"Because I don’t want you to."
Azul choked on her words.What kind of answer was that?It felt too unsatisfactory.
"Your sister," Ragnar interrupted her next words."The one who married Somadina.What's she like?"
"Chidinma?"Azul's voice flattened."The little snake is rather ambitious and clever.She adapts well to power and is willing to do whatever our father tells her."
"And your father?"
She looked down at him."Why do you want to know?"
"I'm marrying you.I should know what I'm walking into."
"You're walking into a viper's nest either way."
"Then tell me which snakes to watch for."
She was quiet for a moment."You should watch out for Iyom; her family is quite powerful, though I’m not sure how long that will last.You should keep an eye on Somadina; he wishes you dead."
Ragnar's grip on the reins tightened slightly, but he said nothing.
"They dragged me into this game and thought I would simply meander without sight.I am not sure why the Ugoeze wants me dead, but I know of the Iyom.She wants me gone because I hurt her son."
"Quite a few people seem to want you dead."
"That is the unfortunate reality of my circumstance."
"Khatun, have you heard of the Divine Right of Kings?"
Azul stiffened; such a concept she understood from old tales in her world, but she did not expect to hear it here.Ragnar glanced up at her, as if expecting her to reply.“A king is one ordained by the gods, and their lineage is secured by said blessing.”
Ragnar took his time replying, and she wondered if her words displeased him.
“A king, in this sense, is not a mortal king.When I looked back on old texts, it occurred to me that when referring to kings, they simply referred to great men, conquerors, whether they ruled kingdoms or not.And when they referred to the King of Kings, they referred to—”
“—Methuselah.”
He nodded, steering the horse through a cluster of trees.“Methuselah died a great many years ago.Yet people are still seeking such Divine Kings.”
Azul scoffed; the cool breeze kissed her cheeks.“Then I am sure there are a great many kings that have spawned over the years.Anyone could be a Divine King, the gods do not actually nominate men.”
“In the past year alone, I have heard word of three Divine Kings across the Main Continent.”Ragnar’s words silenced her.“There is one in the Kuraltai, and one in the Bacchalia, and one—" he looked up at Azul, "in Kemet."
The air around them grew chilly, and Azul involuntarily shivered.“Great Khan, are you saying…”
“There have been rumours of a Divine King candidate in Tarsyn.I clearly do not wish to alarm you, but I’m afraid your Okpalaeze might be the man destined to receive that title.”
Azul found herself struggling to comprehend the warlord’s words.It was bad enough Somadina had been crown prince for this long; now to find out he was chosen to be a 'king', a great man that would one day change the world.
“Surely they will not just allow kings to appear all over Oblivia?”Azul said dryly.“Shouldn’t they be trying to kill each other—”
She paused at her own words, a thought intruding.She struggled to articulate herself."I see.”It was just then she noticed the strange sensation of being watched.She kept her body straight and her shoulders relaxed, unwilling to give away any hints of their conversation.Their voices were low enough that the spies couldn’t hear them.
“Clever girl,” the warlord murmured.
Azul felt her cheeks heat up at his words.“So they think you are ordained…by Ukhel?”Her heart couldn’t help but skip a beat.Ragnar was a great man, yes, but for people to find his potential threatening enough to try and kill him even all the way here seemed to undo something in her.
“I suppose they do.But it is strange.Most kings are guided by a Shaman sent by the god they represent; I have no such person, so I don’t fully understand why I have been crowned as such a man.”
