body wrapped in a heavy blanket, but I saw the hint of red silk with gold embroidery on his shirt beneath.
3
The old seer looked at me with fierce eyes—so unlike the broken and sunken eyes of the handful of men who lay nearby.
“You have come with a she-devil,” he whispered. “I know you. I have seen you in dreams, my good demon.” He glanced about at the others, barely lifting his head to look. “They are afraid of you.”
“But you are not?”
The old man nearly smiled. “Afraid of demons? Many generations ago, it was said a demon king guarded the lands of my ancestors. I am named—Illuyanket—for such a demon, a warlord who is my ancestor. Yes, there were times when demon and woman might bring forth children.” He paused a moment, his eyes narrowing, and what seemed a lightening of blood beneath his flesh occurred as if he felt a sudden inspiration. He touched the edge of my hand, and turned it over so that my palm turned upward. “You have a child who is mortal and a child who is demon.”
“Two mortal children,” I said, nodding. “A third child grows within the lady who helped me escape from a prison far to the east.”
He nodded, patting my hand beneath his then letting it go. “Why would a demon care for his progeny? Does the snake watch the young asps as they leave the broken nest?”
“I do care for them, the one unborn and the two who live beneath a terrible shadow,” I said.
“Yes, as my ancestor who was demon loved my ancestor who was not, and the children brought into the world by them. Why do you love these children? For mortal they are, and enemies of demons they may become.”
“I suppose...I suppose because they give me hope.”
“More than hope,” he said, his eyes gleaming. He pointed at my face. “They give you a reason to fight the shadows that these children may have a better world than that world you know. They are your dreams, your prophecies, in flesh. I know of demon half-breeds, for my ancestors were such. Many of them were outcasts because of their demon blood. Yet I met a demon in my childhood, and met with no harm. There are demons that protect, and demons that destroy. I do not believe you are here for destruction. These men who watch us as we speak, they would destroy each other... They are willing to eat the dead. Perhaps even kill the living—to survive. I would not do this. I would rather die without a full belly than die with human flesh at my tongue.”
He had refused food, which was why he lay in such a state, barely moving, only sipping from a small pitcher—the size of his hand—of water. He told me of their journey—they were sent by an emperor of their country, with several other ships, and had not yet reached the foreign lands for their trade. They had been at sea several weeks when they hit the calm, where the ship now sat.
“I had felt this my first night,” he said. “The Earth has changed. Plagues spread from the west, like the shadow of a great bird that hunts the world itself, covering all lands, touching all men. Illness and pestilence follow, and the sea grows ice upon the edge of some lands, and in the oceans, a stillness waits for the storms as if the waters are dead. There is some deep peril at work, and I feel the growl of a dark goddess in my dreams. Yet, from the depths of the Earth, treasures will come—I believe this—and much may change. Demons such as you bring fortune, though you frighten many, as you may see if you look about this room. You, good demon, I have seen before, though in another guise.
“When I was young, there were such demons in our lands—I was a poor child of a village without hope. The smallest insects were our food when droughts came and crops failed. When the demons came, much fortune changed. One such as you touched me upon the forehead. From this touch, such a fire grew inside me as if igniting a small spark of the bloodline within me—and it is from this that my dreams come. I grew in
3
The old seer looked at me with fierce eyes—so unlike the broken and sunken eyes of the handful of men who lay nearby.
“You have come with a she-devil,” he whispered. “I know you. I have seen you in dreams, my good demon.” He glanced about at the others, barely lifting his head to look. “They are afraid of you.”
“But you are not?”
The old man nearly smiled. “Afraid of demons? Many generations ago, it was said a demon king guarded the lands of my ancestors. I am named—Illuyanket—for such a demon, a warlord who is my ancestor. Yes, there were times when demon and woman might bring forth children.” He paused a moment, his eyes narrowing, and what seemed a lightening of blood beneath his flesh occurred as if he felt a sudden inspiration. He touched the edge of my hand, and turned it over so that my palm turned upward. “You have a child who is mortal and a child who is demon.”
“Two mortal children,” I said, nodding. “A third child grows within the lady who helped me escape from a prison far to the east.”
He nodded, patting my hand beneath his then letting it go. “Why would a demon care for his progeny? Does the snake watch the young asps as they leave the broken nest?”
“I do care for them, the one unborn and the two who live beneath a terrible shadow,” I said.
“Yes, as my ancestor who was demon loved my ancestor who was not, and the children brought into the world by them. Why do you love these children? For mortal they are, and enemies of demons they may become.”
“I suppose...I suppose because they give me hope.”
“More than hope,” he said, his eyes gleaming. He pointed at my face. “They give you a reason to fight the shadows that these children may have a better world than that world you know. They are your dreams, your prophecies, in flesh. I know of demon half-breeds, for my ancestors were such. Many of them were outcasts because of their demon blood. Yet I met a demon in my childhood, and met with no harm. There are demons that protect, and demons that destroy. I do not believe you are here for destruction. These men who watch us as we speak, they would destroy each other... They are willing to eat the dead. Perhaps even kill the living—to survive. I would not do this. I would rather die without a full belly than die with human flesh at my tongue.”
He had refused food, which was why he lay in such a state, barely moving, only sipping from a small pitcher—the size of his hand—of water. He told me of their journey—they were sent by an emperor of their country, with several other ships, and had not yet reached the foreign lands for their trade. They had been at sea several weeks when they hit the calm, where the ship now sat.
“I had felt this my first night,” he said. “The Earth has changed. Plagues spread from the west, like the shadow of a great bird that hunts the world itself, covering all lands, touching all men. Illness and pestilence follow, and the sea grows ice upon the edge of some lands, and in the oceans, a stillness waits for the storms as if the waters are dead. There is some deep peril at work, and I feel the growl of a dark goddess in my dreams. Yet, from the depths of the Earth, treasures will come—I believe this—and much may change. Demons such as you bring fortune, though you frighten many, as you may see if you look about this room. You, good demon, I have seen before, though in another guise.
“When I was young, there were such demons in our lands—I was a poor child of a village without hope. The smallest insects were our food when droughts came and crops failed. When the demons came, much fortune changed. One such as you touched me upon the forehead. From this touch, such a fire grew inside me as if igniting a small spark of the bloodline within me—and it is from this that my dreams come. I grew in
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