Blood of the Goddess Book I: The Locust King
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Locusts at the Gate Chapter 2: A New Name Chapter 3: The Capital Prepares Chapter 4: The Princess is Dead, Long Live the Princess Chapter 5: Outside the Gates Chapter 6: Inside the Black Tent Chapter 7: Surrender at the Temple Chapter 8: The Cult of the Locust Chapter 9: The Locust's Tenets of Faith Chapter 10: Mourners on the Cliff Chapter 11: The Eye of Betrayal Chapter 12: The Dead King's Bedchamber Chapter 13: The Arms of the Goddess Chapter 14: Zayaan of the Narim Chapter 15: The Eyes of the Priestess Chapter 16: A More Permanent Disguise Chapter 17: Tribute Chapter 18: Sacrifice of the New Moon Chapter 19: The Lost Bird Chapter 20: Manah and the Priestess Chapter 21: Desert Creatures Chapter 22: Become the Swarm Chapter 23 The Price of Betrayal Chapter 24: Life Under the Locust Chapter 25: Wild Rose Chapter 26: The Lady Wren Chapter 27: Thought and Desire Chapter 28: The Lady's Captivity Chapter 29: The Wine Maiden Chapter 30: End of Childhood Chapter 31: The Children of Aisha Chapter 32: The Forest Runner Chapter 33: Three Sisters Chapter 34: The Hunt Chapter 35: Bones in the Forest Chapter 36: Lullaby Chapter 37: The Hunter's Horn Chapter 38: Ways Between Ways Chapter 39: Morning Star Chapter 40: A Prophecy for Baraz Chapter 41: Equinox Fires Chapter 42: The Lord Prince Takri Chapter 43: Evening Star Sets Chapter 44: Chaos in the Courtyard Chapter 45: Dasha Chapter 46: Memories Chapter 47: The Body Slave Chapter 48: Caged Beasts Chapter 49: Message from the Capital Chapter 50: Heresiarch Chapter 51: The Color of Blood Chapter 52: Winter Winds Chapter 53: The Bookmaker's Closet Chapter 54: Wrapped in Dignity and Beauty Chapter 55: Vessel of the Goddess Chapter 56: Cracks in the Walls Chapter 57: Two Brothers Chapter 58: The Court of Women Chapter 59: Favored of the King Chapter 60: The Sweetest Fruit Chapter 61: Daughter of the Temple Chapter 62: A Nation of Bastards Chapter 63: The Lute Player Chapter 64: Aisha's Prayer Chapter 65: Promises Chapter 66: Lives Lost Chapter 67: The Tea Maker Chapter 68: Object of DesireChapter 57: Two Brothers
Outside the brothel, Nasreen pulled her furs closer to her body against the cold. The capital had changed in the months after the tyrant's coronation in the temple the previous spring. Even in the mountain's harshest winters, these streets would be bustling with activity as shopkeepers sold their goods and food vendors offered customers mulled wine and spiced nutmeats. Now, only the northern wind inhabited the empty streets. Doors and windows remained shut and shuttered against both the cold and the fear of the Locust. Even the merchant shops which lined the street leading from the temple to the palace remained closed under order of the King until such time as the traitors and rioters could be rooted out and put to Mahleck's knife.
"I hope she can ride a horse as well as she rides her customers!" grumbled one of the soldiers. "I'm half tempted to test the goods myself, having to come down here to fetch an idolatrous whore in the cold when I have a warm bed and a slave girl back in the barracks."
"Quiet!" commanded the officer. "She will ride with me. And none of you will touch her. I won't bring the King something that smells like the filth of the barracks."
He mounted his horse and pulled Nasreen up in front of him on the saddle. She did her best to balance there with as little contact with the officer's body as possible as they began the trek to the palace. For once, she was thankful for the veil that covered her face. At least it provided some protection from the wind that seemed to roar down from the palace above and shielded her expression of fear from the soldiers.
By the time they arrived at the palace, Nasreen whole body shook with fear and cold. Once past the gates, the officer dismissed the other soldiers before depositing Nasreen at a servant's entrance where two men dressed in dark woolen tunics waited for her.
"Follow me, child of the temple." The man's accent and respectful tone betrayed him as native Adyllian. "My brother and I will take you somewhere you can warm yourself and rest until you are summoned before the God-King."
His brother followed behind her as they led her through the labyrinthine corridors of the palace, effectively cutting off any avenue of escape. "I am Floryan, and this is Luka. We serve as the protectors of the women of the royal household."
Under her veil, Nasreen's eyes opened wide at the names. Floryan and Luka, sons of the Holy Mother. Born and raised within the temple itself. Bodyguards to Queen Mila. Taken by the Locust King in the prime of their lives. Nasreen assumed them to be dead, consumed by the strigoi-viu along with so many others.
Luka raised a finger to his lips in warning. "Remember your place here, little one, and remain silent. It does no good to speak of things of the past, especially in the house of the Locust. We shall keep you safe here, but know we are as much jailors as we are protectors."
Nasreen nodded. If she looked closely, she could make out the remnants of the beauty these men once possessed. In times past, their now hollow eyes flashed with green fire. Their chestnut hair once flowed in waves past their shoulders. Now it was shorn close to their scalps. Floryan appeared to wear his suffering more obviously than his brother. Grey showed at his temples and dark circles shadowed his eyes. Instead of swords, smooth wooden clubs hung from their belts. The Locusts dared not give them the advantage of a blade within these walls. They both still walked with the lethal grace of a cat.
The empty palace hallways echoed with the sound of their footsteps. Here and there, servants scurried by, eyes averted from the two men and their shapeless veiled charge.
Nasreen and her escorts came to a halt before a pair of thick carved doors bound with iron, guards flanking either side. Floryan produced a golden key from a chain hanging around his neck and unlocked the door, ushering his brother and Nasreen inside. A wave of warm, soft, humid air enveloped Nasreen along with the smell of hundreds of exotic flowers.
"You may remove your veil, little one. This is the Court of Women, and here you are safe from the prying eyes and groping hands of the Locust King's soldiers, though not safe from the king’s own hands or appetites," said Luka. "No man is allowed within the women's quarters except those of the royal household."
Nasreen removed her furs, veil, and boots and placed them in Luka's hands. "If no men are allowed in these walls, how are you here?" she asked.
"In the eyes of the Locust, we are not men. They took that label from us the same night they branded you with the mark of betrayal," said Floryan.
"I... I am sorry. He took so much from all of us," mumbled Nasreen. "But he did not take a piece of my body like he did you. I should not have questioned."
"There is no need for apologies, little one,” said Floryan. “At least we are spared the burden of creating children to feed the strigoi-viu's appetites."
"You should take your rest now, daughter of the temple," said Luka. "We shall come for you when he sends the summons. Anything you may desire is here, other than freedom."
"Thank you both,” said Nasreen. “If I return to the temple and see your mother, do you wish for me to convey a message?"
"If you return to the Temple, it shall only be by the grace of the Goddess Herself," said Floryan. "Those who enter here do not leave the palace. You now belong to Mahleck until the All-Mother gathers you to her breast."
Before leaving her post in the library for the evening meal, Aisha secreted her traced copies of the building plans inside the folds of her robes. She hurried across the courtyard as eddies of snow swirled across the flagstones in the bitter winter wind. Once inside the relative warmth of the women's dormitory, she slid the pieces of vellum inside her bedding to show Nasreen when she returned from her shift at the brothel.
She joined the other women at the communal meal for a watery bowl of lentils and dry flatbread before adjoining to the baths to wash herself free of charcoal, dust, and ink. Tonight, her cold hands and feet burned as she put them into the warm bath. Winter had come early to Adyll.
As lights were extinguished and the women prepared to lay down for the night, the temple prostitutes returned from their duties in the brothel. The procuress came and knelt by Aisha's cot.
"They took her. Men from the palace, they came and took her.” The procuress looked at Aisha with tears in her eyes.
“Who? Who did they take?” asked Aisha, fearing the worst.
“Nasreen. The strigoi-viu demanded it, on behalf of the Narim traitor. I tried to tell them she is too young.” The woman’s voice cracked and trailed off. "It was no use. Pray for your friend, little sister, that she come to no harm in the blood drinker's house. Maybe the Holy Mother is right, and the Lady has forsaken Her children. But we will pray. Even if She does not listen, we will pray."
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