Amir jerked awake, tangled in sheets, but the dream was already slipping away. It left a pair of sharp, yellow, eyes and a voice like brimstone. He threw the covers back. The room smelled faintly of sulfur. Amir washed his face in the basin's cold water and knew he wouldn't be getting back to sleep tonight.
The balcony glowed, awash with moonlight. Amir slid his door open along the silent track and breathed the night air. Silver flowers blossomed up the Keep's walls, open in the light of an uncommon double moon. The dream's final tension left him. He leaned one hip on the balcony railing and sighed. When was the last time he slept through the night?
He resigned himself to watching Phebos, the smaller moon, set over the course of the next few hours. The silver flowers would track his light across the sky. Then they'd spiral closed for another two months, waiting for Phebos to light the night once more. Amir touched one to watch it spiral tight in reaction. After a moment the greenish petals relaxed to show the silver insides they were named for. This was likely the last time he'd see them.
From here, Amir could see the night patrol walking the Keep wall, their long slings marking their position against Phebos' light. They stood ready to defend the heart of the country and heir against any threat. It remained to be seen if this latest assault cared to involve the larger guard. So far, it seemed content to torture Amir from a distance.
He considered climbing over the second-story balcony and escaping into the wild gardens beyond the Keep's wall. It wouldn't do any good, of course, but the physical action could distract him for a day when sitting here and waiting felt worse.
Large yellow eyes blinked in the wild, hazy through the mist. If he met them past the protections of his father, could he finish this with less pain?
Gelin cracked Amir's bedroom door like the divergent thought had summoned him. Finding the bed empty, he pushed the door wide. "Can't sleep?"
"I sleep," Amir disagreed. "It's the dreaming that keeps me awake." The yellow eyes closed and were gone. Perhaps they had never been there to start.
"Ah." Gelin allowed himself into the room without asking. He closed the door. "And what does the beast ask for, this time?"
With Gelin's question the veil of forgetting cracked and Amir remembered heat and the grip of scales across his skin. He remembered a request, somewhat lesser than previous visits. "Oh, the usual," Amir wiped his lip with his thumb, "my life and soul for rule of the kingdom."
"Which you declined, obviously." Gelin joined him on the balcony, hands folded over each other.
Amir remembered a thick tail wrapped around his leg the flicker of a tounge at his neck. He shifted against the balcony railing and the forgetting veil cracked again. Amir remembered saying yes. Not to give up his life or his soul, but to something more diplomatic. And more complicated.
"Enough." Amir waved his hand more at the memory than Gelin. "We'll play chess until moonset. Then perhaps I can sleep again until sunrise."
Gelin smiled, "Whereupon you will inherit an entirely new problem."
Amir set the board and ignored his friend.
--//--
The formal introduction of one's betrothed was supposed to be filled with trumpets and dancing. Instead, an armored woman escorted her own contingent of warriors through the Keep's walls and instructed Amir's stable boy on how to care for the horses.
The entire event began and ended with her single glance up and down. Amir saw a lifetime of frustration and impatience in her eyes. Rather than extend his invitation to the war table he sketched a slight bow and offered his hand. "My Lady, our room is just this way."
She visibly relaxed. One of her warriors accepted her helmet and she tucked her braid low against her neck. She lay her fingers across Amir's hand and walked tall beside him, her leather and chain armor clinking gently.
No doubt they left whispers behind them. At the hall entrance Gelin lifted both eyebrows, but didn't comment. Once out of sight Amir thought she would drop her hand, but she allowed him to escort her the length of the hall and into a room he tried not to remember adjoined his.
And she softened further, away from the eyes of her guard and the expectations of court. She draped outer layers of armor across a chair, metamorphosing from the embodiment of defiance to that greater thing called a woman.
With her hair kinked around her shoulders and just a grey slip of cotton over her body, damp in places where the armor weighed her down, she finally smiled. "Thank you, for not insisting on ceremony. It appears my reputation has preceded me."
"Your reputation, perhaps, but only a caricature of it. I've been told of you my entire life, but I suspect only a politely filtered version." Amir offered his hand, this time for a proper shake. "I am Amir Haiseth Tellemar, first of that name, and I am very glad to finally meet you."
She shook his hand, predictably firm, and answered in kind, "Rosette Julliane Anderan the third, and I am likewise glad to meet you." Rosette took her own seat. "My company and I road ahead of the caravan. They should arrive just at sundown tonight."
"Your travel was uncontested, I hope?"
"We fought our way out of the Julians and skirmished again just north of the wild country. Not a whisper of them once we crossed that line, though."
Amir sighed into his own seat. "They've been testing the border of the gardens for months. My father's advisors insist the winter is what has kept them at bay.
Rosette leaned forward, "You think differently?" Her dark hair cascaded over to one side and her eyes shined.
"I don't have any proof to bring to the war room," Amir confessed. "But I believe they're being led."
Rosette surged back to her feet and paced the length of the room. "I knew it. Terre talked me out of it--" She whirled on her toes. "When we approached the wild country our scouts spotted a group- maybe two dozen, obviously a lead cluster or advance party of some kind. I thought we should intercept and my men agreed, but when we approached, they fled. We pursued and were surrounded. Their numbers weren't enough to overwhelm us but the baiting tactic was deliberate. I'm sure of it." She sat again on the edge of her seat. "Their numbers are not only growing, they're organizing."
"I agree." Amir sat forward, "Do you and yours need a day's rest?"
She grinned with teeth. "No."
"Excellent." Amir cracked the bedroom door and found Gelin and a man he didn't recognize chatting across the hall. They both stood at attention. "Gelin and…"
"Terre, sir."
"Good. We're riding to the edge of the wild gardens after sundown to uproot that infestation you found, everyone is coming."
Gelin stepped forward, "The regalia, sir?"
"No. The greys. We'll be back before morning." Amir closed the door to find Rosette half-dressed for battle, her cheeks red in her excitement. He stilled her with a hand on the chain and another on her shoulder. She startled. "Sorry, but I suggest we take care of our official business before riding out. We have another few hours before sundown, anyway.
Rosette glanced at the wide bed behind her and, after a breath, squared her shoulders. Armored without the chain and leather. "Yes, you're right. Best get that out of the way."
--//--
Rosette proved to be far more of a romantic than Amir had been lead to believe. There was no question of her excitement in battle, but he continued to find new ways to delight her in the smallest moments. During their nightly walk of the Keep's wall, for instance. Amir held her hand and Rosette laced their fingers together while she pointed out into the night describing her latest defensive strategy.
He enjoyed delighting her, and did his best to make it frequent. With his son growing in her belly it wouldn't be long until the very idea of him turned her stomach.
Gelin followed behind while Terre lead the way, ensuring they were never alone. Amir never had reason to resent Gelin's shadow before now, but he kept the discontent to himself. He had already destroyed whatever good could come of this marriage, he could only hope the alliance itself would remain intact.
So Amir held her hand, brought her flowers, and prayed his first-born was also stillborn. He hadn't dreamed of the yellow eyes since that night before she arrived. It only stood as proof of what he'd agreed to.
And despite Amir and Rosette's frequent attacks, the creatures continued to gather at the edge of the wild gardens without mounting an assault.
There was some good to come of the whole thing: they now had documented experience of their tactical learning, from simple ambushes growing into more complex maneuvers requiring rudimentary communication. It didn't speak well for their war, but with page after page of evidence, Amir finally felt they had the proof his father would accept that the enemy was organizing.
He sent their discoveries by air and horse, Amir expected a response any day, now. A summons, most likely. Rosette insisted she would accompany him.
--//--
Amir and Rosette stood at the Keep's entrance to greet his mother, the Queen, and his father, the Consort. Rosette leaned heavily into him, her free hand cradling a full belly over a week past due. She tired easily and Amir worried that his deal nine months ago with the yellow eyes would mean the death of her.
Queen and Consort arrived in the same manner as Rosette. Ahead of their caravan, accompanied by a small contingent of warriors, and armored for battle. They showed signs of recent fighting: splashes of black on their shields and a wariness that Amir recognized in his own men.
The Queen dismounted and dropped the reins of her broad warhorse into the hands of a waiting stableboy. "Your borders are thick with infestation, son. The wild gardens are swarmed."
Amir nodded. "We ride out every day, most nights. They favor the south walls where the sunlight is scarce. They've been gathering for months, but haven't attacked us, yet. We can't push them back. Every dozen we kill a thousand more rise up in the night."
"They are attracted to this place," Amir's father said. Then added quietly, "To you." His sharp eyes pinned Amir to his spot. "We've come prepared."
Prepared meant the entire kingdom's complement of soldiers. The Keep hadn't seen activity like this in generations. Amir directed the endless stream of people and wagons to their places, ringing the outer walls with layer upon layer of battle-tested fighters.
Before a proper meal could settle their nerves, Rosette went into labor.
Amir's attention fractured. He paced the hall before their room between fear for his betrothed and fear of what she might birth. For hours. Then squalling. Amir strode into the room amid protests. He found Rosette alive and well, if exhausted. And their son...
He wiggled in the midwife's arms, screaming and pink, but normal- Amir was assured. Perfectly normal. All ten fingers, all ten toes. With bright, sharp yellow eyes.
The Queen helped reassure Rosette for the duration of her labor. Amir's father put a hand on his shoulder. "We'll schedule the wedding next week. As soon as she's recovered. Congratulations."
Amir held his son and feared for his own life.
--//--
That night, he slept close to Rosette, cradling their boy between them. Half in and out of nightmares for hours. Amir startled awake with the echos of a brimstone voice in his mind and knew he was out of time.
He lifted his quiet son, all wide eyes and trust. Amir strode from the bedroom with Rosette's sleepy voice calling after him.
He encountered few people up at this hour, a few guards and a watchman at the Keep's door. More were up in the courtyard, still more outside the walls. Amir walked with intent and no one stood against him.
The night blackened as he left the Keep, darkening with unnatural shade. Then suddenly they surrounded him. Long, dark limbs. Claws. Black teeth. Pale eyes. They swarmed into and through each other, close but not touching. Amir breathed their sulfur stink.
He held his son out at arm's length and they reached for him. Black claws stroked the boy's new skin. Shiny scales gripped his fingers. They howled and worshiped.
"What have you done?" Rosette's horrified voice made him flinch. Amir closed his eyes and couldn't turn to face her. The morass reached for his boy and he had to let them take him. Amir had no other choice.
Rosette pushed past him. She grabbed her son and spun to face him. Her white sleeping gown swept the dark things back. Away like scattering marbles. She didn't repeat herself.
Amir fell to his knees before her. "I offered my first-born to save myself. I'm so sorry I've done this to you, Rosette."
She stood tall among the writhing darkness. "They aren't amassing to you," she whispered. "They want him..." She looked down at her quiet son and hugged him closer. "Their new king...."
The unnatural blackness howled. Rosette started, then frowned at Amir. "What were the terms of your deal?"
"I beget a son to lead them and until that day, no harm would come to anyone." Amir kept his eyes low. He regretted the deal, but there wasn't any sliding out of it. The attacks had stopped, even when Amir led his men against them again and again. It was his turn to fulfill the bargain.
Rosette turned in place, anger lifting her voice, "Who speaks for you all?"
The clusters hissed, We all ssspeak.
"Then listen well. If you think you're taking my son tonight, you're grossly mistaken. He may be destined to lead you, but he does not belong to you." She glowered at the entire seething blackness. "Until he is sixteen he remains with those that bore him. You will see his like when he is fit to rule."
The dark things reached across her white gown, too many hands. Too many fingers. We were promised the child!
"No, you were promised a leader. He leads no one today."
The swarm tumbled over itself but had no response to that. When Rosette turned toward the Keep, they parted before her. Amir stood in awe of her and the smallest light of hope rekindled in his chest.
Then the black things rushed to enclose them both with a triumphant hiss. He was held by you and that makesss you mother. They rushed around Amir. He was planted by you and that makesss you father. Their bodies crossed each other. But he was also created by usss. We are resssponsible, too.
Rosette turned on the darkness and demanded, "Then offer one of yours to be his brother and teach what you know."
Black claws and arms bundled together, shining, pale eyes bobbed and aligned. The darkness parted. It left a small, quiet child no larger than the new leader they desired. Rosette looked at Amir and jerked her chin at the newborn. He gingerly took the boy up, unable to meet his bright yellow eyes.
He followed Rosette out of the massive darkness, as quelled by his betrothed as by the infestation. At the edge of the swarm she turned again. "Your terms still stand. You harm no one. In sixteen years you will have your king."
Claws and teeth scratched at the earth. As a whole they melted away.
Amir caught up with Rosette, the darkness' child cradled gingerly in his arms. "We're going to raise our own end?"
She stopped dead and turned on him, eyes softer than he expected. "We will raise our sons to be kind. To listen before they speak. We will raise them to be empathetic in all things. To respect us and the infes-- the dark things equally. We will raise them with love, so that when the time comes to inherit the world, they will not want to go to war."
And the Keep rejoiced at the birth of twins.
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