Hearts in Zenith (Four Husbands and a Lover)

57. The Undercurrents

After bringing Parneres to the chamber we took over as our camp, I held him in a sisterly way until he drifted off to sleep. The sweetness and the sadness of our embrace nearly drove me mad. I tacked him in, folded my cloak under his head and found a place to sleep a few paces away.

I woke up because someone was staring at me. I peeked through my eyelashes and was rewarded with a violet glow.

"Slept well?" Taffiz asked, squatting next to me.

I muttered a curse, pushed his forehead out of the way to see Parneres' chest rising and falling with quiet intakes of breath. He was fine. Or as fine as he could be.

Once I whipped my eyes back at Taffiz, he waved his hand in front of my nose. He squeezed a vial between his thumb and forefinger. "If you have any kisses left in you, I have earned one, Your Grandissima."

I raked my tired brain. "Is this the antidote?"

He nodded. "Just enough to save us from the unpleasant duty of sacrificing the two women who didn't drink the ambrosia and somehow lived. I found it in Peleth' stash."

Mythra's fangs! Why didn't I think about that? We couldn't have brought the women back to the populated regions if they were infected. And leaving them to die here... I shivered.

"Thank you, Taffiz."

If I disappointed him with mere words of gratitude, he didn't show it. "The prisoner is ready for transportation, and I have the location of a major rebel stronghold. All in a day of work."

Parneres jerked upright, probably roused from his doze by Taffiz' voice.

For a moment, the violet-tinged eyes stared unblinking into the soft brown ones. As far as I could tell, no one was winning this contest. They stayed silent for longer than men normally do. Then, the crease between Parneres' brows relaxed. Taffiz also relaxed, though I couldn't spot what precisely changed about him. It might have been the tiny muscles around his eyes, the imperceptible wrinkles around his mouth, the tilt of his nose... I wasn't sure. But he relaxed.

"Let's move." Taffiz offered his hand to help Parneres to his feet.

Parneres hesitated, but took it. No matter how loudly Peleth had screamed, Taffiz didn't lie about them two being friendly. Perhaps, the males among the Scorpia were so few, they shared a sense of brotherhood akin to brother-husbands.

Our other prisoners heard Peleth' screams as well, so they moved sullenly, but didn't offer resistance when Taffiz re-checked their bonds.

We returned to the antechamber where we had battled Peleth in a grim procession. She was stretched in the middle of it, senseless, a stark reminder that failure has a price. Taffiz hefted her body onto his shoulders with strength that surprised me.

"Parneres?" he asked, surprising me again. The man had a talent for it.

Parneres limped to the column he had been sitting by when we found them. His hands searched the plump lotus petals. 'There is another exit,' I remembered him say. And his quiet defiance during the fight. This was what he had refused to do for Peleth, open the door inside the stone flower, then close it to enable yet another escape.

He opened this secret door for me. Deep within the flower the invisible gears ground. The petals moved with the grace of an elephant to reveal the steps receding into darkness. The stairs lead into a tunnel. It was straight and narrow, and it took us to the starry night outside without any troubles on the way.

After the stifling air inside the pyramid, the fresh breeze, even laced with the ancient affliction, made me straighten my shoulders and breathe in deeply. I lowered my headscarf and unbraided my hair, letting it stream back. I caught Parneres looking at me and tilted my head, imagining his kisses on my neck.