Page 65 of Queen Takes Checkmate
Something clicked inside of Shara’s mind. It made me sit up quickly, alert for any danger, though she didn’t otherwise react. “Coatlicue must love him very much too. She gave me the red serpent so I could kill Ra and avenge Her son. She wants me to free his soul so he can return to Aztlan, whatever that is.”
“Archeologists think it’s the place where the Mexica people originated, but let me tell you that I spent twenty years searching for the location, and it’s not a place on a map. Aztlan is more than that. It’s like an entirely different realm.”
Another click in Shara’s head reverberated through our bond, like a thief methodically cracking a safe. “Through a portal.”
“Yes. I used an obsidian mirror to reach Tezcatlipoca, my jaguar god’s other aspect. Humans have lost their souls after touching Aztlan. Mama drowned in the cenote trying to reach her lover, and that golden bird Ra sent to attack us almost took my daughter through the same portal.”
Shara’s breath sighed out softly, her mind racing from ideas and scenarios so quickly I couldn’t keep up. Tension hummed in our bond, as if she was on the verge of something momentous. “Vivian.”
The new female Blood immediately dropped down to her knees in front of us. “My queen?”
“You said Ra’s priests are constantly trying to cure him.”
She nodded. “There’s a poison in his blood that burns, driving him into a frenzy.”
“Do you know where the poison originated?”
“There was a story whispered in Heliopolis, but I don’t know…”
Shara nodded impatiently. “Even if it’s just gossip, I need to know.”
“When I was still a fledgling, the oldest captive queen said he was bitten by a snake.”
Shara flipped through the Isador book on her lap, quickly turning pages until she came to one near the beginning of the book. “The mighty sun god walked the land, proud of his creations, but the heat of his passing began to damage what he had wrought. The ground dried and cracked in misery. The Nile withered to a modest stream. Crops failed. Crocodiles and leopards hunted the people, desperate for food as their prey died.
“Thus Isis decided to persuade Ra to move aside and allow the people to flourish. She made a snake out of Ra’s essence and sent it to lie in wait for the sun god. When it bit him, the snake made him very ill. Ra has power over all things of sun and day, but he couldn’t heal himself since the snake was part of him.
“Isis promised to heal him, but only if he agreed to tell her his secret name of power. She knew that if she asked him to distance himself from the world, that he would refuse. He was too proud. He wallowed in his achievements and the adulation of his people. They couldn’t praise him enough. He would never willingly lose their worship.
“Finally, the pain forced Ra to agree to her bargain. He disappeared to a secret place, and took her heart to heart, so her body would know his secret name. Now, the mighty sun god’s power was hers, and Isis stood equal to him in power. She commanded him to withdraw from the world.
“And so he did’”
Mehen let out a disgusted huff. “Took her to a secret place and held her heart to heart? You know what the fuck that means, right?”
Shara laughed, shaking her head. “I suppose the gods and goddesses all took turns with each other, wouldn’t they?” Her laughter faded, and she read through the next page to herself. “Though I don’t get the impression that it was an experience she ever indulged in again. Whoever wrote this passage says that Isis believed that Ra helped Set murder Osiris to punish her.”
“He definitely holds a grudge,” Vivian said. “But that doesn’t explain the poison that still burns in him.”
I’d been silent for so long, that when I spoke behind her, Shara jumped a little. “Maybe it’s like your venom in me. You healed me, but your venom is still in my blood. He probably still carries the antivenin from that snake’s bite.”
Shara turned slightly to face me, her fingers cupping my cheek. “And when they lay heart to heart, he fed on her. Or she fed on him. Or both. Now he hungers for more Aima blood, but especially an Isis queen.”
My jaws ached from clenching too hard. “Then he will especially hunger for the last Isador queen.”
I didn’t like the look in her eyes. Sadness. Regret. That heaviness in her eyes had me pulling her closer, as if I could shield her.
She blew out a sigh. “Now I know what bait to use to gain access to Heliopolis.”
Shara
I wasn’t sure which one was more furious, Rik or Vivian.
“No,” they both retorted at the same time.
“I won’t let you out of my sight,” Rik growled, his shoulders bulging like towering cliffs of granite.
“You don’t know what he’s like,” Vivian added. As her rage blazed higher, Smoak burned hotter. If she wasn’t careful, I had a feeling she’d light my sweater on fire and torch the fragile papers of the Isador history. “I know you’re strong, my queen, but his power is literally painful. It hurts to even be anywhere near him, and the closer he gets, the more it hurts.”
