Naamah's Blessing

swear it by the sacred troth that binds me to my
diadh-anam
. Now call them off!”
    To a chorus of relieved sighs, he did. “Don’t imagine I have any illusions about your loyalty, Moirin,” he warned me. “I know you’ll try to find a way to wriggle out of keeping your oath just like you did before.”
    I was silent.
    Raphael paced the room, returning to his throne. The black river flowed alongside him. He sat, Bao’s staff over his knees, contemplating us. “So long as you behave, I’ve no cause to harm the rest of you unless Moirin gives me one,” he said. “You’ll be put to labor in the fields with the others.” Dipping into the basket beside him, he scattered another handful of leaves onto the seething floor, smiling indulgently. “It’s hard to keep these little darlings fed. Bear in mind that they do prefer flesh, they’re everywhere, and they’re
always
watching.” He laughed. “Well, not exactly watching, of course. They don’t see as we do.”
    It was so near an echo of the words Denis had spoken only that very morning, it struck me like a fist to the gut.
    “If you attempt to escape, they will know,” Raphael continued heedlessly. “If you think to attack me…” He shrugged, stroking Bao’s bamboo staff. “Well, I think you have seen what will ensue. Is that understood?”
    Everyone nodded.
    “Good,” he said briskly. “Now strip off all armor and weapons. I daresay my Quechua warriors will find them useful when we overthrow the
Sapa Inca
.”
    I startled. “
What
?”
    “Oh, yes.” Raphael smiled at me. “There are sacred places on this earth, Moirin, sanctified by centuries of worship. In Tawantinsuyo, it is the Temple of the Ancestors in the city of Qusqu. That is where I must be coronated. We have a great deal to discuss, you and I. But for now it can wait.” He pointed with Bao’s staff. “Arms and armor! Strip! Moirin, I’ll have your bow as well.”
    One by one, the men complied; and so did I, surrendering my yew-wood bow with a pang of regret.
    For a moment, I thought Temilotzin would resist. The Jaguar Knight glowered, clutching his obsidian-studded club. Streams of ants skirled and chittered around his sandaled feet.
    “Don’t,” I pleaded with him in Nahuatl. “Please, don’t!” I glanced at Denis de Toluard’s lifeless body, my heart aching. “I’m not sure I could bear it. Wait, and let me try to find a way out of this.”
    With a growl, Temilotzin hurled his club to the floor, shards of obsidian shattering on the stone. “I do not like this prince of yours, my little warrior,” he said in disdain. “Better we had never found him!”
    “I agree,” Eyahue muttered.
    Overwhelmed by the shock of the encounter, I was ashamed to realize I’d altogether forgotten the purpose of our journey.
    Now I remembered.
    “He’s
not
our prince,” I said firmly. “Raphael? My lord de Mereliot?”
    Idling on the throne, being attended by his ants and handmaidens, he lifted his head. “Hmm?”
    “You told Denis that Thierry and the others were safe,” I said. “Was that true?”
    “Of course it’s true!” Looking offended, Raphael waved one hand. “They’re laboring in the fields just like these men will. And
they
willconfirm the folly of attempting to escape,” he added. “One tried. He died screaming.”
    I closed my eyes briefly, fighting a wave of nausea. “But the Dauphin and the others are well?”
    Raphael shrugged. “All that made it safely to Vilcabamba. We lost a few along the way.” He fixed me with a hard stare. “Do you suppose I’d murder them all outright? What do you take me for, a monster?”
    I gazed back at the man I’d once thought I’d loved, the man I’d believed my destiny—the man whose bed I’d been so eager to share, the man with the golden healer’s touch, the man I’d let charm me into folly and self-sacrifice, the man who had saved my father’s life.
    The man who had just stabbed one of his best friends in the throat, the madman who held us all captive and hostage with his terrible army.
    If he was a monster, he was a monster
I
had helped to create. My
diadh-anam
had spoken truly all those years ago, but I hadn’t understood it. Whether he was mad or no, Raphael was right about one thing. The gifts of the gods were often double-edged. My destiny was indeed entwined with his, but what I hadn’t known was that I’d forged every link of the chains that bound us myself.
    “Well?” Raphael raised his