The High King's Embalmer

Chapter 3

The shape of my tongue did not allow me to speak the king's language in my native form. I wiped my mouth and chin, took a breath, and transformed to full human form. During the shift, my concentration reached its apex. A warmth spread through my tepid blood. I willed the color of the skin on my head and neck to resemble my master's golden tone. My canine ears diminished and morphed to human. Each pull and withdraw of ligaments and bones required a complete knowledge of cellular control.

"It is a poison," I said as I massaged my cheeks to ease the ache in my jaws from the transformation. "That is why nothing I gave His Majesty had eased his ill-"

"You were there, Jibade," the king said, his voice rising in volume. "You had tasted all the food, then as now, and still my son is gravely ill. And you said I have this poison in me? What else had you said?" He paused a moment, filling the room with uncomfortable silence.

"You said my death would be quick, yes. Did you not say that you could prevent it and I would live a long life in the same breath?" he asked. "You said my son would pull through his illness. You know the outcome of this. How can I believe my outcome will not be the same? You said my death would occur at the place where the grass grows under crystal waters. I know this place, it is near the cottage where my brother and I spent our winters in our childhood."

"Sire, I foresee the same results," I said, ignoring the king's mood. "His Majesty's death will not be caused by the poison. I am sorry. Podargos was invol-"

"You're sorry?" The king put a hand to his temple and massaged his forehead. "You said there would be an assassination attempt by..." He took a deep breath.

"An attempt, Jibade! I was a fool to believe you. Your antiquated ways no longer work in today's world. No one needs a death seer any more. Why did my grandfather put such faith in you or your predictions? My son tried, and look what happened to him?"

I bowed my head.

"The future I foresaw cannot be changed. The true future can, if His Majesty will allow me to-"

"Clean up this mess," Triton said with a smirk with a nod toward what remained of Podargos. "My head's killing me." He was amused by his own words. His attempt to lighten the situation, but fear and hatred sparked in his eyes when he looked at me. That same expression hadn't changed since the day I arrived in his household.

Exhaustion replaced the king's usual fire. A waxy sheen spread over his skin.

"If you are correct," the king said, "how long before...?"

"I suspect-" I said.

"Never mind." he said. "You will tell me and I won't want to know. Are all the others away?" He spoke quieter, and calmer. "Are we alone in the house, now?"

"I sense no one other than the hired man."

"Help me upstairs."

"Sire." My head bowed in subservience. He rarely asked for help, at least not from me.

Triton leaned against me as we climbed the wide, tiled stairs. Despite his weakened state, he managed to keep his pride intact and stay ahead of me. The knuckles on his hands turned white from his death-like grip on the banister.

Upstairs, he slouched on one of the matching Jacquard chairs at the foot of the bed in his chamber. Even the décor of the master bedroom had not changed in decades.

I knelt beside him.

"Your Majesty, I shall send for someone to prepare the bed." I turned to leave, but his fingers dug into a sensitive place caused by the narrow bands that encircled my wrists. Each bracelet was etched with the family's heraldic devices, another reminder that I belonged to them. The minerals in the bracelets decreased the slight radiation those of my kind tended to emit. All ouHor Kem enslaved on Ocana wore them. It was a way to keep track of us if so desired.