“I want to believe you.”
As Sabina spoke, Laban, who had been wandering through his thoughts, returned abruptly to the room. Her words were so unexpected that he wondered whether he had heard them wrong.
“If what you say is true, there’s no need for us to hate each other, is there? It would be good if we could go back to being the brother and sister we once were.”
Laban did not wish that in the slightest, but merely shrugged. Sabina shrugged back, then turned to Ayub.
“Bring the jars.”
Ayub went out to the terrace again and returned with two small jars. They looked ordinary enough, except that each lid was covered with cloth and fastened with a red seal. He set them carefully on the floor, as though they were precious.
Sabina spoke.
“Even if you’ve lied, there is still a way for us to repair things. You need only put it right now. I wouldn’t forgive even one betrayal from anyone else, but you’re my brother. Still, I must have some guarantee, mustn’t I?”
“A guarantee of what?”
“That you’ve truly changed your heart, of course.”
“To change my heart, I would first have had to do something wrong. As far as I know, I haven’t.”
Though he spoke calmly, Laban’s attention remained fixed on the jars. What was inside them? Sabina could not be so composed without something to rely upon.
Ayub spoke.
“As one who handles evil spirits, I have long been of some small service to Lord Ekenos, Lord Herodion, and Her Majesty. They have always rewarded me beyond my deserts, but I am not a man who covets wealth. I would be content with a piece of bread over which to lay my hood, so long as I could continue to perfect the sorcery to which I have devoted my life. Thus, whenever I perform a spell, there is one thing I always ask to receive. Without it, my studies cannot advance.”
He opened a hand above the jar as though introducing someone.
“Pay your respects.”
The seal broke, and the lid came off. Ayub spread a cloth on the floor and tipped out the contents.
A human head rolled out. It was dried and shrunken, as though someone had cut the head from a mummy. Laban recoiled, and Ayub smiled.
“If you show such fear, the dead will grieve in the underworld.”
“What?”
“Look closely. See who it is.”
In the flickering shadows of the torches, Laban stared at the head. Its skin was dry and thin as leather, and its hair lay scattered like scraps of straw. The open mouth seemed to be calling someone’s name in desperation. As his gaze reached the rings in its ears, the back of his neck suddenly tightened, and he felt fire catch in his throat.
A narrow forehead, a slender nose, front teeth slightly chipped at the edges, and two silver rings in her ears.
Iolle.
Sabina watched steadily as Laban’s mouth twisted and his cheeks trembled. Then tears began to fall. The instant Ayub poured a slightly smaller head from the second jar, Laban lunged at him.
No. He almost did.
Four soldiers had already entered, as though expecting this. They caught him by his arms and legs. The silent struggle lasted a long time. Without a word, Laban ended his futile resistance.
“I didn’t want to go this far.”
At Sabina’s glance, Ayub put both heads back into the jars and bowed.
“My apologies. I have distressed you by bringing up the past.”
Laban stared at Ayub, haggard. His hands were already tied behind him, and several men clung to each arm.
“I curse you. I’ll put you into Adalnus’s hands.”
Adalnus was the god of vengeance and curses, notorious for exercising his power without judgment. He listened more closely to those who called his name than to the consequences of the deeds he encouraged. Thus, curses made in Adalnus’s name often came true, but the price was frequently greater still. His epithet was the Double-Edged Hand.
Ayub smiled faintly.
“Glory to the black nails of Adalnus.”
He covered the jars with their cloths again, set them behind him, and sat on the floor.
“My learning is still too limited to preserve anything but heads. But that is enough to cast a spell. Those whose heads are preserved in this way can be summoned to the living world whenever I wish. Not to converse pleasantly. When called, their souls are imprisoned inside the heads. They retain the same awareness they had while alive. They cannot move their bodies, but they can perceive everything around them. They know time is passing. And they know very well what has become of them. That nothing remains but a head, and there is no hope of returning to life as a human being. And the finest thing about this sorcery is…”
“Stop!”
“…that they never die. There is no need for them to eat or drink. Depending on the person, it might be enjoyable, but with no body, nothing to enjoy, not even the possibility of speaking to anyone, eternity apparently offers little pleasure. My master left me several preserved heads. I tried speaking with them through sorcery, and none was sane. Though some were a hundred years old.”
“Now, now you’re… doing that to my wife and son…”
“That depends entirely on Her Majesty’s wishes. I have no personal grudge. I am content with any opportunity to perfect my sorcery.”
Sabina spoke.
“Come back here in a fortnight. If Ayub’s tattoo does not react then, I’ll return the jars. Once you burn them completely, there will be nothing left for a spell to act upon.”
Laban tried to collect himself. He tried to understand what Sabina was saying. But his head spun, and fever clouded his thoughts.
“You mean…”
“When Erektina and Polytimos die, the spell I cast will be completed. Then this tattoo will become as ordinary as the others.”
“I…”
“You cannot do such a thing? Because you don’t know where mother and child are? What a pity. I don’t know what to say. But I merely follow orders, and there is no other way I can help.”
His heart leaped like a beast caught in a trap. With difficulty, Laban looked at Sabina.
“Is this your wish, Sister? To call back the people you’ve killed from the underworld and torment them? Is this your mercy as mother to all the people?”
Sharp creases appeared between Sabina’s brows, three lines like knife cuts.
“Mercy? You expect mercy from me? Yes, this is my mercy. Toward the foolish girl who mocked me and tried to take my place. Toward my brother, who betrayed me and did as he pleased. Toward the two of you, who deceived me and lived happily for three years. If you want mercy!”
Laban turned away. He knew that nothing more he said would be of any use. He knew, too, that he had stepped into a trap from which he could not move. Behind him, Ayub bowed.
“By the way, I thank you for settling something that has troubled me for so long. My studies will advance a great deal because of this. Someday, I shall have occasion to repay your kindness.”
The soldiers took Laban by both arms and led him out, just as they had brought him in. Sabina watched him go. A small feeling of guilt stirred in her breast, but she drove it away.
She had thought becoming queen would let her attain whatever she wished. She had paid any price for it, yet happiness still seemed far off. Reaching it required sacrifice, and Laban was merely one of those sacrifices.
No one could whip her now for failing to find the jewels in the pond. But in the palace, she was no different from the girl who had fled, afraid of the lash, while hearing her mother’s screams. She could not end that way. The former queens living like the dead among the concubines were not her future.
Ayub carefully lifted the jars into his arms and bowed deeply to Sabina. She was no longer looking at him.
He spoke.
“Have you heard it said that evil spirits have human form because they have watched people hungrily for thousands of years? They say that whatever one watches for long enough, one comes to resemble. Today, in Lord Laban’s face, I saw that woman’s.”
Sabina glared at Ayub.
“What are you trying to say?”
“Nothing in particular. Lord Laban and Your Majesty are brother and sister and have always resembled each other closely. Today, for the first time, you no longer did. Now, Your Majesty seems to resemble no one.”
“And?”
“It is only my humble opinion, but Your Majesty seems at last ready to make new people who resemble you.”
The words were obscure, but after a moment Sabina nodded. Sabina, daughter of Ekenos, sister of Laban, queen of Roandros, was now ready to create a people of her own.
They would fill the palace. In time, they would spill over and spread throughout Epherium.
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