Eona - Alison Goodman [198]
The men cheered again. With a measured pace, Sethon stepped down from the dais and crossed the platform to Tozay.
“We have their general!” Tozay did not blanch as the sword tip stopped a finger-length from his face. Whooping excitement rose from below. Sethon waited until it subsided, then walked across to Ryko. “The islander spy.” Once again, he waited until the shouts dropped away. Three steps took him to Dela. “And the travesty that is the eastern Contraire.” She flinched as he turned to the crowd and raised the sword again.
The answering roar surged and formed into a chant. “Kill! Kill! Kill!”
“Your Majesty,” one of the hunters called through the building frenzy.
Sethon swung around. “What?”
The hunter bowed over his bent knee. “Lord Ido is rousing. Do you wish me to send him back to the shadow world?”
“Silence!” Sethon bellowed at the crowd. “Silence!” The chanting died away to a few shrill calls.
I leaned forward. Ido’s breathing had deepened and, under his lids, his eyes moved as if he dreamed. Wake up, I urged. Wake up.
Sethon smiled, his scar pulling at his skin. “He can join the festivities. I will show the men an emperor who can bring two Dragoneyes to their knees.”
High Lord Tuy half-rose from his chair at the side of the dais. “Brother,” he said. “You saw Lord Ido’s destruction of the battlefield. Perhaps it would be more circumspect to keep him in the shadow world.”
Sethon stared at Tuy for a moment, then motioned to Yuso with the sword. “Tell my brother about Lady Eona’s control of Lord Ido.”
Yuso rose from his knees on the other side of the dais and bowed. “It does not use the power of the dragons, High Lord Tuy.”
Now I knew why Yuso was still here; as a guide to my power. At least, what he knew of it.
“You see, brother: no dragons, no threat,” Sethon said. “I have total control of Lady Eona, and she will control Ido.”
He gestured to the physician waiting near Kygo. The portly man gave a stiff bow then hurried across the platform, his red lacquered box clutched against his chest. He bent over Ido and lifted one of his eyelids, exposing a glazed amber eye.
“He is near waking, Your Majesty.” The man’s voice was high with nerves. “He should rouse as soon as I use the elixir of breath.”
Sethon strode back toward me, his face avid at the prospect of Ido wakening under his control. “Do it.”
With shaking hands, the physician removed a small porcelain bottle from the box and pulled the stopper. The edge of a harsh scent burned the back of my throat. The bottle was thrust under Ido’s nostrils. Gasping a ragged breath, the Dragoneye jerked back his head. His eyes opened, each black center like a pinpoint.
“Lady Eona,” Sethon said. “Compel Lord Ido’s power.”
I fought the command, straining to block the force that gathered my power. The physician grabbed his red box and scrambled back as Ido hauled himself onto his feet. I felt his Hua leap within him as he groped for the energy world. Sethon’s compulsion slammed my power through him. The force beat back Ido’s call to his dragon and locked his body into a crouch. His frantic heartbeat slid under mine, both rhythms trapped inside Sethon’s—and my—compulsion. Beyond him, Ryko screamed and doubled over beneath the press of power.
For a moment, everything was silent.
Slowly Ido raised his eyes and took in the platform. “Not what I was hoping for,” he rasped.
“Welcome back, Lord Ido,” Sethon said. He kicked the Dragoneye in the ribs. Ido slumped forward as a roar of excitement rose from the soldiers. “Make him bow to me, Lady Eona.”
The command reached through me into Ido and slammed his forehead to the platform, forcing a groan from him.
Sethon pressed his booted foot on Ido’s neck. He smiled at his brother. “You see, I am the master of the last two Dragoneyes.” He raised his voice into a battle cry. “I will never be defeated!”
The soldiers, still caught in their bloodlust, chanted, “Never defeated, never defeated!”
High Lord