In the time before the traditional world of the Matile was torn asunder, any sharing of love between Tiyana and Keshu would have been unthinkable, because of the difference in their stations, even though they were both Amiyas and as such, theoretically equals. But that theory would never have been allowed to progress to practice.
Once Tiyana’s days as Nama-kwah’s Vessel were over, she would have been given in marriage to one of the Degen Jassi, and she would have had children and lived the rest of her life as a wife of a member of the Emperor’s Court. Her place in the line of succession to the Lion Throne meant little to her then; she had stood far behind Dardar Alemeyu’s hoped-to-be-born heir and Jass Eshana, not to mention her own father.
Despite Tiyana’s indifference to her status, if she and Keshu had become lovers prior to the coming of the Fidi and the Uloans, they would have had to do so in utmost secrecy. And if that secret had ever been discovered, Keshu would have been put to a painful death, and Tiyana would have been stripped of her rank and exiled into the lands of the Imba Jassi. Such was Matile custom, passed down without question over scores of generations.
But now, the age-old social hierarchy of the Matile no longer mattered. Its meticulously layered strictures of social strata lay in as much ruin as any of the heaps of charred rubble in Khambawe that the Matile had cleared to make way for new structures to arise. Among the Almovaads, all Adepts were of equal status. And both Tiyana and Keshu had quickly become Adepts, easily transferring their skills at harnessing the weakened ashuma of the Jagasti to the disciplines required to control the powerful sorcery Almovaar placed at their disposal.
And so they were free ... free to fulfill their love in ways that would have been beyond their understanding in the time before the arrival of the Almovaads. Free to acknowledge what had become known to both of them only during the first time they had entered the Oneness.
Finally, their passion subsided. The golden glow ebbed even as the perspiration on their bodies dried. For a long time they lay quietly, still wrapped in each other’s arms, skin touching skin, soul touching soul.
Keshu was the one who broke the long, sweet silence.
“How long will it be before you must do what the Emperor has requested of you?”
His voice was low, almost a whisper. He had asked his question as though he were reluctant to hear the answer. As it was, Tiyana’s reply did not come until several long moments had passed.
“Soon,” she said. “Too soon.”
She pressed her face into the space between his neck and shoulder, as if she were about to weep. But she didn’t. And in the deepest part of their Oneness, of the connection the Almovaads’ magic had given them, Keshu knew Tiyana would never shed any tears over the duty the Emperor and Seer had given her. They both knew the task they had chosen for her was a test ... a measure of Tiyana’s capability to take her father’s place on the throne when the time came for her to do so, as it must regardless of how intensely she hoped Gebrem would live forever.
“I wish I could go with you,” Keshu said.
“I do, too,” said Tiyana. “But there is so much that needs to be done. And so few of us to do it.”
Keshu was silent. But he understood what she was saying. Not all of the former Vessels had been able to adapt fully to the transition from ashuma to the new sorcery the Almovaads practiced. Some of them clung unconsciously to previous times and old ways that had defined their identities. So for those who had done so successfully, the burden of helping to restore the Empire was heavier – but not too onerous to be welcomed and embraced, even when it forced lovers like Tiyana and Keshu to be apart for a time.
“Even though I want to go with you, I have my duty as well,” Keshu said. “Still, even when we’re far apart, I’ll be with you. Our Oneness will last forever, Tiyana.”
“I know,” Tiyana whispered.
She embraced him fiercely, as though she were making certain her skin would remember the touch of his, no matter how long the responsibilities they had been charged to fulfill might separate them. Keshu returned her ardor. And soon, the glow of their passion again illuminated Tiyana’s bedchamber, and soft sounds echoed from its walls.
4
Kyroun had been given his own complex of chambers in the Gebbi Senafa, which befitted his status among the Matile and his close relationship with the Emperor. In previous times, the Emperor and the Leba had been estranged because of the antagonism between Gebrem and Alemeyu, and Gebrem had resided in the House of Amiyas rather than the Palace. The Seer’s presence in the Palace symbolized the alliance between the two men.
Now, though, Kyroun knew that partnership was about to be put to the test. And he could not foresee whether or not it would survive that trial, which Kyroun knew would come sooner rather than later.
Like Gebrem, Kyroun was clad in a plain garment and seated in a meditative posture on the floor in front of his bed. He could have joined Gebrem in the golden desert that was Almovaar’s Realm, if only to observe what passed between the Emperor and his god. But he chose not to do so. There was no point; he already knew what Almovaar would say to Gebrem. However, he did not know how the new Emperor would react.
He would soon find out, though. And he was waiting for that moment. So he was not surprised when Kyroun
