“There are six hundred of you?” I looked at him in surprise.
“There are over a thousand Mesopotamian Gods.” Sin shrugged. “The Anunnaki are composed of the highest-ranking.”
“They may send in a representative, but I won't allow all of them entrance,” I declared.
My star gods nodded in agreement.
“May I suggest three representatives?” Sin asked. “There are three main gods who are held in esteem by our entire pantheon; Enki, Enlil, and Anu. Marduk will doubtless be with them and will push for entrance as well, but his presence won't be helpful. As you may have noticed, he's not very reasonable.”
“Plus, he wants to kill me.”
“A man down there wishes you dead?” Viper hissed as his stare went from me to the crowd. “Who?”
The other star gods tensed and followed Viper's gaze.
“There are doubtless many men down there who wish me dead and probably quite a few women as well,” I said gently. “But the god Sin is referring to, Marduk, won't be allowed through the gates. Stand down; we'll handle him later. Sin, do you need an escort or will the Dragons be enough to see to your safety?”
“I'll be fine with the Dragons.” Sin grinned. “In case you haven't figured it out yet; Mesopotamians have a fear of Dragons.”
“Excellent.” I nodded crisply and headed toward the elevator.
“Wait. Where are you going?” Sin chased after me.
“To the throne room to await my guests.”
“Oh.” He cleared his throat self-consciously. “Yes. Of course. I'll collect our visitors and escort them to you.”
“Thank you, General. And be sure to strut a bit.” I winked at him. “You chose the winning horse, remember?”
“The winning star, you mean.” He smirked at me.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Star had carried the dragon theme into the throne room. I sat on a golden dragon throne; its body bent to form a seat, forearms lifted for armrests with talons hanging down in deadly lines, ferocious dragon head arched menacingly above me, tail wrapped around the base of the throne to serve as a footrest, and wings spread wide behind me. It was very impressive; more so than I was. In fact, I felt enveloped by that throne; a little woman sitting on a dragon's lap. I guess that wasn't so bad. Better to be on the dragon's lap than in his belly.
My eight commanders stood, four to either side of me, on my amethyst dais. Viper took the position at my right hand. And I do mean amethyst, by the way. The stepped dais, which filled a corner alcove at one end of the wedge-shaped room, was made from a solid chunk of the jewel. Not a single imperfection marred it; I could see straight down to the basalt foundation.
Behind me, black silk draped the walls, extending from one wall to the other to give the corner a more curved appearance. This sloping line of fabric kept curving along the wall to my right, the true shape of the keep showing itself there, but the curtains ended at the edge of the dais. As we were on the bottom floor of the castle, no windows graced that outer wall. Instead, a line of onyx dragon statues stretched up the impressive height, spaced about thirty feet apart from each other. Their wings spread to follow the curve of the wall and connect them to each other, bodies at rest with all claws planted on the basalt floor beneath them, and long necks arching across the ceiling to hang their heads downward at the center, mouths open to emit glowing light as if they were breathing fire.
The straight wall to my left gave the best, unobstructed view of a mural of the Universe that was painted across all of the walls as well as the ceiling. This unencumbered stretch led to the second inner, straight wall, where a pair of double doors stood open. Think of the tower as a pie and this room as a quarter of it. A giant slice with me sitting in the corner, right over the flaky crust. A deep purple runner swept out from my crusty corner to arch through the slice and land in the middle of one fruit-oozing side; the doorway I mentioned earlier. Great; now I want peach pie.
It made for an unusual space but it—like everything else in the castle—had its purpose. The odd curve would disorient my guests as well as any future invaders, giving us the upper hand as well as a few precious seconds to look them over before they got too close to the throne.
I took those seconds gladly when Sin led three men into the room. They did indeed flounder under the magnificence of the ambiance and that odd curve. The fact that dragon warriors lined the aisle also helped to keep the attention off me. My visitors made their way through the dragon gauntlet, keeping their eyes on the nearest threat until they reached the base of my dais.
Two of my guests had the swarthy look of the region; dark hair and deep tans. Out of those two, one man seemed to be from another time; an ancient time. His ebony hair hung to mid-back in tight waves that almost looked crimped. A golden band held that thick hair down; a perfect match to the thick belt cinching his cotton tunic. But it wasn't the crown or hair or even the tunic that made him seem ancient, those were just frosting. It was the look in his dark eyes and the way he held himself; as if he had just stepped off a throne in another time and had come here to take mine.
To either side of the crowned man strode two very different deities. To the right was the second dark-haired god, but his hair was cut in a modern style, short and wavy, and although his skin was nearly as dark as the ancient man's, his eyes shone like the shallows of the Pacific under a midday sun.
