Page 84 of Queen Takes Checkmate
“Inspect her,” he said to his priest.
Greatest of Seers bowed even lower. “I did, Your Imperial Majesty. So did the High Lord Vizier.”
“She has no Blood bonds? A queen of this strength? I deem it unlikely.”
“We both examined her and found her empty of bonds. The High Lord searched her twice, pushing deeper than any queen has endured before.”
Ra made a low sound of distrust, eyes narrowed on me. “And what of this snake on her throat? Have you examined that?”
The red serpent on my throat didn’t move, locked in place like a tattoo.
“We did, naturally, Your Imperial Majesty. Given your history with snakes—”
“Silence!”
The priest fell down on his knees and bowed forward to press his face against the golden floor. “I beg your forgiveness, Oh Mighty Sun of Radiance!”
Ra sneered at me, his eyes whitening to solid ice. “What is the significance of the snake, witch? And remember that when I touch you, I can sense a lie. I’ll split you in half on my cock and feed you to my sunfires if you try to lie to me.”
What could I say that wasn’t a lie? I hoped my face wasn’t as panicked as I felt. House Isador didn’t lie, even to kill the god of light. But what could I say to buy myself some time?
I was still too far away to launch the serpent. I didn’t need Carys’s probabilities to tell me the serpent would fall short. And then what? What would become of me? My Blood?
I’d already killed Guillaume.
I had no idea where the rest of my beloved Blood were.
I couldn’t feel them. Anywhere.
I was desperately, hopelessly alone.
Fighting down waves of panic, I dropped my gaze to the floor, my mind racing.
And I saw one delicate print in the soft golden floor. A print I recognized.
My wolf. Xin.
My eyes burned, but thankfully I was too dehydrated to worry about tears.
“A gift,” Huitzilopochtli rasped as if every word shredded his throat. “From my daughter.”
I dared a quick breath. So he was to be my bishop and partner in this match, not the sacrificial pawn. Good. I couldn’t wait to tell Mayte how much her father had helped me. How much he must have loved her mother and would have loved her.
Assuming we ever escaped Heliopolis.
Ra dropped his hand on his head again, but at least this time, he didn’t try to drown him in liquid gold. He listened a moment and then nodded.
“No wonder you’re so strong. You’ve formed a coven with his illicit daughter.”
My knees quivered faintly but I didn’t otherwise react. It wasn’t a lie. Mayte had given me the snake, through her goddess. “I love her dearly.”
“Love.” Ra slammed his hand down on Huitzilopochtli’s back, knocking him down to sprawl on his stomach. “A ridiculous weakness that brings a man to his knees quicker than anything else. Better yet, come to me, witch. Show me how much you love my dick, and I’ll let your pet Hummingbird live another day.”
35
Shara
It shouldn’t have surprised me that Ra was so dismissive of my coven, as he called it, with Mayte. He was dismissive of all women. Naturally, the friendship and love, sisterly or carnally, between women wouldn’t alarm him in the slightest.
