Page 49 of Queen Takes Sunfires 2
The center of the black mass did glow, like everything that came from Heliopolis. Only his brightness was a deep, blood red, the darkest embers buried beneath a layer of coal and ash. A pair of long black horns swept from his head, curling at the tips. Combined with his massive shoulders and wide chest, he reminded me of a mythological minotaur.
“Is that his sunfire shape? Or his?”
“His,” Sunzi replied. “He uses his sunfire like whips.”
I flinched, my skin crawling and burning at the memory. Flaming sunfire whips dripping acid on my back, even as he lashed me. Burying my face harder against Sunzi’s shoulder, I made myself keep looking at the images the sunfires sent.
Most of the thick shadows curled around Sepdet’s legs, hiding his lower body. But as I watched, one shadow reared up out of the roiling mass like a horse. Black curling horns and tentacles dotted its neck and head rather than mane. Fire plumed from its nostrils. Its black hide was cracked and riddled with glowing red chasms, as if the outer layer of its body had been charred.
Quasar, the main or primary consciousness of the sunfire collective. Free him, and all the sunfires would be freed. But how?
I pulled back from their visions and noticed that the rest of my Blood now stood in the room with us. I didn’t know them very well yet. Most of them I hadn’t even talked to much, other than Goyaalé. Without their sunfires gleaming around them, I didn’t have the clues of which one had the wings or the elephant.
Yet they were here for me. They had willingly given me both sunfire essence and blood. They were mine.
Sunzi’s words from earlier echoed in my head. They were mine, as no one else could be.
One of the men with a thick black braid that swung down his back sat on the edge of the bed. The other men scowled at him.
“What?” From his tone alone, I instantly placed him as Kuros, the one with a double set of wings. “I’m not going to whip my dick out or anything.”
They all stared at him, suddenly aghast. It dawned on me that they were afraid I would be insulted. Or scared. Or both.
But honestly, I only wanted to laugh. Not at his words, but at their reaction. But I also wanted to tear up a little. Not because I was scared as they feared—but because they cared so very much about how I would feel.
“It’s fine,” I said, clearing my throat. “If anyone has ideas on how I should approach Sepdet, I would like to discuss them now.”
“He wants his father’s throne,” one of the men said. He had gleaming black skin and wore sumptuous red and purple silks. Tuning in to his bond, I sensed an elephant trumpeting.
:General Hannibal Barca of Carthage,:Sunzi whispered in my mind.:He’s most famous for leading an army of war elephants over the Alps to attack the Roman Empire.:
“He has the throne,” Kuros replied. “It’s not enough, though. Without complete dominion of everything his father held, it’s just a tacky golden chair. We defected. Aurelian defected. And somehow, God’s Wife disappeared from Heliopolis. Until he brings her back, and we’re all back under his thumb, he won’t be able to rule the realm.”
“Is it his planning and ambition, or the vizier’s?” This man had shoulder-length reddish brown hair, darker than mine. He wore a simple brown long-sleeved tunic, belted around his waist. A leather scabbard hung on his back with a large sword poking up over his shoulder. “Sepdet was always vicious, aye, but he wasn’t smart. He wasn’t a leader. Only a bully.”
:I only know him as the Scotsman,:Sunzi whispered in my head.
“If he doesn’t know that I carry Ra’s heir, then why would Sepdet want me?”
They all stared at each other, avoiding my gaze entirely. After several long moments of silence, Sunzi finally replied, “You’re a powerful solar queen in your own right, Your Majesty, and now, very likely the only living solar royalty other than Ra’s spawn. You proved your resilience countless times over. You endured when all other queens died. Of course he would want you to carry on his father’s original plan.”
“There’s plenty of historical precedence to support his desire to take you as his royal bride.” Dressed very much like Sunzi in leather pants and tunic, this man wore two swords crossed on his back. His hair was gathered in a bun on top of his head. “Especially in Egyptian history, which he would pull strongly from, given his heritage.”
:Miyamoto Musashi,:Sunzi said through our bond. :Japan’s greatest swordsman.:
“Do you remember much about his mother? He was born before I was brought to Heliopolis.”
“A queen descended from the Egyptian goddess, Sopdet.” This Blood had a careless, scruffy look with tousled dirty-blond shaggy hair. His eyes told a different story though. Dark and magnetic and burning, as if he had absorbed all my hurt and pain over the centuries and intended to punish the world itself for failing to protect me. “Goddess of the brightest star in the sky. The queen was from House Seirios but I don’t recall her name.”
:Vlad the Impaler, Voivode of Wallachia,:Sunzi said.:And he will indeed burn the world for you. We all will.:
:My star may not shine as brightly, but my people called me the Great Star for a reason.:A different man spoke in my head, drawing my attention with a gentle pull to the corner of the room. From his story about his brother earlier, I recognized him as Chak Ek’. He was the biggest man in the room, both wide and tall with muscle. His deep earthy-brown skin gleamed and shimmered, almost like a sunfire’s rippling fire, but wholly his own power.:When the Great Star shines before dawn, it is a good time to go to war. I am ready to wage war for you, my queen.:
The last man in the room that I hadn’t yet identified strode closer and went down on one knee beside the bed. He had short, curly brown hair similar to Marcus, with a neatly trimmed beard. He wore a golden helmet with a tall red plume and a scarlet cloak hung about his shoulders. His chest was bare, revealing numerous scars all over his face and body, as if he’d been mauled by beasts. Or hacked apart by swords. “Leonides of Sparta, Your Majesty. I lost Thermopylae, but it took eighty-thousand soldiers to take my sword and my head. Sepdet cannot possibly stand against us all.”
:He’s modest, Your Majesty,:Sunzi said.:He was one of the greatest kings of the Greek city-states, and he nearly held the pass with only three hundred of his men.:
“Can you all call me by my name, rather than Your Majesty? It reminds me of all the things I hated in Heliopolis.”
