Page 29 of Queen Takes Sunfires 2
I found a broken staff with a torn, bloody flag, but I didn't recognize the insignia. Surely I had been a warrior along with all these fallen men, but I would have known my enemy even better than I knew my allies. It was inconceivable that I would fight an unknown war.
But as I traversed the field of dead, even the weapons and armor were foreign to me. Rather than the sword and spear, these men carried huge axes. Their beards and hair were long and fair in color. Many wore furs. Another group of dead wore head-to-toe metal, so heavy I couldn't comprehend how they'd even managed to mount their horses that lay twisted and broken beneath them.
So many dead. So much loss.
I closed my eyes, my shoulders sagging beneath the weight of all these dead men. I had failed. All my life, I had fought and planned for ultimate victory. No single defeat had ever finished me. But this…
Hand over my heart, I struggled to take a breath and calm my frantic heart. This was the final battle, and everyone had died. Even her, my queen with flaming red hair and distant gaze. So often, I had tried to silently communicate with her, but it was as though she couldn’t see me at all. Beaten down and locked away inside her, where Ra couldn’t touch, she’d hidden the last fragile bit of her soul. Her personality. I knew she had to protect herself, but it also struck me like a blow every time her gaze flowed unseeing and uncaring over me.
My supreme warrior’s ego dreamed of the day she would look at me, actually see and recognize me, and then call upon me to save her.
Even though I knew it was impossible as long as Ra held us both beneath his cruel thumb. Yet so I had dreamed. A fool’s hope.
Now all was lost. The world, destroyed. My never-ending battle had finally come to a close. There was no victory here. No honor found in the afterlife. Not in Heliopolis.
"Why do you presume to take full blame for the follies of mankind?"
The woman's voice startled me. I jerked my head up, stunned by a gigantic column of stone that rose into the heavens. Tiers of earth stretched out on either side almost like branches, wrapped in misty clouds. I tipped my head back, straining to see the top of the column, but a snowy peak disappeared into the clouds.
I had never seen this place before, but I knew it instantly. Kunlun, the home of the Supreme Queen Mother, Xiwangmu. Shaking, I fell to my knees and pressed my forehead to the cold stone. I couldn't bear to look upon Her, especially in my failure.
"You have traversed oceans of time to find me at last. Is there a question you wished to ask me?"
There was, I realized, though it had not occurred to me before I saw the unending field of dead warriors. "Why was Ra allowed to resurrect warriors of honor, who were then forced to do dishonorable things for an eternity?"
I listened for Her response, but in the quiet stillness, I noticed the trill of birds singing in the trees. The rustle of their branches a rhythmic accompaniment. Over the stench of death, I caught the faintest scent of something sweet and flowery, but I couldn't quite place it.
"You already know the answer to that question."
My shoulders relaxed and I nodded, though I didn't lift my head. "Spies on the inside, gaining knowledge of our greatest enemy."
"Not the greatest enemy, but certainly formidable. She had need of you."
Karmen had indeed needed spies in Heliopolis to keep her alive.
"Will you pay the cost?"
Without hesitation, I answered, "Yes, Grand Supreme."
Her hand settled on my shoulder, filling me with a wave of sweet melody and peace. The sweet scent filled my nose, and I finally recognized the scent of fresh, ripe peaches. "You already paid the cost, dearest son. Now you will have your reward."
My shoulders sagged with relief. Finally, an end to this battle that was never won. A final death, ending in victory. Ra was dead. Karmen was safe. She had escaped Heliopolis. What more could I ask for than an end to the never-ending torment the god had resurrected me to?
Darkness closed around me, blanketing me in quiet peace. I had been trapped in this prison of ancient bones for too long, but now my soul would fly free of its cage.
But my soul did not take flight. It weighed heavy on my chest, a boulder of granite that grew larger by the moment. Pressing me down, grinding me to dust. Pain splintered through me, forcing me to gasp for breath. I had not known pain in millennia. A dead soldier knew no sensation, whether good or bad.
Yet pain certainly crushed my brittle bones now. I endured. I didn’t know how long. An eternity, a heartbeat. My reward—
Wait.
A heartbeat.
The thing in my chest thumped again. Skipping and hopping into a more recognizable rhythm. A burning band tightened around me. Not my sunfire. Something else. Something I needed to remember. My chest rose, a gasping breath rushing into the blazing chasm spreading through me, and the pain eased.
Breathing. A simple act of living that I had not needed for ages. My lungs filled with air. Exhaled. A miracle. I couldn’t comprehend what had happened.
Until I opened my eyes—living, seeing eyes—and looked up into my queen’s face. Her fingers on my cheek like exquisite feathers. A glittering diamond slid down her cheek and she smiled.
