Ildiko’s heartbeat thundered in her ears, from both fear and relief. She didn’t fool herself into thinking either she or the queen were out of danger, but for now they still lived. Bound to Ineni Emelyin’s bizarre machinations but still alive.
Ineni poured a dark liquid from the flask into the chalice, swirling the contents for a few moments until satisfied with the results. She held the cup up with both hands and read from the tattered grimoire, not in bast-Kai, but in old Temple language used by human priests and mages who served the gods Ildiko herself had grown up praying to on sacred days.
“Blood of a queen, blood of an Elder, wine aged in a barrel made from a Sanfar tree. One to free the magic, one to cloak the wearer, one to bind the spell and make the wearer whole.”
More of the spell spilled from Ineni’s lips but in an arcane language Ildiko didn’t recognize. Ineni then downed the chalice’s contents in two gulps. For several moments nothing happened, and a look of panic blossomed across the woman’s face. “It didn’t work,” she said in a voice heavy with despair.
As she finished the sentence, her eyes rounded, and the chalice fell from her limp fingers. Ildiko’s guard abandoned her with a warning. “Run, and I’ll kill you.” He didn’t have to worry. She was going nowhere without Tarawin.
Fear twisting his features, the guard reached for his mistress where she now leaned hard against the altar slab.
Ineni held up a hand to warn him off. She gasped and bent at the waist before falling to her hands and knees. Her cloak hid her form, but the folds of cloth twitched and rippled as she convulsed, and ragged, choking noises erupted from her throat. The guard ignored her gesture and knelt down to grip her shoulder. She shrugged him away.
The convulsions continued for several more minutes before fading. It was the sight of Ineni’s hands that alerted Ildiko the spell had done its work. The Kai woman braced her palms flat on the ground to give herself leverage to rise. Palms that were no longer the gray of the Kai but as pale as Ildiko’s. Her fingers lacked the formidable Kai claws, their tips rounded by much more fragile human fingernails with pink nail beds.
Ineni rose on shaking legs, and there too a change was obvious despite the concealing cloak. She was no longer as tall, and the cloak’s hem puddled at her feet. She pulled back the hood with one of those very human hands. Ildiko and both guards gasped aloud, the Kai closest to her jerking away as if Ineni had struck him.
“Lover of thorns,” he said in a choked voice. “What have you done, mistress?”
She raised her hands to stare at them in a mixture of wonder and horror. “It worked,” she said, reaching up to touch her face, wincing as she did so.
Speechless, Ildiko could only stare at what had once been a tall, elegant Kai woman with gray skin, white hair, and yellow eyes. Now she gazed upon the mirror image of herself, rightdown to the cuts, scrapes, bruises, and tangled red hair. Even Ineni’s voice was no longer her own, though the cadence and accent weren’t Ildiko’s either.
Ineni turned her head slowly to survey her surroundings before her gaze settled on Ildiko. “It’s strange to see the world from your eyes.”
Shocked by the spell’s results and the sight of her double standing in front of her, Ildiko shook her head. “My gods, what have you done?” she said, echoing the guard’s earlier question in equally horrified tones.
Ineni shrugged. “Nothing yet. You can’t give the Khaskem children, and he refuses to set you aside for a Kai woman or take one as a concubine to sire offspring. Were he anyone else, such devotion would be admirable. If he won’t give up Ildiko of Gaur for a Kai woman, then a Kai woman will become Ildiko of Gaur. Not forever, but long enough to achieve what’s needed.”
All of Ildiko’s suspicions were confirmed. “A mare put to a stud.”
Ineni nodded. “Isn’t that the duty of every royal couple? He’s unwilling. You’re unable. Apart or together, neither of you is more important than the survival of the Kai and Bast-Haradis.”
Ildiko might have argued with her were it not for the fact she’d considered these same arguments herself many times, usually when sleep eluded her as she lay next to Brishen and wondered how the Kai would ever recover from the trauma of the galla and the sacrifice they all unknowingly made to defeat them.
Ineni’s plan was foolish, madness in the making, and poorly stitched together from the threads of desperation and grief. Even if Brishen thought her his wife at first sight, the mirage wouldn’t last. He knew her too well, and Ineni didn’t know her well enough. She could wear Ildiko’s face and body for a time but nother character. “He’ll know, Ineni. This illusion won’t fool him for long.”
“It doesn’t have to be for long. Just long enough for me to share his bed and take his seed.” Ineni shrugged off the cloak, revealing her Kai garb of tunic and trousers, now hanging on her in loose-fitting folds. “Strip her,” she instructed her guard. “We’ll exchange clothes. The Khaskem would question why I’m in something other than that shift when he sees me.”
Ildiko backed away from the guard as he approached her. “I’ll do it myself.” At Ineni’s nod, he halted. In short order Ildiko found herself swathed in Ineni’s clothes while the other woman picked at the torn, bloodstained shift now gracing her form.
Were these not such dire circumstances, Ildiko might have marveled at the spell’s power. Ineni mimicked her appearance in every way, even down to her injuries. Ineni, though, would have to do more than look and sound like her captive.
As if she heard Ildiko’s thoughts, she shifted her posture and turned her head in such a way that was nothing like her. Her half smile and raised eyebrows changed her facial features in a subtle way. The pitch of her voice altered as well when she spoke. “Don’t think I’m not aware there’s more to a mimic than what’s seen, Hercegesé. I studied you very closely every time we visited Saggara. I may not know you as intimately as your husband, but I’ve learned enough to suit my purposes for the short time I require.”
Ildiko believed her. Ineni, intelligent, clever, and focused, would somehow make her plan work and deceive a terrified Brishen blinded by relief at recovering his wife. She glanced at the still sleeping Tarawin. “What of the queen?”
Ineni scooped the baby into her arms. “She comes with me. Ildiko of Gaur is a resourceful woman. Everyone knows that. She escaped her captors with the queen and found her way back to the man who’d tear a kingdom apart to save her.”
Ildiko’s heart slammed against her ribcage. Her role in this mad scheme had come to an end. Surely, it was so. Keeping her alive was out of the question. Ineni hadn’t hesitated in issuing orders to kill the driver once his task was at an end. There was nothing to stop her from issuing the same order for Ildiko, and the motivation was even greater. Somehow, she had to buy herself time.
“What then,” she asked. “Once you’ve gotten what you wanted? You disappear into the woodland and Brishen finds my body later?”
It was eerie seeing her likeness stare back at her with a cold regard Ildiko was sure she’d never adopted in her life. “Something like that, though not right away. You’re still of use to me.”
A horse’s soft nicker and the crunch of hooves on hard ground alerted them to another’s approach. The brief hope that such sounds heralded rescue died in Ildiko’s breast. The second henchman she’d seen with the first when they’d come upon her and the haywain driver rode up to them. He dismounted, paused at the sight of the two Ildikos and then bowed to Ineni. “The Khaskem found the spoor we left,” he said. “And the driver. Two guards accompany him. They’re tracking their way here.”
Ineni took a deep breath. “They’re quicker than I anticipated. It’s time.” She gestured to the newly arrived guard and pointed to Ildiko. “Lock her in one of the columbaria. You remember my instructions from earlier?” He nodded. “Good.” She waved to the guard who’d brought Ildiko to her. “Let’s go.”
