Hades Daughter by Sara Douglass Page A

man, this Brutus, is the only Kingman left…and thus his usefulness to us, my love, for if we use him to build the spell-weaving here, then there will be no one who can subsequently undo it. Our land will remain forever protected while all others about it will fall victim to plagues and disasters.”
    “And where is this Brutus from? What manner of man is he?”
    “He is a proud man, and a courageous and skilful warrior, both requisites for a truly great Kingman. His bloodline comes from a city called Troy, now destroyed…and thus the Game that he knows is the Troy Game. In that we are lucky, for the Troy Game was one of the most powerful of all the Games about the Aegean. So we shall use the Troy Game to protect this land, my love.”
    Aerne shrank away from her wandering hand, concerned. “I have heard of this Troy from the traders who come to buy our copper and tin. Troy was attacked and ravaged, as you say. What manner of protection is this Troy Game then, if Troy itself lies destroyed?”
    Genvissa sighed. “Have you not been listening to me, old man? Troy was destroyed many generations ago—Brutus’ line has been wandering seeking a home ever since. Long ago there were many Kingmen, men who knew how to manipulate the Game and who knew how to unravel the spell-weaving that protected any given land or city. Troy’s Game was unravelled by a man called Achilles, who knew the means by which to dispel the magical protection that hung about the city. But Achilles is long dead, as is his line. Every other Aegean Kingman and their lines are dead, save for the Trojan kingline. This Brutus is the only man left whocan weave the enchantments needed to resurrect the Game. The only one. There is no one who can unravel the Game this Brutus and I will build to protect Llangarlia, Aerne. No one. ”
    No one, she repeated in her mind, and smiled at the thought of useless, feeble Asterion raging far beyond the peaks of the great Himalayas.
    The instant I close the Game with Brutus, Asterion will be trapped. There is no need to worry about Asterion. No need at all.
    In his distant alpine valley, deep within the dark heart of his roughly drawn labyrinth, Asterion lowered his head, and smiled.
    Power throbbed about him, so virulent it had devastated the entire valley of all life. One day…
    “One day!” whispered Asterion.
    …he would fling that power at Genvissa and all her hopes and plans and ambitions.
    Meanwhile, all he had to do was sit, and observe.

C HAPTER T EN
    Mesopotama
CORNELIA SPEAKS
    I shifted slightly, turning my shoulder just so, knowing that the movement caused my breasts to catch the morning light as it flooded through the windows of the megaron. I had dressed carefully that morning, donning the stiffest and thickest of my flounced ankle-length skirts, knowing that their swaying as I moved drew the eye to my hips. I had begged my nurse, Tavia, to tighten my wide, embroidered girdle an extra notch so that my waist narrowed to the span of a man’s hands. And above my narrow waist and my sweeping flounced skirts I donned the very best of my jackets, its stiffened emerald linen fitting tightly to my form. I had tied only its bottom two laces, leaving the rest of the jacket open to frame my breasts, as I was allowed to do as an unmarried woman. My hair, although not as glorious as that of some women’s, was nonetheless left to curl and drape over my shoulders most becomingly. I looked my absolute best that morning and, from the admiring glances that fell my way, I knew I was not the only one to think so.
    Every man in the megaron who saw me lusted for me. Even my own father, I think, for I saw the tip of his tongue moisten his lips as his eyes lingered on my breasts. It was not unknown for a king to take his own daughter to wife, especially when she was his only heir, but if my father had thoughts in that direction, then Ishould shortly disabuse him of them. There was only one man I wanted, and that was my cousin