The Khan Ch. 04: Ties of Blood & Water

The minotaur pressed the attack. Swung again. Once more Ariakas deflected the blow. But the force shocked his arm. Another swing. Another block. This time his shoulder throbbed in its socket.

Ariakas backed up a step. And another. And another. Each blow forced him back. He would run out of ground before the minotaur tired.

Then he took a gamble, he shouldered past the minotaur's blade. Let it glance off his shoulder plate. Painful, but necessary. He stepped in close and stabbed. But the beast was fast. The swing went wide.

Ariakas stopped. Couldn't take another step. There was no pain. He just couldn't advance.

He looked down and saw the short blade sticking from his gut. Blood washed down the blade, down the minotaur's arm. Then the pain came.

Ariakas screamed. His hands futilely grasping at the blade, scrambling to pull it free and triage the wound. But it was too late. His hands slipped in the blood, opening cuts along his palms.

His eyes were wild, searching for some miracle that would save him. He slipped in the blood pooling at his feet. He tore the sword from the minotaur's grip. He hit the floor hard.

The minotaur kicked him.

What an ass, to kick a man when he was down, Ariakas thought.

But that's what he did. A blow to the shoulder knocked the sword from his hand. Another knocked him on his back.

His final thoughts were of his sword laying just out of reach, and then of his wedding night spent in that villa with Jun'ai. And then nothing at all.

*

Her head splashed up out of the water. Gasping for air. Water ran in rivulets down her face. She blinked her eyes clear. Long hair floated on the water's surface around her.

The past and the present collided. It took her some time to clear her head and remember where she was and what she was doing.

She focused on Hakkon beside her. He looked at her with an unreadable expression.

Then another head broke the surface of the water. Black hair hung dripping, framing a gorgeous oval face. Narrow almond eyes. White skin, clean and cool and pure as the water. The spirit's ears were tapered to points. The nymph spoke in a soft voice. "You see the dilemma."

Jun'ai nodded. "I do."

"You want to marry the man who killed your husband. You want my blessing in binding your lives together, when a part of you hates him."

"I don't hate him. I totally understand why he defended himself. Anyone would."

"Why did you seek him out?"

Jun'ai was flummoxed. "I wanted a strong son. If Hakkon could beat Ariakas, then he was the stronger. I learned my lesson with Ariakas. I wanted the strongest possible son."

The nymph looked at her. Wanted more. Jun'ai floated in the icy water, crossed her arms under her breasts. There was nothing more to say. The nymph continued watching her with those liquid eyes and the bemused smile of true understanding. Then Jun'ai said, "I guess I felt guilty." But that was not entirely true either. "I was ashamed." Now the nymph nodded. Here, at last, was the truth. Jun'ai continued, "My family had money but not status. No title. So I married a man, a poor man but a strong man, hoping he would earn his place in the world. It was a romantic notion. He would take what he wanted from life. He would forge his own destiny."

She continued, "I guess in a way he was like Marlena. Both weren't happy with the roles fate had given them. Both wanted more. And I loved them for it." This was the truth she had been avoiding. "But they failed. Marlena never amounted to more than a House matron, and Ariakas got himself killed."

"And you?" The nymph wanted her to say the words, speak them aloud in order to make them real.

"And I don't want to follow anyone anymore. I want to be in control. I want the world to know my name. I want power for myself."

"What is Hakkon's role in all of this?"

"I don't know."

"If you are to be wed, then it will no longer be your life, your goals, your need to prove yourself, your need for power. Are you prepared to be one half of a whole?"

Jun'ai thought about him. About Hakkon's chiseled chest, about his strong arms around her. "I do love him."

"Not enough." The nymph shook her head. "Are you prepared to be Jun'ai House of None?"

She flinched as though she had been slapped. All her plans, all her dreams with Ariakas had been destroyed in one moment of brutality. Her life had come crashing down around her, and there was no where else to go. She had come here to escape, to flee her old life, she could see that now. But she found something here too. A new beginning. She thought of Hyun, her daughter and she knew her answer.

She looked into the minotaur's eyes. Hers swam in tears. "Tyre is no longer my home. I am Jun'ai wife of Hakkon."

*

Later they lay by the side of the river. Jun'ai and Hakkon exhausted after making love.

The minotaur stood and went to the river and examined a loose stone. It was alabaster, same as the rock face. The stone was oblong, tapered on one end, one side flat. The rough edges smoothed by time. Veins of color seemed to run beneath the almost white surface. He picked up the stone, washed it and hefted it in his right hand as if coming to some decision. "I will write a poem on this stone," he spoke the words to the waters. "It will stand as a shrine in dedication to you."

A crown of hair broke the still surface. The river nymph rose from the water. She was naked except for lilies in her hair and bracelets of twined ivy.

"What is your name?" He asked her.

She held her hand out over the water as if in benediction. "What do you call this river?"

"Qishan River," he said.

The nymph looked sad. "If you call the river Qishan, then I am Qishan." She thought a moment then corrected herself. "For now, I am Qishan. The world is timeless. It outlasts transient things like names. It knows things you cannot possibly know."

"Do you know the future?" Jun'ai asked.

"No one can truly know the future."

"For a timeless being, the future must be the same as the present." Jun'ai felt sure the nymph could tell her something.

"If people knew the stories of their lives do you think they would choose to live them?"

Jun'ai shook her head. "I'm not asking for the story of my life. Just the result."

The nymph nodded in understanding. "You will have two children," she said at last. "One will be an outcast. And the other will be a Khan."