Princess of Death (Three Provinces Book 1) Page 5

  “Wait Eshie, we don’t know what we’re facing!” Nergal grabbed my hand pulling me to a stop.

  “I do not care; I have to get to her. I’ve seen the pictures Nergal, what he did to his daughters was beyond horrible.” Ishtar screamed again and it ended on a sob, I jerked from his grasp and bolted the rest of the way to the second floor landing.

  “We need a plan Eshie,” Nam panted behind me. There were five closed doors and I knew the house would try to confuse us.

  “I can tell where the only living being is.” Ekur said from behind us.

  “Must be a bat thing,” Nam grinned.

  Ekur closed his eyes and then opened his mouth, letting out a high pitch squeak I watched his form waver for a few moments. When he came back into focus he pointed to the third door down.

  “Something alive is in there.”

  We crashed into the room and what I saw would stay with me for the rest of my life. My sister was pinned down to the bed by invisible hands, she had a red welt across one cheek, her skirt was up around her waist, legs clamped together, arms pinned above her head, shirt torn and revealing her camisole underneath. There were scratches all over her arms and her lip was bleeding.

  “Ishtar!” I yelled. She looked my way, but it was like she couldn’t see me.

  “Mama help me! Daddy don’t…” My stomach lurched at her words and a sickening feeling churned deep within me. She was begging and crying for her father to let her go. So this is what had happened, another piece to the P.O.T. puzzle.

  “Get off that child!” Nergal’s voice boomed in the room and a shot of golden power went by my face. It attached to whatever was on top of my sister, slamming it into the wall, leaving the black sizzling imprint of a man on the wall.

  My sister curled up in a ball, crying. I went to her and gathered her in my arms.

  “It’s coming back.” Ekur warned us.

  “We need to get out of here.” Nam was fidgeting; I could feel the house surging with hate, wickedness and power. Nergal took Ishtar from me and we fled, feeling as if we were being chased the whole time. I knew if I looked back I would see something that would scare me for life. Whatever it was that resided in that house was the most malevolent thing I had ever come in contact with.

  It wanted me to turn around as I ran across the living room and out the front door, and a sick part of me wanted to see it. But I knew, I knew that no good could come from actually knowing what had been attacking Ishtar and what ruled the house as Master.

  Once outside we all paused to breathe. Nam went to my sister and began to right her clothing, touching her gently; he pulled a blanket from his bag and wrapped her in it. I knew she hadn’t been defiled, but she’d come damn close and I was angry.

  “Can you destroy it?” Nergal wrapped an arm around my waist.

  “No, but I can make it harder for it to get victims.” I knew the expression on my face must have been dark and hate filled, but I didn’t care. I touched the porch railing, I could feel how desperately the house wanted me back inside it, to finish what it had started on Ishtar, but it could do nothing but try and lure me.

  Music turned on from somewhere in the house and the smell of baking bread scented the air as we all watched a window slowly open.

  “I’m not that easy.” I leaned forward, kissed the wood and it gave me great pleasure to feel the house screaming as it realized what was happening.

  The fire red power swarmed up and over the house like locusts. My magic covered every inch of the P.O.T., changing it. I backed away and watched my stunning magic, magic that was feared and which my parents found useless, turn the house into something I could live it.

  When the cloud of my power dissipated, the house looked the way it should. Decrepit and old, with shutters falling off and windows broken, paint peeling and chipped and the porch sagging. It was the epitome of what a haunted house should look like. I had made sure any food it created smelled and tasted just as rotten as the P.O.T. itself. Any music that played would be poignant and freak out passer-bys, all smells would be off putting. So even if it managed to lure people, they would see it for what it truly was and be less likely to walk into the trap.

  “That’s perfect Eshie.” Nam laughed.

  “Do you have Ishtar?”

  “Of course. Let’s get the hell out of here.”

  “Ekur can you fly back home and announce our coming. Ishtar will need her companion and Mylitta.”

  “Of course.” There was a look of total respect on Ekur’s face as he shifted and flew away.

  We began to walk down the gravel path and when we reached Right Road I touched the path and made it swamp-like, so it would be even harder for people to access the P.O.T. If I couldn’t destroy it I could starve it into submission.

  Chapter 6

  Within hours of our return my parents started setting up for Ishtar’s betrothal ceremony. They decided it best to wait no longer. I thought it was in bad taste. Ishtar needed rest and healing, not some stupid party.

  They commended me, Nergal, Ekur and Namtar for returning her in such a short amount of time. Though Ishtar would forever be a little tainted by what she had been through, what she had seen. It was only natural; Adura was, after all, shady and forbidden.

  Ishtar’s betrothal ceremony went off without a hitch. Lord Dumuzi was a good looking Biri noble and my sister looked proud, but small, as she stood next to him with hundreds of people staring at her, from all sides of our world. I wanted to sweep her into my arms and tell my parents to butt out of her life, but I could not. Doing so now would only serve to embarrass her. Nam and I stood off in the shadows waiting for it to be over, the sun, like always, hurt our eyes.

  I was dressed to the nines and the clothing was stifling me, I could hear Mylitta sniffling from a few feet away where Biri and Adura met on the castle steps.

  Rolling my eyes I listened as my father announced the wedding date for the next year and everyone clapped. I could see Nergal, standing with others from Adura, yards away, near the cemetery. He stood, tall and regal with servants and other nobles from the dark half of Salas. It seemed like years had passed since we have been together in that darkness, instead of days.

  Once it was over I hurried up to my room, ripping off clothing as I went, desperate to get out of the restricting corsets and bindings the serving girl had strapped me into. As I thought about the differences in Adura, Biri and Nannaru it struck me that Mash might be right, maybe it was time for them to be ruled separately.

  The thought was like cold water on my anger and hurt at Ishtar being bartered like cattle. A rebellion could possibly start a revolution, which could, in theory, tear Salas apart. The subject would need consideration, and a lot of it.

  That looks like a torture device; get out of it before Nergal sees you. Puabi’s voice filled my mind as I barreled into my bedroom, kicking off the silk heeled boots.

  “Oh I know, stupid Biri custom, though he already saw me in it.” I growled, rummaging through my wardrobe. Biri women covered everything; they wore thick materials of boring colors, everything uncomfortable and restrictive. Nannaru women wore thin gossamer clothing of light and bright colors, airy, flowing and beautiful. Mash’s companion always looked like a fairy princess. The only one in Biri clothing who didn’t look awful was my sister. I used to think she could be a Goddess in a burlap sack.

  Adura women wore something in-between, and we could get away with pants. I tugged on black leggings with matching soft leather boots, a blood red long v neck tunic and a black waist cincher that exaggerated my cleavage. As I breathed a little better in normal clothing I noticed Puabi seemed irritated.

  “What’s up?”

  I wasn’t allowed to attend, tell me how everything went.

  “Oh… Well it was traditional, Ishtar behaved well and no one mentioned her running away. I am not sure what else you want to know. I didn’t really pay attention.”

  Next time get a lot of really good mental images, the ones you have
are fuzzy, mainly of Nergal. And I KNOW what he looks like. I could actually hear her laughter in my head.

  “I’ll work on that,” sitting at my vanity I took my hair out of the twisting abomination it had been shoved in. There was a knock at the door and I told Namtar to come in. He did and quickly began the task of brushing and putting my crimson locks into a loose braid.

  “Why don’t you have to change clothes?” I asked, as I leaned into the pleasing sensation of him working my hair.

  “I am just a humble servant,” yes that was sarcasm in his voice. He finished up and I swung around.

  “Thanks, Nam, what would I do without you?”

  “Wear your hair in pigtails until you died.” He said it with such a straight face we couldn’t help but laugh until we couldn’t breathe.

  “I am not going to that stupid dinner,” I complained, standing.

  “I heard your brother refused as well. Nergal has requested that you walk with him in the cemetery when you are finished changing.”

  “Oh! Well why didn’t you say something earlier!” I exclaimed, lightly punching his arm. I practically ran out of the room and down the stairs. I took the secret passage from the library and got to Nergal in record time. I only spared a second to hope Nam didn’t think I was ditching him. He was my best friend; best friends understood things like hot boys.

  Nergal seemed surprised to see me popping out of a mausoleum; I mean how many princesses play in graveyards? Just me.

  “Eshie that is an interesting place for an entrance to the castle.” His grin made my insides melt.

  “I have been playing here since I was a toddler. Nam said you wanted to see me.”

  “Yes, since your sister’s betrothal is over, Ekur and I must leave tomorrow.” His news hit me in the stomach, the butterflies I had been feeling previously turned into waves and I felt sick. I didn’t want him to leave. Aside from Nam, I had no one who actually understood me. Nergal and Ekur didn’t flinch when awfulness and darkness filled my eyes, they just accepted it.

  “You have to go? So soon?” I knew that my voice sounded small and alone.

  Nergal crossed to me quickly, he took my hands in his and they felt perfect. He tilted my chin so I could look in his eyes.

  “Yes, I cannot be away from my people or Bet Pagri for very long. However, I want you to come with me. You would enjoy seeing more of Adura and my family would love to have you visit our home.” He seemed so earnest I had to take a couple of minutes to think about his offer.

  Letting go of his hands I turned and walked a few steps away, my eyes rising to my home and the darkening sky, signaling it was almost night, like a twisted rainbow of sick aquamarine, dark blue and yellow, as above the castle all three provinces clashed.

  I couldn’t go with him. What if Ishtar or Shamash needed me? I had never left home like that before; short excursions into Adura, of course, but nothing like what Nergal was asking. He wanted me to come with him and there wasn’t a time limit, and Bet Pagri was the farthest I could go in Adura before reaching the ocean.

  I was afraid; afraid of leaving the security I had known my whole life. It was stupid, I could control death, darkness, and shadows, conjure pure evil if I wanted. Why I was afraid to leave the place I had been born?

  I faced him and I knew he could see my response before I uttered the words.

  “If you will not come then let me tell you the invitation is always there. What I feel for you now will not change later. A day, a month, a year from now. You are welcome in my home and my life at any time.” My heart almost stopped at his words. They were so passion filled and no one had ever spoken to me such.

  “You are the dark Ereshkigal; can you not see that you will perish in all this…light?” He took me in his arms, his wings wrapping around us, his smell filling my nostrils and blocking out everything but how he felt, tight against me. “Bring Namtar or anyone else you desire for company, but promise, eventually, you will come to me. You do not belong here.”

  What he said resonated deep within me, I knew he was right, but I wasn’t ready, not yet. Maybe if he had told me what was going on in Bet Pagri I would have thrown caution to the wind, but he did not.

  “I want to be with you too Nergal, the things I feel when we are together are so potent.” I whispered the words, afraid that the wind would rip them away and cast them into the shade the headstones created before he could hear them.

  But hear them he did, before I knew it, his mouth was on mine, tasting delectable and illicit. He kissed me, surrounded by night, death and the musky smells of aged marble and dead leaves. I am not sure how long we stood there together, but it was not long enough.

  Namtar came looking for me, before I would be missed. I was still a Princess of Salas after all and getting caught snogging an Alu in the dark wasn’t the best scenario.

  “He wants me to go with him tomorrow,” I said, breathlessly, as Nam and I sat together in the library afterwards. There was minimal light flickering from a candelabrum in the corner. We didn’t need much illumination.

  “Are you going to?”

  “No… But part of me really wants to, he even said you could come, that we would be welcomed at Bet Pagri.” Nam seemed to relax after I told him he would be coming with me if I chose to go.

  “I can see why, things here are just getting worse.”

  “I know, right? What will they do with Mash and I now? Is he right? Will they ship us off to the outer estates and just forget about us?” I sighed, leaned back against the couch, so many thoughts to consider, it was making my head hurt.

  “I think so. I didn’t want to tell you until I had more information but….” He trailed off, peering at me from under his silver hair.

  “Tell me,” I straightened, preparing for bad news. If Nam didn’t want to tell me I knew it was going to be unpleasant.

  “A few days ago I overheard your mother give orders for several of the Adura servants to go to the Aduran estate and prepare it. Apparently she had given the same orders for Nannaru weeks ago. They are readying them to be lived in. Not only cleaning but staffing them full time.”

  We sat in silence; it took a few times before I could speak.

  “Mash really was right, it’s like they are banishing us.”

  “I think it would be in our best interest to decide to leave before they can.” Nam told me gently. I had to agree with him. It wouldn’t be as hard if I told them I was leaving. I could go Bet Pagri and then head onto the Aduran Estate. It was with heavy hearts, as clichéd as it sounded, that Nam and I went to bed that night.

  Nergal and Ekur were gone by the time I awoke the next morning, but it was for the best. It would take days for the arrangements to be made, plus I still had to inform my family.

  What’s going on? Your thoughts are chaotic. Puabi questioned my every movement after I got out of bed.

  “We are going on a trip.”

  Good, I’m bored here.

  “That does not surprise me; you have barely left my room.”

  I leave to hunt. She sounded a little offended.

  Yanking on a simple, yet flattering black gypsy skirt and deep orange peasant blouse I didn’t even redo my hair. Jamming glasses on my face I hurried from my room realizing it was almost afternoon; I would barely make seeing my parents in the throne room.

  Taking a deep breath I opened the doors, flinching as Biri settled over my skin. I was lucky; it was only my parents, Ishtar and my brother in the room, though it did startle me that he was there. Mash was a Nannaru snob, he hated Biri.

  “Ereshkigal, what is the meaning of this, you do not just barge in unannounced.” Father’s voice was cold, clipped.

  “I am sorry but it was too important to wait,” I settled into a curtsey, knowing it would show just how serious I was.

  “Arise, but you must wait your turn.” Mother said.

  “As I was saying, Mare, Father, now that Ishtar is to be married I find the need to stay here no longer necessary. I am reque
sting that Aya and I be permitted to retire to the Nannaruan Estate.” Shamash’s words basically echoed the ones I was going to say. I had to control myself not to gasp or let my mouth drop open in shock.

  “I know you have already staffed the estate and it is ready for me to take up residence, there is no reason to prolong it.” Mash’s words were polite but I could sense the bite in them.

  “Of course Shamash, we were planning to discuss this with you within the week; all the arrangements have already been made. You can leave whenever you’d like.” Mother’s smile was bitter, but at least it was a smile.

  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing; they had planned to send Mash away so soon? When I asked them the same question, would I find the answer equally as sickening?

  “Aya and I should be packed and ready to leave by morning then.” Mash took a few steps back; I could tell he was curious about my issue.

  “I hate to agree with Mash,” I tried for humor, but failed, “but I have been invited to Bet Pagri. I would like to go and I figured afterwards I would go on to the Aduran Estate as it seems I am not needed here any longer either.”

  Mash’s chuckle behind me reminded me of when he was a little boy and I wished things were that simple again. So much had changed in such a short amount of time it made my head spin.

  “Ereshkigal, we are not quite prepared for you to leave us. The Aduran Estate is not set up all the way for a full time residence.” Father frowned at me.

  “Eshie are you serious? You’re going to leave? Before the wedding? You and Mash?” Ishtar’s voice was scared and I met her warm brown eyes as she stood next to my mother.

  “I am serious, I want to go. I am sure Mash and I will come back for the wedding Ishtar, don’t be silly.” The lie stuck in my throat a little. I was about 90 percent certain I would never set foot in the castle again. As I glanced over at my brother I could see he was thinking the same thing.

  “And as to your words father, I would not be at the estate for some time, long enough for it to be properly equipped for my arrival. Namtar and I were planning quite a long trip.”