Dark Journey. Susan KrinardЧитать онлайн книгу.
“There is no favoritism, Daniel.”
He stared down at the glass table and moved a small vase a few inches to one side, his hand clutching the fragile vessel as if it were a weapon. “But humans, of course, need more looking after,” he said. “You said it yourself. It is your place to guide.” He looked up. “Is that what Bes was doing?”
“He knew those people, and—”
“He persuaded them to back down. He used the same influence you do, even when you don’t realize it.”
“We have had this discussion before. What I—”
“In this future you envision, can there really be any free will for humanity?”
“We Elders have lived for thousands of years,” she said. “Is it so wrong to give others the benefit of our experience?”
“But does your experience apply to humans?” He counted off on his fingers. “Isis. Ishtar. Bes. Hera. They all have one thing in common, aside from being Elders. It isn’t just coincidence that you’re all named after ancient gods, is it?”
Isis knew the time for prevarication was long past. “You have guessed,” she said, lifting her chin. “We once acted as gods and goddesses among your kind, very long ago.”
“You ruled humanity, even before the Long Sleep, when most of your kind went into hibernation.”
“Humans made us what we became.”
“But you went along with their delusions. And, eventually, you left the people who worshipped you. You became myth. And then, after the War between your kind and mine, you rose again to rule as you did before.”
“That was never our intention.”
“Maybe it has nothing to do with your intentions.” He smiled crookedly. “Isis. If I remember correctly, she was the protector of mothers and children, the Lady of Magic, friend of slaves. Your ability to influence others would have seemed like magic in ancient times. And you’ve already proven yourself a friend of slaves, haven’t you?”
* * *
Isis was beautiful in her injured pride, her head high, her eyes flashing. As he watched her, Daniel could almost forget what he had seen at the depository and in Hera’s ward. He could almost accept that everything Isis said was true...all her hopes, her dreams, her faith in Tanis’s ultimate success.
“I helped to guide Egypt for over two thousand years,” she said, a slight note of defensiveness in her voice. “I did not rule. That was the work of mortal kings. I was there for humans who sought my help, and I gave them advice and encouragement when I could.” She met Daniel’s gaze. “Is that such a terrible thing?”
“And were all your fellow gods so benevolent?”
“Some had almost nothing to do with humanity, but merely took on the aspects of deities created by humans. Bes was a god of mothers and childbirth, as I was, and also a protector of the household. He is a good Opir.”
“At least his intentions are,” Daniel said. “What about Hera? Was she so benevolent?”
“She has changed from the time I knew her long ago,” Isis said with obvious regret.
“And Ishtar?” he asked. “She was a goddess of fertility and sex. She still uses her powers for seduction to get her way, no matter what you and the other Nine intended.”
“You did not respond.”
“Maybe that’s because I was thinking of another goddess.”
The words came out of his mouth without any thought behind them, but he realized at once that they were true. He had been thinking of Isis every moment that Ishtar had been doing her best to seduce him. Isis, with her dark eyes and lovely body and her odd trust in him. Trust he’d done little enough to earn.
“If you...think well of me,” she said, “you cannot believe that I have ever used my influence to harm any human.”
Daniel stepped around the table, coming very close to her. “You’ve been honest with me, more than you had to be. I saw you with that baby and his mother. You weren’t faking your affection.” Very cautiously he touched her cheek with his fingertips, doing his best to ignore the rush of desire that came with the contact. “You weren’t faking in my room, either, were you?”
She trembled. “Perhaps, as you suggested, I wished to learn something about you that I couldn’t get any other way.”
“You must have had a thousand lovers when you were a goddess. Ordinary men would have fallen at your feet without your lifting a finger.”
Her hand covered his. “I do not think there is anything ordinary about you, Daniel.”
He wondered if she had guessed what he really was.
“There’s nothing unusual about me,” he said gruffly, withdrawing his hand.
“Maybe you cannot see it. But I know your past was a difficult one and that you survived it. Not all humans can say the same.”
For a moment he thought she was going to ask him about his life as a serf. A chill enveloped his body.
Then his sense returned to him and he smiled. Isis stood very still for a long moment, barely breathing, her skin flushed. He was half-tempted to take her in his arms and finish what they’d begun yesterday.
But physical attraction wasn’t enough. Neither was mutual admiration, though he wasn’t sure how he’d earned hers. She was still a Bloodmistress—a goddess—and he still had his work to do.
“Who are they, Isis?” he asked. “The rest of the Nine?”
She clasped her hands in her lap. “You will probably recognize their names,” she said, her voice a little unsteady. “Athena, Anu, Ereshkigal, Hephaestus, and Hermes.”
“Greek and Babylonian,” he said. “Anu, I don’t know.”
“Ancient Sumer,” Isis said. “He is the eldest and wisest among us, and he leads the Nine.” She seemed about to go on and changed her mind. “Anu, Hephaestus and Ereshkigal are the guardians of our Opiri.”
“Ereshkigal,” Daniel said. “Goddess of the Underworld. Appropriate enough.”
“Do you think Opiri belong in such a place?”
The words were spoken half in jest, but Daniel took them seriously. “Certainly not the Opir I’m looking at right now,” he said.
He took his seat and leaned forward, his elbows on his knees.
“Were there any others?” he asked. “Some of the old gods who came with you to Tanis?”
She frowned, a delicate crease forming between her brows. “There were a few others. When we came to Tartaros, one left us to make his way alone. There were a few who wished to rule by the old customs. We did not welcome them among us. And there was one other who came to us for a very brief time, not long ago. His name was Ares.”
“The Greek god of war,” Daniel said softly.
“Yes. I never met him in the past, and saw him only twice while he was here. He said he had come to find out if Tanis was what he had heard it to be, as you did. But he left soon after he arrived.” She searched Daniel’s eyes. “Why do you ask?”
He left soon after, Daniel thought. But where would he have gone?
“I saw Ares once, in Vikos,” he said. “He was one of the few Opiri who treated serfs decently. I didn’t realize then that he might actually have been a ‘god.’”
“Strange. Ares spoke of coming from the region of Erebus, far to the west.”
Immediately Daniel was on his guard. “We heard he was traveling, but the rulers of Vikos