“Khatun?”Enoch called.
Azul looked back at him, her heart hammering so hard it deafened her."Methuselah?"she asked; her voice was hoarse.Her ears were ringing.
"He had no god.”
She blinked, trying to stop the haziness of her vision.Slowly, her mind stopped swimming, and her heart settled.But she found herself unable to shake the feeling that she was being watched."No god," Azul repeated."But he was the King of Kings.How can that be?”
Enoch was quiet for a moment, gathering his thoughts."The old texts are fragmentary, but the pattern is clear.Methuselah didn't channel a god's power.Every other king in history has been a vessel, a tool, a servant of the divine.Methuselah was..."He trailed off, searching for words.
"What?"
"Equal."Enoch met her eyes."He stood before the gods as an equal.He spoke to Titans, and they listened.He raised them from their sleep, and they obeyed.It wouldn’t surprise me if, instead of death, he ascended into godhood."
Azul’s throat felt dry; gulping didn’t help.
Host, we should leave.
Azul ignored the snake's plea; she needed to hear more.
"Scripture suggests that every royal line that can trace itself back far enough—every family that produces true kings—descends from someone Methuselah elevated."
Azul tried to find words but was rendered unable to speak.She blinked, shaking her head slightly."These new kings…are they seeking to channel gods or to equal them?"she asked.
If you keep listening, you will overexert your soul.
“Khatun?What do you mean?”
Azul stopped talking, sealing her lips.
"I apologise,” she whispered.“I seem not to be in my right mind.If you don’t mind, I must return.”She stood, and her head swam.Her feet stumbled, and she nearly fell.
Azul's head swam, the world tilting dangerously as her vision blurred at the edges.She reached for the shelf to steady herself, but her fingers scraped against empty air—
A hand caught her arm.
"Careful, Akwaugo."The voice was sweet as honey and familiar; it made her blood run cold."You seem unwell."
Somadina.
Azul's heart seized.She looked up into those handsome features and that charming smile that never reached his eyes.
"I'm fine."The words barely came.She tried to pull her arm free, but his grip tightened, fingers pressing into her flesh like brands."Let me go."
"You're shaking."His eyes travelled over her face, noting the pallor beneath her skin and the sweat beading at her temples."And you can barely stand.What kind of man would I be if I let a woman in such a state wander alone?"
"Enoch—" Azul started, turning toward where the young scholar still stood.
Somadina's gaze flicked to the boy, and his smile widened."Ah, Uncle.Still buried in your scrolls, I see.Don't let me interrupt your studies."His tone carried a clear message—stay out of this.
Enoch took a step forwards anyway."Okpalaeze, the Khatun came to research for the Great Khan.Perhaps I should escort her back to—"
"The Great Khan."Somadina's laugh was amused."How quickly she wraps powerful men around her finger.First my brother, now a warlord.Truly, your talents are remarkable, Akwaugo."His grip shifted, moving from her arm to her waist, pulling her against his side."But she's clearly in no state to walk.I'll see her to somewhere she can rest."
"The rest quarters are—" Enoch tried.
"Are where?"Somadina cut him off, his voice dropping to something cold and sharp."Public quarters?With no proper attendants, no comforts befitting a future Khatun?No, Uncle.She'll rest in my chambers.I have everything she needs."
Azul's heart hammered against her ribs.She tried to summon words—any words—that might extricate her from this nightmare.But her mind was fogged, her tongue thick, and her body refused to obey, betraying her.The earlier vision of Kamsi had drained something vital from her, leaving her hollow and shaking.All that was left was impulse—the impulse to remain in his arms, the dead girl's residual pull toward him.
