Page 25 of Queen Takes Sunfires 2
They surely all sensed my turmoil, the endless circle of my thoughts whirling and twisting. But this time, none of them said a word. They didn't push for me to make a decision. They didn't move. The one who'd taken my hand just knelt there quietly. Waiting for my decision.
Something brushed against my leg, drawing my attention down to the ground. One of the sundogs had crept close enough to lay its head on my foot. War, the one that had bitten me. Somehow I recognized it, even though they looked identical. Some echo in the sunfire flowing between us.
The other sundog whined again, a soft little whimper so strange and foreign from a creature I had feared for so long. It, too, laid its head on my other foot, pressing closer against my legs. Warmth flowed through me, a soothing heat from the sundogs to the essence I already carried and back.
So nice. I really couldn't remember ever feeling so at peace and ease. Comfortable. Dare I say... safe? Certainly not alone. Even when Ra had fucked me, I had been brutally alone.
I raised my gaze to Sun Tzu. He hadn't claimed the leadership position of these soldiers, but they all seemed to defer to him, even the god. The one with the four wings might be louder, but he didn't lead the others. I had no idea what kind of man he'd been before his death. Before Ra had gotten to him. Living in Heliopolis had changed us all, and likely not for the better.
Focusing on the burning pits of his eyes, I tried sending words only to Sun Tzu.:What are your intentions with respect to me? Because I won't go back to being powerless and controlled ever again.:
:Of course not, Your Majesty. Getting you out of Heliopolis was only my first goal. Winning your freedom was the primary objective. I would not begin to think of trying to seize control of you.:
:What do you want, then?:
My words surprised him, though it was hard to tell from his appearance. I carried part of him now. I felt a burst of surprise at my bluntness, but also a spark of appreciation.
:I want only for you to be safe. I await your orders, Your Majesty.:
:Do you know what it means to be Blood?:
All of the soldiers suddenly focused on me with enough intensity that I leaned back slightly, taken aback at their focus. Evidently my attempt at only "speaking" to Sun Tzu through the sunfire hadn't worked.
"What one sunfire knows, all know," he replied slowly, as if weighing each word. "We do know of Blood who served queens like you. We saw what the vizier did to the queens they captured."
I hadn't witnessed anything like that, thankfully, but anything the vizier was involved in would have been extremely painful and unpleasant. "Helayna, the queen who helped me, had three Blood. She called them dark alfar."
He made a low humming sound and shook his head. "The term alfar is unknown to me."
"They protected her." I hesitated, feeling silly and unsure. I didn't even know what I wanted, not really. I didn't know who I was outside of Heliopolis.
But for the first time since I'd been taken, I had people, men, on my side. Soldiers of Light, feared warriors, former kings, famous generals, and even a god.
I didn't want to lose this feeling, even though I couldn't yet put a name to describe it. I wasn't alone. I even felt... not fully safe, not yet. I might never feel completely safe. But I did feel more secure. If I could trust them, even a little...
"It would be my greatest honor to protect you, Your Majesty," Sun Tzu replied. "We want nothing more than to be yours. To protect you, serve you, in any way possible. That's why we had to get you out of Heliopolis. We couldn't bear to see you suffer any longer."
Helayna had said her Blood was in her, and she was in him. With the sunfire essence coursing through my body, I was starting to understand what she had meant. They already knew my secret. In fact, they'd somehow known before I'd even been smuggled out of Heliopolis.
I didn't have to hide from them. They already knew, and it didn't seem to matter to them one way or the other.
Marcus Antonius still held my hand, though his bones were still against my fingers. He'd offered to let me feed on his sunfires too. Though I had no desire to drain the sundogs.
He huffed out a laugh. "I have no desire for that either, though neither would mind, honestly."
I couldn't resist flicking a quick glance at the sundogs still at my feet. Curled around my legs, they didn't even look at me, though one fiery tale swept back and forth a few times.
Unsure and awkward, I looked back up at his skull face, wishing again that I could read his expression. The sundog leashes flowed up his arms, thickening around his shoulders and neck like a cape. As I studied it, the sunfire glowed brighter, an eager dance of flame against the bone white skeleton.
I wished I was angry or scared still. That was the only reason I'd even thought to strike out against Sun Tzu. I had fangs, sure, but I had no memory of using them before. Biting sunfires just seemed so...
"Oh for fuck's sake," the winged soldier growled. "You're a vampire queen. Use those fangs your goddess graced you with. The sunfires would like nothing more than to be put to use."
If the soldiers had eyeballs, I had the feeling they all would have been rolling their eyes at him. Marcus Antonius squeezed my hand and leaned closer, as if he thought the other soldier might try and take his place. "What the Great Asshole means to say is that I'd love to feed you. If you can use my sunfire strength in any way, then I eagerly ask you to take me."
Take me.
Such a foreign concept. I had only ever been used myself. Taken in violence, anger, and lust by Ra. He had never asked permission. He had never asked for my opinion. He'd certainly never waited patiently for me to decide how to proceed. That alone gave me the courage to lean closer to Marcus and touch my mouth to the blazing energy wrapped around him.
