinking desperately of a plan. “Darling, we must go to the city,” she said. “I have someone I want you to meet.” “Is it far?” “No, just a little ways away. We’ll take the gig and be there before tea.” She glanced out the window. The sun was nearly straight overhead. Soon the troupe would gather for lunch. She had to be gone by then. She turned from the mirror and considered Regis, still sitting on her bed, still with a bemused expression on his face. He set his empty cup down, stretched and winced as if his head hurt him. “I think you’ll feel better if we got some fresh air,” she said to him. Now that she’d decided, she had to act quickly. If she turned this man in to the authorities, to the Queen of Marduk herself, The Queen of Ea would free her family and she would be allowed to live in Ea again…with Sir Ivor. Just the thought of him made her knees weak. She would be able to see him again!

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The troupe was expected at the palace tonight. She would just get there a bit early. Time was of the essence here. “Regis, let’s get dressed. You can’t spend the day naked. It’s getting late.” She helped him when it was obvious his head hurt too much to move very well. She got dressed herself, putting on her finest robe and most impressive jewelry. A platinum and aquamarine necklace around her neck, legacy of her mother, and a bracelet made of pearls were the finishing touches. She admired herself in the mirror and then made a face. Damn. She should have harnessed the horses first. She would get her robe dirty. She glanced out the window. There was Simon, standing under the linden tree, looking forlornly at her caravan. Simon who loved her. Simon, who would do anything for her. Including hitch up her horses to the gig and maybe even drive her and the mysterious Enlil to the court. Mysterious? She turned and looked at Regis carefully. He was the right age to be the prince, and his memory of the scepter rang true. Only someone who lived in the palace at Cloud City could have seen it. The Enlil were fanatical about guarding their scepter, far more so than in Ea, where anyone who went to the palace could see it. Traditionally, the Enlil scepter resided in a part of the palace off-limits to anyone except the king and his children. Oh, and the guards. It stood to reason there were guards about. Regis could have been a guard. But she thought not. There was something special about him. She trusted her instinct, not her passions. So she went out of her caravan and put a light hand on Simon’s sleeve. “Would you do me a favor?” she asked, her sweetest smile once again in place. And he said, “Anything.”

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Chapter Eleven Jealousy

Leonie didn’t expect to see Regis Aquarius, or whatever his name was, again. First she would fire him, then fire Freya, and finally find a new horse master. She hadn’t cooled off by the time she stood in front of the troupe to announce the news, and she knew it made her sound peevish and out of sorts. “Where is Simon?” she asked, glancing around. The troupe sat on bales of hay arranged in a rough circle around a fire, upon which grilled three plump chickens. A skillet with potatoes and onions sizzled on the side. Hermine, the cook, had added carry-sap spice to the potatoes and they smelled divine, both sweet and pungent. Most of the troupe leaned forward, plates on their knees in anticipation of a feast. Lunch was the biggest meal for the troupe, and they wouldn’t eat again until after the show. “I saw him leave in the gig with Freya and Regis,” said Suze. She alone wasn’t looking hungrily at the food. She had to eat next to nothing to keep light and slender enough for her act. She sniffed deeply though, when the fragrant smoke swirled in her direction. Leonie waited until everyone started to eat before going into Freya’s caravan. She knew she shouldn’t. It was a strict law in her troupe—no one went into another’s caravan without being expressly invited. But this, she told herself, was an exception. Ha! An exception for a jealous fool. She stopped, her hand on Freya’s doorknob. She couldn’t do this. It was petty and foolish. She would lose her self-respect, and the respect of her troupe. An unwritten rule was that one’s caravan was private. Living in such close quarters meant that some things had to be sacred, and privacy was sacred. But there are some things you can’t reason with, and jealousy is one of them. Leonie accepted this as fact and opened the door, slipping inside, praying no one caught her.

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The opulence struck her. Blue silk bedspread, blue silk curtains. An intricate rug of obvious value. Sea-crystal wind chimes hanging from the ceiling. A horse master doesn’t live in such luxury, Leonie thought, looking around in amazement. And then the open closet with the fancy dresses in disorder, the colorful silk shawls lying on the floor, and the jewelry box with its top still open told her that Freya had left in a hurry. A woman never left her jewelry box gaping like that. Automatically she moved to close it when a pendant caught her eye. It was made of platinum and set with a large cabochon of precious sea-jade. It scintillated blue and green as she picked it up and held it to the light. But it wasn’t the stone that had caught her eye. It was the setting. A trident on one side and a dolphin on the other, curved to hold the stone, and above those, a crown. She held the royal insignia of Ea. And engraved on the back of the hard stone was “To my beloved daughter Freya N’e Atorri from her mother, Annelise”. Leonie put the pendant back and sank down on the bed, her mind churning. The royal family in Ea was the N’e Attori family. And in royalty, family names passed down from mother to daughter if the mother married a commoner. Freya’s mother had been royal. Her father a commoner. Freya had always used her father’s name—Gregorio—a famous political prisoner’s name. She’d never mentioned a link to the royal family. Freya was part of the royal family of Ea. Had Freya ever seen her pass a message or catch her meeting one of the rebel spies? A shiver ran down her spine. No. Never. Think Leonie, think! Nothing happens by accident. Last night she discovered that Aquarius was the missing prince of the Enlil. This morning she finds him in bed with Freya. This afternoon, Freya, Aquarius and Simon disappear. Wait. Go back a few steps. She meets Simon and tells him that the queen wants to see the troupe. She rubbed her head. “Something is wrong here,” she said, trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Freya was royalty. That didn’t necessarily mean she was royalist. But the rich interior and jewelry argued against that. When you were disgraced in Ea, you lost everything. So, she reasoned, Freya must be still rich because she was loyal to her crown.

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A rebel, Leonie knew all about the politics of the four kingdoms. She’d made it a point to learn everything. So, if she’d understood correctly, Freya’s father had been executed. That much was true. But what about her mother or other family members? If they were royal, which they obviously were, they would most likely have been spared but imprisoned. Why would Freya be free? Unless she too was a spy. A spy for the court of Ea. Her fists clenched in rage at the thought. Leonie stood and paced now. As she paced, she noticed that all of Aquarius’ everyday affairs had been hastily stuffed into his bag and were shoved under the writing desk, along with the sword. And the sword was sheathed. What had he said only five weeks ago before setting the sword beneath her bed? “An old custom. A bare blade beneath the bed. As long as love is alive, the blade will keep it sharp.” And he’d grinned at her then, that wide, engaging, innocent grin of his. He’d not unsheathed his blade here. Where had Freya gone with him? What if she, too, found out he was the royal prince of Enlil? What would she stand to gain if she turned him in? Everything. Ice water flooded her veins. Who would be at the royal court? What unannounced dignitary had come all the way from Enlil to meet with the Queen of Marduk, in whose honor, most probably, the show would be given? Lord Fallocation. The man who had been ruling Enlil for years, and who made no secret of the fact he intended to find the prince. She sank to her knees and put her face in her hands. “No,” she moaned. It was a trap. Somehow, Freya had found out about Aquarius and…his note! How could she have ignored the note! It had been signed “R”. But he had told her last night he thought of himself as Aquarius. He would have signed it with an “A”. He must not have written it at all. But she’d seen him naked in bed with Freya.

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She really had to shut up that nasty little suspicious voice in her head. “Illusion. Sometimes even what you see with your own eyes is an illusion,” she said loudly. His eyes had been closed. She hadn’t heard him moan or cry out. Only Freya. Freya, who had moved so slowly when she opened the door. What would a normal reaction have been? A shriek, a frantic grasp at the sheets. Not that languid turn of the head Freya had made. She hadn’t been sweaty, disheveled or flushed from making love. She’d been setting up a scene. Leonie grabbed Aquarius’ sword and bolted out of Freya’s caravan, mindless of who saw her now. She ran to her caravan crying, “Hercules, Suze, Raymondo, Darvin! Lupin! Zoe and Zara! Hermine! I need you now!” The troupe gathered in front of her caravan in a twinkling. She stood on the steps and threw caution to the wind. “How many of you are rebels?” She was out of breath, her costume was still unlaced—she laced it as she spoke—and her hair was a riot of curls around her head. The troupe looked at her in collective amazement. “Come on, I haven’t got all day! We have to save Aquarius!” She shook the sword at them. For some reason she still held it. Suze shrugged and stuck her hand into the air. “I’m a rebel, or will be, as soon as I find a group to join.” “I want to join the rebellion too,” said Hercules after giving Suze a hug. “All right. We’re against the government,” said Zoe and Zara, speaking as one. “Me too. But there’s not much we can do about it,” said Lupin, looking doubtful. “What does this have to do with Regis?” asked Raymondo. “Everything.” Leonie took an even deeper breath. It was now or never. Her hand found the piece of parchment sewn in her costume and she clutched it for courage. “He’s the lost prince of Enlil. He ran away ten years ago to form the rebellion and has been working on it ever since. If he’s captured, the rebellion doesn’t stand a chance.”

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The faces staring at her all had their mouths open. Leonie had the impression she stood in front of an audience of fish. She told them that, and they snapped their jaws shut, but their looks of incredulity remained. Suze was the first to recover. “What happened today? Why did he leave with Freya and Simon? Where did he go?” Thank goodness for Suze. Leonie could have hugged her. “Freya is a royalist. She’s taken Regis to the court to be captured.” She held up the pendant she’d taken from Freya’s jewelry box and read the inscription to them. Their jaws dropped again. “I don’t think he left by his free will,” said Leonie. “Something has happened. We have to go save him.” “Does anyone know the palace?” Hercules asked. Hermine spoke up. “I used to cook there,” she said. In the end, it all hinged on Hermine. She knew the chief cook and could get Lupin into the castle through the servant’s entrance. The rest of the troupe would go the front way, show up early and if anyone asked, explain that Lupin had stayed behind with a sick wolf. Leonie fretted while the plans were made. She had the knack of leadership and could sketch a grand plan, but she was useless at details. Patience was not part of her list of virtues either. “Are we ready to go?” she asked acidly, then regretted her snappish tone. Lupin gave her a pat on the arm. “Don’t worry. I won’t let you down.” Leonie nodded. “And while the show is going on, I’ll make sure my fire gets out of hand somehow.” “And then I break something.” Hercules looked pleased at this. “Something noisy and messy,” said Suze, looking fondly at Hercules. “Well, what are we waiting for?” cried Hercules. “Let’s go!” 68

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“Um, darling.” Suze tapped his arm. “You might want to get your costume and your props together first.” She gave Leonie a wink. “Men! We’re always saving their necks, aren’t we?”

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Chapter Twelve The Lost Prince

Aquarius woke up in the palace. He was in a small room with no windows and a heavy door. His head ached abominably, and he had no idea where he was or how he’d gotten into the room. On the floor were clean rushes, but there was no furniture other than a lantern hanging from the ceiling. The lantern cast a warm light over everything, but it didn’t enlighten him as to where he was. The walls were stone, and funnily enough, he was standing up, leaning against the wall. Had he been sleeping standing up? Was this still a dream? He put his hand to his head and winced. A tender bump on his temple told him this was no dream. He looked around him again. It was more like a nightmare. He’d never been in a prison exactly, but this looked like what he imagined a prison looked like. And the door was locked. He pushed and pulled at the door halfheartedly, but it didn’t budge. Locked in then. He listened. Voices. They grew louder. Two people were approaching. A man’s deep rumbling voice and a woman’s higher, flute-like tones. “How do you know it’s the prince?” asked the man. “I told you, I don’t know for sure.” The woman sounded angry. “And he doesn’t know either, because he’s lost his memory.” Aquarius pressed his ear against the door and listened. The story about the amnesiac prince was interesting. Could they be talking about him? Was that how he got here? He lost his memory, was that it? “I haven’t seen him since he was a child,” said the man. “But I should be able to recognize him.”

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“Shhh! He lost his memory—not his hearing. He might overhear us.” The woman spoke in a whisper, but whoever built this prison made the acoustics nearly perfect. Aquarius drew back and considered. They would open the door. Who should greet them? The prince of Enlil, or the amnesiac prince? He didn’t like being caught in a trap. And his head was still aching and his memory faulty. Although he knew who he was, he wasn’t sure where he’d been for a while. The last clear memory he had involved some sort of fire, and a woman with hair like red gold and beautiful breasts. Well, he’d always been a breast man. Maybe he should be amnesic a little while longer. He sat in the corner, his back resting on the wall, trying to make himself look as harmless and innocent as possible. The door opened. The bottom dropped right out of his world. He recognized Lord Fallocation immediately. Luckily, a blonde woman preceded him and blocked the lord’s view for that crucial second of recognition. And lucky for him he’d been sitting down. He wiped his expression clean and stood up, brushing the straw off his black tunic. He glanced down and frowned. Where had this outfit come from? The boots were damned uncomfortable. Looking up again, he fixed the blonde woman with a vacant gaze and said, “Hello. I hope you can tell me why I’ve been locked up here.” The woman’s lips tightened and she said, “In good time. Here, Regis, is Lord Fallocation. Do you remember him?” “Should I?” He stepped forward and gave a slight bow. “I would bow deeper, but my head hurts. Perhaps you have something I could put on the bump? It pains me.” He made his voice peevish, all the while smiling blandly at Lord Fallocation. The lord peered at him closely, but it had been ten years. In ten years, a fourteenyear-old boy changes and becomes a man. Now much taller and broader, and with an unshaven jaw and unkempt hair, it was unlikely Lord Fallocation recognized him. And to his relief, the man looked more frustrated than triumphant. “You’ve brought me a country bumpkin,” he said to the blonde woman. 71

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Who was she? Aquarius felt he should know her, but couldn’t put a name to her face. He did, however, get a faint impression of distaste when he looked at her. Well, that wasn’t so strange. In all appearances, this woman had captured him and taken him straight to his archenemy. What surprised him was the faintness of the distaste. He should be wanting to strangle her. But no. His emotions remained cool. “I brought you a possible candidate for your missing prince,” she replied to the lord, her eyes flashing. “Excuse me, but could we go somewhere else to talk? It’s rather close in here, my head hurts, and some water would go down well…or some honey-beer, if you have any.” He tried to recall what a country bumpkin would drink. Meanwhile, his biggest priority was getting out of this cell. “I want you to tell me what you told Freya about your childhood,” said the man, stepping closer. Aquarius didn’t like that. The name Freya rang a faint bell in the back of his mind, but the tinkle was lost in the sudden panic of finding himself face-to-face with his nemesis. His entire childhood had been spent in fear of this man. Now, as an adult, he was having a hard time controlling that irrational fear. Because it wasn’t so irrational after all. Lord Fallocation held the reins of the government of Enlil, and spies and traitors as young as twelve had been hung from the public gibbets. The royal children had been lined up at the mirror window to watch each execution. No one could see in, but they could see out. It had been part of their education. Lord Fallocation had insisted. No wonder he hated this man. “I’m afraid I don’t remember what I told Freya about my childhood,” he said. “Tell him about the scepter,” she insisted. Damn, he hadn’t seen that coming. Had he talked about the scepter to her? Why? He knew Lord Fallocation had seen him blench. “I seem to remember my father holding a scepter, but it might have been a hoe,” he said, wishing he hadn’t chosen to stand so close to the back wall. 72

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“That’s not what you said,” Freya cried. She stomped her foot. “Stop playing games. This is serious.” “I’m sure it’s very serious, or you wouldn’t be here with such an important looking personage. But I don’t feel very well.” That much was true. “I think if I had some water for my throat, some salve for my bruise and a room with a window to get some fresh air, I’d feel better about talking to you.” Aquarius hoped he sounded convincing. Lord Fallocation paid him no mind. Instead, he started to pace. “This is a strange occurrence,” he said, almost to himself. “For years I have searched for the missing prince, and just when the fated date arrives he is brought to me by the Queen of Ea’s niece.” “Second cousin once removed,” said Freya in a cold voice. “No matter. All that I can verify. But this is a coincidence, and I have no liking for those. So let me recapitulate. The young man arrived in your troupe recently, about two months ago, and was hired right away by your leader, Leonie of Anu. Soon after they become lovers. His name is Regis, which is what the guards used to call the prince. But it’s a common Enlil name. It just means ‘firstborn’.” Freya looked bored. But the story interested Aquarius, only because the name Leonie sounded familiar, and according to Lord Fallocation, he was this Leonie’s lover. He hoped he’d recognize her if he saw her again. He had no recollection of joining a traveling circus. “You’d have to prove I’m truly the prince before bringing me to Enlil,” said Aquarius, “which might be difficult seeing as I don’t even know who I am.” Lord Fallocation was watching him, his eyes narrowed. “You may have found the true prince, Freya,” he said, ignoring Aquarius’ protest. “And even if he isn’t, he looks about the correct age, has the right hair and eye color, and could pass as the prince. Yes, I could pass him off as the prince in time for the coronation.” He smiled then, and rubbed his hands together. “That will do nicely. In the end, it doesn’t matter if he is or isn’t the real prince. What’s important is going through with 73

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the coronation and making sure the scepter has a lifeforce to drain. If he’s the prince, he’ll survive. If he isn’t, he’ll die.” Aquarius’ head snapped up. “What did you say about the lifeforce?” Lord Fallocation sneered. “It’s something I read about in the royal archives at the royal palace in Cloud City…” He took Freya and propelled her out of the room, shutting the door in Aquarius’ face. “Don’t worry, you won’t be alone for long,” he said to him. Aquarius rested his aching forehead against the door and listened as their footsteps faded. “About my reward,” Freya was saying. Lord Fallocation said, “Don’t worry. You’ll get it.” And then they were out of hearing. Aquarius thought that Freya would probably regret asking for a reward. He knew Lord Fallocation. The notions of reward and goodness were completely foreign to him. The only thing he understood was evil.

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Chapter Thirteen

The Court of Marduk, Act I Leonie knew it wouldn’t work the instant they walked in the door. The court had been assembled in the gallery, and the queen, on her throne, nodded in greeting, not at all astounded at their early arrival. As Leonie drew near, she saw that the queen was deathly ill. Her makeup couldn’t hide her livid complexion and her dress hung on her, as if she’d lost weight overnight. No one had told her of the queen’s illness. But before she could dwell upon it, the queen waved her near with a trembling hand and said, “I knew you were on your way. Your horse master showed up not long ago and said you’d be along shortly.” The queen’s voice was so weak Leonie could hardly hear it. When she spoke, the people in the gallery behind her instantly hushed. “Where is she?” Leonie forgot all about protocol in her hurry to find out what was happening. The whispers from the gallery reminded her of her error. She managed to feign an embarrassed flush and curtsied. The curtsy always came before anything. “Forgive me, your Majesty. I hope we haven’t inconvenienced you. We shall set up the stage and begin the show whenever you are ready. If you could tell me where my horse master is I will go fetch her myself.” “My servants will show you the way to the courtyard and help you if they can. As for your horse master, she is off somewhere with Lord Fallocation. I’m sure she’ll join you shortly.” She waved an arm heavy with jewelry, then slumped back in an exhausted fashion into her seat. Leonie backed away from the throne. Her troupe was waiting for her in the courtyard. “Well?” Suze asked.

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“No sign of Freya. I don’t know where she is. But she’s in the castle somewhere with Lord Fallocation. The Queen of Marduk looks terrible. I don’t know what is going on, and I can’t say anything else because the queen’s servants are right behind me.” Leonie glanced at the two liveried servants just coming out the doorway. “Lupin is with Hermine. She’s paying a visit to an old friend here at the castle, and Lupin is acting as her cousin,” Suze said in a rush before the servants arrived within hearing. She grinned. “He’s going to ‘get lost’ in the castle.” Leonie was too tense to grin back. Instead she nodded and motioned to the troupe to gather their affairs. The servants led them through the grand, arched coach entrance to an inner courtyard, which had already been prepared for a spectacle. Stands had been set up, and the royal box was already hung with tapestries and the royal seats cushioned. The evening grew cooler as the sun started to set. Working quickly, the troupe used bales of straw from the stables for the ring’s perimeter, covering the bales with red satin cloth to hide the straw and filling the ring with the bags of sawdust they had with them. Leonie always bought sawdust first thing when she came to a town, sending Hercules and Raymondo to the sawmill with their burlap bags to fill. Freya, too, used the sawdust to bed her horses. Leonie clenched her teeth as she thought of Freya. Where was that traitorous woman? She wished she could get into the palace and go search for her, but the servants acted as guards, standing in front of all the doors and even in front of the low windows. Obviously someone suspected something. She was going to have to find an alternate route into the palace, perhaps later, while the show was in progress. She’d never been so closely watched before, and usually she had been invited into the royal circle before and after the show. This time, no message came asking for her presence in the court. Glancing around, she saw that the ring was nearly completed. Their show would be truncated this evening without Freya, Lupin and Aquarius. Well, there was nothing to be done about that.

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The sun dipped behind the horizon and servants rushed about lighting torches, lanterns, candles and Leonie’s bonfire. She set her balance beam up over it when the first flames died down. Her bonfire was built far from the straw ring and the sawdust, but still well within sight of the audience and the royal box. Her act would open the show, and then the rest of the show would take place in the ring. Damn Freya. Her absence meant she couldn’t slip away until after the third act. Zara and Zoe had been practicing a new act, and offered to do both it and their regular act. Hercules, Darvin, Raymondo and Suze were stretching themselves to their limits adding what acts they could. Everyone was finding a little something extra to do to make their acts longer. Leonie was the only one who wouldn’t be doing extra, and only because she had hoped to slip away and search. The music startled her. The queen had sent her minstrels ahead to play the royal fanfare. The double doors were flung open and in a flood of light, music, flashing jewels and bright laughter, the court streamed into the courtyard and took their places in the stands. Then the noise hushed and the minstrels played the royal anthem. The court and performers, servants and slaves all stood at attention as the queen was carried to her royal box in a litter. She was helped into her seat by four servants. The royal consort joined her a moment later, along with the royal princesses and princes…the queen had a large family. Leonie was trying to divine the nature of the queen’s illness when Lord Fallocation arrived, unannounced by fanfare. But when he stepped into the royal box, everyone stood again, except the queen, who waved at one of her criers. The man cleared his throat loudly and called in ringing tones, “Her Majesty the Queen of Marduk, the Royal Consort, and their children, Prince Val, Prince Farnwirth, Princess Clotilda and Princess Marguerite, all bid you to welcome Lord Fallocation, de facto ruler of Enlil in absence of the lost prince and in light of the recent death of the King of Enlil.”

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The air left Leonie’s lungs and she nearly staggered. When had the king died? No one had heard that before, including the royal court, judging from the agitated whispers and sharp cries coming from the stands. Lord Fallocation waved for silence and spoke. “Ladies and gentlemen. Let us not spoil this wonderful night with bad news. Please. Let the show begin.” He gave Leonie a sardonic smile and gestured royally.

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Chapter Fourteen

The Court of Marduk, Act II Leonie’s show went without a hitch. Without Aquarius’ sudden breezes, she realized, the air seemed frighteningly still. What would happen if Enlil lost its power? If the prince never became king? If the scepter did shatter? She landed for her final bow and hurried to put her cape on and announce the next act. Before Suze went into the ring Leonie grabbed her arm and said, “I’m not waiting for Lupin. I’m going to try to get into the palace. Cover for me, please.” Suze looked frightened but nodded. As an acrobat, Leonie had certain advantages. She ended up climbing onto the roof and slipping into a small window. The palace was vast, but she headed downwards, figuring that if there were prison rooms, they would be below ground level. So she descended every staircase, keeping out of sight. Finally she found a staircase cut from stone that spiraled downwards. There were no guards. They must all be at the show. Hurrying, she went down the stairs. She arrived in a corridor. Heavy wooden doors were set into the walls at regular intervals, and they didn’t look like storage rooms or pantries. She went to the first door and rapped. “Anyone there?” she asked. “Yes.” The voice was amused, and belonged to Aquarius. She gave a little squeak of delight. “I’ve found you!” “And who are you?” She paused. “Leonie.” “Leonie of Anu?” It was a question. She frowned at the door. “Yes.” 79

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“Well, I hope you have a key because I don’t. And the door is locked.” It was locked, and the lock was one of those annoying iron contraptions that had rusted long ago and made picking it difficult. But as a circus performer, Leonie had picked a few locks. She didn’t take too much time. The lock sprang open. Aquarius was standing in the back of the cell, his face in shadow, his body oddly tense. “Come on,” she said, opening the door wide. He looked at her sadly. “I’m afraid it’s too late.” “Why?” she asked, and then felt the whisper of air behind her. She dove into the doorway, landing in the straw at Aquarius’ feet. The two guards who had come up behind her didn’t pursue her. They simply closed the door and locked it. “Two birds in one nest,” they cackled meanly. Leonie flung herself against the door, but it was shut tight, and the keyhole had been removed from this side. There was no getting out. “Sorry,” said Leonie, staring up at Aquarius. “I mucked that one up.” He smiled down at her and his dimple appeared. “That’s all right. I’ve made mistakes before, too. I’m just glad to see that you weren’t a mistake.” His smile broadened. “I would have recognized you anywhere,” he said. “Now I know why the word ‘marigold’ struck a chord with me.” “What do you mean, you would have recognized me?” He tapped his head and she noticed a huge bruise. “I think someone hit me on the head. I can’t remember anything of these past few months. The last thing I remember is being with a woman with bright red hair and terrific breasts.” He grinned and cleared his throat. “But that is a blurry memory, I’m afraid. I do recall staying with a family of peasants in Marduk and leaving them one morning with nothing but the clothes on my back and a leather bag with…” he broke off and looked down at his outfit. “My performing clothes.” He raised his eyes. “I think I’m starting to remember things.” “You lost your memory?” She couldn’t get over it. “What else do you remember?”

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“Nothing is in order in my head. Everything is mixed up. I remember people and places, but I don’t know when I saw them. I remember you. In a way. I see…fire, and smell…roses?” he tilted his head. “Why would I smell roses?” “I have to help you remember,” she said desperately. “Time is running out.” He looked at her, his dimple deepening. “I think I know of a way,” he said. “How?” “Well, I have this image of breasts. Maybe if I saw yours I would remember more.” He sat in the straw, leaned back against the wall and crossed his legs. The lantern was nearing the end of its usefulness. Hardly any oil was left, the flame was low, and the light it cast was reddish and mysterious. Leonie narrowed her eyes. He’d forgotten her? She would show him a thing or two. She struck a pose. “Stop it,” he growled softly. A breeze flickered and the flame in the lantern wavered. “Stop what?” She pretended not to understand and tugged slowly at the laces holding her blouse together over her full breasts. “I’m not sure.” He blinked, his face creasing in the effort to remember. “Come here,” he said, motioning to the straw next to him. She obeyed. There was something commanding in his voice and she shivered, despite the heat of the small room. He reached for her and grasped her wrist. “I want to remember everything. What happened the first time we met?” “I hired you.” She shrugged. “Did we sleep together?” “Not right away.” “Why?” He insisted. “Did you refuse me? Or did I refuse you? You look like the kind of woman who makes advances to men.” She felt her cheeks burn. “It just didn’t come up.” 81

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He lowered his eyelashes. She noticed he had lavender shadows under his eyes, and that there were lines of fatigue or stress on his face that hadn’t been there before. “What happened the next day?” “You kissed me.” “How?” “You told me that I wasn’t spontaneous and then you flung a rope around me, pulled it tight and kissed me.” “I did that?” A faint grin tugged at his mouth. “Yes. You did that.” “And then we slept together.” “No. You went off to the village for a bath and I took the troupe and left you behind.” Now his eyebrows rose. “You left me?” He looked sad for a minute then brightened. “But you came back for me.” “No. You followed me.” Leonie sighed. This was not going to work. She didn’t want to explain why she’d left—she hadn’t really understood it herself. His kiss had rocked the safe, secure world where she was in control. There was only one thing to do. She stopped fiddling with her laces and flung off her shirt. She didn’t stop to think about the prickly straw or getting her hair full of hay. She reached out, grabbed Aquarius’ shirt and tore it open. There was the sound of popping buttons and then his chest was bare. He had a nice, broad chest. She wanted to feel it pressed to her, so she rubbed up against him like a cat. The next second she was on her back and he was on his hands and knees above her, his dimple firmly in place. “I knew I’d remember your breasts,” he said, and he lowered his mouth to them. Leonie gasped, because his mouth was hot and his tongue was demanding as it flicked and licked her nipples one after the other. He growled like a wildcat as he worked over

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her nipples. Leonie closed her eyes and let the sensation of his mouth on her breasts submerge her. A warm tingling ran through her body and she forgot about the prison, the end of the world and the rest of her troupe. All that mattered was Aquarius. The thought entered her mind that someone might open the door and see them. She wriggled, intending to sit up, but he held her down. His mouth followed the line of her rib cage down to her belly and then he tugged at her waistband with his teeth. “Someone will see us,” she said, pushing him away. He took her hand and pinned it to the straw. “So?” “Lord Fallocation might come!” “I’d say he was on his way now,” said Aquarius, and he sat up for more leverage and pulled her pants off with the sound of tearing cloth. “My buttons for your waistband. A fair deal, wouldn’t you say?” “No!” She wriggled harder now, annoyed to feel her movements slowing as if on purpose. Her treacherous body was not listening to her! Stop it, she told herself. “Don’t say no to me.” He pressed his mouth to hers, saying, “This should shut you up for a while.” Oh by the Four Elements, this man could kiss. His tongue was a velvet invasion. His lips so firm, the soft rasp of his whiskers so enticing, that her back arched of its own accord, pressing her groin into his. She felt the hard ridge of his erection and a sound she didn’t recognize as her own left her throat in a hearty purr. “Oh?” He stopped kissing her and raised himself up a bit on his arms. He looked down at her and arched one eyebrow. Damn that dimple. She swallowed hard, trying to remember why she’d been struggling. He didn’t give her time to think. He slid his hand between her thighs and cupped her sex, his thumb coming to rest ever so lightly on her clit. She started to stiffen but his low, threatening growl stopped her. “You are mine,” he said.

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“Only if you remember me,” she gasped as his callused thumb swept across the top of her sex, rubbing back and forth against her clit until she saw stars. “I’m starting to remember.” His voice was bland, his gaze held hers. There were tiny flecks of gold in his dark brown irises, she noticed. And the brown was more gray than brown. His eyes were like shiny pebbles in a swiftly running stream, the firelight turning them now amber, now slate, but always those flecks of gold showed. In the torchlight and with the shadows, his eyes were mysterious and hooded with desire. “I want you,” she whispered. The straw was deep and not at all prickly. She lay on his cloak, she realized. Had he spread it beneath her? She couldn’t remember. Things tended to move fast around him. Yet he moved slowly. He tugged the rest of her clothes off. Her slippers, her pants, her silk and lace underwear. “Nice,” he said, holding it in his hand. “It’s my only luxury.” “You deserve so much more,” he said, his voice husky. “I have all I want, and now I have you. Take them off,” she said, pointing to his pants. “You take off my clothes.” She opened her mouth to protest, wanting to lie in the straw and watch him strip for her, but he shook his head, his gaze now piercing. Leonie got to her feet. He was kneeling, so she lifted his shirt over his head, pausing to muss his hair a little. It was straight and thick, like a sheaf of wheat. A lock usually fell over one eye. It made him toss his head, like a nervous colt. “Get up so I can undo your pants,” she said. He didn’t listen. He looped his arms around her waist and pulled her close. His face was level with her sex, his breath hot on the sensitive skin between her thighs. She felt a tremor of pure desire course through her as he let go with one arm, parted her labia with gentle fingers and inserted his tongue into the top of the slit. Then he ran it

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downwards, pausing when he reached the entrance to her vagina. Then he slowly stabbed his tongue into her, tilting his head up and holding her close. She didn’t need any urging to open her legs wider. She wanted his tongue deeper and higher and faster and, “More that way!” she gasped, reaching down and pressing his head to her sex. An achy need bloomed deep inside her, like an itch that needed rubbing. Rubbing hard. “Harder!” she cried. Little stars began to dance in her vision. He looked up at her and she could swear she saw his dimple, even with the lower half of his face buried in her pussy. He slurped hungrily on her clit and her wetness ran down the inside of her leg. Her pussy felt swollen and slick. Then he slipped his hand between her legs and used his fingers to tease a slow line between her clit and her passage, dipping in just a little, then sliding out and going back to tickle her clit. The scent of her arousal filled the air, cloying with musk. He pressed his face harder against her sex, low purring sounds coming from his throat. Her knees started to tremble. “Hold on,” she managed to say. “I am,” he said, a chuckle in his throat, as his fingers tightened on her waist and buttocks. “I want you in me, now.” She tried to make it come out an order. It came out as a whimper. She gasped as he pushed two fingers into her cunt and fluttered them inside her. The flutter spread from her pussy to her belly to her chest, making it hard to breathe. “In…meeee…oh!” “I am in you.” His fingers delved deeper. Now the itch was starting to throb. In an instant she would reach the edge, teeter, and… He pushed her backwards onto the straw. “Ooof!” she gasped. “First meow, then woof. I think you’re more confused than I am.” He sat back and pulled his boots off. Then he stood and unbuckled his belt and pushed his pants down. He had a bit of difficulty getting them past his erection. Naked, he looked down at her. “I’d like to make this last all night,” he said, regret in his voice. “But I have a feeling they’re not going to let us have even that.” 85

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“Then hurry.” She felt such a longing it was like a cord around her throat, suffocating her. His dimple had vanished. His eyes, even the gold flecks, were suddenly darker, more shadowed. His mouth went soft. “Oh Leonie,” he breathed as he stretched out over her and prodded her with his erection. “Let me in. Let me into your body. I’ve been lost in the cold and the dark for too long.” She opened her thighs and guided him with her hand. His cock was hard and heavy and when he thrust into her, she left her hand there, cupped around his balls, as he drove all the way into her slippery passage. He stopped when he could go no further, buried to the hilt. She kept her hand on his balls, she loved their softness, and then she rubbed the ridge of hard muscle just behind them that led to his anus. He lay his face in the crook of her neck and she could feel his muscles trembling in an effort to hold himself still. “Let go,” she whispered. “I’m ready. Let go.” With a hoarse cry he did, thrusting into her as if he wanted to light a fire with his cock, and he nearly did. A fire that blazed in her belly and consumed her. She let herself go then too, crying his name out. All four syllables. And after the torch sputtered and went out, they lay wrapped together in his cloak, in the darkness, and she could feel his heart slowing down after a while. Her breath grew less ragged and at last she could speak in a normal voice. But what to say? In a while, someone would come to get him and they would take him away. The trap would close upon him. He would either die, or accept his fate and pick up the scepter. For they wouldn’t hesitate to kill him. Without the scepter, he was nothing to them. “Don’t think about it,” he said. “How do you know what I’m thinking about?” “I just know.” “So, did you regain your memory?” she asked.

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He nodded. “Yes. I remember everything. My childhood, traveling, finding your troupe…everything.” “And that’s another thing.” Leonie took a deep breath. “Why did the scepter tell you to find me?” “I have no idea. I don’t know the scepter’s powers, or how it knew all the people I was to find on my voyage. But it told me to find a place where there was fire, water and earth. There, I would find people who could help me. That’s what the scepter said. ‘These people will help you in your time of need.’ I knew it was the right place the second I saw you. It even knew your name. ‘Find Leonie,’ it said to me.” His voice held a note of surprise in it, as if he couldn’t get over that fact himself. “Everyone knows the scepters are magic.” “They don’t seem to help the royal families though. You’d think that would be important to them.” He sounded bitter. “The Queen of Marduk looks ghastly. I wouldn’t be surprised if she keeled over dead tonight. Perhaps Lord Fallocation will forget about you,” said Leonie, trying for some levity. “I’m afraid he won’t forget.” “If they come take you away, I’m coming with you,” she said fiercely. “I don’t want anything to happen to you or the baby,” he said. There was so much pain in his voice. There was a sudden pain in Leonie’s heart too. Baby? She hadn’t thought of that possibility, but it was there. And he had thought of it. How long had they been lovers? Her moon time hadn’t come. Did he keep track, then? “I’m coming with you anyway.” He took her chin in his hand and kissed her. “I don’t think you’ll have a choice.” “I suppose not. But don’t expect me to just sit here and cheerfully wave good-bye when Lord Fallocation comes for you.” She sat up and groped around for her clothes. Ripped pants—those were hers. Torn shirt—that was his.

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“Then I want you to listen to me. You’re carrying our child.” “How can you be so sure?” But even as she spoke she counted backwards. Five weeks. They’d been lovers for five weeks, and her moon time hadn’t come in over eight weeks now. He ran his fingers lightly across her jaw, from her earlobe to her chin. “Listen carefully. When I die, he will be the only one who can hold the scepter. So you must hide him. Raise him and hide him. He won’t be safe until after his twenty-fifth birthday. If you can hide him until then, the scepter will shatter and my mission will have been accomplished.” Bitter tears filled her eyes and ran down her cheeks, burning. “You won’t die,” she said. He got dressed too. In the dark she heard him pull his pants up, buckle his belt, slide his boots on and put his shirt on the best he could with no buttons. Every move he made was engraved in her mind, even though she could not see him. Even though her eyes were too full of tears to see anything. “The scepter told me of a safe place. I never had to use it, but I want you to go there. It lies on the border of Anu and Ea, and it’s an isolated, bleak place, but the people keep it that way on purpose. They give sanctuary to those who ask. All you have to do is say my name and they will take you in and hide you for as long as necessary. You will be safe there. Promise you’ll find it.” “I don’t want to go.” “Say you promise, and I can face anything.” She felt all the air leave her lungs. It seeped out like desolation. “What else do you want me to do?” “Just hold me,” he said, his voice quiet. She did. It was the least she could do.

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Chapter Fifteen The Court of Enlil

Aquarius thought he’d be ready when Lord Fallocation came, but nothing could have prepared him for the pain he felt when the soldiers tore him from Leonie’s arms. They threw her back into the cell and slammed the door. The sound of her sobs and her fists pounding against the door followed him up the stairs…and for many days afterward. Lord Fallocation was waiting in the coach when the guards dragged him out of the castle. Fury made Aquarius call up a sudden gust of wind and rain. It lashed against the sides of the coach, frightening the horses. Lord Fallocation grew pale. “You really are the prince,” he whispered. “You would have brought back an imposter? Really?” Aquarius asked, scornfully. Lord Fallocation nodded slowly. “I would have tried to pass off anyone as the prince in order to stop the end of the world. And if you were responsible for a kingdom, you would do the same.” He paused. “I’m not your enemy, Your Highness.” Aquarius wondered about that. If Lord Fallocation really believed the world would end, then perhaps he was just doing what he thought was his duty. However, his instinct told him Lord Fallocation only wanted the power offered by the scepter and the weak rulers of Enlil. Being the power behind the throne was Lord Fallocation’s only vocation. There was no way for him to know what, exactly, Lord Fallocation believed though. Aquarius slid into the coach and sat down next to the window. He would just have to wait and see. Perhaps a chance to escape would present itself. Homecomings were supposed to be joyful affairs. But when Aquarius saw the high peaks of Enlil, he knew that all hope had abandoned him. If he’d had a dagger, he

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would have stabbed himself in the heart. But his hands were bound, and there were guards surrounding him every minute of the day and night. Perhaps he should have killed himself, but that had never been in the scepter’s plans. The scepter had simply told him never to come back. When he’d asked why, the scepter had fallen silent and refused to answer. And so he watched as the mountains drew nearer and his heart, already broken, shattered even more. The people of Enlil had been told of his return. The lined the road already on the lower slopes, waving scarves, screaming his name over and over. Well, not his name. “The prince! The prince!” they cried, frantic with joy. Belatedly he remembered that they must have thought the end of the world was near. Now they were safe. He was home. The scepter would be transmitted. The line of kings would go on. He would be expected to marry a princess of Ea. That was how the kingdoms kept the power concentrated in only four families. His father had married a princess of Marduk, and his grandfather a princess of Anu. His sisters would be married off to the princes of Ea, Marduk, and Anu. And so the web would be woven, the ties tightened, the power consolidated. And the scepter would change him, as it did all the monarchs of Enlil, and he would become a puppet of time. His father was dead. He’d learned that on the way to Enlil, but it didn’t surprise him. His father had been ill or ailing ever since he could remember. But what did surprise him, and make him uneasy, were the reports that the Queen of Marduk and the Queen of Ea had died as well, and that the Prince of Ea prepared to take the swim to the underwater chamber in the palace beneath the lake and claim his scepter. His father, then the two queens. The only ruler left was the King of Anu, and he bet that before the dawn, he’d die too. For some reason, all the heirs to the thrones would pick up their scepters on the day they turned twenty-five years old. Were they all born so close together? When were the dates of the ceremonies? So many questions ran through his mind that it hurt. He

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grasped his head in both hands and squeezed. If only he had access to the history books in the library. Well, why not? If the guards went with him he should be able to go there. As the coach climbed the hill and the horses were changed at the way station, he resolved to look up the information he sought in the royal archives. The way up the mountain was steep, and they changed horses five more times before clattering into the main road. As they passed under the great arch, clouds swallowed them up. Fog surrounded them, but still he could hear the cheers and shouts coming from the crowds lined up along the sides of the streets. Aquarius was home. As he surmised, he was not allowed to see his brothers or sisters, or even go into his old quarters in Palace Virtua. He was taken directly to the king’s quarters. There, two surprises awaited him. As he crossed the threshold into his new quarters, he stopped in dismay. Freya was there—dressed in a sumptuous dress that looked like the morning dew had been woven with silver threads and sewn onto a cloud. She looked…stunning. Stunning and dangerous. And next to her was a girl who could have been her sister. Tall, slender, with deep blue eyes and pale hair the color of moonbeams. She too wore jewels and a dress that must have been worth the price of a herd of cattle. The two women curtsied deeply as he stood there, undecided. The door shutting at his back propelled him a step further into the room. But he wasn’t happy about approaching Freya. To him, she was as deadly as an adder. “What are you doing here?” he asked her. “And who are you?” he said to the other girl, who stared at him with a frosty gaze. “I’m here under my queen’s last orders, may she rest in peace,” said Freya. “And this is my second cousin, Roxanne. Your bride.” That staggered him. He was glad of the door behind his back. He found it handy to lean against. “I’m not marrying anyone except Leonie,” he said, fighting the anger that rose in him. 91

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“The ceremony was performed in your absence,” said Freya. She looked at him from beneath lowered eyelashes, her eyes glittering angrily. “I slowed my horses for you once. But this time I spurred them on. I came as soon as I could and arrived three days ago—just in time for the wedding.” “And how did she get here so fast?” He pointed at the other woman, whose countenance was colder than the ice of Enlil. “My name is Roxanne, and I’ve been here for months, waiting for you to be found.” Her lips lifted in a sneer. “And a long, boring wait it was too. Don’t you Enlil know anything about comfort? When I am officially crowned queen, the first thing I’ll do is redecorate the castle. I’ll try not to empty the coffers.” There wasn’t enough air in the room. Aquarius felt as if the walls had closed in around him. But he was prince of the air, of that element. Some said it was the weakest of the four, but he knew better. He lowered his chin and closed his eyes, calling the air all around him. The gust of wind that slammed through the chamber tossed furniture against the walls and tore the curtains from the windows. The two princesses screamed and fought against the wind but they were powerless against it. Furious, Roxanne, Princess of Ea, raised her hands and called forth rain, but that was her undoing. The wind drove the rain into her, hurling her backwards onto the bed. The door flew open. Aquarius shouldered his way past the stunned guards, saying, “If you want me, you’ll find me in the archives room.” Anything to get away from Freya and his wife. His wife? Never. As soon as he could, he was going to see about a divorce. After hearing Lord Fallocation mention something about a certain “lifeforce”, and the archives room, he’d been dying to go there. Of course, he’d never been there so he had to grab the first person he saw in the hallway and ask directions. It was another guard. There were guards everywhere. Mostly to keep him in the palace, not to keep anyone out.

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“The archives? Follow me, Your Highness.” The guard led him past more guards and down more hallways to a door set in a thick stone wall. The door was not locked, and the room was not as Aquarius would have imagined it—musty and dusty. Everything was neatly arranged and the long wooden table in the middle of the room gleamed. The smell of wax and lavender filled the air, along with the odors of parchment, ink and leather. There was also the scent of age. Ancient manuscripts were here, carefully stored in glass cases. An old man wearing the navy blue robes of a librarian made his way between the table and a bookcase toward him. “And to whom do I owe the pleasure?” The old man’s voice creaked like a rusty hinge. “Aquarius, Prince of Enlil. I’d like to see the records of the births and deaths of the houses of Enlil, Ea, Marduk and Anu. Please.” He was in a hurry. The old man peered up at him, his wire-rimmed glasses reflecting Aquarius’ face in two small circles. “Oh! Your Highness. I would never have recognized you. Sit here. I’ll be right back.” Aquarius managed to refrain from saying that he’d never set eyes on him, so there was no question of recognition, but the old man turned on his heel and left, shuffling along more quickly than Aquarius would have thought possible. There was a bench beneath the table. Aquarius pulled it out and sat down. He rested his head in his hands and tried to think. What was he going to do with Roxanne and Freya? He had to get them out of his room. Or he’d move to another room. His room was pretty much destroyed. He rubbed his chin. Roxanne could call rain. If she’d been in direct line to the throne her powers would have been stronger. His power could call up a windstorm, but he’d never used more than the occasional gust of wind. Tonight’s had been a bad-tempered gust, and he regretted it as a churlish, childish action. But his loins ached with longing for the woman he loved. How could he ever betray Leonie? Even if his fate was now to be a prisoner here forever, he would never touch another woman.

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The librarian came back, staggering under the load of a huge, leather-bound volume. Aquarius leapt to his feet but the old man said, “No, no, I’m perfectly all right.” And dropped the book. Aquarius barely moved his foot away in time. The heavy book landed with a thump that raised a cloud of dust from the floor and brought two guards running. “It’s all right.” Aquarius picked up the book, placed it on the table, and looked at the old man in awe. He’d been hard-pressed to lift the damn thing off the floor. He opened it and began to read. It didn’t take him long to see the pattern. The kings and queens died after twentyfive years of reign. They all died within two or three months of each other. Their children became kings or queens, and bore heirs in less than a year. The pattern repeated itself through the ages. Why? Aquarius glanced up. The old man stood by his shoulder. No, correction. He stood there reading over his shoulder. “Interesting, isn’t it?” The old man pointed to the dates running down the page. Aquarius shut the book. “Is there a book that might explain why this happens? What is your name anyway? I didn’t ask you. Forgive me my rudeness. I was in a hurry.” And out of sorts, he added to himself. “My name’s Sir Feather. I’ve worked here all my life. I was apprenticed to the old librarian seventy-nine years ago. I’ve seen the reigns of three kings. You’ll be my fourth. Don’t expect to see the fifth.” He chuckled wryly. “Well, Sir Feather. I’d like to find a book that describes the beginning of the four kingdoms and the coming of the scepters. Do you have anything like that here?” “I should, I should. Hold on.” Sir Feather toddled off and came back a while later with a pushcart. Upon the cart was a glass case, and in the case was an ancient manuscript.

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“I think this might be what you’re looking for.” Sir Feather patted the glass case reverently. Aquarius carefully lifted the crumbling book from the case and opened it. The story he read was chilling. The scepters were sentient. They were the physical manifestations of the oldest type of life in the world—the Four Elements themselves. They were demons. Fire, earth, water and air demons. An air demon had become the scepter of Enlil, and in exchange for bestowing powers on the rulers, it would live forever. His father had started dying the day he picked up the scepter on his twenty-fifth birthday. The scepter had used him up—sucked the life from him, and after twenty-five years, the empty shell that had been his father had died. That was the fate that awaited him now. He could barely face the truth. His teacher, his mentor, his friend, was in reality a demon. This was the secret the scepter held, how it bestowed and conveyed the power to rule. “Is something wrong, Your Highness?” Feather looked at him, worry adding to the myriad wrinkles on his face. “Oh no. Everything is under control.” Aquarius rubbed his jaw, feeling the stubble. Everything was under the demon’s control, that is. He kept reading, hoping for some hint that would tell him how to break the spell. He searched for something that would enable him to pick up the scepter and not have his lifeforce drained out of him. But the shadows grew long, the lamp-lighters came and lit the tapers, and still he found nothing in the old book but anecdotes about history and stories of the kings and queens of old. Finally, exhausted and depressed, he left the archives room and made his way to the king’s quarters. After making sure the two princesses had gone, he took his small bag of affairs and went to find another room. He found one not far, probably one of the guard’s rooms. It was empty. He grabbed two guards from down the hallway and posted them at the doorway. 95

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“Do not let anyone in. Not even my…bride,” he managed to say. “Yes, Your Highness,” said the guards, and saluted. Aquarius watched for a minute as they stood, straight and serious at the doorway. They might be good for something, after all.

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Chapter Sixteen

The Royal Wedding Night That night, in his dream, there was fire. And in the fire was a woman with golden skin, hair and eyes who spun and danced upon a narrow beam. But rain came and put out the fire. The flames sizzled and died, and the golden woman vanished in a clap of thunder. He opened his eyes. It was pitch dark. Something wasn’t right. A strange smell assailed his nostrils. It was sickly sweet and smoky at the same time. A fire? He shook his head. He was groggy, and had a hard time concentrating. He wanted to get up, but he was incapable of movement. And then he realized there was a mask over his eyes. That’s why he couldn’t see. “Who’s there?” he said, pulling against the cords that bound him. “I order you to let me go at once.” There was no reply, but soft, gentle hands took his shoulder and pushed him down. He didn’t want that. He struggled even more, but the cords held him spread-eagle on the bed. He was tied hand and foot. The sweetish smell faded and his head cleared. He’d been drugged! What was happening? Then the soft hands began to stroke his body. Four hands. Running over his shoulders and his arms, his torso, his belly and thighs. There came the scent of oil. Oil of rose. The hands were rubbing rose oil on his body, massaging him from his toes to his shoulders. And while two hands ran over his body, two hands concentrated on his cock. He was naked. The realization set him struggling again, but the hands didn’t stop their wandering massage. No one spoke. He felt himself getting stiff and tried to stop it, but his cock had a life of its own and the nimble, deft hands and heady rose oil were 97

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working havoc on him. Images of Leonie flashed in his mind. He struggled some more, but that only served to excite him. He stopped moving and lay still. A hot breath blew on his cock. An even hotter mouth slid over it and began sucking hard, while hands kept stroking and tickling him. “Stop,” he said, “Please stop.” “Oh, I don’t think so.” The voice was familiar. Freya. His mind cleared a bit more and he fought against the rising tide of desire. The thought of Freya and Roxanne touching him did the trick. He felt ill with disgust. “What are you doing here? Get out of my room.” “Try and make us leave.” That was Roxanne’s voice. “Hurry up. I can’t wait all night.” Freya sounded impatient. “I’m trying. He’s limp as a wet rag. Damn you!” The hands rubbing his cock stopped, and then someone slapped him, hard. That did it. His head cleared completely and he felt rage building in him. The scent of roses was in the air, but it had nothing to do with Leonie. This was one of Freya’s tricks. Aquarius bucked furiously, but the ropes around his arms and legs held him captive. He couldn’t move, but he could move the air around him. The force of the gale he summoned nearly made the bed lift off the ground. There came the sound of glass shattering and the scent of roses was suddenly overpowering. He envisioned Freya and Roxanne crouched on his bed, on either side of him, and he concentrated his thoughts, gathering the force of the wind and slamming it at them, sweeping them away from him. Hands grasped at him but the oil made his skin slick, and the wind blew the two women off his bed. Freya and Roxanne screamed, and he heard twin thuds, and more shrieks. He hoped they’d landed on their heads. The wind grew even stronger, and there were resounding crashes as the door and windows blew open and smashed. Then there came shouts and footsteps as the guards appeared.

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“Your Highness! What happened here?” said a man’s shocked voice. “Just take my mask off,” he ordered. The mask came off, and he saw that he was alone in the room. It was wrecked. Not a single piece of furniture was still standing except his bed, and there was the sparkle of broken glass on the floor. “Where are my wife and her cousin?” he asked, as the guard untied his hands. “No, let me.” He sat up and unfastened his legs himself, cursing under his breath. “I saw them running down the hall, Your Highness. Is anything the matter? Can I get you anything?” The poor guard was scarlet with embarrassment. Aquarius knew what he felt like. “No thank you. Oh, wait a minute. Can you show me where the broom closet is? And help me find a spare bed, will you?”

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Chapter Seventeen A Promise Broken

Leonie pounded one last time on the door and then slumped into the straw, physically exhausted and mentally drained. She hadn’t been lying there long before she heard the stealthy sound of steps on the spiral staircase, and then the sound of someone picking the lock. The door eased open and Leonie held her breath. “Simon?” she said, as she saw who it was. “Shhh!” he held his finger to his lips. “Come quickly. I overheard someone give orders to the guards to take you away to the city jail and make sure you were charged with treason. We have to get out of here quickly.” She didn’t waste time asking questions. She shot out of the door and then stood, undecided. “This way.” Simon tugged at her arm and led her up the stairs. They stopped at the first bend, where a small window was set into the stone wall. Simon opened the window and motioned to her to crawl through it. She did, and found herself on a narrow ledge in front of a wide expanse of water. They were on the castle side of the moat on one of the ledges, probably used for cleaning and upkeep purposes. Leonie started to edge her way along the ledge. It wasn’t very wide, but it was wide enough for her, used to her balance beam. Simon followed her, more awkwardly. “Where does this go?” Leonie whispered. “Around the tower and under the drawbridge. From there we should be able to make it out of the castle. The rest of the troupe is still in the courtyard. During the last part of the act the queen suddenly took a turn for the worse. Lord Fallocation showed

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up and stayed for a while, but after the queen was taken away he disappeared as well. I didn’t see him until he suddenly left the back way in one of the royal coaches.” “Where were you?” Leonie slowed down a bit, wondering suddenly if she weren’t being betrayed. “I was with Freya, but she and Lord Fallocation have some sort of secret plan. I saw them together. They left separately. Freya rode her fastest stallion, and Lord Fallocation had a prisoner with him in his coach. It looked like Regis, but the coach went by so fast I couldn’t be sure.” “It was Regis.” Leonie shook her head. “I didn’t tell you because you were gone with Freya earlier, but Regis is the Prince of Enlil.” “I know. I saw Lupin. He was in the palace. At first he didn’t trust me, but then he told me what had happened and what you wanted to do.” “I imagine Lord Fallocation is taking him back to have him crowned king. Is Lupin all right?” “Yes, he and Hermine went back to the encampment. He didn’t want to leave his wolves alone too long. I told him I’d find you and bring you back, somehow.” “Thank you, Simon.” Leonie stopped and gave him a pat on the shoulder. “Keep moving. We’re almost there. We shouldn’t stay here in plain sight.” He had a point. Leonie continued carefully, but stopped when she arrived under the shadow of the drawbridge. “What is your part in all this, Simon?” she asked. He looked at her, and in the dim starlight, she could tell he’d been crying. “I was in love with her. But she just used me. I would have done anything for her, anything at all.” Leonie sighed. “I’m sorry, Simon.” “You’re on our side, I know that.” Leonie studied him warily. “What side is that?”

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“The rebels’ side. I know you’re in the rebellion. I made a mistake. I thought Freya was one of us too. But she’s not.” “I found that out today as well,” said Leonie grimly. “You have to get away from here. Right now, the Queen of Marduk is dying. There are guards everywhere. Several people were arrested. A woman and a man, on Lord Fallocation’s orders. It’s been tense. The guards are keeping an eye on the troupe, although I’m sure they’ll let them go soon. Bigger things are in the making. When the queen dies they will have to clear the castle and make ready for the ceremony with the scepter and the crown prince.” “There is something odd going on. The King of Enlil died, and the Queen of Marduk is dying.” Simon looked forlorn. “Our rebellion is finished before it’s even started. We were counting on the missing prince to lead us to victory.” “I have to get to Enlil,” said Leonie. The promise she made to Aquarius would have to wait. Right now, she could think only of saving him. “The coronation isn’t for another few weeks, on his birthday. Help me get the troupe together and go to Enlil. Please,” she added. “All right. Go back to the campground and get the horses ready. We’ll be along as soon as possible.” Leonie ran all the way back. Hermine and Lupin were there, as Simon had told her. Once she told them the plans they saddled and bridled the horses Freya had left behind. Leoine got her bedroll and pack ready, and then went one last time to Freya’s caravan. She’d been back here. Her jewelry box was gone, along with several other small items. Leonie went back to her own caravan and stopped, perplexed. Someone had stolen the bottle of rose oil she’d had on her counter.

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The troupe managed to leave not long after midnight. In the confusion of the queen’s sudden demise, it had been easy for them to get away. Their guards simply left them alone. They hadn’t heard anything about Leonie’s escape. According to Suze, the queen’s death would make it easy to leave the kingdom, and in fact, no one stopped them as they left the city and galloped out into the night. They made an incongruous sight, with nine black wolves following alongside the horses. The moon lit their way, and they galloped until the horses were too tired to go on. They camped by a stream to rest the horses, but at first light they left again, chewing on bits of hard bread to still their hunger. Luckily the wolves hunted as they went along, and as the sun set the next evening, they had six fat rabbits roasting over a fire, and their mood lightened as they realized no one was coming after them. Once they were overtaken by a messenger from Marduk, crying loudly as he rode, “Hear ye, hear ye! The queen is dead!” At first they thought to hide, thinking it was a guard from the palace. But they just had time to clear off the road and stand in the frostcovered grass before the messenger galloped by. The weather stayed clear. The winter’s chill kept the ground hard and the horses made good time. In five days’ time they caught their first glimpse of the mountains. “That is going to be a hard climb,” said Simon, pulling his cloak tighter around his shoulders. “There are way stations where we can trade our tired horses for fresh ones,” said Leonie. “I’ve been to Cloud City before. You give the horses to the stables when you finally reach the city, and they bring you your horses when they are rested. It costs very little, and their horses know the mountain routes well.” Most of the troupe had never been to Cloud City and they stared, mouths open, at the gigantic peaks, their tops lost in thick, swirling mist.

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“Is there really a city under that cloud?” Suze asked, rubbing her mittened hands together and blowing on them for warmth. “It’s as if the world disappears up there. First forest, then bare rock, and then snow, mist and wind.” “The city is up there, and bigger than you can imagine.” Leonie tilted her head back and let the icy air rushing down from the mountain rush through her hair. She could imagine Aquarius up there, probably prisoner in some dark, damp, cold room. All alone. With nothing but the wind whistling in the eaves to keep him company until his coronation.

Aquarius had to raise his hands for quiet. Slowly, the sound level dropped as the hundreds of people packed into the Great Hall stopped talking or at least lowered their voices. Everyone was waiting for him to say something. To give a speech. To explain why he’d run away. And now that he’d discovered at least part of the truth, he couldn’t say anything. At least, not yet. He wasn’t exactly a prisoner, he could go wherever he pleased in the kingdom. But two or three strong guards flanked him, and five or six more were never far. Escape was not an option. Ruse might work. “I traveled the world these past ten years,” he said, pitching his voice to reach the back of the hall. “Although this is not a custom with the Enlil, I think it would be a good thing to let the future rulers see what is happening in the land before handing them the reins of government.” Next to him, Lord Fallocation seethed. He had been against the gathering, and he hadn’t been able to coax Aquarius into telling him what he was going to say. And so he sat, tapped his fingers on the wooden chair and glowered. Aquarius’ wife, Roxanne, sat on a chair not too far away. He was too polite to ignore her and too furious to give her a civil greeting, so when she came in, walking

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straight to the throne, he had one of the pages bow and say in a loud voice, “The future King of Enlil bids you sit here.” The page led the woman to a chair, Aquarius gave her a cool nod, wished he could have her confined to her chambers, and wondered where Freya was lurking. So the atmosphere around him was tense. He could feel Lord Fallocation’s frustration, Roxanne’s fury, and somewhere, nearby, he could feel Freya’s gaze upon him like an arrow sighted between his shoulder blades and it made him damned uncomfortable. “Today I mean to visit my brothers and sisters…” “Your Highness, it isn’t custom…” Lord Fallocation began to protest. “I think we’ve already ascertained that I’m not bound by custom.” “If I hadn’t captured you, you never would have come home. The world would have ended,” Lord Fallocation sputtered. The crowd began to murmur angrily. Aquarius did not want an angry crowd. “How do you know that? I was on my way home when you captured me.” The people were confused. Aquarius saw dubious looks exchanged, and some faces darkened in anger. Clearly most did not believe him. He sighed. Well, the scepter had always said the best defense was attack, and lying to save his skin had never bothered him. “Do you think I want the world to end?” he shouted furiously at the gathering. There was silence. “I don’t,” he went on, in a kinder tone. “I have traveled the width and breadth of this great land, and visited the lands of Ea, Anu and Marduk. I have made many friends…some of whom will be here for the coronation,” he added, looking pointedly at Lord Fallocation. If the troupe did show up, he wasn’t about to have them tossed in prison. One thing about being an absolute ruler—his orders took precedence over Lord

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Fallocation’s orders. “I want to encourage the people of Enlil to let their rulers voyage as I have done. I think you will see that the results will be worth it.” “What about the fur guild?” shouted a man dressed in rich furs. “Or the candle-makers’ league?” “Or the glass-blowers’?” Voices rose as everyone wanted to make sure he wasn’t going to forget them once he was king. If he became king. He still suspected Lord Fallocation of a plot to get rid of him. And he still hadn’t seen or spoken to the scepter. There were important things to settle with that demon in disguise. And here too, apparently. Lists arrived in bundles for his secretary, people lined up to ask boons or just shake his hand and gawk at him. Women curtsied, men bowed. Some dogs barked. Pages ran about. A couple people fainted. A child cried. Other children laughed. Someone started hawking drinks near the doorway. It was just another day in the Great Hall in Enlil, and he’d never seen this or taken part in it. More the pity. As a child he would have loved it. Roxanne shifted on her chair and looked uncomfortable. People bowed, and curtsied and saluted her too. The young boys assigned as his pages rushed to and fro with papers to sign, papers to read, messages and complaints. So many rolls of parchments and papers. The table next to him was soon groaning. Lord Fallocation and Roxanne never stopped sulking. They were getting on his nerves. As soon as the crowd thinned out, Aquarius stood, grabbed Lord Fallocation and said, “Let’s go.” “Where?” cried Lord Fallocation. He looked startled. “To see the scepter.” “You can’t see it until the coronation.” “I’m going now. I want you to come with me.”

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Lord Fallocation paled but motioned curtly to three guards and they left the hall through a back door. “Where are you going?” cried Roxanne, standing up, disquiet twisting her face. “Take my place on the throne until the hall is empty,” ordered Aquarius. “Meet the people. File the papers on the table. That is your job. And if you can’t do that, I’ll send you to the kitchens to learn to cook.” Roxanne looked like she was about to throw a temper tantrum, but being raised a princess had taken away her better instincts and she went to the throne and sat, two red patches appearing on her cheeks. A raindrop or two spattered on the floor, and some people looked up in amazement at the ceiling, where a little rain cloud had formed right above Roxanne’s head.

The road up the mountain seemed to last forever. But the way stations were there, as Leonie remembered, and they got some hot chocolate to fortify themselves, and fresh horses. The wolves suffered, and some had started to limp. The new horses didn’t like the wolves and Lupin ended up on foot, walking up the road after them. “I’ll arrive a bit later than you, that’s all,” he said. Leonie wondered where he was thinking of keeping his wolves once he arrived at the city, but it was best not to say anything. Lupin always assumed his wolves were welcome everywhere. Maybe it would be easier arriving in the city without nine huge black wolves trotting behind. Darvin stayed with Lupin to help him out. The troupe was reduced by two then, when they reached the great doors that separated Cloud City from the clear air. In fact, it looked as if the mist was contained behind the gate and the high walls, and tendrils of it seeped over like steam from a witch’s caldron. Leonie shivered as she urged her horse into the wall of mist. Well used to it, the horse just lowered its head a little and walked under the gate. It took a few minutes to adjust one’s eyesight. Streetlights pierced the gloom, and as Leonie remembered, they were beautifully made of clear and colored glass. 107

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Suze uttered a cry of delight and clutched at Hercules’ arm. “This is so lovely,” she said. “And cold,” he replied. “The temperature just dropped to freezing.” “The cobblestones are slippery but the horses have spikes on their shoes,” said Leonie. “Let’s go to the stables and then find lodgings.” She was about to ask directions when a man dressed in the uniform of a royal guard came running up to them. “Excuse me!” he said. “Are coming for the coronation of our royal highness?” “Of course,” said Hercules, getting off his horse and towering over the guard. “We have been invited by the prince himself. He is a friend of ours. I insist you take us to the palace at once.” The guard quailed at Hercules’ size. “His royal highness will be glad to see you, I’m sure. Follow me please.” “Should we?” asked Suze, lines of worry on her face. “I suppose we may as well,” said Leonie. She turned her horse around and said to the guard. “Lead on.” To herself she wondered if Aquarius had been waiting for her when he’d asked her to make a promise…unless he thought she was not going to keep it. She couldn’t decide if she were cross about that or not. It was one thing to be romantic and brave, and another thing to be predictable. She guessed she fell into the second category. Aquarius, however, was totally unpredictable. She had no idea what awaited them. News on the street was even more unsettling. People chatted as they waited in line at the bakeries and fish shops, and she heard mention of the royal wedding, the new princess and how pretty she looked in the Great Hall that morning. Leonie felt bile rising and it choked her, but she managed to calm herself. “He loves me, he loves me,” she recited to herself in a whispered litany. But her heart seemed to crack to pieces in her chest.

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Her horse clopped along behind the guard, who had to jog to keep ahead of them. The mist swirled around their legs and every now and then would clear and give Leonie a glimpse of a doorway, overhanging eaves, a multi-paned window or a stone pillar. Cloud City was built of stone and wood, and everything was intricately carved. Lamps glittered, gleamed and glowed all over, and it was true that the whole effect was fairy-like and lovely. But it was also cold and damp, and Leonie was glad when they arrived at the stables and grooms came to take their horses. The guard waited until they’d collected their affairs and led them into a doorway nearby. Orange glass lanterns cast a warm glow on the stone in the narrow hallway, and they soon arrived in a large reception area. A fire burned in a massive fireplace on one wall, and there were cozy chairs and a low table spread with a delightful array of food. “Please wait here,” said the guard. “I sent a message ahead. His royal highness will be along as soon as he finishes his…whatever he’s busy doing.” For the first time the guard looked uncertain. “What is he doing?” asked Leonie. “He went to see his brothers and sisters.” The guard spoke in a tone that told Leonie that he didn’t approve one bit. She wondered why. Strange customs indeed. The guard’s next words took her breath away completely. “Princess Roxanne, our royal highness’s new wife, upon hearing of your arrival, insisted on coming to welcome you. She will be here in a few minutes. Make yourselves at home.” With that, he saluted and left. Leonie sat down in front of the fire, but its heat didn’t take away the sudden chill that settled in her bones.

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Chapter Eighteen The Scepter

Lord Fallocation was furious. Red-faced and sputtering he said, “I don’t know what you’re playing at, but believe me, you’ll be sorry. No prince has gone outside Palace Virtua. When the king dies, you are supposed to move into his quarters at once and not see the scepter until the coronation day.” “I’ve already broken the first rule, and I mean to see the scepter before the coronation,” said Aquarius. “I also intend to reassure my brothers and sisters that they are free now, and can go where they want and do as they please. If they want to stay and help me rule, they are welcome to do so. Otherwise, I will not…” “Your elder sister is betrothed to the Prince of Anu and will be leaving any day now,” Lord Fallocation interjected. Aquarius gave him a withering stare. “She will marry whomever she pleases.” “She is a royal princess!” Aquarius’ temper finally got the better of him. He stopped, whirled about and grabbed the unfortunate man by the throat. In the back of his mind he registered that he was now taller than his nemesis, and that he wasn’t as afraid of him anymore. In fact, his fear had ebbed and left place for nothing but contempt. “You speak of us as if we were privileged. But we hardly had enough to eat, and we were always cold. Our tutors beat us when we didn’t recite our lessons perfectly, and our parents ignored us. We never even had names. What kind of childhood is that?” Lord Fallocation was turning an interesting shade of purple. Aquarius let him go and he dropped to the stone floor, gasping. At that moment, a voice sounded in his head. “Well, if it isn’t Aquarius. I thought I told you never to come back.” 110

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Something very tight unwound in Aquarius’ chest. He nearly slumped in relief. He’d been so afraid that the scepter wouldn’t speak to him, or wouldn’t recognize him. “I’m coming to see you,” said Aquarius, looking at Lord Fallocation. “Who are you talking to?” he asked. “The scepter.” Lord Fallocation’s face went from purple to ashen. “No,” he whispered. “Yes.” Aquarius stalked down the long, stone hallway suspended between two tall towers. Narrow windows offered a view above the cloud level. The windowpanes were yellow and blue, and patches of colored light danced on the tiled floor. He could hear voices ahead. The door to Palace Virtua was locked, but Lord Fallocation had the key. He surrendered it after the slightest pause. On the other side of the door, three young men and three young women stood, waiting for him. He recognized them, giving them the names they’d called each other. The boys, Winter, Sol and Capricorn. Capricorn was the youngest, and had changed the most in ten years. He’d been seven when Aquarius left—he was now a tall lad of seventeen. The twins, Luna and Star, had been fifteen, and were now beautiful young women. And Dawn…the eldest girl, with hair down to her knees and gray eyes as clear as rainwater. There was an awkward silence and then Winter, the second oldest after Aquarius, stepped forward and embraced him. “We missed you,” he said. “What happens now? Why did you come back? Are you here to stay?” asked Sol, and Aquarius remembered he was always asking questions, and he wanted to laugh, or maybe cry. “We missed you,” Dawn said, echoing Winter. She stepped toward him and took his hand. “When you told us you were leaving, none of us believed you.” “I missed you too. Every day I thought of all of you. I would look toward the mountains and send my thoughts skyward.”

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“We knew you were still alive,” said Star, and Luna nodded and said, “The scepter started to talk to us after you left. It must have heard your thoughts, because almost every day it would tell us something you did or said.” “Did it say anything else?” Aquarius could hardly take it in. “No. It just told small things. Nothing that would tell us where you were or betray you.” Dawn smiled wistfully. “We shared your adventures.” Lord Fallocation couldn’t take it anymore. “What? Why didn’t you tell me?” They all looked at him, their faces grave and accusing. “Leave us alone now,” said Aquarius. “I will stay right here. You have until sunset. Then…” He was interrupted by a guard, rushing into the room. “Your Highness. Forgive me. A circus troupe claiming to be your friends has arrived. They’re in the reception room, in the Main Palace.” Somehow, Aquarius managed to hide his surprise. “Thank you, er…” “Gavun, Your Highness.” “Thank you Gavun. Why don’t you go and stay with them until I finish here. Tell them I’ll be down shortly.” He leveled a stern look at Lord Fallocation. “If I were you, I’d leave now before I do something I regret, like have you arrested.” “You can’t have me arrested. I control the army and the guards, or have you forgotten?” Lord Fallocation flicked an imaginary piece of dust from his coat. “Then I suppose it will have to wait until after the coronation.” Aquarius swallowed his fury with difficulty. Lord Fallocation gave an oily smile. “If you have enough strength left afterwards. For some reason, I doubt you will.” The guard looked startled, saluted, and left at Lord Fallocation’s nod, and Lord Fallocation, after another snide smile in Aquarius’ direction, followed at his heels.

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Aquarius was relieved to see he’d left the door open. He hated to be locked in anywhere now. “What troupe is this? Is it Leonie’s troupe?” asked Dawn, her eyes bright. “The scepter told us you’d joined a circus. I would love to see one of your tricks.” “Later. Why don’t you go and meet them?” Aquarius said. “I’ve given orders you are to be free of this place and can go where you want.” “I don’t know where anything is,” said Winter angrily. “How can we go anywhere?” “The same way I did. You walk out the door. Ask directions. Oh, and go find Lord Fallocation and order him to give you money. You can go buy clothes in the shops. It’s a lot of fun, you’ll see.” “It will be even more fun to order Lord Fallocation around,” said Sol, his dark eyes twinkling. “I can’t wait until after the coronation when you can finally get rid of him.” Aquarius watched them leave. They walked hesitantly down the corridor and disappeared around the far bend. “Have fun while you can,” he whispered after them. “For I have no intention of becoming king. The world will end if I can possibly help it.” He turned and went to the center of the palace, where the scepter lay in its crystal case. It shimmered more than he remembered, and was smaller too. “Why did you return?” it asked him as he stepped into the room. “Lord Fallocation captured me. It was an accident. Someone hit me and I lost my memory for a while.” “Beware Lord Fallocation. He is counting on my weakening you so that he can kill you and become the new ruler. Then it would be his firstborn son who would pick me up in twenty-five years’ time.” Aquarius didn’t say anything. He looked out the window behind the scepter and watched as a cloud enveloped a mountain peak and hid it from view. “Didn’t you hear me?”

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“Yes.” Aquarius sighed. “And will you weaken me so badly I can no longer defend myself?” “I don’t want to,” whispered the scepter. “But my true nature is demonic. I will drain your lifeforce until there is barely enough for you to breathe.” Aquarius felt the scepter’s sorrow like a knife, and was startled. But he had several questions to ask, so for now he put that aside. “I went to the archives in the palace and read about the four elemental demons. Have you decided you’re tired of eternal life? Is that why you wanted me to leave and never return?” “You are astute, Aquarius, which is why I chose you. You see things clearly. There are no clouds in your eyes.” “How can I help you?” A long sigh greeted his words. A long sigh, and more sorrow. “You have to carry me to the tallest peak and drop me off. I will shatter then, but you will die as well. After you touch me, our essence is as one.” Aquarius thought about that. “So you killed my father, in a way.” “Yes. When he touched me, he lost much of his lifeforce. Each time, the person gives up part of him and we take it. I am nothing but a parasite. I have decided to end it.” “What about the other scepters?” “We communicate. But I am the only one to have made a decision. Anu has been insane for many years. Ea also is on the edge of insanity. Marduk is more solid, but his strength is slowly fading. If we continue like this, we run the risk of infecting the rulers with our madness. The world will come to an end, but in warfare, as we degenerate to the point of fighting against each other.” “Better the world end another way then,” said Aquarius, his heart stirred with pity. Demon he might be, he still had traces of humanity. “You must find a way to destroy me. Even if it means destroying yourself.” There was a pause, and the scepter said, in a very quiet voice. “We did not know what we were getting

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into so many centuries ago. At first it was power and life. Now it is only madness and suffering. You have to believe me.” “I understand, and I believe you.” Aquarius rubbed his face. He had to go. The sun was starting to set. Leonie was waiting for him. A smile tugged at his lips. He’d known she wouldn’t go to Sanctuary. It was contrary to her nature. Fire attacks, it meets danger head-on. She would never run and hide. He paused and looked at the scepter. “I will put an end to your suffering one way or another.”

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Chapter Nineteen Confession

Leonie wasn’t impressed with the palace. After the luxury of Marduk, the place seemed austere, almost stark. But as she sat in front of the fire she began to notice the details. The carvings on the stone chimney were done by a master, and the rugs were woven with wool dyed in jewel-like colors. The seats were plain but comfortable, and everything was of the finest quality. A servant brought them hot chocolate in pewter mugs and there was a platter of spice cake as well as a huge bowl of nouranga fruit, all the way from the irrigated plains of Anu. Impressive. She took a nouranga and peeled it, then bit into its sweet, juicy flesh. As she did, visions of her childhood assailed her. All it took was a familiar scent or taste and she could imagine herself back home. Outside snow fell. In Anu it was always summer. She’d grown up in a tent on the edges of the Oasis of Yévé. The water from the oasis had gone to irrigating the huge plains. Her family barely eked out a living cultivating the tall frond trees. She’d left as soon as she could, joining a caravan heading north. Anu had seemed like a prison then. Now, looking around at the gray stone buildings and mountains, gray sky and gray clouds, she wasn’t sure anymore. She couldn’t imagine growing up here, surrounded by such constant mist, fog and snow. “Well, there you are. I’ve heard so much about you from my cousin Freya,” said a voice from the doorway. The troupe turned as one. It would have been almost comic, but Leonie did not feel like laughing. The woman in the doorway hesitated, then stepped in. She wore a dress that seemed sewn from moonbeams. It hugged her figure then flared at the hips, sweeping

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the floor in a rustle of silk. She looked like Freya, but was even more beautiful with wide gray eyes and a shy smile. “I’m Roxanne. It’s so nice of you to come for the coronation. I only wish you’d have been here for the wedding.” Her hands fluttered then clasped together in front of her. She looked both assured and terrified. The troupe was silent. All were waiting for Leonie to speak, she figured. Sometimes it wasn’t that great to be the leader. Plus she was having a hard time hating the woman. She looked as if she’d been made by a glass-spinner out of fragile things like rose petals and raindrops. And then Leonie noticed her eyes. They were wide and almost innocent, but there was something distinctly Freya about the look. There was nothing fragile about this woman. Glass, no. She’d been made of steel and forged in the court of Ea, a place where death by poison was more common than any other death and where members of the same family killed each other off as a matter of custom. No, she couldn’t feel sorry for Roxanne, no matter how good her acting skills. She stood up. “I’m Leonie. If Freya told you about us, she also told you how she betrayed us and left the troupe.” “Of course she did.” The woman floated into the room and took a seat across the low table from Leonie. She poured herself a cup of steaming hot chocolate and sipped it. “Where is she?” Leonie put her own cup down. She’d lost her appetite. “She’s in the royal stables. You know how much she loves horses.” Her words were spoken in a soft, flute-like voice. Simon, Leonie noticed, grew pale. Poor Simon. In love with a viper with ice in the place of a heart. Well, it couldn’t be worse than her own love. She was sitting in front of the woman who’d just married Aquarius. Somehow she managed to keep her smile firmly in place.

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The silence stretched and grew uncomfortable. And then Aquarius came in. He saw Leonie and he smiled. But then he caught sight of Roxanne, and his whole countenance changed. It was like looking at a cloud become a thunderstorm. “Out,” he said to her. It was just one word, but it cracked like a whiplash across the room and Leonie swore Roxanne flinched as if it stung her. Roxanne opened her mouth, caught Leonie’s eye, and then shut it. A strange expression crossed her face, but she didn’t speak. She stood, gave a grave curtsey to everyone, then left the room—every inch a princess. “I’m sorry you had to meet her,” said Aquarius. He strode across the room and took Leonie in his arms. First he crushed her to him in a tight embrace, then he held her away and shook her. “I thought I told you to go to Sanctuary.” “I’m bad about following orders. Sorry. And I’m not sorry I met Roxanne,” said Leonie. “I feel sorry for you. Don’t turn your back on her. She’s likely to plant a dagger in it.” Aquarius didn’t smile. “I’ll be careful. My brothers and sisters are here. They are shy, not used to meeting people, but they wanted to come see you.” He motioned toward the doorway and a group of young men and women came in hesitantly. Leonie could see the family resemblance, although the youngest boy was darkhaired, and the oldest girl had hair as pale as winter straw. All were very tall and exceedingly thin. They stood close to each other, shifting uncomfortably on their feet. Hercules and Raymondo stood and offered them seats. Or rather, insisted they sit down. They did, reluctantly. Slowly they began to speak. It was awkward at first, but the members of the troupe, especially Simon, knew how to put people at ease. Soon they were laughing at Zoe and Zara’s tales of learning how to walk the tightrope, and begging the troupe to put on a show for them as soon as possible. “We’ve never seen a circus show,” said Winter. He was perched on the edge of his chair, his expression animated. It was a stunning change from the serious, strained look

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on his face earlier. Leonie’s heart contracted in pity, and she took Aquarius’ hand. They sat together on a chair made for one, but she didn’t mind the squeeze. “What are you going to do?” she asked him quietly, so that no one else heard. “I don’t know yet I’m glad you came, even if I told you not to.” He pressed her hand to his lips. “But I want you to prepare the troupe to leave in an instant if anything happens. And this time follow my orders, is that clear?” “All right. We’ll do that.” “I’m afraid the inns are all full in the city. The troupe will have to stay in the palace. There are many empty rooms in Palace Virtua, where my brothers and sisters live. You can all go there, and I’ll make sure there is enough food and blankets for everyone,” he added dryly. Leonie didn’t know what to say. She sensed deep sadness behind his words, but there was nothing she could do about it. “You’ll stay with me,” he whispered in her ear, and this time his voice had a definite note of desire in it. She glanced at his lap and her vulva immediately grew damp at the sight of the bulge in his pants. “When can we go to your room?” she whispered back. A tingling grew in her nipples and they hardened, rubbing against her chemise. Aquarius stood. “Excuse me for a moment. I want to show Leonie something.” Suze laughed. “Something?” Leonie thought Suze could have looked a little less knowing, and she could certainly have done without the wink. Aquarius simply took her hand and pulled her out of the room. They walked down interminable corridors and she knew after a while she was hopelessly lost. Guards stood at attention in most entranceways. There was a constant bustle as people scurried down the halls carrying packages and parcels of different sizes and shapes. Some even carried chairs.

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“They’re heading to the Great Hall to set up the chairs for the coronation,” Aquarius said, reading her mind. “Here’s my room.” He opened a small, unimposing door and Leonie found herself in pitch darkness. “Hold on.” Aquarius took a fire-stick from a nook in the wall and lit a lamp, and Leonie saw she stood in what had to be the smallest room in the castle. “Is this the broom closet?” she asked, looking at the narrow bed, the hooks on the wall holding his clothes and the tiny window with the shutters latched. “Where is the fireplace?” “There is no fireplace. This was the broom closet, until last night. I had a bed moved here and I put a latch on the shutters.” He spoke in a bleak voice and Leonie suddenly felt more than the chill in the room. “What happened?” He rubbed his hands together and said, “Last night as I slept, Freya and Roxanne came into my room. They used some sort of drug to put my guard to sleep, and another one to make me sleep. Then Roxanne…tried to make love to me. I wasn’t altogether conscious and I was bound, or I would have stopped her sooner.” First icy cold, then scorching hot. Her hand swung—she didn’t even think about it—and it cracked against his cheek so loudly it shocked her. He didn’t move, but his gaze shifted from her face to the window. “I’m sorry. I tend to act first and think later.” The words sounded so inadequate. They hung in the air between them. She took a deep breath. “I was never very good at keeping my temper. Maybe it’s best you find that out about me now. I tend to explode easily.” “Like all Anu,” he said. He rubbed his cheek, but a wry grin creased his face. “You’re all fire.” “I honestly didn’t mean to hit you. You weren’t even unfaithful.” She shook her head, remorse eating at her.

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“I hate to think of what you’d do to me if I were unfaithful.” He sat on the bed and looked at her, his eyebrows lifted. “Don’t even think about it.” A streak of sheer passion shook her. The thought of losing him, of him loving someone else, made her crazy. “I’m a little jealous, you see,” she said. The smile broadened. “That’s an understatement. It’s all right. I understand. I’m jealous too, and would never forgive you if you were unfaithful,” he said, standing up and going to the window. He opened the shutter, letting the dim light in. Motes of dust floated in the air. “Let’s not speak about it anymore, all right?” “What will happen now?” Leonie asked. “I have no idea. I spoke to the scepter. Let me tell you a story,” he said, turning to face her. “Maybe you will understand it better than I did.” “I’m listening.” “Once upon a time there were four demon families, demons of water, earth, air and fire. They warred together until there were no more left. Only the strongest survived— the strongest, most wicked, most determined to live. But they knew their time would run out. Already humans covered the land and so the demons thought to make four kingdoms. They made the kingdoms of Ea, Marduk, Enlil and Anu. And each demon created a magic scepter to hold its lifeforce. But to renew it, they needed the lifeforce of a human, and since humans were so fragile, they needed it every quarter of a century. To get the humans to agree, they conferred sovereignty to the scepters, so that whoever had the scepter would rule. And so it continued throughout the ages. “But something unforeseen happened. After sucking the lifeforce from humans for so many ages, the demons’ essences were diluted until hardly sparks remained. The scepters now are almost all human, and they are weak. They can be…killed.” “How?” Leonie’s hair stood on end. She found herself trembling. “If I throw the scepter of Enlil from the highest peak, it will shatter and when it does, the three other scepters will shatter as well.” 121

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“But that means you will have to touch it.” “I have to find a way to convince the scepter not to take my lifeforce. I have to try.” “It’s too dangerous.” Leonie took him by the arms. “Life is dangerous,” he said, taking her face in his hands and bending down to kiss her. His lips slid over her mouth, along the curve of her jaw and whispered into her ear. “I saw so much suffering on my travels. So many illnesses, accidents, sorrows and deaths…” “But there are other things out there.” Leonie pulled him closer to her. “There are births, and joys, songs and celebrations. You can’t give up. Not now.” “I don’t know what I want,” he admitted, his arms encircling her shoulders in a tight hug. “I know what I want,” she said, and she trailed her hand along his thigh and rubbed against the ridge of his penis. He was silent a moment, but she felt his cock harden. The ridge thickened, and his breathing grew harsh. “Take off your pants and underwear,” he said, backing away and sitting on the bed. “I seem to remember you saying that before,” she said, looking at him through lowered eyelashes. “Don’t talk. Just take them off. Now.” She slipped her clothes off and stood in front of him in her chemise, her knees suddenly weak. The chemise came down to the end of her buttocks and just hid her triangle of curls. It brushed lightly against her skin when she moved, tickling her. “Turn around,” he said. “Let me see.” She turned her back to him, and her buttocks tingled in expectation of his touch. It came first as a slight breeze as he lifted her chemise, then a whisper of hot breath, then his teeth lightly grazed her skin and his hands cupped her buttocks. “Bend over,” he said, his voice hoarse. 122

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Now the tingling grew into an ache, and her vulva swelled in anticipation. She leaned over, holding onto the wooden bedpost. He touched her ever so gently on the inside of her thighs, his fingers tracing patterns up the sensitive skin until he reached her curls. He brushed them aside, parted her labia and stroked the edges of her sex, drawing his finger up and down from clit nearly to her anus in a steady motion. She clenched her buttocks, her sex starting to burn. She wanted to feel him deep within her, and at the same time, she never wanted this gentle yet firm stroking to stop. Back and forth, along the insides of her labia, her clit growing harder and more sensitive, her vagina starting to pulse with longing, and her legs shaking with the effort of bending over and not moving. “Please,” she said, looking over her shoulder. “Take me. Now!” He ran his hands over her body, up her sides, over her back and then between her thighs. “So warm,” he said. “So firm.” He didn’t recall getting his clothes off, but all at once he was naked and Leonie was standing in front of him. He lifted her blouse off and then undid the laces on her chemise. The laces left lines on her smooth, fragile skin. He wanted to remember the feel of her skin as he traced those lines, feeling her with his mouth, and cheeks, and hands and chest. He groaned deep in his throat, hooked his finger under the silky material of her chemise and pulled it off. Then he picked her up and put her on the bed. He gazed hungrily at the bright curls covering her sex, and when he saw them, his cock hardened like ice on a winter morning. Her sex was so pretty, and she offered it to him, arching her back and opening her legs. He climbed up on the bed and knelt over her. Lowering his head, he kissed her belly, her breasts, her hipbones. Then he lay between her legs and slid his cock into her slowly, almost teasing her. Her body melted beneath him, the musky scent of her sex and desire making his nostrils flare and his head spin. Everything seemed overwhelming, the feel of her soft 123

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breasts, her hips thrusting, meeting his thrusts, and that indescribable moment when suddenly all the breath left his lungs and his stomach muscles all got hard and contracted. For a second he thought his insides had just come undone with the force of his orgasm shooting into her. And then she wrapped her legs and arms around him and kept kissing him and telling him everything was perfect. Everything was perfect.

The next day came too soon. The night should have lasted forever, thought Aquarius, as he watched the sun rise and the pink light steal across the mountaintop. Soon the mist would rise and obscure the scene, but now the air was crystal clear and very still. “Good morning,” he whispered, leaning over Leonie and waking her with a kiss. “Is it morning already?” She kissed him back, but her lips were trembling, and tears balanced on the edges of her lashes. “My coronation day should not begin in sorrow,” he said, sliding under the covers. “Where were you? You’re cold as ice.” “By the window, watching the sun rise over the mountains.” He traced the line of her jaw, drew his finger over her lips, down her neck, and pushed the covers down to bare her breasts. “I like these hills,” he said, leaning down and lazily wrapping his tongue around her nipple. “Oh, very funny,” she said, but she didn’t push him away. Her nipple hardened in his mouth and she reached beneath the covers and found his cock. “I like this handle,” she said, grasping it tightly. He paused while she rubbed his cock, then paused some more while she did some sort of tickle and stroke thing on his sensitive testicles. “Hey, you stopped,” she said, arching her back so that her breast poked him in the cheek.

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“I was just enjoying,” he said, turning half his attention to her other nipple. The other half stayed with her hand between his legs. “What are you doing down there?” he asked around a mouthful of nipple. “Making you really hard,” she said, a definite teasing note in her voice. This was true. He was now so hard he thought that he could pass for a marble statue…at least down there. The tip of his cock was throbbing to each of his heartbeats, and they were speeding up. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest and in his cock. It was starting to make it hard to think of anything else but taking that marblehard cock and sliding it into a hot, tight, slick… “You are not paying attention to my breasts,” said Leonie. She hadn’t stopped her playing with his cock though, and that was unfair. She was taking unfair advantage of him, and he told her so. “Unfair?” She laughed. She also sat up, pushed the covers down and looked at him with one eyebrow raised and a pleased smile on her face. “You like?” he lifted his hips to show his cock at its advantage. It was nearly purple with longing. Leonie tilted her head. Her right hand still pumped his cock, while her left hand was now busy stroking the hard muscle just behind his balls. He loved that. “Nice enough, I suppose,” she said, giving a particularly hard and agreeable squeeze with her right hand. He had to think of a snappy comeback but his cock was having none of that silly banter. A pearly drop of pre-cum appeared on its smooth tip. Aquarius had to think of several unpleasant events in order to stop what was behind it from following. “Why don’t you sit down?” was all he could come up with. He was about to cum up with a lot more, and he was hoping she’d be in a position to enjoy it. He tried to explain this, but his brain and his mouth were not connected right. Everything was being routed through his cock.

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Leonie seemed to realize this, because she gave a delightful giggle, the kind that made his cock get even harder—if that was physically possible—and she swung one leg over his hips and settled herself ever so slowly on him. From this position, he could see the tip of his cock enter her, and he had to swallow hard and think of cold snow, ice and a freezing river in order to hang on. He watched as she eased down the length of him, and then shut his eyes to enjoy the sensation of her. Eyes closed, he could feel each of her movements, her smooth thighs pressing against his sides, her fingers digging in his shoulders. “Ouch,” he said, opening his eyes. She looked down at him, her hair a fiery crown of curls and light, her breasts bobbing as she moved up and down, and he caught sight of his cock, slick and shiny now, as she moved her hips up. Then she slammed them down with enough force to draw a cry from her lips. “Oh, yes,” she moaned. Her lips were soft, her eyes halfway closed, her nipples hard. He wanted to touch them, he wanted to palm her breasts and squeeze them…but he wanted to keep control and that was increasingly difficult. She was moving faster now, her breasts bouncing. That in itself made a flood of cum surge from somewhere deep in his groin and fly toward his cock. Damn it. He grabbed her breasts—might as well die happy. He thrust his hips now, in time to her own movements, bringing them colliding together, pulling apart with a wet, sucking noise and then sliding back together…again and again, and how much better could this get? Much. His cock was the center of his universe and it was about to explode. Aquarius felt the cum boiling down the length of it—or rather up the length of it, given his position. And then Leonie twisted sideways a little and gave a high, mewing cry, and that did it. His stomach contracted and his cock blew its top and he had to grab Leonie’s hips and hang on as the world suddenly went a bit mad. It was intense, and he was conscious of his seed leaving his body and Leonie’s body contracting around his 126

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cock. She shuddered several times, very hard, and rested her forehead on his shoulder for a while, her breath whistling like the wind on a stormy day. He got hold of himself and patted her back, easing her back down. He knew what it was like, that hypersensitive moment after your orgasm shakes you and you need to anchor yourself again, to hold something solid and still and warm… He wrapped his arms around her and held on. He needed her so badly. So much. Their eyes met, and he knew she understood. She started crying again, but this time he didn’t tell her to stop. There were too many emotions and sometimes it was important just to let them wash over you, like waves. It would pass. Everything would pass. Even this day. His coronation day.

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Chapter Twenty Coronation Day

When they’d dressed, Leonie took his arms and said, “How will you do it?” “I don’t know. I have to go see the scepter before the coronation. It won’t start until this afternoon. I have all morning to think of a plan. I want you and the troupe to prepare to get out of the city. If anything happens, you know where to go.” He started down the hallway. Leonie ran after him and said, “We can carry it in the glass case, then no one will touch it.” “It’s too heavy.” “Nothing is too heavy for Hercules.” Leonie grabbed his arm and pulled him back. “There are those who will help you, Aquarius. If you would only ask.” “I don’t dare risk anyone’s life but my own.” “But we’ve been risking our lives for years now for this rebellion. It is set to begin in a matter of days. But the rebellion is doomed before it even begins unless you can destroy the scepter!” Aquarius shook her hand off but halted his steps. He clenched his fists. After all, he wasn’t asking for anything they weren’t willing to give. So be it. He raised his head. “All right. Go get the others. We meet in Palace Virtua, in the room of the scepter.” He saw the elation in her eyes and knew that, whatever happened, he’d made the right choice. “I’ll see you there.” She stood on tiptoe to kiss him, her warm lips pressing against his for the briefest time. Too brief. He had to hold himself back from grabbing her and pulling her tightly against his chest. He watched her back as she went swiftly away from him, her bright marigold hair bouncing on her shoulders, her back straight. And 128

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then she passed through a doorway and he lost sight of her. Dread gripped him, but he shook it off and headed to the scepter. He wanted to be alone one last time with it before everything happened.

The room was bathed in light. For once, the clouds had dissipated and the upper levels of the city were visible. People, their pale faces like so many moons in the penumbra of windows and doorways, stood blinking in the unfamiliar light. Balconies didn’t exist in this city of mist and fog, but if they had existed, they would be packed. The sunlight flooded the streets and children began to play, their shouts and laughter echoing through the stone tunnels and floating over the cobblestone streets where they dashed about in the sunshine. “Rare as a rose in winter is the sun in Cloud City,” said a quiet voice in his head. “It’s a beautiful sight,” said Aquarius. “I know. I can see through you.” Aquarius blinked. “What else do you see?” he asked cautiously. “Not everything. Nothing very clearly. Only visions in flashes.” “You must be able to see what I do, and where I have been. You told my brothers and sisters of my adventures. That was good of you. I can’t believe you can be evil,” said Aquarius. He sat on the stone bench in front of the window. It was worn with use. Polished smooth in the middle by countless princesses perching on the seat, listening to their masters. “I am not good or evil, I am a demon, and good and evil have no meaning for me. Now tell me. How do you intend to do away with me?” Aquarius told him, then asked, “What do you think of my plan?” “It should work if you are careful not to touch me,” the scepter said. “But don’t ask me any more. I can’t see the future.”

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Aquarius put his hand on the window. The sunlight turned his fingers red. He could feel the heat through the glass. He heard footsteps coming down the hallway. He turned, expecting to see Leonie, but it was Freya and Roxanne. The shock of seeing them there took his voice away, but only for an instant. “What are you doing here? Get out!” He leapt to his feet. Roxanne only gave him a withering look. “You don’t think I know what you’re planning to do? The royal scepter of Ea warned my mother before she died. But it also told her what I should do.” Aquarius blocked her way to the scepter. “What are you talking about?” Freya pulled a long dagger from her girdle and pointed it at his throat. “Don’t try to stop her,” she said, her voice low and menacing. “What are you going to do?” “Give my lifeforce to your scepter so you will be king and our family continue to reign!” Roxanne’s voice rose to a near shriek. Her face was deathly pale. “You cannot. It will kill you!” Shocked, Aquarius took a step toward her, but Freya waved the dagger threateningly, and he was unarmed. Roxanne looked at him and raised her chin proudly. “It won’t kill me, I’m of royal blood. It will simply drain enough force to allow it to live longer.” She pounded her fist onto the top of the crystal case. “How could you think of ending the reigns of our families? We’ve ruled for thousands of years! What would happen to us without the scepters?” “You’ll lead normal lives,” said Aquarius, his own voice trembling with fury. “Instead of killing each other off, perhaps the royal family of Ea will learn to get along. And my children and their children will be raised with their families and not in a barren palace all alone. Perhaps the royal children of Anu will finally escape the madness of their scepter and be able to leave their palace built in the middle of the desert. And the people of Marduk may finally have to share some of the wealth the royal family has hoarded for themselves to the detriment of all.” 130

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“Lies, all lies!” cried Roxanne. “No. Whatever you do, don’t touch that scepter. Even if you are royal, the scepter will kill you, I promise.” The color drained completely from Roxanne’s face, leaving it pale with rage. “Don’t try to stop me.” “Roxanne, when the scepters are shattered they can no longer control our lives. Don’t you see how much better off everyone will be? We will rule if the people allow us, but not because of a demon’s evil wishes. Please, get up. You will find a place in this world that you can make for yourself.” “No, I don’t believe you!” Roxanne flung the lid open and grasped the scepter. In an instant, her whole body contracted and she uttered a bloodcurdling scream. “Stop it!” Aquarius tried to help her, but Freya prodded him hard with the knife, drawing blood from his neck. Frantic, Aquarius conjured an illusion from the blade she held, making it look like it melted into mist. “What is this?” she cried, stepping back. It was all he needed. He pushed her aside and wrenched Roxanne away from the case. The scepter slid from her hands and he slammed the case, but not before noticing that the scepter had taken on a terrible, bright glow. “Are you all right?” he said, cradling Roxanne’s head in his hands. Her eyes fluttered open. To Aquarius’ horror he saw she now looked like an old woman. Her hair had gone completely white and her face was lined. “I’m still alive,” she whispered. He helped her to a sitting position. She looked at Freya. “I’m sorry, I cannot go through with this.” “No!” It was Freya, uttering a mad scream. “No! If you fail, my family’s lives are forfeit and Sir Ivor will leave me. I’m worth nothing to him if the royal scepter of Ea is destroyed!” She plunged toward Roxanne and drove the dagger into her chest, then,

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shoving her aside, she wrenched the top of the case open and reached toward the scepter. “No!” Roxanne twisted around and pulled Freya back, the blood from her wound spattering the case. The mist around the scepter turned faintly red, and it gave off a curious humming sound. Aquarius dashed toward the case and slammed the lid down, staring as the drops of blood inside the case suddenly vanished. The humming noise hurt his ears. He had the sensation of incredibly old, incredibly strong power reaching desperately toward the blood spattered on the outside of the case as well. A scream snapped his head around, and he saw Roxanne take a knife from her belt and stab Freya in the neck with it. Both women were covered in blood, and both fought ferociously. Aquarius grabbed Roxanne and pulled her back. Freya took advantage of his intervention to wrench the knife from Roxanne’s chest. A gush of blood spurted out, and Roxanne gave a frightened scream. Aquarius clapped his hand to her chest to try to stop it, but it flowed hot and sticky through his fingers. He raised his head, meaning to beg Freya to run for help, but she was clutching her neck, ribbons of blood running down her arms. She took a faltering step and then fell lifeless to the floor. “Help me,” said Roxanne, but her voice was faint and her eyes clouded even as Aquarius tried to stop the flow of blood from her chest. Her life left her in a sigh, and Aquarius rocked back on his heels, hitting the case with his back. Horror iced his blood. He’d seen death before, but not such a lunatic bloodletting. Their knives lay on the floor, and as he watched, the pools of blood grew beneath the two women and joined together. It was a macabre sight. Blood soaked into their dresses and hair, turning everything crimson. It pooled on the floor and had spattered everywhere, on the walls, the case and over him. He stood and leaned against the case. 132

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Instead of words, only a faint growl emanated from the scepter, as if it had been thwarted and was now furiously biding its time. The blood had awoken the demon, and even in its weakened state it was far stronger than any human. “Such a waste,” said Aquarius. He rubbed his face, wishing he could rub the sight of the two dead women from his eyes as well. “Death and destruction,” the scepter suddenly exclaimed, its voice oddly distorted. “I can feel that this reign will be the best in a long time.” “There will be no reign,” snapped Aquarius, and he pounded his fist on the case. “You are nothing but harbingers of disaster and ruin.” “I tried to warn you what would happen if I became stronger. Why do you think that the kings and queens have never been able to destroy me before?” The scepter’s voice was so different from what it had been before that Aquarius felt ill listening to it. “I tried to warn you. I wanted you to destroy me. Now, if you touch me even the slightest, I can destroy you.” Sorrow and rage warred in the scepter’s voice, and Aquarius knelt by the case. “I’m sorry. I promise, I haven’t given up. I’ll find a way to destroy you.” “Keep your promise, prince,” said the scepter. And, after a spine-tingling howl, it fell back into deep silence. There came a cry behind him and he whirled. In the doorway were Leonie’s troupe and his brothers and sisters. “Where is Leonie?” he asked, standing up. Behind him he thought he felt the scepter hold its breath. “What happened? What did you do to them?” Winter was first in the room. He put his arm out, keeping the others at bay. “I did nothing to them,” said Aquarius, his patience worn thin. “They’re dead because of their own foolishness and treachery, and there is nothing more to say about them. We have to think of the living now. Now tell me, where is Leonie?”

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Hercules spoke up. “Lord Fallocation has her. We have to hurry. He seized her after she told us the plan. He had his guards with him and they would have gotten us too if it weren’t for Lupin’s wolves.” “Lupin arrived?” “Yes. He’s collecting the wolves. They scattered, chasing the guards. We have to hurry,” said Suze. She gave Hercules a nod. “Go on. You, and Aquarius, and Darvin and Raymondo should be able to lift it.” “And Winter and I,” said Sol, stepping forward. Capricorn’s dark eyes flashed. “I’m strong too. We’ll all help.” “Just hurry,” said Suze, running to the door and peering down the corridor. “I don’t know where Lord Fallocation is taking Leonie, but it wasn’t down to the dungeons. Last I saw he was heading up the main staircase.” Aquarius knew where that led—the main staircase led past the Great Hall and into the mountain. It went upwards to the highest peak of Cloud City to the lookout station. The Great Hall was built in a strategic position—halfway up the mountain and in the center of Cloud City. “Let’s go,” said Aquarius. They were careful not to step in the blood on the floor—an accomplishment, as there was blood everywhere. The whole room was drenched in it, but they managed not to disturb the bodies as they entered the room. Aquarius bent down and hooked his fingers around the bottom of the case. When everyone else had taken their position, Hercules said “Now!” and they lifted. The case was carved from rock crystal and was set into a lead and gold base. The base was carved, and the carvings made good handholds. But the lead and rock crystal were terribly heavy.

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They hoisted the case to their shoulders and marched in time to Suze’s orders. It was easier to march in rhythm, they discovered, and when they reached the steps they shifted their grips before they headed upwards. Soon Aquarius’ shoulder felt as if it were on fire, and he heard Capricorn groan in pain. “Let’s stop and switch sides,” said Aquarius. “Good idea.” Hercules nodded and raised his free arm to call a halt. Carefully they set the case down and one by one, switched places. “Ready now? Lift!” Hercules took most of the weight, Aquarius noted. The steps seemed unending. Sweat poured down their faces and necks as finally a small, brilliant spot of light appeared, the top of the mountain. The stairs were lit with lamps. But the light at the top was pure sunlight, streaming in through a high, arched doorway.

As they stepped into the light, their eyes adjusting after the dimness of the stairway, Aquarius heard Leonie shout his name. He looked up, and perched on the very highest point of the lookout platform was Lord Fallocation, holding Leonie by the arms. “Pick up the scepter or she dies!” cried Lord Fallocation. Aquarius only hesitated an instant. Then he shouldered Winter and Raymondo aside and flung the top of the case open. “No!” screamed Leonie, twisting madly in Lord Fallocation’s grasp. “No.” This voice came from the scepter, just as Aquarius’s hand reached for it. “I have to save her,” said Aquarius from between gritted teeth. “You can save her anyway.” The voice from the scepter was weak, as if the lifeforce was draining from it. “Even if you are never King of Enlil, you are the lord of the wind, don’t forget that. If you touch me, you will lose most of your lifeforce and your power. Use it to save her, and let me shatter on the rocks below. But be careful not to let anyone touch me…the slightest touch and I can kill them in an instant. Only you can survive touching me.”

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Aquarius pulled his hand back and slammed the lid down. “Don’t anyone touch the scepter,” he said fiercely. Then he turned and bounded toward Lord Fallocation, calling on all his strength and speed as he did to reach Leonie. But it was too late. Lord Fallocation shoved her over the edge. Uttering a shrill scream, Leonie hurtled through the air. Aquarius gathered his might and unleashed it, flinging his arms out, and at the same time crying, “Leonie!”

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Chapter Twenty-One The End of the World

Leonie fell. She screamed and thrashed in the air, and the cliff flashed past as the jagged rocks far below grew closer. She waited for her life to flash before her eyes, but all she could see was Aquarius—his face, his eyes, his mouth and his body. She’d never hold him again. As she fell, that was what pained her the most. Not dying—everyone died—but never seeing Aquarius again. She fell at a staggering speed and in an instant she knew she’d be dashed against the rocks. She only hoped the damn scepter would follow. And then, suddenly, the air around her grew thicker, almost like water, and even thicker. Colder too, for some reason. And it whirled her around, spun her so that she screamed again and nearly lost consciousness, but then it stabilized and she found herself floating a mere hand’s span away from the rocks. She stared at the rock nearest her face, waiting for it to slam into her. Was she already dead? What happened? And then the wind that seemed to surround her in a mighty fist started to lift her and she floated up, up, up…back toward the very top of the mountain. Aquarius. How? She tried to formulate a question, but it was impossible. She was too frightened. Her whole body shook with terror as she flew higher and higher, and then the gust of air deposited her at Aquarius’ feet. She stared up at him. Finally she unstuck her tongue from the back of her throat and she croaked, “You could have just let me down on the rocks below. You didn’t have to bring me all the way up again.”

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“Yes I did. I didn’t want the case to hit you, or risk you getting hit by a splinter of rock, of crystal…or the scepter.” He nodded toward the men holding the case. “All right. Now!” “No!” It was Lord Fallocation. He flung himself at the case as it left their hands, and grabbed it, wildly trying to wrestle it back. His cloak caught on the carving, and the heavy case dragged him over the edge of the cliff. It happened so fast—in the space of an instant—that no one could move. Leonie buried her face in Aquarius’ chest. “Is it over?” she whispered. “Not yet.” They stood on the edge, looking down, until far, far below them something hit the rocks. There was a small puff of white and then suddenly a huge burst of blue flame shot upwards. It spiraled up past the top of the mountain and seemed to reach straight up to the heavens. It was accompanied by a deafening clap of thunder. The ground beneath them shook and they flung themselves down, holding onto each other. In the city they could hear the panicked screams coming from the people in the streets. The buildings rocked, but everything held together. Only a few tiles slid off the roofs. Soon it was over. The sun continued to shine. The ground stopped shaking and the booming thunder faded to silence. “Now what?” Leonie asked, getting to her knees and flinging her arms around Aquarius. “Now I go to the Great Hall and announce the end of the world,” said Aquarius. “Anyone want to come with me?” “Count me in,” said Leonie, getting to her feet and brushing herself off. “I feel ready for anything now.” “Count us in as well,” said Suze, pointing to Hercules, and the troupe echoed her. “And us,” said Dawn, who was clutching Simon and looking very happy. Leonie raised her eyebrows. Simon and Dawn? Well, why not?

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Aquarius got up, looked down at her, and his mouth quirked. “Will you be happy with me even if I’m not king?” She gazed up at him and gave him a blinding smile. “I hired a magician, not a king. You are the lord of the wind…and my lord as well,” she added in a voice only he could hear. “I will be glad to be your lord, but I will never lord over you, Leonie. I don’t want to rule anyone. I hope the people of Enlil will be able to understand that.” She thought perhaps he might have to do a little persuading. He was made to be a ruler, whether he liked it or not. There was something about him that made people want to follow him—to the end of the world and beyond. She took his hand. “If they want you to stay, I will stay by your side.” “You would give up your freedom to be stuck here with me?” he asked, looking amazed. “If I’m with you, that’s all that counts.” She looked around. “It’s not so bad when the sun shines.” “It only shines like this once every fifty years or so,” said Winter, coming to stand by their side. “I’ll help you, Aquarius.” “And me too,” said Sol. He patted Leonie on the shoulder. “Don’t worry. You get used to the fog and the mist. This is too bright and dazzling for me. I have a headache already and can’t wait for the sun to go down.” Capricorn, Luna and Star came over. “We want to go with the troupe,” said Luna. “We’ll take care of them,” said Suze. “Don’t worry.” “I’m not worried.” Aquarius nodded. “You all better go now. I don’t know what will happen when I make the announcement that the scepter has been destroyed.” “We can’t go without Lupin and the wolves,” said Darvin. Leonie shook her head. “Don’t worry about Lupin. He will find you. Or his wolves will. Take Freya’s horses. I’m sure she won’t mind.”

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“She is past minding about anything,” said Aquarius. His eyes were suddenly bleak and Leonie felt a stab of worry. But then he smiled at her and she felt her heart grow lighter. She was with him. They were together. It was wonderful to be at the end of the world with Aquarius.

And so she kissed him, and they became the first elected King and Queen of Enlil. They ruled for ten years, and were elected again, and again…for the people loved their king, who had brought about the end of the world and the beginning of a new era of prosperity and peace. And they loved their queen, for she was the bright sunshine in the gray mist, the light and laughter of the palace and the city, and when her troupe came back every year for their performance it was a whole week of feasting fun, and fête…and they called it the Renegade Festival for the End of the World. The End

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About the Author Samantha Winston is the pen name for Jennifer Macaire, an American freelance writer/illustrator. She was born in Kingston, NY, and lived in Samoa, California, and the Virgin Islands before moving to France. She attended Parsons school of design for fine art, and Palm Beach Junior College for art and English literature. She worked for five years as a model for Elite. Married to a professional polo player, she has three children. After settling in France, she started writing full time and published short stories in such magazines as Polo Magazine, PKA’s Advocate, The Bear Deluxe, Nuketown, The Eclipse, Anotherealm, Linnaean Street, Inkspin, Literary Potpourri, Mind Caviar and the Vestal Review. One of her short stories was nominated for the Pushcart Prize. In June 2002 she won the 3am/Harper Collins flash fiction contest for her story ‘There are Geckos’.

Samantha welcomes mail from readers. You can write to her c/o Ellora’s Cave Publishing at 1056 Home Avenue, Akron, OH 44310-3502.

Also by Samantha Winston A Grand Passion Cajun Nights anthology Darla’s Valentine Diamina Elf Song Gladys Hawke My Fair Pixie Once Upon A Prince anthology Storm Warnings anthology Taming the King The Argentine Lover The Frog Prince of Marecage The Phallus From Dallas, written with Ciarra Sims Tiger Gold

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