Amazonia

  As Amazonia walked with Lady Alexina towards Greywolf and Eurax, who was still on his knees, babbling, Az said, “What in Hades’ name’s wrong with Eurax?” Remembering what Fox had told her about the Daemo butterfly, she added, “He’s not in love with Greywolf, is he?”

  “Love can take many forms,” the Daemo answered. “Eurax is a pious man.”

  “He’s a pervert.”

  Lady Alexina gave Amazonia a sardonic smile. “Who honors the gods as he slakes his lusts on young women or girls he has acquired, by ‘sacrificing’ them, in a manner of speaking, upon the specially crafted altars in the temple on his estate. I have not seen any of this but Jhadra has on numerous occasions.”

  Amazonia gave the Daemo a hard stare. “She’s involved in his crimes?”

  “Jhadra has intervened and saved the lives of females every single time she has attended one of his sacrificial ceremonies,” Lady Alexina replied, giving Amazonia a cool look. “While your morality is nothing we care about, we are always happy to find humans eager to repay the saving of their lives by letting Daemo, who are not female, feed off them.”

  “As if they were Zor-ox.”

  “Would you rather see them needlessly slaughtered?” Without waiting for an answer, Lady Alexina strode forward to where Greywolf looked almost ready to panic, and stopped in front of the kneeling man. “Lord Eurax, I see you have seen through the disguise I crafted to keep the world from knowing the truth.”

  Greywolf stepped back, relief washing over his face as Eurax looked up at her. “You had Asena the Wolf Mother and her son pretend to be actors pretending to be what they actually are. I… must admit, the irony is worthy of the gods themselves, but I cannot understand why you have done so, or why they allowed the deception to occur.”

  Lady Alexina sighed, and to Amazonia’s ears it sounded heartfelt. “The world is not what it was, my Lord Eurax. The old gods are dying.”

  Eurax shot to his feet, standing a head shorter than Lady Alexina as he snapped, “This cannot be.”

  “You know, deep in the depths of your heart, that I am speaking the truth. The war between the gods and the Daemo Princes truly did turn our world into a mana node of sorts, giving those of the gods who remained on Terra the mana they need to live. Yet, the world endured the abuse it took, and in the last centuries, began to shed the mana it radiated, except in a few special places where true mana nodes exist.”

  “But the gods—”

  “Do not live forever, especially as the mana they rely on grows scant.”

  Eurax drew himself up. “Not all the gods are dying. The cult of Yun-Kax of the Sasnayam Empire still works miracles.”

  “Only because they torture a young woman, whose body acts as the host for a living mana node, by ripping it from her body and pretending they tear out her heart. What they do is theater.”

  “No different than the play you put on tonight, pretending to honor Jupiter while secretly sneering at him.” His eyes narrowed. “When Prince Arcadia rules the empire, he shall sweep away the Daemo and other cults and install the honorable worship of Yun-Kax, along with that of Ghash-Kimil, as the principle religions of these provinces which make up this, so-called, empire.”

  Amazonia couldn’t believe her ears. “You’d kick out Jupiter and the other gods and replace them with heart-eaters?” Az shook her head in disbelief. “The people would never stand for it.”

  “The heart-eater gods who terrorized the people were replaced by Yun-Kax,” Eurax snapped, “and no, Jupiter and the others would not be kicked out. They would be allowed to dwindle and fade away as the relics they have become.”

  “The only way that can happen is if Prince Arcadia agrees to become a vassal of the Sasnayam emperor,” Lady Alexina said, “making the Eastern Empire their satrapy.”

  Eurax waved his arms about. “Would you rather see war? The army is corrupt, weak, and ineffectual; when the Sasnayams invade, they will easily take the far eastern province of Armenia, then move westward until they reach the walls of Konstanopolis itself. I am merely trying to spare the provinces the ravages of war.”

  “Not to mention your finances,” Amazonia said. “I listened when Lord Paulus talked about the corrupt ways you make your money.”

  “The same Paulus who ran like a coward from the Daemo.” Amazonia’s expression hardened at the contempt in Eurax’s voice as he stared at her face. “When I was a boy, my father desired for me to become a priest of Mercury, god of commerce, so as not to interfere with my younger brother inheriting the estate after he passed.” He smiled. “Such a tragedy, my brother dying so young. Anyway, for a time, I delved into the sacred mysteries as part of my training, including historical texts, and remember well the one on the Reaver Knights of Babylonia.” He stabbed a finger at her. “One does not create a Reaver Knight on a whim. You have a mission, and I would bet my last denarii it is not to wander the Khitian wastes but to somehow cause trouble for the Sasnayam Empire. What is the plot?” Eurax snarled at her. “Are you going to assassinate the emperor? Lead a rebellion? What?”

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  “Like I’d ever tell you if I had a mission,” Amazonia snarled right back at him. “At sunrise, after Lord Paulus’ son becomes my squire, me and my Wardogs and Titan are going to shake the dust from this place and never return.”

  “So you say,” Eurax sneered. “Run as far and as fast as you want; in time, my agents will find you, and uncover whatever nefarious schemes you are plotting… and when they do, I will make sure steps are taken.”

  “Speaking of nefarious schemes,” Lady Alexina said, “going against the express orders of the emperor to leave Amazonia in peace, is treason.”

  Eurax looked at her as he would a piece of horse dung clinging to his shoe. “Noble Caesar once said, ‘I love treason but hate a traitor’, and no traitor am I. Everything I do is at the express command of my patron, Prince Arcadia, who spreads the scarlet cloak of his authority over me. Besides, who will lay the charges of treason? A Daemo brothel owner? An ex-slave now sworn to evil?” He turned towards the mage. “What of you, Amko? Will you denounce me as a traitor?”

  Amko had her face in the stern mask Amazonia well remembered as she shook her head. “Never, my Lord Eurax. I stand ready to guard your back.”

  Eurax gave Lady Alexina the smile of a cat with a mouse under his paw. “She is the most intelligent mage I have met in a long while, despite the weakness of her sex. No, Lady Alexina, you are outmatched in this game, and despite the enjoyment your house has brought me in the past, should you ever oppose me again, I will send you back to the spawning pits. You have my word on it.”

  Lady Alexina grounded her round bladed katana point first into the weeds and placed both hands upon the pommel. “Back when I served on the court of Babylonia, there was an adviser to the king who told me the exact same thing.” She made a palm-up open gesture with one hand. “After he met his… untimely demise, I was the one who anointed his face from a phial of sacred oil, and saw him laid in his tomb with all the proper funeral customs. I still possess that phial, my Lord Eurax.”

  Eurax snarled, “Do you dare threaten me, Daemo whore?”

  Lady Alexina arched a purple eyebrow. “My, we are in a temper tonight. Consider this a warning; if you will leave the Reaver Knight and her Wardogs alone, you shall have no further problems with me or my people. Continue in this mad quest to bring down the empire and you may well end up as entertainment in the games. The choice is entirely up to you.” Before he could reply, she turned her back on him. “Greywolf, I believe it is almost time to show the good people how ancient Xian sword-danced for the emperor.”

  As the young man moved to join her, Eurax’s expression became panic stricken. “Wait, do not leave yet. To honor you, I shall tear down my old temple and build a new one, dedicated only to you, my new Hercules. I paid gold to watch the carnal dance you performed with the Daemo, thinking it only a way to pay for the rebuilding of the amphitheater, never realizing until tonight its sacred nature. My Hercules, when your temple is built, I shall bring you sacrifices, nubile and fresh as the glorious Spring, and you shall dance with them carnally until they breathe their last breath into your holy mouth.”

  Lady Alexina spoke a word in Greywolf’s ear and a grey gateway formed, the two of them stepping through it a moment before they and the oval disappeared. Amazonia stared at Eurax in horrified disbelief. “The man’s gone mad,” she said quietly.

  Standing beside her with the Daemo butterfly, Fox nodded as Eurax turned towards the mage. “Amko, that Daemo has clearly poisoned the demigod’s mind against me, so we will have to plan this temple with care. He is a Shadow-walker, and the sacred texts are clear on this point: in the Shadowlands, he can move through everything with ease… except earth and stone.”

  “We can build the temple underground, my lord,” Amko said, her bloodied face still in its stern mask.

  Eurax was nodding. “Yes, underground is best. Gold shackles will not work on a Shadow-walker like they do on a normal mage, yet if we discover his weaknesses, we shall not need them.”

  “If he is a demigod,” Amko said in a cautious voice, “will he have weaknesses?”

  “Oh my, yes,” Eurax replied, giving Amko a sly smile. “Every demigod in history has always had weaknesses, usually glaring ones to balance their strengths, and once we find them, he is ours. Think upon it,” Eurax said, his face rapturous as if seeing a future covered in glory, “with a demigod on our side and the old gods dying, who can stand against us?”

  “Who would dare?”

  “Yes,” Eurax replied, “who would?” He turned towards Amazonia. “Since at the moment I have nothing left to use against you, I shall retire to my villa and draft out plans for my new temple while you… go off into exile. However, my agents will be shadowing your group and will strike when you expect it least.”

  “Yeah, and you’re fortunate my mission wasn’t to send you to the deepest pit of Hades’ realm.”

  “Or I would surely be there,” Eurax replied, sounding sincere. “I underestimated you, Reaver, and concede the first round of this contest to you.” He gave Amazonia a cobra’s smile. “However, I will not make the same mistake twice… and the second round shall soon begin. Come,” he said to Amko, turning towards the place where the back of the amphitheater met the open field, “there are a set of old stone stairs leading down off this hill. I shall take you with me to my villa and we shall begin work on the new temple.”

  “Yes, my lord.” Amko fell in beside him, and glancing over her shoulder, the mask fell away, revealing a face filled with despair. A cudgel still in her fist, Amazonia thumped her hand against her chest in a gesture of respect, and Amko nodded. As she looked forward once more, the stern mask returned.

  Dancer walked up beside her. “Domina, the last of Eurax’s men have left, except for the one Troll jumped on. He’s dead as the old empire.”

  “Best toss his body over the side before some noblewoman decides to investigate, unlikely as that seems.”

  “Yes Domina.” Dancer hesitated, then asked, “What’s going on with Amko?”

  Amazonia sighed. “Lady Jhadra asked her to play two-faced Janus with Eurax, and Lady Alexina told her how best to play the role. Amko has become an actress in an ongoing drama which may end her life.”

  Her Nomads came up on her other side. “Now there is a profession…

  “I would not want.”

  “Me neither.” Troll, perhaps trying to make up for what he’d done or acting with his trollish nature, had already slung the last man’s body over his shoulder, and Amazonia said, “Find those stairs Eurax spoke of and toss the body down it. When it’s found, hopefully the Vigiles will think he slipped and broke his neck.”

  “Maybe it’ll land on Eurax and break his neck,” Fox said in a tart voice.

  Amazonia grinned. “From your lips to Jupiter’s ears… though I’m beginning to wonder how much influence any of the gods have anymore,” she added more thoughtfully.

  As Troll heaved the body over the side, Dancer said, “So, what now?”

  “Now,” Amazonia said as Troll started back towards them, “we go back to the original plan of getting drunk and getting laid. We’ve got a long road ahead of us and damned if I won’t start down it without being hungover and spent.”

  Amazonia’s Wardogs, including Fox, gave her back a grin. “Yes, Domina,” they said in unison.