Sara Douglass – The Serpent Bride – DarkGlass Mountain Book 1

been too—”

Distant trumpets sounded, and Ishbel jerked her face back toward the palace gates.

They had opened, and a single figure emerged.

There was a sudden rush of sound as, in perfect harmony, every soldier lining wharf,

avenue, and palace walls thrust his spear into the air.

The ugly brindle dog scampered off, his tail between his legs.

Ishbel drew in a quick breath, holding it an uncomfortably long time until she

remembered to breathe again.

The man walking down the center of the avenue was as yet too distant for Ishbel to make

out features, but amid all this glittering array and bright light, he appeared not only a man of

considerable height and strength, but singularly dark. There was a mass of braided hair that

swung over his shoulders and back, and the braids shimmered with each movement, as if he had

diamonds threaded through them. He wore a black hipwrap and sandals, and little else save for a

massive golden collar that draped over his shoulders and upper chest.

Golden bands shone at his wrists and ankles.

He strode ever closer, every movement measured and confident, and Ishbel saw that he

wore no weapon.

All about him were weaponed, but Isaiah was confident enough of his power that he felt

no need to arm himself.

When he”d come to within fifty paces of the docked boat, the men lining avenue and

walls began to repeatedly thrust their spears into the air with extraordinary and almost graceful

coordination, shouting their tyrant”s name as he strode among them.

“Isaiah! Isaiah! Isaiah!”

Ishbel had to use every ounce of her self-control to keep her hands relaxed at her sides

and her head held high.

“Be calm, Ishbel,” Axis murmured. “This is a game, nothing else.”

Isaiah now came to a halt ten or fifteen paces from the walkway connecting boat to

wharf.

Ishbel had never seen any man—or woman, come to that—who commanded so much

authority. He dazzled and intimidated with an easy command of that authority, and Ishbel

thought that the Northern Kingdoms had very little chance indeed, if this man had set his mind to

them.

“Ishbel,” Axis murmured, holding out his arm for her.

She took it and, with thankfully confident steps, proceeded down the walkway to meet

the Tyrant of Isembaard.

She noticed the instant he saw her belly. Something crossed his striking face, a shadow of

disgust, probably, and Ishbel relaxed very slightly.

He would not bother her. He would set her aside in a chamber, and forget her.

Close up, Isaiah was taller and stronger than Ishbel had first thought. He was very

handsome, and radiated such confidence and power that, despite her relief, Ishbel remained

completely intimidated.

He regarded her with the steady black gaze of a hawk, his face now completely

expressionless, his thoughts utterly closed to Ishbel.

Again as one, the troops fell silent, placing their spears back at their sides.

“Isaiah,” Axis said, in what seemed to Ishbel to be a fantastically relaxed voice. “I have

the honor to present to you Ishbel, Queen of Escator.” His voice thickened with humor. “Your

new bride.”

“A somewhat used bride,” Isaiah said, his voice devoid of any emotion, yet somehow

managing to convey the utmost contempt.

All Ishbel”s fear, intimidation, and nervousness vanished in a moment of blinding,

consuming anger.

She stepped forward before any could stop her, and dealt the Tyrant of Isembaard a

stinging slap across the face.

CHAPTER TWO

Palace of Aqhat, Isembaard

Axis supposed he”d had worse moments in his long life, but right at that moment they

paled completely into insignificance at Ishbel”s actions.

To hit Isaiah, in front of his troops; before so many witnesses, to so ridicule him.

“Stars, Ishbel!” Axis hissed, and grabbed at her elbow, wrenching her away from Isaiah.

“You fool!”

That last he said a little louder, and more clearly, so that it would carry.

Axis glanced at Isaiah.

Isaiah had not moved.

His eyes had briefly shifted to Axis when he”d grabbed Ishbel, but now were back, steady

and unflinching, on Ishbel.

Ishbel herself was flush-cheeked and glittery-eyed, and Axis did not know if it was due to

remaining temper, or sheer fright at what she”d just done.

He hoped it was sheer fright, as that might, also, curb her tongue.

“I am assuming,” Isaiah said, his voice chilling, “that your former husband must have

shackled you on your wedding night, to get that child in you.”

Then he looked at Axis. “Should I have chains and irons installed in my bedchamber,

Axis, or do you think she can be tamed in time for our nuptials?” He paused. “Does she bite, do

you think? Should I dare to hope for nails, as well?”

There was a ripple of amusement among the troops, and Axis saw Isaiah”s shoulders

relax fractionally.

Pray to all gods, he thought, that Ishbel keeps her mouth closed.

Just then he saw her open it to speak, and realized that the glitter in her eyes was indeed

rage, and not fright.

“Ishbel,” he hissed, his fingers closing a little more tightly about her elbow, “now is not

the time!”

She whipped her face to his, furious, but Axis stared her down, and after a moment she

dropped her eyes and looked to the ground.

Axis could feel her trembling with her anger. He looked to Isaiah, hoping that he, also,

would now hold his tongue.

The man had a glint of humor in his eyes, which surprised Axis, but also relaxed him.

Ishbel had made her point, had then been suitably quelled, and Isaiah had regained with

his pointed humor whatever he”d lost with her slap.

“Bring her inside,” Isaiah said, “and I will decide what to do with her later.”

“Forgive me, excellency,” said Axis, now careful to be the essence of deference, “but the

introductions are not yet quite complete.”

Isaiah sent him a cold look.

“Ishbel, Queen of Escator,” said Axis, “and archpriestess of the Coil, an order of prophets

who reside within Serpent”s Nest.”

Axis had thought to have caused Isaiah some surprise with that last, but to his complete

amazement Isaiah merely raised one eyebrow.

“Truly?” Isaiah said, now looking from Axis to Ishbel. “I had heard rumor she was

priestess to the Lord of Elcho Falling.”

Ishbel made a sound, half gasp, half moan, and went completely white. Axis, who had let

her arm go, now grabbed at it again.

He felt completely bewildered. Who was the Lord of Elcho Falling? And how did Isaiah

know it would upset Ishbel so greatly?

“Isaiah,” Axis said, grating the words out, “we need to get inside.”

“Then bring her inside,” said Isaiah, “for I have grown weary with this extravagance of

conversation. We shall dine tonight, all three of us, and share confidences over chilled wine.”

With that, Isaiah turned on his heel, diamond-encrusted braids swinging, and strode back

toward the palace.

Axis bathed, and dressed in fresh linens, then stood at the window of his chamber, head

resting against the cool marble of the window frame, thinking about the scene on the wharf.

It had not played out quite as he”d imagined.

It had begun very much as he”d thought it would—all great dignity and arrogance on

Isaiah”s part, followed by a sarcastic comment regarding Ishbel”s pregnancy, and then…

Axis had not thought Ishbel to have such a quick temper, although Isaiah had certainly

earned that slap.

From that point on, though, something had been happening that Axis could not pinpoint.

Isaiah”s subsequent words, his sarcastic humor, had been vintage Isaiah…but Isaiah had been

genuinely amused and, if Axis was not mistaken, very interested.

Perhaps Ishbel had ignited interest with that slap. Axis thought there could have been

very few women who would ever have dared to slap Isaiah, even when he”d been just one prince

among many competing for the throne of Isembaard.

Of everything, though, it had been Isaiah”s comment about the Lord of Elcho Falling that

had perplexed and intrigued Axis. Had Isaiah known Ishbel would react as she did?

Yes, Axis decided, Isaiah probably had known.

But how…how?

Damn the man! Axis had a feeling that anyone trying to plumb Isaiah”s depths would

drown within their complexity before they ever reached bottom.

And they were to dine together tonight. Axis grinned. It would be an interesting evening.

A servant—if that was a suitable word to describe a man so gorgeously appareled and

with such an air of dignity—escorted Ishbel to Isaiah”s private chambers just after dusk. She had

spent the afternoon in a charming suite of rooms, full of beauty and coolness, a wonderful scent

of spices drifting in the windows, gradually calming down after what Isaiah had said to her on

the wharf.

Everything he”d said about her pregnancy, everything he”d intimated about his own

bedding of her, was forgotten in that single, devastating phrase.

I had heard rumor she was priestess to the Lord of Elcho Falling.