Dark Destiny (Born of the Sky Book 4), page 6
After the trio descended the rope ladder, Bokel passed Eiko to Nita.
Kamal said, "Hi."
Nita replied, "Hello."
Bokel said, "Come on, Kamal."
After they turned down a second hall, Bokel said, "Nita's an attractive young woman."
Kamal agreed enthusiastically. "Yes."
Both found the response humorous because it mimicked Eiko.
Kamal asked, "Who is she?"
"She's Eiko's wet nurse and nanny. Unfortunately, her old wet nurse contracted the Sumbali curse. Nita's husband and child died, so she was a good match. You know, if you come here to work, you'd likely see a lot more of her."
"I would like that." Kamal waited outside the royal bedchamber.
Bokel emerged a few minutes later with a tiny box. "I can't leave Bunelis because Botlea could attack at any time. It means I won't be able to see Alita give birth to our child." He opened the tiny box to reveal a small golden ring. "This belonged to my mother. I want Alita to have it. I don't have knights to spare to send her a sentimental gift, but it means a lot to me."
"You can count on me."
"Good." He passed Kamal the small box. "I was serious about the offer. I always need help, especially people I can trust. There are several vacant rooms in the castle in which you could stay."
Kamal bowed his head. "I will return right away, sir."
"Safe journey, Kamal."
Kamal tucked the tiny box into his pocket and hurried from the castle.
Chapter 17
Bokel was in a good mood, despite the greater circumstances. He enjoyed his visit with Kamal, and the times he spent with Eiko always lifted his spirits.
That same night, Bokel was eating alone looking over a map of his territory when a knight barged into the room.
"Sorry to disturb you, sir."
"What is it?"
"One of the kitchen staff has the Sumbali curse."
He sighed as he looked at his food. He'd tasked numerous doctors with finding a cure for the strange disease, but they all failed. They confirmed that it didn't transmit through sex but knew little else.
Bokel said, "Send her home with some food and my best wishes."
"What about the rest of the staff in the kitchen, sir?"
"Unless they start showing symptoms, let them keep working. I can't replace the entire kitchen staff every time one of them contracts this disease."
"Yes, sir."
A day later, two more kitchen staff developed blisters. Despite strict orders that staff couldn't interact with people outside the castle, they didn't comply.
He assigned a different knight to oversee the problems in the kitchen, and they lost four additional staff the following week.
Many senior staff and knights died from the Sumbali curse, the war, and famine, leaving Bokel with inexperienced people in important positions. Despite constantly reshuffling the staff within the castle, nothing seemed to run right since before Lukis' death. Though Lukis spent most of his time guarding Bokel, he was integral to the workings of the castle. Autis, for all his proper upbringing and prominent family, was little more than a guard.
Despite replacing the entire kitchen staff and having them scrub everything in the castle, several castle guards also contracted the strange disease.
Though Bokel didn't think it possible, the scope of his isolation increased. Since they didn't know how the disease moved from one person to another, he limited his exposure where possible. A single cook prepared his food away from other kitchen staff. Autis left his family at home and moved into the castle. Because he was always near Bokel, Autis couldn't do any other assignments for fear of contracting the disease and bringing it back to the king. The people and problems that visited the throne room did so from such a great distance that Bokel had to shout at them.
It was a wholly unappealing way to live, compounded by the fact that Bokel only left the castle when necessary.
Though he couldn't see the details, Bokel imagined all the work happening throughout his territory when he observed from the top of the tall spire. He imagined tiny black specks on the steppes as the wagonloads of rock from Omthik Ridge replaced the partially destroyed wooden walls around Bunelis. He could see the Bluff of Kings from the spire and hoped if they lit the new signal fire, he'd be able to see that as well. Its main purpose was to signal Letonek of an attack.
Bokel and Alita decided to keep the bulk of Sabua's force in Keblen and Ekonae's in Bunelis. It meant Sabua soldiers watched over Ekonae citizens in Keblen.
A report came in that a band of Sumbali killed a pair of Sabua warriors near Keblen. Some Ekonae citizens attempted to flee across Kikaina Bridge, but Sabua's warriors trapped and executed them. Though the initial conflict involved Sumbali, it raised tensions between Ekonae citizens living in Keblen, and the Sabua warriors stationed there to protect them. Such a delicate matter needed personal attention, and Bokel thought it a good reason to leave the castle for the first time in months.
◆◆◆
The bridge cities of Keblen and Notalam were once the collective trade hub between Ekonae and Sabua. Goods exchanged between the two main western cultures declined along with the great dying. The cities fell quiet for a couple of years as citizens sought work and food in the capitals.
When Bokel arrived, he barely recognized Keblen with its low makeshift walls of stone and short wooden century towers. The archaic estate of the namesake looked unfamiliar. Stacks of supplies and tents replaced the formal garden. The grand entryway served as a checkpoint that separated most of the soldiers from the recently appointed five heads of Sabua's army.
Sabua's army didn't traditionally have leaders. They fought guerilla style, threw themselves into combat however they liked at the behest of the empress.
With Alita back in Letonek and faced with an organized opponent, she appointed several heads to take temporary control of the army. Though Bokel suggested Ekonae knights already accustomed to such tasks, she insisted the heads be from Sabua.
The Sabua guards at the entrance to the old palace let Bokel pass without objection, but when he entered the grand entrance with several of his knights, someone called down from the balcony.
"Why is Ekonae here?"
A knight corrected him, "King Honik is here." It was an important distinction.
A few stern faces peered down from the second floor. The dozens of soldiers near the gate, on the second floor, and passing through the grand entrance murmured at the announcement of the king.
A shirtless, muscular man in an intricately beaded skirt strolled down the stairs with confidence. He wore a necklace made from animal teeth and carried a length of wood in one hand. "Emperor Honik. What brings you here?"
A knight corrected him, "King Honik. This is still Ekonae."
The man walked amongst the heavily armored knights barefoot. "King Honik. I already sent word that we resolved the problem on the bridge."
Bokel asked, "And you are?"
"Tustan Lobis, one of the five heads of the army." He bowed his head slightly. "Sir."
"You may view the situation as resolved, but I do not. Gather the other heads."
"Of course."
Though Bokel never met Tustan, he shared a surname with Nalna, a troublesome elder. Alita mentioned her on several occasions. He was Nalna's son, an accomplished warrior and well respected because of his tie to the elders.
Though Autis wanted Bokel to keep the other knights close, Bokel insisted only the two of them meet with the five heads. Though they looked different and were former adversaries, his marriage to Alita meant he ruled over them.
The five heads from Sabua gathered on a second-floor terrace. Autis stayed to the side to observe, and Bokel was the only one sitting at a small table.
He asked, "Who ordered the attack on citizens on the bridge?"
One of the heads replied, "No one. They defended the gate, as is their job."
"Defending the gate and killing people are two different things. Marriage binds Ekonae and Sabua, and soon the countries will be bound by blood. They effectively attacked their own citizens. What was their punishment?"
The same man replied, "We saw no need to punish them for doing their job."
"And the same guards are still at the gate?"
"Yes."
Bokel looked around at the warriors. "Are none of you able to see the problem with that? An army occupying a neighbor's city for mutually beneficial reasons and killing that city's citizens when there's a conflict."
Tustan said, "We understand, but you must understand, Sabua is here to help you. That doesn't give Ekonae the right to invade our territory."
With his arm on the chair, Bokel raised his hand slightly to prevent Autis from joining in. "Who am I?"
Tustan replied, "King Honik III of the Kingdom of Ekonae."
In a cold tone, Bokel asked, "What else?"
Tustan eyed one of the other heads and then said, "Emperor Honik."
"That's right. I am the emperor of Sabua. Would you speak to Empress Monbi in such a tone?"
One of the other heads said, "We meant no disrespect."
Bokel looked at several empty bottles of wine nestled in one corner of the terrace. "Empress Monbi appointed you as the heads of Sabua's army in her absence. I can easily relieve all of you from the position and instate my own knights to command our efforts in Keblen." He looked around at their taut faces. "You don't like that idea, do you? The fact that someone else would come into your home and give you orders. The army of Sabua is allowed in Keblen because I say they are allowed in Keblen. You are here to protect the bridge from Botlea, not regular citizens that live here."
He continued. "I expect every warrior that raised their sword to those citizens to be on scout duty for at least a month. No unauthorized person is to cross Kikaina Bridge in either direction, but if I hear about soldiers attacking frightened citizens again, the punishment will be more severe. Do I make myself clear?"
The heads of Sabua reluctantly agreed.
It was nerve wracking to confront foreign warriors in such a way, but Alita warned him to take a stronger stance with them than Ekonae knights.
The presence of the king calmed the citizens of Keblen, so after inspecting Keblen's modified defenses and making suggestions for improvements, he returned to Bunelis the following day.
Chapter 18
In the final days of her pregnancy, Alita couldn't get through her duties fast enough. She sighed when a guard rushed in with yet another important message.
"What?"
"The most recent fishing platform collapsed during the night. A dozen fishermen disappeared into the ocean."
With no wood coming from Ekonae because of the Sumbali attacks, they'd cut corners.
She asked, "Is anything salvageable?"
"Most of the stairs remain, ma'am."
"Tell them to take just enough wood from the royal forest reserve to complete the platform properly. That will be the last one for a while."
"Yes, ma'am."
Despite multiple cushions under her posterior, Alita couldn't find a comfortable position. She snapped at the next person that came through the door without looking at them.
"What?"
Kamal said, "The boats are all in Ekonae and I escorted everyone safely back to the capital, ma'am. The king wanted me to give you this." He stepped closer and offered her a small box.
Alita opened it and saw a gold ring. "What is this?"
"King Honk said it belonged to his mother and that he wanted you to have it."
"Right." She forgot about the important item she asked Bokel to give Kamal. "Good job." He lingered, so she asked, "Is there something else?"
"King Honik said I could work for him."
"Doing what?"
"I don't know."
She thought to tell him no, but the last time she forbade Kamal from going somewhere he disappeared over Omthik Ridge, and she didn't see him for a year. In a softer tone, she said, "Bunelis is on the front. Botlea could attack at any point."
"I know. The king said he has a lot of work and not enough people he trusts to do it."
She understood Kamal's excitement. He looked up to Bokel and admired Ekonae's knights and traditions.
She said, "I would like you to stay here. I may need your assistance when the baby is born."
"Oh- ok."
"After that, you have my blessing to go to Ekonae."
Kamal perked up. "Really?"
"Really. I'm sure the king can find a place for you to sleep."
"He said I could have one of the empty rooms in the castle."
It had been a long time since she saw her little brother smile. It lifted her mood despite everything else.
She said, "I have another task for you if you're not busy."
"Of course, Empress."
"I was told a strange boat washed up in the estuary. There was supposed to be a pair of young men on the boat. I've sent others to retrieve them, yet they aren't standing before me. I want you to help locate these men, or their bodies, and bring them here."
"Right away, ma'am." He bowed and promptly departed.
She could tell Kamal's visit with Bokel impacted him. He'd never been so eager or respectful.
When a pain surged around her back and down her thighs, Alita stood to stretch her bloated, tired limbs. She bent over with her hands on her thighs as nausea swept through her swollen midsection.
A guard asked, "Is everything ok, Empress."
"Fetch the midwife and bring her to my room."
"Right away, ma'am."
He turned to go, but Alita collapsed to her knees as incredible pain shot across her lower stomach.
The guard yelled, "Get the midwife!"
The other guard in the room flung the door open and disappeared down the hall.
"Empress, are you ok?"
Alita took several labored breaths. "I'm fine."
She grabbed the guard's hand and he helped her to her feet.
She almost made it to her room before the midwife arrived with two servant girls in tow.
The midwife demanded, "Out, all of you."
The guards disappeared from the hall and the midwife helped Alita into the room and onto the bed.
Alita clasped her hands below her belly. "It hurts down here."
"Contractions, ma'am. It's almost time."
◆◆◆
For all her swearing and complaining, and the midwife's reassurances, Alita couldn't rush the labor. They thought the baby was a little early, but days after her first major contraction, Alita was still in bed. She could barely keep anything down and her throat hurt. She felt lightheaded, likely dehydration according to the midwife, but Alita thought it something more.
On the third night, she hallucinated her dead mother was in the room. By the afternoon of the fourth day, her mind played constant tricks.
A young woman in thin leather clothing rode a large lizard through the desert on the other side of the room. Alita saw her bed as a rickety raft adrift at sea. She had no paddles to fight the waves that rocked the room, but the vessel never capsized.
The woman searched for something, so Alita called out to her.
"What are you looking for?"
The woman didn't respond.
"Hello? Why are you here? Where am I?"
Bouts of suffocation interspersed her hallucinations. She was coherent for some of them. Her breathing increased quickly but she couldn't get enough oxygen no matter how many breaths she took. There was also a deep, throbbing pain, but she wasn't sure if it belonged to her.
The midwife shook her. "Breathe!"
It seemed such a strange thing to say. She was breathing. Wasn't she? Her head didn't feel right, as if her brain might float out of her skull. She closed her eyes tight, tried to right her mind, but saw her father's corpse. His eyes bulged in the sockets and maggots wriggled from his mouth. When he spoke, he spit their wriggling bodies everywhere.
The corpse asked, "Why didn't you notice it wasn't me?"
Alita replied, "I did. I knew something was wrong, but I didn't know what."
"Because I was dead in the ground, and no one noticed she replaced me."
Kamal appeared behind the talking corpse of their father. "They say I'm dumb, but even I noticed. What does that make you, Alita?"
The visions disappeared as waves tried to wash into her mouth. She was thirstier than she'd ever been, but she didn't want to drink the waves. She wanted to see her baby, her husband, a peaceful Sabua, and the end of the great dying. If she drank the waves, she wouldn't get to see any of those things.
She thrashed her hands about with such fury that she swept away the ocean. Leaving only the desert. The same young woman was there, except she was riding a black and white ox.
Alita called to her, "Help me."
The young woman turned to her with crystal blue eyes. "With what?"
"I'm drowning."
"You're in the desert."
Alita looked down and saw that she wasn't in the ocean or the desert. She was in her bed with her feet propped up and the midwife between her legs.
The midwife moaned, "Keep pushing. The baby is almost here."
The strange woman in the thin leather clothing was standing behind the midwife with a soft smile across her young mouth.
Alita asked, "Who are you?"
The midwife popped her head up. "Keep pushing, Empress."
The young woman replied, "You know who I am."
The young woman took several steps into the desert on the other side of the room and the weight of the real world crashed into Alita. The pain in her hips and lower body was worse than any wound she suffered in battle. She moaned and bore down, trying to force the baby out.
The midwife said, "A little more. One big push."
Alita clenched her abdomen and then all at once, sweet relief as her body deflated. Her breath returned and she inhaled deeply, cherishing the invisible sustenance.
The midwife cut the umbilical cord from the crying baby.
After examining the baby and wiping it down, she brought the newborn to the side of the bed.
