Chapter 204 - Uroboros part 5

I found myself intrigued with the Arthen architecture.

After the slave auction, we wandered around the mortal district for a while. Zenzele went to the livery to check on the horses, and then we visited the home of some minor functionary. I guess you could call the man an accountant, though commerce in that era was still a very rudimentary thing. They conversed as I examined the construction of his dwelling, wondering how stone slabs that large could be shaped and moved into position so precisely. Grooves and ridges were carved into the edges of the blocks so that they slid neatly together and held one another in place. In some spots, the seams of the stones were as narrow as a fingernail. So clever!

I wouldn't want to live there, should the earth shudder and send all those blocks tumbling down upon the occupants. I'd feel much more at home among the blood drinkers. They lived below the surface of the mountain, in a great warren of interconnected chambers, hiding from the sun like moles… or bats. Nevertheless, I lingered over the ingenious stone dwelling of the mortal Uroboran, running my fingertips along its powder-smooth surface. I'd never seen anything like it!

Zenzele indulged my curiosity for a little while, but as the night wore on, and the crowds in the streets dispersed, she grew increasingly nervous. I think she feared a confrontation with her ex-lover.

Tribtoc, Goro and Bhorg met with her briefly as I wandered through an enclosed garden. They talked in low voices while I perused the frozen flora. I could hear them perfectly fine, of course. They were talking about me. They wanted to know what Zenzele intended to do if our audience with Khronos did not go well.

"I do not know," she sighed.

"Whatever happens, we will stand with you, Zele," Goro said, and she nodded, putting her hand on his shoulder.

They departed, and Zenzele strode into the garden. She had wrapped her arms around herself as if she were cold.

"Have you seen enough?" she asked, arching an eyebrow.

I nodded.

"Let us retire to my chambers then."

Up, up, up we climbed, until the mortal district had receded to the size of a child's plaything. My head spun when I peered over the side of the staircase. It was a sheer drop, some 1,200 meters. I wondered if such a fall would end my immortal existence, and I was suddenly, perversely, tempted to try it. I had never thrown myself from such a height.

It would be simple enough. There were no rails. I need only lean out and let the world sweep me to its breast. I probably wouldn't even feel it when I hit the ground. My cold white body would simply smash to sparkling dust, all my cares and concerns brought to nothing in an instant.

I moved gingerly toward the flank of the mountain, unnerved.

How sorely it tempted me!

"A view like this would make any creature feel like a god," I said, turning my attention to the great vista stretched out around us. It was a vast panorama of forests and mountains, valleys and rivers, and just at the rim of the world, the shores of the Black Sea. The wind swooped across the face of the volcano, making my hair whip to and fro, plucking the words from my mouth even as I spoke them.

But Zenzele heard. She spared me an inscrutable look, then continued up the roughhewn steps, her shadow in the lead, folding itself back and forth upon the risers. The sun had just breached the low mountains to the east, and its orange and pink light glinted off her smooth, black skin.

We came to a cleft in the mountainside. The stairs continued upwards, but Zenzele turned right and vanished inside the earth. The narrow passage wound back and forth for twenty-five meters or so before expanding into a broad open chamber. Torches flickered, their dancing light gleaming on the sweating stone walls. Stalagmites and stalactites jutted from the ceiling and floor like fangs. A dozen passages led off from this echoing chamber. Zenzele bowed to a passing blood drinker, a tall white creature in flowing garments, and then took one of the corridors on the left.

"This way," she said.

I followed her down the passageway, which was dank and dimly lit. At random intervals, the corridor gave access to other caverns, some large, some small. Most were the habitations of the Fen's immortal residents, their lairs stuffed with the detritus of their inhumanly long lifespans: wall hangings, weapons, tools and furnishings. Most of the residents had already bedded for the day, their mates at their sides, mortal servants sleeping lightly at their feet. Other cells were abandoned or unused. A few more were like the first juncture we had encountered, a hub from which other winding passages radiated. I was reminded of a termite nest.

"In here," Zenzele said, and she ducked through an ornate door hanging. Before I could follow, she leaned back out. I waited as she lit a torch off the oil lamp burning in the corridor, and then she disappeared again.

I pushed through the curtain.

"Home," I said as she moved around the perimeter of the chamber lighting torches.

She smiled at me and nodded.

"Home."

The main compartment was spacious, with a smaller secondary chamber, which was where she slept. Though she did not linger in Uroboros, she had still managed to amass quite a collection of personal belongings. I meandered around her quarters, examining the wall hangings and decorations. She had collected many souvenirs from the various cultures of the Western Dominions: fertility idols, war masks, weapons and religious artifacts. There were brightly colored prayer sticks, gambling bones and stone jewelry. All covered in a thin layer of dust. I picked up a large stone phallus and grinned over my shoulder at her.

"That's a good luck charm!" she said, and snatched the stone cock from my hand.

"What else would it be?" I asked innocently. 

Zenzele glowered at me, tossing the "good luck charm" into the corner. She went to her sleeping area and began to prepare her bed. Kneeling down, she unrolled her furs. "Help me beat them," she said. I went to her side and held up her bedding so that she could whomp it with a small cudgel. When the dust had settled, she laid the various pieces out. She did this with little jerking movements.

"What is wrong?" I asked.

"Nothing," she said, still on her knees.

I sighed. "Do you take me for a bachelor, Zenzele?"

"Then you should not need to ask!" she snapped. Her shoulders slumped and she confessed, "I am scared, Gon. They will come for you tonight, and when they do, they will take you before Khronos, and your fate will be decided."

"You think it will go badly?"

"I saw the contempt in your eyes when we traveled through the mortal districts."

"Is there no room in Khronos's kingdom for sentiment other than his own?"

She looked up at me, eyes wide. "No!" she breathed. "None!"

I did not reply. Instead, I thought of the atrocities I had witnessed as we journeyed through the city. Mortal men and women, worked to death in the quarries. Raped. Murdered for sport. Butchered like animals to quench the bloodthirst of their ruthless masters. Were I truly a god, I would throw the whole mountain down on these soulless fiends!

What would Khronos think if he divined such thoughts in my blood? Would he be charmed by my sentimental feelings for the mortals? Would he be indulgent of this "wild blood god"? Or would my sympathies bring down his wrath upon me?

Zenzele crawled across her bedding. "Come lie down with me," she said. "Let us sleep together like man and wife." The sight of her on her hands and knees distracted me from my brooding. I wanted to drop to the ground behind her, slide my hand over the soft curve of her hip.

She was undoing the laces of her tunic.

I disrobed and slid onto the bed beside her.

She rolled toward me, bringing the furs up over our bodies. Laying her cheek upon my chest, she murmured, "I can lower my guard when you hold me in your arms, Gon. It is a good feeling."

"Then rest with me," I whispered, trailing my finger down her cheek.

She smiled and closed her eyes.

"Tell me what you are thinking," she said softly, her lips moving against my skin.

"I miss my family," I said to her. "I miss my son. I miss my friend Valas. Most of all, I miss my granddaughters, Irema and Aioa."

Zenzele pressed her lips together, smiling faintly. She scooted closer, hugging me tight to her body.

"Still," I said, "I am glad that we have met."

"Even if it ends tonight?"

"Yes."

Zenzele was quiet for a moment. Finally, she spoke: "If it goes badly with Khronos, I will look after the Tanti for you. They will not be raided, so long as I am mistress of the Western Dominions."

"Thank you," I said, struggling to contain my emotions.

Come what may, we slept.