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He waited.
Waited so long, he was tempted to look and see if she had gone.
"I will require a favor," she said.
"Name it."
"You will lead your people."
Wrath looked up, his throat squeezing shut. He couldn't save his parents, he could barely do right by Beth, and the Scribe Virgin wanted him to be responsible for his whole goddamned race?
"What say you, warrior?"
Yeah, like no was an option. "As you wish, Scribe Virgin."
"That is my command, warrior. It is not my wish and not the favor I will ask of you, either." She let out an exasperated noise. "Do get to your feet. Those knuckles of yours are bleeding on my marble."
He stood and leveled his eyes on her. He stayed silent, figuring she was probably going to lay some more conditions on him.
She addressed him sharply. "You have no wish to be king. That is obvious. But it is your birth obligation, and it is about time you lived up to your legacy."
Wrath dragged a hand through his hair, creeping anxiety tensing his muscles.
The Scribe Virgin's voice softened. A little. "Worry not, warrior. I will not leave you to find your way alone. You will come to me and I will help you. Being your counsel is part of my purpose."
Which was a good thing, because he was going to need the help. He had no clue how to rule. He could kill a hundred different ways, handle himself in any kind of battle, keep his head cool when the goddamned world was on fire. But ask him to address a thousand of his people in a crowd? His stomach rolled.
"Warrior?"
"Yeah, you'll be hearing from me."
"But that's still not the favor you owe."
"What is - " He brushed a hand through his hair. "I take that back."
She laughed softly. "You always did learn fast."
"I'd better." If he were going to be king.
The Scribe Virgin floated closer to him, and he smelled lilacs. "Put your hand out."
He did.
The black folds shifted as her arm came up. Something fell into his hand. A ring. A heavy gold ring set with a ruby the size of walnut. It was so hot he almost had to drop the thing.
The Saturnine Ruby.
"You will give her this from me. And I will attend the ceremony."
Wrath gripped the gift so hard, it bit into his palm. "You honor us."
"Yes, but I have another purpose in coming."
"The favor."
She laughed. "Good one. A question posed in the form of a statement. You will, of course, not be surprised when I do not indulge you. Go now, warrior. Go to your female. Let us hope she is a good choice for you."
The figure turned and moved away.
"Scribe Virgin?"
"We are through."
"Thank you."
She paused by the fountain.
Black folds shifted as she reached out to the tumbling water. When the silk fell back, a blinding light was revealed, as if her bones glowed and her skin were translucent. The moment she touched the water, a rainbow sprang from the contact, filling the white courtyard.
Wrath hissed in shock as his vision suddenly cleared. The courtyard, the columns, the colors, her, all of it came into sharp focus. He latched onto the rainbow. Yellow, orange, red, violet, blue, green. The jewellike colors were so brilliant, they sliced through the air, and yet their vivid beauty didn't hurt him. He drank in the sight, wrapped his mind around it, held on to it.
The Scribe Virgin faced him, dropping her hand. Instantly, the colors vanished and his vision faded again.
She'd given him a small gift, he realized. Just as she'd put the ring in his hand for Beth.
"You are right," she said softly. "I had hoped to be closer to you. Your father and I, we were bonded, and these lonely centuries have been long and hard. No one worshiping, no one chanting, no history to be kept. I am useless. Forgotten.
"But far worse," she went on, "I see the future, and it is grim. The survival of the race is not ensured. You will not be able to do this alone, warrior."
"I'll learn to ask for help."
She nodded. "We will start anew, you and I. And we will work together, as it should be."
"As it should be," he murmured, trying out the words.
"I will come to you and your brothers tonight," she said. "And the ceremony will be performed accordingly. We will set you into a covenant that is right, warrior, and we will do it in the right way. Assuming the female will have you."
He had a feeling the Scribe Virgin was smiling.
"My father told me your name," he said. "I would use it, if you wish."
"Do."
"We'll see you then, Analisse. And the preparations will be made."
Chapter Forty
Mr. X watched Billy Riddle walk into the office. Riddle was dressed in a dark blue polo shirt and a pair of khaki shorts, looking tanned, healthy, strong.
Strapping, to use an old-fashioned word from Mr. X's youth.
"Sensei." Billy bowed his head.
"How are you doing, son?"
"I've thought it over."
Mr. X waited for the answer, surprised by how much he cared about what it was going to be.
"I want to work for you."
Mr. X smiled. "That's good, son. That's real good."
"So what do I have to do? Are there papers I have to fill out for the academy?"
"It's a bit more involved than that. And the academy isn't really going to be your employer."
"But I thought you said - "
"Billy, there are a few more things you're going to have to understand. And there's the little detail of an initiation."
"You mean hazing? Because that's no problem. I've been through a couple already. For football."
"It's a little more hard-core than that, I'm afraid. But don't worry, I got through it and I know you'll do fine. I'll tell you what you have to bring with you, and I'll be by your side. The whole time."
After all, watching the Omega go to work was not something to be missed.
"Sensei, I, ah..." Riddle cleared his throat. "I just want you to know, I'm not going to let you down."
Mr. X smiled slowly, thinking this was the very best part of his job.
He stood up and approached Billy. Putting a hand on Riddle's shoulder, he squeezed the bones and stared into the wide blue eyes that met his.
Billy slipped nicely into a trance.
Mr. X leaned forward and carefully removed Riddle's diamond earring. Then he took the soft lobe between his thumb and forefinger, massaging it.
His voice was low and quiet.
"I want you to call and tell your father that you are moving out, effective immediately. Tell him that you've found a job and that you are going into an intensive training program."
Mr. X took off Riddle's stainless-steel Rolex and then pulled the collar of the guy's shirt open. He reached inside, following the platinum chain Billy wore around to the back. He released the necklace, sliding the links free until he captured them in his palm. The metal was warm from lying against skin.
"When you speak with your father, you will remain calm no matter what he says to you. You will reassure him that your future is a promising one and that you have been chosen out of many applicants for a very important role. You will tell him that he may always reach you on your cell phone, but that it will be impossible for him to see you, as you will be traveling."
Mr. X ran his hand over Billy's chest, feeling the pads of muscle, the warmth of life, the hum of youth. Such power in this body, he thought. Such marvelous force.
"You will not mention the academy. You will not reveal my identity. And you will not tell him that you are coming to live with me." Mr. X spoke right into Billy's ear. "You will tell your father that you are sorry for all the evil things you did. You will tell him that you love him. And then I will pick you up and take you away."
As Billy breathed deeply in peaceful surrender, Mr. X remembered his own induction ceremony. For a brief, passing instant, he wished that he'd thought more carefully about the offer he'd accepted decades ago.
He'd be an old man now. An old man with grandchildren, maybe, if he'd ever found a woman he could have stood to be around for any length of time. And he would have had an average life, maybe worked at one of the paper mills or at a gas station. He would have been one of a hundred million other anonymous men who were bitched at by their wives and who drank with their buddies and who passed their precious days in a haze of ambient dissatisfaction because they were nothing special.
